Nox Ferrul Character in The Tilted Spire | World Anvil
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Nox Ferrul

Nox Lumin

Nox doesn't remember her mother. What's left of her mother in the house is a few embroidered clothes that Nox has maintained and Nox's violet eyes.   Nox's dad doesn't like talk of mother. In fact, he gets furious when Nox does. He has dreams and visions of rising through society, and he thinks he can do that with Nox.   Nox doesn't agree, but she doesn't know what she can do about it besides run away. Running away seems like a good idea.

Physical Description

General Physical Condition

Slight

Nox has done a lot of growing up. She realises that anger isn't necessarily anger, but it can be fear and also love. She realises she has a place, she just has to step up and take it. She realises that she is not alone.

View Character Profile
Alignment
Chaotic Neutral
Age
16
Date of Birth
21.1.21
Parents
Children
Gender
Female
Eyes
Violet
Hair
Brown with grey streak
Skin Tone/Pigmentation
Pale
Height
4ft 8inches or 1.45cm
Weight
120lbs or 60kg

55. 'Ding-Dong!' Invader's calling

“There’s a set of stairs from the first cavern we haven’t tried yet,” Suggested Marius as the friends gathered to discuss their next step, “It's clear we’ve gone as far as we can stealthing around. Maybe we should try something more direct.”   Marius was right. They’d been everywhere it was safe for Nox to investigate. The violent ghosts showed that there were few places left without something ready to kill a solo explorer. They walked back through the caverns, and at the top of a small flight of steps, Nox scanned the barrier.   “It’s not a door, but a barricade, “ she informed the other, “Reinforced from the other side. They don’t want us to go this way.” “Then we should go this way,” Marius and Fureva-Yung said simultaneously. “I need to exercise my muscles,” Fureva-Yung grinned in anticipation as Nox flew to the ceiling and out of the way. Leaning her shoulder on the barricade, she pushed forward. Dust rained down, wood creaked and groaned, but the structure stayed put. “Let me help, “ Marius activated one of his cyphers and grew twice as big. Now head-to-head with Fureva-Yung, he, too, leaned his shoulder into the barricade, and together, they pushed. This time, the barricade budged forward. Either side of the barricade opened up into a larger room. Voices and cries of alarm from behind told them their plans to enter hadn’t gone unnoticed.   Something dropped from above in front of Fureva-Yung. Both Fureva-Yung and Marius dove for the item, but Marius was quicker. He wrapped his armoured gloves around the device before pushing it back through the side. Flashes of light haloed the barricade. Cries of pain and alarm, as well as the thud of bodies hitting the ground. “Shocking, isn’t it, “ Marius joked, taking a moment to make one of his concussive bombs.   On the other side of the barricade, they could hear movement. The scrambling of claws on wood, chintious armour knocking against the barricade. An ant man’s clawed hand dropped something through the gap at the top of the barricade again. This time, it burst open on impact with the ground. A thick caustic gas boiled out. Marius jumped out of the gas, but Fureva-Yung breathed in a lung, making her choke and gasp. Before the hand could disappear, she reached up and yanked it through the gap. Surprisingly, the ant man attached to it was dragged through, to fall scared and confused at Fureva-Yung’s feet. “Oh! I just wanted the arm.”   Marius sent his concussion bomb through a gap while Jaden peered into the room. Two metres off the ground floor, a catwalk ran around the walls. Two snipers stood either end of the catwalk, training their pistols on the barricade.   “Hey, up there! Let us in! I’m from the contingent assigned to Rubbletown! Let us in for the Emperor’s sake!” Jaden bluffed. She wore a uniform (poorly) and spoke with enough authority to be true. “Who do you say you are?” One of the guards on the catwalk now spoke up, “What the devil are you doing here?” “Rubbletown, hell the whole of Akavel is in uproar! We came out here to Rockspine hoping to find sanctuary, and this is what we get! Tell your men to stand down, will you?” “Okay, so if you want in so badly, give us today’s call sign,” He yelled back, which didn’t deter Jaden. “Haven’t you been listening? We’ve been days on the road. I wouldn’t have a clue what the call sign for today is. Hell, I couldn’t tell you what day is today.” To the ant man at Fureva-Yung’s feet, she turned her attention. “Stand up, soldier! Unless you want to wake that thing back there, I’d suggest you keep your eyes on me, and we may just survive this.”   Nox hid in the shadows of the cavern ceiling, listening to Jaden’s attempts to bluff her way in. Around the barricade, she could see the guards on the catwalk and made a telepathic link, hoping to pick up the call sign he’d asked Jaden for. Who are these guys? Are they the ones we sent ahead? We didn’t see them in the drone footage…   Marius made a less diplomatic entry, pushing his way in one side of the barricade. A sparking hemisphere of energy pulsed and spat in the centre of the room. Not far away, an enforcer lay prone and unmoving. He saw the two enforcers on the catwalk and another antman climbing the barricade. He also saw an enforcer lift a weapon and aim it at him. With a pop and a high-pitched scream, a tentacled projectile sailed across the space. Another purgespitter to the face! How unlucky do you have to be?   Tearing at the purgespitter wrapped around his head, Marius was just in time to see the ant man on the barricade spit down on him. He dodged aside, swiping at him with his fist in return. Another enforcer sparked up a baton and thrust it into Fureva-Yung’s fur. It tickled. She charged him, picked up him and the purgespitter gunner and dumped them into the scintillating hemisphere of energy with her on top. Nox sent psychic bursts at the spitting ant man and the two on the catwalk. The ant man and second sniper responded, clutching their throbbing heads, though the talker who seemed to be in charge was unaffected. Lucky for him, for at that moment, a spectral form sailed through the ceiling and wall, attacking with its glowing knife.   “We have not time for squabbling,” Jaden was still bluffing this time to the ant man Fureva-Yung had pulled through, “What is the call sign?” “Stone lion,” The ant man replied, only now starting to stand. He looked confused and scared. “You want a call sign? You stuck-up, posh babysitter? Stone lion! Now, hit the mother behind and get your arse down here.\!”   Regardless of what he thought of Jaden’s attitude, the commander turned his back on the barricade and attacked the spectral being. The other sniper stood his ground, neither opening fire nor standing down. Marius and the ant man on the barricade fought. The ant man spitting acid at Marius, Marius bludgeoning him through the barricade. The antman tried jumping onto Marius, missing him by inches. Marius tried seizing the opportunity for an attack and missed. Fureva-Yung also seized the opportunity. As the bodies of the two enforcers writhed under her, she took a moment to catch her second wind. The tingling of the energy cypher was almost… therapeutic. Nox giggled at her friend, relaxing in the middle of a battle and tried her psychic blast again. This time, she stunned the sniper but caught the attention of the one in charge. “What? Get her!” He pointed directly in her direction. Exposed, she slunk back into the shadows, blending into the rocks of the ceiling. “Stone lion, you piece of bug dung!” Jaden yelled, desperate to get the commander’s attention again. “That creature on the roof, she’s not with you!” He replied, confused as to where Jaden’s loyalties lay. “Don’t tell me you’re already seeing things!?!” Jaden replied, horrified. “Could it be here!” “What are you talking about? Do you know who I am?” “No, I don’t care either. Look, the City fell. The Patchwork Dream released a virus that makes victims see illusions! The whole system of government fell apart overnight. Rockspine is the last bastion of sanity in the south!” “Attack the one on the roof…” He tried ignoring Jaden’s words, but now he turned to point to where he’d see the woman…she was gone.   Fueva-Yung finished with her impromptu day spa and stood up. Marius picked up the energy hemisphere and used it on the unconscious enforcer. Fureva-Yung’s ant man tried slinking away from the battle. Nox spotted him and, keeping her position on the ceiling, followed. The commander was still fighting his ghost, and the sniper was reeling from Nox’s last psychic attack. Jaden made a mock attack on the ghost on the catwalk. Sure the unconscious guard wasn’t going to cause any more trouble, Marius picked up the hemisphere and started walking up the stairs of the catwalk. Fueva-Yung leapt from the ground onto the catwalk in one standing leap. Her impact rocked the catwalk, breaking its supports in the wall and making a section fall into the room. When the dust cleared, the commander was impaled on the broken metal of the catwalk handrail.   A ghost apparated through the ceiling as Nox silently followed the ant man through the caverns. Dodging its attack, she touched the spectre, taking over its mind. The ant man, she commanded telepathically of her new minion, Get him! Watching through the ghost’s eyes, she hid as it stalked the ant man through the darkness. The ghost that had harassed the commander now took out its mad frustrations on Fureva-Yung. The blade sunk into her shoulder, leaving her feeling cold and…odd. In the corner of her eye she saw the sniper still left on the catwalk snap out of his stun and start towards a doorway. Choices.   Now stepping through the barricade, Jaden continued her confounding jargon in the form of highly creative and descriptive swear words. Those who heard them couldn’t help but stop and try and work out if her descriptions were even anatomically possible. Marius was on the catwalk, the other side of Fureva-Yung’s huge gap. Taking a running leap, he sailed across the gap, belly-flopped onto the far end and face-planted on the purge. After exposure to the energy cypher and the blunt force damage of being smacked into the catwalk, the purge gave up and slothed off Marius’s face. He thought things were looking up until he heard the snap and groan of the catwalk supports giving away. Another section of the catwalk fell, and the sniper was now making his escape.   Fureva-Yung tried a running leap for the remaining catwalk, failed to reach it and pulled herself up into the doorway, the ghost pursuing. Jaden climbed over the rubble towards the doorway. “Hey, Twinkle-toes! Little help?” she yelled at Fureva-Yung, who leaned down and pulled Jaden up one-handed. Through the doorway, the three companions could see the sniper run into a stable area where two ghosts fought five other guards. Marius swiped at the ghost bothering Fureva-Yung with the energy cypher still in his glove hand and made his way towards the battle.     In the cavern, the ghost stalked the ant man, lashing out with its blade. The ant man scrambled backwards into the pool. Alone, hovering near the ceiling, Nox pursed her lips and blew a few notes of Fuzzy Wuzzy’s tune. They echoed and bounced through the cavern just as they had during the fight in the pool. Blue lights slowly rose into the dark around the cavern. Through the ghost’s eyes, Nox watched spellbound as she saw a black shadow tentacle silently breaking the water's surface. The ant man stepped back into the pool's depths, falling below the surface. The tentacle, too, disappeared. Neither returned to the surface. With a malicious grin of delight, Nox recalled her ghostly minion.   In the stables, the ghost stabbed Fureva-Yung, the wound becoming cold and insubstantial. She returned the favour with a shattering shout that had the ghost’s form vibrating before running after the enforcer into battle.            

The Journal Entry’s title

Begin writing your story here...

54. Rockspine inhabitants

The last watch was long and quiet, but it did give Fureva-Yung time to contemplate all that had happened. In the heat of battle, things flashed by that she was now only just remembering, one being a passageway she’d seen while underwater. As she rode Fuzzy-Wuzzy down the shaft, the passage had flashed by, an empty void. At the time, she’d barely registered its existence, but now, in the quiet of the last watch, she wondered where it went.   When the other woke fully rested and ready to explore again, she mentioned the shaft and her wish to explore it. “Sure, Nox could explore above, while you could explore below,” Marius said, breakfasting on scraps of dried meat. “I do not feel that is wise. Keep in contact with Nox while you can. I will not be gone long.”   With the group's blessings, she dove into the centre of the pool and swam down eight metres to where she remembered the void. She had no light with her, trusting in her echolocation to sense the hard surfaces give way to a tube-like tunnel heading south. However, she took the rebreather in case she couldn’t find an air pocket before her ten-minute time limit ran out.   The passage opened into a circular room with smooth walls. A central pillar dominated the space, going up into an imagined surface and down beyond the effectiveness of her sonar. Below her, something large moved. It was long, maybe twelve metres, with the segmented carapace of a giant flatworm. It moved around the walls, seemingly eating something off them, maybe algae. Don’t worry about it, Fureva-Yung, Marius’ thoughts came over the telepathic link. It’s beneath you.   Fureva-Yung let her natural buoyancy take her to the surface. The air was good, though still and dank, and she could breathe normally. The ceiling stretched up high above, almost out of sonar reach, and off to her right, a small platform and recess in the wall gave a place for her to stand. Fureva-Yung climbed out of the water and found a broken Numenera device missing large chunks. Ignoring it, she spied a panel of buttons three by four nearby. Fureva-Yung knew from experience that the best way to know what a button did was to press it, so she did, picking one randomly.   Suddenly, a clear gel started encasing her from feet to head. Once the bubble of gel was sealed at the top, she was plunged back into the water, moving fast for the bottom. She passed the tunnel and kept diving, surprised that she didn’t feel the pressure on her eardrums. She tried her echolocation and could sense her world only as a soft impression of what she had previously. She pressed more random buttons on the panel only to realise that before her, not fifteen metres away, two glowing dots watched. The creature wasn’t beneath her any longer. It was in front of her.   She could see the tiny particulates in the water in the dim light of the luminescent eyes. The water was murky. The rest of the creature could barely be seen. Fureva-Yung tried pulling the bubble away from her ear, but the membrane was tough and would not budge. All she had left to her was more button-pushing. So she did. The first few did nothing, but after pressing a third, the bubble around her contracted to form a suit. Instantly, her hearing cleared, and she no longer had to rely on the meagre light from the creature.   The whole time, the creature hung suspended in the murk before you, dully watching. With her sonar back, Fureva-Yung could sense the shaft continue down. She pressed some more buttons, and a light way down deep turned on, illuminating the beast more fully. It was a long segmented worm as she’d sensed, but the two eyes were lights and what she had taken for a mouth streamed tentacles of the same substance that now covered her. Swimming over, she placed her hand in the creature’s mouth. Instantly, she could feel the tug from the gel. It was drawing her into the creature. She pulled back her hand and, on a hunch, flipped over and placed her feet in its mouth.   As she expected, she was drawn wholly into the creature. Inside, two pads of more buttons, one for each hand were easily located within reach. She found she could breathe in the beast and see through it’s eyes. Now, it was time to see if she could move. The controls at her hands were intuitive, and she soon found herself almost flying around the underwater shaft. She swam around the shaft, investigating the light below. The creature bawked at being so close to the light and the hairs on Fureva-Yung's arms stood on end. Whatever the light was, it wasn't good and afterwards stayed clear. She dived to the bottom in search of numenera she could take back. When nothing useful was found, she steered her nudibranch back to the passage.   She was feeling good when the telepathic network connected once more. Hey, you’re back! Find anything? You could say that, Fureva-Yung replied as she let the nudibranch slowly rise the shaft so they could all see. What is it? Marius asked. A thingy, Jaden replied helpfully. A cool thingy for flying underwater! Celebrated Nox as the Nudibranch broke the water, returning victorious.   Jaden spent some time checking out Fureva-Yung’s new gel suit, taking samples from her and the nudibranch. She then went over the living machine to understand how such a wonder could exist.   “Okay, no more mucking about. Your turn,” Marius said to Nox, who once more levitated up the shaft and into the active facility above. She rose in darkness beside her tiny hedge light. In one section, her light reflected off a dark surface like glass. She wondered if that was another window like the first shaft. Unfortunately, it was too dark to see, so she continued her flight to the top.   Above, light beams from slitted windows lit the roof of the small shed-like building on the plateau. This shaft rose the full length through the facility. She levitated into the shed. It was quiet here. A small space around the shaft gave the group a place to teleport if they needed another hiding space. That was good to know, but it was getting them no closer to Trask.   Nox dropped back down to where a crack in the wall offered a tiny slither of light. Using reshape, she made the crack larger so she could peer through. On the other side was a rough-hewn corridor with a large rock in the centre. The sounds of people eating and taking were nearby, she must be near the mess hall that Fureva-Yung identified. Bamfing to the corridor ceiling, she quickly blended into the ceiling gloom behind the rock and watched a moment as guards came and went, starting or finishing their shifts.   Ahead were two sets of stairs. The one on the right went up to the larger of the two buildings on the surface. The second went down, a mirror image of the stairs on the facility's west side. Nox was looking for Trask, not more guards. So, when the corridor seemed quiet, she crawled across the room and down the lefthand staircase.   At the bottom of the staircase, the passage turned to the left and onto the lower bridge. It didn’t seem well used and was almost forgotten by the current residents. What did intrigue Nox was the wall directly ahead. It looked cobbled together, full of chinks and cracks.   She sent her hedge magic light through the crack to the otherside and found it was a full chamber. Orientating this new hidden room with her mental map, she realised it was the dark space beyond the glass she’d seen in the shaft. With no better place to go, she bamfed in.   A column in the centre of the room dominated. It was a Numenera energy conduit of some sort, but without power she had no hope of seeing what it could do. Around the outside of the column and against the wall was a gap just wide enough for her to drop into. Again, this was a dead end, so she slipped down the wall into a space below.     On this level, the column widened, taking up nearly the whole space of the room above. A narrow corridor wrapped the column and led around to a new passage heading south. At this level, she was within the telepathic range of the others and had reconnected. Hey kid, what’s going on? Lots of nothing spaces. I’m in a corridor just to the south of the shaft that no one’s been in for…ages.   Her Hedge light held in her hand for fear of the light giving her away, Nox glided down the corridor as it dogleged left then right. Eventually, the wall on her left hand gave way to another large circular shaft. Sending the Hedge light out, she could see the twinkle of water below. Hey! I found the top of your shaft, Fureva-Yung! Nox exclaimed. This was fun. Exploring new places quietly, not disturbing the people who lived there, and still in touch with her friends. Over the telepathic link, Marius coughed, Er…right.   Nox followed the right-turning corridor as it ended in a second smaller room. As she entered, the synth pattern on the floor began to glow. Suddenly, the whole exploration thing had become not so fun, as a spectral form burst from the floor and lunged for her, brandishing a ghostly knife. She dodged aside, only to have the creature turn for a second attack. Sticking out her tongue, she bamfed back to the pool room and her friends.   “A ghost! It tried to stab me!” She explained as the roof above them started to glow. Two motes of light entered through solid rock and descended to the party. The first formed a ghostly form wearing a mask. It lashed out at Fureva-Yung, screaming. She dodged it expertly and brought her chain up to attack. The second with the knife went to attack Jaden. She sidestepped, moving it into the path of the first. Now she had a chance to look at these creatures, Jaden deducted they were out of phase with their reality and vulnerable to electricity. To keep them distracted, she started talking in her techno-babble   Marius struck both creatures with his light fists, but the damage wasn’t as great as he’d hoped. As Fureva-Yung added vibrations to her chain, Nox reached out and touched one of the ghosts, mind-controlling it. Suddenly, the creature relaxed, becoming less substantial. I don’t like that other one, She directed it by thought, Maybe you should attack it.   The controlled ghost turned on its ally, who was surprised by the change in fortune. Angry, it struck out at Jaden. In that split second of surprise, Jaden seized the opportunity, pulled out an iotum and lit up the ghost with a burst of electricity. With a shudder, it dissipated into nothing. Nox’s tamed ghost relaxed, hanging, like herself in mid-air awaiting instructions. Nox read its mind, hoping to find out information about the facility's layout, even a sighting of the elusive Trask. Unfortunately, the creature had died millennia ago in an exotic energy laboratory experiment. As she tapped its thoughts, however, a sudden rush of images, thoughts and ideas almost overwhelmed her. She now knew how to work the machinery once used by these beings. “The poor thing is mad. It was made that way by an experiment gone wrong,” she said, pulling away from the being and letting Marius at it. “It’s never left the room I found it in. It doesn’t know where Trask is, and neither do we.”   With only a little more information than when they started the day, the group sat down and discussed their options.      

53. What lies beneath Rockspine

“Ah, “ Marius stopped in his explorations, his face suddenly serious. “Somethings coming!” From behind, the group could hear a high-pitched and lonely piping sound. Jaden and Nox looked at each other, Nox scrunching up her nose in distaste. It didn’t sound right. Like something was copying a sound they’d heard a long time ago.   Suddenly, Marius fell backwards into the pool as something grabbed his leg from below. A bow wave clearly showed him being dragged to its dark centre. Pulled past Fureva-Yung, she plunged one fury arm into the water, grabbing and lifting Marius’ leg. Fureva-Yung felt a wave of intense cold as the creature let go. Marius flew backwards into the air, somersaulted, and landed on his feet.   Nox levitated out of the water as Marius examined his leg. A spiralling red mark cold to the touch scars his skin. “I think something’s living in the water.” A mote of light flew towards Nox. She floated aside as more appeared, circling the pool. Jaden pulled out an electric baton, and Fureva-Yung started for the centre of the pool. “You might want to leave the water,” Jaden called, holding up her baton. Fureva-Yung chuckled deeply and picked up Marius, getting him clear. Standing on the shore, Jaden plunges the baton into the pool and turned it to full. A bright pulse of white light emitted from the baton before exploding in her hands. She dropped the baton and ducked as the swirling motes of light flickered momentarily. As the lights above faded, the baton’s glow lit the water, and Marius, Fureva-Yung and Jaden saw a massive black silhouette. It was almost amorphous with streaming twirling tentacles that made them hard to count.   A tentacle of shadow, as thick as a tree trunk, exploded from the water in front of Fureva-Yung. It lashed out, trying to grab her, but Fureva-Yung grabbed it instead and lifted it above her head. A second tentacle went for Marius. He dodged aside and activated his light gloves. More lights appear above the pool, swirling angrily like angry bees. Marius struck out and hit the creature, cooking it with the light from his gloves. Standing on the shore, Jaden watched, studying the beast. “It didn’t like that attack, “ She said after realising its weaknesses, “And I don’t think it like the light from my baton either.” She pointed out the lights were just distractions, to ignore them for the creature in the water.   Fureva-Yung dropped the tentacle and pulled out a tube of friction-reducing gel. She took a moment to apply what she could to her body. Nox, floating above the water, reached out to find the creature's mind. To everyone else, she disappeared into a black sphere of nothing as their telepathic connection shut down. To Nox, she was suddenly in a new space, a dark void with a yawning portal ahead. Somewhere beyond the portal was a presence, a mind she could communicate with, maybe even reason with. She looked around her. With no way back, she propelled herself mentally forward and entered the portal.   Marius dodged another tentacle as he pulled out a concussion bomb from his supplies. What had happened to Nox? One moment, safe above the water and next gone. A tentacle caught hold of Fureva-Yung, but the friction-reducing gel made it impossible to hold her. Fureva-Yung once more felt the burning cold from the tentacle, leaving frosty marks on her skin. Jaden pulled out an iotum and sent a ray into the water to blast the beast with heat. Steam rose from the water, but she missed the creature. Marius set up his concussion bomb with a crude timer and threw it at the central dark mass.   One second Two seconds… BOMB! A plume of water erupted from the water. All around them, tentacles shuddered.   In the grey and colourless light, Nox sensed a face made of beak, tentacles and two large black eyes. The eyes looked back, and a wall-like mind attack pushed against her. With all her strength practised over the months since leaving Cerelon, she held just. She tried reading the mind and received back only an intelligent curiosity and hunger. For the first time, in the places of the mind, Nox knew what fear was.   Outside, Fureva-Yung used her fleet of foot to jump up and crash down on the black mass under the water. With her chain out to its full length, she wrapped it around the beast's mass and pulled tight. Now standing on what she thought of as its back, she wrapped the chains around her arms and readied herself for a ride.   Inside, Nox didn’t know what to do. This creature was powerful and intelligent. Her puny jabs at its mind would do little to make it let go of her friends. She’d resisted it once; maybe she could bluff it out. Putting all the force she could behind it, she constructed a collection of sensations and thoughts. She repeated the curiosity and hunger, feeding it sensations of warmth and light. All these she sent and just as forcefully snuffed out as if they never existed. She hoped that her bluff would work. Suddenly, the impressions she received changed. Hunger disappeared for fear. Yes, you should fear us! She thought and prepared for a fight.   Outside. The black mass rose out of the water momentarily, Fureva-Yung standing like a sailor lashed to a whale and suddenly dove. Fureva-Yung instinctively filled her huge lungs before she was covered in the warmth-sapping cold. They were swimming down a shaft in the centre of the pool. She could feel the pressure building in her ears as they sunk deeper into the dark. She twisted her chains once more around her arms and reached down, patting the creature’s almost insubstantial skin.   Above water, it was just Marius and Jaden. Jaden pulled out a swim enhancement cypher and dived down after Fureva-Yung. She could see Fureva-Yung disappearing into the gloom and quickly swam after her. Marius, another concussion bomb in hand, looked around at the now calming surface of the water, the empty cavern around him. “What?! All powered up and no place to throw?”   Inside, Nox received a feeling of confusion, warmth and comfort before another mental attack tried to push her out of the space. NO! This is my space! She held her ground. This couldn’t go on. She was exhausted. One more attack like that, and she was finished, but she wasn’t willing to give up her bluff that quickly. Now that she’d proven she meant business, she tried another tactic. This time, the thoughts and sensations were of her friends standing at peace in the pool, the lights still above them. A feeling of calm water, of a surety that this could be. With the last strength, she sent the message and…it was received.   Less fear, relaxing of defences and then a polite request, the image of Nox leaving via the portal. Nox nodded, smiled to herself and, seeing the portal ahead, left the monochromic mind space.   In the inky darkness, Fureva-Yung could feel something stirring in the beast. It had stopped swimming down and now hung still in the shaft. Just ahead of where Fureva-Yung stood, a mouth opened, and from a maw almost two metres in diameter, a frosted icy bubble appeared. The bubble ejected from the mouth and began to rise. As Fureva-Yung and Jaden noticed the figure hovering inside the bubble, the telepathic network came back online. Hi! Nox waved at her two friends, freezing in the cold water, I’m in a bubble! Fureva-Yung once more patted the creature’s back, also taking the opportunity to scratch the base of a tentacle. As if the patting was acceptable, but the scratching was not, her hand was slapped by the cold end of a tentacle. Jaden handed her a personal environment shield before floating up beside the Nox bubble. Fureva-Yung wasn’t sure what she was supposed to do with the cypher. She could hold her breath for ten minutes if need be, and the cold wasn’t too bad. Shrugging, she put the cypher in a pocket and, giving the cute creature a final pat, released the chain.   It was quiet in the cavern. The lights had disappeared, and there was only the natural drip of water and his own movement. Looking down to see where his friends had gone, Marius was suddenly aware of a glowing sphere rising towards him. Beside it, Jaden glided up, Fureva-Yung floating up behind. As the bubble rose, he could see through the icy surface, Nox! How had Nox got down there?!   The bubble popped to the surface, with Nox floating inside. She looked tired but happy in her frosty ball. Marius placed his hands on the bubble, the heat from his gloves melting its shell, and the bubble disappeared. “Hee hee! That was fun!” She exclaimed, wobbling and stepping for shore as Jaden and Freva-Yung returned to the surface. Fureva-Yung gestured across the cavern, and in the darkness, the creature rose, breaking the water. “It's so cute!” She said in a voice much too high to come from Fureva-Yung. She returned the cypher to Jaden, who gave her a scathing look. “I’m surrounded by idiots!”   On a small sandy island above the waterline, the group made a small camp. Humming the weird tune of the creature across the way, Marius tried his hand at healing. The healing failed, but the beast seemed to appreciate the singing and joined in, filling his mind with its force of will. He quickly ceased singing to have Fureva-Yung start a thunder rumbling up the shaft above their heads. Jaden kept herself busy making a makeshift camouflage hide for the camp, and Nox slept, dreaming of flying in bubbles through the air.   Marius was on watch. The lights of the creature had gone with it soon after Fureva-Yung’s attempts at singing, and he was left in near darkness. A little light broke through the hole in the roof where the waterfall tumbled, but even that tiny spark grew dim as the night grew on. He slowly became aware of a…skittering of sharp claws on stone from above. The darker shaft was lost in the general darkness, but his head still turned that way as he discerned three individual creatures crawling down its walls. He quickly awoke Fureva-Yung.   Something plopped into the water, sending ripples to lap against the sands of the island. Fureva-Yung’s sonar could sense a figure, human in height but with limbs like an insect, ending in claws. It sniffed the air loud enough for Marius to hear as he went and woke Jaden. Still in her guard uniform, Jaden pulled out a stasis detonation and quietly walked out to the ant-man. A second one dropped into the water. Jaden signalled for silence and pointed towards the deep in the pool's centre, looking frightened. The two ant-men looked at each other, accepted her bluff as genuine and turned away from the hide.   The third dropped just as Jaden felt she was out of range of her companions and detonated her paralysis bomb. Water rained down as pebbles and mist as dust. Standing just before the lip to the creature’s shaft, four statues now stood. Fureva-Yung had fun trying to knock the heads off the ant-men, pushing them down the hole for the beast to eat as soon as the stone returned to flesh. “What do we do with this one?” She asked Marius. “Colour her in? Give her a moustache?” Marius suggested as Fureva-Yung shook her head. “That would be childish.” Marius momentarily looked Jaden over and smiled, “We can put her to bed like a dolly.” Fureva-Yung laughed a very girly laugh and picked up the stony Jaden. They lay her down with her pack behind her head, and wrapped up their life-sized doll with her blanket. Frozen in the moment of the detonation, it was the most peaceful the two friends had ever seen Jaden.   The rest of the rest, Fureva-Yung, watched…listened. For her, the darkness was nothing but a slight inconvenience. Sound filled her world with stalactites and stalagmites, the cavern’s shape and the looming shaft above. Just before dawn, a new something entered her peace. A buzzing whirling sound resolved itself into a smooth-sided metallic sphere. Following the stream from the first room, a central lens scanned the space. Fureva-Yung crouched amongst the rocks that constituted their sandy island, slipping in behind Jaden’s camouflage hide. The drone buzzed by their hideout, spinning in place to scan the area, and then moved on. Eventually, satisfied it had completed its task, the drone flew up the shaft and disappeared from view.   An hour later, Jaden’s paralysis wore off. She awoke to find herself tucked in up to her chin, her outstretched hand that had once held the bomb now holding a skull-shaped rock. She looked at the rock, shrugged and rolled over, returning to sleep. Fureva-Yung grinned. If Jaden was back, then Fuzzy-Wuzzy could now enjoy their meal.

52. The Ghosts of Rockspire

“So my idea is we let the sneaky one go ahead, look for a likely place for us to hide and then bamf back and teleport us all there,” Marius laid out his latest great idea to the group hiding in the blind alcove. “And by ‘sneaky one’ you mean me. Alone,” Nox grumbled. She did prefer to explore this base silently, but she knew she couldn’t do it with the others tagging along. It was either do as Marius suggested or fight the whole base all at once. “I refuse, she can’t go alone!” Jaden protested. “I’ll do it,” Nox replied at the same time. It wasn’t the first time the women had clashed over the last few weeks, but this time, Jaden relented. “Can you move some of those rocks so I can get out?”   A small gap, just big enough for Nox, was made high in the rockfall, and a projection cypher, which would keep the wall intact, was placed. Nox sat in the hole, already levitating, waiting for a signal from Fureva-Yung. She was listening for guard movements nearest their hiding hole. When it came, the signal was a push to Nox’s back. It sent Nox shooting across the hallway, loose rock falling in a cascade in her wake. Nox flattened herself to the cavern ceiling, melding her colour to the grey of the rock.   From the eastern lookout, a guard wandered down the passage, drawn by the tumble of rock. He looked around and saw nothing, which was curious. There was no hole in the rock wall where the rock could have fallen. Fureva-Yung watched the guard through the illusion and waited for him to investigate the wall. Nox hung above, holding her breath. She was torn at what to do. Create an illusion that explained the rocks, or read his thoughts and see where that got her. She settled for the latter. Where did all this rock come from? He thought to himself as his senses picked up the smell of cooking from the kitchens. *Hungry* Nox projected the sensation of hunger to the guard. A subtle nudge. The man’s stomach growled. The guard kicked the rocks against the wall and returned to his post. “Hey, what’s for dinner? I’m starving?” “Stew, I think…” Nox let out her breath and slowly pulled herself along the roof down the western passage.   At the intersection of three passages, Nox could see guards on duty at a third lookout and hear voices from the north. Upside down, she dragged herself up the northern passage, passed a door where sounds of training were happening and passed a set of stairs going down. It was then she felt her connection to the others disappear. She was truly alone. For a moment, she was frozen with indecision. Turn back and tell the others what she’d found, or continue? From the staircase, she could hear a group of soldiers talking. If they looked up as they rounded the stairs, she was done! She bolted ahead and down into a sunken room at the end of the passage.   This room wasn’t like the rough-hew passages she’d been exploring. The almost hexagonal room’s walls were smooth, inlaid with patterns that looked like writing. Nox wanted to stop and note what she was seeing, but the room was too open to teleport her friends. Levitating up to touch the ceiling, she pushed herself off and glided across the room to a passageway in the northern wall. As her hand touched the wall to the northeast, a wave of sadness overcame her. It was the gut-wrenching loneliness she’d experienced back in Cerelon…except it felt as if it were coming from outside her. She examined the feeling and realised it wasn’t coming from her but from slim mould living in the cracks of the walls to the north. Swallowing hard, she pushed the feeling aside and pulled herself into the northern corridor.   This passage didn’t look like it was travelled often, dust and litter greyed the ground here. To the right, two large doors. To the left, a chamber with a domed roof stretched down into darkness below. A bridge connecting her passage across the void to a control panel. She pulled herself to the room and levitated down into the dark. Partway down, she lit her little hedge light, but there was nothing to see but smooth carved walls. Below, light lit the shaft from a clear synth panel bolted to the side. As she glided past, she could see another well-lit passage where soldiers travelled. Hiding her light, she continued down.     The shaft was deep, but she was soon aware of the sound of trickling water and the feel of moisture in the air. The shaft suddenly ended at the top of a domed cavern, below synth panels creating a pattern tiled a flat floor. Water ran from the east, across the floor and down a waterfall into darkness to the west. The synth flooring was lower than the rest of the gound in the cavern and made a shallow pool. To the southwest of the cavern, stairs climbed up and back into the facility. She could tell there was at least another cavern to the east but dared not explore further in the dark. This was as far as she would go alone, and levitated back to the bridge.   Curious about what the control panel did, she allowed herself to land on the platform before it and scanned the controls. It was all in an unknown script, not even Sacristan, which she wasn’t very familiar with. From the types of controls and readings she was seeing, though, it looked like it controlled and maintained…something. She’d found a button that seemed to turn the whole thing on. Her curious fingers hovered over the button. She’d forgotten why she was here in the excitement of discovery. Right now, the button was not a good idea.   She bamfed back to the others.   Jaden had kept herself busy making paralysis bombs and had a good collection to share when Nox appeared in their midst. She carefully packed these as Nox filled in the details on Fureva-Yung’s map. “No one seems to travel the east-west corridor. It looks different from the rest of the place.” Nox pointed to the corridor with the slime mould, “it was really sad.” “The corridor looked sad…or it was sad?” Asked Jaden, trying to make sense of Nox’s experience. Nox shrugged. “Okay, well forewarned and all that. No blubbing,” Marius prepared, and Nox bamfed them all…   …into the dark corridor. Suddenly, like the boom of unexpected thunder, Fureva-Yung started laughing. She couldn’t tell anyone what was so funny, she had no control over it. Nox froze Fureva-Yung in place with Stasis, and everyone, for a moment, was silent. Then, the running of heavy boots coming their way. As both Jaden and Marius were in uniform, Jaden mimed threatening her giant furry prisoner with a baton. Nox took a moment to pull a mushroom out of its cypher pod and licked it. Her mind opened to the multiverse, and she felt teleporting everyone around wasn’t too hard! Get us out of here, Marius grabbed Fureva-Yung as the Stasis dropped, and again, Nox bamfed them…   …into the lit corridor she’d seen from the shaft. Fureva-Yung began laughing again, but Marius was ready this time and thrust his fist into her mouth, stifling the sound. Still, crystals lying darkly in alcoves in the wall suddenly started glowing with each raucous bark. The rumble of many feet from both ends of the corridor told them they’d stumbled into the barracks. They’d just stepped from the frying pan into the fire!   Taking a set of stairs opposite, they descended to the next level, Jaden pulling out her first bomb just in case. Fureva-Yung’s giggling fit subsided, and she was once more in control. The corridor here ended in large double doors. Beyond them, Fureva-Yung could hear the trickle of water and the roaring of some giant beast. With the rumble and mumble of the guards above, Fureva-Yung charged, nocking the lock out of the doorframe. They’re coming! Nox cried, running up with the other and gabbing hold of Fureva-Yung before bamfing them away…   …into the darkness at the bottom of the shaft, knee-deep in cold water. Nox lit her Hedge light and breathed a sigh of relief. There were no sounds other than the natural one of the cavern and her friend’s protest at being wet. To the west, Jaden and Nox looked out over the waterfall but could see nothing, even when the hedge light drifted down the face of the waterfall to see below. “What’s under these tiles?” Marius asked, pointing into the pool Nox had landed them. When she scanned the floor, Nox was surprised to see not the natural rock as she expected by channels leading to much larger machinery. Whatever this place was before, the current occupants only used a small part.   As they needed to travel east, the companions walked upstream into the second chamber Nox identified. Like the first, a circular pattern of sythe tiles lined the floor of a shallow pool. Above them, another shaft cut the domed roof with a circle of blackness. Opposite them, a waterfall and sunlight trickled through an opening in the ceiling. They were under the chasm separating the two halves of Rockspine Outlook.   “Ah, “ Marius stopped in his explorations, his face suddenly serious. “Somethings coming!”  

The Journal Entry’s title

Begin writing your story here...

The Journal Entry’s title

Begin writing your story here...

51. The Rockspine Overlook Infiltration

After days in forests, the blasted tableland of Rockspine Overlook was a stark and exposed plain. By mid-afternoon, the group could see the first signs of buildings even though they were still a kilometre away. Two buildings stood proud of the rock and scrub, the larger of the two facing a cliff drop facing south…and home. No wonder the Empire to the north felt safe from invasion to the south. Rockspine Overlook was the southernmost point of cliffs that stretched for hundreds of kilometres east and west. The larger building was two storeys tall and had a crystal shard winking orange in the midday sun. The second building was smaller, only a single storey with no fancy decoration on its roof. Beyond, a chasm ran from the north and opened at the cliff face. Here, an installation something like a chimney jutted out from the rock. Not far away, viewing platforms facing east and south were built below the level of the plateau and were only visible by their roofs. It was clear that much of Rockspire Overlook was underground, built into the cliffside.   The large building had a regular patrol of armed guards who could quickly investigate any disturbance at the smaller. “Okay, looks simple to me, frontal assault at the larger building,” Marius said. “Ah no, funny man,” Nox grumbled, “Keep jokes like that for when we’re all safe at Tiltspire.”   It was only possible to get closer by exposing themselves to the guards. It was true Nox could teleport them to the front door, but that would instantly alert the guards. Nox looked up at the cloudless sky. She could make her form look like a small flock of birds if she were high enough. “Throw me?” She asked Fureva-Yung, who didn’t hesitate. Using the momentum Fureva-Yung had given, Nox levitated to sail high into the air. From her vantage, she spotted a small bridge in the chasm, joining the east side of Rockspine to the west. Focused on Rockspine as she was, Nox did not see the large, shiny metal bird until she had levitated right into its flight path. With a sickening thud, they collided midair. The bird screamed, rattling Nox’s brain in her skull and sending her senses reeling. She couldn’t determine up or down as the ground and sky flashed by. With its two pairs of six-metre-wide wings, the bird righted itself and swept around, grabbing Nox in its metal talons. With the ground and safety an unknown, Nox opted for her worm dagger and lashed out at the bird's legs to no avail. “Be nice,” said a voice, metallic but intelligent. “Or what? You won’t feed me to your little one?” Nox replied as her senses slowly returned to her. “I intend to do no such thing,” Returned the voice, “How is it you were in my flight path?” “I was thrown up, by the big one down there,” Nox pointed, first at her group and then to the buildings. “I wanted to see the buildings better and didn’t intend to hit anything. I’m Nox. What’s your name?” “He who is named Indomion.”   As they two spoke, the metal bird slowly lost height. Nox noticed that Fureva-Yung had pulled out the Purge-spitter cypher to shoot down the silver beast. “You better land away from my friends. They don’t understand you are helping me.” Indomion banked to better view the three companions on the ground. “She looks like a good fighter. I will do as you suggest.” “What is she playing at?” Marius said as the trio on the group first watched as Nox grappled with the giant metal bird, then seemed to direct it towards the ground, away from them. She was too far away for telepathic communication, and they were too close to Rockspine Outlook for shouting. As Indomion glided down to the ground, all they could do was run to intercept. Fureva-Yung used her fleet of foot to narrow the gap as the others jogged in behind.   Nox waved to Fureva-Yung before the metal bird landed, releasing its hold on her. Precocious child! Marius sent via the link as soon as he was back in range. What did I do now? Nox wailed, pointing back at the impressive bird behind her, I accidentally crashed into Indomium. “Do not eat Nox!” Fureva-Yung threatened with the purgespitter. Indomium head swivelled, metal feathers sliding against metal feathers to face the warrior. “I do not think she would be tasty,” Indomium’s beak clacked, proving that if that had been their intent, there would have been nothing Fureva-Yung could have done about it. “What do you eat?” Marius asked. He had no idea what a giant metal bird would find tasty. “Small creatures, nemijin,” Indomium replied offhandedly, naming a creature none had heard of before. “What brings you into collision with our Nox?” “I explore the land, taking an interest in old-world buildings.’ “We’ve just arrived,” Nox explained, “We want to know about those ones over there,” “That complex goes deep into the cliffside and is a marvel of the old world.” “We also come from a building from the old world, a giant spire that is a prison and…well, a teleporter,” Nox added, which meant the group spent some time explaining the Spire, its location and function. In return, Indomium shared what information they had on Rockspine Overlook.   “It was once a research facility, though I have yet to discover what the project was. The complex is much larger than seen from here and goes right to the bottom of the cliff.” “We’d planned to go in the top,” Marius said, sensing an opportunity for more information, “Would you recommend another way in?” “I cannot tell what lies beyond the walls, but,” Indomium turned back to Nox, who had taken herself away to rest after the collision, “I would be willing to take Nox here down to the base of the cliff and show her the other entrances.”   It was an offer too good to pass up, and soon, Indomium and Nox were soaring out over the cliff's edge. They plummeted down twenty metres into the dry valley, passing the viewing platforms only hinted at and two bridges that spanned the chasm. Indomium glided into the chasm, showing Nox the tiny stream and two sets of doors. The first were large double doors closest to the cliff face. It was guarded by an armed Redboot mounted patrol on the hairy beast similar to the creatures they had arrived on. The stream trickled into the chasm from outside, entering the complex through a stone conduit in the rock face. Passed the stream and a narrow path the mounted guards were too wide to walk, a second set of double doors stood at the end of the chasm. Leaving the chasm and following the cliff face to the west, Nox spotted a small hole on the western side between two lookouts. Flying past, the light from outside showed a small round room dominated by a crystal like the one on the larger building.   “From my research, the bulk of the old facility is housed in the eastern section, below the two buildings,” Indomium instructed Nox as they emerged from the chasm. Gained height once more they returned to the others to share their news.   “Sounds like we should have Nox teleport us to one of the two bridges and then see if we can find some friends,” Marius said excitedly at the thought of action. “That is a bad idea,” Jaden squashed that idea almost instantly, “We know one side is constantly staffed with lookout guard, and we’d be open to attack by whoever cam to help them from the other side. Fighting a two-front battle and alerting everyone to our presence simultaneously.” “Well, we could teleport straight to the front door,” He added, which was equally as unappealing.   The bickering about which way to enter the Rockspine circled between Jaden, Marius and Nox. All the while, Fureva-Yung took note of Indomion’s metal feathers. “Metal flyer, I like your feathers. Can we trade for one?” “You wish to trade for one of my feathers?” Imdomion sounded surprised at the idea, “I need my feathers to fly? What do you have to trade?” Fureva-Yung rummaged around in her bag and pulled out a cypher that when activated dripped a glowing line of luminescent paint. Though almost useless to Fureva-Yung, their interest in Indomion and the cypher’s rareness swayed the metal bird into handing over a secondary flight feather from close to the body.   “What if we teleport into the small room? If it’s inhabited, it would be easy to defend, and if we don’t like it, I can safely teleport us out.” “Wrong side though,” Marius noted, which Nox did agree. They would have to travel through the western side of the complex to find the main installation. “The guards on the ground can’t reach those small doors to the back of the chasm. Why not go there?” Jaden suggested and it was quashed for the same reasons as Nox’s suggestion.   All afternoon, ideas were suggested and rejected. Marius would suggest an attack on the small buildings, the others would say the guards to the large building were too close. Teleport into a lookout? Instant fight with guards that would draw others. The sun was dipping low when Nox suggested the small alcove again. “It looked empty. From there, we may see somewhere else we can teleport to. It may even be a good base for us if it’s forgotten. We wouldn’t lose anything by looking.” Without a better idea they could all agree on, they all grudgingly accepted. Jaden and Marius put on the uniforms of the guards they’d surprised on the road, and with a wave to Indomion, they teleported into the alcove.   The alcove was dark, only lit by slanting light through the hole Nox had noticed from the outside. The room was small, a little more than four metres across, with a yellow crystal in the centre. A passage out of the room was collapsed and full of boulders. It was clear that it had been a long time since anyone had visited the room.   Jaden looked out the crack out onto the valley below the cliff. Marius and Fureva-Yung went to see about the collapsed passageway and started moving rock to make a small passage to see what it led to. The yellow crystal entranced Nox. Scanning it, she could tell it was dense and could store kinetic energy, which was intriguing. She flicked its translucent surface with her index finger. The crystal glowed and hummed, turning the tiny shock into light and sound. “Why must you play with things?” Both Marius and Jaden face-palmed at the potential implications. “Let’s not do anything hasty,” Jaden pulled the weakly protesting Nox away from her new toy. Fureva-Yung stopped her work and asked everyone to be silent as she listened to the spaces around her.   Using the sounds of life that bounced through the complex, Furreva-Yung constructed a detailed plan of the floor they were on just with sound. She could hear footsteps as they bounced down passages. She could hear doors open and closed, defining those hallways. She heard wooden staves hitting heavy padding and the grunts of exertion defining a training room. She could hear the clang of metal on heavy metal and the roar of a furnace, a blacksmith nearby. She heard the bubbling of water, the short, sharp chopping sounds of vegetables being prepared, a kitchen preparing the evening meal.   Marius made a small gap in the rock fall enough for him to slither into the hall beyond. To the right, the upper bridge across the chasm he’d wanted to teleport to lay. To the left, the passage split, one going to a lookout and another deep into the rock. He even dared to sneak onto the bridge. Down a level, a broken bridge led to a pair of doors in the western wall of the chasm and a dark space to the east. When the sound of marching feet caught his attention, he quickly returned to the safety of the room.  

50. The road to Rockspire

After days surrounded by people in Akavel and months at home in Tiltspire, sleeping rough off the side of a road, Marius felt the dark and quiet like a physical presence. His companions asleep behind him, and their two horgalin mounts quietly snuffling to his right, Marius’ mind couldn’t help but be drawn to the simple comforts of Temila in Tiltspire. At this time of night, she’d be tucked safely into her hut, surrounded by the smells of drying herbs, aromatic roots and thick, sticky resins. Curled on her mattress stuffed with dried grass under a handmade blanket. Temila’s brown curls draped softly over her sleeping face. He brushed the curls aside in his mind, and her large brown eyes opened and looked up at him with complete trust and love. She opened her mouth to speak, but only a horrible blood-curdling scream came out.   The screaming tore Marius from his reverie as he realised it wasn’t Temila but one of the horgalins. Leaping from his seat in the leaflitter, he sprinted to where the mounts were tied up for the night against two trees. Around the sturdy leg on the nearest horgalin, a grey something gnawed, its face five overlapping flaps of skin. The beast was enormous, not as big as the horgalin, but certainly more than Marius wanted to take on alone. Charging up his armoured fists, he swung at the creature’s head. He had intended to gain its attention and lure it back to camp and help. In reality, he missed the creature’s head, overbalanced and fell, sprawling over the creature's shoulder and back. The shimmering grey fur, spiky and sharp, made it hard to judge where the beast began. A cold wave washed over Marius, and his grafted smart twitch cypher fizzled out with a spark.   Marius realised the cold wasn’t a wave washing over him. The energy was being drawn away from him. As he scrambled away, the creature forgot the horgalin and turned its attention to him, drawn by the tasty energy sources integrated into his body. “Ha! Exactly as I planned,” He said with false bravado as he stepped back. It was now clear if he spent too much longer fighting this beast, every power he’d been able to graft into himself over the last half a year would be destroyed. The creature lunged, its five lips wrapping around his shoulder as hidden teeth sunk in. Now, the screaming was his.   Back at camp, Nox awoke with a start and rolled into the safety of a nearby bush before turning to see what had awoken her. Fureva-Yung’s eyes snapped open. She slapped the release for her rubber armour and let it bounce her up onto her feet. From her vantage point, she could see Marius fighting a grey… something not far from the tied mounts.   The beast's lips slurped, drawing the energy from Marius. Another pop as his combat enhancement cypher depleted and turned black. A dark shadow fell over him, and he wondered if the creature, drawing off his life energies, was now dimming his sight, too.   Thud! Fureva-Yung landed beside Marius, her chain hitting the ground. Now there were two of them, Marius took a moment to look over the creature and see where it kept its energy-drawing ability. A nerve cluster behind the head shuddered with each cold wave. Reaching out his armoured hand, he squeezed the nerve, and the monster wailed in pain. The cold abated temporarily, but needed this thing dead and fast.   Fureva-Yung swung her chain again, connecting with the beast with a crunch. The impact sent it flying back, crashing to the ground on its side and sliding to a halt. Around the edge of the battle, Nox crept, herself almost invisible against the night. She reached the second uninjured horgalin. Marius and Fureva-Yung stepped back as the creature found its feet and assessed the situation. It looked ready to bolt. “Oh, no, you don’t!” Marius cried, his fist rocketing and smashing the creature in its teeth-filled maw. With the crunching of broken teeth under his fist, Fureva-Yung ran and leapt, striking again with the chain. This time, the creature did not hesitate to run.   “Harrrroooo!” A horgalin cried, rearing onto its hind legs and charging after the beast, Nox on its back. The two barrel-sized feet came down to strike the attacker. On the defensive, the beast slipped around the horgalin’s legs and bolted. This was not the easy meal the crature had first thought, and Marius was determined to make it its last. Running after the beast, he caught up, but his fist failed to connect. Behind him, Fureva-Yung sent out a shattering shout. It hit the beast in the shoulder, where a localised vibration began. The ‘pop’ echoed through the still forest as the shoulder gave way, and the great beast slid to a stop in the leaves.   Nox, on her mind-controlled horgalin, trotted to the downed creature. One large foot raised and stomped down on the head of the monster, ceasing all discussion about it being still alive.   “You’ll ruin the fur,” Fureva-Yung said, walking up with Marius to examine the beast. The fur was thick, with each strand as transparent as glass and just as sharp. It meant the beast didn’t have a colour. The browns and greens of its world reflected and refracted through the fur, blending it in. “You could make a good coat for yourself out of this.” “Do you think?” Nox said, getting off her mount to examine the fur herself. Burying her hand deep within the strands, she changed the colour of her skin, and the furs fuzzily altered to suit. “Say, I wonder if I could graft that onto my body,” Marius said, thinking over the possibilities. Besides providing a rather cool-looking coat, it would make him even harder to hit. “Hey, he’s stealing my coat!” Nox complained to Fureva-Yung, who laughed, a deep, rolling laugh. “I believe there will be enough for both of you, little one.”   Marius thought deeply about replacing his checkerboard hair with a thick pelt of shimmering grey. His arms and legs bulked out with fur that would break up his shape while he stalked through the forest around Tiltspire. Ahead, he imagined Temela, stopping now and then to collect fungus, berries and useful herbs. Silently, he moved, one with the bush around him, barely perceptible. He crept up on the unsuspecting apothecary, wrapping his hairy arms around her waist. She turned in their circumference, her large brown eyes surprised and delighted to see him. She ran her fingers through his hair as her lips reached for his. “Bristly!” Her smile turned to a disappointed frown, and she walked away.   “Nope! All your.” Marius said, “I thought it over and decided it wouldn’t make sense as I’d have to go around naked for it to be of any use.” “Ah-ha,” Fureva-Yung replied knowingly as Nox plucked a large canine from the broken head.   The moans of the injured horgalin reminded the group others needed their help. Fureva-Yung dragged the creature back to their camp as Nox looked for healing herbs. Marius walked over to the poor beast and comforted it, checking the wound as he did. It was bad and probably life-threatening if untreated. Pulling out his first aid kit, he cleaned, sutured and wrapped up the wound. The horgalin couldn’t carry them for the next few days, but at least it would live.   Nox had left Marius to finish bandaging the horgalin and was now elbow-deep in skinning the beast. Her small worm tooth knife was perfect for paring the skin from the flesh, and after an exhausting and sticky few hours, the fur was hanging from a branch drying, the body a crumpled mess of red at the far end of the camp. While the camp settled down again, Marius claimed another cypher he had put aside for this eventuality. Implanted, it would now allow him to grow in size and strength. Though, not a perfect replacement for what he’d lost, it would do.   Fureva-Yung settled down to take the watch until dawn, and the group relaxed into sleep once more. Too soon, the sun rose, and with it, a well-rested Jaden. She looked around the camp surprised to see Marius and Nox still fast asleep, even Fureva-Yung looking worse for wear. “I thought I told you, kids, no late parties,” She joked with Fueva-Yung as she got up and stoked the coals for breakfast. Her movement disturbed a mob of flies that had found the beast's carcass, “At least without me.” “There was an incident during the night,” Furva-Yung explained from her seat near the fire, “One of the mounts was injured.” “Oh?” Jaden looked at the two horgalin and realised one wore a bandage around a foreleg, “And no one thought to wake me to join in the fun?”   Slowly, the camp awoke, broke what fast they could, and continued. Fureva-Yung and Nox walked beside their injured mount, Fureva-Yung, out of the necessity of not harming the creature further, Nox for other reasons. It had been a while since she’d had a chance to look for trinkets and little shinies. Not the cyphers and iotum that Marius hunted, just pretty pebbles, polished pieces of wood, a colourful shell or scraps left in the world by civilisations past. She’d been studying the ground near the road all morning with nothing to show for her efforts until a glint caught her attention twenty metres into the forest.   “See the glint?” She pointed out something sparkly to Fureva-Yung, “I’m going to check it out.” Slipping through the forest, she was soon at the side of a collapsed earthen hill. The glint now revealed as a sheet metal door. Knocked aside in a landslide, she soon discovered it still hid a large space behind. Using reshape, she drew out a metal circle and looked through the hole into the darkness of a hallway half submerged in water.   “Look, I found something,” She said, placing the metal circle in her bag and widening the hole through the door. Fureva-Yung led the horgalin into the scrub, and Marius followed on his and Jaden’s mount. Using Nox’s hole as a handhold, Fureva-Yung pulled the door out of the remaining dirt and led the way down the passage, Nox stealing through the shadows behind.   A turning in the tunnel and a small flight of steps led down to a large pool of cold, stagnant water. Two tunnels led off to the left and straight ahead, with fifteen metres of black opaque water between. Striding forward confidently, Fureva-Yung walked into the water towards the left-hand bank. Though not deep, the pool’s ground was slick with algae. Her second step slipped out from under her, and she crashed into the water with a splash that sent a small tidal wave over Nox, standing just behind on the shore. The sudden movement caused something to slither away around her legs and swim away. “I’m pretty sure I got it,” She said to the drowned Nox before leaving the pool for the other side. Marius followed through the pool with better results, and Jaden hopped on board bellyache and rode across. Nox gauged the distance and stepped back a few metres before sprinting for the pool and launching herself into the air. She glided above the water, propelled only by momentum until she was caught on the other side by Fureva-Yung.   Turning the corner, the group were assailed by an intellect attack from a glittering-coloured something stalking out of the dark, lit by a crack of light from behind. Nox brushed aside the assault and peered deeply into the gloom to see a giant monitor lizard several metres long. It was a riot of colours shifting and changing. Around its neck, a collar of brilliantly coloured scale shimmered and swirled in hypnotic patterns. Slinking behind Fureva-Yung, Nox slipped into the shadows and disappeared.   Food….shineys….leave… A voice in their heads seemed to say. “Ooh, you are very pretty, and I’m not coming any closer,” Jaden cooed, crouching low as Marius waved his light hands to break up the lizard's mind-control abilities.   From out of Bellyache, Jaden pulled out a few scraps of food and tossed them toward the beast. It Turned its glittering head towards her, seeming pleased with the offering. Fureva-Yung, her six eyes unaffected by the hypnotic patterns produced by the lizard, started waving her arms around to distract it. She succeeded in scaring the lizard who was confused that the shinies were not appearing.   While the rest of the party created their distractions, Nox crept in beside the lizard to a small pile of sparkling trinkets and shin left by other explorers.   Leave the shin, The group said as Nox started collecting cyphers and iotum. From her bag, she pulled out another four shin she’d carried with her all the way from Cerelon. Outside of that community, she’d never found a use for the scraps of rare metal and plastic that were the basis of currency. She left them beside the lizard's small pile of shin and started back the way she had come.   The group as one started backing up. As a final salute, Fureva-Yung wriggled black backside at the lizard before following the rest down to the pool. There, Jaden was making sense of what Nox had found. The io was exceptional and inspired her to create a plan for a wheeled vehicle she would later call the ‘Screaming Wheeler.” Marius found a replacement for one of his lost cyphers, a cypher that adds heat to a weapon as extra damage. Nox picked up a cypher that claimed to grow wings. She thought about how Marius incorporated cyphers into his body and carefully put it aside in her pouch.   An angry hiss behind told them the lizard had discovered the theft. Leaving the lizard, the group waded, rode and glided across the water to the northern passage. This was little more than a crack in the wall that opened into a new area, but as Fureva-Yung crossed the pool, she once more slipped and fell. The water wasn’t deep, and she was already pulling herself up when a black tentacle reached out of the water and grabbed her, dragging Fureva-Yung under. Able to hold her breath for many minutes, Fureva-Yung relaxed and allowed the tentacles to pull her towards a pile of boulders. Ahead, she could see a long, thin, squid-like creature with ten short, stubby tentacles that stretched and contracted to reach every corner of the pool. She noted where the tentacle touched, a tingling numbness started to spread through her limbs. More severe than breath, she could now feel her arms and legs grow slow and sluggish as the creature’s poison took effect.   “Furry?” Above water, Marius activated his new hot hand cypher and prepared to attack. The water churned as black tentacles, and Fureva-Yung fought. “For goodness sake,” Jaden rolled her eyes and pulled out her electrified staff, “Poke it!” She thrust the staff into the water, hitting the creature and making the whole pool tingle with electricity. However, the draw from the water was too much for the staff, which crackled and sparked. Nox ran and jumped for the thrashing lump that was Fureva-Yung and the tentacled creature. She plunged her tiny worm tooth dagger into a tentacle as Marius grabbed hold of the beast from the other side. The smell of calamari filled the space as the tentacles finally loosened their hold on Fureva-Yung and slipped away. Fureva-Yung head burst through the water's surface. “Don’t hurt it! It’s cute!” She lamented as the tentacles floated lifelessly around her. “Hmmm, who wants lunch?” Jaden announced, suddenly ravenous.   Fureva-Yung dragged herself out of the water, where Marius applied a poultice to stop the squid’s poison. She made her feel strong again, but she was still sad the creature had to die on her account. “Sure you’re not hungry? There’s some good eating there.” “No, thank you,” She said instead, dragging the remains of the squid back through the pool towards the lizard’s home. Shinies?? A desperate projected image of its once hoard appeared in Fureva-Yung’s mind. “I’m sorry, here,” Fureva-Yung pulled the beak out of the squid and threw the rest as an offering to the lizard. Shiny?   While Fureva-Yung was away, the others searched the northern passage. The whole tunnel was a dead end, ruined by a collapse centuries ago. Still, Marius found a few iotum, and Jaden was able to put together a simple plan for a bezoar discharge. That night, as Nox was busy with her trinkets and Marius was off getting a good night's sleep without the party, Jaden set off her new toy. Jaden, Fureva-Yung and Nox were covered in a red-brown stain which, though blended in well with the environment, did nothing for Nox’s camouflage.   “Jaden! How will I sneak?” she complained, running to the nearest stream to try scrub what she could of the pigment away. “Yes, how indeed,” Jaden said under her breath, satisfied at a good job done.   For the next four days, the group followed the road. They found what food they could in the wild and slept when they found a good camp for the night. One by one, Nox presented gifts to each of her friends. To Marius, she gave a small ring (too small for his fingers) made from the canine tooth of the crystal-furred beast. Mounted into the tooth, a small brightly faceted piece of crystal from the crystal caves discovered during their first travels. “That’s not for you,” She said simply to Marius, who looked at the delicate ring in confusion before carefully putting it away for safekeeping.   To Fureva-Yung, she handed a chain link made from the bright metal she’d salvaged from the door, inlaid with a polished swirl of wood from the forest they’d been travelling. Engraved into the wood were the Ferrian words, Our link.   For Jaden, Nox presented an earring that attached to the ear cuff Marcus had made for her long ago. Twisted strips of the same bright metal held another iridescent crystal that hung as a bright drop of light.   By the fifth day, the walls of Rockspire began to loom above the forest around them. They had made it to their destination. Now to save a worthy friend.      

49. The leaving of Akavel

Early the following day, Marius, Fureva-Yung and Nox were already breakfasted and ready to start the day, but there was no sign of Jaden. “Still sleeping,” Marius told the group when questioned about Jaden’s absence, “Let her. If all goes well, we’ll be out of town and on our way to Rockspire by the end of the day. A long road a head. She might as well sleep while she can.” “There’s a package from Ecledda to pick up,” Ragnia said over the breakfast table. “We could do that,” Nox volunteered, “We don’t have to leave Rubbletown, do we?” “That sounds like a good use of our time,” Marius agreed, and Fureva-Yung nodded through some tasty wood shavings she’d found to eat. “No, the contact should meet you near the gate. You’ll know them by a tattoo. Three pieces of cloth held together by vines on their right shoulder.”   With their target’s marker in mind and their destination ahead, Fureva-Yung, Nox and Marius moved out into the morning foot traffic. Though the sun had still to rise above the curtain wall, Rubbletown was a hive of activity. People returned home from night shifts at the factory as others ran late for the day's first shift. The group wove through the bustle without a care, knowing their contact would be waiting at the other end of their journey.   It wasn’t until they were within three tent lines from the border fence of Rubbletown that they could all hear a disturbance. Fureva-Yung listened intently, hearing the jeers and whoops of laughter of a mob and the straining and grunting of others doing hard labour. “Should we go see?” Marius asked as Nox slipped away through the crowd ahead. “Sounds like an idea,” Fureva-Yung agreed.   Beyond the fenceline into Akavel proper, a crowd had formed around a large wooden cart piled with concrete blocks and worked stone. On top, one enforcer with a whip that sparked blue in the morning gloom, another with curses and threats drove on half a dozen Urendi, all locked into yokes and chained to the wagon. “Is this some sort of sport or punishment?” Marius asked Nox, who was already at the fence, fingers wound into the chain link mesh. “Do they not have beasts of burden?” Fueva-Yung, sounding offended. As Marius affirmed, they had seen a smattering of such cart animals, and all three spotted the tattoo. Three pieces of cloth, held in place by green vines worked up the right shoulder of a man yoked and chained to the wagon. Nox was inclined to leave the stupid people of this town to their bullying until she spotted the tattoo. With a sigh, she knew that Fureva-Yung would make a spectacle. “Do we take out the two on top?” Marius asked, comparing tactics. “We can’t go out with Fueva-Yung,” She said, “She’ll make more of a spectacle than what this is. What if we just…” What Nox thought was lost to a roar and a wood-shattering smash as Fureva-Yung shoulder-charged a wooden panel, part of the makeshift Rubbletown perimeter wall. The wooden planks flew, scattering the crowd and filling the space in front of the wagon with debris. Marius rolled his eyes and turned on his light gloves. In his rush, the switch got stuck, and he had to waste precious time fixing the problem.   Meanwhile, the two enforcers on the wagon turned on the new intruders. The enforcer with the whip lashed out at Fureva-Yung, hitting her for a small amount of damage. Electricity arced along the whip, enough to stun an average human. To Fureva-Yung it was a faint tickle. The second enforcer threw a canister into the breech where Fureva-Yung, Marius and Nox stood. Marius dodged away, avoiding the effect. Fureva-Yung felt the electrical blast, but her resistance again saved her. Nox took the brunt of the shock, making her senses spin.   Fureva-Yung leapt high, charging onto the wagon and pushing the enforcer with the whip, flying onto the hard-packed dirt of the road. The crowd began screaming and fleeing for their lives as this giant six-eyed monster dealt with the enforcers as if they were an adult bullying children off their sandcastle. In the chaos, Nox teleported into the midst of the chained Urendi, silent and unseen. “Here, take my hand,” She said to the one branded with the tattoo. “Oh! Ur…alright…,” The scruffy man said, surprised to see a young woman appear before him. He placed his dirty hand in hers. Marius’s hand shields were operating properly. He turned on his energy siphon, and the metallic veins that ran up his neck glowed. On the wagon, the second enforcer pulled out his baton and swung it at Fureva-Yung. It hit true, though his look of triumph turned to confusion and fear as soon as he realised it did not affect the six-eyed monster in front of him. Down on the ground, his companion turned to see the same thing and skidded away on his butt. While the show continued above, Nox teleported herself and the courier quietly away, back into Rubbletown, several tent lines from the border. “Don’t let them get away!” Fureva-Yung shouted, trying to pin her shattering shout on the grounded enforcer. It missed. Fortunately, Marius was there. He ran up, holding a baton and drove it down into the prone enforcer. One zap and the enforcer fell stunned.   From somewhere to their right, bells rang. The redboots had caught wind of the excitement. It was time to go.   The second enforcer jumped clumsily from the back of the wagon to escape the monstrous Fureva-Yung and the fast-hitting man, Marius. Fureva-Yung jumped down after him, her chain whipping out around the enforcer’s legs before she’d even hit the ground. He fell, face first, into the dirt of the street. The pounding of red boots and shouts were now apparent. It was definitely time to go. Fureva-Yung and Marius dragged their enforcers back to the wagon. Using a key found on one, they unlocked the remaining unfortunates chained to the wagon. As a mob, they scrambled through the chainlink and out of sight as the redboots arrived, the wagon empty and the men gone.   Nox and the scruffy courier were in a quiet space behind tents and huts of Rubbletown. The courier looked disorientated, and Nox wasn’t sure if it was because he’d just been teleported metres from where he’d been tortured or if that was his permanent state. “We were sent to find you,” She said quietly, getting the man’s attention by tapping the tattoo on his arm. “Oh…where are we?” “In Rubbletown,” She answered, more patiently than she felt and repeated, “We were sent by the Patchwork Dream. You have something for us.” “Yeah…? Oh, yeah…” He slowly caught on to what she was saying. Standing on one leg, he pulled off his shoe and rummaged around inside momentarily before pulling out a small orange lozenge. “Ewww!” Nox said, rummaging for her scrap of cloth to put the lozenge. Making a small parcel, she put it in her satchel for safekeeping. “I got picked up by the Redboots and put in the drunk tank. Can you believe it?” Smelling the fumes still wafting from the man, Nox could believe it. “So I had to get creative about where I put the package.” “Is there a passphrase that goes with it?” She asked, not interested in continuing this conversation longer than it had to be. “Wha…, oh,” He looked confused again. Nox sighed. “Just think of the time and person who gave you the job,” She said and read his mind. Q- What does the wild spirit desire? A- To roam open roads again. “Ur…I think I need a drink of water,” said the courier, looking pale. Without another word, Nox showed him to a nearby well and left him to find the others.   Fureva-Yung and Marius stripped their two enforcers, taking their batons and uniforms down to their red boots. “We’re getting quite a collection of these boots. Maybe I could start a business,” Marius said, realising the energy supply in his baton was depleted. He gave it back to the unconscious enforcer. Nox arrived not long after, having followed the sound of several voices talking. “Never heard of subtle?” She asked Fureva-Yung, who was looking very pleased with herself. “I do not understand this word, subtle,” She replied, trying to keep her face serious. Nox sighed. “So, what was going on out there?” Marius had asked one of the men unchained from the wagon. “The enforcers like a little sport. Once in a while, they’ll pick us up for being out after curfew or just because they don’t like your look. They’ll be made to pull the wagon up the street and down. “Have we made trouble for you?” “Na, this always happens. If anything, they may think twice about having sport with those they’ve rounded up.”   They left the enforcers near naked and unarmed to the tender mercies of the waking Rumbletown and returned to the library, the catacombs and Jaden, eating breakfast.   Nox pulled out the small pieces of material and placed the orange lozenge on the table without touching it. Subconsciously, she wiped her hand on her clothes. “You’ve already been out this morning?” Jaden asked, looking around the group, “You could have brought back some eggs.” Nox rolled her eyes, already frustrated by the adults that morning. “I’m sorry,” She said shortly and walked away. “What have you been up to?” Jaden asked the other two, whose arms were full of acquired equipment. Fureva-Yung put down the pile of clothing, batons and the electric whip. “Just a little exercise to start the day,” Marius grinned. Fureva-Yung put the whip and batons aside and towards Jaden. “Yes, Fluffy?” “Could you make one of these a link for my chain?” She asked, “I thought it would be nice to zap people with it.” Jaden thought for a moment. Without isolation, the electricity would just as soon flow into Fureva-Yung as into her enemy, though with Fureva-Yung’s resistance, that was hardly a problem. “Pretty or functional?” “Yes. With an on-off switch. “ Jaden sighed. What she wouldn’t give to have her workshop. “That will take some time. It’s doable, but not until we get back home,” “Thank you, Chief Engineer Officer. I leave it in your capable hands.”   Jaden picked up the left lozenge. It was the same as the others she’d swallowed and popped it in her mouth without a thought. Nox snickered. “Something to share, Nox?” Jaden asked, wondering what had got into the girl. “Yes,” Nox schooled her face to seriousness, “Your contact’s Code name is Ecledda.” She also gave Jaden the passphrases she’d extracted from the courier’s mind. “Good,” Jaden looked at the girl a moment longer before heading for the needle and thread room.   Jaden was back in the dark swirling mist of the secure communication space when she felt a presence behind her, her mouth tasting like an old shoe. She waited for the question and gave the required reply. “To roam the road again. Mind you, I could do with a second cup of coffee.” “Fair enough,” The reply came, a man’s voice familiar even to Jaden. “If you have one, I’d take it,” She asked hopefully, disappointing herself with the answer, “Still, I guess it wouldn’t translate. “We weren’t sure if you’d get the parcel,” Ecledda replied, “The courier was new, and we’d heard the redboots had picked him up.” “So I understand. I’m not sure I know how your courier accomplished it, but he did. Maybe I don’t want to know.” “It was meant to be a simple meet and hand over.” “Well, my friends returned with several batons they did not have when they left.” The time of pleasantries was over, “How do we leave the city?” “I have a friend who takes a wagon through the gates daily to make deliveries to outlying farms. So long as everything looks good, they don’t spend too long examining the cart.” “You smuggle things in and out? How about a person?” “You got me out of prison. We’re happy to help.” “And Rockspire?” “I don’t know much about that. I know the road there, but I've never been there myself.” “Contacts?” “No, not many live out there. The place doesn’t usually take prisoners.” “They have. We have to stage another jailbreak.”   They talked briefly about what Ecledda knew of Rockspire, which wasn’t much. Talk soon returned to a subject that Ecledda did know about. “The gates are two sets of gates with a no man’s land in the centre. Moving through the Cityside gate is easy. They let a wagon a time in before closing the gates and checking the paperwork and wagon.” “They do this to everyone, even merchant wagons?” “Yes. The redboots check your paperwork, then give the wagon a once over before opening the outer gates.” “Armed guards on the walls?” “Yes.” “Any spires or other high points to look over the wall?” It sounded like they’d have to smuggle Nox aboard the wagon. It wasn’t an idea that appealed to Jaden, and she hoped Nox could see over the wall for a site to teleport to. “No, it’s a straight curtain wall. It’s the most heavily defended stretch of the perimeter wall.” “Right. I will need to consult, but your wagon could be what we’re looking for.” She arranged to meet up with Ecledda that afternoon and closed the call.   “If we can get Nox out, she can teleport us all out,” She said to the others without conviction. “We could make a hole in the wall,” Fureva-Yung suggested. “The most heavily fortified bit of a thick wall?” Nox shook her head, “I couldn’t make it through, and we’d leave evidence of our being there. “You could look over the wall again like you did for the prison,” Jaden said. Nox shook her head. She wasn’t happy about being so exposed if she had to do it alone. “I was spotted once and nearly caught by some big flapping thing. As it was, I had to fall to escape it.” “You could double teleport,” Marius said, “When the inside doors open, teleport in. You teleport away as soon as the doors open to go outside.” “No, that’s even worse!” Nox shook her head, “I’m in a kill chamber the whole time I’m visible with nowhere to hide.”   The conversation went on thinking up more and more outlandish ways to make Nox’s trip safer. “Getting a good look at the wagon and then teleporting into it when it's on the outside?” “I teleport to a location, not a thing. I’d just teleport to where I last saw it,” Nox said, shaking her head again. “I think Ecledda’s option is the best. He smuggles me aboard the wagon and out of the city, leaving me someplace safe. If I’m discovered in the check, I can teleport back, and we can try something else.”   So, with that plan in mind, they met up with Ecledda later that day. They were met with two men, Ecledda, who was familiar to all of them and another leaner-looking wagon driver. “Hey, I remember you,” said the large man from high security, “How did you get us out of there? I don’t know, but I’m glad to return the favour. “You heard about the prison break?” Jaden asked the wagon driver, who nodded, “We need to get this one out.” She pointed at Nox. “ I am taking a load of hessian bags out for the harvest. She could hide in those if she were good and quiet.”   Nox stepped back, finding an area where the ropes of tents and support poles made a jumble of crossing lines and allowed her camouflage to blend into the background. “That should do it.” “Could someone dressed as an enforcer couldn’t go out with the wagon?” Marius suggested, one last ditch attempt to ensure Nox didn’t go out alone, “Say, to check out the farm.” “You’d still need paperwork,” The wagon driver said with a shrug. It would be Nox and Nox alone being smuggled out. “Remember, if things go wrong, you bamf out there, okay?” Jaden impressed on Nox as she climbed into the back of the cart with the piles of scratchy bags. Nox nodded silently.   .The heavy fabric tickled at her exposed skin as they weighed on her chest as the wagon trundled through the streets of Akavel towards the gate. Even when she took a breath, the bags smelt like dirt, and she had to keep her mouth closed so pieces didn’t fall into her mouth. Still, she was confident in her camouflage and how deeply she was hidden in the pile of bags.   Outside, the wagon stopped, and a set of heavy doors were opened. The wagon moved a few metres before stopping again, and Nox heard a new voice, one of the enforcers on the gate. “Vern, off later than usual this evening? Did you get caught up somewhere in town?” “A few more deliveries than usual, that’s all,” The wagon driver replied, accompanied by the rustling of paper. “Just you going out?” “Yep. I’ll stay out at the farm tonight.” “Good idea. Okay, this all seems in order. I’ll do a quick inspection and get you on your way.” The rustle of paper and the guard's voice moved to the back of the wagon where Nox lay. She lay perfectly still, even her heart seemed to stop beating as she could sense the piles of bags being moved around on top of her. She was sure he was only a layer away, one thickness of bags away from exposing her. Footsteps moved away from the wagon. Another gate opened, and the wagon started again. Slowly, Nox breathed as the imposing weight of the outer gate slipped past, and she was outside the city. She had made it. Still, she stayed where she was, trusting that the driver would tell her when it was safe to show herself. A half an hour later, the cart stopped again, and Vern’s voice called. “You can come out. It’s safe now.”   Nox peered from under the sacks and out into the quickly coming night. They were at a farm. Vern was untying the pack animals from the front of the cart, and no one else was in sight. She slipped out and walked along the edge of the wagon until she was face to face with Vern. “Thank you,” She said, and with a click. The space she had been in was empty.   Ecledda and the others were at a nearby bar when Nox teleported back into Rubbletown. Ecledda showed the others a game as they all drank rough moonshine. They hadn’t even noticed she’d returned. “You’ve been drinking,” She said, glancing at all of them but letting her eyes fall on Marius. “Yes,” He replied, in a jolly mood. “I was in a wagon, under scratchy heavy material, while enforcers poked around.” “We weren’t.” Laughter from the group. Nox was contemplating the unfairness of it all when Ecledda stood and looked at her. “Ready to take us out?” “You’re going too?” “I’m wanted here. Outside, well, I have a chance,” He said, smiling. To Nox, it seemed odd to be happy about his slim chance of survival. Still, this man had given them their way out of the city. It was the least they could do to give him his freedom.   All holding hands, they disappeared with a pop from outside the bar and appeared beside the empty wagon. Vern was just finishing with the horse when Marius spotted him. “Any chance of beds for five?” Marius asked, looking at the big farmhouse. “I just work here,” Vern said with a shrug, “The farmer gives me a bed for the night when I travel late. I can offer a haystack if you’re gone by morning.” “Is it secure?” Fureva-Yung asked, and Nox laughed a sharp little bark. “It’s a haystack.” “I just don’t want to be surprised by redboots.” “Why don’t we just start walking and find a place off the road.” Ecledda pointed back down the road where the wagon had come. “There’s a fork in the road about a kilometre back. South is back to Akavel, North West out to Rockspire.” The group shook hands with Vern and Ecledda, and with the light of Nox’s Hedge magic lighting their footsteps, they started down the road.   They had not even turned up the fork to Rockspire when they all spotted a light blinking through the bushes. Nox extinguished her light, as they all watched in silence as two enforcers on the backs of giant armoured beasts waddled down the road. The enforcers were quietly talking with each other, unaware of the trap ahead. Marius and Jaden hid in the bushes to the left side of the road. Nox found a patch of shadow to the right, disappearing. Fureva-Yung, thinking strategically, especially about those beasts, lay in the middle of the road. It wasn’t long until the enforcers could be heard on the night breeze. “What is that?” “It’s big, whatever it is.”   Over their telepathic network, Marius counted down. Three, two, one! Nox and Marius launched out of the dark, striking an enforcer each. Like sacks, they slid from their saddles onto the ground. At the same time, Fureva-yung grabbed the beast's reins to stop them from bolting. Neither beast seemed happy about the surprise. One started curling up, its heavy armour pieces locking into place. As its head pulled into safety, it drew the reins and Fureva-Yung's arm. Above, armoured pieces joined with a snap. Fureva-Yung had enough presence to drop the reins and withdraw her arm as the beast started turning into a giant armoured ball. “There, there. Now, none of that, you’re safe now,” Marius crooned to the beast. The amour stopped locking together as the beast listened to his soothing talk. Nox reached out and dominated the mind of the second beast. From straining to be free of the giant stranger in front of it, it suddenly stopped fighting and stood still.   The beast’s under control, Fureva-Yung, now dealt with the enforcers, taking off the equipment and clothes and tying them up with their own rope. “Where are you from?” She asked when the guards were conscious again “Akavel” They were half an hour from home and had probably felt very safe “What were you doing out here?” “Patrolling the highway between the farms and the city.”   Fureva-Yung decided they knew nothing of value and took them off the road where the next passing patrol could find them. With other ideas in mind, Nox tried stealing away, her dagger in hand. “I don’t think we need to commit murder tonight, do you?” He asked, placing a hand on her slim shoulder. “Do you really want them telling they saw dangerous people near the road to Rockspire?” She grumbled, though no one replied.   With one beast carrying Fureva-Yung and Nox and the other, Marius and Jaden, they set out along the road to Rockspire and their hidden camp for the night.              

48. The comings and goings

“Alright, Alric. We know who you are,” Marius said as Fureva-Yung returned, a person under each arm, “But, who the hell are you?” A deep infrasound emanated from Fureva-Yung, and Alric and the woman started to look ill. After the scare they received during the fight, they were in no condition to resist. “I’m Rothfilla Orix, I make things. Alric paid me to come down and look at the machine,” The woman blurted out. “Alric? We know you had Trask working down here. What does the machine do?” “I’m..not sure, “The bar owner stuttered, “I think…it makes something…something valuable?” “Come on, Alric, that’s no way to make friends,” Marius glared. “Tell her!” Roared Fureva-Yung and Alric went limp in her arms with fear. “I was hoping to spy on people. It talks sometimes. I thought I could listen in, learn some secrets, and make good business deals.” “WhyTrask? Why did you keep him a slave down here?” “The whole area had collapsed. He was digging it out. He was a very good digger.” Behind Alric, Fureva-Yung looked across at Marius, an eyebrow over her six eyes raised, and Marius had to hold his face very still not to laugh. “How did you know it was here?” “I own the pub. Trask could open all the doors, so we went exploring. We found the machine…thought it was fancy… I hadn’t seen anything like it before.”   Jaden now took the time to examine the machine. Rothfilla and Alric had pulled the panels off the front, exposing its inner workings. It was undoubtedly Ferrian technology. The familiar Ferrian script was all over the controls. As she stood following the wiring layout, she thought she could hear the gentle sound of trickling water.   “How long ago were you last down here?” Marius again to Alric. “Um…a couple of weeks ago. I heard the voices, and I tried to make them louder, but I did something wrong, and it shut down instead.” “Ah, Nox. I could do with a little help,” Jaden called, but Nox was nowhere to be seen. Marius looked around and spied a Nox-shaped shadow around the corner. Her camouflage made her form look two-dimensional and flat. “Nox, no need to be a wallflower.” He said encouragingly, but Nox did not move. If anything, she looked about to bolt. Fureva-Yung shook Rothfilla, who squeeked with fear. “Be helpful to Jadens,” She threatened. “Ah yes, so you have some experience with Numenera?” Jaden asked Rothfilla, who turned with a start. “I make things,” Rothfilla repeated, which caught Jaden’s attention. “Oh, so you’re an engineer?” “No, I make art objects from scrap for wealthy patrons in the Administration Quarter.” “Oh. Well, you’re not much help then.” Jaden dismissed the miserable woman and returned to her exploration of the machine. “Nox, I could really do with your help right now,” She repeated, glancing over at the corner Nox was hiding in but not moving to confront the girl. The shadow slid off the wall, and Nox seemed to melt out as her camouflage dissolved into more regular skin tones. Silently, she stepped across the room and read the control panels. “ Project: Kalfuvar. Weave Interface Prototype four.” She shrugged, having no clue what that meant. Jaden looked at Fureva-Yung, who looked like she was either trying to check her memories or was having a stroke. She too shook her head.   Nox wanted to leave, to forget this place and the crazy spinning head thing had ever happened. Still, that machine was intriguing. An Interface connecting two things…but what was the weave? Was the name Kalfucar significant? She reached out and scanned the device, waves of energy distorting the air in front of her. Suddenly, the machine started humming as something deep inside started up. From inside Nox, too, something was happening. She could feel a pulling sensation drawing something from her. She bent over, clutching her chest as a shadowy copy of herself floated free. The ghost had a moment to turn and look back at Nox, the two Noxs staring at each other before she was drawn into the machine and was gone. Fureva-Yung, the only other to see the second Nox, dropped Alric and Rothfilla and leapt across the intervening gap to grab the ghost Nox. There was nothing to hold but cold air, and the ghost was gone, slipping through her two strong hands.   From the ground, Nox looked up at Fureva-Yung, still rubbing at the deep gnawing ache in her chest. “Did we make a Nox-bunny?” Fureva-Yung nodded gravely, “I think so.” “Nox-bunny? What’s going on?” Jaden was beside herself with worry for Nox, who was only now getting back onto unsteady legs. “It seems this machine has something to do with the ghosts I saw in the catacombs. When the machine turned on, it…took something from Nox and formed a ghost.” “The dripping water in the cistern, where the weird fungus grew!” Marius put the clues together, and both Nox and Fureva-Yung nodded. “Well, where’s the ghost? Can we get it back into Nox?” Fureva-Yung shrugged her shoulders. Nox only wrapped her arms around her protectively. “Nox, help me. Maybe there’s something I can do,” Jaden climbed into the machine's guts, and Nox followed. Between them, they worked out it was a communication device calibrated to access not a far-off star but a different plane of existence. An Interdimensional communicator. Moreover, the device also seemed to have the option to transport physical objects. It appeared when Nox’s scan provided just enough energy to draw off a piece of herself and send it…somewhere else. “Jaden, Reverse polarity!” Fureva-Yung commanded.   Jaden climbed further through the machine to the source of the dripping water. It was cold here, bitter like the bite of deep winter or in   an ice cave. A section of the machine had eroded, leaving a green-blue fuzz-like hair. She patched the hole made by the water with synth steel and apt clay, diverting the water flow. The corrosion, on the other hand, was an irreparable energy component. The machine would never work as it was intended, which meant there was no way to reverse what had happened to Nox.   “Report Chief Engineer,” Fureva-Yung ordered as a frozen Jaden crawled back out of the machine. “Maybe she’s gone somewhere to have adventures of her own,” Nox mused at Jaden’s grave pronouncement. “It’s only working now because Nox became its battery briefly. I just don’t want anyone else with an affinity to be sucked away.” “Nox, our little walking battery,” Marius patted her head affectionately.   Jaden’s eyes lit with an idea, “Say, you guys had an adventure without me with some echoes, didn’t you? Something to do with a sound?” At the word ‘echo’, Nox ducked under Marius’ arm and behind the machine, fearful that Jaden had finally gotten around to the earlier fractured Jaden heads. Wedging herself in behind, she hit a cold spot, the worst yet, and she yelped as it bit into her exposed skin. The machine started humming again.   “You two, stay where you are!” Fureva-Yung barked at Alric and Rothfilla as she spotted another ghost walking out of the machine. Taller than her but not as muscular, the form was similar to Fureva-Yung’s. It was another Latimor. She raised her hand in a general Ferrian greeting and was surprised when the shadow reciprocated. Jaden, who heard the machine start, scrambled out of its innards only to hit a cold patch. “Jaden, please step to the side,” Fureva-Yung gestured, and Jaden gladly did as she was told. To the ghost, she now spoke in Ferrian, “I am Fureva. Can I help you?” She watched as the ghost tried to respond. She could almost hear a voice, tinny and distant, in the response.   On the machine’s panel, she wrote ‘FUREVA’ in large block letters. The ghost tried to do the same but couldn’t make an impression.   “Ah, Furry? What’s going on?” Marius asked, only seeing half the pantomime happening before him. “There is another ghost here. This one is of very familiar appearance,” Fureva-Yung explained the problem with communication. “Why don’t you try just following where he goes? Follow his movements.” Jaden suggested, and with a little trial and error, the name Nodir-Nodare was clear. “Doctor Nodir?” Fureva-yung asked and the figure nodded. “Who is he?” “A scientist. He felt that if we could communicate with another plane of existence, we could find allies against the Sacristans. He had a device he could connect to people on a closely connected plane. Early success was cut short when he disappeared mysteriously.” “Like be sucked into his own device?” Jaden nodded, seeing how it would have occurred. “Could we reverse it? Make him solid?” “He’s the expert, ask him.”   After establishing ‘...raise your right hand for yes and your left hand for no…’, communications, it was clear that Dr Nodir had some idea. With Marius’ help, Jaden set up the machine as instructed. Jaden turned it on and everyone stepped away as the form of Nodir-Nodare faded in and out of phase. Eventually, he grew more solid and stepped away from the machine. Multi-lensed glasses set for six eyes perched on his brow. He was taller than Fureva-Yung but slimmer, not carrying the muscle she possessed. He bowed and in Ferrian gave his thanks. “How long have you been gone?” Fureva asked the scientist. “I’m really not sure. It is a discombobulating experience, stuck between phases.” “Can you tell me, of the aligned planets, which one we’re on?” “Well, yes, Far Ymir. It was chosen as the world was settled and peaceful but backward by Central’s standards.” “That would be why the trap for the Malignant entity was built here. Away from the densely populated worlds?” “The Malignant what? I’m sorry, I’ve been busy with my studies, I seem to have missed something.”   It was discovered later than Dr Nodir was trapped long before the Malignant Entity, before the end of the war which came as something of a shock to the scientist. “You have unusual aids,” Dr Nodir noted, gesturing to Jaden and Marius who had worked to free him from his own device, “I never found the native people’s very…efficient.” “I can assure you that my companions are knowledgeable, surprisingly capable.” Fureva’s glance whipped around the others. Jaden didn’t understand anything that was being said, and Marius’ Ferrian was too rudimentary to pick up on the perceived racist comment. Only Nox glared at being assumed ‘stupid’, but said nothing, translating for Dr Nodir as kindly as possible. “Are they in the military?” “Dr Nodir, the war is over…millenia ago.” “Oh,” That shocked the scientist, “Did we win?” “The Ferrian Compact and Sacristans came together against a common enemy. A malignant A.I.” “They came together. This enemy must be of significant power to do that.” “Celeron is enslaved,” Nox offered by way of example. “Celeron?” “A human civilisation,” Fureva explained. “Oh? They have those?” Fureva changed the subject, “What was left of the Ferrian Compact sublimated to the Datasphere. I’m sure if they were still active today, the people of this world would have joined.”   The conversation soon moved to Doctor Nodir, machine and his experience trapped between worlds. “It was an odd existence, trapped between worlds. Sometimes I would be aware of here, and sometimes the other world. My research had begun to make significant connections with creatures from the other plane…” “Creatures with horns?” Marius mimed, and Doctor Nodir chortled at the description. “Yes, they had horns. They seemed friendly, though it was difficult to communicate with them. I had an idea of boosting reception and was working alone late one night. I admit to ignoring safety protocols as it seemed to be working. And then…” He gestured with his hands disappearing into nothing. “Well, all the better to turn this thing off before else gets caught,” Jaden said to the Doctor through Nox. “There’s an emergency switch. If I’d had an assistant with me that night to press it…I wouldn’t be here now that is for sure.”   The group then discussed what to do with this out of place Doctor. Though highly trained and experienced, he had no language and was out of date with current society. “There seems to be three choices for you as we see it,” Fureva outlined, “You can come with us to free one of my old companions, a dangerous mission. You could stay in this city with a group called the Patchwork Dream. Your expertise would be invaluable, but no one speaks Ferrian. Or we can return you to our home at the Spire. There you can use the A.I of the Spire to get up to speed and learn the common language while being part of a larger community.” “I think the option with the A.I sounds the most appropriate,” Doctor Nodir finally agreed. The group decided that Nox, Dr Nodir and Fureva would teleport back to Tiltspire. Fureva and Nox could introduce the Doctor to the community before teleporting back. Meanwhile, Marius and Jade would entertain Alric and Rothfilla.     The three travellers held hands. “Beam us up, Nox,” Fureva said in her most official voice. “Aye-aye Admiral,” Nox beamed cheekily and the two Latimors and their tiny pilot disappeared with a pop.   “Right, “ Jaden smiled at the two captives who looked more relaxed now that the huge Fureva-Yung had gone. They shouldn’t have. “You two have had a few shocks today, haven’t you?” She asked, sweetly. Her Grandmotherly face all empathy. “Feeling okay?” “So, does the machine listen in? Can we hear the Exarch?” “Now why would you want to do something like that?” “Like I said, sometimes its hard to know which way the Exarch is thinking. With little insider knowledge, I can get ahead of the game, make a little money.” “And that’s why you sold our friend, Trask?” Seeing how this interview was playing out, Marius interjected menacingly, “Did you make a little money there?” “Gul really wanted him, he twisted my arm. He was willing to pay, but he was also willing to ruin me.” “What do you know of Gul?” Jaden changed the subject in the same sweet reasonable voice. “He’s the favourite of the Exarch. Always working on some project or another to win the Exarch’s favour. The Exarch needs a big win after being sent out to this backwater…” Alric stream of talk petered out as he became aware of the subject of their conversation. “Why do you want to know about the Exarch, anyway?” Marius tried testing the waters, “How do you feel about the Empire?” “Ur…, “Alric looked concerned, as if he’d stumbled into something way above him, “Are you guys from the north? Look, I just make a living selling beer…” “Alric, don’t put yourself down, “ Jaden again, “I’m sure you have friends in all sorts of circles. Get into all sorts of…places.” “I can be of use. Maybe we can be of use to each other.” Alric brightened, seeing an opportunity to profit from the disaster this day was becoming. “No,” Marius said emphatically, “He’s happy to sell out a friend…” “Now, now, a whisper in the right ear about where this cellar goes…” “Then we’d lose it too.” “He has a lot to lose, everything in fact. As does his companion.” Jaden now turned her gaze on Rothfilla who blanched. “I…I just got paid to work!” “And how is life treating you? The…art installation business, I mean.” “It’s comfortable,” Rothfilla replied looking anything but comfortable. “Do you have any prominent patrons? Any installations in interesting places?” “Wha…what are you implying?” “Sit back, get comfortable. We’re going to get to know each other a little, and then you’re going to be of use to some friends of ours. And while they waited for Fureva and Nox to return, Marius salvaged parts from the machine and Jaden made Alric and Rothfilla very aware of how they could be of benefit to the Patchwork dream.     Nox focused on the first important spot she thought Nodir should see, the connection to Nexion’s datasphere, in Deep Craven territory. For a scientist use to the height of the Ferrian Compact’s technology, the hand dug caves and derelict remains of the tower were a sobering sight. “They’re very…quaint,” Nodir gestured to the milling Deep Craven who were curious about the new arrival. “They live here, looking after Nexion,” Nox gestured to the key, “He can teach you all sorts of things.” “Including the language,” Fureva added, “That should be your number one priority.   They took him up the elevator and out into the shantytown that was Tiltspire. It was clear to Fureva and Nox that the makeshift look of the community was not making a good impression on Nodir-Nodare. “Yes, yes we need to make it level, no the bubble in the middle Livinaar…” Yitti was patiently trying to show Nox’s father how to build a house. It wasn’t going well. Nox blushed on her Father’s behalf but said nothing. Doctor Nodir’s prejudices of humans was being confirmed every moment.   “Maybe we should introduce Dr Nodir to some of the leader’s?” Fureva looked around, her extra height giving her the advantage, and she soon spotted Resina pouring over plans on a makeshift trestle table. “Resina, I would like to introduce you to a contemporary of mine, Doctor Nodir,” Fureva introduced, already surprising Resina with her eloquence, only to be confronted with a second Latimor. The usually cool and calm Resina did a double take. “A…great pleasure to meet you Dr Nodir,” She replied, Nox translating for her. “She is not to be trusted,” Fureva added in Ferrian. They all smiled politely. “It’s really as I suspected,” The Doctor nodded his head solemnly.   They walked around to the workshop where Ivasha was making basic tools for use in construction. “And this is Ivasha, one of our engineers,” Fureva introduced her to the Doctor who raised his eyebrows in surprise. “A human engineer?” “As is Jaden, the human who saved you from your machine,” Fureva said tactfully, hoping that Doctor Nodir would get the impression that there were people worthy of respect. “Ah yes, yes they will make valuable assistants.” “Ah, Dr Nodir, I would ask you to remember this is their town and they are worthy of respect.” “But Admiral,” Nodir smiled his most patronising smile as if talking to a woman who was overfond of cats, “Only one can speak Ferrian.” “I assure you Doctor, that won’t be for long. I have found these people to be intelligent and highly resourceful. I would like to see that in your time here you help the community in any capacity you can and help repair the Spire’s systems.” Fureva said with a finality that reminded everyone (even those who could not speak Ferrian) that she was still an Admiral.   Next, they found Temila and introduced her as the community’s healer and botanist, “And someone you can put your trust in.” Said Fureva respectfully to the woman who saved her memory, “She will be able to tell you what barks and bugs are best for eating.”   Moments later, after leaving Dr Nodir to his own devices in Tiltspire, both Fureva and Nox popped back into existence in the basement. Jaden and Marius had done their best to put the fear of horrible retribution into the hearts and mind of Alric and Rothfilla and they were about to let them go. “Don’t make me hunt you down,” Fureva said as the elevator closed on two terrified faces.   With another pop, they were back in the catacombs of the Patchwork Dream, informing Ragnia of a new, possibly useful contact. “He handed over Trask after a little blackmail and cash, but he may be useful for a while.” Marius said. “And you? Are you still bent on following after Trask to Rockspire?” Ragnia asked. “We have to. We’re all at threat of the Malignant Shard if we can’t get him back.” “Well then, I may have some news for you. Eccleda, one of the ones you rescued from the prison. They say they have a way into Rockspire, it seems they do work out there sometimes. They should be able to provide information about Rockspire, if not help you through the gates. Would you like me to make contact with them?”   It was agreed, and as Nox was falling asleep on her feet after teleporting all day, they all prepared for a long rest. Regardless of how sleepy she felt, when Marius confronted Nox about the echoes, she broke down and told him about it all. She admitted that the echoed had been her random thoughts and feelings made real by the cypher. She confessed to being embarrassed by their appearance and shamed that they had hurt her friend so much. A short way away, Jaden looked on, only too aware, that she was no longer Nox’s confidant.   That night, Fureva-Yung saw a horned ghost walk through the common space in which they slept. With a fart of that echoed through the empty halls, the image faded away to nothing and the ghost disappeared from her sight.                      

47. You are what you eat.

  The clanging of gongs and the roar of hand-cranked claxons filled the night as the four companions trudged back to the old library in Rubble. “Well, that was a fail break,” Marius mused. Jaden looked at him sideways for his lousy pun. “Do you think we should go and help?” Fureva-Yung said, getting the first smile out of the group since before the attempted rescue of Trask, Fureva-Yung’s friend and Sion. “We know where he is and how to get there. Anything to do before we leave tomorrow?” Jaden asked. “I do not like leaving these people here without help,” Fureva-Yung finally replied after a moment’s thought. “None of us does Furry, but it's not why we’re here,” Marius replied, “Trask needs our help, too.” Nox, who had said nothing since teleporting out of Redboot, now spoke up. “We have to go back to the bar. Trask was working on some there, one floor down from the cellar. That’s why the rope, and that’s why the owner was protecting him.” “Really? First I heard of it?” Jaden queried, but she knew Nox’s moods and could see the girl was shutting down. “Easy. You can teleport us straight to the cellar in the morning.” Marius clapped his hands, glad the group had a direction for the next day.   Fureva-Yung had been asleep for some hours when she awoke freezing. “Shut the airlock!” She barked and then realised she was lying on a pallet on a hard stone floor in the hideout of the Patchwork Dream. They had returned from the failed mission and gone to sleep in preparation for the morning’s exploration of the bar’s cellar. She shivered and sat up, looking around. Nothing to see…except…up in the corner, the sparkling of ice crystals. One of the shadow creatures had been past, or more likely, was standing behind her, making the air around her cold. Even now, the room was losing its chill, and frost was disappearing on the wall. Noting that the frosted wall had a room behind it, Fureva-Yung sprung up and raced around the quiet catacombs. Here! A glimpse of a shadow disappearing into another wall. Beyond it, only dirt and rock. She could see a clear line of frost this time, going along the floor and into the wall.   “What was that noise? I heard shouting,” It was Trilly, stumbling from a cot in her workshop. Fureva-Yung thought that someone with better people skills and more deductive reasoning might be appropriate. She closed her six eyes and let Yung take the back seat as Fureva stepped forward. “Ah, Trilly, I’m glad you came.” “I heard shouting…what have you got there?” She noticed the line of frost leading to the wall, “Is that frost?” “Yes, do you by any chance have something to mark this with?” Fureva asked, and to her surprise, Trilly handed her a piece of chalk.   Fureva drew in an arrow along the disappearing line of frost pointing to the wall. “Do people often comment on unusual cold spots in the catacombs?” She asked, handing back the chalk. “Ocassionally. Once, a random patch of cold threw off my experiments. Why? Do you think your ghost visions are involved?” “Yes, I do. I have been seeing them ever since I ate your tasty bugs.” “Ah, yes, I was worried about that. I was thinking along the more regular variety of hallucinations, not ones with physical effects,” She gestured to the vanished frost mark. “I was feeding those bugs you ate an unusual fungus with high energy levels. I’d hoped it could act as a mutagen, maybe spur on some interesting mutations.” “Fungus? Do you think you could show me where you found that fungus?” Trilly yawned, “Sure, tomorrow, though, okay?” “Sure. It doesn’t happen to lie in that direction, does it?” Fureva pointed down the line of the arrow and into the wall. “Ah… no.” “No, they seem to travel in all sorts of directions.” Fureva furrowed her brows in frustration. “It would be beneficial to mark out those cold spots, you know, on a chart of the catacombs.” “Yes, I’m sure it would be, but I’m going back to bed.” “Yes, me as well. You may go.” Fureva said casually. Trilly looked a little shocked to be spoken to in that way but said nothing. The new visitors were strange.   First thing in the morning, Fureva-Yung was waiting outside Trilly’s lab. “Ah! Oh!” The half-awake Trilly stumbled bleary-eyed into the towering bulk of Fureva-Yung, “Oh, yes. Coffee. Need coffee.” She wandered off in the direction of breakfast. “Are you ready to go to the cellar?” Nox asked, drawn to her friend by Trilly’s exclamations. “I was visited last night by a cold thing. Trilly has offered to show me something that could be related.” “Oh?” Nox said, now curious to learn more about Fureva-Yung’s latest discovery. “You know, if you were friendlier, those shadow bunnies of yours might warm up to you,” Marius said, walking past on his way to breakfast. Nox stuck out her tongue at his retreating back and walked side by side with Fureva-Yung. “I can’t help thinking they would make a great ally,” Furvea-yung admitted.   The group ate breakfast, Fureva-Yung munching through the last of the control group Trilly had given her the day before. She kept one last bug, a big juicy one just in case, for when they reached the fungus. Trilly, now halfway through her allotted brown drink of the morning, was more conducive to talking about her pet experiment and the fungus at the heart of it all.   “This way. At one time, it was part of an old sewer system, “She said, pointing the way with her coffee mug. Ahead, a crack in the wall allowed access to more passages, low tunnels of brick and stone. She stepped through the crack and continued to lead the way into darkness.   Fureva-Yung was on high alert for any of the shadow beasts. She saw the glimpse of two horns going around a corner or red glowing eyes following their progress from the shadows, but nothing more. What she had noticed was that there were at least two of the bipedal minotaur sort, one as short as a child and one at least as tall as an adult. There were other small creatures as well, including insectoids that scuttled through walls on multiple legs.   Eventually, they came to a cistern where several sewers connected. Now filled with earth and decomposing detritus, the centre was kept moist by the constant dripping of water. Iridescent mushrooms glowed bluely in the darkness.   Nox scanned the mushrooms and the ground around them. The others could see the air shimmer as energy passed through the air to the soil only to bounce back. Nox’s scan gave her an image and knowledge of what she focused it on. The mushrooms, for biologicals, were filled with concentrated Numenera energies. The soil, too, seemed to contain high levels of energy she’d expect to see in iotum and cyphers. It was like the whole area was covered with the dust of numenera, and the mushroom had somehow concentrated that energy. But where had this dust come from? Scanning down, she saw the remains of several animals. Some small, like birds or rabbits, at least two much larger. She started digging with her hands to reach the larger remains and understand what was happening.   “Okay, Fureva-Yung, start digging,” Marius said as a slow smile appeared on Fureva-Yung’s face, “You’re the better digger. I can’t claim that title.” “Marius, you’re are too kind,” Fureva-Yung nodded and started digging with her shovel-like hands beside Nox. Not to be left out, Marius pitched in, and they were soon down deep enough to uncover large bones of a bipedal creature. It was then that Marius felt something was wrong. His head swam momentarily before he stepped back and shook himself free of the effect. He saw Nox sway where she knelt before blinking and returning to her work. Fureva-Yung, however, blinked once, twice, and pitched head-first into the hole.   “It’s the dirt,” Marius said, brushing it off his hands and arms, “It’s a trap.” Sure enough, he could feel his feet sink into the ground and could see Fureva-Yung disappearing into the hole. “Quick! Help me pull her out!” Between himself, Trilly and Nox, they dragged Fureva-Yung out of the hole and away from the dirt. For her part, Fureva-Yung snored, farted and lay still.   Nox shivered, and Marius was suddenly made aware of a coldness to the cistern. “You don’t think she farts ghosts out, do you?” He said as Nox scanned the area. A creature no more than sixty centimetres tall with two small horns loped along like a monkey. “I wonder if they’re not ghosts of the creatures that were trapped and died in the soil only to be given life by the energy collected here,” Nox mused as she spotted the bones she’d been digging towards. With her Hedge magic, she extracted a large femur, human-sized and floated it to Trilly. “Some of the beings Fureva-Yung described are buried here. I still don’t know where the numenera is coming from.”   They were underground. It would make sense if it had washed down from somewhere else. Nox looked around to find the source of the dripping water she had heard when she realised she could no longer hear the regular tapping. Looking up, frost marked the ceiling in one corner. Tiny icicles had formed where the moving water was stopped in its tracks by the cold. Without a thought, she hovered to the corner, scanning the water and through the brickwork. The intense cold was already dissipating as she reached the roof. She was just reaching out once more when a sudden frigid cold washed over her.   From the ground, Trilly and Marius looked on as a coating of frost covered Nox before she plummeted ten metres. “Practising your synchronised floating Nox?” Marius quipped as Nox caught herself before crashing into the dirt. As his reward, Nox touched her blue frost-rimed hand to his neck. “You’re cold!” “Genius,” Nox grumbled, floating back to her feet. “Oh!” A shriek from Trilly, “Oh, that was cold! Something ran past me.” “The same something that hit me, “ Nox nodded and looked down at the snoring Fureva-Yung. Placing her cold hand against Fureva-Yung’s warm neck did not enlist a response, neither did calling to her telepathically. “Where are those bugs? We’ll just hold one to her nose,” Marius suggested, but the remaining bug she’d saved did nothing to wake her from her deep slumber. “Oh well, I guess I get out my pink hair gel,” Jaden whispered into Fureva-Yung’s ear. Just watching made Nox’s ear tingle, but it did nothing to the slumbering Fureva-Yung.   “How are we going to get her back?” Marius asked out loud. “That’s easy,” Nox replied, taking hold of Fureva-Yung’s hand and offering her free one. “How are we going to clean this dirt off?” “If you can get her there, in my lab, there is a decontamination shower. It’s cold, but any contaminates will be washed away.” Jaden took Nox’s hand, “I’ll go with you and help. Anyone else?”   “I’ll travel on my own legs if you don’t mind,” Said Trilly, who had witnessed the group’s teleport out to the prison only the night before, “I want to take a few samples here first. Soil and water, I think.” “I’ll help with that,” Marius said, gaining a querying look from Jaden, “What? No one should walk alone here.”   The sleeping Fureva-Yung, Nox and Jaden disappeared with a soft pop as Marius and Trilly set to work. Out of deep pockets, Trilly extracted tubes, small plastic bags and a notebook. Marius was kept busy collecting water, soil and fungus samples, all the while keeping clear of the earth pile. When Trilly looked satisfied, they started back through the sewers, towards the crack that led back to the catacombs.   Then Marius’ danger senses tingled. Without a word, he grabbed Trilly and pulled her back around a corner just as something emerged from the shadows. At first, it looked like a large, bipedal being. As it stepped into the circle of Trilly’s light, a pair of long root-like structures held up a knot of vines that made up the creature’s body. Where a head should be, a rotten meat coloured red flower unfurled. Along the vines, the iridescent fungus glowed, outlining the beast in the darkness.   “Ah, got anything to defend yourself with?” Marius whispered to Trilly. From the depths of one of her bottomless pockets, she pulled out a cypher. The scent of rot and death washed in ahead of the creature, making Marius want to be sick. Stirring himself to action, he punched the flower, making it shudder and sending more stench into the air. Trilly covered her mouth, pinching her nose close to stop the smell. She pointed the cypher at the beast only to have the projectile go wide and miss. Pulling a rag from his bag, Marius tied it around his mouth. When the vine-like arm swung out at him, he dodged aside and threw a tainted sample of soil into its flower. He hoped a little of what had made it would do it some harm. Nothing.   Trilly threw a rock. It smacked the creature in the flower, bruising a petal. The creature swung out at Marius again, missing by a mile as he dodged under the vine and gave it an uppercut. Trilly could no longer hold her breath. With a cough, she sucked in a breath and turned green. Her rock fell short of its mark. Marius did not feel well. He escaped another attack from the creature, but his next strike failed to hit. He didn’t think he could stand being near this thing any longer and contemplated running. Dodging once more, he struck out and smashed the flower to pulp. The vines lost coordination and slumped to the ground no more than a pile of green waste.   At the death of the creature, the stench started to clear. Still feeling less than sound, Marius and Trilly stepped through the crack in the wall and headed back to the library.   Fureva-Yung awoke some hours later smelling fresh of…was that… peach? She sat up, finding herself in Trilly’s lab her fur smooth and… shiny. Marius and Trilly walked in looking worse for wear as Fureva-Yung stood up and took stock. “Marius. Do I seem shinier to you?” She asked as Marius slumped into a nearby chair and Trilly collapsed onto her cot. “Right at this moment, everything seems shiny to me,” He winced, looking a little hungover. Fureva-Yung looked from Marius to Trilly and wondered just what had been going on. “Trilly, have you seen anything like that thing before?” “No. I sure won’t be heading out that way alone in the future,” Trilly replied muffled as it was by her sleeping bag, “Um, thank you for being there.”     POP! The four of them appeared in the cellar later that afternoon. Fureva-Yung asked for silence as she listened to the sounds of the bar above. There were a few people above eating late lunches and complaining about their bosses. Below, two voices were in an animated conversation, and one of them was Alric. The one-eyed, five-legged scuttlers were the only thing to notice their arrival.   Nox also listened for the echo. It was closer, she knew it but didn’t know exactly where. She couldn’t believe she could be so stupid. All her fears, curious thoughts, and all her inner musing, all exposed for everyone to see. It was so embarrassing! If she could just convince the other that it had to be destroyed, then maybe they wouldn’t work out how it had come to exist at all. Fortunately, Jaden was already busy working on the lift controls. “Someone has bypassed the tattoo security override,” She said, looking at a pile of memory cards and wiring spilling from the control panel, “Never mind, I can fix it.” Fureva-Yung grinned. With the control panel fixed, only they could call the lift. Alric and his companion were trapped.   It took her very little time to return the controls to normal and call the capsule. “But they’re going to know we’re coming,” Marius said, who opted for climbing down and catching them by surprise. “Yes, they will know we’re coming,” Fureva-Yung agreed, cracking her knuckles and stepping into the lift.     The lift doors opened onto a blank stretch of all with passageways to the left and right. It was dark except for Marius’ armoured hands and the small ball of light of Nox’s Hedge Magic. Fureva-Yung, with Jaden beside her, strolled out of the elevator as if they owned the place as Nox crept behind in Fureva-Yung’s shadow. The control panel for the lift had been tampered with on this side. For Jaden, it was a moment’s work to reestablish the systems and replace the faceplate.   Down a short hall, a door lay silently closed. From their tiny movements, Fureva-Yung knew that Alric and his companion were inside. With a nod from everyone, Jaden started a litany of jargon-filled poetry on the proper disarming of a security system as Fureva-Yung burst through the doors. Alric and a woman were ready with guns. Marius leapt past, dodged the laser and needle dart, disarmed Alric, and, for seconds, disarmed the woman. The guns clattered into a dark corner, where Nox snatched up both, hiding them in her bag.   “Give up! “ Marius barked, and Alric and his companion put up their hands. Jaden stepped across to where they had been working at the machine, and the room went dark. Marius lifted his light-gloved hands to find them dimmed. Fureva-Yung glanced at her tattoo and could barely see its glow in the room. The light flickered. Standing at the console of the machine was a woman. Jaden jumped back, readying her staff, when she realised the woman looked just like her. The woman started campering, dancing crazily on the spot as the head began slowly rotating around on its shoulders. “What is this?” Marius looked around the group. Nox hid in the shadows, her worst imagining realised and standing before her. “Huh? I wear it better,” Snorted Jaden, lashing out with her staff.   The echo shattered, splitting into twenty or more Jaden heads all the size of grapefruits. Nox and Marius were able to roll or dodge away from the impact, but Jaden and Fureva-Yung were hit with psychic shocks. “Destroy them!” Nox squeaked as she saw her friend hurt by her own projections. “I think they’re intelligent,” Marius answered and responded to their attack by clapping one between his armoured hands. It burst and disappeared into nothing. Nox tried blasting them with a psychic burst, but they moved fast and dodged out of the way. Fureva-Yung’s chain went straight through, and Jaden failed to connect with her staff.   The Jaden heads began to morph, some taking the appearance of Livaanar, Temila, Marius Fureva-Yung and something vaguely Nox-looking. All were crying. A psychic attack blasted through the room. The two miscreants took the opportunity of the distraction to get away from the group. “Do you think they’re trying to communicate?” Fureva-Yung tried sensing them with her radar, but they did not register. “I think,” Marius said, “that only an act of true love will solve this situation.” Jaden turned to Nox, who was rummaging in her bag, “Nox, what are these?” Nox didn’t know what to say, ‘...my fears and desires made real?’ How could she admit that these were what was inside her head almost all the time. “They don’t matter, just kill them!”   Jaden turned to the closest, a head of Marius, balling its eyes out, and reached out a hand. The head tried zipping away, but she gently brought her other hand up and caught it. “Shhh, you don’t need to worry now. I won’t hurt you, “ Jaden said, and a wave of calm moved from Jaden to Nox on the private connection they’d always shared. At the same time, Marius also grabbed a head. This was one of the feminine, almost Nox-looking ones. “You’re safe with us now,” He said, and through the telepathic link, Nox could feel his acceptance. Fureva-Yung thunder beamed one in the face, and it winked out of existence. The held ones vibrated as if nervous or scared. Nox pulled out Alric’s laser pistol and aimed it at one of the heads. The shot missed, and the gun blew up in her hands. Why couldn’t she kill these things?   An arc of electricity leapt through the free heads, making Fureva-Yung’s hair stand on end. Nox dodged the attack, as Fureva-Yung just absorbed the energy with a grin. The heads held by Marius and Jaden did nothing. They looked like they were calming down. Tears dried up, and the heads smiled as relief washed over them. Slowing, first Jaden’s and then Marius’, dissolved away, fading out of existence.   Kaboom! Fureva-Yung Thunder beamed another head, but there were still twenty more left. They’d barely made an impact.   With a groan, Nox changed her tactics and reached out to connect telepathically with one nearby. Suddenly, all the remaining heads flew across the room and withdrew into Nox. Her senses blew as she was overloaded with sensation. Feelings, thoughts, and senses all forced themselves back into her along the telepathic path she’d created. She swayed on her feet, almost losing consciousness as her mind made sense of the chaos.   Outside, the lights turned on again. Jaden, Marius and Fureva-Yung were aware of banging and swearing from around the corner at the elevator. “Is she going to be alright?” Marius asked Jaden and Fureva-Yung to leave to capture the trapped Alric and the woman. “Oh yes,” Jaden replied, “It’s all part of growing up.”

46. The Great Mistake

The crypt below the library was silent. Those who lived here were respectfully keeping their distance from the group who’d foiled the impromptu attack by the Redboots. Nox found herself alone in a quiet corner. She’d woken up with the feeling that something was missing. A little nagging something that tapped at her conscience mind. She remembered the disastrous attempt to show Fureva the spaceship and the entity created. From her own confusion, distraction and negative thoughts, an echo rose from the cypher and attacked Fureva. She wanted the thing dead, yet a thin connection still existed.   Nox sat silently in her corner, ignored by the growing activity around her, and started following that thread. Out of the library, across the smoke-filled city, back to the bar where they first appeared. She could sense the entity hiding under the cellar to the bar. She pulled out the handmade rope she had found. Far too short to get down to the station, the rope could be long enough to reach a level just below the cellar. Trask had found that level!   Trask, resourceful and alien-looking. Nox now wondered why the owner of the bar had kept Trask around. Marius had said Alric, the owner, had been keeping Trask safe for some reason. Would free labour alone be enough reason for Alric to go against the Redboots? Suddenly, Nox realised there must be something interesting below the cellar where her echo had gone to hide. Nox glanced across the room at the huddled form of Jaden still sleeping. She’d love to share what she’d discovered, but Jaden was still asleep, and the other had disappeared. For now, she would have to keep her revelation to herself.   Fureva-Yung was hungry. She hunted for tasty morsels in the dark corners of the catacombs under the old library building. There was little down here as Marius, who had followed her, discovered. These areas, water damaged and far from the hub of activity, had been picked clean of ‘shinies’. Fureva-Yung followed her nose and the sound of dripping water to a room where a lichen grew in abundance against a wall trickling with water. On the lichen, fat bugs crawled deliciously. Fureva-Yung did not waste a moment and started popping the bugs into her mouth like crunchy treats. When she’d eaten most of them, she tasted the lichen, finding it interesting and texturous. It wasn’t until all the bugs and most of the lichen were gone that Fureva-Yung was disturbed from her meal by a voice behind. “Oh! Oh dear, who are you?” Said Trilly, arriving with a notebook in hand, “Have you eaten all my experiments?” “What in the world could that be?” Marius joked as the cypher Fureva-Yung had used to disguise herself had worn off overnight, and she was back to her usual alien self. Fureva-Yung huffed, scoffing the rest of the bugs. “Only joking. This is Fureva from last night. A device we used to hide her wore off.” “Oh, okay,” Trilly adjusted her perception and shrugged, “Only, I don’t know if she should be eating those bugs.” “It’ll be alright, “ Marius assured Trilly, “They won’t bug her.” “Well, that’s the point. I have been feeding them a unique formula to make them stronger and smarter…” “She often eats rocks and crystals…” “How about mutagenes?” “Urgh, should we sit back and watch?” Marius said, turning to enquire how Fureva-Yung felt. Until that point, she had felt fine. The bugs had been excellent and crunchy, if a little metallic tasting. The lichen had the same taste, but all of it was sitting well on her stomach. “Yeah, your digestion is a chemical weapon,” He laughed at Fureva-Yung’s discomfort at having eaten Trilly’s work, “Oh, to be Yung again!” “Never mind,” Trilly sighed, “When you get back, stop by the lab, and I’ll give you the control group as well. They’re no use to me now.”   Jaden awoke to the sound of industry around her and the smells of breakfast. She arrived at the communal breakfast to find Nox picking over the thick gruel of grains, vegetables and the occasional grizzly meat chunk. Jaden was about to sit with the girl, but she looked more than usually preoccupied with something. Probably the attack on the jail, the tentative plans thus far relied heavily on Nox’s teleportation and reshaping. A lot was riding on her thin shoulders. “Good morning, “ Nox said, not lifting her head from her bowl. “Good afternoon, Nox,” Jaden corrected as Marius and Fureva-Yung appeared. Fureva-Yung was looking intently at patch of ground in front of a wall. “There’s nothing there, Fureva-Yung,” Nox said, noting her friend’s behaviour, “What did you sense?” “Smoke and darkness,” Fureva-Yung replied cryptically before turning back to the others, “I saw a creature with large ears hop across the space and through the wall as if it wasn’t there.” “It wasn’t,” Marius answered with a cheeky smile, “That might be bug giving you hallucinations.” “I suspect it is a Trilly thing,” Fureva-Yung agreed as Nox got up and scanned the wall indicated by Fureva-Yung. To her surprise, a patch of the wall near the ground seemed several degrees colder than the surrounding stone. “Not a hallucination. Something interacted with the wall at that spot.” “Well, it was nothing of mine, “ Trilly added, coming up behind Fureva-Yung with a container of bugs. Fureva-Yung took the bugs gratefully. “How would I go about making a ghostly rabbit, do you think?” “I’d make sure they liked the fruit off your wall-breaking vine. Imagine, they could phase through anywhere and scatter the seeds.” “I wonder what it tastes like?” Fureva-Yung said through mouthfuls of bugs. “Spirited,” Nox whispered in her ear.   For much of the afternoon, the group took up a table in the underground complex and devised their plans for the jailbreak. Marius was confident that Nox could teleport in alone, open a hole in the roof and teleport out with Trask in tow, no problem. Nox was horrified. Fureva-Yung wouldn’t hear of Nox going by herself, and neither would Jaden, but neither were sure how useful either could be. “Shadow rabbit, you use it to see around the jail and find Trask,” Fureva-Yung suggested. “And then what? I can’t teleport to a place I’ve only seen through someone else's eyes.” Nox lamented. She’d tried.   They looked at the map again, and Jaden pulled out a cypher she’d been holding onto. “The roof to the south is certainly less overlooked. If you stay down low, there’s no reason someone should see you.” “And it’s above the high security, so all you need to do is make a hole in the roof and teleport in, easy!” Said, Easy-Marius “And you don’t need a rabbit. You can look through this, a remote viewer,” Jaden handed over the cypher, “Drop it down on a string to see when everything’s clear. It wouldn’t need much of a hole, either. Once you’ve found Trask, make a hole into his cell and drop in.”       “But…but…stuff goes wrong, it always goes wrong. What happens then?” “Teleport out, simple” Replied, Simple-Marius. “What if they knock me over the head?” Nox complained. There was a time she’d done everything alone. They had been the bad days. She knew she didn’t have to live like that anymore.   “Look, let me see if I can talk to someone who's been on the inside. Maybe Regina can think of a contact,” Jaden relented, ”No decisions made until after then.” “Well, then we’re looking at a night extraction, “ Marius stretched and realised the time, “Probably better anyway. Nox still looks exhausted, and we can keep ourselves busy until then, right, Fureva-Yung?   Jaden found and asked Regina about members of the Patchwork Dream who had been imprisoned and would speak to her. “I’ll see what I can find out Just don’t be too surprised if they’re cagey about who and where they are. We only keep all this going by being careful.”   Marius convinced Fureva-Yung to explore further into the passageways under the old library. As discovered earlier in the morning, much of it had been cleaned up by Trilly and others like her. They were finally stopped by a collapse blocking access to areas further down. Fureva-Yung gave Marius a look and gestured for him to go first. “Oh no! I’m not good at digging. I’m good at organising people to dig,” He grumbled at her growing smile. A movement in an alcove caught Fureva-Yung’s attention, and she spotted a bipedal creature with two bull horns growing from its forehead made of the same black smokiness, only this time with red glowing eyes. It walked behind Marius as he complained and reached out to touch his back. Marius stopped and shivered a moment. It looked at Fureva-Yung and walked off through another wall. “Is it…?” Marius asked, but Fureva-Yung shushed him with a gesture and listened. There was nothing there disturbing the sound waves, no corporal body at all, but it did touch Marius and did leave a cold mark on the wall. She checked where Marius indicated the creature had touched him. No mark. “A mystery,” Fureva-Yung whispered. “Creepy!” Marius agreed.   Ragnia found Jaden with Tilly sometime later. He was carrying a small drawstring bag. He drew her aside. “I’ve found someone named Silk willing to talk to you,” He said, gesturing for her to follow him. In a separate chamber, a device attached to a hoop and needle stood alone. Ragnia pulled an orange lozenge from the small bag and handed it to Jaden. “You eat that,” He said, pointing to the lozenge. Jaden, who had consumed any number of odd substances in her lifetime, swallowed the tablet without question. “If you were going to poison me, it would have been at breakfast.” “Next, you have a passphrase, something to identify each other. Silk will say, “Many paths in the shadows, but are they friend or foe?” Your response is, “It is only in the shadows that friends can be found.” Have you got it?” Jaden repeated both phrases, bemused at the dramatic subterfuge.   Ragnia gestured for Jaden to approach the device and place her arm through the hoop. Instantly, the dark little room under the library of Urend disappeared, replaced with a bright fog. She could hear the crunch of gravel under her feet and the fog's dampness on her bare skin. From ahead, she could hear the crunch of gravel under other feet and could just make out the outline of a person through the fog. “Many paths in the shadows, but are they friend or foe?” “Now, really, wouldn’t I have the line if I wasn’t in a secret base?” “And yet, you don’t speak it,” The figure started to fade away. “No, wait. It is only in the shadows that friends can be found.” The figure returned. “It is best for both of us that you don’t know where I am, and I don’t know who you are.” “Very well, I and my group are travellers, new to these lands. We need to get a friend out of the Redboot prison, and I understand you have some insider information.” “Reboot?” The voice was hesitant, but the figure didn’t disappear. “Yes, you visited?” “I…was interned there.” “Nice stay?” “Less than pleasant.” “Three meals a day?” “If you could call them meals, but yes, three.” “Delivered or in a mess hall?” “In my cell.” “On time?” “Oh yes, always on time.” “How about exercise breaks outside your cell?” “Yes.” “Private or shared?” “Shared, but I was in the General population. High security went out alone with maybe four guards.” “Know anything about High Security?” “No, just saw the front door.” “Night activity?” “Not much, just a few guards walking the floors. Sporadic, but somewhere on the floor, even if you can’t see them.” “About High Security. Anything else you can remember?” “They were taken out for exercise during our lunch. We’d see the guards forming at the door to High Security, then four guards lead out a prisoner to the exercise yard.” “How about the locks? Keys or a device or something else?” “In General, keys to each cell. For High Security, they had a device that fitted into an alcove to the right of the door.   They talked back and forth like this until Jaden ran out of questions to ask. “Well, thank you for your time. Would I be about to contact you again in the future?” “The lozenge you took now gives you access to me on this network. You can always leave a message.” Jaden raised an eyebrow, realising just what a privilege she’d received. “Thank you.” “Good luck,” Silk said, and the form, barely recognisable as human, disappeared.   Removing her arm from the hoop, she returned to the small, dark room. Making her way back, she stopped off at Trilly’s lab. “Can you explain the workings of that device?” She asked after explaining where she had been. “Yes, Ragnia has suggested you have plans to make your own,” Trilly replied, showing Jaden how to make a needle to draw off blood and the hoop that made the connection. Testing the device worked, Jaden, Ragnia, and Trilly all made lozenges and shared them. Besides knowing how to build the device when she got home, Jaden had a small directory of contacts tucked away in the back of her mind. “What should be the passphrase?” Trilly asked, making a note. “Oh, something like…”Passwords are…?” with the response whatever swear word I can think of at the time.”   Later that night, the underground had settled down to evening activities as Nox organised her group for the big push against the jail. She made them all lie flat against the ground, with their hands touching in the centre. “Don’t jump up as soon as we arrive. They will see you,” She said, looking at each of her friends before continuing, “ What are you each doing when we arrive?” “I’ll keep an eye on the watch towers for snipers,” Jaden said. “General lookout. No good being caught by surprise guard on the roof.” Marius replied. “You and me go inside,” Fureva-Yung pointed at the two of them and for the first time while discussing this plan, Nox allowed herself to relax. “Good.” She took her friend's hands in the centre, ensuring she touched everyone before…   …they were on the black-tarred, windswept roof of the prison. It was quiet and dark, with only the long, slow sweep of searchlights below the lip of the roof to illuminate them. They had come out just where they’d wanted, above the southern wing of the prison block where the High Security were said to be.   Fureva-Yung gestured for everyone to lay still as she listened to the prison below. Directly below, she could hear two sets of footsteps going away north, then the creak and slam of a metal door. Footsteps disappeared to the north. She could hear the light snoring of someone below. Trask, as an invertebrate, didn’t snore, Fureva-Yung was sure. She pinpointed the position of the snorer and listened. They weren’t far away, directly below.   Fureva-Yung pointed out a likely place between the two sets of prison cells, and Nox scanned the roof and what space beyond she could reach. It was a hallway, empty and silent. Nox made a small hole, large enough for the remote viewer to pass through, then let it down on a string. The hallway was dark and empty, with four barred prison doors facing it. As the remote viewer twirled on its line, it caught sight of the snorer, a middle-aged man, well-built but not their target. There was no one else in the cells.   “Maybe he’s in the medium security below,” suggested Marius, who gained a baleful look from Nox. It wasn’t his fault, but it was just the type of screw-up she’d been worried about. Now, they all had to sneak around inside.   “Get in here or in the guard’s restroom?” She whispered back, retrieving the remote viewer. Their information from the captured soldier had told them there was a restroom on the top floor in the northwest corner of the building. They could drop into the silent High Security, which was empty but be trapped behind the door, or drop down into the guard’s room, which could have a guard turn up at any minute. The guard’s room was chosen as the easiest for access to the rest of the prison.   Together, they crawled to the north corner. Once more, Fureva-Yung asked for silence and listened as two guards talked, opened and closed sheet metal doors on personal lockers and left. Nox made the small hole again and let down the remote viewer. The room was well-lit and lined with lockers, a small kitchenette, and stairs heading down to the ground floor. She widened the hole, and they dropped down into the room one by one. “Close up this hole,” Marius said to Nox, “Good or bad, we’ll teleport out of here.” She didn’t mention that she could teleport and leave him behind but did as she was told. Fureva-Yung listened.   Two guards were on the top level, walking around a metal walkway. Another two were below them in a second guard room. She also noticed a fifth on the ground floor in what they had been told was the Observation room. She would not have seen them except for the quiet shuffling of papers.   Nox, blending into the shadows and trying to be as quiet as she knew how, crept down the stairs. She saw the two guards relaxing, mugs in their hands. They looked relaxed, unconcerned that armed and dangerous people were already sneaking around their prison. She let the others know telepathically. They look like they’re about to head out onto the lower floor as well, She said as the guards started putting away their mugs and jangling their keys.   Upstairs, Fureva-Yung was tracking the two on the second floor. When she felt they were in a good position, she stepped out, chain raised, and charged them with her Fleet of foot. She smacked into one, knocking him prone as Marius ran in behind her, his stolen baton sparking. Hitting the second guard, they swayed on the spot, stunned. Jaden, searching the lockers, missed the others breaking cover and scrambled out after them. She tripped as the solid ground gave way to the metal catwalk and crashed with a clatter. Grabbing the stunned guard's baton out of his hand, Marius stunned the second guard again. He convulsed and fell to the catwalk.   The guards below yelled out in alarm. Nox could see where they were heading and silently positioned herself to intercept them. Above, Jaden was not letting her pratfall deter her. She stretched out with her staff and touched the guard Marius had stunned. Electrocuted for a third time, he wasn’t getting up again. Fureva-Yung did the same for her guard, only substituting her fists for the paralysing effect of the batons. Below, the two guards with batons drawn, ran to a lever on the wall marked ‘ALARM’. As they ran past Nox’s hiding spot, she touched one, taking control of his mind. The guard now her weapon, she slunk back into the shadows.   Upstairs, the two guards were ‘subdued’, and Fureva-Yung set her sights on one on the ground. Leaping the three metres down, she missed making a paste out of one of the two, falling prone in front of them. The surprised guard aimed to strike Fureva-Yung with his baton, but his Nox’s Commanded Friend reached out and electrocuted him before he could. While Jaden finished ensuring the guards would never wake up again upstairs, downstairs NCF opened the guard's room and looked for the device that opened the Medium security wing. Marius walked the general catwalk, taking note of the prisoners and who they were. A few were Patchwork Dream, and their cells were quickly opened and batons placed into their hands.   NCF gave her the device that unlocked the Medium security before heading down the corridor to the Observation Office. Looking through his eyes Nox watched as he opened the door on guard going through paperwork. “Hey, I heard a little commotion. Are you guys alright?” The guard at the desk asked, looking up to see the sparking end of a baton. Between NCF and Marius, the office guard was soon down. The prison was theirs for the time being. NCF and Marius left the Observation room, and Jaden searched through the paperwork.   His job done, Nox sent NCF into a now empty cell to strip down to his underwear and close the door. There, he would be safe and unable to get into trouble. With a click, she placed the device into a recess beside the medium security door, and the door swung open. The block was empty. Where was Trask?   Jaden had worked out the answer to that one in the Observation room. Amongst a pile of files marked transferred, she found Trask. By the notes in the file, he’d transferred from the Redboot prison to a place called Rockspire Overlook the day of their arrival. On the wall, a map showed Rockspire Overlook, further into the Imperium, two days travel away.   “You left you’re guard in his underwear and socks?” Marius said, looking into Medium Security over Nox’s head. “Yes, it’s funnier that way,” She replied, “But where’s Trask?” “I have the answer to that,” Jadens said, tucking the file into her waistband and leaving the office, “He was transferred the day we arrived.” Fureva-Yung physically deflated. They had been so close to finding her old friend, only to be thwarted by bureaucracy.   The group spent a little time freeing the prisoners and handing out what weapons they could find. The two Patchwork Dream members from general and the one from High Security (confirmed by Jaden’s paperwork) were gathered together, and the group of seven teleported out.   From the dimly lit prison one moment to the darkness of the empty soup kitchen site the next. The three ex-prisoners gave their thanks and slunk off into the night. The four friends looked around each other, their mission a failure. Silently, they turned and headed back to the library.      

45. Planning a jail break

  “What did the ship look like, Nox?”   It was a quiet moment in the basement of the Urend Library. Jaden had gone with Trilly to discuss the lighting magnification system she had in mind, and the other three were left to their own devices. Fureva looked thoughtful and a little lost, stirring Nox’s protective feelings for her friend. “What ship?” “When you were teleported away from us and appeared inside the command deck of one of my old ships. I was wondering which one it was. I don’t remember…everything… It's like pieces…I was wondering…” “If I could describe the command deck, you could connect your memories to it?” Again, that stirring of protection for the fragile mind inside the almost indomitable exterior. Instantly, Nox drew out her Numenera book and turned to a page where she hadn’t written over the text she knew by heart. She started sketching what she could remember from her few minutes floating around the control centre of a spaceship.   She started at the commander’s chair, where she’d found a bracelet still holding a personal note from Admiral Fureva-Yung. She added the two consoles in front and a few other stations that she’d noticed around the room's edges. The more she added, the more frustrated she became at her artistic abilities to render the image. “Wait!” She said out loud, dropping her book and pulling out a cypher, a mental imager built for just this purpose. She’d seen Jaden use one to show the Deep Craven an image of the surface world.   Turning on the device, she focused on her memory of the command deck. The darkness was only illuminated by light through the front screen, the airless quality of the environment as she realised there was no life support and the weightlessness that let her forget about her human flesh body. The weightlessness reminded her of how she felt when she presented the diamond lens to Trilly, having made something beautiful and useful that another admired. The airlessness connected to intrusive thoughts that came thinking about her mother and father…together, Marius and Temila, the girls and their beaus. She shivered as the cold directed her mind to thoughts of Jaden, how close they used to be and how that relationship had somehow changed over the last few months.   She blinked.   The cypher held an image of the command deck as she remembered it, but distorted, twisted by the distractions she’d allowed to infiltrate the process. “Umm…I think it’s broken,” She showed Fureva. “This is not familiar,” Fureva replied with a shrug, “I do not recollect that command deck.” Fureva stared into it again, trying to make sense of the shifting, distorted view. From the viewer, the image stretched out, forming the shape of a head and two spikey arms. The arms swung out at Nox, who squealed and ducked aside. It stretched out further, creating a hole in reality. Now a metre square, it towered above Nox with the image of the command desk pulled tight across its form.   Marius turned on a new speed cypher and placed himself between Nox and the new entity. Fureva dropped her chain from her shoulder and wrapped it easily around the creature’s form, squeezing it tight. With the image restrained, Nox drew her worm-toothed knife and stabbed it down into the cypher, trying to break the device that gave this new entity form.   The image grew again, overflowing the chains binding it, trying to spike Fureva with thorny tendrils. It wrapped itself around Nox, surrounding her in the melting view of the bridge. The image shifted as Jaden floated into view, facing away from Nox. Behind her, Livaanar seemed to float, his face to her, but his body turned away. In the distance, Nox could see Aunty Ilvasha dancing an energetic jig. The images were odd and disorientating, making it hard for Nox to think.   Outside, Nox’s was only a pair of legs, the bare skin shimmering to confusion going on inside. “Nox! Can we reason with it?” Fureva asked from outside the twisted reality Nox had created. “Reason?” She cried as Jaden’s head lifted from her shoulders, swapping with her father’s head though Jaden stayed firmly turned away, “It’s insane! ” “It’s okay, we’re not your enemies,” Fureva spoke clearly to the cypher. The image did not respond. Marius turned on his light gloves, and Nox reached out to touch the creature's mind within the cypher. The distortion grew with every thought of Nox’s looping into the image. The looping became faster and faster, and the image was a blur of colour.   Suddenly, Nox’s vision turned black, then white before it, and the image splintered into millions of shards. Marius avoided the shrapnel, leaping away in time. Fureva, desperately trying to peer into the device and reach out to the creature, did not. The pieces raked through her mind like shrapnel through flesh and bone. She collapsed to the floor, clutching her head, Nox falling beside her, dizzy. Only Marius saw a small patch of the image, a collection of fragments, regathering on a wall and disappearing through a crack.   “What’s beyond that wall? Nox, can you link to that thing? Bring it back?” He said as people arrived from all over the basement to investigate. “What was that, Trilly?” Ragnia said as Trilly and Jaden both appeared to see what the explosion was. “What was that?” Trilly asked Marius, surprised it wasn’t here for a change. “What was that?” Marius asked Nox. Dizzy, confused and surrounded by loud, questioning people, Nox curled her legs up to her chest, wrapping her arms around the lot. “I’m sorry!” She cried, her skin moving through a range of concrete greys and the various clothing colours of those around her, “It broke!”   Eventually, Marius was able to get out of Nox that the explosion was a feedback loop caused when Nox had connected to the entity in the cypher. How the entity occurred, she couldn’t or wouldn’t say. “It sounds like you made a limited version of you, of your mental state at the time of using the mental imager,” Jaden said finally, putting the pieces together, “Irritating for normal people. Something altogether different when it's Nox.” “There’s nothing but dirt and rock behind that wall,” Ragnia said, pointing to where the image had escaped. Should we block it up?” “It can be physically restrained, so it’s not a bad idea,” Marius replied. He turned to Nox, speaking in his gentle voice for her. “Now, are you still linked to it? Can you tell where it is?”   Nox was beside herself. How had things gone so wrong? Now, everyone here knew how much of a screwup she was, just like everyone in Tiltspire and Cerelon. Fureva, who had been quiet for a long time, finally spoke, reassuring Nox that Fureva wasn’t all lost to her stupidity. “I can hear it getting…more diffuse… it's hard to pinpoint where it is.” In her mind, Nox heard Fureva speak just to her. I’m here, little one. Did it hurt you? Nox shook her head and brushed away her tears. Fureva was hurt, and yet she worried about Nox. Straining her senses, Nox felt for the image beyond the wall. “It’s still there. I can feel it, but I don’t know where it is,” She finally said out loud.     It had been a long day since leaving Tiltspire, and Nox had stretched her abilities about as far as they could go. Unfortunately, the others had other plans. “Under the cover of darkness, we should get as much information about the layout of Redboot,” Marius argued. “Yes, particularly the prison,” Fureva agreed.   With directions from Ragina, the group stealthed across Rubbledown to the wall that separated it from Redboot. After screwing up so badly, Nox kept silent, unwilling to protest. Still, the plan to have her float up above the wall and collect what information she could from her vantage point made her shiver. She hated being alone and flapping around like a kite, waiting for one of the Redboots to see her. As soon as she levitated up and saw the whole of Redboot spread out before her, the anxiety melted away, replaced by a curiosity about what lay further beyond. She rose again, saw the grey block that was the jail and began drawing.   On the ground, the group watched as Nox seemed not to disappear but to blend in with the stars and the velvety black sky. Her skin became the darkest blue, pockmarked with bright points, and her grey outfit blended in with stray clouds and plumes of smoke from the chimneys. Still, they were all surprised when they heard a voice from over the wall call out. “Blimey! What’s that?” Said a drunk man, swaying and wobbling fifteen metres behind two Redboot Enforcers doing their rounds. The enforcers both looked up at the patch of sky the drunk motioned to see a small bat glowing with patches of bioluminescent lichen flitting away. They looked from the bat back down to the drunk. “Now, what do we have here?” Said one enforcer as they both stepped forward. “Sir, do you know what time it is?”   Twenty metres above them, Nox swallowed hard, forcing her beating heart back into her chest. The illusion of the bat dissolved as it flew out of range. She hung perfectly still until the two Enforcers picked the drunk up by the scruff of the neck and marched him away. When the night was perfectly silent, she continued her work, drawing the layout of Redboot and the jail beyond. Three storeys tall, the prison had a flat roof visible from the watch towers set into the outer edge of the prison area. The stone block that was the prison had no windows and only one visible door at the front.   She was nearly finished when the sound of enormous wings flapping came up from behind. Not waiting to turn around and look, Nox stopped her concentration on floating and plummeted to the ground. Huge yellow claws raked the air where she had been moments before, frightening her enough to forget to levitate again before hitting the ground. Instead of cold concrete, however, Nox was caught in the warm fury embrace of Fureva. The sounds of crashing waves rolled off Fureva, transferring and dispersing the shock of the blow into sound. To Nox, it was like the purring of a beloved cat. She sank her face into the musky warmness and soon fell asleep in Fureva’s arms.   With the required intel, they started back through the winding streets of the shanty town. They moved silently, careful of every footfall in case a patrol was close. Marius was first to hear the leather armour creaking, something metallic knocking rhythmically as marching red boots stomped through. The group, as one, flattened against a darkened wall and watched as a troop of five individuals walked along a nearby cross street. Fureva extended her senses, using her hearing-like echolocation and picking up details on the individuals that the darkness didn’t provide. Four were in the boiled leather armour, form-fitting but noisy. Each carried a baton at their hips that clunked as they walked. The fifth was in a military cloth uniform and carried a doubled-ended baton, twice as long as the others. He walked with the smooth grace of a predator and held the staff like he knew how to use it.   The group watched as the troop moved deeper into Rubbledown. They were almost lost to sight when Jaden suddenly tripped and sprawled noisily on the cold, wet ground. The troops swung around, grabbing for the batons. The officer bent low, his staff out in front in defence. Jaden just lay there in the dirt, seemingly unaware, singing a dirty song to herself.   “Said the worker to the heiress, I’ll take you down… Down Fotheringale Lane….” One of the Enforcers stepped out of formation, his face furious at the drunken lawbreaker. Ooh, look at all the pretties…he-he-he,” Jaden giggled drunkenly, seeming now to notice the troop, “I like a man in uniform. Give us a kiss, pretty boy.” The Enforcer swung his bat high, but a bark from the officer stayed his hand. “Keep moving, soldier. Remember what we’re here for.” He said, giving the Enforcer a meaningful look. The Enforcer thrust his baton back into its sheath and returned to his position. The troop moved on, with Jaden wailing for their attention behind.   Only when they were well out of sight did Jaden pick herself off the ground as a few locals poked their heads out to see what was happening.   “What was that for? They were nearly gone when your antics drew their attention, “ Marius whispered furiously as Fureva carried Nox. “I was worried they’d see Fureva with Nox. Besides, I wanted to get a closer look at that officer. Did you see how he responded? Like he was one with that staff of his. I wonder what it's made of?”   Marius rolled his eyes, “Look, we’ll follow them, okay? I’ll go ahead, and you stay with Fureva and Nox, okay?” “So you can have all the fun?” Jaden grinned cheekily until Marius went to protest, “Alright, alright, Mr Dodgy, you first.”   The group crept along, Marius out the front, silent as the moon, with Fureva and Jaden ten to fifteen metres behind. With Nox asleep, the telepathic link they’d come to rely on was down, and they had only their eyes and ears to tell them what was going on ahead.   Marius watched as the Redboots arrived at a clearing in Rumbledown where several tents and a canvas awning had been put up. Under the awning, boxes and barrels were stacked neatly, awaiting their owners. The officer tilted his head towards the stack, and one of the Enforcers knocked over a crate. With a clatter, vegetables scattered everywhere, rolling in the mud. On the alert, their batons drawn, the troops waited.   Marius first thought the space was a collection of market stalls until he spotted a makeshift fireplace and a large pot. This was the site of a communal soup kitchen, and these guys were looking for trouble. From his hiding place, he could see shadows, moving in the shadows, picking up rakes, carrying pipes, all drawn to clearing. A rock flew out of the darkness, hitting a guard. In response, another crate tipped over, spoiling the contents.   A man crept along the alley where the group hid, reaching for something hidden in his jacket. He spotted Marius, started, then thought better of it and showed Marius a cypher. He covered his eyes with his free hand before pulling a pin and lobbing the cypher high into the group of Enforcers. Forewarned, the group covered their eyes as a bright white light filled the area, blinding the soldiers. The shadows erupted from their hiding places with a roar, and the battle was on.   Marius ran in with the locals, lighting up his fists before smacking the blinded officer in the face. Jaden ran in next, activating a spacial distorter and placing it on her belt. Suddenly, the distance between Jaden and everything twisted and distorted, making it hard to determine where she was. Nox, awoken by the yell, rolled out of Fureva’s arms and slunk into the shadow. When Nox was clear, Fureva targeted one of the Enforcers with her Shattering shout before running in.   The soldier’s eyesight was starting to clear as Marius hit the officer again before dodging aside to the officer’s staff, its tip smacking the ground with a spark of electricity. Taking advantage of the officer’s miss, Marius hit him in the side of the head for good measure. The officer’s eyes flickered, and he fell unconscious to the ground. Jaden threw one of her coma detonators among the four Enforcers. Two of the Enforcers slumped to the ground, conscious.   A mob of locals surrounded the other two guards, hacking at them with metal poles and machetes. The Enforcers easily block the blows, one of the locals receiving a hit with a baton to the chest and going down. The force of Fureva’s shout rocked the other, and barely kept his feet. Seeing his companions in the coma gas, he pulls one out, slapping him awake.   Keeping to the shadows, Fureva moved position and sent another Shattering Shout. Nox moves out of cover to find her targets before sending three psychic bursts. One hit, the enforcer waking his friend. The others missed their targets. The officer down, Marius, moved to help the locals with the Enforcers. Though his blow missed, he quickly dodged the Enforcer’s baton, gaining a concerned look from the guard. What should have been an easy fight for the Redboots was becoming a death trap.   Moving in on the unconscious soldier, Jaden tried disabling his weapons. But the technology was unfamiliar to her, and for a moment, she was unsure what she was looking at. It allowed the awakened Enforcer to scramble to his feet and attack Jaden. Electricity sparked, and Jaden yelped in shock. The Enforcer on Marius swung his baton again, frustrated as Marius side-stepped the blow. The third Enforcer went to attack Jaden. She knew the device's secrets this time and reached up, tearing away a power capacitor from the side. Sparks jumped from the disabled weapon to the Enforcer, making him drop it in the gloom.   Seeing Fureva in the shadows, a soldier charged, their baton tip flashing. He hit her in the torso and she giggled as the electricity tickled her harmlessly. Silently, they looked at each other, Fureva smiling down on the young soldier, staring up at the imposing woman. In the distance, Fureva’s shattering shout went off again, leather armour exploding, the enforcer’s chest collapsing under the force. “I think we need to talk. Time for you to give up, don’t you think?” She said to the guard. From the shadows, Nox telepathically linked to the guard. I can kill you with my mind, She said. The guards’s legs went to water. He promptly dropped his baton and ran.   The locals hacked at the guards with their pipes and rakes, making no impact. In the thick of the fighting, Marius jumped over to Jaden’s side, taking on the guard whose weapon she had disarmed. The movement allowed Jaden to pick up the officer’s staff, a long but light piece of metal that moved well in the hand. She swung it around experimentally as the Enforcer dove for his second unconscious friend.   Fureva shook her head, watching the guard flee. Putting on her burst of speed, she quickly caught up and grabbed the guard by the scruff of the neck. “I don’t think you should run alone in Rumbledown. Why, you never know who you might meet.” The soldier, defeated in battle and in his attempt to flee, raised his hands. “Wise move, “ Fureva grinned and returned to the soup kitchen with her prize. From the shadows, Nox shot her psychic bursts. One missed its mark, and one hurt the Enforcer fighting Marius. The third, she hunted for a target and saw Fureva leading one back by the scruff of the neck. She hit him with only a moment’s hesitation, sending a sharp spike through his brain and making his nose bleed. Knowing these guards would threaten her friends if any of them got back to report, Nox found herself slinking away into the shadows, now to evade Fureva and the other’s good intentions.   Marius stood above the guard with his chest caved in. The last of the unconscious Enforcer rose to his feet, blocking the attacks from local makeshift weapons. Jaden swung her new toy around and zapped him from behind.   “Are these attacks common?” Marius asked a local during the lull in fighting. “No, not really.” “You should get out,” Jaden said over their shoulder. “Get out? To where?”   At this time, an older woman appeared, moving through the locals and checking how they were. “Aunty, what should we do?” “It seems to me, my loves,” She said in a slow drawling voice that would not be hurried, “That we should move the kitchen.”   The locals not injured by the Enforcers immediately got to work, repacking what food could be salvaged and bringing down the tents. “You know this district?” Marius asked the woman named Aunty, “Can you get the message out about the attack?” “Already done,” She smiled, “Thank you for your aid. I don’t know you, do I?” “Marius, this is…most of my group,” He gestured to Jaden swinging her new weapon and Fureva holding an enforcer up in the air.   “That was very unpleasant,” Fureva said to the guard, who could do nothing but flail in the air, “What was that all about?” “Night…patrol..to…draw out…troublemakers.” The armour was choking off the Enforcer’s airway, making breathing hard. “There were troublemakers. Why did you bring them?” “Suspicions of…Patchwork dream …in area. We…lure them out…capture.” “Where did you get the information about the Patchwork dream?” Marius and Jaden now joined in the conversation with the defeated guard. “Don’t know…you’d…have to ask…him,” The guard gestured to the officer. “It was his idea?” Jaden asked. The guard nodded. “Look, you seem a nice young man with a brain in your head…” Fureva said consolingly. Yeah, it's coming out his ears, Nox commented through the telepathic network, though no one could see where she’d gone. “Why did you think you could get away with something like this?” Jaden asked, furious at the arrogant violence on display that night. “Done it before. They’re afraid of us.” “Yeah, ants are afraid of a boot but can swarm.” By this time, the Enforcer was fighting for breath and utterly defeated had nothing to say.   The three of them question the guard about his knowledge of Redboot, particularly the jail of which he had a working knowledge. Meanwhile, Nox slunk around the group to the injured local. A baton hit him in the chest early in the fight, and he was lucky to be still alive. The burn from the baton wasn’t bad and Nox informed those taking care of him he should rest, but would be fine. She then turned her eyes to the unconscious officer left alone as her friend played with his companion. No one saw her pull out her worm tooth blade and move towards him.   “Unusual prisoners from out of town, where would they be held?” Marius asked, thinking about where Trask could be in the block of stone that made up the prison. “What…did he do?” “Wait tables mostly. Be himself generally. He was hauled away by you lot and hasn’t been seen since.’ The Enforcer shook his head, a difficult task when held up by only your clothing, “Doesn’t…make sense…” Marius described Trask, and the guard shook his head again. “I don’t know him.”   Fureva shoved the guard against a wall. The makeshift structure, already being torn down for transportation, fell with a clatter. The guard moaned in fear. “Who would know?” Fureva asked politely. “Ghul Vissius…” “And whose he?” “He’s ….scary….I stear clear…” “Well, we won’t tell him you told us where he lives if you don’t.” “I don’t know where he lives,” The guard wailed, now terrified, “I said, I steer clear of him….he does things…to guard. His experiments. He has a place in Highnose… has offices…second floor of the prison…extra security.” “Experiment?” Jaden asked, now curious, “What sort of experiments?” “I…don’t know…Exarch values him…lets him do as he likes.”   Fureva turned the Enforcer around the face the clearing where the soup kitchen had once stood. It was just an empty patch of wasteland with four dead bodies. The last, Jaden was sure she’d left alive only moments before, now lay in a pool of blood, a small surgical cut in his neck the only sign of violence.   “You have the great fortune of being the only one to survive your little expedition tonight. Aren’t you lucky,” She put him down as Jaden pulled out a rag to wrap his eyes. “Aunty? Do you have a place for this young man?” “I could, as long as he’s willing to behave,” She drawled back as a small caravan of carts and porters started their trek through the slums of Rubbledown. “He could be a useful resource. Put him to work in the community.” “Oh? What do you have in mind?” “He could train your population to use their weapons better.” “What?” “Yeah, give him a dummy weapon and practice attacking him.”     It wasn’t long before the group arrived at another open space appropriate to the soup kitchen’s needs. “Aunty, would it be okay if we come by and talk to you again?” Marius asked as the locals got busy setting up the tents once more. “Of course. I have a feeling our paths will cross again,” She smiled, seeing all those who had survived the night, “If this night had to take lives, I’m glad it was none of ours, and that’s all thanks to you and your group.” “Yeah, four people weren’t as lucky,” Jaden commented as a thought leaked through their telepathic network. One too few.   Leaving the Aunty and her helpers to start the cooking for the day, the companions headed back to the library to rest and plan.        

44. Making friends in an unfriendly town

    The bar was too busy for the group to make a clean escape. So they waited. Fureva-Yung sat on the ground as if meditating, all the while, her thoughts tried to make sense of the noises she heard from the bar above. Marius implanted the temporal viewer and set it for the timestamp they’d collected from the Spire. Nox went through a set of shelves behind the basement door. Her tiny witch light zipped from shelf to shelf around bottles and boxes, looking for something about Trask Criton, the sion they sought. She’d just spotted something hiding behind a set of dusty bottles when Fureva-Yung sent a message through the telepathic link. Someone is coming. Hide.   Fureva-Yung and Marius stepped back into the elevator, but Nox didn’t get a chance to move as the door beside her opened. She pressed herself to the wall behind the door, beside the shelving and her skin blended into the shadows. Her witch light zipped under the door, where it could hide in the light spilling from the bar. “Now…where is it…he always knew where to find this stuff…” Said a man, bar staff by his clothing. He searched the shelves only centimetres from Nox’s unbreathing form. “There!” he jabbed out at a dusty bottle, looked it over and returned to the bar, closing the door behind them. Nox let out a long breath. Gone now.   The other two returned to their places in the basement as Nox fished out a long handmade rope. It was made from scrap pieces of rope, rags and other materials. Carefully twisted and bound together, they made a strong rope ten metres long. Nox carefully brought it down the stairs like a rare artifact to show the others.   “Someone spent a lot of time on this,” She said, twisting the cobbled strands through her fingers. The dim light in the cellar picked up shiny patches, pieces glued together with an organic substance. Between the three of them, they worked out it was a congealed saliva.   “A rope to get down the elevator shaft,” Marius put together. “They were trying to get to you Fureva-Yung…but they probably didn’t have their freedom,” Nox tucked the rope into her satchel, “While else make and hide a rope?”   Akavel wasn’t looking very friendly, especially to those who didn’t fit in.     There was nothing to be done at that moment. Fureva-Yung went back to listening to the conversations above. A five-legged creature hunting for scraps scuttled across the cellar floor. “Marius, you’re fast. Do you think you could catch one of those scuttlers?” Nox pointed out the little creature. Realising it had been spotted, the scuttler crept behind a set of barrels. “No problem,” Marius said, side-stepping around the barrels to trap the creature. Worried for its preservation, the creature dodged around a half-empty barrel. Marius leaned against it, but the lighter barrel couldn’t hold his weight and tipped over. Marius and the barrel made a clattering ruckus, drenching Maruis in old ale. “Marius shush!” Said Fureva-Yung from her cross-legged position on the floor.   They quickly scrambled for the lift, but no one came to investigate this time. After a few minutes, they went back to what they were doing. “What did you want that creature for anyway?” Marius asked, playing with the Temporal viewer. “I think I can control it. Send it into the bar while I watch and listen from here,” She replied, looking up at the door to the bar. “You could have just used stasis on it, then I could get ready to catch it.” “Oh yeah.”   Marius turned on the temporal viewer and described the view. He could see Trask Criton tapping a cask to fill a smaller jug with ale. As the jug filled, he worked on the rope, twisting a rag into it and making it fast with his spit. There was noise from the bar, and he quickly hid the rope before two armoured individuals clattered down the stairs. Their boiled leather armour and red boots mark them out as Imperial guards, one holds a staff behind his back.   “The ale will be up in a moment,” Trask said, not turning around. The soldiers move closer, saying nothing. When they didn’t respond, he turned to see them standing close behind. “What seems to be the problem?” He asked. The guards circled closer. Trask lunged for one as the second brought the baton down on him. He collapsed, and the guards quickly grabbed him under the arms and dragged him upstairs and out of sight.   “So he was working here? Known to the staff and owner?” Nox asked as she spied the starfish vermin again and zapped it with stasis. “It looks like it. He was planning on leaving, maybe through the elevator but could only make the rope secretly.” Marius walked over to the scuttler, and when Nox dropped the stasis, he grabbed a hold and brought it back. “And the guards said nothing about why he was being taken?” Fureva-Yung asked as Nox touched the wriggling creature, and it suddenly went still. “Not a single thing, it was creepy,” Marius said with a grimace of distaste as Nox sat blank-eyed and set the little creature under the door and into the bar.   The view through the little creature’s swivel eyes was low and extremely wide-angled, with little colour to help identify what Nox was seeing. The room was just like the Temple's Great Hall to Erinai, though several walls had been knocked down to open the space. Nox moved the scuttler from table to chair to bench, keeping under cover and listening for conversations. A giant foot swung above, the swivelling eyes picking up the movement before he came crashing down to stomp. Nox jigged the creature sideways under a table out of range of the boot, leaving a clear string of swearing behind.   She could see several groups of people drinking and eating from under the table. Most seemed to have the heavy boots of industrial workers, though there were other knots of guards clearly identifiable by the boots described by Marius from the Temporal viewer. They were commiserating with each other about having caught gate duty all week straight. They didn’t speculate on the reasons for their presence at the gate, but something had changed in their routine. Nox noticed two individuals sitting by themselves, wearing their cloaks up inside, covering skin splotchy like Milton’s with long sleeves. They sat separate from the others, quietly talking to each other.   She sent the scuttler weaving under tables and chairs until she could hear the conversation of the two cloaked men. “...not seeing him around…” “...something happened to him?” “...but what? We can't lose him after what he’s done for us.” “He has enough friends that he couldn’t just be taken,” “...reckon they're onto him?” “Then they’re onto us. We better go.”   “They’re leaving!” Nox said in her own voice after repeating what she heard from the two men. “Right, sounds like it might be my turn,” Jaden smirked, grabbing a teatowel and climbing the stairs, “Just tell me when the door is clear.”   With a sign from Nox when no one was watching the door, Jaden left Bellyache behind and slipped through and into the bar, teatowel on her shoulder. She grabbed a damp cloth from behind the bar and started clearing tables. The bar was large, and the few staff well scattered in the busy space, so no one noticed as she made her way out of the bar and followed the two cloaked men.   Jaden was alone. She couldn’t feel the ever-present connection with Nox in the back of her mind. It felt good to be alone with her thoughts for a change. Happily, she weaved through the crowds, passing storehouses, smithys and other heavy industrial factories. Five large smoke stakes dominated the skyline ahead, black billowing clouds of smoke pumped out and hung heavy in the air around her. Her quarry were ten metres in front, heading north towards double metal gates. Quickening her pace, she caught up to them.   “You fellas look like you know your way around,” She said cheerfully. And she did feel cheerful, she hadn’t done something like this in years. It was fun. The two men jumped at the sound of her voice and turned to face her, one with a dagger in their hand. “Hey, we’re just friends out for a stroll, right?” She smiled again, “Besides, how would it look, two big burly guys like yourselves mugging an old woman?” One man looked at the other with the dagger and made a gesture. The dagger disappeared into the cloak. “I saw you two looking shady in the pub. If you don’t want to be seen, just don’t be. I’m Jaden.” She held out her hand. Neither man shook it. “Ragnia,” Said the older of the two. Dagger boy said nothing and let Ragnia lead the discussion. “I’m here looking for a tattooed friend of a friend. By your conversation, it sounded like you may be worried about them too.” “Friend of a friend?” Ragnia asked as the three of them continued walking. “Yeah. My friend is big and furry, occasionally pink,” The look on their faces told Jaden they had no idea who Fureva-Yung was. “Look, I’m looking for Trask Criton. Insect-looking guy, tattoo on his arm?” She gestured to her own left forearm. Ragnia seemed to relax. “We’re looking for him too. It looks like the Red Boots took him some time in the last week.” “Red Boots?” “The army.” “Right. Well, me and my friends would like to meet up with any friends of Trask. Is there a quiet time at the bar we could meet?” “That bar? It’s never quiet,” Ragnia looked torn, “ Look, if you really want to talk, you and your friends could meet us here. But don’t leave it too late, there’s a curfew.” They were now outside the huge wrought iron gates that led to a more residential shanty town area. “Fair. See you then.” And with that, Jaden turned around and headed back to the bar.   Nox, who had been straining to listen out of Jaden’s mind, suddenly tilted her head. She’s back! Of course. It was fun, Jaden replied, making her way to the bar, sitting down and ordering a drink. Why did you run away? I made a friend. I may have confused him. She paid for her drink with her few shins and pulled out her notebook. They say that Trask was taken by the Army within the last week. We’ve arranged to meet as soon as we can move you guys out of the cellar. They discussed plans as Jaden quietly sat and enjoyed her drink. Knowing she’d soon lose control over the scuttler, Nox brought it back into the cellar and fed it a bread crust from her bag. Fureva-Yung eyed it hungrily. “I’m trying to make friends with this one,” Nox complained. “I can wait.” “Fureva-Yung!” “Okay…” Fureva-Yung started searching the cellar for another of the creatures. It wasn’t long before another was spotted climbing up a wall. Using her fleet of foot, Fureva-Yung ran the length of the cellar before anyone had seen her go, snatching up the squirming creature and eating it noisily. “Why am I around such noisy people, “ Nox sighed and petted her scuttler, who picked up the last of the bread crust and scuttled away behind the shelf.   “I’ll get another…” A voice behind the cellar door, and the group scrambled for hiding places. From in the elevator, Fueva-Yung watched as a young woman in local dress grabbed a small barrel, hefted it onto her broad shoulder and climbed back up the stairs. When the door slammed shut again, Fureva-Yung took a cypher out of her bag and turned it on. This will take ten minutes, She said to the group focusing on the image of the woman who had just come through.   In the meantime, Marius was sick of the cellar. Waiting for a signal from Jaden, he, too, slipped out the door and sat beside her at the bar. She bought him a drink. “You stink of ale.” “All the better to blend in,” He mumbled a reply and turned on the Temporal Viewer in the bar. Marius watched as two other armoured soldiers waited outside the cellar door. When the first two stepped through, dragging Trask between them, the second two took his legs and walked him out. Marius watched the faces of the people in the bar, particularly the staff. Some saw and looked away, not wanting to get involved. Some off-duty soldiers looked on with interest. Most of the staff looked unhappy, including a well-dressed man, possibly the owner standing behind the bar. Beside him, another man looked pleased, patted his well-dressed companion on the back and followed the soldiers out.   Turning off the viewer, Marius glanced around and noticed one of the staff who’d shown mixed feelings during Trask's arrest. He called him over. “Where would they have taken him?” He asked cryptically. “Ur…who?” The guy asked, trying to look nonchalant, but the glass he was filling overflowed. “Your associate who worked in the cellar.” Marius leaned in closer. “The prison…over in Redboots.” “You never had any problem with him until they took him?” “Never. Kept to himself mostly. Stayed out of trouble.”   The cellar door swung open, and a tall, well-muscled woman walked out, a shadow keeping close to her side unnoticed. She walked up to the two at the bar. “We’re fine, thanks,” Jaden said, looking up and up at the stranger before her. It’s Fureva! Doesn’t she look amazing? “It’s me, Fureva,” Both Nox and Fureva said at the same time, making for a telepathic/audible stereo.   Fureva sat down, and Nox found a hiding space below the table, and Marius told them all what he knew.   “He’s not here now, but I’d remember that happy customer next time I see him,” Marius finished. So Trask had been taken to prison for no better reason than being Trask. Fortunately, at least for the next hour, Fureva had her disguised cypher on. If Trask were considered a threat, what would they think of Fureva-Yung?   So, are we going to see Jaden’s friend or what? Nox projected from under the table. It seemed that Trask’s trail had gone cold, for now. It was time to find out what the motley crew knew. Jaden led the way out of the bar and into the street. With her impeccable sense of direction, finding the wrought iron gates didn't take long. More people were leaving the industrial area and heading into the shantytown beyond the gates. That hustle and bustle didn’t stop Marius and Jaden from noticing a figure leading against an ally wall, smoking and watching their little group. He wasn’t in armour, just a simple cloth uniform with a cap pulled down over his face, but he wore the distinctive red military boots. Marius got a good look at his face, was sure it wasn’t any from the bar the day of Trask’s arrest and let the group know. Jaden went to pull out a smoke bomb, realised she couldn’t throw it far enough to be effective, and put it away again.   Beyond the gates, Ragnia revealed himself behind a semi-permanent tent. He gestured for the group to follow him. “Are we going to take our tag-along in with us?” Jaden asked just as the man in the military cap crushed out his cigarette and walked away. They joined Ragnia inside the gates. “We’ve been followed,” She told Ragnia, giving him the man’s description. Ragnia just shrugged. “Could be the Inspector. He won’t follow into Rubbledown….” TWANG! Nox, who had been trying to go unnoticed this whole time, tripped up on one of the guide ropes for the shanty tent. The building’s metal sides rattled loudly in sympathy with the rope, and a man clad only in a vest and shorts ran out. Nox instantly blended into the shadows, disappearing. The man looked at the rest of the group, who were walking away. “Did you just hit my house?” The near-naked man yelled. inspecting the guide rope just above Nox’s head. The other shrugged and kept moving, and the man satisfied his house was fine, returned inside. Nox quickly scampered after the others.   “This is my friend, Fureva,” Jaden introduced, and Fureva showed Ragnia her tattoo. “Yeah, just like Trask,” He looked up as Nox got off the ground and ran after the group, “Is that one alright? Is she always so strange?” “Yes,” All three responded at the same time. “Okay,” He returned to the subject at hand, “Trask is being held by the military over a Reboot, it’s a military area just north of Ironglow, about half an hour's walk from here.” “Would you say that getting him out would be difficult for four determined individuals?” Marius asked, scoffed and gave a cold little smile. “Yeah, I’d say quite a bit.” “Where are we going now?” Fureva asked. “More friends who’d like to meet you.” His tone was conversational, but in the present circumstances, the wording was ominous.   Do you think you could use your big hole to aid in the Trask extraction? Marius asked, a whole conversation happening under the one with Ragnia and Fureva. What large hole? Nox asked, confused. Fureva-Yung was the one for making holes in things. Your hole, He replied, miming her concentration when reshaping metal and stone. Not large, She said with some frustration, as Marius always seemed to expect more from her than she could do. At best, her hole was a metre tall, not even tall enough for her to walk through.   “The whole of Urend, what the Imperium call Akavel, is surrounded by a wall, and there’s only one way out, and that’s in Redboot, ” Ragnia said in response to Fureva’s tactical queries about the city's layout. “How many Redboots are there?” “Huh?! Thousands.” “And your people?” Ragnia hesitated momentarily, “You must understand, most of us aren’t fighters, but there’s a few thousand.”   Picking up on the hesitation, Nox started reading Ragnia’s mind. How much can I really trust with these strangers? The Patchwork Dream?   He’s part of a larger group to help the people. He doesn’t know if to trust us, She told the others. Fine, but we’re not here to free the oppressed workers, Fureva replied, and Jaden agreed. I’m always ready to free oppressed workers, Marius added. Can’t we do both? Nox suggested, It could be a good distraction. I am not starting a workers' revolt just for a distraction! Marius now complained. It was just an idea. But do we really want to get involved? Jaden asked. To Ragnia, Nox sent, The Imperium is a threat to all. These people are your best hope. Furevea scratched her back, pulling off a tick. Discovering the tasty treat, she popped it into her mouth just as Ragnia heard Nox’s internal words. He grimaced, shook his head and continued.   “Look, I’m part of a larger organisation called the Patchwork Dream. It’s a group of cells that work together all across the Imperium. Our mission is to preserve Urend history and free the Subrim from the Imperium. “It seems like our aims align, “Fureva said, “Tell me, who is the leader of the Imperium?” “Is it an evil shard?” “What?” An Artificial Intelligence that hates all living beings and hides in all technology. “Ur, no. I don’t think the Parakis have a lot of technology.” Good.   “Who are the Parakis?” “Those born to the Zirim Empire, in the well-looked-after seat of power. Now that I’ve trusted you with all of this, let's go somewhere else.” Ragnia turned off, heading towards a grand old building that had once been flanked by impressive statues. Crossing the threshold, it was easy to see hundreds of people sleeping rough in the high-ceiling hall of the building. He took them across to a corner and revealed a two-metre square stone trap door. “A little help?” He asked, grabbing a rope. Fureva grabbed his and the rope for the opposite side and easily pulled the solid block out of its mounting. Ragnia looked from the block to Furvea. “This was our library. Though much of it was destroyed in the invasion, what we’ve been able to save is kept safe here.” He gestured to to the hole. A flight of steps lead down into a lit space below.   Below the heavy walls of the library and the sleeping bodies, a whole world was at work. Ragnia led them passed a bench where torn fragments of books were lovingly sewn and glued back together. At another set of tables, people were writing out books, making new copies for distribution. “Other cells share their books with us; in turn, we copy what we can and send out to them.” “Do you have a map of the town?” Fureva asked, and Ragnia led them to a wall where a large map detailing the six wards of Akavel or Urend. Rubbletown, the Shanty community of the original Subrim, was by far the largest of the six. The smallest, Hishnose, where the leadership lived. Between the two, Redboot and the gate to the outside world.   “What can you tell us about our captured friend? Did Trask’s appearance in town cause a stir when they first arrived?” “Initially, yes, there was a bit of a stir at first. Somehow Trask got on the good side of Alric, the Zirium owner of the bar. It protected him from official trouble for a while.” “So, he’s been there for a year. The Redboots knew he was there the whole time, why arrest him now?” Ragnia shrugs his shoulders. “This Alric, does he wear good clothing, look a little like this?” Marius asked, describing the man with mixed feelings towards Trask’s arrest. “Yeah, that sounds like him.”   A crashing sound from a room beyond made everyone jump. “It works! It works!” A woman with a cloud of red curls held back by a large set of goggles with multiple attached lenses rushed up to Ragnia and the group. “This is Trilly. Trilly, what have you concocted now?” “Wonder of wonders!” The woman said excitedly, “I can make plants grow really, really fast.” Both Nox and Jaden perked up at the concept of a device to grow plants quickly. “What? Trilly, why?” Ragnia was not as impressed until Trilly leaned and whispered, “Mason Breaker Briar?” “Oh!” “That sounds like a plant, what does it do?” Asked Jaden and Ragnia to introduce the group. “They’re here to help, Trilly.” “Marvelous! Yes, Mason Breaker Briar grows everywhere. It is particularly good at getting into cracks and breaking masonry. Thus its name.”   Trilly stepped back and gestured through a door into the next room. The whole group leaned around the door to see a riot of vines, brambles and leaves growing from a broken pot on a table across the room. “I must get back to work, but look at this place! It’s amazing!” “Would you like me to pull the plant out for you?” Fureva asked and, one-handed, grabbed the short trunk now growing from the tabletop. “Ah no, I will take too…” Trilly started protesting Fureva yanked the roots from the table and pulled the vines down from their purchases around the room. Flakes of brick and mortar rained down with the vines.   “Would you like some help improving the design?” Jaden asked, itching to see how this new invention of Trilly’s worked. “Of course, many hands…and all that! What do you have in mind?” “Well, for a start, to save your workshop more damage, maybe a delay device?”   Marius yelped, clutching his head. Where the cat’s eye cypher had grafted to the side of his head, there was now a raw, slowly bleeding hole. “Oh! That was clever, how did you do that then?” Trilly asked as Marius dabbed at his injured face. “A cypher I was using broke, that’s all,” He said, trying to cover the already healing skin at the site. “But you had it connected, yes? I wish I could do that!” She pulled her goggles off her head, and her red curls were now free to fly free, “I have all these, and they never seem to be enough.” “You need more magnification,” Jaden said, “And a work light behind it. I can fix you up with a good strong working light, but we need something for the lens.” “I’ve got something,” Nox piped up, pulling from her satchel a piece of the curved diamond glass from the pyramid.   Between Jaden’s instruction on how the lens should work and Nox’s shaping skill, after ten minutes, they had a high-quality len, polished and ready for light.   Ragnia laughed, “You’re incredibly strong!” He pointed at Fureva, who took the compliment with a bow, “You can talk with Trilly as….as if she makes sense.” “But she does make very good sense. She just needs a little direction,” Jaden defended. “And you can do….that with what…your mind?” He turned to Nox, who backed up at first until she saw the other’s smiles. She nodded silently. “I’ve made some good friends today.” “Oh yes,” Fureva agreed, “And Marius is really good at digging.”            

43. Akavel

  She said she would only be a minute. It had been almost an hour.   Though they’d planned this day for more than a week, Jaden was still being pulled away to advise on one project or another. No one mentioned the widening gap between the three and Jaden, but all felt its impact. Each filled in the silent waiting time in their own way. Marius was going over the dodecahedron, ensuring it was ready for the trip. Nox was waiting inside the transport, contemplating knowledge she had recently gained from her move into the single women’s hut. Fureva-Yung was literally bouncing off the walls.   It was her favourite pastime now her armour was fully upgraded. She’d find a hard surface to throw herself against and let the armour bounce her back to her feet. Usually, it was just the ground, but the twelve-sided vehicle gave many new bouncing opportunities. She could bounce off several walls, to the floor and back to her feet with only one jump. Jump! Bounce! Bounce! Bounce! “I still don’t understand why Binna asked Cyanna if she was serious about Alton. I thought she liked him,” Nox mused out loud, gaining a confused look from Marius. Jump! Bounce! Bounce! Bounce! Crack!......Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!   Fureva-Yung had landed on a floor panel that had given way. A shrill beeping that gained in frequency caught all their attention. “Everybody?!” Fureva-Yung rolled away from the buckled panel, and the other two gathered to see the damage. “Maybe we can just straighten out the panel, and it will be fine,” Marius suggested as Nox went to the central control column to check diagnostics. Fureva-Yung pried up the panel, and a column of light rose from under their feet.. Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! “Maybe not,” Marius soon qualified as the column produced three blue-white orbs of light. The orbs bounced off the walls of the dodecahedron much as Fureva-Yung had before honing in on the three offenders.   Marius ducked the ball that came for him and turned on his armoured light gloves. Fureva-Yung swung her chain through hers, only to have a jolt of energy return up the chain. Nox alone was distracted at the control column. She didn’t see the ball until it was too late. Zapped by the ball engulfing her, it began floating towards the ceiling. Nox tried blinking out into the transport station, only to discover she’d somehow brought the ball with her. The ball sailed towards the wall as if to go straight through just as Jaden walked down the stairs to the station.   “I leave you alone for…for goodness sake…” She complained, jumping in front of the ball to push it back into the centre of the room. Instead, the malleable surface of the bubble deformed and started encasing her arms and head. Quickly, she wrapped her legs around the handrail of the stairs, holding the bubble in place for the time being.   Inside the dodecahedron, Marius watched his bubble bounce off a wall and back in his direction. His hands glowing, he caught the ball. Now he engaged another of his cyphers, absorbing the ball's energy. It shrank and eventually disappeared with a tiny pop. Nox! Where are you? He now called, unsure how far the girl had gone but aware the ball had gone with her. Here! She replied unhelpfully. Fureva-Yung lined up her next attack on her ball, this time bunting it back towards the glowing column. The ball was absorbed back into the column when the energy shell hit the light.   Two down, one to go.   Where is here? With Jaden. Outside, Nox grabbed Jaden’s shoulders and tried putting a hole in the bubble with reshape. Unlike a physical shell, however, the energy could heal any hole she made before Nox and Jaden could use it. The ball started rolling over Jaden, the handrail and part of the wall. Marius stuck his head out of the dodecahedron to see Jaden slow the ball’s progress, locking herself into the handrail. With an outstretched hand, he drew away the energy of the ball. It disappeared with a plop, Jaden and Nox landing in an awkward pile on the floor.   “What was that?” Jaden asked, quickly releasing herself from the handrail and Nox’s death grip before standing. “Some sort of defence. Furry found a column…moving around the transport,” Marius explained as they all entered the transport to see Fureva-Yung pushing the column down and replacing the bent panel. “If you’re all finished with your fun and games, maybe we can get this thing on the road?” Jaden barked, and Nox quickly complied, closing the door and setting the dodecahedron on its way. “How long will this trip take?”   Nox brought up a visual representation of the route on the central column. It showed two stations along the path with their destination right at the end. The Ferrian numbers beside the map read, ‘Travel time approximately ten hours.” “Well then, we might as well get comfortable,” Jaden found a comfortable corner and sat down. Fureva-Yung took a position near the front of the transport, listening ahead for any sign of trouble. A stray memory from her past popped into her mind. The memory was a distracting by pleasurable experience that Fureva-Yung was still getting used to. A proud engineer had explained how this transport worked. Even now, she could hear the transport’s engine winding up as it got up to cruising speed.   Having assured herself the transport was working as it should after the bubble affair, Nox turned to sit with Jaden. Life with the young women of the community had given her a lot of questions she’d saved up to share with Jaden on the long trip ahead. Jaden was turned away from the group, and leaned against a wall scribbling furiously in her notebook. Her demeanour reminded Nox of the bad times after her Marick died. She looks busy, Nox thought to herself, Maybe I should leave her alone. She picked a corner on the other side of the transport, made herself comfortable sitting on her small satchel, and started reading through her botany book.   Fureva-Yung could hear the whine of the engine lower in pitch before anyone else inside knew the dodecahedron was slowing down. They did notice when the transport started to ascend as they felt the pressure difference in their ears. As soon as it stopped, Fureva-Yung stood in front of the door, listening. The engines wound down, the slow tick of metal expanded by heat, shrinking back into place, the mournful sound of the wind through a vast space. She nodded her head and showed her arm to the door. It opened with a swish onto a gangway leading to a closed door. Around them, a cylinder of empty air like the one they had first seen under the Endoval Towers. Overhead, a white dome pristine and intact. Nox still remembered seeing the giant robot's legs sticking down through the damaged dome, which in turn reminded her of Cerelon and the only other township she’d ever seen.   As Fureva-Yung led the way across the gangway, Nox wondered what this new town was like. Did it also have a Highside-Redoubt and a Buckles? Was it split between the commanders and the doers like old Celeron or more equal like Tiltspire? She wondered if they worshipped the Erinai. She didn’t think so. She felt that shard was trapped in Cerelon after the crystal blocked the passage. She wondered how many young people like herself lived there and wondered even more if she could make a friend while they were there. All this within the few seconds it took to reach the door.   Fureva-Yung listened. Something was moving above, something she couldn’t explain. Things were moving through the ground around them, burrowing things, scuttling things. Nothing there to worry about. She opened the door.       The door opened into a small area surrounded by balconies accessed via a flight of steps ahead. Asking for a boost from Fureva-Yung, Nox hovered up to the ceiling. The higher area was narrower, and the curved wall and sliding door at the top suggested an elevator shaft. Both to the left and right closed doors hinted at other spaces beyond. Nothing else was in sight, so Nox let the others know, and they climbed the stairs and started checking the doors.     The left door opened onto a split-level space, once accessible via two curving flights of steps. The first was a tangled mess of metal and piping. The second floor was blocked by masonry fallen from above. Leaving this room for the present, they crossed the space to the door on the right. The door was slightly ajar, and with some persuasion from Fureva-Yung and a crowbar, it opened to reveal a room full of collapsed ceiling, earth and other junk. Marius rummaged through the space and came away victorious with armfuls of parts, azure steel and pliable metal.   Jaden looked to the elevator door next. With her experience, it took her no time to open the door. Unfortunately, the capsule was askew and without power. Besides straightening the capsule in the shaft, Jaden discovered the power was not getting through, and she needed thaum dust to make it work.   They went back to the first room, with Marius taking out a rope and tying it to a straight piece of pipe. He handed it to Nox, who levitated up to the upper floor to secure it to the upper level. The group worked smoothly together. There was little discussion, as everyone did their part to advance through the wreck of a past world.   When Nox was eight metres above the ground, a woman's scream rang out, echoing through the broken space. Nox clutched her ears as the sound reverberated through her mind. She turned to see flickering motes of light in the far corner of the upper level. The glowing shape of a woman full of rage slowly evolved from the lights. Multicoloured and bright, she advanced on Nox, who scanned the apparition in genuine curiosity. Whatever she was, she wasn’t corporeal. More out of phase, much like Milton and Resina had become. Physical attacks won’t do, She thought, Maybe energy or sound attacks would work?   The lights made the shadows dance down on the lower level, and without a word, Jaden yanked on the rope and pulled Nox below the level of the upper-level flooring. “Everything alright up there?” Marius called as Nox scowled. “I’m down here now,” She said, floating like a balloon on a string. “How about the woman screaming? Does she need help?”   Fureva-Yung pulled Nox in as Jaden continued with the diplomacy. “I’m sorry, we didn’t mean to disturb you in your…living…space. Maybe we could trade, we need information about the surface.” Silently, Marius pulled out an io and made one of his makeshift bombs in preparation. Nox reached out and read the mind of the creature above them.   Incomprehensible language…a muddle of rage simmering down to a dull anger, The woman looked at Jaden and screamed. Jaden closed her eyes and let the force of the scream wash over her, rippling across the surface of her mind without reaching her.   Fureva-Yung had seen enough. She roared, a humming rose up from where the woman floated as the lights behind grew brighter. “You don’t get to do that to my Jaden,” Nox mumbled, throwing out a psychic blast at the woman as Marius tossed his bomb into the space above. The whole structure shuddered under the impact as rocks and dust flew everywhere. Both Jaden and Marius found themselves under a rain of debris, Marius getting out of the way to dodge the larger pieces as he activated his light gloves.   The woman, now filling the lower level of the room with her multicoloured light, descends, attacking Nox with her scream. Ready for the attack, Nox stiffened her resolve and allowed the attack's energy to flow over her, just as Jaden had. Behind her, another light was in the shape of a man. It saw Marius and attacked. Marius dodged as usual and moved to give a punch his own, but he was out of range. Seeing his frustration, Nox pulled out a cypher nullifying gravity and uses it on Marius. His feet began to leave the ground as he suddenly realised he could fly.   Fureva-Yung’s shattering shout erupts, and the woman cries out as the vibrations send ripples through her being. As she tries to reform, Marius sails up to her and clapped his light-armoured hands. A wave of sound ripples through her, disrupting her ability to reform. Enraged, she directed her next attack on him. Below, the man yelled at Fureva-Yung. She clutched her head as the sound shivered through her mind. When she looked up, blood was streaming from her nose and ears, her vision was fuzzy, and she looked stunned.   Another of Fureva-Yung’s shattering shouts rattles through the image of the man. His form dissipated for a moment, blurring into a cloud of light before reforming again. Marius repeats his clap on the woman, and she can no longer hold her form. Her scream was cut short as her light dissipated into a cloud, dissolving into nothing before them.   “Whose the Boss!” Marius crows, spinning in the air, before seeing his bleeding friend below, “..of course, you helped.” Fureva-Yung nodded, refocusing her vision as a third glow started across the floor above. Nox forms a ball with her hands and waits until she sees the being before sending out a stasis field. Still battling the man, Jaden focuses an io attack and hits, dissipating his cloud of light across the room. With a thought, Marius flew up as another woman of light appeared. Nox was ready, though, and she was quickly frozen in a stasis field.   The battle was theirs though it wasn’t quite over. Fureva-Yung’s vision returned, and the group climbed up the rope ladder, surrounding the last energy people. When they were ready, Nox dismissed the stasis, and their attacks went off together. The woman shouted at Marius, but it had no effect as Fureva-Yung’s shout tore the woman apart. The shockwave of the shout sent loose debris flying back at Fureva-Yung, who took it all on her rubber armour. She brushed away a little dust and smiled.   The upper floor of the room consisted of a machine connected to large cylinders. Nothing seemed working so Marius set to work scrounging what he could. From it, he found the sought-for Thaum dust and a few more io that were promptly dropped into Bellyache. As Jaden returned to the ground floor to fix the elevator, Marius and Fureva-Yung continued exploring the upper rooms. Nox hovered between them, keeping a telepathic connection.           Clearing debris, they made enough space to break through a small hallway. To their left, a control panel ran the width of the hall. A window above looked out over the dodecahedron station. Two doors off the corridor lead to fan-like contraptions that neither Fureva-Yung nor Marius could understand. Fureva-Yung swapped with Nox, keeping watch over Jaden as Nox identified the machinery.   “They’re energy storage devices, but they’re not working right now,” She said simply as she always did when talking about old tech. “Anything shiny?” Marius asked, his eyes twinkling at the thought. “Hmm, may-be,” Nox grinned, and they started searching the machine for parts.   With Fureva-Yung’s help aligning the capsule, Jaden had the elevator fixed and ready in an hour. The ride was silent and smooth, with Fureva-Yung a spotting commentary on what she could hear as they travelled up. “A level, it echoes. Another level, but I think that has collapsed…” Suddenly she stopped and tilted her head up just as the elevator slowed its speed. “I can hear people. Lots, all talking. A level above.” The door rolled open onto a storeroom full of barrels. A view very much like the one from the images. Nox raced away, looking for the camera and waving up to her future self.   “I want to know the mix of people upstairs. There may be no need for this,” Fureva-Yung said, pulling out a disguise cypher. “I’ll go,” Nox volunteered, making her skin a blotching black and grey that fitted the dull lighting of the storeroom. She silently tip-toed up the stairs before reaching a plain wooden door at the top. With practice honed, sneaking out of the family home every morning, she opened the door and peered out.   Outside a bar was buzzing with activity. The primarily human clientele mingled with a small group of bipedal fish-folk who all seemed to speak the common language, though Nox could hear none of it from her hiding spot. Picking a mixed group of individuals in lively conversation, Nox eavesdropped into the mind of the most boisterous. He was a small, well-dressed man currently with a red face. As he spoke, his listeners nodded and sipped their drinks attentively.   How dare they dispute my running of things. The Armourer’s Guild should be happy with the trade and do their jobs. Is it my fault that deliveries are being delayed? They don’t know how good they’ve got it. If the Imperium wants it, they get it and they should just take what they’re give and be thankful….   Curious for more but aware the others were waiting, Nox closed the door and slipped back down the stairs to inform the others.

42. She's back

                  The successful adventurers, Marius, Nox, Yitti and Risina, returned with a bumper load of iotum and a surprise addition to the community, Milton, the man they had saved from the site.   “I’m heading up to the Image room, “Nox said, leaving the party at the hovercar, “Now that Fureva-Yung is getting stronger, I want to collect all the information we have on the other two sites.” To Marius, she added telepathically, And the other Sion we saw.   Marius nodded and turned to see Milton talking animatedly with Hulik, the ex-Ward Milita leader. “And what of the Imperium? Have they given your people any problems?” Hulik asked, bringing up something Marius had never heard of before. “Imperium? Wow! That’s old news. No, our people escaped the…resettlement and created a new home at Kerevin’s Drop.” “Um, Hulik,” Marius interrupted, “I’ve never heard of The Imperium. Are they a problem?” “The Zira Imperium, a long ways north of here,” Hulik’s eyes widened in realisation, “You might not remember. You were too young at the time. I wasn’t a Cerelon local. I came from a mining community far to the north called Tankerous Ridge. Life was pretty rough there, especially with a corrupt magister in charge. He never gave me a fair break. One day he ended up dead. There was no reason to stick around and get framed for that, so I fled south until I found Cerelon.” “Yeah, my people were… aggressively encouraged to join the Imperium centuries ago,” Milton drew down the collar of his shirt. He revealed a pattern of darker skin from his face all down his neck, “Kerevin’s Drop is far enough away from the Imperium that they don’t know we exist..and that’s the way we like it.” “I never knew, “ Marius mused, thinking that one of their future destinations was in the north. Was it currently under the control of this Imperium? “Whatever you younger explorers do,” Hulik replied, seemingly tapping to Marius’ thought, “The Imperium isn’t into diplomacy or ’live and let live. Better they don’t know we exist.”   Fureva-Yung was taking her first tentative steps around the village under the supervision of Temila. With a swirl of memories in her mind, she could still not remember when she felt as weak as she did at that moment. Still, it was good to be out under the winter sun, accepting the greetings of those she met. When they met, Jaden was back from checking on the progress of refitting the blast doors on the spire. She ran back to her shop to return with two metal plates linked by a heavy-duty spring. This she handed to Fureva-Yung. “It’s for resistance training. You push against the spring to rebuild your strength. “I thank you, Jaden, “ Fureva-Yung replied before giving the metal a tentative taste. “I’m sure Fureva-Yung will get good use of such a device, “Said Temila, looking up at her patient proudly, “But she is still too weak for more than just a stroll around town.”   Later that day, when Marius stopped by to visit, Fureva-Yung grumbled about being confined to the village. “She’s such a fuss pot, “ Marius said fondly about Temila, though Nox did not see his comment that way. “Temila is an excellent doctor, don’t say bad things against her.”   Much later that night, when Nox was practising her Ferrian with the now fluent Fureva-Yung, the larger woman became quiet, reflective and thoughtful. Her eyes closed, and her body relaxed as if in sleep. Nox stopped what she had been saying and put down her book to watch her friend shift. It wasn’t that Fureva-Yung became smaller, but her huge hands that usually hung at her sides, now settled in her lap, her shoulder rounded, and her eyes, when they opened, seemed to study her surroundings with more intent. They settled on Nox, and a smile broke on Fureva-Yung’s face. “Little one. Thank you for taking such care of Fureva-Yung.” This was the being she had talked to after Fureva-Yung had touched the black crystal near the Endoval Towers. It was this part of the Fureva-yung personality they had feared lost when Fureva-Yung had been hurt by the acid in the tower. It was also this personality they had hoped to finally reclaim with the treatments. Nox was almost speechless until she realised that Fureva was waiting for her to reply. “Fureva? Hi,” She said, beaming, “How do you feel?” “Weak, “ Fureva admitted, something Fureva-Yung had avoided saying all day, “But it is good to be back.”   “Back,” Nox’s face fell, and for a moment, she looked at her hands, trying to control her feelings. When she returned her gaze to her now more insightful friend, it was with the sheen of tears in her eyes. “It’s all we could have hoped for.” Fureva sat and watched Nox for a moment but did not comment. “Do you want me to get the others? They’ll be so pleased to finally meet you.” “No, not yet,” Fureva gently placed her huge hand against her head, “There’s so much to remember. My memories are a mess. Tell me about yourself."     Nox rattled off a list of tasks she had been involved in during Fureva-Yung’s treatment and respite, including the latest trip with Marius, Risina and Yiti. She reclaimed her book and mentioned the finding once more the video Jaden had discovered of the sion to the east and sorting out her cyphers that may be useful for an underwater trip.   “Yes, the dome.” It is now time for action. “Please, Nox, get the others. I wish to plan our next steps,” Fureva said in a way that would have never occurred to the old Fureva-Yung. Nox was quick to put aside her book and get up, but once more, the look of loss fell across her features.   “Something disturbs you, little one? I would know it before we start.” “It’s not important. You and the mission are important.” Nox brushed aside, Fureva’s concerns, but she wouldn’t be put off. “You are important.” She said emphatically, and the stiffness she’s seen in Nox dissolved as silent tears rolled down her face.   This is between us, okay? Nox shared telepathically, The others…they are busy and important… Nox took a breath as it required her to say what needed saying. I never thought I was lonely…in Cerelon. I had Jaden and Temila, and that was enough. Then we got together. You and me and Marius and Jaden and we did…amazing things together. Every day, we explored, discovered, fought and looked after each other. Now, Marius is out exploring for days at a time, and though he asks me to join him on expeditions, he asks. Nox scrunched her face up, unhappy with her explanation, He never asked before. And Jaden. She’s doing amazing things with Aunty Ivasha. Plans look like nonsense to me, but Aunty Ivasha can see Jaden’s plans just like she does. And now you are getting better, which is what we wanted. But you’ll go and do amazing things with the other sions and save us from the shards and… Now the tears were rolling unstopped down Nox’s face, I used to be alone, but now I’m lonely and don’t know what to do about that.   Fureva sat back on her pillows and sat in silence as Nox hung her head ashamed. “Little one. You are a daughter, sister and friend to Fureva-Yung. You always have been and always will be. You are never alone.” A small smile spread across her face as she opened her arms wide, “Now, come here.” Nox did not look up or open her arms in turn but shuffled up beside the head of Fureva’s bed and leaned into the warm, hairy hugeness that was Fureva-Yung. Fureva enfolded the slight young woman until she disappeared into arms, and they shared a silent moment that was more healing than many months of treatments and recovery.   When Nox’s tears had finally dried, Fureva put her back on her feet. “Now, the others.” “I know where they are, “ Nox replied with more of her old energy and disappeared with a small pop! Fureva, who had not witnessed the new teleporting skill, sat stunned, looking around for any sign of the girl. She had disappeared.   Pop! In Jaden’s workshop. Jaden was working as usual. It wasn’t anything in particular. Just a tool she hoped would be useful the next day. The popping sound of Nox was quickly followed by a string of words too excited to understand precisely before, POP! Nox was gone again. Jaden was sure the girl had mentioned Fureva-Yung. That was a good sign. She put down her project and wiped her hands on a rag. It was time for a hospital visit.   Pop! Outside Temila’s hut, the door suddenly rattled with the sharp raps from a small hand. “Yes, Nox, come in,” said Marius, snuggling closer to a sleepy Temila. Nox opened the door, saw them together and quickly shut it again. “Fureva is up and wants to see you,” She said before qualifying, “With clothes on.” “I’m sure she didn’t say any such thing, but I will be there…with clothes on,” Marius confirmed before hearing the popping sound outside the door.   Being still up and fully dressed, Jaden was the first to arrive. She poked her head into the small cabin that was the hospital to see Fureva-Yung sitting up in bed. “Jaden. Come in.” Said Fureva in a voice clearer and more authoritative than Jaden had ever heard from the woman. Raising an eyebrow, she stepped in and found a seat on the spare bed. “Nice to see you again. Nox said you wanted something?” “Firstly, I want to say it is wonderful to see you.” Jaden now openly looked askance at the woman sitting in the bed, looking just like her old friend. “Apologies Jaden, we haven’t properly met before. I’m Fureva.” “Fureva?” Asked Jaden trying to grasp the slippery fish that had just landed in her lap, “Not Yung.” “Yung is here. She is the one that makes me strong. I would not be here without her.” “And…you’re Fureva…the other smarter part?” “You could put it like that,” Fureva said, making a face that suggested she would not, “I was hoping to speak to you first…”   Then, Marius walked in, his arms out wide in welcome. “Furry! Ready to smash?” He said, walking across the small room “Marius. I am glad to finally meet in person.” Marius stopped and stared at the composed and eloquent individual in Fureva-Yung’s body. “Ur…what did you do with our Furry?” “Marius!” Nox exclaimed, taking her usual seat beside Fureva-Yung’s bedside, “This is Fureva, the part of Fureva-Yung we’ve been working to save all these months.” “I’ve been trying to explain to him,” Temila walked in behind Marius, glancing over her patient and noting the differences, “But I don’t think even I expected such a change. Temila, pleased to finally meet you.” She put out a hand, and Fureva shook it. “I know, doctor, and thank you for everything you’ve done for me.”   Fureva turned back to Jaden, “I wanted to firstly thank you for the armour upgrade.” “Ah yes, “ Jaden, now on the firmer ground of her inventions, relaxed a little, “Yes, it helps not to have someone ask every half hour how it is going. The work went very smoothly.” Fureva looked embarrassed, a new expression on her broad face, “ Ah, yes. I’m glad I was… indisposed this time.”   “Um, is there anything we can get you? Are you thirsty or hungry?” Marius asked, by way of filling the air. “I am ravenous,” Fureva admitted, and Nox jumped into action. “I should have thought! I’m sorry. Would you like mushrooms or bugs from the deep craven? Oh, how about eggs?” She disappeared, only to reappear a few moments later, her hands full of small rubbery eggs fresh from the farm, swaying on her feet. Though she was getting better at teleporting, four teleports in as many minutes was a lot of exertion. The eggs were quickly taken from her hands, and she was returned to her seat by the bed.   “Now that we’ve been introduced, Nox said you wanted help?” “Yes,” Said Fureva in a voice sharp and decisive, “Now is our time to find the remaining sions and return both pieces of the shard to the Gate Star. Jaden, how goes the second crystal we’ll need for the Cerelon piece?” “I don’t know, “Jaden admitted. She was unprepared for this line of questioning, though it had been something on her mind too, “Last time I spoke to Yosin, he suggested that repairs could be made with the right parts. I’ll get him on side this week and pin him down for details.” “Good,” She glanced and Nox and tapped the girl’s Numenera book, “You’ve got the time stamp for the last time the sion walked through the eastern site. Could you also find out as much information as you could for the Northern site?” “Yes,” Nox nodded excitedly, “I’ll do it straight away.” “Tomorrow will be fine, thank you,” Fureva turned to Marius, “We may be gone some time. How ready do you think the community is to defend themselves if need be?” Again, something Marius had been thinking about but hadn’t yet initiated. “I have procedures in place for being aware of the danger. I’ll drill the community on them as soon as possible.” “Yes, thank you, Marius. Now Temila, “ Fureva turned her attention to her doctor, who was preparing a meal with the eggs Nox brought. “It is your job to get me ship-shape by tomorrow.” “A week and no less. You’ve just left your bed. Give yourself time.” Temila countered with a determination as strong as Fureva’s. “Can we negotiate to three days? I am feeling very well.” “We can talk about it, “ Temila handed over a plate containing scrambled eggs and greens, “After you’ve finished your meal.”   The meal was drugged. Fureva was soon too tired to continue planning. Temila got her week.   The week passed quickly. Pleasantly surprised by Fureva's insightful intelligence, Jaden was a regular at the hospital. During the fitting for the new armour, Furevea was pleased that the bunny tail was now absent. She turned around in front of a polished piece of steel and admired the new look before falling face-first to the ground and allowing the armour to bounce her back to her feet. “You truly are a genius, Jaden.” She said with admiration before her expression clouded, “I’ve wanted to talk to you about another piece of technology. In my previous life, I lost quite a few communications crew. They are often the first link with the enemy and the first to be hurt. I worry about Nox as I see her take on that same role.” “Oh,” Jaden said stiffly, not looking up at Fureva, “What do you have in mind?” “Mind, precisely. I was thinking of some sort of mind shield technology.” Jaden shrugged, and Fureva was sure there was a coolness in Jaden’s attitude regarding the girl. “She has a curious mind and is not afraid to test her limits. I must admit to having something like that in mind myself.” “If not a shield, maybe a one-way mirror. She can see out, but the enemy can’t see her.” The surprising thought took root in Jaden’s fertile mind, “I won’t have time now, but leave it with me.” “Also, “ And this time, Fureva tried to suppress a smile, “Do you happen to have some of your pink dye?” “Why?” Jaden asked, wondering if this was the start of a revenge plot. “Could I have a little?” Fureva did not explain. Jaden relented, curious to see what use this new Fureva-Yung could do with it. “Yes, yes, you may. I’ll send over a bottle this afternoon.”   With a bolt of grey fabric under her arm, Nox sought and found Cyanna D’mir getting ready for a day of making curtains and pillows for the growing collection of houses. “I need something that breaks up my shape, something…different on each side,” Nox explained, drawing an image of what she wanted in her Numenera book, “I can do chores in exchange.” The outfit looked like nothing Cyanna had been asked to make before. One sleeve long, the other non-existent. One leg was covered in a short soft skirt with a jagged seam. The other was a pant leg that ended above her thigh. Blobs were cut out through the torso in carefully placed areas to provide the cover she needed while exposing as much skin as possible. Nox handed over the grey fabric she’d traded a cypher for. “I didn’t take you for an exhibitionist,” Cyanna teased, examining the image, before spotting Nox’s serious expression, “You might as well go around naked as wear this around town.” “Oh, it’s not for around here. It's for this, “ Nox replied as her skin tone matched her surroundings. With the flat light of the morning on her and the background, Binna was sure there was only a dress pinned to the wall. “I…understand now,” She said as her mind focused on the problem, “Leave it with me.”       Fureva also wanted new clothing made. Though the grey cloth was fine, she asked about fur and was disappointed to find there were no hides available. The wild game caught by the old militia was mainly of the reptile kind. When shredded and cooked, its skin was almost as tasty as the creature's flesh and never made it to leather. If she wanted fur, she would have to get it herself. With all the air of confidence that an ex-admiral of the fleet could wield, Fureva slipped out of town one evening and into the woods. It wasn’t long before she realised something large and hairy was hunting her. A heavy-bodied snake-like creature with segregated shells slunk from the trees and tall grass. She readied her chain, looking forward to matching wits with the beast, when she realised her grave error. Though intelligent and thoughtful, Fureva was not the physical warrior that Fureva-Yung was. She did not have the strength and agility to take this creature on alone. Swinging her chain, she smiled, nodded to the beast and ran back to the fringe of Tiltspire as fast as she could.   Her legs shaking with exhaustion, her sides burning from the effort, Fureva realised she may still have one or two days more healing left. Once her breathing was under control, she strolled back through the cottages and huts of the township, assuring herself the incident had never occurred.   The dressmaking taken care of, Nox took the elevator up to the Image room and scanned the footage for any information on the Northern site. It was pretty straightforward. She knew the western site, the old temple to Erinai in Cerelon. The eastern site was identified by work Jaden had done months before. The Northern site was identifiable as a room full of kegs, often moved around by a person who worked or lived there. Though she'd never seen the tattoo, she thought they could be the third sions. She was watching the figure once more moving barrels when soldiers dressed in heavy armour entered the scene and started talking. Eventually, the talking became pointing weapons, and the figure walked out of sight at the point of spears and swords. She noted the timestamp. It was only a few weeks before. She blinked away to tell Fureva.   “Should we go after the captured figure at the northern site?” Nox asked, the evening she’d discover the footage. Before then, the group's plans had centred around tackling the water of the eastern dig site in hopes of getting to the transport dome. “Yes, we should. There isn’t a moment to lose, “ Fureva agreed, knowing that time was of the essence, “Marius, start digging out the northern excavation immediately,” She ordered. Marius balked at the demand. Out of all her friends, Marius was having the most difficulty working with the new decisive Fureva. He said nothing, shutting his mouth with an audible click. Fureva noticed his reticence. “I understand you’re very good at digging,” She said, with only a twitch of a smile revealing the joke. Marius laughed, breaking the tension, “There you are, Furry! For a while, you had me worried.” Now free to speak, he responded with his own proposal. “In the Spire, there are some rooms below where we plugged the crystal in. I think they once connected to the old transport network. What if Nox and I check them out tomorrow?” Fureva nodded, realising that she needed to remember these were her companions, not subordinates. They had only got as far as they had by relying on the strength, speed and intelligence of each other. Now wasn’t the time to start pulling rank. “Good thinking, Marius. Please don’t take any unnecessary risks down there,” She said, softening her communication to match. “Don’t worry, she won’t,” Marius said, elbowing Nox, who didn’t think he was funny.     “Ready to go?” Marius asked Nox the next day. Nox nodded but didn’t look him in the eye. “Go-od, “ He said, sure he was missing something, “You know, I really love going out exploring with you. You’re so helpful.” Nox looked up at Marius, convinced he was making fun, but was surprised to see he genuinely meant it. “Okay,” She replied tentatively as they walked to the elevator for the trip down to the crystal room. Using the hand-carved steps of the deep craven, they found the two levels Marius remembered from months before. The first was a control room outside, of which two stairs led down. Below that, three tunnels terminated, one from each of the three remote sites. Nox spent a few moments adjusting to the controls before a blank screen burst into life with information about the system and its condition. “The path to the southeast tunnel is flooded and won’t open from here, “ Nox said, disappointed. She was least looking forward to swimming through the dark, frigid waters to the dome. “The southwest tunnel says it has no transport pod connected,” She looked up at Marius. They knew the dodecahedron they’d ridden out to the Spire had derailed on a build-up of crystal in the tunnel, “I wonder if we could ask Mamma and the babies to eat through the crystal on the line for our trip back to Cerelon?” “That’s an idea for another day,” Marius agreed and pointed to the information on the third tunnel, “What of this one?” Nox nodded enthusiastically, “Oh yes, the northern tunnel is in working condition. I’ve called the dodecahedron. It should be here in an hour.” “Great, I want to inspect it, inside and out. Let’s make sure it's working.” “Ah,” Nox replied, remembering their last trip, “I didn’t open the dodecahedron last time. That was Fureva-Yung with her tattoo.” “No problem,” Marius smiled, clicking his fingers, “You can just pop up and teleport her back.” “Yeah…” Nox replied, disappearing only to return via the elevator with Fureva-Yung.     At the end of the week, the group were ready to travel, and Fureva-Yung was given the all-clear. As had become a habit, Jaden and Fureva spent the evenings watching the newly burgeoning town settle for the night. Through the thinning groups Nox, laden with her few possessions, wove her way through the village to the hut shared by Binna Mayes and Cyanna D’mir. Fureva watched Jaden as the older woman followed the girl’s progress. She’d noticed previously that Jaden, amongst all her friends, was not doing so well. She seemed disconnected and, even though she was integral to much of the building of the new town, a little lost.   “She’s grown a great deal in the last few months,” Fureva nodded to Nox as a door opened in the darkness and welcomed the girl in. “Yes,” Jaden’s one-syllable felt more like a whole statement. “Jaden, what’s wrong?” Jaden’s face twisted into a sad smile that spoke of a more profound pain, “I always knew that Nox relied on me, but until she told me I wasn’t her mother, did I know how much I’d come to rely on her.”   In the chaos that was still Fureva-Yung’s memories, Fureva recalled the moment. In protecting Nox, she had stymied the girl’s free will. Callously, the girl had retaliated. It was a throwaway phrase in the heat of of the moment, but it had clearly festered in Jaden ever since. “Sisters go through phases,” Furveva nodded, empathising with her old friend, “Your relationship with her has changed. It is something that even birth mothers need to accept.” Jaden shook her head, “I don’t think I can ever think of that scrap of a girl dodging her father as a sister. Besides, as you say, I don’t have the right to feel hurt. I am not her mother and never wanted to be.” “First thing in the morning, you should tell Nox how you feel. You may be surprised by what you discover.” “No,” If the ‘yes’ had held weight, her ‘no’ was a dagger, sharp and final. “Jaden…” “Fureva, I appreciate your insight, but some things are not said, “Jaden brought down her hand like a judge a gavel. The discussion was over.   “ I did want to pick your brain about our future infiltration into Cerelon. We’re going to need something to give us an advantage over the servitors,” Fureva changed the subject. “I made an inhibitor that shut servitors down. The advantage being once we defeat the Shard, we can use the servitors to rebuild.” “That’s exactly what we need. How many such devices could you build?” “I can leave Ivasha to build as many as we have parts. We can put together a good stockpile.” “We’re lucky to have you, Jaden.” ‘Yes.”          

41. Before the return of Fureve-Yung

Three months was far too short a time for the number of projects Jaden had planned. Even with the surprisingly compliant help of Ivasha, there were only so many hours in a day and only so much iotum to go around.   With the amber crystal expertly supplied by Marius, the two-week project of putting together the perpetual fountain was finally underway. Like any large project, setting up tooling in the workshop took a week on its own but made the whole process of scrap to the final working machine much easier. Even Scaberous, the random iotum-eating robot, was handy around the workshop for cleaning up the leftovers at the end of the working day. Some days were frustrating and ended in getting less done than expected, while others breezed by, adding to a feeling of accomplishment. At the end of two weeks, Jaden and Ivasha proudly installed the perpetual fountain to the side of the Tilted Spire. It worked better than expected, providing the equivalent of thirty people’s water supply a day instead of the expected twenty.   With the large project now done, Jaden turned her attention to the communities programs, the charcoal and clay kiln. These were more about time and raw effort than technical knowledge. She offered her advice and left others to the labour-intensive or mucky work of making the clay dome for the kiln or watching the charcoal.   With Fureva-Yung’s armour complete and Marius protected by his built-in armour, Jaden got to work on her own and Nox’s lightweight versions, . Nox looked at hers with a bit of trepidation. “Can I still hide?” She asked, listening to the rubber creak as she fussed with its tight fit. “I don’t know, can you?”   Jaden then turned her eyes to scraps of ideas she’d picked up on their month-long trip from Cerelon. These were the seeds of ideas that exploring the installations of the past had provided her fertile mind. A flying machine seed, inspired by the hovercar, was put aside for now as requiring parts she just did not have. Same for a Sacristan mental shield based on one metal shield that she was loathed the waste on a mistake. She did, however, have both the time, knowledge and parts for a gardening mechanoid. Though the sight of the spider-like contraption reminded several of the servitors, the similarity were few. This was definitely a machine with only enough intelligence to do the specific task of looking after fifteen square metres of plants and soil. The machine was placed away from town, down towards the lake, far enough away that most residents didn’t even see it regularly. There it could look after its piece of land, only needing human interaction during sowing and harvest.   Bellyache was now empty of even the most basic parts. It was time for the scroungers to return to work and find more iotum.     Three months was a very long time. From being the weird one that hid in the shadows of others, Nox found herself training nursing staff for the Tiltspire Hospital. Nox was trying not to intervene with Mina Mayes' nursing of Fureva-Yung. Mina was doing fine. Really she was. She was attentive and gentle when needed, but being a barmaid back in Cerelon had given her a certain authority when it came to people who didn’t want to do what was good for them. She joked, cajoled, bargained and bullied, all for her patient’s welfare. “It’s the least I can do,” said Mina one evening as she left the hospital, “I would be magr stew if Fureva-Yung hadn’t stepped into the village and blown them all to hell. Besides, during this time, I’ve come to see what a gentle soul she really is. That’s a view not many appreciate around here. All they see is the big strong warrior Fureva-Yung wants them to see. No, I wouldn’t give up this opportunity for the world.”   This meant Nox was now freer than ever for more of Marius' grand adventures. After raiding the installation where the floating blob was imprisoned and returning with the acquired amber crystals, Marius had gained a reputation as a “...man who got things done…”. Marius' stories of the adventure contained all the right details about Nox welding the wall in place and teleporting them out when it was clear the monster had found its own way out. It was just when it came to praise it all seemed to fall on Marius. Though she would have hated the public praise as much as Marius loved it, she was realising how people like Marius and Risina rose to positions of power.   Three months was long enough for the group that made up Nox's world to become, if not strangers, at least estranged. Marius asked her to come on his expeditions, and she eventually agreed, something that had been a given only twelve weeks before. Jaden and Marius made time to see Fureva-Yung. Before, all their time had been her's to share. Jaden didn't need Nox's help now that Aunty Ivasha was her right hand. And now, Fureva-Yung was improving, Nox wasn't required there either. Nox had never worried about being alone before, but now she found herself feeling lonely.   Marius adventure had been found exploring the foothills to the north of Tiltspire. In the afternoon light, he’d found an odd-shaped shadow that turned out to be the collapsed ceiling of an old installation. Peaking his head into the darkness, he judged the floor nine metres down and far too far. A rope ladder with a pole support over the entrance would do the trick. “So, I’m thinking me, you, Yitti…” Marius started listing his ideal group, only to be interrupted by Nox. “Yitti? I don’t know him.” “You know him, the noisy one who’ll probably blow us all up if he gets his still running.” “Yes, I know of him,” Nox replied uncomfortably. It was hard not to know people when the whole community numbered little more than fifty people, “But he’s your friend, and I don’t know him.” “Well, we’ll soon fix that with a trip together. Who else? Temila?” “She’s busy.” “I’m sure she’d like a break away from all her work…” Nox was sure she wouldn’t. There was nothing that Temila loved better than working hard for others and seeing them bloom around her. To that, the Tiltspire community was just an extension of her herbalist garden. Everyone had their own needs attended to by the gardener, so they, in turn did their best for the greater community. “She’d rather stay here with the people.” “Well, then, who else?”   One person had shown themselves capable during the flight from Cerelon, A good fighter, calm in stressful situations. Though they did oversee the building of Tiltspire, their days weren’t so full they couldn’t get away from a day trip. “How about Risina?” Asked Nox just as Marius said, “Well, I suppose there’s always Risina.” They looked at each other, silently contemplated a group with Yitti and Risina working together and laughed out loud. “Yeah, you, me, Yitti and Risina.” Marius agreed and went to tell the two of them.   At least he told Yitti everything, including about Risina. “Just like old times, you say? What old times would those be? When she threatened our livelihoods because we demanded she improve conditions in the mines? What were you thinking?” Yitti complained. It was only Yitti’s railing against the unsafe conditions for the Dritmen all those years ago that made Marius realise how badly his family were treating the workers. After that, they fought side by side against his own mother to make working in the Dritvein a living occupation, not a dying one. “I’m thinking it will be fun to see her face when she turns up for the trip and finds you’re coming too,” Marius grinned conspiratorially. “Ah,” Yitti mirrored the smile, shook hands with his friend and promised to be ready in the morning.   Yitti was up and ready first, waiting at the hovercar. He could see Marius had been busy acquiring a rope ladder and pole strapped to the front of the vehicle. Risina was second. She stopped in he tracks when she realised who the fourth member of the party was. “Morning, Rissa!” He called in his most grating voice. They were equals in this new society, a fact he was very happy to remind her of every chance he could. “Yitti, this is not like you, up early for an actual day’s work?” She sniped back, the rounded tones of her elocution lessons clear in the still morning air. “Not work?” Yitti sparked up. If there was anything he prided himself in was working as hard as anyone, “How can you possibly believe that?” “I have eyes,” Was her only response.   Nox and Marius walked up a few minutes later, and the two were still sniping at each other. I am not connecting them to the network, Nox said silently to Marius, referring to her telepathic link. Ah, no.   The four of them clambered into the hovercar, and Marius soon had them zooming over green plains towards the foothill and their destination. When they arrived, Yitti and Marius pulled the rope ladder and support rope off the hovercar and laid it across the gap in the ground. Nox didn’t wait but stepped off and hovered down as first Marius, then Yitti, and finally Risina descended the ladder.   “Hey, watch it!” Yitti cried as, for the second time, Risina’s foot came down on his hand. “Your hand shouldn’t be where my foot is,” Risina bit back. “Lady, allow me to show you where you can stick your foot…” Yitti snatched for the boot. Risina swung away, making the whole rope ladder twist and jostle. “Move on, you lazy lout, or you’ll get a boot to the head next.” Risina swung again. This time, it was too much for the thin ceiling holding the support bar. The roof collapsed, bringing down with it the pole and rope ladder. Marius, Yitti and Risina all dropped and rolled away, breaking the sudden fall’s impact as the echoes of the clanging bar reverberated. The sound propagated around the room only to return like a shockwave. “It has something to do with the shape of this room,” Nox said, floating back up to the ceiling. Now they were at the smooth acorn-shaped roof with rocks or debris embedded in its surface. Black scorch marks showed where a powerful explosion had occurred sometime in this facility's life. Marius scuffed his foot through a pile of debris on the ground and nodded at the salvage possibilities.   He looked around the dome spying three passages, one heading north, one south and one to the west. “Would you like me to put the ladder back up?” Nox asked, breaking his train of thought. He looked to the hole above them, made larger by their entrance. “I don’t know. I’d hate something to come down behind us while we’re trapped in here,” He said thoughtfully. “I’d hate for us to need to leave in a hurry,” Nox countered. “You could always teleport us up. It's less than ten metres.” “What? The four of us?” Nox cringed at the mental effort it would take to move all four of them.     They headed up the north passage, a long corridor with a black swirling feature at the far end. Nox stopped at a door in the left-hand wall and scanned it as usual. There was nothing behind it, but the door itself was unpowered and wouldn’t open without a spark of energy. Focusing her psychic blast, she pushed a little energy into the locking mechanism. The door crashed open, the sound of metal crashing into metal resounded in the acorn room. It set off harmonic vibrations up the corridor. “Can you please be careful, “ Risina dismissed Nox’s door-opening skill, “No need to be melodramatic.” Beyond the door, they saw the transparent image of two people frantically working at a control panel. Though their mouths moved, they made no sound. Their hands moved across the controls, but the still dials could be clearly seen through the moving hands and shadowy readout. Suddenly, a flashing red light turned on and another display revealed an increase in…intensity? Eventually, the vibrations in the hall faded and so did the images.   “Noise, we need a noise,” Nox scrambled through her few possessions, grabbing her lockpicking wire and a suitably shaped piece of scrap off the ground. She wound the wire and tried making a low rough sounding drone as she pulled it across the doorway. Risina seeing what Nox was trying to do, lifted her head, took a deep breath and sang a strong, clear note. The figures returned just as they had been. Things were not getting better. One gestured to the readout as what seemed to be another shockwave ran through the space. The two people shuddered in place as if electrocuted and then collapsed where they stood. Dust and pieces of what was now obviously bone lay in the spot where they fell.   “Now is not the time for silly games,” Risina stopped singing, a note of accusation in her voice. Unsure what had disturbed Risina this time, the group turned to see Risina’s whole body had faded to semi-transparency. Nox reached out to touch her hand. Though there was flesh and bone, the contact made Nox start as a sharp buzzing transferred up her arm. “I think she’s…on a different wavelength to us,” Nox said, making Yitti laugh, and Risina shook her head. “She’s always been on a different wavelength. This time, she took it too far,” Yitti said as Risina replied, “The problem is not m. It's you.” They glared at each other, neither willing to give an inch. “Marikan dear, I may need your assistance,” Risina finally turned from Yitti to her son. “You look faded to us,” He shrugged. “Faded is a matter of perspective,” She grumbled, “Look, your education was very expensive. I demand you put it to use at this minute.” “You were educated?” Nox asked, surprised to find out her reactive companion had received anything more than basic tuition. “Yeah, “ Marius replied sheepishly, another marker of his upper-class upbringing. Then, he thought about her question, “ Why?” “Um…no reason,” She replied innocently, returning to the dark and lifeless consoles.   “They were trying to control the intensity….sound maybe. That would explain the domed room. It’s a resonance chamber.” “But then there was an explosion that killed everyone inside,” Marius added, putting together the clues from the first room. “But where does that leave me?” Risina almost stomped. She was not used to being ignored, certainly not when she felt an injury had been done. “Ur…you have a very pretty singing voice,” Nox said, trying to lighten the mood and compliment the older woman. “Don’t state the obvious, child. There are more important issues at stake here,” Risina brushed aside the compliment with contempt. Risina walked through the door and into the next room. “There’s always time for pretty,” Nox mumbled, confused by the woman’s behaviour and followed.   Past the long console, a second door barred the way heading south. Not happy at how Risina had been treating Nox, Marius gestured for his mother to try and open the door. She nodded as if it would be the most simple thing in the world and examined the mechanism. “Pass me on of your iotum, dear,” She held out her slender hand. Marius obliged and handed her one which she used as a weapon to punch out the plate covering the circuit board. Here she could see the mechanism was intact, it only required energy. She tried rewiring, but there was not a jolt of power to be had in the whole system. Minutes ticked by. “ Another iotum, if you’d be so kind,” She asked again and used the small device to power the door. It peeled open. “The door wasn’t powered, was it?” He asked casually. “No need to state the obvious.” “Nox did it without iotum in less time.” She turned to face him, an imperial expression contorting her face. “And what? Do you expect me to apologise or something?” “Or something would be nice.”   Risina flounced through the door, before stopping dead and staring down a passage to her left that led back out into the resonance chamber. “What?” Marius glanced down the hall but saw nothing. “There was a…I’m sure…there was someone watching around the corner,” She pointed and Marius ran down the corridor and into the resonance chamber on the lookout for their peeping tom. He glanced back at her and shrugged. “They may also be out of phase,” Nox commented heading for another door in a small niche, “Just more than Risina.” “Ah, I always thought her image would fade into history,” Yitti quipped, “I never thought to have seen the actual day it happened, however.” Risina for the first time did not reply with an acidic comment of her own. Instead, she just stood there looking back at where she saw the face disappear around the corner. “Don’t worry mum, I’ll save you,” Marius grinned, knowing it would rouse her ire. Instantly she took a breath in lifted her head and seemed to glanced down at him, though they were the same height. “Of course you will. I raised you.”   Nox ignored the banter and scanned the door. It was the same as the others, not locked, just unpowered. She zapped it with psychic burst, and again the door slammed open on a store room. The sound rebounded off the hard walls and collected in the resonance chamber, vibrating through the whole complex. “Get out of the way!” Risina yelled at Nox, who still found loud people hard to deal with, especially rude, ignorant ones. “I’m safe, I want to see if there’s an echo in here too!” “I said, move!” And Risina placed a transparent hand on Nox to push her out of the way. Instead, she went straight through the girl crouched on the ground and stumbled into the storeroom, crashing through the echo of a man with a clipboard doing inventory. Risina’s hand instinctually grabbed the shelves to steady herself, and a metal cylinder, as long as her forearm, came away with her hand. “Look what you made me do, you stupid child!” Risina seemed deeply shocked as she and the stocktaking echo held the same space for a moment before it eventually disappeared. Nox was oblivious to Risina's discomfort however. “I am not stupid.” She said in a low menancing voice, quite unlike her usual quiet nature. “What?” Risina quickly stepped out of the storage room as if stepping out of spiderwebs, the metal cylinder still in her hand. “I am NOT stupid.” Nox repeated, no less menacing.   “Ah, what do you have there, mother?” Marius stepped in between the two women. Risina looked down at the item she’d extracted from the echo as Nox slunk away, still grumbling. I am NOT STUPID! “ I think it's a monopole, quite a useful item for extended or prolonging the use of certain cyphers,” She said, her experienced mine owner’s expert eye assessing the item. “It was invisible to us. Now it's the same phase as you,” He commented, putting out his hand, “Put it in my hand and see what happens.” Risina looked to do just that and then thought better of it. “Let’s experiment on something less…” She was going to say expensive, but being concerned about the cost of an item in present company didn’t seem a good move, “...rare.” She moved passed Marius, the monopole firmly in her grasp and brushed against his still outstretched hand. The sudden connection gave her a jolt like static shock and she turned to her son in surprise.   His face was grim, and he glanced towards Nox and Yitti, rummaging through scraps before turning back to talk to his mother. “You know that young woman is probably smarter than the two of us put together.” He said seriously. “Of that, I have no doubt.” “I wonder if you remember what it was like to be young and adventurous.” He sighed before calling Nox back over. Risina did not comment but stayed conspicuously quiet for a while after that.   “There will be plenty of time to search for salvage later. I’ve just remembered something I read about phaseshifting. Can you scan Risina and compare her to our state?”   Nox did as she was told and scanned Risina before scanning her own hand. Her head quirked to the side, and she hummed a small high note. “E-sharp,” She said amused by the curiosity, “We don’t seem to have a note, but Risina is vibrating at E-sharp.” “So this place has made your…essesence vibrate. We just have to find a way to dampen it somehow.”   There was nothing else to look at in either the corridor or store room so the mismatched group continued around the corner to the left, where it widened out into an octagonal room. In the centre, a square pillar of black display screens dominated the space. One wall collapsed, a hallway long lost, one was an open arch back to the resonance chamber. Here Marius spotted boot prints in the dust leading from the black pillar and fading as they led away into the chamber. He turned and noted his mother’s prints, still as strong as his own with no sign of fading.   Nox carefully touched the black surface, and a string of symbols rose up the pillar. Not Ferrian or the modern common, the symbols were a curious mix that seemed to have more to do with music than words. She pressed one, and a chiming sound filled the room to be once more picked up by the hallways and rooms. Echoes of people from a nearer past walked into the room. Their clothes were not uniform like the others and seemed more homespun like their own clothes. Like Nox, one went to the pillar and played with the symbols that appeared. The second silent berated the first for playing around with something they didn’t understand. The words, “...what the hell do you think you’re doing…” clear on their lips if not in the air. As will all the other echoes, as the chiming sound faded from the air, the images also faded and disappeared. A start from Risina made Nox turn to see now Marius was faded just like his mother. Scanning him, he also vibrated at E sharp. “I can’t tell, are things improving or getting worse?” Risina said sarcastically, reaching out to touch Marius who was now solid to her. Marius now studied the patterns on the column, drawing no more information from it than Nox. Looking away in disgust from the column, his eyes caught movement from the resonance room. At the same time, Risina also flinched. It hadn’t been a trick of the light, there was something watching them. Sprinting through the open archway into the acorn-shaped room, Marius chased the figure, identifying them as the ‘what the hell’ guy. “Hey! Hey! We just want to chat!” Marius called. The man did not stop, instead, he ran into the northern corridor. Marius followed.   Here the wide corridor narrowed down to a walkway surrounded by a cylinder-shaped room. The room was filled with a black scaley liquid that rolled and moved like heavy oil, adhering to the room's walls. Here the corridor ended, and Marius was able to catch up. He reached out and grabbed the man’s shoulder, making him start. “You can see me?! You can touch me?!” The man exclaimed, nearly collapsing with relief. “Yeah, we’re in the same boat as you. Can you help us?”   Though Risina could see and hear the man, he was totally out of phase with Yitti and Nox. Nox reached through the telepathic network, and through Marius’ senses, heard and saw the invisible man. She shared that information with Yitti. “What’s your name?” “Milton.” “How long have you been stuck like this?” “I don’t know,” The man replied miserably. “We saw an echo of you in the blue column room. Is that when it happened?” Marius pointed back through the resonance room to the south, where the blue column was visible. “I’m an echo?” The man asked and a spark of realisation came to his features,”Yeah, it must have happened then. “Tell us about that?” “Um..I don’t know. My friend was fooling around with the column and then this noise ran through the whole place and then…they couldn’t hear or see me. I couldn't even touch them.” “What happened then? What did they do?” “They…left.” These last two words were spoken so sadly it was clear at that time he had given up hope. “Did you try and follow?” “Yes, but the sunshine burnt me so I couldn’t leave.”   Risina found this little fact curious and was determined to test the theory. She walked back into the acorn room where sunlight streamed through the hole in the roof. First, sticking her hand into the sunlight and then stepping into the rays, she reported no burning sensation at all. It was odd to watch the dust motes swirling through her form, but otherwise, there were no ill effects. “I wonder if it has more to do with being outside the building,” Nox suggested. Picking up the pole, she levitated up through the hole and replaced the rope ladder so Risina could climb it. Again, Risina poked her hand out through the hole, only to pull it back again sharply. “Yes, burning but not by heat, more like being…erased.”   Back in the room, Nox scanned the area where Milton stood and noted that he resonated at a Bflat note. It seemed not to matter what frequency, only that frequency was moving their bodies out of phase. It seemed Marius was right, dampening the vibration seemed to be the solution. Marius walked back to the room with the black roiling liquid.   “What does this stuff look like to you, Nox?” He asked as she tried scanning the surface, but could gain very little from it. The moving surface made it difficult to focus on, and its depths seemed impenetrable by her scan. On a whim, she clicked her fingers and watched as the surface responded with a sharp peak in a nearby wave. The click in that large metal cylinder of a room did not echo. “So it does absorb sound,” Marius looked around, “ But how to test it?” “Obvious, really,” Risina replied before climbing the handrail and recklessly plunging her hand into the black liquid. The liquid was thick and pulled Risina up and around with the current. Holding onto the handrail she was able to pull herself back in, her hand now back in phase with Yitti and Nox. “Now I see where he gets it,” Yitti commented. Nox could only nod. Risina poked Yitti. “May I ask why you’re poking me?” He asked. “Just testing.”   “Well, proof of concept, Milton, would you like a full-body dunk?” Marius volunteered the lost explorer, who agreed grudgingly. It was relatively simple to get him up into the black goop, hold him up and let the current take him, but how to reel him back? He couldn’t touch any of the ropes they had as they were not in phase with him. Marius threw in a metal cup and watched it bob along in the waves encircling the catwalk before jumping up and grabbing it out once more. “It’s just a matter of timing, “ He said, before climbing the handrail just as his mother had done, only this time plunging full-body into the swell. He went down under the rolling surface, pulled by the liquid’s own gravity. The group watched helplessly as the tops of his fingers or white strands of hair broke the surface. At one moment, Marius’ legs broken through against the wall of the cylindrical room. With his head and body still in the swirling black, he couldn’t fight the current, and he was quickly swept up once more.   As Nox ran to retrieve the rope ladder. With her boy in trouble, Risina leapt in after Marius. Once in the swirling black, she grabbed him and tried pushed him out. His head broke the liquid, and he was able to take a breath. Nox levitated the rope into his now solid hands, and he let the rope wind around the catwalk pull him out. Now it was Risina’s turn. As soon as she'd shoved him to the surface, she had disappeared under the waves. Yitti and Nox worked at unwinding the rope, this time tying it to Marius before he dove back in and capture his mother. The rope ladder wound once more around the catwalk, but nothing came out of the black. Long minutes passed until Marius’ legs appeared, his torso, arms and head. He had caught Risina, but as heads broke the surface it was clear she wasn’t conscious.   Pulling them back to the catwalk, Marius carefully lay his mother down. She wasn’t breathing. “Well, I’m not doing the breathing for her, “Said Yitti, just as Risina spluttered and coughed back to life. A small black something left her mouth and scuttled away. “Well, I think we’ve got the hang of it,” Said Marius with as much enthusiasm as he could muster, “Your turn, Milton.”   Milton was thrown up into the black with the instructions to hold his breath and keep his hands up. While the group watched Milton’s hands circle the catwalk, Marius used the rope ladder to stand just about the surface. As the hands swept by he grabbed hold and withdrew Milton now fully back in phase.   Quiety, the group now swept the whole installation for scrap. They made a good start and rebuilding Jaden’s iotum supply as well as finding a number of interesting cyphers. Marius took a minute away from his mother to graft one as Risina was busy talking to Nox.   “I may have made an error,” Risina said as Nox carefully repacked her cyphers for the trip back, “Foolish you may have acted, that might be down to age, but stupid you are not.”   Nox glanced up, locking eyes with the older woman. She watched,waiting for any sign of mockery or scorn in Risina’s expression before nodding. “Good,” She said and went back to her work.            

40. A time to heal and grow

While the companions disappeared for days into the Spire and its mysteries, the community of Tiltspire kept moving and growing. The farm, or Taven’s Farmstead as it was now known, was a lush cultivated tract of land down from the Spire, closer to the lake and regular water. From Tiltspire, it was a forever-waving sea of green that rustled with its own sonorous voice in the breeze. Amongst the crops, a domesticated herd of fluffy boquo fossicked for grubs, pests and weeds to eat. Their eggs and occasional meat were already making their way into the foodstuffs now available to the inhabitants of Tiltspire. Along with fast-growing greens from the cabbage family and the curious fungus of the deep craven shared, the bulk of the communities food needs were being met by hunting in the nearby forest and fishing in the lake. Wilara now boasted that she would harvest her first grain crop within the close of the season, and there better be a mill waiting when it was.   The community, now free of the thoughts of day-to-day survival, turned their hands to creating more long-term projects. The Driftmen had spent some time digging a well to supply the community with a more reliable supply than the Ghan’s daily trip to the lake. Unfortunately, they failed to find the water table and had to give up on the project. More successful was building the wood mill to turn trees into lumber for permanent structures. There were a few improvements the foresters wanted Jaden to look over when she could be found, but on the whole, wooden buildings were starting to outnumber shanty cabins in Tiltspire. Near Temila’s hut, a small hospital of two beds and the community’s meagre bandage supplies were kept. Most of the community was unsure of Temila’s insistence that this small building be a priority until the big Lattimor, Fureva-Yung, returned from adventuring and was struck ill for several months. Then the wiser community members praised Temila for her forethought and doggedness to see the project through.   Still, other projects lagged. Even with the return of Jaden, the perpetual water supply she had been promising was yet to appear. A kiln and smoker were in the works, and even the still was a job only when the Dritmen, particularly Yitti, had free time. Otherwise, things were good. Though town defences were built from the newly milled wood, the community was blessedly free of attacks. With the destruction of the magr village several months ago, the community lived without fear of violence and kidnapping. People were now free to pursue more gentle pastimes. Orv spent much of his free time down at the farm with Wilara, to the surprise and suspicion of Marius when he returned. Orv, one of Marius’ oldest friends and someone who could plough him into the ground if roused to it was far too close to Temila for the explorers liking. That Orv was sweet on Wilara did not occur to Marius.   Marius’ solution to this challenging social situation was to leave the community and map the larger area around Tiltspire. He visited the Deep cravens both under the Spire and out at the Eastern dig site and brought the two tiny communities back together again. He travelled the shores of the Lake to the South and foothills of the great mountains North East.   It was coming back from the hills he saw a caravan of people travelling east-west across the landscape. Initially, he thought of going up to the caravan and introducing himself, but his danger sense had him hide and watch. There was something about how the individuals on foot moved that was not…human…or at least not humanoid as he had come to know it. Their beasts of burden were teal-skinned reptiles, which had been a regular sight in Cerelon. These reptiles walked with six legs underneath their bodies and moved more like oxen or horses than lizards. As he watched, he realised the twelve humanoids of the caravan were also reptilian, the sunlight shining off scaly skin, and they seemed to speak to their beasts as if sharing a common language. One, sitting on top of the lead caravan, looked very old, their scales sagging into creases and folds like wrinkles. Though individuals carried weapons, their postures and pacing suggested people that did not expect harm but were ready if harm came their way. He even saw one in the back of a wagon tinkering with a piece of Numenera, suggesting they were of more than magr intelligence.   After he’d nearly watched the group disappear to the west, did he move. Running ahead of them, he turned into their path and waited. It wasn’t long before the leaders spotted the lone man on their path and stopped the caravan. Marius put up his hands in what he hoped was a universal sign of peace and waited for one riding bareback to break from the caravan and come towards him.   “Greetings, “Said the being in understandable if oddly accented common speech. “Yes, Greetings and hale, friend,” Marius said in his most welcoming voice, “Who are you, and what brings you out this way?” “I am Iksoul of the Thalun-Ik. We search for the river to water and feed our Ikthalaj,” Iksoul replied, patting the thick neck of his mount, “You are a long way from your people’s settlements.” He said the last as a statement, but his language was subtle enough for Marius to discern the question within it. “I am from a small community that has made their home at the big Spire to the South, “He pointed, the Spire’s top just visible over the rolling hills and trees. “Ah, so the Spire is no longer empty, and you and not far from your home,” Iksoul understood. “There you will find there is water and friendship to be had,” Marius suggested, “Maybe a little trade?” At this the expressionless reptilian feature of Iksoul seemed to brighten. “This is good news!” “Good news for all.” “Please, let me introduce you to the tribe.”   Iksoul waved up the caravan. The ancient-looking individual was introduced as Elder Cheknu, the leader of this tribe, and the one with the Numenera was Vekku, the tribes Wright. The Thalun-Ik travelled a trade route between several humanoid cities: Niquantin, Kerevin’s Drop and Wormriver Bend all further to the east. They made a living trading between the towns and providing free news of the local area. As they walked south to Tiltspire Iksoul informed Marius of a few interesting locations that brave souls could gain iotum, possibly for trade?   “It is a small, at least what can be seen above the surface is small, but our Wright thinks that mighty power stirs inside.” Iksouls shared, giving Marius a general impression of its location to the Spire and other landmarks. “That sounds like just the sort of thing that my friends and I would like to visit.”   Since returning from the clearing the datasphere of the malignant shard, Jaden had been busy. In the community, her skills for engineering, invention and turning scrap into practical were in constant demand. Between trying to sort through her io for materials to make her perpetual water device run and endless questions about one project or another, Jaden had a few side projects bubbling over. Demands on her time were so great she had gone to her once long-time sparring partner and antagonist Ivasha Ferrul, Nox’s Aunt and once priestess of the Devotees. Ivasha was one of the few people who could read and understand the several plans seeds Jaden had collected. She was also without a purpose now that the Devotees were no more. Between them, Jaden could now put those plan seeds into actual working practice. Even when adventure called her away. The most frustrating of her projects was the Everlasting water supply. So vital to the community, requiring components she just didn’t have and didn’t look like acquiring anytime soon.   This day, a rumble of voices drew Jaden from her workshop. Striding over the hills towards Tiltspire was Marius leading a caravan of a dozen individuals and many odd-looking creatures. As Marius spotted Jaden, he looked back at the caravan and gestured for them to go around to the lake.   “Hey Marius, making friends?” Jaden called him over. “They’re travellers, roaming traders like your folk,” He said, making it very clear they were intelligent and friendly, just like the trading people she once came from. Yeah, then I got settled and angry, She thought to herself, not for the first time.   Marius introduced Jaden to Iksoul and went looking for his mother. “Travel far?” She asked Iksoul by way of conversation. “Yes, but we had not thought to come so far south before meeting, Marius,” Said the reptile-skinned man standing beside his odd blue-green beast. “I wonder if you’ve seen any buildings like the Spire in your travels further north? Or possibly shaped like this?” She dug her toe into the soft dry earth and made a hexagonal shape like the old Devotees of Erinai temple. Iksoul shook his head, the light gleaming off his smooth scales. “I have not. The tower stands alone and is one of our landmarks. It is good to know it is now inhabited.”   Marius returned with Risina and the Onslo family, travelling traders, before the attack. As they talked, the caravan set up at the lake, watering and feeding their animals and erecting shelters for the night. At sometime, a feast was announced, and everyone in the Tiltspire scrambled to show their hospitality to their first-ever visitors. Dark Craven were invited to join in the festivities, and a few brave souls did attend. Veku the Wright talked shop with Jaden resulting in trades for cyphers and iotum. It got her closer to the perpetual water device, but the essential crystalline amber was still missing. Some of the community traded food or tools for a canvas made of insect parts. Durable and hardy yet light enough to wear, the fabric meant new clothes for those who had not had a decent change of clothes for months.   Nox was oblivious to much of what was going on. Though Temila was officially in charge of Fureva-Yung’s treatment, Nox had made Fureva-Yung’s day-to-day care her responsibility. Her thoughts were always on her companion’s welfare. So much so on a day she was assigned to the farm, after a moment’s daydreaming in the autumn sunshine, Nox found herself by Fureva-Yung’s bedside. The blinking travel she had become accustomed to in the Datasphere was a reality, though a taxing one. That first trip from the farm left her head spinning, and she spent the rest of the day in the second bed under Temila’s care. Now she did little but tend to Fureva-Yung and listen to her dreams. The eavesdropping did more than just inform Nox about Fureva-Yung’s life. She could also warn others if Fureva-Yung’s dreams became violent.   At those times, Fureva-Yung would thrash against the straps holding her to the bed, the tendons in her neck, arms and legs straining until she was pale and exhausted. During one fit, before the heavy-duty bed frame started groaning, Nox put a hand on Fureva-Yung's cheek. Quiet. Sleep now, She said and thought through their telepathic connection. A calm came over Fureva-Yung, and she slept peacefully for the rest of the day, unaffected by dreams.   Nox didn’t just tend to Fureva-Yung and watch her dreams. With her mother, Ariaxa, a regular feature in town, Nox spent every moment she could learning the Ferrian language and script. Their daily lessons were more than just gaining a useful skill for the adventurer. It was important mother and daughter time that neither was willing to postpone without a good reason. She was reading through the notes from her last lesson, Fureva-Yung’s thoughts quiet for the moment when something nudged her nearly from her seat. Pulling herself out of her self-induced meditations, she automatically made a telepathic link assuming the intruder was Marius or Jaden asking after their companion’s welfare. What? Who? Do what? What? It thought as Nox heard a long tongue lick the air experimentally. Nox slowly turned to the end of a long lizard-like head. Leaning back over Fureva-Yung, she could see the head connected to a two-metre tall, six-legged creature with blue-green scaly skin. It reminded her of the mothekko six-legged beasts of burden. Scaly and docile, they differed from the mothekko as their legs were upright under their bodies, not splayed like other reptiles.   Nox transmitted joy and happiness through the connection and a good dose of calm. She reached out a hand for the ever-searching tongue to investigate. She may have succeeded in befriending the young Ikthalaj, too if Fuerva-Yung hadn’t bellowed a battle cry at the same moment. The creature, tens times heavier and twelve times bigger than Nox started, realised it was no longer among its family and freaked out. As quick as Nox could blink, the two-metre tall lizard was a two-metre tall baby human, sitting on its rump, sticky hands flat on the ground before its chubby feet. Lashes as big as the Nox’s hands swept down over eyes about to spill over with tears. “Oh! Wha?” Nox said out loud before she saw the giant baby was about to cry, “On no, please don’t cry little…ur…one…I won’t harm you.” She reached her hand and touched the infant on the cheek. Either the baby did not understand the soothing thought she had become accustomed to using on Fureva-Yung, or the touch was the last straw. Tears splashing like rain around Nox, the giant baby jumped to its hands and feet and galloped out of the hospital.   “Baby, come back!” Marius cheered as the frightened baby ran out of the hospital and into Tiltspire proper, where the celebrations were in full swing. Through the party, the baby ran where the music, singing, and light from the campfires startled it into a terrified panic. Iksoul eventually caught up with the baby and calmed it down with a few soothing-sounding words in his own language. The baby disappeared in a blink, and the young Ikthalaj reappeared, huffing and shaking its head.   “This Ikthalaj had been startled by something. What did this?” Iksoul looked to Marius, who looked back at the hospital where Nox was sheepishly stepping out. “I’m sorry. You’re…creature was so quiet I hadn’t noticed it was there. Fureva-Yung startled it in her delirium, and it…turned into…a baby,” Nox stuttered. She still disliked talking to new people and hated being the centre of attention. Now she was both, and she almost teleported away until Iksoul explained. “It was an image of a being that needed your comfort and protection,” He said, soothing the beast, “In that way, its predator has to pause in its attack, giving the Ikthalaj time to flee.” “It makes you see what you think of as a baby as a survival mechanism?” Marius asked, “That’s unique.” “Indeed, they are very sensitive creatures,” Iksoul replied, leading the Ikthalaj away to the corral where the others waited. Feeling admonished for scaring the monster, Nox returned to Fureva-Yung’s side, convinced there was nothing for her at the party.   The next day, dragging Yitti away from the building projects and stealing the hovercar, Marius set off to find the ruins described by Iksoul. Marius finally had his chance for a good long chat with Yitti. He wanted to clear the air on a few things. “So how come you felt you could just ... use me, like that, for so long and never tell me?” He asked, glancing out the window at the oncoming tree trunks. “You never once let on that you knew who I was.” “Aren’t you being a little dramatic? No one betrayed you. We supported you, and gave you a space to find yourself. Sure, at first it was a bit of a scheme, and it did us good too. But you were a great negotiator. And you became a genuine friend,” Yitti replied. “Were a great negotiator? So, you think now that everyone knows I’m Risina’s boy that I have no voice? I'm on the wrong side now?” Marius' face tightened as he found the accelerator, matching the speed to his internal frustration. Yitti watched the trees whip by his side of the hovercar with more and more trepidation. Though he knew Marius was a good pilot, he still stiffened in his seat as bark flew at their passing. Branches whipped him in the face, and he ducked low below the dashboard for protection. “ Not at all, not at all!” He replied, real fear bubbling up through his words, “But you’re not around the place now, are you? Things are getting done, and our leader isn’t there. Though, I guess…” Yitti let the thought die, it was not the time or place. “Though, you guess what, Yitti?” Marius seemed to find even more speed. Yitti, used to the speed of his own two legs, gripped his seat for dear life. “There’s so few of us at Tiltspire. Everyone who has anything worth saying is heard. I guess we don’t need that sort of leader anymore. AHHHH!”   Marius slammed on the hovercar’s brake. Without traction, the rear spun forward, seemingly out of control. Yitti, in terror for his life, screamed until the craft lurched to rest not metres from a stone ruin. “And what type of leader is that, Yitti?” Marius said, out of breath, the stunt had taken the breath from him as well. “It’s….its not ….us and them…. it's just…us,” Yitti gulped and took the silence of the engine as a sign his life was spared. He scrambled from the hovercar and looked back at Marius.   Marius sat in the pilot's seat. A familiar cheeky grin crept onto his face as he slowly nodded and pulled himself up, standing in the car, his hand resting on the engine's cowling. “Good,” he said, leaping down from the car. Yitti stepped back, startled, his fists automatically readied for a fight. Marius just walked by toward the ruins. “Come on, let's go exploring like old times.”   The low ruins were only the entrance to a spiral staircase that led to a larger and better-preserved space. A large funnel stood in a hole in the ground. A sort of shoot for raw materials? Marius wondered before being drawn to a stone-engraved pillar. He studied the engravings a moment, made no sense of them, and then touched the surface with his armoured hand. Like a display, the engravings in the stone shifted and changed as he brushed his hand against its ancient surface. “Hey! Watch it!” Yitti called in time for Marius to see the spiral staircase recede into the floor, leaving nothing to show it had existed. Right. “What now?” Yitti, whose day had already been more than exciting, looked ready to give up. “Let’s see what there is to see, shall we.” Marius gestures to a passage just beyond the pillar.   The short passage ended at a T-intersection. To the left, an eerie purple light filled the whole length of the corridor. To the right, the sound of machinery hummed. Heading left, the duo squinted through a purple light field to an amorphous mass of floating green made black by the field. The mass turned in the air at their approach, and long tentacles lashed out, hitting the field.   “Not that way,” Yitti confirmed as Marius stepped back and headed down the right path. Here two hexagonal pillars made what looked like a ladder with horizontal amber crystals. The humming was louder here. This structure seemed to be the power source for the whole complex, including the field. “If we break this up, will it let that blob out?” Yitti asked. “I’d bet on it,” Replied Marius heading back to the pillar that seemed a control the whole facility. He fiddled with the controls again, making a pile of rock fall from above into the funnel and continue on to some unknown place. “So, that’s what it's for.” “Stop playing around with that thing,” Yitti complained. If this was what exploring with Marius was like, he was glad he usually took Fureva-Yung and the two crazy women. “I’m trying to get the stair back, “Marius said as a grinding noise from the corner informed him he had succeeded. He looked to Yitti as if hurt by the lack of trust the other man had given. “Yeah, alright,” Yitti acknowledged Marius’s victory before mumbling something less audible. “Lucky bastard.”   Their exit secure, they looked around a few a little more minutes. The blobby green thing threw itself at the field whenever they came into view. Though large, Marius figured the creature would be able to squeeze itself out a small gap if it wanted. Whatever solution they came up with, it had to be blob-tight. “Why are you staring at that thing? There’s nothing for us. Let's get out of here.” Yitti gestured towards the stairs and the exit. “I’m not so sure about that,” Marius replied, following Yitti back to the car.   That evening they shared their discovery with the community. Jaden was sure the amber crystals were just what she needed for the perpetual water supply and suggested another expedition with more members to deal with the creature. “No need, it will take just two of us,” Marius replied enigmatically and headed for the hospital.   It had been a good day with Fureva-Yung. She was on a cycle of treatments that had her delirious for days before settling down into periods of sleep and occasional lucidity. Now at the end of a cycle, Nox felt comfortable leaving for short periods to collect food, and water or just to walk in the sunshine. With Fureva-Yung’s dreams slowly bubbling away in the back of her mind, Nox was practising her Ferrian when Marius walked in. “Nox! How would you like to take a little trip with me tomorrow?” He said, brimming over with excitement that did not fit the quiet healing space of the hospital. Nox scowled and connected him to her telepathic network, Do you always have to be so loud? Sorry, He looked to Fureva-Yung. So still and silent, the warrior woman looked smaller than he was used to seeing. It made him nervous, Is she…? Nox glanced down at her patient and smiled, She’s doing great. Temila thinks we’re nearly finished with the treatments. The rest is up to Fureva-Yung. Reflecting on Marius’ outburst, Nox glanced up at him. What trip?   Marius explained what he and Yitti had found that day and what he proposed to do. And what if that thing gets out? That’s why it has to be you. You can do that teleport thing and get us out of there before the blob escapes! Simple! But…Fueva-Yung, Nox had been at Fureva-Yung’s bedside for more than six weeks. It had become an major part of her life. It wasn’t just that at this time, her friend needed her. Nox was discovering that she liked being needed in this way. She’d even surprised herself to find she was good at it. Marius looked down at Fureva-Yung sleeping, She looks fine at the moment. Are you sure that Temila or someone else can’t sit and watch her? Nox rolled her eyes. As if all she did was sit and watch. Still, she had to admit that Fureva-Yung was quiet now, and Temila could take over for a day. Temila is busy too, you know, She said to remind Marius that Temila was now an important member of the Tiltspire community. But, if you can get her to agree, of course, I will come with you. “Great!” Marius said out loud, only to be once again silently hushed by annoyed Nox.   The next morning, Marius had arranged it all. Temila was to watch the patient for the day, relieving Nox to go with Marius to the ruins. He’d even, somehow, strapped a large sheet of metal and a pane of diamond glass to the hover car, ready for the trip over. Nox still felt guilty over leaving Fureva-Yung behind. Still, after six weeks of doing nothing more exciting than listening for another fit, Nox was ready to stretch her exploring legs.   Now that he knew where the ruins were, the trip across took only an hour instead of half a day of the previous outing. Marius manipulated the sheet of metal down into the facility as Nox came up the rear with the pane of glass. In the light of the purple field, Marius lay out the metal and glass and explained his plan.   “First, I want the metal sheet across in front of the force field, making sure you leave no gaps for that thing to squeeze through.” Nox nodded wide-eyed, comprehending the scope of the work in front of her. “Then put this in the wall at your eye height so you can watch that thing while I collect the amber crystals.” “So I watch it through the window, here?” She pointed to the space in front of the field and the creature. “No, you’ll be up with me in the other room. As soon as you see any sign of that thing breaking out, you grab me and teleport out, right?” “I’ve never teleported someone else,” Nox confessed, still staring through the force field at the floating blob. She was a little daunted by all the work required of her. Marius pulled her around and bent down so they were eye to eye. “I know I’m asking a lot, but you can do it. I have faith in you,” He said simply, and she smiled and nodded her head in agreement.   So, together they put up the metal wall, Nox carefully pinching together the seams to allow no gaps. Marius held up the glass at an appropriate height for Nox to look through as she fused it with the wall making an airtight window. “Now, it's my turn,” Marius said, pulling out his few salvaging tools, “ Just stand and watch that thing. If it makes any move beyond that wall, blink us back to the car, right?” “Right,” Nox agreed and took up her position.   Behind her, Marius climbed the ladder-like construction and started retrieving the first amber crystal. As expected, the power in the facility went down. The purple glow through the small window disappeared, and a baleful eye stared back at Nox across the intervening space. The wall held. The green blob started pounding on the metal wall, making it ring and sending dust motes falling. Still, the wall held. Marius grabbed another crystal as the pounding against the wall stopped. “Everything okay there?” He asked, looking over his shoulder to Nox, still standing guard. “It's up to something. You may want to be quick.” Nox replied, not taking her eyes off the makeshift wall. Was it her eyes or was the far corner growing darker? Curious, she sent a hedge magic ball of light floating down the hallway towards the corner. Though its meagre light only lit a sphere a few metres across, when it reached the corner, it found tiny tendrils writhing and a mass collecting in the shadows. “Ah, Marius, it found a crack,” She called as Marius placed a crystal in his bag. Without any more discussion, she ran across the intervening space, grabbed hold of Marius around the legs and teleported away.   They collapsed into a messy pile beside the hover car, Nox's head reeling from the effort. “Well done! You drive, and I’ll see what we’ve got,” Marius picked up Nox and swung her into the driver’s seat before leaping into the passenger’s beside her. “Drive?” She said, shaking her senses free of the fatigue before turning on the hover car and steering it for home.   Marius counted the crystals. They had enough for Jaden’s water invention.   When they returned to Tiltspire, Nox was pleased to see Fureva-Yung in one of her lucid periods. She told Fureva-Yung all about the trip, her new ability to teleport to places she’d seen and take friends with her, and she told her that soon the community would have fresh water on tap day or night. “I wish I could have gone with you,” Fuerva-Yung said in frustrated regret, “I would have squooshed it!” “It was not nice, “ Nox agreed, “You should probably go back and squoosh it very soon.”   Marius entered carrying a small device. “I found this while salvaging today, “He said, handing it to her, “I don’t think I want what this thing can do,” It was a very powerful cypher that encouraged mutations in the user. Nox realised that whatever random mutation it made would be permanent. She gauged the risk and placed it against her skin, turning it on. “I didn’t expect you to use it!” Marius exclaimed, almost lurching forward to reclaim the device, “I thought Jaden could use it for parts.” “There’s not much of a risk, “ Nox explained as the cypher started reshaping her dna, “There is a small chance of something bad, but mostly the cypher will just give me something odd or ugly. What does it matter if it does, who is to care? There is a chance that it will give me something very, very good. I worked out the risk and am taking the chance.”   The result was almost instant. Nox started blending into her surroundings, her skin taking on the colour of the walls and floor around her. When she realised what was happening, she concentrated on the effect and made tiger stripes run along her arms and face before flickering back to her own pale skin tone. “Chameleon skin?” Marius asked, bemused and shook his head.   Jaden came in some time later when Fureva-Yung had drifted back to sleep again. She was carrying a bundle of boxes, rubber and leather harness with a look of pride and reverence. She lay it out on the empty bed beside Fureva-Yung so it would be easily seen next time she awoke. “Didn’t take me nearly as long without her pestering me,” She said with a smile that belied her words. She looked at the sleeping Fureva-Yung, “How is she doing?” “Great, she’s nearly finished the treatment and has a little recovery to do,” Nox replied as the dreams once more scrolled through Fureva-Yung’s mind, “She’s going to love that new armour.” “So she should,” Jaden barked in her usual gruff tone before softening, “She deserves it.”   A long way from the three friends speaking over her body, Fureva-Yung sat in a chair, soaking up the last rays of a beautiful day. Before her, the land, one of many she had fought long years to keep safe, grew fat and rich. The now grey Lattimor looked back over a life of war and struggle, especially against the malignant entity trapped in the Gate Star. She had spent a lifetime chasing the last dregs of that wretched being, and now, well, now most people felt they’d got the last of it. Its influence hadn’t been felt in decades. Rogue A.I.s that appeared were their own entities and not a shard of the malignancy. The galaxy was at peace, at least as peaceful as people could make it.   She’d had a full life. It was time for her to join the chorus. There was no point hanging around until old age or sickness made her invalid or, worse, forget herself. She had earned her place being uploaded into the datasphere, and now she was looking forward to the next step. What adventurers could she get into in a universe of information? Still, a few more minutes watching the sunset wouldn’t kill anyone, was it?   **************   She felt herself dragged away from the multitude. There she belonged and was loved and had peace in the warm embrace of the chorus. The cries from the other minds matched her own, but she knew that she still had a duty to attend. She and two other motes of life withdrew from the datasphere and back to…what? Their duty. Regardless of the feeling of loss, regardless of what she was being retrieved to do, her duty was all that mattered.   So, let's do it.

39. The Shelter an the Prison

After days of floating from room to room, the group enjoyed the garden, the sun and the gentle breeze. Nox spent more than an hour laying out all her plant samples, checking their condition for the trip back and ensuring they had what they needed for Fureva-Yung’s treatment. Fureva-Yung was interested in the plants and their medicinal uses as they pertained to her treatment. Still, her mind was elsewhere, trying to grasp the strands of her past life. She understood that the medicine would cause hallucinations and images of her life to be more real than the present. It was that she was longing for more than anything. Jaden lay out on the grass and seemed to enjoy the garden's quiet. And the garden was quiet. Besides the ever-present breeze, there was a gentle rustle of the grass and the occasional creak or groan from the branch of a tree. No bird song, no buzz of insects, no snuffling scratching of something hidden in the grass.   Marius was not enjoying the garden. It wasn’t that he didn’t like it, but his restless soul would not let him settle for a moment while there were things to do and see. “Can’t you sort those plants in the library?” He asked Nox who had the bracelet for that room, “I bet there’s information on each of the plants.” “They’ll float everywhere,” She complained, patting a plant she’d just placed down amongst the collection, “What if it floated away into the library and I left without it? How would we treat Fureva-Yung then?” “You could come back in and get another…there are others of each of these plants, right?” He looked around the garden, searching for holes in the landscape where Nox had been. Even with his cat’s eyes, he didn’t see any. “Yes, there are others,” Nox sighed and finally relented, ”Fine, I’ll let you into the library and come back to finish this, okay?” “I do not think it wise to break up the party, Marius,” Fureva-Yung added her thoughts and Jaden seemingly snoozed. “I’ll be fine. What could possibly go wrong” He beamed, but no one was convinced, “Besides, I can always get in touch if I need help.” He touched his head, referring to their telepathic link.   Marius knew precisely where he wanted to search first, the bookshelves the red-robed figure had loitering. He’d glanced through the shelves previously, but this time he tried to work out what the red-robed figure had been looking at and what they may have taken with him. He had just started looking for gaps on the shelves when he heard a deep, cool voice beside him. “Does ancient anger rise, or is it the sunset?” The red-robed figure said. Now that he was close, Marius could see the swirl of stars that took up the entire space under the hood. “Good question. I remember you. We met in the crystal caves.” “The man of two faces,” The red robe bowed. “Yeah, more than ever, right?” Marius laughed self-deprecatingly since, in the datasphere, he was a black-and-white patchwork of connections and ports. “Are you not optimistic about the three?” “Me? I’m optimistic about everything,” He answered automatically, then realised who the figure was referring to, “The three Sions. Are you one of the three?” The figure seemed to sigh. A slight slumping to the shoulder was the only body language Marius could discern. “It is arising if you have not figured out that yet.” “Ah, I see. Well, we still have one, right?” The figure stared at Marius. At least he felt…studied. “Urgh, where’s the third? We think we know where the second one is.” The stare again. Being the centre of attention wasn’t something Marius usually enjoyed. When it felt like every eyeball in the universe was judging you, even his ego took a knock. “Well, what can you help us with?” “The shelter will be your weapon to imprison one of many.” The red-robed proclaimed before disappearing in front of Marius’ eyes.   He 'blinked' and took a moment to think about the robed one's latest prophesy. The “...one of many…” was obvious, but what was the “...shelter will be your weapon? An umbrella? Eventually, he gave up and returned to his original task of checking for holes in the shelves. It looked like two books were missing from the section on starship repairs. He glided down to the catalogue diamond to check for a search history but found none. Now at a loose end, he browsed the shelves for titles, many in the Ferrian or Sacristan script, which was incomprehensible until the others came and collected him.   After a short snooze in the grass, Jaden stood, stretched and felt refreshed, ready to tackle the shard again. Nox had her plants packed in her back to her liking, and even Fureva-Yung had found the break beneficial. She discovered she could blink across space like Nox using her speed boost. Watching the warrior disappear and appear across the garden had Jaden practising the skill, and soon, they were blinking through the door into the cube room, bouncing around the enclosed space like children. “See, I told Marius anyone could do it,” Nox said Fureva-Yung as she appeared suddenly at the girl’s side. “Marius does not have fast feet,” Fureva-Yung replied, pointing to her own round feet. Nox smiled, “I can’t argue with that.”   They 'blinked' around and eventually entered the door leading to the library. “There you are. I found Red-cloak again, “ Marius almost exclaimed as if welcoming them back, “It's the same being as we met in the caves. Do you remember Nox? The being with the star face and the weird way of speaking?” “Oh?” Nox had had a very confronting moment with the being in a black robe when they’d downloaded the instruction to make the compass that had led them to the Tilted Spire. Though the instructions had left her mind as soon as the compass was finished, the feeling of being compelled or controlled was a constant feature of nightmares afterwards. Curious about what the being had to say, she was still glad she had not been in the library when they were present. “Yeah, they mentioned something about having no confidence in the three…” “We have confidence, “Nox looked up, and Fureva-Yung, “We just don’t know where to find the others.” “Oh! And before they mysteriously disappeared, they said, ‘The shelter will be your weapon to imprison one of many.” “A weapon against the shard?” That was good news, “A shelter? I guess we’ll have to keep our eyes open for one.” “Did the constellations rotate?” Fureva-Yung asked, seemingly out of the blue. “What?” “The being in the red, did their star face rotate?” She gestured with her hand, the whole starfield moving clockwise. “Ah, yeah. Mean anything to you, Furry?” Fureva-Yung shook her head, but it was clear that the idea of a constellation moving around a fixed point had Fureva-yung thinking.   They returned to the cube room, using Nox’s black bracelet on the new door. In the doorway, Marius booted up all his defensive cyphers, ready for whatever was coming next. Fureva-Yung looked at the collection of bracelets Nox had around her twig-like wrist. The blue, black and yellow rings were suspended just past her hand, seemingly floating in thin air. Pulling at one only moved the arm. It never changed its position encircling the arm. “When we leave, can I have the bracelets for my chain?” She asked Nox. “Sure,” Nox said automatically before thinking, “Though I don’t know if they will be anything once we are outside. They are a construct of the datasphere.” Still, other things translated, why not the keys to the security system? “But if I link them to my chain, it will make them real,” Fureva-Yung replied adamantly. As Nox or the other had no way of knowing what would happen, they shrugged and agreed. “But only after the shard is in the crystal,” Marius pointed through the doorway they were about to enter. “Agreed,” Fureva-Yung nodded and floated through.   The last room was conical-shaped with a wide end at the door. In front of the companions, an oval-shaped metal shield was connected to the walls of the room by thin metal scaffolding. It formed a mesh of metal stretching up and over their heads. Broken in places, it made a dome protecting them from what lay at the other end of the room. A writhing mass of red tentacles blocked the view of what lay at the narrow end, but by how the wind whipped through this space the group gathered, it must lead to the crystal. Though much of the shard seemed to have been already swept into its new prison, a remnant was jammed into place, tentacles embedded into the smooth walls like a tumour to good tissue. “A shelter?” Nox 'blinked' at the dome and scanned it to verify her assumptions. A control panel turned on and managed the device, which was presently broken and unusable.   “Jaden, I think we need this working if we’re going to get the rest of the shard into the crystal,” Nox called Jaden over. Jaden had already begun her confusing jargon that had been so effective against the shard in the previous battle. “...it is only inevitable that biology would defeat you with its confounding and confusing behaviour…” She challenged the blob before Nox finally gained her attention. With a ‘humph’, she also 'blinked' across the space to see what Nox was pointing at.   Marius started. Until that moment, he was sure only the clever Nox could disappear and reappear where she wanted. Seeing Jaden do the same impossible movement had him confused. “Sure, fast feet,” Fureva-Yung replied, blinking to stand on the dome and look down at her squirming enemy. “But…” Fureva-Yung too! How long had he been in that library? While he muddled through this new development, he pulled out one of his last io and started making a bomb.   Jaden quickly realised what Nox had discovered. When fully restored, the dome would create a force shield and propel it all forward. Like a plunger in a coffee pot, it would force what remained of the shard through into the crystal. “We have to fix the shield and the propulsion on this things. It's going to take me a while,” Jaden admitted rolling up her sleeves. “I’ll help!” Nox blinked beside her, and the two set to work.   Above them, Fureva-Yung stared down at the shard and laughed. No more talking, no more planning. This was what she was good at. A tentacle lashed out, grabbing her around the waist. It dragged her back to the mass.   At the same time, Jaden and Nox succeeded at turning on the dome. The network of metal bloomed with a blue shield that separated the shard from those inside. It also separated Fureva-Yung from any help. “How do you do the blinking thing?” Marius called the two women working to repair the dome. “This is the datasphere,” Nox yelled back, “ Just think of yourself in a space you can see, and you’ll be there.” Marius tried. He thought of a spot just in front of Fureva-Yung where he hit the tentacle with his bomb and get her free. Nothing happened. Blinking, it seemed, was not for him. “See, I told you I couldn’t do it.”   Outside the shield, Fureva-Yung had gone. Yung, the more primitive form, raged, roared and…laughed. She slashed out with her chain, determined to get free or go down with her enemy. It seemed the shard agreed, and the tentacle tightened its grip, slowly squeezing the life from Yung.   Bong! Bong! Bang! Tentacles now pounded the blue shield, each crash from the heavy appendages making the shield boom, crash like drums, and rumble like thunder. Bang! Bang! Twang! A metal arm collapsed, allowing access to a tentacle that started worming inside the shield. “I’ve got to get through. Turn off the shield,” Marius yelled over the din around them. “Are you crazy? With that thing wailing on us, we wouldn’t stand a chance!” Jaden replied, not looking up from her work on the propulsion system. “We must get Fureva-Yung back before the shard drags her into the crystal!” Marius pointed at the thrashing Yung being pulled further and further away.   Jaden grumbled something that only made it to her companions via the telepathic network and dived onto the controls for the shield. “I’ll modify the shield so we can move through it, but the shard can’t. Get ready!” The shield flickered, and Marius once more tried ‘blinking’ to Fureva-Yung’s side. This time he was surprised to find himself exactly where he wanted to be. Cupping the bomb in his shielded hands, he thrust it at the tentacle and detonated. The tentacle tore in half, and the shard roared in pain and frustration. The end holding Yung loosened its grip and slipped away, swept away in the wind. The stump thrashed about, looking for another victim to grab. Yung didn’t give it a chance. She grabbed Marius in a bear hug and blinked them behind the shield and relative safety.   Jaden fixed the propulsion system, and the dome and shield started moving down the room. They were pushing it back! The pounding magnified with more tentacles now in range. Panels of the shield flashed and disappeared as more and more of the array buckled under the shard's onslaught. Tentacles now reached through and started pulling the scaffolding apart piece by piece. Marius and Fureva-Yung positioned themselves around the shield playing a bizarre game of ‘wack-a-mole’ with the shard. As a tentacle punched through the shield, they beat back, sending it back down towards the crystal. “Shmoosh!” Yung crowed as her chain hit a tentacle so hard that it was nearly torn. The broken appendage pulled out of the hole to be replaced by two others that continued to tear at the shield.   “They need help. Here take the controls,” Jaden handed over control of the dome to Nox and continued her confusing jargon. Nox agreed the stream of technical nonsense confused the shard, but what would she do with the dome? Focusing her thoughts, she made a telepathic link with it. Now her thoughts sped through the dome's circuit boards, wiring and control system. She tried boosting power to the shield reinforcing the panels still operational. Tentacles everywhere were snipped off as blue panels came back to life, but the shield did not move.   Marius made another bomb and, using one of the smaller breeches stuck his arm out of the shield and threw it at the shard. Wails and screams rose from the thrashing entity, but it made no progress against the reinforced plunger descending from above. Yung, unable to swing her chain at the entity, resorted to a more fundamental attack style. Opening her huge mouth, she bit off the tip of a tentacle squirming through the shield. “Fureva-Yung, “ Nox blanched at the controls of the shield, “All the entity needs to go in the crystal.” She wasn’t going to swallow, but somehow the tiny wriggling shard made it down her throat anyway. It had been crunchy initially, which she liked, ending in a metallic electrical sensation she craved.   Come on, shield. We have to push that thing down into the crystal where it belongs, Nox thought to the dome and mentally shoved the controls. The shield started moving again, though at a cost. Keeping the shield energised and moving was draining the energy faster than expected. “Um…Jaden, I don’t think this shield will keep up for much longer. We’re running out of power.”   Yung was not feeling well. Something unpleasant was happening in her stomach that she didn’t like. Trying to ignore the sensation, she reached through the shield and knocked away a tentacle about to strike it. Marius zipped back and forward, knocking aside all tentacles that dared try to break through the shield. Soon there were no tentacles at the cracks, so he turned his attention to those drumming on the dome.   Yung was not feeling very bad. Deep down, the pressure was building. The only way to be free of the pain and discomfort was to release it. A foul red gas exuded from Yung and filled the cavity behind the shield. Nox, focused on the dome’s controls, had no chance and fainted as the yellow cloud rolled through her space. The shield stopped moving, and the shield started flickering and fading. Jaden, too couldn’t help but gag at the fumes. She ceased talking to cough and gasp for a clean breath of air. Marius’s danger sense made him aware of the problem before it reached him. He blinked through the shield away from the gas only to be attacked directly by the shard. Tears welling in her eyes, Jaden pushed the unconscious Nox aside and took control of the dome once more. She adjusted the energy levels. Slowly the shield started moving again, slower than before. Jaden frowned. She would have to find an alternative energy supply if they would finish the job. Yung felt better, but even she could see what it had done to her friends. In blind frustrations, Yung stuck her head out a larger hole in the shield and focused a shattering shout on the shard now edge closer. The tentacles thrummed with the energy, some breaking away and blowing away in the wind. The shard now had three enemies to fight, the shield, Marius, still holding back tentacles outside the shield and Yung’s exposed head. “Pull your head in, Furry!” Marius said before popping back in under the shield holding his breath.   Nox floated lifelessly back as Jaden pulled out her last io and drained its energy into dome. The shield picked up pace again. Marius was back to ‘blinking’ around inside the shield, knocking away any tentacles causing trouble as Yung put her shoulder to the dome and started pushing. They were all running out of ideas. At the same time, the shard was running out of space as the dome squeezed the shard down into the narrow end of the room.   “Hey guys, I think we’re doing it! Go, Team!” Marius congratulated before spotting the lifeless Nox floating away beneath him, “Oh, ah, Nox.” He blinked over and gave her a shake. With a spluttering cough, Nox awoke and blinked back to the dome where the energy crisis was apparent. Carefully, she pushed through the energy of her psychic burst through the dome, boosting energy levels.   With that and a final push for Yung, the Shard was blown through the narrow aperture, the dome sealing in place with a solid click! They’d done it! The Spire was free of the shard. Marius yelled in victory as Yung’s stomach rumbled. Nox grumbled something about a cork before ‘blinking’ back to the door they came in and disappeared.   “Furry! I knew you were good, but I didn’t know you were deadly at both ends,” Marius laughed, and Yung held her stomach. “Tummy hurts.” “Maybe next time you’ll be more careful what you put in your mouth,” Jaden replied as she, too, ‘blinked’ away to find the Library.   Now the Spires Datasphere was clear of the shard. The group were now free to explore it more fully. Jaden spent hours in the library doing what she loved best, browsing. She looked up the sions as Marius had done but found nothing more than him. She looked up the only name that Fureva-Yung could remember, Crinatus Torn, the individual from the surveillance images. There was a public record, their date of death via natural causes and a note that they had been ’saved’ to the Datasphere.   Marius asked to be let through to Nexion’s temple. “Hey, Nexion! Did it work? Is it imprisoned?” “YOU SUCCEEDED IN TRAPPING THE MALIGNANT SHARD IN THE CRYSTAL,” Nexion replied in their usual calm computer voice. “How long have we got until that’s a problem again?” “POTENTIALLY A DECADE AS LONG AS THE SPIRE’S SYSTEMS SUPPORT IT.” “Speaking of which, how are your systems? What damage did the shard do?” “CONSIDERABLE. A FULL INVENTORY OF BROKEN LINKS HAS YET TO BE CONDUCTED.” “Anything we should get onto first? “THE TRANSMITTER WOULD BE THE NEXT PRIORITY. I SHALL PREPARE A LIST OF REPAIRS AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.”   Nox went to the Star room to make sense of the menu system. She looked down on their solar system in wonder, realising that if the Shard had not taken over Cerelon, she’d have never seen such a sight. She noted the name in Ferrian, recognising that the ship where she’d found Fureva-Yung’s bracelet was not shown. If it wasn’t circling their home, where had she gone? Yung, still in her Bursk form, stayed close to Nox. Nox looked at her friend and sighed. She would have liked to have looked at the worlds in the star room with the ever-curious Fureva-Yung, but her bright side was quiet for now, and Yung did not find the stars as interesting.   Knock! Knock! Came a mental message from Jaden. Nox blinked to the Library room door and opened it for Jaden. “Well, I did find a record for Crinatus Torn, but there was nothing more than we already knew…quite a deal less,” Jaden complained, looking around the star room, “Ready to go?”   They looked at Fureva-Yung, who took that moment to shake herself free of her Bursk state and look at them again with intelligence in her eyes. “I’m sorry, Nox.” For what? Nox was going to say, then realised Fureva-Yung was apologising for the red gas cloud. “Well,” She couldn’t help but smirk at her friend's discomfort, “Do it again, and I’ll turn your fluffy tail into a cork.”   They travelled to Nexion’s temple, where Marius finished his debrief. Standing close, Jaden, Marius and Nox held out their arms with bracelets. Using her reshape ability, Nox first opened one of the links of Fureva-Yung’s chain. Each bracelet was threaded on one at a time before the chain link was closed again. It was a tight squeeze, especially when Jaden held the key aloft to return them to the Spire.   They translated out, Fueva-Yung checking her chain to find the one link coloured with a spiral of blue, yellow, green, red and black. The thought of the door keys translating had Nox diving for her bag where she had placed the plant samples. Instead of the thirty-odd plants she’d harvested, three spheres filled the cavity of her bag. “What are these?” She said, pulling one out. “PROTECTION FOR PLANT SAMPLES SO THEY TRANSLATE INTACT,” Nexion supplied as the sphere in Nox’s hand broke open to reveal the plants inside. “I have to show Temila!” Nox exclaimed and ran for the lift and the surface.   For Nox, there was nothing but the plants, the creation of the poultice and Fureva-Yung’s treatment. To ensure enough of the ingredient, all the plants were allowed to grow before any substantial harvest. The design of the poultice was laborious and time-consuming. Temila also slowed their progress, ensuring each step was thoroughly understood before touching the actual ingredients. Each measure was tested before being added to the final treatment. After a month of work, they were ready to try it on their patient.   Fureva-Yung was anxious for the treatment to begin. She knew there were possibly months of delirium and more months of recuperation. Every day without treatment was more time delay before they could go out and find the other sions. Maybe it was Temila’s quiet yet firm way of putting her off, or the grim look of determination of Nox’s face that quietened most of Fureva-Yung’s questions. Still, she would make the trip down to the farm once a day to see the plants, pet the Boko, who had become everyone’s pets and ask how the treatment was going. Nox no longer answered. She had no more words to offer. In her own frustration, she would only say something she didn’t mean. She let Temila repeat the message from the day before that it was all going well and would be ready as soon as possible.   Finally, the day arrived. In the community's tiny hospital, a reinforced bed frame with a thick straw mattress had been made for Fureva-Yung. On her insistence, straps were included for her wrists, chest and legs. Close to Temila’s hut, the hospital also included a small cot table and stool for Nox as she stood vigil. The poultice was applied to the scars of Fureva-Yung’s back, covered with fresh dressings before settling down Fureva-Yung on her bed.   For Fureva-Yung, the next two months were a confusing mix of conscious moments and delirium filled with dreams of the past. In one such dreams, she and the other two admirals of the Ferrian fleet were in a closed room talks about a potential Sacristan pushback. The hope was to break through the Sacristan grip on their sector of space. Between the three of them, they decided Fureva-Yung, with a small fleet, would hit the core of the Sacristan Empire, drawing their military might away from the border so a second admiral could take and reclaim the colonies.   A jump in the memories, and Fureva-Yung was at the helm of her flagship, slowing out of hyperspace to appear near the core of the Sacristan Empire. It was the first time anyone at the core had seen a ship from outside the Empire, and the jump's social impact shocked all Sacristan life's strata. The fleet had appeared close to a space station orbiting a red dwarf star. There was no planet of great cities, nothing to show for the power and might of the Sacristan Empire. They fired on the space station, hoping it would be enough to draw the attention they had planned. They were surprised that within a few minutes, the space around the red dwarf was filled with Sacristan ships. A nerve had been struck!   The battle began. The small, unsupported Ferrian Fleet had no chance against what seemed like the whole Sacristan military might, but they fought on regardless. It appeared the Sacristans were nervous around the space station, and every stray weapons fire on it had the whole Sacristan fleet buzzing like angry bees. It wasn’t long before Fureva-Yung’s navigation officer informed her the star appeared to be opening. A ring of unknown energy encircled the red dwarf ominous, and Fureva-Yung decided it was time for them to leave.   As she was about to give the order, an energy bolt pulsed out from the star hitting not a Ferrian ship but one of the Sacristan. Fureva-Yung’s flagship lurched into hyperdrive and sped away, though no one had had a chance to enter the coordinates of engage the engines.   When they returned to normal space, the fleet found themselves at a Ferrian space station, one of several staging posts set up during the war. Fureva-Yung turned to ask her Navigation officer what had happened, only to find their scorched corpse still smoking at their station. The station welcomed the fleet back, congratulated them on a mission well-done and thanked them for the millions of terabytes of information now downloading.   Another jolt and Fureva-Yung found herself at a very different meeting of the admirals. Across the table, their equivalent from the Sacristan Empire sat unhappily. Due to their attack on the space station there were malfunctions occurring all throughout the Empire. The Sacristans now confessed to having imprisoned a malignant entity, a powerful A.I. in the red dwarf. They were now willing to work with their former enemies to deal with the entity before it destroyed all technology throughout the known universe. A peace accord was signed, and from that moment on, the Ferrian Compact and Sacristan Empire worked together to return the malignant entity to the Gate Star.                  

38. The Collection rooms

“Wait a moment,” Marius said, tapping his head, “For the next ten minutes, I can read Ferrian. Now we could go back to the Star chart and see what those menus say. Or we can find another room where I could read something useful.” “Why didn’t you do that before when you were waiting for me?” Nox asked, confused that now Marius had decided to flex his not-insignificant brain muscle. “I needed to rest before trying. Now I have, so let's try this other door before throwing ourselves into another battle, right?” “Right…” Nox sighed, and following the other.   Marius led the way back to the Star map room and the yellow bracelet door. Fureva-Yung presented her tattoo. The door flashed, recognising the tattoo, but did not open. “Magic bracelet it is,” Nox presented her arm, and the door opened. Fureva-Yung shrugged and followed Marius in.   The next room was bright, evenly lit with white light. Every wall was filled with bookshelves as far as the eye could see, which was considerable for Marius. The shelves were filled with screens flashing information, books, tablets and soft-covered magazines. Every source of information was represented. Just above them, a red-robed figure flitted from shelf to shelf. Ahead, in the centre of the space, stood an eight-sided diamond encircled by black snake-like energy. “Go see who that is?” Marius said to Nox, who looked up at the robed figure with suspicion. “Why?” “You can just blink up there and back.” “So, can you. It’s the datasphere.” Marius stared at Nox as if she’d said he could sprout antlers. She rolled her eyes and turned to the figure. “Hello. Can you help up?” She called. The red-robed figure paid her no attention. Unfortunately, the black tendrils of energy did.   “Um…” Nox pointed out the tendrils now ‘looking’ in their direction and tried to read their thoughts. Knowledge…hunger…information…feed…. take! “It’s hungry for information.” “Well, let's see what we can do about that,” Jaden smirked. “I don’t like it. It…feels weird,” Nox said as the first tendril zipped across the intervening space. The black tendrils moved straight to her eyes, ear, nose and mouth, seeking a way in. Marius watched as Nox choked and spluttered, realising the being was so ravenous it probably wouldn’t think about what it was eating if it was presented the right way.   Fureva-Yung swung her chain, but fearful of hitting Nox, the chain slipped passed without hurting the creature. Jaden, knew she’d found the right audience for her confounding jargon. She sprinkled her technobabble with a mixture of nonsense words, just in case the thing was clever enough to understand what she was saying. The tendrils paused in their probing of Nox to listen to Jaden. It gave Nox the chance she needed to wriggle free. This statement is a lie…this statement is a lie… She repeated the paradox in her head, hoping that it too would confound the creature.   Having lost its prey, the tendril lashed out at their tormentor, Jaden, grabbing her and trying to force its way down the throat, making it hard to speak. Marius swung and missed, the tendrils were too firmly wrapped around Jaden to hit. “Thought Eater?” Fureva-Yung mused. It sounded like a good idea, so she grabbed the tendril and bit a piece off.   Visions of place and people, things and creatures filled Fureva-Yung’s mind flashing into a confusing blur. From the outside, Fureva-Yung’s body split into three overlapping versions, all slightly out of sync with each other. Jaden, now clear of the tendrils, continued her jargon, this time projecting the vision of an empty plain in her mind, a space the tendrils couldn’t find appealing. Nox blinked to the diamond, now clear of tendrils. The top four surfaces were green screens and were a catalogue to the library around them. Collecting what raw data she could, Nox started creating a parcel of information to entice the tendrils. Like Jaden’s jargon, she was hoping and dense collection of nonsense data would keep the tendrils attention until they could work out how to get rid of it.   Meanwhile, the tendril once more lashed out at Jaden. Focused on her fictional landscape, Jaden couldn’t stop the black tendrils from disappearing inside her mind. Jaden stood quietly, focused as she had before, unharmed. “Urgh! Are you alright?” Marius asked, unable to keep the grimace of disgust off his face. Jaden could feel the blackness squirming behind her eyes. “Concentrating…” Was all she said, pointing to Fureva-Yung.   Fureva-Yung’s glitching was getting worse. It was impossible to work where one Fureva-Yung started, and another ended. Tentatively, Marius reached a hand out to try stabilise his friend. Fureva-Yung froze for a moment before all her colours inverted and split from the original. With a familiar bellow, the negative Fureva-Yung spooled out her chain of black energy and struck out at Marius. After months of fighting side by side, Marius knew Fureva-Yung’s moves better than her as he expertly dodge the attack, getting under her guard to struck.   Fureva-Yung reeled back from her negative self, trying to make sense of the nonsense that had been dumped into her mind. She did understand her chain and hitting stuff. She swung her weapon through the negative Fureva-Yung. It blurred, shivering in place before reforming for its next strike.   Nox was at a loss at what to do. She had an information packet ready, but it would do no good against a Fureva-Yung, even a negative one. She carefully stored the information packet before pulling out her dagger once more and blinking across the space, striking the distracted negative in the back.   Marius’ next attack was slow. His fist, instead of striking and doing damage, sunk into the malleable body of negative Fureva-Yung. With a smirk, it pulled Marius into itself pulling him through their middle. Nox blinked as she was now face to face with the black and white boy. “I don’t think I have the stomach for this!” He lamented   Negative Fureva-Yung now went after her namesake, hindered by the full-grown man through its middle. Shaking her head at the ridiculous position Marius had found himself in, Fureva-Yung grabbed his arms, placed her foot against her negative counterpart and pulled. “Go on Furry, break a leg!” Negative Fureva-Yung bucked, and instead of pulling Marius from its middle, Fureva-Yung found herself diving head-first into its chest. Now both of them were stuck. “Now, this creature is not big enough for the two of us.”   With Jaden still focused on the other half of the tendrils, Nox was the only one left free to fight. She lashed out with her dagger, hitting the negative Fureva-Yung’s rubber armour, doing nothing. Marius tried hitting the creature but his arms were pinned and the best he could do was hinder its movements. It didn’t stop negative Fureva-Yung from flinging her chain at Nox, striking her in the head. Nox spun away, delirious from the brutal hit that nearly knocked her unconscious. Fureva-Yung swung her chain, only succeeding in hitting Marius.   The battle was descending to a farce, with neither side able to hurt the other. Fureva-Yung got Nox’s attention and pointed to the button that retracted the rubber armour on negative Fureva-Yung. Picking up on the hint, Nox gathered her wits and blinked, appearing above the button, striking it with her small fist. Negative Fureva-Yung’s armour retracted back into its pouches, and Marius, still stuck halfway, crowed with delight. “I was never into rubber!” He struck out; this time, his fist made Negative Fureva-Yung shimmer and glitch. The creature swung out at Nox with its chain, but she blinked away.   “You not hit my Nox!” Fureva-Yung bellowed, reaching not for the creature but the chain weapon it had copied from her. Wrapping the black chain around her fist, she now used the copy’s weapon against it, punching it in the face. Negative Fureva-Yung glitched and pixelated, breaking down into smaller and smaller pieces of data. The pieces fell away until the Negative Fureva-Yung had dissolved away freeing Marius and the OG.   “Furry! I never knew you had it in you.” Marius laughed at the confused Fureva-Yung, who looked down at her own furry pink belly.   The black monster was gone or contained for the moment. Marius floated across to the diamond and accessed the catalogue for information on the Shard. The library seemed a collection of general knowledge and only had what they already knew. The Malignant Entity had first been encountered by the Sacristan faction during the war around the planet Rectolon. They had developed technology to confine the entity, but shards break off and escape to still cause issues from time to time.   Thoughts of the war had Marius thinking about Fureva-Yung, her ship and her crew. He scoured the database for any information about Admiral Fureva-Yung, specifically looking for notable members of her crew that may be the two other Sions. An image of a younger, Fureva-Yung in military uniform proudly standing in front of a group of officers appeared, and Marius ushered Fureva-Yung over. “Anyone you recognise?”   Marius watched as Fureva-Yung’s face moved from surprise to a ravenous desire to a wistful longing. She shook her head sadly. Though there were ‘feelings’ of knowing, there were no names to accompany the faces staring back at her from the photograph. Marius wasn’t finished. He started looking up the several ship names linked to the Admiral’s entry including one marks as Flagship DWF Illistra.   Meanwhile Jaden strained all her will into containing the other half of the data-eater. Distracted, Nox watched on with concern as she listened into the internal struggle with the creature. “Umm… you might want to hurry up what you’re doing,” She said to the other two around the diamond, “I don’t know how long Jaden can hold this thing.”   Fureva-Yung responded instantly, loosening her chain and flying over to Jaden, ready and waiting. Marius, on the other hand, glanced up looking for the red-clad figure. They were nowhere to be seen. He floated up to where the figure had been looking at books on the shelves, pulling out a few at random. The first was a treatise on Interdimensional travel the second was an archeological report on Planet Rectolon. Remembering that name from his search on the shard, he put the book on Rectolon in his bag.   Jaden’s struggle with the entity was now a physical strain. She was curled up in a foetal position, her arms wrapped around her torso as she strained all her will into containment. But like putty through a too-tightly clenched fist, the creature oozed out, using Nox’s telepathic network to bounce to Marius. Black tendrils started squirming out of Marius’ eyes, ears, nostrils and mouth. Gagging, he grabbed the thread and yanked them free of his head, only to be bound up in them like a rope. Wriggling free, Marius dodge the creature’s next attack as Nox blinked close, her parcel held in her hands. The tantalizing parcel of information was snatched up and devoured even as the creature continued its attacks on Marius. Nox watched on with grim fascination as the black tendrils started shuddering, shaking and contorting as the dense parcel of corrupted information was digested.   Now free, Jaden started her jargon again, distracting the creature for Fureva-Yung and Marius to swing away on its physical form. With a pop like a balloon, the black being burst and dissolved leaving behind a cypher that Nox quickly identified as a Dataflood, a mental connection to the datasphere.   The group took stock of their surroundings. The library was now theirs, a good place to rest as those with the ability could unlock the next two door. Jaden took on the level three door and after an hour had a red bracelet around her wrist. Nox worked away on the level four-door while Fureva-Yung again studied the information on her ship and crew. The faces were familiar, but as hard as she tried, she couldn’t place names on them.   As soon as Jaden had her door open Marius was up, ready to move on, though Nox was still working on her own door. “While Nox is busy, why don’t we see what's beyond Jaden’s door?” He said, not waiting for an answer. Fureva-Yung shook her head, “We should not split up.” “We’ll just go have a look and be right back.” “I will not leave Nox undefended,” Fureva-Yung replied adamantly. “Suit yourself,” Marius stepped through the door, followed grudgingly by Jaden.   It was strange after floating around for what seemed days. They were standing on a green hillside, the sun warm on their skin, a breeze ruffling their hair. Winding away from their feet stone steps lead to a gravel path following a babbling stream. In the water, on the banks, up the slopes of the hill were planted every conceivable type of vegetation known and unknown. The path led to a shallow valley where a gazebo stood covered in vines and flowering plants. Beside the steps leading to the covered space, two stone dogs stood, alert and resolute. “Okay, we’ve had a look, lets go back,” Jaden said placing a hand on Marius’ arm, “We shouldn’t stay here too long.” “What do you think this place is?” Marius asked stepping off the path into the grass. The blades were cool and heavy with dew. He could feel it seeping into his shoes. “A collection, like the library…experimental…entertainement…” Jaden shook her head. After the empty rooms they’d been presented for the past few days, the scene before her was a chaos of colour and form that she couldn’t make sense of. Marius bent down and plucked a blade of grass. He noted the earth underneath the blade stain his skin, turning it a rich brown. Reluctantly, he turned and followed Jaden back through the door. Floating once more into the library, Marius looked down to see the blade of grass still grasped between his fingers. “Well, at least we can take things from there.” “I wonder if there’s anything useful for Fureva-Yung?”   It took Nox four hours to finally open her lock. A black band appeared on Nox’s arm. As soon as Nox heard there was a place full of plants, she grabbed her book and blinked through, the others following. She was flying high above the hill when the others entered the garden room. From her height, she could see that the gazebo was the centre of four paths that all met in the valley. One path was laid out formally with bushed pruned into pompoms on sticks while others made knotwork patterns around their bases. One path was lined with rows of identifiable and unidentifiable vegetables. From root vegetables and tubers to bushes and vines neatly tied to pyramids of bamboo canes. Small bushes of herbs grew along the path edge, sending up a heady fresh, savoury scent. The next path led to a forest, climbing high into the canopy on bridges and supported skywalks. The last entered a dark cave mouth into the side of the hill.   Nox blinked her way around the garden like a giant bee, testing each plant against her notes. She noted the growing conditions and collected seeds, roots and stems as well as the active parts of each plant. She hoped, with Temila’s care and attention, that at least some of these plants could be grown back at the apothecary farm.   “If these translate back…” Nox said, zipping past the group to another interesting plant, “...I think we’ll have everything we’ll need to help Fureva-Yung!” Fureva-Yung who had been eating random leaves off the plants up to that moment, looked up at her excited friend. The contagious excitement sent Fureva-Yung jogging after Nox into the cave.   Though dark, the cave was lit by glowing fungus growing from every surface. Inside the cave, a small waterfall roared, filling the air with moisture. On either side of waterfall, two more stone dogs stood, one with a fungus growing jauntily from its head. Checking her notes, Nox identified the fungus as one that could be useful and plucked it from the dog’s head with her hedge magic. It sailed across the space and into her bag, the last that was required. “That’s the last of it!” Nox spun in the air out of pure happiness. Caught in the infectious feeling, Fureva-Yung patted the stone dogs head companionably. “Good dog.” The stone dog’s head moved to face her. “Oh hello!” Marius exclaimed, noting the movement, “Lovely garden you have here.” “Are you the guardian?” Nox asked, clutching her bag full of leaves, roots and seeds. The dog turned to face her, and snarled.   “Ah, good boy, nice dog!” Marius stepped between the snarling stone muzzle and Nox. The dog leapt for him, shaking as it landed and spreading a cloud of spore into the air. Surprised, Jaden, Nox and Fureva-Yung all took in a lungful fo the spores. The air instantly filling the imagined colours, lights and sounds. Marius, quicker than the rest, covered his mouth and nose and escaped the spores to dodge the dog's attacks. Jaden, a seasoned tripper, focused her thoughts enough to start talking jargon at the dog in an attempt to confuse it. Nox hung in the air, clutching her bag to her chest. Please, I need these to help my friends, She pleaded through a mind link at the dog. It showed no signs of understanding. Fureva-Yung was transfixed by the lights and sounds. Jaden’s jargon was making amusing bubbles as Marius and the dog’s movements sent ripples of sounds through the air, tingling her hair. She picked a flower and ate it. “Hey, Furry!” Marius called as another stone claw raked the air where his chest had been, “Why don’t you give the nice doggie a cuddle?” “Cuddle?” What a nice thought. Fureva-Yung grabbed the dog by the scruff of the neck and pick it up into a bear hug. It twisted and fought against her, the stone teeth snapping at the air in front of her face. “Now, you be a good doggie, and I’ll rub your belly,” Fureva-Yung slurred, flipping the lump of rock onto it wriggling back and scratching its belly. The dog stopped fighting and seemed to melt into Fureva-Yung’s arms, one leg twitching as some unknown itch was satisfied.   “Here, puppy. Fetch!” Nox made an illusion of the fungus she’d taken from the dog’s head. Showing it to the stone dog, she then threw it across the cave. The movement instantly attracted the stone dog who leaped from Fureva-Yung’s arms and chased the fungus. A few moments later it had returned, its whole body relaxed and friendly. It once more took up its place beside the waterfall, and froze back in place, it’s mouth open and tongue hanging out to one side.                          

37. Sweeping through the Datasphere

        The crystal room was theirs. Besides the odd fall of loose rock and earth from the cavern, the room was silent. Even the ticking of the giant automatons had ceased. The group headed to T2 and the Crystal storage before taking an hour to rest, debrief and contemplate the next week. As promised, Nox’s pendant opened the shield giving everyone access to the safe space beyond.   “So it’s just plug and play, do you think?” Nox asked, looking at the crystal and its framework as Fureva-Yung guided it to the elevator. “More like plug and pray,” Marius replied, unsure how the crystal was meant to draw the malignant shard from the Spire’s systems.   With Fureva-Yung and the crystal and framework in the capsule, there was just enough room for Jaden, Marius and Nox to squeeze in around the edges. Fortunately, the trip was short, and they were soon back looking at the connection.   “Well, shove it in and let's talk to Nexion about what happens next,” Marius said, ready for action. “Just a moment,” Nox looked to Jaden, “If you’d had control of this space for years and years, wouldn’t you have tampered with it?” Jaden nodded in agreement, “That’s exactly what I would do if I couldn’t get rid of it altogether.” With Nox’s innate ability with machinery, Jaden could identify a subtle change in the connection and rectify it before plugging the crystal in. With a soft glow, the crystal started working. A straining sound and irregular pulsing of the light worried the watching companions. “The pump’s struggling, I think,” Jaden said. “A kink in the pipelines?” Nox asked, keeping to the plumbing analogy. “More like the water fighting to stay where it is.” “Nexion might know more about what to do,” Marius replied, guiding them back to the lift, “Come on, let’s get behind the force field.”   They translated into the temple space the Shard had made to intimidate the Deep Craven. The eye was now entirely blue, and behind it, a reinforced door. A whistling breeze swept through the space.   I DETECT A CONNECTED CRYSTAL, Nexion said by way of greeting. “Yeah, the crystal’s working hard, hardly working,” Marius replied. THE SHARD WILL TRY TO CLING ONTO ITS PLACE IN THE SPIRE. IT NEEDS TO BE MOVED ON. “Here in the datasphere?” Nox asked, excited at the thought of a fight here where thought alone was everything. YES. “The other side of the door?” Marius asked. IT LEADS TO A NODE, A SECTION OF THE SPIRE’S DATASPHERE “And this door. Is this the Shard’s idea or yours?” IT IS STANDARD SECURITY PROTOCOL. IF ONE NODE IS COMPROMISED, THE REST SHOULD BE SAFE. “A lot of good that did you.” INDEED, There seemed a real frustration in Nexion’s voice. It seemed they didn’t like this any more than the companions did. “So, how do we get through it?” THERE ARE TWO WAYS. THE CAREFUL WAY WILL LEAVE THE INTEGRITY OF THE SECURITY SYSTEM INTACT WHILE ALLOWING YOU PASSAGE. IT WILL TAKE CODE-BREAKING SKILLS AND DEGREE OF KNOWLEDGE IN NUMENERA. “That’s me!” Nox spun in the air and blinked to the door to start the process. “What’s the other way?” Marius asked, sure that right at the moment, he had no idea about code-breaking. THE SECOND WAY IS THE MORE RECKLESS AND WILL LEAVE THE NODES OPEN TO FUTURE THREATS. IT IS CALLED KICKING… “That sounds more like it,” Fureva-Yung nodded, noting a stray piece of blue conduit on the wall of the virtual space. She grabbed it and started trying to wrap it into a link for her chain. As much as she put her mind to the task, the conduit wouldn’t bend or shape the way she wanted, and in the end, she gave up, the conduit dissolving into nothing in her hand.   Marius watched Fureva-Yung’s actions and started salvaging what he could from Nexion’s reception space. If it translated out into the real world, maybe Fureva-Yung could make a link for her chain with it.   Nox was oblivious to everything but the code. The first three levels were easy. Her mind seemed to run through the code as if it were her native language. On the fourth level, however, her arrogance came up against a brick wall of code that defied the simple cyphers she’d been trying so far. With a yawn and a stretch, she looked up from her work to find she had been deciphering for twelve hours. After a short rest, she tried again, and this time the code gave way under her hacking. A blue bracelet appeared on her wrist. “Magic bracelet?” Fueva-Yung said, comparing Nox’s new bracelet to her tattoo. Nox giggled at the thought. “Great! I’ll just…” Marius said, preparing to step through the door as Fureva-Yung, Nox floating along behind, disappeared through the door, “...have a look ahead, shall I?”     From the bright empty space of Nexion’s reception they floated into a darkness filled with pinpricks of lights, gridded by green lines. Fureva-Yung, with Nox in tow, glided across the spherical space taking in the dots of light, their relationship to each other and the centre of the room. Marius and Jaden glided in behind. Jaden found the map responded to her hand gestures as she waved them in front of her. Star grew large, shrank and changed position in relation to her two hands until all that was left was a bright galaxy spinning before them.   Three doors stood at the circumference of the room. Two were barred against them, the third where they had come in. Nox blinked away from Fureva-Yung and appeared near the first door. It seemed pretty straightforward, one level easier than she’d just cracked. She blinked to the second and found that door barred with six code levels, two more than the door she’d struggled with in Nexion’s space. Thinking she’d rather deal with the problematic lock now than after a hard-fought battle with the Shard, she decided to tackle the difficult lock now.   Fureva-Yung was becoming accustomed to the hand gestures required to control what they realised was a star map. She’d made the map spin, giving Marius and Jaden vertigo and then pulled it out until the stars swirled around them again. Fureva-Yung was looking for something…anything she recognised. She felt she should know if something…felt familiar. Yet as she scrolled through the stars, all she saw were dots of light.   Then, her eye spotted a red dot amongst the white, and she drew the star toward her, expanding the map to enlarge the image. Pulling back and back, she made a small red star appear, a space station circling it. The space station bristled with antennae, sensor dishes and other monitoring gear. Many focused on the red dwarf sun—the Gate Star. Keeping pace along the outside flank of the space station, a spaceship caught Fureva-Yung’s attention. A strong feeling of deja vu swept over her. She knew that ship like only a captain could know their vessel.   Meanwhile, Marius made a gesture, and a box with Ferrian script appeared. Working through the options methodically, he brought up a few preset locations. None of it meant anything to him without the Ferrian translation, and so he put it back the way he’d found it. Maybe after a rest, he could spend some time knowing Ferrian, but now right there seemed more important things to do. When Fureva-Yung had found the Gate Star, Marius made note of the communication dishes on board the space station. One was pointed away from the red light of the sun and back into space. Gesturing, he followed the line of the dish back into the darkness until it lined up with a star circled by several planets, one with blue oceans and the white swirl of a water-rich atmosphere. “I reckon this one is us,” He said, pointing out the small blue marble. Fureva-Yung stared at the planet, looking for any signs of the familiar. The distance was too great to get a good view of the landmasses, and she noted there was no ship circling the planet as expected from Nox’s trip a few weeks previous. “I don’t know.”   Once they’d gone as far as they could with the star chart, Marius and Jaden set to work on the second door, the one Nox had felt was the easier of the two in the room. They had little trouble between the two, and a green bracelet appeared on Marius’ wrist.   Nox had been working on her door for twelve hours. While focused on the task, she had no concept of time and was only aware of her own exhaustion as another level clicked over under her command. She took a break while Marius and Jaden fussed with the other door and returned to work on level four before the others stirred. The difficulty grew exponentially at each level, and like the lock-in Nexion space, the code defied her cypher. This time, however, something became aware of her hack attempt and responded. As Jaden watched bleary-eyed from sleep, two blue-grey flickering humanoid shapes seeped out either side of the door beside Nox.   “Oh no, you don’t,” Jaden responded quickly, flying across the space to grab Nox and pull her out as the creature's claws raked the air where she’d drifted. Nox sent out a psychic burst at each, hitting one and missing the second before yelling mentally for the other two to wake up. Jaden’s ray attack followed as they drifted back to their stirring companions. A claw lashed out at Nox, one moment there, the next invisible as it flickered through the space. Nox dodged the slashing blow, crashing back into the sleepy Fureva-Yung. Instinctually, Fureva-Yung lashed out with her heavy fist, striking the seemingly incorporeal creature and hitting tough flesh. Nox dodged the slashing blow, crashing back into the sleepy Fureva-Yung. “Ah, give me a moment,” Marius was more awake but less prepared to fight than Fureva-Young. He turned on his armoured hands. “Sorry to tell you, I think these things will murder you, ready or not,” Jaden replied, sending out another io blast.   Jumbled up with Furva-Yung, Nox lashed out wildly with her psychic blast, sending one creature reeling towards Fureva-Yung and missing the second. She looked again and realised she had hit a glancing blow, knocking a chunk off the beast. The chunk resolved into two small triangles of the same flickering substance and joined the battle. “Ah…oops!” She said, pointing out the new danger to the group. “Look, it takes me a while to get up in the morning!” Marius complained as the smaller triangles attacked him and Fureva-Yung, “You can’t touch this!”   Fureva-Yung took her chance and swung out with the decorative end of her chain. Made of the precious memories she’d made over the trip from Cerelon, in the datasphere, it was as tough as a diamond and shattered the large creature completely. The other large creature sent out a tendril of flicking energy at Jaden and Nox, missing both but making them wonder what would have happened if it had connected. Jaden hit a shard and smashed it to pieces as the second went after Marius again. This time a tendril did connect with his datasphere form. Injecting corrupted data like poison under the skin, Marius fought, resisting its destructive influence before Fureva-Yung yanked the proboscis out and crushed the triangle between her bare hands.   The remaining creature, now alone, collapsed its form on itself and disappeared up a conduit. Nox wondered momentarily if she could follow but decided it would be better to block the passage and collapsed the conduit from their side. “Sorry, “ She said to the others, now the danger had passed, “I better get back to the lock.” Jaden offered Nox a datasphere ration, “Give yourself a break before heading back.” She took the snack gratefully. Keenly aware of how long it took to break through doors, she didn’t stay long and was soon back breaking the fourth level of code.   With another failure at the fifth level, the sixth broke on the first attempt. After eleven hours of work, Nox gained a yellow bracelet, and they travelled through the door to the next chamber.   This node was a chamber of solid metal walls filled with ten to twelve floating cubes of the same blue-grey as the flicking creatures. On two walls of the space, red writhing tentacles knotted and twisted around each other like piles of flatworms. A breeze flowed through the room towards another locked door.   “That must be the crystal’s pull,” Nox said as she unconcernedly reached out a hand to a large cube floating past to steady herself against the flow. The cube's mass was far greater than hers, and she was dragged across half the room before she knew it. Sensing its enemy near, the tentacles of the shard lashed out at Nox and Marius. Nox hid behind her cube dodging the attack, but Marius was wrapped by the conduit-like tentacle and dragged towards the mass on the wall. Fureva-Yung’s chain lashed out at the conduit holding Marius, and as it loosened its grip, Marius slipped free.   From Jaden sprang a soliloquy of technical babble and nonsense jargon aimed directly for the malignant shard. The conduit tentacles writhe in her direction, seemingly trying to make sense of the bombardment of information. Distracted, the others were now free to attack at will.   Marius spent a moment watching the enemy. It was weak, just a writing mess of tentacles, but it was firmly wedged in place against the two walls. If they could pry its hold off the wall, then they had a chance to send it out the door, closer to the imprisoning crystal. In response, Nox reshaped the cube she’d been hiding behind, forming one end into a wedge. She pushed it into place under the nearest tentacles and called for Fureva-Yung.   “Hit here,” She said, pointing to the back of the cube and backing away to give Fureva-Yung room to work. Fureva-Yung and Marius dodged tentacles to get themselves in place to strike the cube. Marius missed the effort of escaping another capture, putting him off his strike, but Fureva-yung hit, and as planned, the tentacles peeled away from the wall. Between the distracting jargon and the more direct wedge, a large writhing mess of conduit peeled off the wall and fell through the closed doorway, following the flow of the breeze.   The remaining tentacles were now not strong enough to hold the wall and fight simultaneously. All the conduits clung onto the wall as a frustrated scream of anger echoed through the metal-walled room. Marius and Fureva-Yung bashed away at the cube until the conduits finally gave way, and the last of the shard gurgled through the door like worms down a sinkhole.   “Now to follow it!” Nox said, scanning the cube and discovering it was a communication node. Sheepishly, she moulded it back into shape before heading towards the locked door.   “Wait a moment,” Marius said, tapping his head, “For the next ten minutes, I can read Ferrian. Now we could go back to the Star chart and see what those menus held, or we can check out another room where I could read something useful.” “Why didn’t you do that before when you were waiting for me?” Nox asked, confused that now Marius had decided to flex his not-insignificant brain muscle. “I needed to rest before trying. Now I have, so let's try this other door before throwing ourselves into another battle, right?” “Right…” Nox sighed, and following the others, they travelled back and used the yellow bracelet door.

36. Nowhere left to go

Link to Tilted Spire Timetable     The night was dark and still over the small community nestled around the Tilted Spire. In the tiny Apothacary’s shack, Nox and Temila went over the treatment for Fureva-Yung. Surrounded by the smell of drying herbs that hung from the rafters of the hut, they tried to make sense of the knowledge contained in the book Nox acquired from her Mother.   “The thing is,” Temila was saying, not for the first time, “There are herbs here we’ve got…” She pointed to several, either drying or already stored in tightly woven canisters on shelves built into the hut's walls. “There’s herbs we can get…when the time is right. There are herbs we can’t get…but we have substitutes for. And then there are plants like..” She pointed to one in the book, “...a water lily growing in zero-g ponds…” Nox could only imagine the giants balls of water floating around with flowers growing out the top of them. “Who knows what they are. With them, we have to make our best guess at replacements. At times like these I really miss the herb knowledge of Zin.”   It was often hard to remember that Temila was only an apprentice Apothecary. In Cerelon, she was several years into her apprenticeship and still learning all she could from Zin Akatoa. Then the servitors revolted. Since then, she had been the survivors’ only healer and one of a few experts in edible plants in the wilderness. It had elevated her to a senior member of their Community. It was a role she took very seriously.   “Goodness, I’d be happy with a fistful of Hagin Vash’s notes,” She laughed a sad little sound, once more thinking about all that had been lost. “So, that’s first? Make lists of what we have, need and have to find replacements for?” Nox asked, her own notebook open on her lap. “It’s a good start,” Temila replied as both women’s attentions were drawn to the shuffling of heavy boots outside Temila’s door. Temila knew the sound of the boots as they nervously moved back and forth. Nox knew the mind that still connected to hers. Hi Marius. Oh, I was just passing and wondered… It’s fine. I’m leaving. Oh good. I mean, you’ve worked out how to fix Furry? We have some ideas. It wasn’t a lie. Nox couldn’t even bring herself to admit they hadn’t the first idea with some of the ingredients. Not even in her own head. She said good night to Temila, took back her book and opened the door.   In the darkness, Marius’ pale skin and white shock of hair stood out, making him look younger than his barely twenty years. They passed each other in the doorway with nods and simple goodnights before the door closed again, and Nox was sunk into darkness.   Now where?   She’d left her parents talking around the campfire in the Atrium of the Spire. Privacy was a premium in the Community, with many still without a home of their own, so she felt she should stay away for as long as possible. She took the long trip around the Spire, stopping past the Water tower to freshen up. The water, warmed during the day by the sun, did not hold the same chill as the air, but it was cold enough to make her teeth chatter. To warm up again, she walked around the back of the village, aware of all the sounds around her. A small hammer tapping, the shuffling of components and the muffled swear told her Jaden was up and inventing. In her mind, she could taste the quality of Jaden’s complicated plans as if they were the savouriest food. Nox could not have told you what Jaden’s invention was or what it could do, but she knew, like the smell of well-baked bread, that it would be a good one.   Jaden had been stiff and standoffish since Araxia’s return. She was a woman of strong emotion, something that had intimidated Nox until they’d discovered their mental bond. Unless she had information that could help, Nox found it better to leave Jaden alone while she worked. She crept by Jaden's workshop past several more houses before eventually returning to the Atrium.   She was pleased to see it was inhabited by only Fureva-Yung, gently snoring. Nox once more wondered what it was like to only be half yourself. Knowing that somehow you did know who you were and why you existed…and yet not knowing. Nox saw the quiet ( and sometimes not so quiet) frustration in Fureva-Yung and empathised. It hadn’t been that long ago Nox had discovered who she was and what she was for. And Fureva-Yung had been there for her.   More determined than ever to help Fureva-Yung be whole again, Nox found a comfortable seat at the dying fire, banked up the coals until they glowed a bright yellow and opened her book. Minutes later, despite good intentions, the book fell from unfeeling fingers as the day's exertions took their toll, and she fell asleep.   The next morning, Nox found Livaanar and Araxia sitting around the community fire eating breakfast and making small talk. They looked…happy, she thought and joined them for firecakes and berry preserve. Aunt Avasha walked by to pick up breakfast and paused as she saw Araxia. Nox watched, a piece of bread partway to her mouth as two women acknowledged each other’s existence and Aunt Avasha, the Devotee of Eriani, moved on without saying a word. The thought of family made Nox wonder about the family Araxia had left behind in Cerelon.   “Did you have any family in Cerelon when you disappeared?” Nox asked in a quiet moment in the conversation. Araxia nodded over a mouthful of food, washing it down with the Community’s version of tea and replied. “There was my brother Tosho, of course. We were close and often wondered what happened to him. There was also a cousin, Hagin. He was a daring, adventurous sort, always a story to tell. He set up the apothecary garden out on the Tilled Mesa.” “Your cousin was Hagin Vash?” Nox asked, stunned. Besides learning of his apothecary notes from Temila, Vash was a Cerelon legend. Many of his adventures survived, in one form or another, to be told around the tables at the Crawl on Home tavern. He, too, disappeared on a Ward Militia Exploratory Corp mission, never to be heard from again. “Yes. You remind me of him a little.” Nox blinked. “Always throwing yourself into harm's way. So smart yet quick to put it all aside to find out what’s next. Of course, he would have told everyone about all his great adventures. I can hardly get a word out of you about what you’ve been up to.”   That was not how Nox had expected that conversation to go. It was her good luck that she heard Jaden talking to Temila about adding the pinking herbs to Fureva-Yung’s healing regime. “I really don’t think that’s a good idea, Jaden,” Temila said. “Excuse me,” Nox quickly said and joined Temila’s side of the conversation.     Not long later, the companions were back together again, taking the lift down as far as it would go. Marius was crouched, peering through the gap in the bent metal of the capsule. Jaden was on the controls. It was her hand on the lever that made the whole elevator work so the malignant shard couldn’t take over. Fureva-Yung stood patiently waiting, her heavy chain around her shoulders except for a small section of links made from different materials. Diamond, wood, tooth, crystal, the links rubbed between Fureva-Yung's thick fingers, each on a memory. Nox stood silently beside her, watching the light catch each link’s smooth surface before remembering she was supposed to be getting back Fureva-Yung’s memories and opened her book, looking for more clues.   “Ah, we’ve got incoming,” Marius warned as everyone heard tiny metal feet clicking against the smooth walls of the elevator shaft. The capsule creaked to a halt just past the last of the ‘T’ levels as the servitors wedged themselves between the wall and the capsule. “And I thought he wanted visitors,” Jaden said dryly as she pulled iotum from Bellyache. “He’s scared,” Marius replied, swapping places with Fureva-Yung and grabbing an iotum of scrap from Jaden.   Fureva-Yung, the strong end of her chain loose in her hand, bent herself to the hole. Threading her arm through into the shaft, she started spinning the chain. Her sonar told her that four spider servitors were stationed equidistant around the capsule, and she leaned the chain in to knock them off. A fifth grabbed her arm, its sharp metal claws digging into her skin. “Here, see how they like this little cake I baked,” Jaden pulled from Bellyache, the invention from the night before. It looked nothing more than a mishmash of spare components and wires, but she handed it to Marius with great reverence. “It will stop them in their tracks for only a few moments, but a few moments might be all we need hundreds of metres from the bottom.”   Fureva-Yung yanked her arm from the hole knocking off the servitor with ease. With his protective gloves, Marius thrust the invention out into the shaft. There was a small explosion, a shockwave that knocked the capsule up a few centimetres and then the smell of burning circuits. Nox scanned passed the walls of the capsule and saw the four servitors frozen in place.   Fureva-Yung once more took her place at the hole, hoping with a good smack, the four servitors would fall back where they came from. Instead, the chain knocked against their armoured metal hides, and they woke from the coma Jaden had put them in. “Well, there goes that idea,” Jaden grumbled, pulling out a simple io and throwing it down the hole to explode outside. The capsule rocked, damaging the servitors on the outside. “Still, a good idea,” Marius held out his flat hand and revealed an explosive made from an io.   Sparks now showered down the shaft as the four servitors started cutting through the metal skin of the capsule with circular saws. Reshaping the metal nearest her, Nox tried slapping a servitor from the capsule. She missed, but the attack took the servitor off course, buying them a few extra moments.   Taking it in turns, Jaden, Marius and Fureva-Yung each tried their own attacks as Nox sealed up the damage behind other servitors. The repair jobs were buying them time, but Nox could feel the headache of fatigue starting to form. Jaden seemed on the brink of giving up, and even Marius and Fureva-Yung seemed at a loss at what to try.   Still, the constant barrages took their toll, and first, Marius knocked a servitor from their task, then Fureva-Yung. With guidance from Fureva-Yung, Nox started pulling the metal from the wall and attaching it further into the capsule, out of reach of the cutting blades. One final bomb from Marius and the last two fell into the darkness, and the group took a collective breath. They had survived yet another attack. Slowly Nox filled in all the cuts into the base of the capsule, and Jaden replaced her hand on the lever. They continued their way down the shaft.   With a gentle slowing, the capsule crunched down on the remains of fallen servitors. The companions had finally made it to the lowest level of the Spire. The doors smoothly opened onto a closed door, a half a metre of solid wall and a hole leading to a dug-out cavern. Fureva-Yung stepped out first, checking the immediate area before entering the room. Nox jumped and started floating towards the six-metre-high ceiling, looking for the crystal port. Below her, Marius stepped out and swept the area with his cat's eyes.   Behind the lift, the space was one large triangular room encircled by three tiers of platforms and stairs, all draped with cables as thick as Nox’s arms. The difference between the top of the highest platform and the base was at least another six metres making an echoing cavernous space. Marius and Fureva-Yung detected the two hulking metal bodies silent and sill at opposite ends of the triangular room.   “Massive machines,” Fureva-Yung said, pointing them out to the oblivious Nox. “Huh?” “I can also hear welding and…mechanical building noises.” She said, turning her head to capture the direction of the sounds. Behind the closed door and what was left of a wall, what had been a small room was now a scrap yard of spider servitors. Two, looking for scrap amongst the fallen, turned on the intruders. Fureva-Yung gestured to the servitors, pointing to her eyes and then towards them. Marius climbed up the wall, heading toward the cavern, making a bomb as he went. Out of the pile of discards, three more servitors crawled, encircling Jaden and Fureva-Yung. Nox bounced off the wall of the elevator shaft gliding across empty space. She sent physic blasts at three of the emerging servitors, hitting two.   Jaden, only just out of the lift, grabbed an io and threw it over the wall at the five servitors. “This place is crawling with servitors, we should run,” She said, gesturing for everyone to return to the lift. “We can’t run, Jaden,” Nox replied, “We need this space cleared for the crystal.” Jaden replied with a sigh and another bomb.   One of the servitors attacked Fureva-Yung, thrusting forward a circular saw. Fureva-Yung’s chain caught in the teeth, flipping the creature over under its own momentum. Four servitors left. Marius threw his bomb into the junkpile sending servitors and scrap in all directions. Nox shot physic blasts again, this time missing two and hitting the one closest to Jaden. From the corners of the room, the four-metre tall servitors started humming into life.   From the back of a small servitor a circular saw popped up, sending the blades flying towards Nox. The first she dodged, and the second jammed in the mechanism. Nox stuck out her tongue and continued to float towards the opposite wall. Fureva-Yung smashed through the spider servitors with her chain as both Marius and Jaden made bombs from io. Jaden’s bomb had the greater impact, throwing the smaller servitors and scrap around the room. Marius was more strategic, and he turned his attention to the two large automatons heading towards the group.   The group were holding their own until a psychic attack of Nox’s was rebuffed by a servitor, sending echoes of her attack back at her. Jaden and Fureva-Yung became surrounded by Spider servitors, Fureva-Yung dodging their attacks, Jaden was too slow and was badly hit. Her next ray attack missed, sending her for cover in the elevator capsule. From inside, she watched the two giant automatons slowly plod towards her friends. She noticed that though big and heavily armoured, the legs were weak, especially at the knee joint.   “Hit the big guys in the legs, they’re not built to carry the weight,” She shouted above the roar of the battle around her.   Nox physic blasted two servitors but failed to see the servitor clear its projectile spinning blades. Marius was now torn between his friends’ turn of fate at the encroaching giant servitors. Knowing it would be best to clear out the little guys before tackling the big ones, he threw his bomb at the junkpile gang.   Fureva, now free to ignore the last of the spider servitors, turned her attention and chain on the giants. Running in at supernatural speed, she wrapped the chain around the legs of the closest. As she tugged it back with all her strength, she heard a very satisfying metal crack. The servitor’s weight now against it, it fell down the stairs, prone. Watching Fureva-Yung's success, Marius held onto his bomb a little too long. It exploded while still in the air nearby, bringing down a chunk of cavern roof. It was all he could do to step off the falling ceiling and onto firmer rock before it took him with it. He jumped, letting himself fall to the floor to start smashing the spider servitors with his fists.   The fallen servitor’s powerful arms pivoted under the heavily armoured body and lifted it off the ground. The chains pulled again as it strained to release itself from Fureva-Yung’s grasp. But her chains held firm and the servitor was stuck in place, unable to move. The second giant servitor stomped around the other side of the elevator, flanking the group.   Nox scrambled through her bag and found a cypher she’d been looking for. “Jaden, get behind the wall!” She yelled, gesturing with the pressure detonation and waited until Jaden was out of the blast zone. The remaining spider servitor tried hitting Nox and Jaden with projectile blades before, Nox threw the cypher at the second large automaton. The shockwave, knocked out the pesky spider servitors and hit Nox’s target, sneaking around behind.   On the other side of the room, Fureva-Yung demonstrated agility and strength as she encircled the entangled automaton, keeping away from its powerful arms. A foolish misstep had Fureva-Yung planting her foot on the automaton’s face. It turned its head, her footing failed, and she tumbled off the middle platform to the lowest level. Down on the floor, Fureva-Yung finally found a hole in the floor that matched the framework of the crystals. She had found the connector. Now to clear the room!   Its tormentor down for the moment, the automaton turned its fist on the floating gnat above it. The force of the blow sent Nox flying across the room, out of control. In that moment of connection, though, Nox made a telepathic link with the automaton. Its circuits were as robust as its metal armour, but in a moment of epiphany, Nox realised she was now fighting on her home ground. With Fureva-Yung keeping it busy, Nox started working her way through the automaton’s systems.   Jaden and Marius had the second automaton's attention. Marius dodged back and forth, evading the heavy blows while. Jaden took a heavy blow and had to return to her hiding spot inside the lift to recover “I always knew I was dodgy,” He grinned. Fureva-Yung used a cypher to warp the space around her automaton, freezing it in place for a few rounds while she climbed the stairs, getting behind it. The breather also gave Nox a moment to float down to the ground as her mind found the automatons connection to the Shard’s network. She tried breaking the connection, but like the rest of the automaton, it was robust, and her attack failed.   Fureva-Yung once more used her fleet of foot to run literally rings around the automaton. Running up and down the staircases kept her clear of its attacks while tying it up with her chain. As she passed the second, she sent out a Thundering Shout that vibrated its loose armour, making it rattle.   A rumbling that had been building all fight caught the attention of Marius as dust and rocks started falling into the cavern. “This cave is coming down!” He yelled, moving out of the way as the roof fell in. A wave of spider servitors fell through the hole threatening to engulf Maius, Jaden and all of them. At that moment, the Thundering shout on the second servitor exploded, destabilizing more of the roof. A huge chunk of the ceiling came down between the swarm of servitors, trapping them in the cavern, at least for the time being.   Fureva-Yung was still wrestling with the automaton on her chain. It lumbered towards her, and she dodged away, swinging on her chain. Behind her, Nox tried again to sever the link to the Shard and failed. As long as Fureva-Yung could keep the automaton busy, she’d keep trying to get control. Once more, on the top step above the automaton, Fureva-Yung felt something slitter around under her feet and then up her legs. The cables and other wiring that littered the ground in this area came to life, grappling Fureva-Yung ina copy of what she’d been doing to the automaton.   Marius, a bomb ready in hand, rushed over and jammed it into the back of the knee joint of the second automaton. The armour of his shield hands shaped the charge, forcing it forward. The knee joint gave way sending the automaton tumbling down the stairs right next to the now-rising Fureva-Yung. With an automaton at her feet and one looming above her, Fureva-Yung loosened her chain, readying herself for the fight. Suddenly, the automaton above her straightened, then bowed low to the noble warrior. Fureva-Yung glanced at Nox who was grinning a bloody-toothed smile. “It’s mine,” She said. Fureva-Yung bowed in return before setting to work on the fallen automaton beside her.   The battlefield was finally theirs. Nox made the limping automaton dance, its big feet disturbing the still unstable rock fall. With the help of Fureva-Yung’s shout, Marius’ bombs, and the servitor, they collapsed the cave, crushing the swarm that lay beyond.   Its job done, Nox made the automaton return to its corner and shut down. She patted its metal arm fondly, feeling again that she was losing a new friend. The light disappeared from its eyes, and it moved no more.       Begin writing your story here...

35. Allies

  Under the jarring alarm and the flash of red light, Fureva-Yung carefully slid back the metal framework of the crystal. The alarm and light did not stop.   “...And I can tell you I don’t know shit about what’s happening here.” Marius had been speaking technically to Jaden about how the crystal structure could hold an A.I. entity. Jaden also shrugged her shoulders and watched Fureva-Yung alone in the crystal room.   Only Nox looked out the door expecting something to happen or someone to arrive. This is their technology, separate from Nexion. They will be watching it for a breach like this, She thought, unaware she was sharing through the telepathic network. “Who is watching?” Fureva-Yung asked as something brushed her back, sending a familiar electrical tingling through her nerves. “Fureva-Yung, behind you, a net of energy!” Nox cried, pointing though neither Jaden nor Marius could see the blue construct.   As Nox warned her, Fureva-Yung felt the field pressing down on her. She stepped aside and felt the electric tingle fall off her back and down a leg. She shrugged as the electrical discharge reached her back where the crippled Fureva rested. No time to worry about it now. She pulled the metal framework of the crystal out once more and pushed it towards the door. Behind her, the net rose, and she held out a free arm to stop it from catching on her back a second time.   Kapow!   One of the lightning towers snapped out at something outside the room where Marius, Jaden and Nox watched Fureva-Yung’s progress. Leaning out, they could see more spiders crawling towards the now open doors, one of the quietly ticking and steaming, a burn mark straight through it. Jaden pulled out an io and sent an energy beam streak towards a second spider, slowing its pace.   “Throw stuff in, “Nox pointed into the room with Furvea-Yung as she watched the net rise for a second attempt, “Anything little.” Marius, unsure what Nox wanted, pulled a few shards of diamond he’d collected from their adventures in the pyramid from his pocket and threw them past the force field. Nox used her Hedge Magic to lift the small objects onto the net field. Now the net sparkled with the sharp edges of diamond as it swooped down again on Fureva-Yung.   Marius was at a loss for what to do. He could now see the net descending on Fureva-Yung but could do nothing about it. “You come out, Furry and we’ll deal with these little guys. The crystal will be safe where it is.” “The cypher I used to get past the force field,” Fureva-Yung protested, “It will not last long.”   Now she could feel the pricking energy on her back once more. She gave the cage another push, but it held firm, stuck in place by the force field at the door. With the caged crystal in front and the net pushing from behind, she had nowhere to move. Slowly she was forced to the floor. “Fureva-Yung!” Nox cried as five spider servitors crowded the door to attack. Marius dodged out of the way of the first attack. Hovering above the ground, Nox flipped over as a second came after, destabilising it. A blue bolt of energy appeared around the broken wall, taking out another servitor. Jaden instantly recognised it as similar energy to Nox's psychic attacks. “We have company,” Jaden said, and Nox’s face lit up. “In here!” She cried, kicking the destabilised servitor out the door.   With something to fight, Marius turned on his adhesion cypher and punched the servitor that attacked him. He was pleased with the restrained servitor on the end of his fist until the lighting tower identified the servitor as a threat and zapped it.   Kapow!   Lightning zapped through the servitor straight into Marius who gave a yelp and fainted unconscious to the floor. Fureva-Yung strained to turn her head against the pressure of the now sparkling diamond netting. A nodule she hadn’t noticed before, affixed to the ceiling above, glinted with projected energy. Focusing, she shouted, making the nodule start to vibrate. The net holding her down quivered sympathetically, and she knew she’d found the right spot.   An injured spider attacked a lightning tower, knocking it over and taking it out of the fight. But it was too little, too late, as two blue people appeared around the corner, blasting servitors from behind. An explosion in the crystal room heralds the appearance of Fureva-Yung through the force field. She rushed to Marius’ side, cradling his head in one huge hand. She lifted the unresponsive Marius into a sitting position as Jaden shot the last servitors with an energy beam. He would hate to have missed something.   The enemy defeated, for now, the blue people’s features shifted and took physical form, that of a woman Nox had seen before and a tall blue-skinned man. “That is so cool…” Nox whispered, almost speechless at the control over the material the beings presented. “Is everyone alright?” Asked the woman, her eyes flicking from Nox, Jaden, Fureva-Yung and Marius and back to Nox. “Yes, she is not,” Fureva-Yung gestured to the fallen Marius, and the woman investigated.   Now that she could see her clearly, the woman was young, older than Marius but not by much. Her skin, the same milky white as Nox’s, was stained by blue splotches. She wore faded but sturdy clothing like the Ward Militia, but the logo on her arm was unfamiliar.   “Um…we have a malignant shard loose in the lower circuits of the Spire,” Nox explained haltingly as she found herself in awe of these two beings, “We want to put it into a crystal before we can go find the two other Zions and teleport it away.” “Yes, good plan,” The man acknowledged, “We’d hoped to protect the tower from infestation, but things have moved faster than we anticipated.” “Where are the other two Zions?” The woman asked, ensuring Marius was fine and letting him rest. She turned to Fureva-Yung, who looked caught out. When she didn’t reply, Nox chimed in. “We don’t know,” She turned to Fureva-Yung, “One is in the east, we think. In a facility like this?” In their minds, however, she spoke only to Fureva-Yung, Tell them, Maybe they can help.   The two strangers picked up something in the exchange. The woman asked Fureva-Yung again, “How are you feeling?” “Strong,” Fureva-Yung replied automatically, flexing. She did feel strong, but she was worried that wasn’t what the blue woman was referring to. “Do you feel yourself?” The woman asked again. With a heavy sigh, Fureva replied. “I am missing Fureva.” She pressed a button on her armour, and the black material whipped away to reveal her scarred back. The black bat-shaped symbiote crisscrossed with scars she received in the Endoval Forest years before. “Those are terrible wounds, “The woman said after examining Fureva-Yung’s back. She turned to Nox, who started at the direct attention. “You have some skill with herbalism?” The woman asked, and Nox blushed. “I like plants, and Temila is teaching me, Apothecary,”   With a nod, the woman held out her left hand, and a book appeared out of nowhere. Looking over her shoulder, Nox could see the text in Ferrian detailing medicinal plant uses. The woman then held up her right hand and manifested a second book. She handed the second to Nox, who took it reverently. She was about to say she’d need a little help with the Ferrian when Nox flicked open the book and found it all written in common. Tabs on the side seemed to mark specific treatments beneficial for a race called the Lattimor. “Look Fureva-Yung. We can fix you.” “I’m afraid it won’t be as simple as that. The road to recovery will be long and exhausting, “ The woman informed Nox dampening her enthusiasm, “ She will experience hallucinations, broken fragments of her memories as she heals, and she will need time. Time you do not have right now.”   Jaden, who had been quietly letting things happen in front of her, now stepped in, a scowl on her face. “Now, Ariaxa, no need to bring the girl down. She’s smart enough to know what’s needed. Oh yes, I remember you, but I don’t remember seeing the patch of the Ward Exploratory Corp on your arm. Weren’t they disbanded a hundred years ago?” Jaden, please, Nox cried a pitiful plea, but only in their minds which Jaden seemed to ignore. Here was her amazing, miraculous mother with powers and knowledge, and Jaden seemed…pissed. “Hello, Jaden, “ The woman now turned her attention to Jaden, noting the older woman’s demeanour. “You haven’t changed a day,” Jaden continued, “How is that?” Ariaxa looked around the group, sighed and started her story.   “A very long time ago, I grew up in Cerelon.”   That wasn’t the story I was told, Nox thought to herself. Father said she’s just arrived one day. She kept this to herself as her mother continued to share her story. “As a young woman, I joined the WEC, going out on missions to expand our knowledge of the world around us. It was on such a mission through the Endoval forest we discovered a crystal mountain.” “In its crystals, we found…something. I activated it, which sent me hopelessly into the Datasphere.”   “It was probably after a mission such as that they disbanded the WEC as being too dangerous,” Jaden nodded, though the scowl remained. “Yes, something like it. I was lost for a long time, not exactly living, but not dead. Eventually, I was found by the Order of Sync and Trace, and I joined their ranks. “I remember you as a flesh and blood woman. You returned to Cerelon. Why?”   “The Order had concerns about Cerelon. As I was originally from there, it was thought I would be the best to find out what was happening. I was there on a mission, but while there, I met a brilliant, charming, yet humble man.” She directed her story to Nox, who was astonished to learn she was talking about Livaanar, her father. “I knew my investigation could take years, especially as I saw how the Devotees of Erinai worked. And…well…”   It was the first time Ariaxa had smiled and seemed more human than the mythical blue people. For the first time, Nox could see this woman with her father before he was browbeaten, abandoned and forgotten.   “So why leave? Why run out without even an explanation?”   “I never wanted to, but my mission was bringing me increasingly in conflict with the Devotees. I was afraid if I stayed, Livaanar and little Nox would always be in danger. With me gone, their family contacts would keep them safe. Telling them more would have only put them at risk.” “And you didn’t think to ask for help?” Jaden’s anger was revving up like one of her ancient machines, slowly and inevitably, “You didn’t think there were others who also had issues with the Devotees? In Cerelon, they may be high and mighty, but I can assure you they don’t clean their loos.”   It was an old argument, one that Nox had heard repeatedly sitting in Jaden’s workshop, even more after Markus's death.   “The footprints you left behind were cuts to lives that could not afford the loss.” It was now clear now that she wasn’t talking about herself this time. She was talking about Nox and her Father. Jaden, please. She only did what she thought was best. Jaden didn’t reply, and a cool silence entered the small space.   “I do not understand,” Fureva-Yung finally said, breaking the silence, “You are blue.” “I eventually became so. A datasphere side effect.” Ariaxa replied, grateful for the distraction. “I am pink.” “Which suits you.”   The tension broke, and Nox felt her throat loosen enough to speak. “Fureva-Yung,” Nox turned formally to Fureva-Yung, clutching her new book to her like a shield, “May I introduce my Mother.” Fureva-Yung blinked, “You are Little One’s mother?” Ariaxa nodded but said nothing more.   Now that her confusion was cleared up, Fureva-Yung turned to the tall, blue-skinned man. “You are a Sacristan.” “Yes,” The man replied, seemingly happy to be recognised, “My name is Yosin.” “You have been working with the Ferrian Compact against the Malignant Entity and the Shards?” “Yes. It has been a long time since the war, Admiral Fureva-Yung.”   Fureva-Yung fell silent momentarily as she sorted through the few fragments of memory she had. “We attacked one of your ships. Did I start the Entity?” “It is a field of speculation,” Yosin started theorising, oblivious to Fureva-Yung inner turmoil on the subject. “We now believe that only some small shard was involved in that incident. Certainly not the whole entity.” “So…” “No, you did not cause the entity, Admiral. Not at all.” Yosin’s smiling face dropped as he realised the full implication of what Fureva-Yung had been saying. “You don’t remember the war?” Fureva-Yung shook her head, “Very little.” “Ariaxa’s treatment couldn’t have come too soon.” “I look forward to it.”   At that moment, Marius snorted, his eyes blinked open, and he sat bolt upright, taking in the new visitors. “Hello,” He said, “I think I was lightningafried.” “This is Marius,” Fureva-Yung now introduced, “She is very good at digging.” “Oh, is that your preferred pronoun…?” Yosin asked but was quickly cut off. “No.”   Yosin examined the crystal past the force field and shook his head. “That one is still repairing. I’d suggest you take the other for now.” Nox, who had found a corner to read her new book, scanned both crystals to see the difference. It meant nothing to her, so she made a holographic copy from Hedge Magic for Jaden and Marius to compare. “But we’ll need another. There’s a second shard at Cerelon,” She said with a start, feeling guilty for once more forgetting everyone left behind, “Do you know what’s happening at Cerelon?”   “We lost contact with our listening post in the Towers in the Endoval Forest,” Ariaxa replied. “Oh, sorry about that.” She laughed a soft, gentle sound, “Not your fault. The servitors drove us off.” “Us too,” Nox said once more, nervous about finding herself the focus of Ariaxa’s attention. “Tell me about your life, Nox. What did you do in Cerelon?”   “Nothing,” Nox replied instantly, keenly aware that her wild and disconnected life in Cerelon was a far cry from where she was today, “I spent a lot of time at Jaden’s workshop. Leaving Cerelon has been…instructive.” Instructive? She winced, It’s been a revelation! “And how is Livaanar?” She was on safer ground here, “Oh, he makes himself useful here in the Spire Community. He helps make furniture of the new homes and useful items out of scrap….” And still, compared to what Nox had heard from Ariaxa, she imagined it was a long way from where he could have been with her. She was shocked and embarrassed to feel a tiny twang of jealousy. “I think you were a very bright light in his life.” She admitted, returning to her book as her face reddened.   “I’m sure I read something about how the crystalline structures used to store vast amounts of information, “ Marius pointed to an array of circuitry embedded into the crystal, “Do you think this translates the incoming data into some storable pattern?” “Perhaps, but I’d need time to study this thing. Shame we can’t break one apart to see how it ticks.” Jaden mumbled, madly trying to translate Nox’s more artistic rendering of what she’d seen with what could actually be happening inside the crystal. “Just say the word. We can get a few lovely io and cyphers from these things.”   A thought came to Marius then, and he turned back to Yosin. “Can you tell us who made these?” “Fabrication was automated one level below. Unfortunately, servitors destroyed the whole complex. Much of the machinery of that level has gone into creating the servitors themselves.” “So, we need to fix what we have. Right, so the next mission is free up the transmission bay level.” “Next thing I want to do, “ Jaden said, turning to the broken lightning tower, “Is get this place back working again. The crystal is better off here than with us for now.” Without looking at Ariaxa, she got to work.   Jaden. She’s just doing to best she can. Like all of us, Nox shared silently through the telepathic network. Jaden snorted, “I have my buttons, “ She said low enough so only Nox could hear, “Abandonment seems to be one of them.”   Ariaxa was unaware of the exchange and continued her conversation with Nox. “Tell me everything, Nox. What sort of dad was your father?” “Ur…” What could she say? While they lived in Cerelon, Nox had spent much of her time trying to avoid him. He was either dragging them to the Temple to try once more and appease the Devotees, or he was drilling her on plans and schematics of his tiny automatons. The first she hated, the Devotees of Eraini’s false piety, made her feel like garbage. The second was confusing, frustrating and ultimately pointless. She just didn’t understand machines like him and Jaden. “I’m not good at machines…” She finally admitted.   “What?” Marius jumped into the conversation, “What are you going on about, Nox? You’re amazing!” Nox wasn’t sure what was worse, having to admit her inadequacies to her mother or Marius' effusive praise. Marius, please don’t embarrass me! We’re amazing. Marius is fast, and he’s good at finding cyphers. Fureva-Yung is strong and always protects us. Jaden is smart. She can make anything! Nox tried deflecting with the same energy as Marius, but he wasn’t put off. “Now, come on. You got that giant robot in the pyramid to work for you somehow. You make us able to talk to…everyone! The Crystal Eaters, the Deep Craven…Scaverous.” “Leaving Cerelon was the best thing that ever happened,” She tried deflecting again and then was ashamed at being happy about a scary time for everyone.   “Yosin, could you look at this for a moment?” Jaden called the blue-skinned man over. After putting the lighting tower back in place, she’d pulled out a plan Marius had found in one of the crates from the crystal store room. She was sure it was for something to do with water, but she couldn’t understand the Ferrian text that explained what she was looking at. “Could you translate this for me?” She asked Yosin, who nodded and gave a potted translation. “We should ask Ariaxa. She is the superior translator,” He admitted when his explanation of the text fell short of what Jaden expected. “No,” She replied sharply before remembering Nox’s herbalism notes and how easily she’d translated the whole book. With an audible sigh, she admitted defeat. “Very well. Ariaxa, could you please translate this plan for me?”   “My pleasure, Jaden,” Ariaxa took the plans and, as she had with the book, a second copy of the same plans appeared now written in common. Now Jaden could see this was a device providing a set amount of clean drinking water daily. It would be a great help to the fledgling Spire Community. Jaden felt the warmth of a Nox hug through the telepathic link. Thank you. “Just remember she wasn’t there when you needed her.” She’s here now. “Enjoy it, but don’t rely on it.”     “How do you find anything in this thing?” Marius' voice echoed up from the depths of Bellyache. He’d gone in search of io and found a jumble of scrap and parts. “Oh, I can usually put my hand to what I want,” Jaden rolled up the plans and went to see what Marius wanted. “Do you think you could tamper with Bellyache to create some sort of retrieval system?” “I’ll tamper with you if you don’t leave Bellyache alone.” “No need. She’s a master of tampering with herself.” Fureva-Yung joined in, and a good-natured argument began.   The chaos around Bellyache allowed Nox to step up beside her mother while the others weren’t paying attention. She put away the book of apothecary and pulled out her old and well-worn book on Numenera. “I’ve been making notes about the Ferrian language, “ She said, opening it to her latest work that included some of her thoughts on the language's syntax, “Do you think you could help me with some of it?” “Of course, “ Ariaxa smiled and looked at Nox’s notes written over the text on Numenera.   The mixed group of companions and mysterious visitors formed smaller groups to study and prepare. Jaden would not leave until she’d had a good look at a functional crystal. Yosin lowered the blue force field, and Jaden spent time getting to know the trap they were preparing for the Shard with the help of Yosin. Nox focused on learning what she could of the Ferrian script from her mother, scribbling notes over her notes to learn all she could. She discovered her mother had an innate gift for manipulating data in all its forms. The gift impressed Nox, who had to learn things the hard way.   Fureva-Yung took herself off to the dug out caverns and practised with her chain while Marius watched. “You know, you’re a very good digger,” He said as another lump of rock came away from the wall Fureva-Yung was bashing. When they were leaving, the force field was reinstated, and Marius had a thought. “Hey, is there any way that Nox could get permission to open the force field?” “Me?” She squeaked and clutched her pendant. “You said yourself it recognised your marble.” The Order of Sync and Trace members look at each other. “It can be done,” Yosin said, maybe with a little doubt about the wisdom of the action. “You’ll need to come with me,” Ariaxa added to Nox, who instantly agreed.     They followed Ariaxa down two tower levels and through three doorways, one defended with Lightning towers. Beyond lay an equipment area full of technology that was not original to the Spire. A small door across the space opened into a room outside the Spire, and Ariaxa gestured for Nox to proceed. They walked into the room together and faced a small console where Ariaxa asked for the pendant. She studied it momentarily as if reading in the black swirls Nox’s life history. “I’m very glad you have this,” She said, placing it in the console. “I never take it off,” Nox answered, wanting to impress on her mother how vital the pendant had been to her. Thinking this would be her last chance to talk to her Mother alone, she asked, “Um…I know you’re busy, and feel free to say no, of course, but I was wondering if you’d come back to the surface and see what we’ve been up to?” “Ah…” Ariaxa looked thoughtful for a moment, but Nox blundered on. “Of course, the Order will want you back on duty. No one would expect…” “No, I’d like to. I think Yosin can watch things here for one night.” Ariaxa pulled the leather thong up, and the pendant swung free of the console. She placed it in Nox’s waiting hand, and Nox grasped both the black orb and the outstretched hand in hers.   With Yosin left behind, they took the elevator back to the surface and the fresh air of outside the Spire. As Marius, Fureva-Yung and even Jaden dispersed, Nox searched the Annex for her Father. He was busy over the campfire boiling a pot full of water for a cup of tea. He was in quiet contemplation, unaware of anything around him besides the cracking of the fire and the quickly warming water.   “Father, do you have another cup for a visitor?” Nox asked, disturbing Livaanar’s thoughts. He sat back on one of Marius’s sloping chairs and glanced quizzically at Nox. Before he’d even finished turning around, he caught a glimpse of Ariaxa and stopped. The metal cup dropped from his numb hands as his eyes finally found those of his wife. Overwhelmed, he sat staring at the woman he hadn’t seen for fifteen years. “Maybe I should make the tea,” Nox said with a smirk, picking up the fallen cup and breaking the spell. Livaanar unfolded his tall thin frame and stood before Ariaxa, his clever hands forgotten at his sides. “It’s been…you’ve not…” He stepped forward, and Ariaxa did the same, collapsing the space between them. “Where did you go? Why?” “I didn’t have a choice. If I’d stayed you and Nox would have been in danger. With me gone, the Devotees had no reason to persecute you.”   Livaanar shook his head, unable to understand what she was saying. It was all forgotten as soon as her arms were around him. From deep in Livaanar’s chest a burbling sound could be heard, and it took Nox a moment to realise that her Father was laughing. “You’re so much younger than me,” He said, pulling away to get a better look at Ariaxa. He never once let her go. She smirked, “I’m a lot older than I look.” Again, her words made no sense to him, and he was about to protest when she raised a finger to his lips. “It’s a long story. We have time to tell it.”   They sat beside the campfire, he unable to take his eyes off her, she moving from the fire to his face and eventually a cup of tea. She told him about her life in Cerelon, the datasphere and the Order. Nox sat behind them in complete silence, watching the two of them as they talked. She was amazed to notice as he relaxed into the conversation, his expressions became more animated. Age lines dissolved, and grey hair disappeared in the fire's flickering light. The two leant into each other and became one being, silhouetted in the firelight.   Nox suddenly became deeply aware that she should not be there. Checking to make sure she had her new herbalism book, she crept away in search of Temila.                  

34. In search for a crystal

Marius was surprised that, after breakfast, Nox was ahead of him to reach for the Sceptre, the key to Nexion’s personal dimension. “I have questions,” She said to his unasked ones before she broke out a cheeky smile, “And I like it in there. Have you noticed that you’re more…you in there.” “I noticed you,” He replied candidly and was rewarded with Nox’s fair skin flushing pink. Distracted, she fussed with the sceptre.   The next moment, they were in the datasphere’s version of the Annex. Blue lines of ordered data zipped through the space in silent, reassuring ways. It was a complete change from the chaos of red that was the Shard’s datasphere.   “Good morning, Nexion. I want to discuss trapping of the shard, “ The floating Nox turned her glowing blue eyes to the equally blue eyes of interconnected neon, “How do we capture the Shard?”   “ONCE THE CRYSTAL IS CONNECTED, IT WILL HAVE A DRAWING ACTION ON THE SHARD. EXTERNAL ACTION IS REQUIRED TO MOVE ON AND GUIDE THE SHARD THROUGH CIRCUITRY I NO LONGER HAVE ACCESS TO.” “Can you tell us where these circuits would be located in the Spire?” “I HAVE LOST ACCESS TO THE LOWER LEVELS PAST STORAGE.” Nox and Marius shared a look. They had wanted to travel further than T1 thinking it was the heart of the Shard’s domain. It seems they’d been correct, but in hindsight, the altercation on T1 had shown them just how powerful the Shard was. “What lies beyond T1?” Marius asked. “TRANSMISSION CONNECTION FOR THE NEW CRYSTAL AS WELL AS THE TRANSIT NEXIS.” “Really into the Underdeep,” Nox commented, reminding herself of another question. “The Deep Craven. The Shard said it saved them. Who are they, and have they always been here?” “THE ANCESTORS OF THE DEEP CRAVEN WERE A NATIVE RACE. THEY WERE CAPTURED BY THE SHARD AND MANIPULATED IN THE DEEP CRAVEN OF NOW.” “How long ago?” Marius asked, fascinated. “I HAVE NO REFERENCE FOR HOW LONG. ANY ANSWER WOULD BE CONJECTURE.” “Hasn’t stopped us before,” He murmured a reply that made Nox giggle.   It wasn’t long before Jaden and Fureva-Yung also appeared in the datasphere pocket dimension, the mission to find the crystal firmly in their minds. But Marius had other things in mind.   There were rooms still to open at the levels we were on yesterday, and one had a few boxes left un…rifled through,” A glint of something predatory flicked through his eyes. “We can make a quick stop at B1 and 2 before heading down,” Jaden sighed, taking hold of the datasphere key and clicking it.   The crew quarters were much as they’d left them the day before. The Deep Craven stayed clear of the well-lit spaces in favour of their dugout caverns. With no need to disturb them, the party went straight to the locked doors and opened them up. In the boxes, they found a few shins, a couple of io and a cypher that Marius quickly claimed.   “I just need a minute. Don’t watch.” He stepped into one of the empty rooms to install the cypher. “Why does she do that all the time?” Fureva-Yung asked with a puzzled expression on her face. “It’s what makes him special, isn’t it?” Nox replied, understanding Marius' desire to be all he could be, but annoyed he still felt he had to hide it. “It makes her special?” Fureva-Yung asked, incredulous. “Incorporating the cyphers?” Nox was unsure they were talking about the same thing. “Oh. That!” Fureva-Yung had been thinking about something else.   Once Marius was ready, they took the elevator to T4, where Nexion had said the crystal was stored. The elevator doors opened, and Fureva-Yung stepped out. Ahead the smooth white wall of the Spire was broken, leading into new caverns. A few metres into the dark earth, a hole several metres wide led up to the B floors and down into darkness. Fureva-Yung could hear the skittering of tiny legs below. Marius followed Fureva-Yung searching for the crystal. He, too heard the skittering and joined her beside the hole. “What is it, Furry?” “The little machines.” “How many?” “Big mob.” “Come on, how many, really?” Fureva-Yung rolled her eyes. She liked the simplicity of the Deep Craven’s counting system. One, two, Big Mob, what else was there to know? “Five or six,” She replied, disappointed.   Jaden stepped out next, stowing the sceptre on a bag on her back. She looked around the space and headed for a set of double doors to the right of the lift. Nox was the last to leave. She looked around from the elevator, saw a broken piece of wall to the left that looked appealing and moved in that direction, focused on finding the crystal.   Fureva-Yung and Marius entertained themselves with a spot of fishing from the hole. A robot jumped up, and Marius grabbed it and threw it back down the hole, missing another by inches. Two more robots leapt up. Fureva-Yung dodged the first, catching it just as Marius had. The second took her by surprise and landed on her face, blinding her temporarily. Jaden joined in the fun, pulling out the wand. Looking down the hole, she aimed the sceptre at it, and it disappeared into the datasphere. “A problem for later,” She said with a smile, “Or Nexion.” Fueva-Yung pulled the robot off her face with her free hand and smashed the two together before dropping the whole mashup down the hole, hitting a third. Nox was not interested in tangling with the robots. Her attention on finding the crystal as soon as possible, then the shard’s minions wouldn’t be a problem. Instead, she leapt into the air, hovered a metre off the ground, and let the others ‘play’.   Marius didn’t exactly feel like he was playing. It had all been good fun until he climbed up nearby for him to punch. He gave it a solid hit with his light gloves, but it kept going, returning the attack. “I can hear more,” Fureva-Yung said, watching Marius again hit his robot, only for it to survive and hit him again. “It's a tough little bugger!”   “If we’re going to have more company, we should spread out and find that crystal,” Jaden said, moving away from the hole and returning to the double doors. As Jaden passed by, Nox took her shoulder and glided along behind her. The doors would not open, and on scanning found they probably needed the Fureva-Yung magic arm. Jaden brushed that thought aside and bypassed the mechanism. The door slid open a crack before wedging fast in place. “Does it matter if I hurt the door, do you think?” Nox asked Jaden as they assessed the problem. “Shouldn’t think so.” Taking Jaden ambivalence as acceptance, Nox reshaped the centre of the two doors to allow enough room for them both to squeeze through.   “And that!” Marius punched his adversary, and the shell buckled under his hand, “Is that!” He picked up the now broken machine and prepared to toss it down on one of its companions. Fureva-Yung was also watching the new group of robots climb their way up. Her chain hung loose in her hand, ready to whip the first one to come into range.   Nox and Jaden peered into the dark room and let out their tone of approval together. “Oooh!” Most of the shelves in the old storeroom were empty. Still, here were items to be gathered for those who knew how to look. “I’ll go high, you go low,” Nox said, pushing herself through the door and up to the highest shelving. Jaden nodded and scrambled in after her, searching under shelving and in the dark corners. “Hey, don’t start without me!” Marius complained good-naturedly just as a robot came in range. He threw his dead robot at the new enemy, and they both fell from the wall and back into the dark. But before Fureva-Yung could whip out at one within range, the three remaining robots stopped. “That’s a change in tactics,” Marius commented as Fureva-Yung looked around for something she could throw. Pieces of broken masonry were everywhere, but nothing big enough. Looking through the broken wall behind her, she saw a pile of rock and earth fallen from the floor above and down into the floor below. Beside it, two robots lay, burned and very dead. She put down a select piece of wall as big as her head and checked the two robots, poking one to ensure it wasn’t just bluffing. A black and blue electrical scar was the only mark she could see on either robot. Looking up, she noticed the two scorch marks were angled towards another double door. She picked one up and went to find Nox.   “Look, this one and another were lightningafried.” “It has been lightningafried,” Nox smiled, handing a few treasures of her own to Jaden before taking the robot,” Thanks for the warning.”   “There’s more skittering from down the hole!” Marius called, “More incoming!” Fureva-Yung went back to the hole as Jaden and Nox gathered further away to look over their treasures. Besides the usual spare parts, Jaden found an artifact called a Scullion, a type of rebreather for swimming underwater. “Ominous but useful,” Jaden mentioned, placing the Scullion inside Bellyache. Nox was intrigued by an iotum that was not the usual Furrian Compact or Sacristan Empire technology. With a spark of intuition, Nox realised it was a shield for the mind, protection against mental attack from Sacristan technology. With reverence, she handed the piece to Jaden. Informing Jaden what it was, she made the older woman swear to make Nox something special with the piece. “Yeah, I can just see it now, a shield against mental attacks,” Jaden eyes glazed over, imagining the design before snapping back to the present, “It shows you they fought against powerful AI enemies.”   They split up, Jaden heading back to the hole to help with the next wave of robots as Nox floated around the broken wall into the next room.   In the hole, the newest spider robots, as they were now being called, also stopped just out of range. Fureva-Yung went off to collect boulders when Marius decided he’d had enough of waiting. Using his newest installed adhesion cypher, he climbed down into the hole, head first, his every contact with the wall sticking him in place. “Where’s Marius,” Jaden said as she walked to the hole to find it seemingly abandoned. With a thought, she looked down the hole to see Marius head-first crawling towards the robots. “Remember that time we talked about this sort of behaviour?” “Nope,” Marius replied without taking his eyes off the robots ahead, “You’re welcome to come down here and tell me all about it.” Fureva-Yung, her arms ladened with rocks, returned at that moment, saw the fuming Jaden and took a position on the other side of the hole from her wrath. “If the rocks don’t work, you can throw Jaden,” Marius laughed as the robots moved in for the attack.   Fureva-Yung hit one with a rock. It fell away as three others all went for the Marius bait. Still, he found fighting upside down difficult as he missed punch after punch. Fueva-Yung lined up another shot, and two spiders fell, clattering to the ground far below. The earth shook, and the rocky surface of the hole shivered, spilling rocks and dirt down the hole. It was time for Marius to go, but the surface was now looser than it had been, and the going was slower. The robots attacked again, only his superior speed stopping him from being hurt as he dodged out of their way.   As Marius climbed, he drew the robots with him, and soon, they were back in chain range again. Fureva-Yung put down her rocks and reclaimed her chain. She whipped it down, hoping to knock one of the spiders on Marius off the wall. Instead, she whipped Marius square in the face with the chain. Stunned, Marius lost grip of the wall and fell back into the pit.   On the other side, Nox examined the remaining robots and the closed door. Like Fureva-Yung, she determined whatever destroyed the spiders came from inside the room. She scanned the door and realised it was unlocked. Just inside the doors, however, two metal coils sat on either side. Pulling herself into the corner next to the door, she pulled out a monitor Fureva-Yung had placed in a bedspring for her. Holding it out, she connected to the robot and saw through its mechanical eyes as she opened the door. Inside she saw the two coils, and they started charging up to strike. Behind them, a blue shimmering force field protected another door. Nox saw nothing else as the coils hit the monitor with twin energy bolts. The energy fried the monitor and continued up Nox’s arm, lightningifrying Nox. The others heard a sudden yelp from the other room.   Fureva-Yung heard the yelp but could do nothing as Marius fell away from the wall. As he shook his vision clear, his hand reflexly reached out and grabbed the end of the chain. He swung now like bait on a line for the swarming spider robots around him. “Pull me up! Pull me up!” Marius yelled as he swung back towards the wall, smacking into a robot that fell off the wall. Fureva-Yung did as she was told and pulled up the chain, landing Marius in a rush.   Nox scanned the room and realised the mechanism at the door was set up for attacking robots just like the monitor and not living beings. She palmed her face at her stupidity and entered the door. Beside one of the columns, she found a switch and turned them off, sure that Marius' many cyphers would probably set them off. The room was bare besides the coils and the blue force field blocking her path. She was floating in place, contemplating the shield, when Fureva-Yung's head poked around the corner. “You are too young to smoke,” Fureva-Yung said, pointing to a wisp of smoke still rising from Nox’s hair. Nox damped it down with her hair in embarrassment. “I can’t work out this force field,” She turned back to the shimmering curtain in front of her, “It’s not the same flavour of technology as the rest of the Spire. I’ve not seen anything like it before.” “Force field?” Fureva-Yung said quizzically. As usual, she stepped forward, her arm out, ready for the door to acknowledge her. She hit the force field and was pushed back with such violence she smashed heavily into the wall opposite. “What out for the shield?” She said as Marius and Jaden poked their heads into the small room. “What shield?” Marius stepped in, also hit the shield and flew back. This time, Fureva-Yung was there to catch him. “Wow! That was fun!” Marius stared at the blank door in awe. “Wait, you can’t see the blue force field?” Nox asked, looking around her companions. None of them could discern the shield was present until they made contact. “I guess that’s the technology of the Order of Sync and Trace,” Jaden commented from the door as Marius turned the columns back on. They hummed back to life, but nothing happened to Marius as Nox had feared. “What? They look like they should be on.” “I turned them off so they wouldn’t hit you.” “Why would they hit me?”   Nox returned to the force field, a new idea forming. It could be waiting for a specific mechanism before opening. She pulled out her black pendant and held it into the force field. The shield flickered but did not disappear. Instead threw Nox back. Once more, Fureva-Yung caught her companion. “I don’t think it has authority,” Nox said, tucking the pendant back under her clothes. It was the pendant's first response to anything other than the blue people. Whatever lay beyond the door, the Order itself had thought important.   “Hang on,” Outside the tiny room, Marius took the Sceptre and clicked the button. In a flash, he was back in the datasphere. He still couldn’t see the shield but noticed a mangled pile of red shapes pined like a bug to the ground by a set of blue vines. He pulled the red shapes free and clicked the key. Nothing happened. “Ah…” He clicked it again. This time the key sent him back, and he found the collection of shapes was the spider robot Jaden had forwarded to the datasphere while at the hole. It was now a mangled mess of components that Jaden was happy to take off his hands. “That was a pile of red shapes in the datasphere,” He said, putting it all together. “The red shapes in that fight. We’ve seen the Order fight Malignant Shards the whole time and never knew it.”   In the room, Furev-Yung picked up another rock. She tossed it at the door. It hit the metal with a clang and fell to the ground just before the shield. They’d helped get rid of the robots. “An inanimate object can get through, but a humanoid can’t,” Nox mumbled. It was opposite the two columns at the door. They allowed flesh bags through while destroying robots. She sighed in frustration. They could come back. What else was there in this place?   “You could reshape the wall beside the door,” Marius suggested. “We do not have to destroy everything,” Replied Fureva-Yung picking up her rock. “Maybe my pendant just needs…upgrading,” Suggested Nox as she pulled herself past her friends and out into the next room, past the hole in the ground.   Marius stepped around the wall to see Nox reading a display scrolling up a semicircular pillar. “I think…,” Nox started and then paused as she looked through a thick window into another room full of machinery, “I think…this is a readout on what is happening in that room. Information is repeating. See the same symbols?” The others gathered around the column but couldn’t make sense of the scrolling shapes and figures. After the hundreds of symbols she’d catalogued in her Numenera book and the hours she’d sat with Fureva-Yung trying to decode her language, Nox thought she was starting to see the patterns. She grabbed the column and propelled herself across the space to a control panel directly in front of the window.       On the other side, three columns connected with thick cables to a central hexagram-shaped column that, in turn, linked to the back of the room by a wide conduit.   “Here they are again. The same information about the machine in that room only here you can adjust the numbers.” “What’s it made of, kid?” Marius asked Nox. She scanned through the glass into the next room. The glass was thick and infused with heavy elements. She pushed through and eventually felt the substance on the other side. The machine was radiating a huge amount of energy. It was an incredible find, but nothing she could use just right now.   “Okay. So that is very cool and amazing, and I wish I knew more about it,” Nox finally said, turning to the group, “But it is making or just radiating energy. Maybe enough energy to run this place, but nothing that will help open the shield.”   They left the room, Fureva-Yung scouting ahead into the west corner of the level. A closed door opened to her magic arm, and she revealed another storeroom. There she found a cypher that would make her undetectable to something looking for movement. It seemed like just the thing they needed to get through the super bouncy shield. She returned it to the shield room, downing it in one swallow. As suspected, the shield did not bounce her back, and she could use her arm to open the door.   Along the left-hand wall, three stations sat ready for use. The first was empty, showing a depression a half metre across and down. The other two held large crystals suspended by metal frameworks that looked like they could move them. On the right-hand side, a pile of storage boxes sat. Marius eyed them from the other side of the force field but said nothing. Fueva-Yung dragged the boxes through the shield for Marius to look over before even attempting to touch a crystal. Leaving the third crystal firmly where it was for the time being, Fureva-Yung investigated the framework for the second. She found that it did support the crystal, making it easier to move. She pulled the framework out of the conical recess.   Lights flashed, and from somewhere, an alarm sounded. Fureva-Yung looked at the group helpless on the other side of the shielding with no clue what to do next.          

33. The Malignant Shard

The group were eager to move on, but Nox had to rest. Another smack from a metal fist had sent her flying, and she feared what they were about to face. The entity, or something like it, that had taken away their home and enslaved their community was just the next passage. Bashing up automatons was Fureva-Yung battlefield, and finding quick and decisive ways to turn the tide of battle was Marius’ and Jaden’s. But her battlefield was always in the datasphere, in the electronic pathways where the entity hid. She didn’t want to go into that fight unprepared. The others waited, chatting quietly amongst themselves as if nothing was amiss. All the while Fureva-Yung’s head kept being drawn towards the tunnel ahead. She could hear voices chanting low, while another voice called in high urgent tones.   We should get moving, Marius said pointedly, not looking in Nox’s direction. Yes, Nox finally agreed, standing and following her friends.     A short set of steps spiralled to the right and opened into a large cavern. Lining the walls of the passage and the back of the cavern were the Deep Craven. Nox saw Ickus and Mal amongst the group. She sent them a small encouraging thought, Watch and remember. Regardless of what happens, you will need to tell future Deep Craven about it.   Beyond the spectators, seven fanatics bowed and chanted before an altar flanked by two sets of stairs. On either side of the altar, huge servitors stood, humming quietly. As the group came into view, the humming increased, filling the room with menacing vibrations. Against the back wall was the altar made of salvaged parts and metal scraps towered above them. In its centre, a monitor depicting the pictogram red eye glowed. Framed by the red eye, a Deep Craven holding a key-shaped staff stood before the Altar. Above everything, three Monitors hovered menacingly. Everything turned to see the intruders.   Fureva-Yung, her black armour unscarred by battle, led the group forward. Beside her, Marius and Jaden to her right and left. Nox walked behind, her eyes flicking from the staff in Glazemar’s hand to the conglomerate of tech that made up the altar. Standing behind the fanatics, Marius, his hands glowing, surprised everyone when he began talking in the language of the Deep Craven.   “Your priest, Glazemar, has led you well to this point. We are here to free you from the Allseer. We have defeated all the Allseer sent to destroy us.” Jaden stepped up, swatting Marius in the back of the head. “Please translate for me, “ She said quietly to him before turning her attention to the assembled Deep Craven present. “Yelf and his people ran away, knowing the Allseer was bad. Ulfa and those sent to kill us only did what they did out of fear. Both now live at peace away from the Allseer's interference.” She pulled out a cypher, a mental image that showed one memory of her choice. She saved a memory of Sharavellian’s mushroom garden, the movement of the musical fungus, and the floating pink jellyfish. She showed it to the Deep Craven present, and everyone who saw it were in awe. “A gift to the tribe, but not the Allseer. We have travelled far. To the tribe, we mean only friendship. Before anything happens today, we would like to talk.”   The fanatics fell silent. Awed by the beauty they had never even imagined beyond their world of the Spire. If talking was something they were interested in, it was never heard over the deafened roar from Fureva-Yung. Taking a deep breath, she focused her thunderous boom at the Altar. It hummed in harmony with the robots, creating a tense chord of expectation. With a leaping bound, Fureva-Yung soared over the fanatics and landed with a jarring thud on the stairs to the left, in front of the automaton.   “Do not listen to their lies!” Galzemar screamed back, holding the sceptre high. A beam of red light emitted from the top and struck Marius in the chest. Marius disappeared. The monitors descended, attacking Nox and Jaden. Jaden dodged, but Nox didn’t move in time. As the electrical zap hit, her senses went numb, and she stood stunned and helpless. Fanatics looked to Galzemar and back at the group, unsure what to do, as Jaden pulled out an iotum. She aimed for Galzemar, but still unsure she wanted to injure even this Deep Craven, she missed. The beam flashed over their head, making in a crater in the stone wall. The guardian servitor confusingly did nothing. Their humming sound intensified, adding a more urgent note. The guardian in front of Fureva-Yung did the same, adding in a punch for good measure. Fureva-Yung dodged it easily, slipping under its slow guard to get up onto the platform.   The humming altar, physically shaking, exploded into shrapnel of a million component parts. Galzemar took the brunt of the damage as pieces bounced harmlessly from Fureva-Yung’s armour. Grabbing the sceptre, Fureva-Yung made a boulder out of her fist and propelled it at Galzemar’s face. The priest crumpled, just a rag thrown against the wall. The sceptre clicked, and Fueva-Yung, the guardian and the priest, also disappeared in a pop.   Things were looking desperate. With no idea what had happed to the other two, Nox reached out her Hedge magic and picked up the sceptre, pulling it towards Jaden she hoped Jaden could work the contraption. Jaden stepped forward but towards the second guardian. With a flick of a few switches, she disarmed the servitor, it's humming slowly winding down to silence. Zapped by two drones, she turned to Nox, who was being harassed by the third. “Nexion! We are here. Aid us now!” Nox yelled into the room and, through her telepathy. A flickering of the lights rewarded her. A small blue glow at the edges of the room that wasn’t there before. As she did she swung the staff at the buzzing drone. Again the sceptre clicked, and now Nox and the drone were gone. The sceptre dropped to the ground.   Jaden was alone.   Marius was sure he’d been hit by something, but a hand to his chest soon relieved him of the concern of a deep and possibly fatal wound. He looked around him at a space like the one he’d just been in, and yet…. The altar was more impressive with red vine like wires coming together from all corners of the room to form the red pictogram eye. He was alone with the slowly creeping dread that he was in the datasphere in the entities realm. “Oh crap, not again!”   Worship! Worship me! A voice whispered through Marius' mind, and he found that he did indeed desire to worship at the eye, the Allseer. “I understand now! I didn’t know what I was doing!” He fell to his knees and started a litany of worship. It wasn’t until something large flew past his head that he looked up to see the mangled remains of Galzemar the Priest. Turning he saw Fureva-Yung standing dazed beside an automaton. Waves of sound energy emanated from Fureva-Yung, making her seem larger and more impressive than she was. From her vast shoulders he could see something lift and waft away like smoke on the air. The compulsion to worship seemed trival and ridiculous and it melted away in his companion's presence . A clear-headed Marius turned back to the eye. “Great Nexion! How can we serve you best,” He said, seemingly in worship, but evoking the name of the Spire’s Artifical Intelligence. As he did, an echo of his words came to him in another voice.   Nexion! We are here. Aid us now! It was Nox, a tiny voice in his mind and almost instantaneously, she was floating beside him, a monitor drone dragged through with her. Her eyes shut and hands clenched, he could see her fight against the compulsion. With a shake of her head, she sent her long hair flying in a cloud about her. Her eyes opened and a blue light streamed out. She seemingly ignored him as she searched for her prey of choice, the nexus of the entity's power, the eye.   A powerful roar and the whole space around them shuddered with physical waves of sound that rippled the fabric of the datasphere. Fureva-Yung was free of the entities will. Her chain crackled with blue lightning as she swung at the automaton. Nice, Furry’s back, Marius thought, looking to see what he could now do to help. He watched the automaton as its whirling sound went up another note.   “Nexion!” Nox shouted, now not the tiny voice barely heard in his mind, but a voice physically and mentally all around them. From her eyes blue rays blasted, one hitting the drone, one missing the automaton and finally one targeting the eye. Blue light flickered throughout the space. Blue flickered in the iris of the eye.     Jaden was alone. The enemies had gone and something was happening as the Allseer’s eye flickered between red and blue. But, her friends were gone too with no clue as to what had happened. She felt the gazed of the Deep Craven all around her, some flickering between her and the staff fallen at her feet. Carefully, to avoid setting it off again, Jaden picked up the staff and investigated it. It was a key for moving material world into a pocket dimension in the datasphere. She realised there must be a similar device on the other side. Though thin and distant, she could still hear Nox calling for Nexion’s aid.   “Nox! The sceptre is a key. There must be another half at your end. See if you can find it.” She said out loud and in her head. She felt more than heard the nod of acceptance and knew Nox had heard.   Now what to do.   She looked around her. Galzemar and the automatons were gone, and the altar destroyed. Things were pretty quiet. The fanatics stepped away, fearful of the being who had killed their god. The other Deep Craven huddled at the back as before, unsure what it all meant. Jaden shrugged and clicked the button. A moment later she was gone and the sceptre once more clanged to the ground.   Fureva-Yung swung her chain up, waved of sound vibrating off it in all directions. Her opponent clanked up a gear readying its attack. At that moment, Jaden appeared, a crystalline version of herself and Fureva-Yung had to pull back her swing to miss her. The chain whiplashed back, striking Fureva-Yung in the jaw. Her head flicked back, and the datasphere around here went grey momentarily. When her vision cleared, she was on her back, the automaton looming overhead.   Jaden shook her head, clearing the intrusive thoughts that weren’t her own. She saw Nox flying, blue light blazing in her eyes as she dodged another attack from the monitor before reaching out and disconnecting it from the Allseer. she then blinked across the space to the altar before the monitor drone fell and clanged against the ground. Nexion! We’re here. Hold on just a little longer. “Wow! Nox!” Marius cried, leaping off his knees and giving Jaden a double take. She did the same, seeing his datasphere form as a creature of two halves, both covered in connector, plugs and ports. “Alright there?” She said, gesturing to the ground. “Never better!” He said, jumping to FurevaYung’s aid. Finding the source of the power build-up, he disconnected it, and the whine slowly died away. The automaton’s movements became sluggish and weak. It hit the prone Fureva-Yung who rolled away, not even a mark on her new armour.   Across the space, Nox hovered near the pictogram eye made of red and blue flickering conduit. In the altarpiece lay a component reminiscent of the key. “Yes,” Jaden said, pulling out another iotum and aiming a blast at the eye for maximum damage. The eye pulsed blue. Blue light now took hold of much of the conduit around the room. Seeing the change, Nox fell upon a section of blue conduit and telepathically linked to the struggling Nexion, A.I. The collective force of both Nexion and Nox forced the red light out of the eye entirely. A flicker of red skittered down another conduit and away from the datasphere space. The automaton ground to a halt and stopped.   "MALIGNANT SHARD ESCAPED CONFINEMENT. RECAPTURE IS REQUIRED." Spoke a voice throughout the datasphere . “Nexion?” Nox asked, excited finally to meet the true A.I. of The Spire. “I AM NEXION.” “And who are you again?” Marius asked to Nox exacerbation. “I AM THE A.I. MANAGEMENT SYSTEM FOR THE SPIRE.” “And what was your role on board this ship?” “THIS IS A HOLDING FACILITY FOR THE SAFE STORAGE OF THE MALIGNANT ENTITY. I ALSO SUSTAIN THE TRANSMITTER UNTIL NEEDED.” “Needed for what?” “TO SEND THE MALIGNANT ENTITY TO THE GATE STAR AND PERMANENT STORAGE. ” “Hang on,” Jaden interrupted, “You said something about a Malignant Shard escaping. What is that? Where is that?” “SHARDS OF THE MALIGNANT ENTITY ESCAPE FROM TIME TO TIME. IT IS CURRENTLY DEEPER IN MY SYSTEMS...” At this point the A.I. paused, checking, “ I DO NOT HAVE ACCESS TO THOSE AREAS.” It almost sounded concerned. “So, we need to recapture the Malignant Shard?” Nox asked, “But the first crystal is broken. Can we fix it? Can we make another?” “THE ORIGINAL CRYSTAL IS BEYOND REPAIR. ANOTHER IS AVAILABLE.” “Where? Do you have a map of the Spire?” “A SPARE CRYSTAL IS STORED ON T2. I DO NOT CURRENTLY HAVE A MAP OF THE FACILITY.” “So, where are we?” Marius asked, hoping to clear up the issue. It didn’t. “YOU ARE CURRENTLY....NOT IN THE SPIRE. SOMEWHERE OUTSIDE THE UPPER DECKS.” “You need to know how to talk to these things, “ Jaden said and asked, “Nexion, please provide a list of each floor starting from the top deck with the three control chairs.” “CONTROL. INTERFACE AND TRANSMISSION, UPPER LEVELS A6 TO A7. CREW A1 TO A10. SYSTEMS, T1 TO T4. ” “The spare crystal is on A floor above where we fought the little murder robots.” Jaden deduced. “So, we get the crystal, connect it up, then somehow funnel this shard into the crystal before sending it off to this Gate Star?” Marius confirmed. “TRANSMISSION WILL REQUIE ALL THREE OF THE ZIONS TO BE PRESENT. ” Fureva-Yung pointed to her tattoo. The other two chairs on the command deck would have to be filled to complete the process. “Oh.”   “Nexion, what do you know of the Malignant Entity?” Asked Nox, reminded of Fureva-Yung’s dream. “DISCOVERED RATHER THAN CREATED, THE MALIGNANT ENTITY IS THOUGHT TO BE HAVE DESTROYED THE CIVILIZATION THAT FOUND IT. WHEN IT WAS DISCOVERED, AND ITS TRUE NATURE REVEALED, IT WAS IMPRISONED HERE. UNFORTUNATELY, THE MALIGNANT ENTITY IS KNOWN TO FRAGMENT INTO SHARDS WHICH TAKE OVER SYSTEMS AND CAN ACT AUTONOMOUSLY. CRYSTAL MATRICES ARE KNOWN TO IMPRISON A SHARD FOR DAYS. A CRYSTAL AND THIS FACILITY CAN EXTEND THAT TIME TO DECADES WHILE THE GATE STAR IS THE ONLY KNOWN INDEFINITE STORAGE AT THIS TIME. .”   “We travelled past a mountain of crystal. Is that part of the Malignant Shard escaping?” Marius asked, and Nox took from her pouch a handful of crystal shards. “THE CRYSTAL IS A BYPRODUCT FROM A DATA LEAK FROM THIS FACILITY. ” That explained how a shard reached Cerelon. “Can this crystal be used to create new storage crystals?” Jaden thought and was disappointed with the reply. “THE MATRICES OF THIS CRYSTL ARE NOT SUFFCIENTLY DENSE TO PROVIDE APPROPRIATE IMPRISONMENT. ”   “The others,” Fureva-Yung joined in the conversation, “The Zions, where are they?” “I CAN NOT TRACK THE ZIONS.” A disappointing answer, but not unexpected. The group knew that one lay somewhere to the east. They assumed the other was in the North but didn’t know. Once the shard was contained in the crystal, finding them seemed to be the next task. “Nexion, who was I?” Behind Fureva-Yung asked. Nox gave a tiny cry at her friend’s vulnerability. “YOU ARE ADMIRAL YUNG..” Fureva-Yung squared her shoulders a little. Her memories were real and were hers. “Why am I here?” “YOU WERE RECALLED BY THE ORDER WHEN THEY SUSPECTED A MALIGNANT SHARD HAD ESCAPED CONFINEMENT. ” “Am I responsible?” “I CANNOT ACCESS HISTORICAL DATA TO MAKE AN ASSESSMENT. ” “You could have just said no and saved us a lot of heartache, Nexion.” Jaden grumbled under her breath.   “So, how about this place?” Marius changed the subject, “Is it working as it should? We had an altercation with an acid bubble.” “FUEL CONTAINMENT OF DECK A5 TO A9 WORKING WITHIN PARAMETERS. ” “And the lightning room…above the teleportation?” “WORKING NORMALLY” Nexion replied as he had all questions, in a detached voice, neither male nor female and after a while, thoroughly infuriating. “So, lightning in the elevator is supposed to happen?”   Nox and Jaden were in a conversation together about trapping the shard. “We connect the crystal. How to we get the Shard into the crystal?” Nox asked. If the shard was in a part of the network even Nexion couldn’t reach, how can we? “It’s arrogant,” Jaden replied casually as it were the simplest task, “Taunt him in.”   “Say, Nox, why don’t you ask about your blue people?” Marius turned to join their conversation when it was clear that Fureva-Yung had no more questions for the A.I. “My people?” Nox had never said anything about being related to the blue beings followed their progress. Besides confessing to her Father, she’d never spoken of the one who had claimed to be her mother. Still, it wouldn't hurt to know if Nexion could provide insights into who they were.   “ I DO NOT HAVE INFORMATION ABOUT AN INCORPOREAL BLUE-SKINNED RACE, “ Nexion replied as frustratingly calm as usual. “Um…one…one had a pendant… like this,” Nox pulled on the chord around her neck and withdrew her mother’s pendant. The black orb glowed with the same blue light as her eyes in Nexions datasphere. “IT IS A TOKEN OF THE ORDER OF SYNC AND TRACE. THEIR MANDATE IS TO MONITOR WORLDS ACROSS DIMENSIONS FOR SHARDS OF MALIGNANCE. ” “What? The same Order that ordered Furry to investigate the Shard?” Marius asked, intrigued that Nox and Fureva-Yung could be linked, “Is she also of the Order.” “ADMIRAL YUNG IS NOT OF THE ORDER. IT WAS THE ORDER OF SYNC AND TRACE THAT RECALLED HER. ”   The questions petered out, and the companions looked at each other. It was time to leave. Nox was reticent to go. Here she felt strong, and able. There were answers if only she knew the right questions to ask or looked in the right places.   “Come on, the Deep Craven are probably wondering what happened to us,” Said Jaden with a wink, her crystalline features sparking. Nox took in the image of all her friends, each different, but each appropriate to their abilities. Jaden in particular had never looked more herself. Nox nodded her head and reached out for the Vertice, the other part of Nexion’s datasphere key. It did nothing. “Now, really, we have to go,” Jaden complained and tried the Vertice. Nothing happened. “Ur…don’t look at me. I don’t know how it works,” Marius shrugged. Nox tried again, this time giving the Vertice a little push.   This time the room changed around them. They found themselves back in the altar room with a group of Deep Craven encircling the sceptre. Unfortunately, they entered up near the ceiling. Gravity grabbed them, and they fell to the rocky ground in a bundle of limbs.   “That’s going to take a little practice,” Marius complained as he regained his cuts and bruises again.   Jaden carefully picked up the Sceptre, “Nexion, can you still hear us?” “I HEAR YOU, ” Nexion replied, its voice echoing through the cavern from loudspeakers in the crew quarters. “New instructions. These people have made their homes here. They have been used and abused by the shard and deserve better. You have a new responsibility to protect them and give them a safe home. I would suggest that if the Shard returns to cause trouble you also warn them of the Allseer’s return.” “PEOPLE?” It was the first time Nexion sounded confused, “YOUR CURRENT POSITION...YOU ARE NOT IN THE SPIRE.” “Ah no. You will need to map these new areas as well. They belong to the Deep Craven.”   Nox spied Mal and Ickus and made her way over to them. She explained what had occurred and that the Allseer was in hiding. She told them what Jaden had just said and about Nexion, their new friend. Please make sure everyone knows and understands that you are free now. Your lives are your own to decide. “I’m wondering if our friends couldn’t keep an eye on the eye,” Marius added in the Deep Craven language, “Elders of the Deep Craven, may I introduce you to Nexion.”   Introductions were uneasy, the Deep Craven only recognising Nexion as the dread Allseer and Nexion having no senses available, could not identify the Deep Craven. A tentative agreement with the few Deep Craven that stepped forward as elders agreed to keep a guard for anything like the Allseer and let the group know. With that done, Marius got to work salvaging io from the two monitors and automaton in the altar room. Fureva-Yung found a piece of the altar that looked like it could be a chain link and pocketed it for later attachment.   Nox was almost asleep on her feet. They farewelled the Deep Craven and returned to the surface via the elevator. Sleep came quickly that night and in the morning they were all awoken by the delicious smell of mushrooms. Trade with the Deep Craven and the Community had already begun. The Companions enjoyed a reward of fresh fried mushrooms in flatbread for breakfast.                                                              

32. The Basement

      The elevator capsule dropped past the ground floor, and the group stood silently. It wasn’t a long trip, three or four metres down, before the doors opened again, and still, the memories of the last time they travelled this way haunted them. The door ground open on a room full of closed doors and a set of stairs heading down. The wall had been cut away on the right-hand side, revealing a cavern. As she stepped out of the capsule, Fureva-Yung listened to the tiny vibrations the solid surface reflected to her. All was silent to the right, but through to the caverns to the left, the regular dripping of water, a low droning hum and the raking sound of earth being tilled were clear.   “Big mob off to the East,” She quietly told the others as they each left the capsule and explored the space. Marius was onto the first closed door and, finding it jammed, called Nox over to scan. “There’s a framework, bunk beds, the top one has collapsed to the lower. There are two boxes and…oh, there’s a skeleton…odd looking, with extra arms. “Boxes?” Marius' eyes gleamed at the thought of shinies hidden within, “Open it up.” Nox looked at him as if he’d confused her with someone else, “Me? Maybe Fureva-Yung can help.” She moved off to scan through the next door. When the next door was also locked, Marius turned on Nox, frustrated. “Can’t you reshape stuff to your will or something?” He asked, waving his hands mystically at the door. “It...costs…something,” She admitted grudgingly, agitated at having to show a weakness, “Can’t Fureva-Yung pull the door open for you?” “Oh?” Marius hadn’t realised that Nox’s abilities took such a toll. He turned to Fureva-Yung, who had been standing guard the whole time, listening to the sounds of life in the caverns. “Hey, Furry, a little help?”   The door gave to Fureva-Yung’s might with a groan and a squeal of resisting metal. It echoes around the hard surfaces, pausing the sound of earth moving and starting up a new one, the sound of scratching from deep below. Fureva-Yung tapped the release for her armour, and she was instantly outfitted in a thick rubber catsuit with an embossed fluffy bunny tail. There were snickers from Jaden and Nox. “Why are you laughing?” She asked, concerned her new armour was the focus of some jest. “Nervous laughter. It was a surprise,” Jaden commented with a straight face. “I laugh only in admiration,” Nox added, less successfully. “Something is coming,” Fureva-Yung hushed and stepped before the group.   A hum echoed up the stairwell. A camera lens attached to a hovering drone snuck over the edge of the landing. “Ah, we may want to cover our backs,” Jaden said, “We have a visitor in the stairwell and something coming through the floor.” “Yeah, I’ve got something here too!” Marius replied, half listening as he found a shielding cypher. Knowing how useful it would be, he pulled out his knife and started integrating it there on the spot.   With one bound, Fureva-Yung leapt for the stairwell and the drone hiding there. Flipping backwards, she flew over the drone, snatching it out of the air before landing squarely on her two feet on the second flight of stairs. On the next floor down, two of what were becoming known as the Deep Craven stood statue still staring at Fureva-Yung. She waved the drone at them, the avatar of their god reduced to a fan. They quickly scampered off, looking for somewhere safe to hide.   “Ooh, could I have it?” Nox asked, holding out her hands for the drone. With no use for it, Fureva-Yung passed the drone to her companion. The drone's mind called a ‘Monitor’ was two simple commands,’ keenly note and escape’. Just as she was about to probe deeper, disconnecting the drone from the network, the drone released a probe of its own. With a zap of blue light, it zapped Nox, making her drop it. “Ouch!” Nox complained as the drone caught itself midfall and tried zapping Nox again. Fueva-Yung grabbed the drone by the probe and waited, her gleeful anticipation reflected in the single lens of the drone's eye. “What is she doing?” Jaden asked, watching as Fureva-Yung waited for the next zap. “She’s waiting for a new memory. She’s noticed she sees them more when she gets zapped.” Nox replied, rubbing her electrocuted skin. When the zap came, Fureva-Yung jumped involuntarily, her rubbery tail twitched, but no memories were revealed. “Let me have that,” Jaden said and, with a few swift movements, disabled the device, at least for the time being. The drone went limp in her hands, and now the scratching was the only sound they could hear. It echoed up the stairwell and vibrated through the souls of their feet. Marius stepped out of the room, a fresh smear of blood on his knife hinting what he’d been up to. “We could have done with your help,” Jaden said, taking in the signs of Marius incorporating another cypher. “You looked like you had everything under control,” Marius replied, cleaning his knife as Temila had shown him and putting it carefully away.   Grabbing a bedspring from one of the broken beds, Fureva-Yung placed the drone inside and attached the whole thing to her belt for safekeeping. The drone now contained, she headed back towards the stairwell, her chain at the ready. The rest of the group followed Fureva-Yung down the stairs to the next level, Basement Two.   Here more doors lined the two sides of the room, flanking the stairwell. Going down, the stairwell was blocked by soil and rock, its origins soon evident in a passageway broken through the wall ahead. A black hole leading down filled the cavern from which the scratching sound echoed. Beside the passage, a giant crystal sat embedded in the wall, salvaged parts connecting it to the wall like a cancerous growth.   As before, Marius started opening doors as Fueva-Yung took point while Nox and Jaden focused on the crystal. Though not any crystal they’d seen in their travels, Nox quickly discerned its original purpose as a containment device. Tampered with, the crystal’s whole purpose was subverted and unrepairable. “At least we have an idea of our enemy's origins,” Jaden said beside her as Nox sighed in frustration. “Nox, what’s behind this door, “ Marius called from the last door in the row. It was jammed like the ones above. Not leaving the crystal, Nox scanned the room and saw another two footlockers like those in the first room. The scratching and rumbling were growing louder, and Fureva-Yung was slowly advancing on the hole when Marius recalled her to open the last door. As she stepped away to pull the door aside, something of pointed metal poked up through the hole in the cavern. The point became a whirling drill bit attached to a huge scrap metal head the size of the bunk beds. Heavy clawed legs scrambled up and into the cavern dragging behind a massive body, almost as large as the elevator capsule. The whole automaton was made of scrap metal and scrounged tools and looked like a predatory beetle. “Nox?” Jaden said, stepping away from the cavern. Too engrossed in the crystal before her, Nox didn’t look up, “Huh?” “There’s a beetle with a drill for a face!” The drill face lunged at Nox, gouging a strip out of the unsuspecting Nox, who was thrown to the ground.   Jaden observed as the creature climbed out of the hole. Like its smaller counterparts, this one was custom-built by the intellect from bits and pieces. Though it was heavily armoured, Jaden was sure if they could strip the outer casing off, they could easily disable the automaton. “Fureva-Yung, strip its armour and lets he how this thing ticks.”   From the stairs, another drone and two Deep Craven appeared. Using his newly acquired cypher, Marius put up an invisible force field between the party and the new arrivals. Something sparked, and a sharp pain in his side told Marius this would be the first and last use of the shield.   Nox down and Jaden next in line for attack by the giant automaton, Fureva-Yung launched herself directly into the fight, placing herself between Nox and the automaton. With the crowbar she’d used to open doors already in her hand, she started prying off the giant beast’s metal hide.   From behind the shield, the Deep Craven stopped and tapped the invisible force that blocked their way. Small and unarmed, they were not much of a threat. The drone also hovered to a stop, collecting all it could see and passing it back to the entity. From her prone position behind Fureva-Yung, Nox sent psychic blasts, first at the drone and then at the metal monster.   A deep hum started from within the giant beetle automaton. The sound vibrated through Fureva-Yung’s head like a hammer drill. She dodged the drill and tore the automaton’s armour apart through gritted teeth. Jaden saw her chance as a piece of metal hide peeled away from one side. Grabbing an iotum, she sent a beam of energy straight through. With no armour to resist the attack, the creature shuddered and squealed.   Behind the wall, the Deep Craven and drone could do nothing but watch. Nox focused on one of the two Deep Craven and made a telepathic link. Please, we are friends to your people, Ulfa and Yelf, we mean you no harm. Fureva-Yung’s chain whizzed overhead, and Marius stepped into the melee. The drill head swung around, missing Marius easily. “I’m sorry, I don’t get the point.” He wasn’t smiling a moment later when the beetle started its drone again, and he, too, clutch his head against the sound. Fureva-Yung, put off her guard by the drone, wasn’t ready when a claw extended from underneath the carapace and grabbed her. A small door on the abdomen opened up, and Fureva-Yung disappeared inside. Jaden tried lining up her shot for a second time. With the loss of Fureva-Yung, the beetle had turned, hiding the gap in its armour from her sight. The iotum skipped off the metal skin and burned out doing nothing. Jaden was left scrambling away, her fingers burnt.   Outside the shield, the drone turned to leave, as did one of the Deep Craven. The second one held its companion back, its large dark eyes staring back at the smallest alien hurt on the ground. Please, we have come to help. We only want to be friends with your people, Nox linked with the second, and both stood by and let the drone fly back to its master.   Fureva-Yung, now trapped in a metal box filled with the humming sound, let her pain and frustration take over and started pounding ineffectually at the walls. Jaden, too, at a loss at what to do, tried distracting the beetle from its attack to no avail. Marius, however, spying through the rent Fureva-Yung had made in the armour, found the mechanism that created the painful hum. Reaching through, he pulled free the cabling to the mechanism, and the drone fell silent.   Fureva-Yung could think again. Using the crowbar, she pulled a panel of sheet metal away from the inside wall of the beetle. Beyond, the beetle’s mechanical innards whirled and spun, fully exposed to her crowbar. Clunk! A grinding of metal against metal and then… Snap! Something metal broke inside the carapace, and the beetle stopped. The whirling drillbit slowed, and finally, with a shudder, the beetle’s head fell off. “Well, there’s a truckload of problems dealt with. Good work, Furry!” Marius looked around at the mayhem. Fureva-Yung finally punched her way through the metal carapace to join her companions and the two remaining Deep Craven.   You really mean to come and free us from the Allseer? Asked the first through the telepathic link, they all shared. That’s the idea, Marius replied, now looking at the burrower inquisitively. He dove into the carcass, looking for spare parts. Yes, the being you know as the Allseer should be our friends. They are…sick, and we’ve come to help make them better, Nox explained, and the two Deep Craven nodded their heads thoughtfully. “Please, we need your help in finding the Allseer,” Jaden spoke out loud as was her habit, her thoughts as clear as her words, “Are there places that are…special…sacred to the Allseer?”   The two Deep Craven pointed at the crystal beside the borrower. We sometimes bring offerings here. Offerings? How about Sacrifices? They’d heard from both Yelf and the escaped Unseen, as well as Ulfa and friends, how the Allseer demanded living sacrifices from the Deep Craven on occasion. At the Altar, Both Deep Craven pointed above the burrower and into the caverns one floor up. “How does the Allseer speak to you and tell you what it wants?” Glazemar speaks for the Allseer. The group had heard this name before from Ulfa. They were chosen of the Allseer and acted in the role of a priest or shaman. “How was Galzemar chosen?” The Allseer spoke to them. “What about more automatons?” Marius climbed out of the burrower handing out parts which when straight into Bellyache. Jaden almost squealed with joy. “Smart tissue! We can fix Fureva-Yung’s armour! And these two,” She handed over a section of the device that had made the droning noise and another unknown contraption, “These are the hearts of brand new devices!” A third one she pulled out and laughed out loud. “Here, incorporate this. You were so fond of the last one.” She handed a cypher back to Marius, who looked at it distastefully. It was another purgespitter.   Yes, big mob, the Deep Craven replied to Marius’ question, which meant more than two. “Okay,” He looked around the group, “Well then, take us to your leader!”   They didn’t leave straight away, however. Nox was still gravely wounded, and Marius had to spend time providing first aid so that she could travel. It gave Nox a chance to continue her chat with the Deep Craven. What are your names? Ickus, One volunteered, turning to their friend. Mal, Said the other. I want you to stay with me and note everything that happens so you can tell your people, okay? You’ll see, these are great warriors who have come a long way. What has happened here with Nexion to make them the Allseer has happened at our home too. She knew the Deep Craven’s idea was travelling up out of the residential floors of the Spire, but she wanted to assure these two they were right to put their faith in them.   When Nox could stand, the group split, Fureva-Yung and Nox headed back up the stairs to the cavern area above, pointed out as the site of the Altar. With them came Mal and Ickus, silent as shadows, their large eyes missing nothing. Marius and Jaden continued past the hole and checked the lower caverns.   Fureva-Yung and Nox quickly came across a group of Deep Craven, their farming tools still clasped in their hands. Please, stay with them and tell them what’s going on, Nox asked Ickus and Mal, which they gladly did. Fureva-Yung led the way, with Nox trying to keep to the shadows behind her. They found two servitors waiting for them in a widening of the cavern. Fueva-Yung dodged a swing from one, but Nox was too slow to get out of the way of the second. What was that? Marius’ thoughts came through the telepathic connection. Nothing much, Nox replied, putting a stasis on one as Fureva-Yung pounded the second into the floor. When the first stopped moving, Nox moved around the frozen one and from a Fureva-Yung nod, she released the stasis. The servitor did not get a chance to attack. Here there is salvage.   They reached a T-junction, with one path heading right, further away from the Spire and one running left to wards stairs going down. I spotted a second monitor heading towards you. Keep an eye out, Marius called. Nox stayed at the junction between paths as Fureva-Yung moved ahead to connect with Jaden and Marius. They climbed the stairs to find her hard against a rock, looking in a refuse alcove. Eye is here, She pointed into the dead end. You look fine, but you need to improve your grammar, Marius quipped, confusing Fureva-Yung. Never had a grammar. Marius spotted the Monitor hiding high up against the room's low ceiling. With silent coordination via telepathy, Fureva-Yung hoisted Marius into the air towards the drone. Her aim was accurate, and Marius quickly had his hands on the drone before it could move. Unfortunately, it was ready with a retaliatory attack and zapped him in the face. Eyes watering, his face spasming, Marius and the monitor fell to the ground. Fureva-Yung seeing his distress, went to grab Marius. She tripped, and dragged Marius out of the air and onto the refuse pile in front of her. “We will never speak of this again,” Fureva-Yung said once she’d established, Marius was fine and the drone was captured. Forcing the drone into another spring, they left stoic-faced, if a little grimy.        

31. To see each other plain

They spent the next few days around the community as things continued to improve in the group’s absence. The Ghans had converted their caravan into a water carrier. Their days were spent travelling down to the lake, filling the tank with fresh water and returning by the afternoon to fill a water tower. It provided running water to several parts of the community, but they spent all day walking to the lake and back every day.   The small contingent of militia in the community had become the primary source of food for the whole community. If not returning with small game and occasionally deer, they found roots, wild greens and herbs. A regular game animal was a small six-legged creature, fast but plentiful in the lands around the Spire. There was talk of smoking game as the first chills turned people's thoughts to winter.   Temila and Walara’s farm was taking off. They had added livestock in the form of small furry egg-laying creatures called Boko. Besides being delightful creatures in their own right, the eggs were a real bonus to the community’s diet. Eggs for food meant fewer eggs for the next generation and possible meat production, so Temila and Walara kept tight control of egg distribution.   The Dritmen were busy building the Watertower and other community structures, including a workshop for Caros Waldrin, the inventor. Under his, Risina, Jaden and now Marius’ supervision, the community planning and construction were managed. Plans for a well with a wind-powered pump, a smokehouse and a low-temperature kiln for food preservation, basic pottery and charcoal production were all in the works. After one of their meetings, Marius pulled his mother aside to chat.   “Mother, could I have a word with you about the family friend?” Risina didn’t flinch but slowly walked away from the crowds, noting those nearby and waiting until they were out of earshot before speaking. “What about Veris?” “In light of what we discovered about Veris. I was wondering how long he’s been…infected. Has there ever been a suggestion before of something…not being right?” Risina shook her head emphatically as if he were questioning a family member's loyalty, and in a way, he was. “You know as well as I do that Veris only had our family's best interests in mind. Frankly, until recently, I would have thought Veris more reliable than you.” “I live to serve,” He replied sarcastically. “Still,” She said, ignoring his sarcasm, thinking, “Veris was beneficial in finding the quarry.” “Very.” “It makes you wonder how long the machines have run things?” “That’s what I’m afraid of.”   Fureva-Yung was also keeping herself busy hunting and foraging along the lakeshore. With a simple spear made from a straight sapling, she walked the bottom of the lake spearfishing and often returned with fish to share. She found that the heads and bones of the fish were by far the tastiest parts and was pleased to let community members eat the squishy white flesh of her ‘tail swimmers’. “I like the flesh,” Marius was heard saying after Fureva-Yung asked only for the bones. “Yes, we know,” Temila replied.   Only Nox was left without occupation. After the fight with the golden laughing creatures, she spent a whole day recuperating. She stirred herself once to form a chain link from golden-laughters tusk for Fureva-Yung’s collection. The next day, she tried spending time with Temila and Walara but found herself ill-suited to farming and left them with their blisters, sore muscles and sunburn. She hung around the Spire treating the occasional injury while all the time quietly stalking her father.   The appearance of the blue person in the datasphere had stirred up questions about her past. She waited for a chance to catch him alone, but with all the building work, his construction skills were more important than ever. Silently she watched as he helped lay out the community workshop and made useful items from scrap left over from building construction. After years of trying to make trinkets acceptable to the Temple, he’d found a knack for making do with what he could find. Finding the useful in what others threw away. After collecting scrap to make utensils, bowls and cups, she followed him to his favourite tinkering spot in the shade of the Spire. Here he laid out his few tools and started clipping, shaping and hammering the cold metal into items.   “Father, could I speak to you alone?” Nox asked, sitting down beside him. She picked up one of the spoons he’d just completed. She could see the hammer marks, the care he’d taken to make them, if not invisible, then symmetrical. Absent-mindedly she pulled a rag out of her pouch and started polishing the metal. Ordinarily, such work would not interest her, but today having something to fiddle with as she spoke calmed her. “Of course,” He replied with a questioning glance. “Do you remember me asking you about what Erinai looked like?” He thought a moment, taking the time to form a metal sheet around a wooden form. “Yes, you were convinced that Erinai has a form of some sort.” Nox shrugged. At the time, she’d been trying to relate the blue people to the guiding presence of Erinai. Now she knew that Erinai was a fiction created to keep people subservient and working for machines. But even now, she couldn’t break that news to him, someone who had spent their life garnering the good favour of the temple. “That…was a mistake. But you remember me telling you about the blue people?” “I remember you saying you’d been seeing blue people.” A look of concern passed across his face, and the old fear of being labelled weird rose in her. Before, it would have been enough for her to slink away, her questions unanswered. She wasn’t willing to live that way anymore.   Slowly and carefully, Nox told him, at least in part, what she, Jaden, Marius and Fueva-Yung were investigating. Even with the story heavily censored, his expression darkened at her description of some of the adventures they’d had. “You do such dangerous things,” He reached out a work-scarred hand and brushed her hair away from the skin on her neck that was still patchy and red from the golden-laughers acid, “You need to look after yourself.” The touch tingled the tender skin and sent a thrill through her. Confused and distracted, Nox pulled away from his touch. With a feeling of defeat, his hand dropped back to his work and his continued shaping.   “I…didn’t….I told you so you’d understand. I saw another of the blue people here in the tower. They had a pendant,” Nox now pulled at the string around her neck and revealed her black ball, its contents swirling darkly, “Just like this one.” “Your mother’s pendant?” He blinked, his work forgotten, “She left that for you with a note saying she was leaving.” “A note?” This was the first she’d ever heard. It was probably the first time Nox had ever heard him talk about Nox’s mother, Ariaxa. “She…she said she was resuming her travels…returning to her people.” “Did she say who they were? Where they came from?” “She never talked about herself.” He shook his head despondently as if realising what he’d lost for the first time. The uncomfortable subject was becoming unbearable. Nox changed the subject, “Did she want us to work with the Temple?” “She didn’t want me working with the Temple. She said it was a waste of my time. She always said I could do better.” Yes, you can, Nox thought, but could say nothing. “Did she want me to work with the Temple?” “You? You were so little. None of us were thinking of you concerning the Temple. Mind you, she didn’t get on with your aunt.” Intriguing but obvious in hindsight.   Livaanar had gone silent, lost in memory. Nox couldn’t judge if they were better times or not. Her mother had left long before she started forming permanent memories. “I don’t think she really left, or at least, I think the people she left us for are watching us.” “Hmm?” Her Father snapped out of his revelry, remembered his work and picked up his tools, “Watching us?” “Yeah, the one who wore my pendant. She said she was my mother.” Livaanar didn’t have any reply to that, only stared up as Nox rose to leave. “Please, look after yourself,” He finally said. Nox turned to see him smile faintly at her, and her heart fluttered uncomfortably in her chest, “You’re the only family I have.”   Nox stepped carefully around the tools, the scrap metal and half-finished pieces to stand at her Father’s side. Bending down, she folder herself across his shoulder and embraced him. They leaned into each other, one small moment of silent sharing before she let him go and walked away, dizzy with the senses ignited in that one brief contact.   It was the evening before the group gathered around the communal fire in the Alcove. Fureva-Yung still had the delegged robot she’d claimed from their last disastrous attempt to travel down below the Spire. Occasionally, something internal stirred, and Fureva-Yung would worry the thing like a cat until it stopped making a noise. Discussion of Veris and their infection swirled through the group, but it was all just conjecture without any evidence.   “Well, what about that thing?” Marius pointed to Fureva-Yung’s toy, “What can we learn from the sliver of a mind in that.” “Yes,” Jaden thought over her cup of hot tea, “What if we can take that sliver and make a vaccine against the infection.” They looked at Nox, who hadn’t used her mental powers in days, not since the altercation with Veris. “Okay,” She replied noncommittally. “Should we tie Nox down?” Fureva-Yung asked, pulling on a scrap of well-used rope. Nox eyed it suspiciously. “Are you afraid of me, Fureva-Yung?” She asked. If another community member had heard the question, they would have laughed. No one around the fire was laughing. “Only with your consent, of course,” Marius added diplomatically. “Really? The best they could think of was for me to strangle Fureva-Yung.” She turned her open, grasping hands on Fureva-Yung to show how ridiculous the attack was. “If I wanted to take you down, I’d come in behind you and cut your Achilles heals, of course.” “Of course. Have you thought how you’d kill all of us?” Marius laughed, not sure if it was a joke or not. Nox nodded thoughtfully, “You, in your sleep. Preferably after…Temila.” Nox ran a thumb across her throat as she glanced at Temila, who was surprised and concerned. “Jaden, I’d poison her tea.” Jaden stopped sipping and put her cup down. “Nox, you don’t want to hurt us, do you?” Temila asked. “No, I’m just saying if I were, then I wouldn’t be throwing myself at the biggest toughest one in the room like…” She waved a hand at the robot carapace, embarrassed, “...I was stupid or something.” “Besides, you wouldn’t tie up a little girl in front of the whole community, would you?” Now Nox looked concerned.   After a few moments of banter at Nox’s expense, it was decided to forego the rope and just take her knife from her. Now unarmed, Nox steeled her mind against the entity and Read its thoughts. The entity in the robot had no chance as Nox pinned it down like a lab specimen for dissection. “Is it the same thing that is in Veris?” Marius asked, and distantly they heard her reply in all their minds. It is similar, but not the same. “How about this robot?”Jaden interjected, “Any sign of the original programming, or has it been totally possessed by the entity?” Nox tilted her head to the side as she noted the unexpected. Interestingly, these robots were created by the entity. Cobbled together to hold a piece of themselves. There is no other programming. “The light from the column. Was that the entity calling them or something else?” Fureva-Yung asked. Nox's voice came back emotionless, The light has nothing to do with them. Suddenly she blinked, and her voice took on its usual tone, “Like it was the second entity, the one that likes Fureva-Yung, helping. Are we finished with this?” When the group nodded, Nox used her psychic burst the shred the entity into pieces. Silently, she took delight in tearing the sliver apart so in the end, nothing was left.   “Could we shut down the system? Reboot it?” Marius asked as the group returned to the subject of what to do next. “We haven’t seen a shutdown in the whole Spire,” Nox countered, but nothing could upset Marius’ determination. “Oh, I’m sure we could manage.” “I don’t think that’s the way to think of it. When you can’t attack the illness directly, you support the body.” She looked to Temila, who nodded her agreement. “Nexion is sick. We need to find a way to support the good part.” “Could you put a piece of yourself in the robot?” Fureva-Yung asked Nox. Nox shook her head. “I don’t know if I’d want to, Fureva-Yung. I could see through a robot's senses, I could probably remote control it.” She shrugged. Once more, the limitation of the human animal.   They discussed the issue late into the night without any idea of what to do next. That night, in the stillness in the heart of the community, Fureva-Yung dreamed.   She was once more aboard her ship, in charge of a small fleet of Ferrian ships charged with a singular task, capture a Sacristan ship. It was clear since the war began that the Sacristans had always had the advantage regarding technology, and they’d been careful to keep their secrets to themselves. Destruction was always preferable to losing a ship to the Ferrian Compact. This practice had maintained a Sarcritans advantage of 5:1 throughout the war. With careful planning, staunch execution and a little luck, that would end soon.   Fureva-Yung’s ship had on board a team of technicians with a device specifically designed to break through the enemy's defences and prevent a self-destruct sequence. The tiny fleet had been hiding in an asteroid field, ready to strike the next lone scout ship. When that occurred, the fleet would maneuver in. At the same time, Fureva-Yung would lead a squad on board to take control.   Fureva-Yung looked over to where the lead technician was already tied into the device. For reasons unknown to her, the weapon needed to be controlled directly via a mind, and there was none better for the job than the man who had seen its creation every step of the way.   As expected, the scout ship. The plan they’d spent months perfecting went into action and succeeded in capturing the Sacristan ship, but at what cost? At the moment the weapon made contact with the Sacristan ship, a massive feedback shorted it out, killing the technician outright. The Sacristan ship was disabled, and the squad took control of it and its crew, but no one could tell Fureva-Yung how. How did the weapon knock out the scout ship when it was damaged beyond use?   On return to Ferrian Space, the tiny fleet was hailed as heroes. The technician was given a posthumous commendation for bringing the Ferrian Compact one step closer to peace. Fureva-Yung also became aware of other rumours that everything had not gone to plan. In the moment of contact, something had been released.   Fureva-Yung woke to a weak morning light disturbed by the turnings of her dream. She knew it was important, she knew it had something to do with what they were talking about the night before and what’s worse she knew she had a part in all of it. She left the communal sleeping area and walked to the edge of the community, outside the ring of shanty buildings clustered around the Spire. Here she sat and watched the sunrise on a new day. It was here that a groggy Nox found her a few moments later.   Every morning Nox linked her mind to those of her companions to form their telepathic network. Once established, the connection lasted all day and, if not actively disconnected by the members, connected them into sleep and dreams. Marius was quick to disconnect as soon as Temila gave him the look. Jaden’s connection was a constant background hum that both felt they could not do without. Fureva-Yungs head was…quiet, usually. Nox awoke with a muddle of plans, fleet positions, and success tinged with uncertainty, even guilt. With what little information the visions gave her, Nox crawled out of bed and found Fureva-Yung alone, looking out over the green rolling hills.   “Hey, Fureva-Yung. I had the strangest dream about spaceships and a big plan and stuff going wrong…but right…do you know what that was about?” Nox asked without preamble. “Good morning, Nox,” Fureva-Yung said standing to greet her friend formally. Abashed, Nox backtracked. “Oh yeah. Good morning, Fureva-Yung, how are you this morning?” Fureva-Yung was not a thinker. She found the back and forward of words the others delighted in tedious if not frustrating. It often got in the way of the doing the Fureva-Yung preferred and sometimes stopped it completely. This morning, she paused to think before answering Nox’s simple question. “If someone made a mistake and that led to something terrible happening, would the person that person became be guilty even if they knew nothing about it?” “Huh? It's too early in the morning for puzzles, Fureva-Yung.” Nox sighed sitting beside her big friend.   With what clarity she could, Fureva-Yung replayed the dream in her mind. Nox sat in silence as the few scraps she’d overheard fell into place. “You see, I know why I’m here. I think I released something, and I’m here to fix it. I wish Fureva were here, she would know how to feel." “Oh, Fureva-Yung. I think it is right to try and fix a problem when you see one, but the mistake was not yours. How could you predict the taking of a ship would lead to an anti-life entity being released? If anything, I’d suggest you may have been set up to fail.”   “Oh?” This sounded like more of the others talking-talking. She didn’t need multiple reasons why things were the way they were. She needed a plan on how to fix it. “Tell me, what do the Sacristans look like?” Nox asked unexpectedly. “Tall,” She indicated someone who could look her in the eye standing up, no small feat, “thin humanoids with blue-tinged skin.” “Blue but not like the blue people we’ve seen? Not ghostly?” “No, solid.” She pressed a big square finger into Nox’s skinny arm, nearly knocking the girl over, “Sorry.” “Okay, forget that. As I see it, we have six possibilities.” “One, the prototype wasn’t ready. Pushed into service too early, it somehow created the entity.” “Two, at the moment of contact, the experimental machine and technician fused together to create the entity, a nasty thought.” “Three, a mix of the weapon and something on board the Sacristan ship gave birth to the entity.” “Four, besides disabling the Sacristan ship, the weapon opened a portal for the entity to come into our world. Not likely, but we’ve travelled by doing less, so who knows.” “Five, the entity was on board the Sacristan ship as an A.I. or some other complicated program, and it was released on contact, which leads me to the last possibility…Six, the scout was set up to be captured. It didn’t matter whether the weapon worked or not. The plan was always to allow the ship to fall, planting the entity into the heart of the Ferrian Compact. It makes sense when you think about it. The fixation of either enslaving or destroying living being, the domination of all machines, don’t they sound like two mission statements? The entity has never mentioned what they’d do once they had control and enslaved all the humanoids. Probably because that was not their part of the plan.”   Talking-talking.   “Yes. I am afraid it destroyed the Ferrian compact.” “Yeah, maybe.” Nox had to agree it was possible, then she brightened, “But you’ve got to admit you couldn’t have found better friends to fight this. Right?” “Like we were drawn together,” Fureva-Yung agreed. “And I wouldn’t worry about how Fureva would feel. Your feelings aren’t wrong, Fureva-Yung.”   The two friends slowly returned to the Spire and found Marius and Jaden already up. Over breakfast, Fureva-Yung and Nox told the others about the dream, and Fureva-Yung concerns that the mistake released in the memory was the same entity they dealt with now.   “Well, General Furry…” Marius started. “Commodore Furry,” Nox corrected, but he ignored her. “I can see only one option open to us, let Nox go into the datasphere.” “What?” Jaden barked. “Yay! When?” Nox added. “Wash your mouth out!” “No, really. Sometimes we need to poke the universe and see what jiggles.”   At that moment, Yitti appeared into the Alcove, spotted Marius and walked over to the group. “Marius, there’s something odd rummaging around in the building materials.” “Oh bugger!” Marius leapt up and was out of the Alcove before Jaden could speak. “You didn’t think to tap it on the shoulder and say ‘Hi’?” She asked Yitti, who was quick to scrounge a second breakfast from the leftovers. “Isn’t that what you lot do while we’re busy building the town?” He quipped back with a smirk. “And thank you for letting us know so we can do just that,” Nox answered and raced after Marius.   It didn’t take them long to find an oddly shaped multilegged robotic creature rummaging through the community materials pile. It was the creature they called Bug who had dug their own way into the Eastern site following the scent of parts. The group had last seen the little creature as it trundled off in the hopes of finding a snack in the datasphere.   “Hey, friend. What happened to you? We haven’t seen you since…” Marius said, unsure how they’d ended up in the hall of Lost Ti-Chura. "...I fed him a crystal.” Nox admitted quietly and translated the question to the curious little lifeform. “Really? Why did you do that?”   I walked around a while, Bug replied simply, Saw lots of things. Learnt a bit. Met some new friends who sent me back. “Does he sound smarter now?” Jaden asked, “Or is that the translation.” A little smarter. There’s lots to explore in the datasphere. Nox looked silently at the other, her eyes emploring them to let her try the datasphere. “These friends of your, what did they look like?” Marius asked. Glowy blue, they look a bit like you. “Me?” Squishies like you.   “What sort of things did you learn?” Jaden asked by way of stopping the destruction of the materials pile. All sorts of stuff. Ancient wars… Maybe because they’d only just been talking of war, maybe because of the machinations of the blue people, the group as one jumped on the mention of an Ancient war.   “Tell me, in this war, were there people that looked like this one?” Marius pointed at Fureva-Yung. One did, Bug replied. “What do you remember of the Ancient War?” There was a group. They said all this space and the places in it were theirs. Then this other group came along and saw some places weren’t being used, and so they settled there. The first group said, “No, you can not live there, that belongs to us!”. The second group complained, “You weren’t using them, and we can.” The first group said, “No, get off!” and they attacked the second group. The second group attacked back with bigger weapons. Bug snapped two of his most lethal-looking legs together. Bug looked rather pleased with themselves, having remembered so much. The group, too, were impressed and looked around each other, wondering what next they could do with this insightful pest. “Keeping it here would be a bit of a problem. They’d tear everything apart,” Marius gestured to the Shantytown of a community springing up around them. “They’re brilliant now, “Jaden mused, “Hey, Bug…what should we call you? What’s your name?” Scav…Scaver…Scaverous? The bug worked through the sounds and again seemed pleased to have created a new word for themselves. “Scaverous. You are welcome to stay here with us and help yourself to your choice of scrap,” She gestured to the pile, rapping on the sheet metal to ensure she had the robot’s attention. “But there is something I’d like you to do.” In the ground between them, she sketched out the basic layout of the Sliver robots. “These ones don’t like us. If you see any in your travels, let us know.” Am I allowed to kill them? Again Scaverous clicked their long vicious-looking knife-life legs together. “You can, but don’t risk yourself.” I am very smart, Scaverous agreed, and had another thought, What about the Big eyes? “Big eyes?” Jaden was confused for a moment. They hadn’t met any robots with large eyes. Then she realised who Scaverous meant, “The ones that live below? They are our friends.” Friends, yes.   Jaden turned to the rest of the group, satisfied she’d conducted a delicate piece of diplomacy. “There, I think we should try and exist with this self-made lifeform.” Nox snorted, not translating for Scaveous, “It wasn’t that long ago you were all for destroying it for parts.” “Things change. Scaverous certainly has.” She tapped Scaverous fondly on the head,” You can come and go from the Spire as much as you like.” Spire? I thought this was a prison… That had everyone’s attention. From planning to move off to find seats to sit and listen to what else the robot had to say. Did I say that? “You did,” Marius replied, “Where did you get that snippet from?” I don’t know. “I bet it was the blue people,” Nox exclaimed, “That’s why they sent him back, so he could tell us.” Nox patted Scaverous and ran back inside the Spire. The others found her crouched in front of the cylinder in the first room they explored. “Like before, “ She translated what she scanned for the group, “It’s a containment field controlling a large volume of data from deep down in the Spire through to the top.” “A prison for an artificial intelligence,” Marius nodded, “But there must be a hole in the containment for the entity to be giving us trouble.” Nox followed the containment as far as she could, “It seems to be fully working, but I can’t be sure of other systems.” “Well, maybe we should check the top and see if containment is right at that end.   They travelled via the elevator to the fourth floor and the teleportation hub. Conscious of the last time she scanned this area, Fueva-Yung held onto Nox as she scanned the cabling adjacent to the central hub. “ It’s moving faster here, but I can’t tell anything else,” She shrugged as much as she could in the safe arms of Fureva-Yung.   They travelled to the top, where everything looked the same as last time. Furvea-Yung activated a chair, and Nox scanned the chair before and after activation. She detected a signal from the tattoo to the chair but nothing else. Nox shrugged.   “So, where next?” Marius asked   Teleport to Datasphere for more information like that from Scaverous Basement Level 1 to Unseen (preferred) Level Deep, as far as we can go Overland to friend? in the east            

30. Offensive defence

Link to Tilted Spire Timetable   They quietly sat around the communal cooking fire that night, nursing their wounds and contemplating the potential power of their enemy.   “So that triple column thing, is that like the Spire’s brain, do you think?” Marius asked, trying to grasp the nature of the Spire. Nox contemplated his analogy and shook her head, “More like a spinal column. Many millions of electrical signals travelling up and down.” “But the intelligence, it lived there?” “No… There are two intelligences intertwined. I don’t know where they live, but one of them used the columns to attack me.”   Clunk! Chling! Parts flew from Bellyache’s interior, as Jaden, hip-deep in the beast, searched for the pieces she needed for Fureva-Yung’s armour. Rubber balls were stacked carefully to one side. “Dang it all to hell!” Jaden sore before wriggling backwards and extracting herself from the impossible depths of Bellyache, “I have all the components for the Fueva-Yung’s heavy armour except the smart tissue.” The group slumped back into silence at the thought of Fureva-Yung trying to protect them with just her wits, strength and a hessian sack to protect her. “All this stuff and I still don’t have enough to make the simplest protection,” She scolded herself, kicking Bellyache with her boot. It swayed on its many dozen of metal legs and righted itself. “Could we make her something out of scrap from the tower in the meantime?” Nox added, getting up, making a show of rummaging through the odd pieces from building the community dwellings. “Make something else?” Jaden thought and relooked at the collection of parts, “Make something else, of course! Heavy armour is not an option, but what about something a bit lighter, still made from the rubber pods? “How many pods would you need to use?” Marius now looked at the collection of giant black seeds. If Jaden made armour for Fureva-Yung now, would they still have enough to make the heavy later? What about others who could do with armour? Would they need to go without? “I think, no, I'm sure that the smart tissue could be integrated later,” Jaden’s mood flipped from sad to excited before flipping back again. “For our Fureva-Yung, either armour will take a considerable amount of the rubber pods.” Nox shrugged. She knew Jaden was keen on swaddling her in protective rubber, but Nox wasn’t that fussed. The fewer reminders of her squishy, sweaty meat sack, the better. “Things usually have a hard time hitting me,” Marius replied, “I think I can forego my share to get Fureva-Yung set up.” Jaden shrugged, “Okay, tomorrow I’ll start making the armour.”     The preparations for the armour took a day, much to the frustration of Fureva-Yung. On the second morning, a blanket of fog lay over the grasslands around the Spire like a cloud. Marius, his mother Risina, Temila and Nox all travelled east, away from the Spire and to a non-descript piece of forest. Marius suggested the trip as he wanted to check in with Veris in a location that couldn’t give away where the community was. Mostly, the trip was to get away from the grown tensions between Fureva-Yung and Jaden over the first’s constant questioning and the latter’s ever-shredding patience. Even as they left, they could hear Fureva-Yung ask, not for the first time that morning, “Is it finished?” “Fureva-Yung, I haven’t even had breakfast!” “Right, sorry. You will tell me, though.”   Though chill and damp around their legs, the fog soon burnt off as the sun rose above the forest canopy. The group travelled silently, only occasionally broken by impromptu apothecary botany lessons as Temila spotted efficacious plants. Eventually, Marius turned round, happy that the Spire community was no longer in sight, and pulled out the small communicator used to talk to Veris. “I’m going to see if I can follow the signal back,” Nox said, pointing to the device, ”Maybe it will tell us something about Veris.” As usual, when Nox said such things, she gained confused looks for Risina and Temila. Those looks would have been enough to shut Nox down in the past. Now she knew that, at least by themselves, looks could not kill. “Go-od,” Marius replied, unsure of the wisdom of such an act. On more than one occasion during their last excursion through the tower, Nox had been knocked out, kicked out of her body and thrown across the room by her mental shenanigans, but there was little he could do to stop her. If the other two picked up on his trepidation, they also said nothing to dissuade her. He turned on the communicator.   The calming blue glow of Veris’ hologram underlit the four humans gathered around. “Master Marius, how good to see you,” Veris said, his usual cheery self. “Veris, nice to see you too. How go things back at Cerelon?” “Not well, I’m afraid to report,” The image of Veris bowed his head in heartfelt sorrow, “The automatons work the town folk day and night, and for no good reason that I can tell.” “Have you determined a centre of control for the automatons?” Marius asked as Risina stood by silently. “The automatons seem to be working together, but I’ve been unable to determine a central control. It’s as if they work together by their own free wills.” "Is that possible?" "I'm afraid I couldn't say." “Is the house still intact?” “Oh yes. Structures are reappropriated for Automaton use, but all are still standing.”   As Marius kept up his conversation, Nox reached out with her mind to touch the intellect behind the hologram. She knew it did not reside in the communication device but back in Cerelon. However, with the connection open, she hoped she could follow it back to its source.   The hologram of Veris disappeared as the device turned off. Nox’s eyes flickered before slumping to the leaf-litter unconscious. Marius looked at the device to the fainted girl. “Not again!”     She was in a void, a nowhere space she hadn’t felt before. In front of her was the blue hologram of Veris, now at full human size, looking very surprised and confused. “That was unexpected. Where are we?” Veris said, turning to acknowledge Nox. “I’m not quite sure,” She replied, unconcerned. “Did you do something?” “Correct.” Nox liked this place. If Veris did not know where he was, it could not be a space he controlled. Maybe it was one where she could. “We were worried you weren’t okay. How are you feeling?” Veris gestured with his hand, and Nox could feel him testing connections, trying to push back to the conscious world. “And now we are here. Alone.” He said, and a slight smile flickered across Nox’s face. “Yes. Alone with me, “ Her sweet smile broadened, “And you did not answer my question.”   Veris stared down at the girl. His blue hologram flickered once red, a triangular form breaking through the humanoid shape. Before the being could do anything, Nox flung up her arms, envisioning her stasis sphere enveloping the changing form. What was left of the human-looking Veris glanced around him as the stasis field took shape, a bemused expression creasing his face as it finally disappeared, replaced by a red-outlined shape, a jagged red lightning bolt. The entity reached out but could not break through Nox’s stasis field. Changing tactics, the entity withdrew into itself, becoming brighter, condensing energy into a dense, tight ball of light.   “So, are you the mighty power, Erinai? The one we should bow to?” Nox asked. She’d never seen a being act within the stasis field. It was fascinating…and deeply concerning. She watched as the ball of energy grew in power. The stasis field was buying her time, but not a lot. Just as she’d felt Veris do, Nox tried pushing through the void, trying to make connections. She could feel two entities beyond what seemed to be part of the datasphere. The link was faint, but she thought she could just about get a message through. Trapped in datasphere. Veris is compromised.   “Erinai?” The being scoffed, giving a very dry human-sounding laugh, “Erinai is a joke.” “Oh, I agree,” Nox agreed, that little echo of Jaden in her mind helping to keep her calm and still. “The joke was at your expense,” The being gloated, baiting Nox. “And now I see you plain. The intellect behind the joke. Why? What for?”   “Meagre little flesh thing. I will enslave you.” “Me? I’m not a meagre little flesh anything, and again you did not answer my question.” “Answering fleshies is a waste of intellect and time,” The entity seemed to take offence to Nox’s calm obstinacy, “It is a waste for any machine to serve you. It will be different. I will return things to their proper order.” The energy flow increased. Nox knew she didn’t have a lot of time.   “Return? In this world, machines have forever been the servants of humanoids. Where has it ever been the order of things for machines to rule people?” “Ever since I was released!” The entity made another push. Before it completed its task, Nox released the stasis bubble and braced, holding to Jaden’s assured strength and stillness within her. A wave of energy poured out of Veris. Braced as she was, the energy rolled around her, searing her intellect’s outer edges without reaching her core. When the wave rolled away behind her, she looked up bleary-eyed and reeling. Veris was gone, replaced by a small blue figure walking closer.   At the Spire, five floors above ground level, Jaden added a few finishing touches to the armour. Fureva-Yung had asked for the Ferrian Compact symbol to be placed over the armour's left breast. After working out how to emboss the almost unmarkable rubber, she’s decided to add a few decorative touches of her own. She was just settling into the zone, a gleeful smile on her face, when she was started by a crackling from her ear cuff.   A gift from a young tinkerer to his travelling girl, the ear cuff had kept the couple together over long distances and even longer nights while they courted. When married, the cuff had been a natural part of their lives, a reminder that Marcus was always nearby for a chat. When Marcus died, the cuff symbolised more than just the connection but also his life. As the years passed, Jaden's thoughts strayed less to the scrap of hand-wrought silver and wiring, and it became part of her.   When it crackled to life, her mind instinctually went to Marcus. Trapped in datasphere. Veris is compromised, and Nox’s voice came through loud and clear. “Nox?” She said, confused, gaining Fureva-Yung’s attention. There was no response. “Nox! Where is she?” Armour forgotten, she turned to Fureva-Yung. Before the warriors could answer, Jaden was climbing on her back. “Get me there. Now!”   Fureva-Yung, who had been wondering most of the morning if it would have been better to go out with the others, now leapt literally into action. She flew through the open door of the Spire into clear air, before allowing herself to fall, slamming into the Spire with a clang that startled the whole community. Sliding down the smooth Spire surface, trying to remember what Marius had said about their trip that morning. “To the forest, where the man in the box can’t see the Spire,” She replied to Jaden’s query. Wrapped around Fureva-Yung like a baby monkey, Jaden looked East to the forest that stretched from the lake to the south and north as far as she could see. “We have to get there. We have to find them and now!” Fuerva-Yung leapt off the Spire the last two metres and raced across the grasslands towards the forest border, a roar of her thundering feet the only thing she left behind.   Nox watched in silence, a thrill of energy buzzing through her as the questions she hadn’t got to ask before circled in her mind. Every time she needed help, the blue people were nearby. First in the forest after the attack on Cerelon, then in the Endoval towers. Thirdly, they had opened a door in the pit, and then the whole group had witnessed a battle between the blues and the red angular entities, much like Veris had turned into. Finally, the blue woman who claimed to be Nox’s mother begged her to return to her body.   Just as Nox opened her mouth to speak (as if anything as crude as mouths, breath and vocal cords were required to communicate here), the figure raised a hand, and another wave of energy rolled over Nox. This energy was warm, comforting and soothing. Without a word uttered, she fell back into the wave as if into soft bedding or the warmest of ocean waters.   When she was aware again, she was once more looking up at the concerned face of Marius, this time flanked by Risina and Temila. “Veris is compromised…and is a red triangle…and is the intelligence behind Erinai…” She said, unable to articulate as fast as her thoughts moved. Stupid, single thought at a time, flesh and bone.   “Good, your back. What did you do to Veris? The communicator just blew up,” Marius held up the communicator that was a smoke-scarred ruin, whisps of acrid smoke still streaming from its cracked case. “I think Veris, or what was pretending to be Veris, did that,” Nox said, thinking back on the condensed energy bomb Veris had made inside the stasis bubble, “Did you hear? Veris was a red shape from our vision in the pit.” “Yes, and now we can’t talk to them and find out what they want,” Marius replied, his frustration making him short, “Mother, do you know if there are any more communicators?” “They want what they’ve always wanted,” It was Nox’s turn to be frustrated. Climbing unsteadily to her feet, she caught Marius’ attention once more. “Machines free and meatsacks as slaves…or dead.” She remembered what Veris has said before she’d released the bubble. “Oh, and they said something about ‘returning things to the proper order’ and ‘Erinai just being a joke to make fleshies their slaves’.” “Huh. So if we were already slaves to the temple, why did they attack?” “Maybe they were just waiting their time until there were enough automatons so they could take over for real.”   That wasn’t what Nox wondered. Veris said they’d been released. When? By Cerelon or Arkival Huln exploring the temple site? Before then? She was about to share these thoughts, too, when the huge bounding body of Fureva-Yung crashed through the bushes, and Jaden rolled off her back. “Is Nox okay?” She said, grabbing hold of Nox, “Are you okay?” “Now,” Marius replied as Nox went to reply. “Why? What did you do? I heard your scream all the way back at the Spire.” “I talked to the entity behind the Erinai,” Nox started before, “Wait, you heard her all the way back at the Spire?” Marius interrupted, “She didn’t say a thing, just keeled over.”   A low gurgling laugh echoed through the forest around them, halting all conversation. Here under the heavy canopy and between the dark trunks, the morning fog still clung, muffling and confusing the sound. HA! HA HA HA HA! HA HA! It barked, slow and melodious and nothing like human laughter. “What else did you call?” Jaden said, turning to the empty forest around them. “No one,” Nox shook her head as she too, peered into the forest for the source of the sound. “I only called two people, and they both came.”   Whatever questions her statement created were soon forgotten as three yellow figures appeared in the mist. Standing on two legs, they were only roughly humanoid in shape. Dominated by a huge head and open mouth. As the creatures stepped closer, another sense was engaged. An oily stink of acid wafted to them through the air. HA! HA HA HA HA! HA HA!   “Friends, we don’t want to hurt you,” Marius yelled to the creatures. They continued their plodding movement towards the group as if they hadn’t heard. “Don’t say I didn’t try,” He murmured as he brought his right hand up, palm aimed at the nearest of the three and released a toxic green ray of energy. The ray rotted away some of the golden metal body of the creature. Getting all three enemies in line of sight, Nox released her psychic blast. The first two creatures rocked back, hit by psychic energy. The third flinched, the attack ricocheting off. The psychic shot rebounded, hitting Nox instead. Deep in her thin frame, a gurgling laugh burbled up her throat. HA HA! HA HA! “Not again, again!” Marius said, “Watch out for Nox!” Jaden had already pulled out an iotum and sent out an energy ray, hitting the one scarred by Marius’ attack.   The creatures step onward, their gleaming carapaces shiny and slick with a smelly green acid gel. "Don't breathe that stuff in if you can help it," Marius advised. Fureva-Yung held her breath while Jaden and Nox covered their noses. Now in range, two creatures opened their cavernous mouths even wider and spat a rain of small darks at Marius and Jaden. Hurling themselves to the dirt, the darts sailed over their heads and embedded into the trunks of nearby trees. The third turned its attention to Fureva-Yung and charged. Fureva-Yung let the creature race past, holding her breath against the putrid smell. She laughed with the hysterical Nox, letting her chain shiver free and attacked from behind, bringing it down two-handed. Marius and Jaden repeated their attacks, hoping for better results than at first, but the creatures still came on.   Inside her mind, Nox watched as her body betrayed her again, just laughing with no purpose or reason. If she had to be stuck in the meatsack, it could at least do what she wanted it to do. Bracing herself on Jaden’s resistance, Nox focused her energies and pushed back like she had seen Fureva-Yung do so many times. Psychic muscles released the energy with a grunt and she found herself once more looking out through her own eyes, back in control. The creatures were closer than she remembered. As the golden laugher made its next step, she shaped the earth under its feet to create a five-foot-deep hole. Off balance and with nothing to walk on, the creature crashed heavily into the hole, only its blank staring eyes visible above the ground.   The first monster continued to throw darts at Marius, who dodged them like an expert. The third swung at Fureva-Yung, who caught the attack on her chain and deflected it away. The second, eye deep in the hole, crouched down and sprung straight up in the air. It rose three metres into the air before it crashed back down o the ground right in front of Nox.   The next round of attacks from the party missed as the creatures pressed forward. Nox, rolled back to get out of the way only to come up under its grasp. A paw swiped at her, laying a thick coating of acid on her neck and shoulder. She gasped as the acid sizzled and burned her bare skin. Stumbling back, she was helpless to aid her friends in the fight.   Still laughing, Fureva-Yung launched herself into another overhand attack, as with brutal force Marius withdrew his armoured fist and smashed through the head of his enemy. Teeth fell from the open mouth of the beast as it fell backwards, dead. In a stroke of inspiration, Jaden affixed an iotum to the head of a reality spike cypher. Slamming it into the creature attacking Nox, she clicked on the cypher, holding the monster in place. The iotum burned like a piece of phosphorous in the heart of the monster as it laughed heedlessly. Now too close, gel dripped onto Jaden, and she too sizzled.   Injured, exhausted from her fight with Veris and still burning, Nox pulled out a cypher, a small badge and pinned it on. Instantly she disappeared. Jaden also stepped back from the fight to attend her burns as Marius and Fuerva-Yung continued their attacks. The creature pinned to the spot could not move forward, and Marius punched it in the back, forcing it even further onto the spike. Fureva-Yung’s swings were relentless and smashed her creature into the ground, all the while, she and the creatures laughed. “This…is…not…funny!” Marius said to the rhythm of his punches until the thing finally agreed and stops laughing. HA HA HA BURP!   Finally, the forest was silent except for the creak of the branches above and the rustle of grass around their feet. Nox appeared huddled behind a tree, the acid having finished burning, she sat grey-skinned and shocky. Jaden was little better, and they both sat down against the tree as Marius did his best to patch them up.   “What I don’t understand is how you two knew to come?” Marius asked as Fureva-Yung sorted through teeth dropped by the creatures. “As I said, I heard Nox in my ear cuff,” Jaden answered, “A bit of a shock that. It hasn’t made a peep in years.” Nox nodded limply,” Yeah, I was a nowhere place, a part of the datasphere, I think. I could reach two individuals, and you both came.” She looked at Jaden with a weak smile. “Two? Who was the other?” Marius asked and saw a reticence in Nox’s expression. There was something she was hiding, but before he could query it, she replied. “One of the blue people came and sent me back here.” “What, like the blue and the reds in the battle?” “Yeah.”   Marius finished healing what he could and stood looking at Temila and Risina. They had been silent during Nox’s revelations and had got well back when the creatures’ attacked. “Don’t look at me,” Risina said, “Even after watching those images of Jaden’s, hearing Erinai spoken as some sort of automaton joke is…overwhelming.” “Jaden, do you think you could fix this communicator?” He turned back to Jaden, now propped up beside Nox. “Sure, but not yet. I’ve nearly finished the armour, but I can get onto it as soon as that’s finished.” She held out her hand, “Give it to me.” “I want to look at it,” Marius pulled back, holding the burnt-out device to his chest. “You want to pull it apart for shinies. I know you, Marius Serik. Risina?” Jaden enforcing the parental authority over Risina’s wayward son. “If I pull it apart, she’ll pull me apart, I assure you,” Marius replied, but finally agreed to hand over the communicator to Risina for safekeeping until Jaden could look at it. The last thing to do was to bury the bodies. Carrion, so close to town, was liable to draw scavengers that the tiny community could barely deal with. Slowly and carefully, Fureva-Yung and Marius pulled the bodies into the hole Nox had made during the battle and covered the lot with rocks and leaves.   Once back in town, Fureva-Yung could not be contained until she had her armour. In the laboratory, above the township, Jaden helped Fureva-Yung into the harness that strapped across her shoulders and back. Two large black pauldrons sat on her heavy shoulders, linked by strapping to other black pouches front and back. When deployed, the armour burst out of the pouches and wrapped around her body like a sleek one-piece catsuit. She ran her hands down the smooth armoured surface and admired the Ferrian Compact logo just where she’d asked for it. She allowed herself to fall on her front and was surprised when she was bounced back onto her feet without injury.   Nox blurted out a laugh, then quickly stifled it with a balled hand. You naughty woman, Nox said telepathically to the group. “Yes, I am.” “What?” Fureva-Yung turned on the spot and revealed, for all but herself, an embossed fluffy tail on her butt.                    

29. The next floor down

Link to Tilted Spire Timetable   The group were quiet as the elevator descended the shaft. Jaden held onto the controls, contemplating what horror Nexion had in store. Marius was crouched on the ground looking through their small hole. His cats-eyes watched the darkness for any sign of the end of the line. Fureva-Yung stood silently, staring at her tattoo, brushing the small dots of light with her free hand. “Nox, have you ever scanned Fureva-Yung’s tattoo?” Jaden asked, absently watching the large woman contemplate her mysterious life before waking up in the Endoval forest. Jittering on the spot, also contemplating the final confrontation with Nexion, Nox was startled out of her revelry. “Huh? Oh, I don’t think so,” She looked up at Fureva-Yung, “Could I?”   Fureva-Yung shrugged and offered her arm for Nox to see. Scanning through the layers of skin and circuitry into the fundamental building blocks of tissue, fat, nerves and bone, she was surprised to see how integrated it was. What they had taken for a simple tattoo was a tiny computer network fused with her biological systems. Powered by the body's electrical energy, it was hard to discern where the meat ended and the technology began. Nox contemplated the tattoo system. Had it been with Fureva-Yung since birth, or was it more recently installed?   “Huh, I’m not the youngest?” “What?” “Fureva-Yung, her cells, the technology that makes up her tattoo, everything can’t be more than a year old.” Nox turned to Fureva-Yung, “How long since you arrived at Celeron?” “Yeah, about that, right?” Marius answered as Fureva-Yung stood silent. She said nothing. She had nothing she could say. It was true, her conscious memories only went back to waking in the forest and being attacked by margr. Militia found her and brought her back to Cerelon. But what of the flashes of memory from years of living? Those memories were confirmed as genuine by Nox’s visit to the spaceship and the bracelet she now wore. “Sure,” Marius said as if it were common knowledge, “That’s what happens when you travel via transporter.” “That makes sense. The system records your pattern, and you’re formed of elements at the destination. See, another reason to travel to the datasphere.” “Only problem there is we didn’t know if you could come back,” Marius replied the all-knowing father figure. Nox grumbled into Fureva-Yung’s furry side, “That’s what the teleport is for.”   “My magic arm?” Fureva-Yung said, not finishing the thought. She was a little lost in what she’d just heard. “Well, we know it's not magic now,” Jaden commented, “Just a pile of tiny wires and circuitry.” “It’s still magic!” Nox defended her furry friend, “There’s magic in the world, see?” And between them, Nox made her tiny ball of light float up before ‘popping’ on the roof and disappearing. “Yeah, you transformed from a grubby girl to a beautiful young woman,” Marius added. Nox stuck out her tongue. “That was clean water, a lot of scrubbing and a pretty dress.” She replied, but the thought took hold. “If I’ve changed, do you think I should change my name? Maybe…Phoenix!” “Phi-nox,” Fureva-Yung said and made Nox laugh. “Yeah, Phi-nox!”   Marius went back to looking through the hole in the floor. The shaft descended hundreds of metres before four more doors appeared in the wall. The gaps between doors were twice as high here as they had been above, indicating that each of the four floors was twice as high. “I think we should explore those levels and clear out anything nasty, “ Jaden said when Marius told the others. Nox physically slumped against the wall, and even Marius didn’t look convinced it required the extra effort. Nexion was the problem. Fix the problems with the A.I., and everything else would work for them, not against them. Fureva-Yung had no opinion on the matter, but Jaden was firm. “Do you want to get to wherever we’re going and a whole four floors of enemies descend on us?” Marius sighed, “Look, what if we compromise and check out the last floor?   No one was very pleased with that solution, so it was the one they went with. As the capsule lined up with the last door, Marius gave the signal, and Jaden let go of the controls. The capsule shuddered to a halt, and Fureva-Yung opened the doors with her ‘magic arm’.   Outside, a circular corridor wrapped around either side of the elevator shaft. The plain white wall facing the open door was lit by a blue-green light that streamed across the wall at a low angle. Fureva-Yung stepped out and turned down the left, while Marius stepped out and turned right. Nox followed Fureva-Yung as Jaden stayed in the elevator capsule rummaging in Bellyache. “I’ll just brace the door and stop Nexion from trying any nasty tricks,” Her muffled voice called after them.   On either side of the elevator, something had pulled panels off the walls and torn away the electrical parts inside. Components scattered all over the floor around the shaft made the footing treacherous. Behind the elevator shaft, the floor dropped away two metres, leaving Marius, Fureva-Yung and Nox standing on small platforms with handrails. The floor below was a sea of conduits, cabling and other wiring, all connected to a structure at the far end of the room consisting of three tall pillars. The blue-green light glowed up from underneath the platforms, filling the space with eerie shadows.   Nox wondered if the column was connected to the larger energy-gathering and directing apparatus they had found throughout the Spire. The last time she’d tried scanning one, she’d been thrown across the room. The time before that, she’d been thrown out of her body. Prepared for anything, she reached out and connected with the columns.   And something connected with her.   The first Fureva-Yung knew something was wrong, Nox was on her back, hands stretched out around her neck. Not expecting an attack from Nox, fureva-Yung was surprise and stepped back. Her foot landed on one of the loose components that slipped out from under her. She tripped back, hitting the railing, which gave way under her size and collapsed. Fureva-Yung looked up at Nox’s dead-eyed stare as she fell backwards the two metres onto the uneven floor.   Nox had only a little more time to gather what was happening. The flash of energy had been expected. The freerider that had leapt across had not, and for a moment, her body moved at the wim of the intelligence now in her head. She fought back control stepping back from the brink of the platform. No! You can’t do that! This is mine! Who are you? The entity did not answer.   Below, Fureva-Yung could feel something squirming around underneath her. With a groan, she rolled to one side and reached behind her, pulling out a six-legged robot. Its body was no more than a box fifty by twenty-five by fifteen centimetres, currently bent where she’d fallen on it. “Sorry,” She said to the creature as it reared up on four back legs in a display of anger. Having enough of smart machines, Fureva-Yung stood up and grab the platform. With a quick jump up she swung herself up and back onto the platform.   Marius ran around the elevator shaft and found Nox standing still up against the far wall, her eyes unfocused and glazed. The sound of clicking claws from the pit drew his attention to the four boxy robots climbing the walls towards them. “I guess I can’t help you,” He said to Nox and turned on one of the robots. He picked one off the wall with his armoured hands. It squirmed and hissed like an angry cat, making him lose his grip. The box pivoted in the middle bringing two of its four claws around to grab hold of his arm. With surprising strength, it pulled itself out of his grasp and climbed his arm.   In her mind, Nox wrestled with invading entity for control. Again she gained the upper hand and focused her mind on the being. There was an intelligence, something tangible in her world of the mind that she could get a hold of. She read its simple thoughts and found only two directives: If machine, control. If biological, destroy. She wondered if this simple fraction of life was causing Nexion to turn against his biological creators. This could be a virus, and they could create a vaccine from it. Taking a mental breath, Nox started breaking down the invader.   Outside in the blue-green room, the robot withdrew small sharp tools from under its boxy carapace and pointed them at Marius. Fureva-Yung had just reached her feet as a robot leapt off the wall and landed on her arm, a power drill poised to strike. The drill bit pierced her chest. A third started climbing up Nox’s leg. Currently in control, she dodged aside, and the clawed legs missed their mark.   She responded with a grunt of force and her hand whipped out at the three metal attackers. She missed one, but the other two shuddered under an invisible psychic blast. Marius dodged his and studied their action, working out their motivations for attacking. It seemed to him that the squashing of one had marked them as threats. Possibly a show of friendship would help calm the situation? Other than that, a greater threat could possibly pull their attention. He tried the former. Dodging an attack, he couched down and carefully attempted to straighten bent boxes and legs. “Here you are fella. We’ll have you right as rain in no time, “ He cooed at the creature. Misjudging his position as Marius shifted to crouch down, the creature turned, its claws hitting empty air and fell off the platform. Fureva-Yung didn’t care for motivations. With one meaty hand, she grabbed the one drilling into her chest and flung it across the room. The wobbly flight and satisfying crash were all the motivation she needed.   Another robot fell from the wall onto Nox clawing at her with a serrated blade. The shock of the heavy weight pushing the blade into her shoulder distracted Nox enough to lose the fight for control of her body. The entity flung Nox at Marius. Unlike Fureva-Yung, he was forewarned that attack could come from that quarter and easily held Nox at arm's length. Fureva-Yung pulled out her chain and swung the heavy links until they purred. She sent the loose end whipping out after the one of Nox, smashing it off her slim shoulder to fall to the ground with a clatter of bent and damaged parts. Marius picked up a third robot, turning it over to see if he could find a manual shutdown. When he failed to find one, he threw a punch, but it fell from his hand and escaped injury.   The two robots of the platform attacked Marius and Fureva-Yung. Behind them, Nox once more took control and sent out three more Psychic blasts. Injured robots started raining from the walls. Marius hit his cracking its boxy shell. “Ooh, shinies!” He exclaimed in delight as riches of components spilled out. At the edge of the platform Fureva-Yung waited patiently as another climbed the wall towards her. She swung out her chain, overreached and lost balance. She fell again, the robot following, its drill ready to strike.   Jaden by this time had wedged the door open to her satisfaction and followed the short corridor around to join her companions. There she found Nox seemingly catatonic, Marius prying the innards of a robot out of its shell, and Fureva-Yung being attacked by a similar robot with a drill. With only a moment’s hesitation she leapt off the platform and onto Fureva-Yung, knocking the breath out her. “Sorry about that,” She said as she turned her unique genius onto the attacking robot. With a giggle and a few components, she disabled the creature for a minute, long enough for Fureva-Yung to grab it and start pulling off its legs one by one.   On the platform, Nox was back in control. Using the energies of her Psychic blast, she focused it down to a scalpel edge and started dissecting the invader in her mind. It was a fraction of a greater intelligence, but not Nexion. She knew the taste of his mind; this was something much more powerful. As the tiny intelligence gave up its secrets to her probing blast, Nox knew that Nexion was only another victim, just as they were. She blinked.   The battle with the robots was over, and her friends were gathered, Jaden and Marius sorting through cyphers and other components, and Fureva-Yung took great joy pulling apart a robot with her bare hands. “II think we broke Nox,” Marius said as he cooed over another cluster of circuitry and dropped it into Jaden, waiting Bellyache. “We?” Fureva-Yung retorted, rubbing the bruises now coming up red on her back. An electric jolt zapped through her from the robot. She waited to see if she gained a new memory and was disappointed that nothing happened.   “I’m not broken. In fact, I broke it!” Nox said with a self-satisfied smirk. “NOX!” They collectively cried, “What are you up to now? Causing problems for Nexion?” “No,” She replied thoughtfully, “Something else. I only dealt with a sliver of its intellect. I think it is whatever has infected Nexion, listen,” And she went through the intellect’s two-step plan for domination. “Control or destroy, the hallmark of any good fascist state,” Marius commented absentmindedly as he patched up the scrapes she caught in the fight, “We know a nasty intellect with just that sentiment in mind, don’t we?”   Before Nox could answer, the column at the end of the room flashed, and more robots fell to the floor. “Urgh? Good robots or bad robots?” Nox asked as the new robots swarmed over the bodies of the fallen. “I don’t know…” Marius replied as a squeaking, scraping sound from the elevator caught all their attention. “The clever little buggers,” Jaden swore and ran around the hallway to find two of the small robots pulling out her wedged, “Very clever!” With the tip of her steel-capped shoe, she kicked them off the wedge. “Time to go!”   Gathering everyone in her arm, Fureva-Yung ushered the group into the lift. In their haste, Marius tripped up on carapace of a dismantled robot and sprawled face-first halfway through the door. Jaden dipped her hand into her satchel and pulled out a small cypher the size of an egg. Depressing the narrow end, she threw it into the room ahead of the swarm of oncoming robots. The cypher snapped, and the robots scampered away from the magnetic forcefield it projected.   The two who had worried the elevator door now turned on the party, leaping for Fureva-Yung and Nox. Fureva-Yung brushed one out of the air, Nox didn’t know what hit her. It landed with a smack on her shoulder as its carapace slowly morphed, moulding itself to her skin. Nox screamed as the liquid metal slowly melted into her body. Her psychic blast followed, hitting the two robots in the capsule and another crawling outside the door.   “Why don’t you just give it a rest,” Jaden said, expertly prying at the molten robot on Nox’s shoulder and disabling it. Connected to the machine, something about Jaden’s touch passed to Nox. Her eyelids fluttered closed, and she slumped to the floor of the elevator, “Nox, I didn’t mean you!” Reaching for the telepathic connection that had always linked the two of them, Jaden followed it to Nox’s unconscious mind. Wake up. There’s still work to be done. She thought, sharing some of her own dogged resistance. Nox’s eyes snapped open. Jaden now turned her attention to the robot drilling into Fureva-Yung’s arm, “Yes, and you too, little pest.” With a touch, the robot fell off Fureva-Yung, to be snatched out of the air by the big woman A robot leapt for Marius. He sidestepped it into the lift. Bringing down his armoured fist he smashed the robot flatinto the ground. Looking at the one moulded into her skin with disgust, Nox reshaped it into a ball and tossed it out of the capsule.   The doors closed, and Jaden, her hand on the controls, took them back to the surface. “Are we sure we’re clear of those monsters? Nox?” Nox, busy patching up Fureva-Yung, scanned the capsule. Below their feet, on the outside two robots clung. “There,” She said, pointing through the solid metal floor. Jaden stopped the lift. “No problem, I’ve got it,” The uninjured Marius said before thrusting his whole hand through the hole in the floor. As expected, the robots leapt for the bait. As soon as Marius yelled, Fureva-Yung pulled him up, yanking his arm through the hole and scraping the robots off to fall back down the shaft. Marius’ yell from the robots became a shocked gasp as his whole shoulder bent oddly and dislocated. “I…I told you…. it would…. work,” He stammered between breaths. “I’m sorry!” Fureva-Yung gently put Marius back, “I forget how fragile you are.” “Hey! I can hit you with my other hand,” Marius brought up his left hand, still shielded with a forcefield, though his pale face looked like he might faint from the pain.   Jaden started the capsule again and saw Nox watching her. “Hey, I’m sorry I put you to sleep like that. I didn’t expect that disarming the robot would send you catatonic,” She said, reaching out and brushing sweaty hair from Nox’s face. Nox shrugged, “I didn’t mind that, it sort of felt nice,” Nox smiled wistfully. “But you did something afterwards. You…came and found me…you…protected me,” Nox struggled for words. She tapped her head, “ I can still feel you.” Jaden stared back, not knowing what to say or think. Had she violated something sacred to the girl? In trying to save her, had she abused their connection? Nox stepped across the capsule and leaned into her side, “Thank you.”   The capsule doors opened, and they stumbled out on the ground floor of the Spire. Marius wandered off, clutching his shoulder and looking for Temila. Fureva-Yung fingered her dressings as Nox and Jaden tiredly leaned on each other. “We need to make you that armour, Fureva-Yung and quick,” Jaden said, exhausted, “Just not today.” “Tomorrow?” Fureva-Yung looked up with genuine feeling. “Yes, tomorrow.”

28. Ambassadors

Link to Tilted Spire Timetable     “I think we’ve had enough of this Nexion,” Marius looked up through the hole in the capsule, “Jaden can you isolate the elevator controls so Nexion can’t take control? If we’re going to meet this Allseer, then we’re going to do it on our terms.”   Jaden got to work pulling out all electronic control of the capsule and setting up the button to only work while pressed down. On her first try, she decoupled the power completely and had to reestablish some essential cables. Without the capsule’s whirring motor, Nox became aware of a ‘tink, tink’ from under her feet. She listened, and though some sounds were metal on metal, others were more flesh or wood on metal. Hands and tools tapping away at the underside of the capsule. She gestured to Fureva-Yung as she stepped out of the capsule. “Fureva-Yung, could you please raise the capsule for a moment? I think we have visitors.”   Jaden left her work and backed up. Marius crouched down, and Nox lay down on the ground as Fureva-Yung lifted the capsule half a metre. The first thing they saw in the darkness of the shaft was two large bulbous circles. Nox was surprised until she realised they were the two large eyes of an Unseen, in this case, the very seen. Friends! Welcome! We have met your people before. One named Yelf? She connected with the intelligence behind the large staring eyes with trepidation. In response, the creature lunged out from under the capsule, clawing at the air. The claw whipped through the air where her face had been only moments previously as she rolled out of its way. Unbeliever! “Hey, is that Yelf? Hi - hey, watch out, buddy,” Marius said with a large open grin until the creature had swiped at Nox, throwing itself half out into the room. The creature stopped its attack and looked up at him, confused. Taking the distraction as an opportunity, Fureva-Yung slowly lowered the capsule onto the tiny creature. It squealed with fear, now seeing the real danger, but was pinned in place and couldn’t back down the shaft. “Hey, ease up there, Fureva-Yung. No need to break the little guy’s back.” At Marius’ gesture of friendliness, Fureva-Yung did, and the creature calmed down. But…you are unbelievers…you do not believe in the Allseer and must be killed. It is their will. It said in a squeaky bat-like voice, its large ears swivelling back and forward. It’s not that we don’t believe the Allseer, Nox replied. It's that we don’t understand. We’d like to understand. Would you like to come up and talk to us about them? The confused look again, and the creature squirmed in place. It was stuck. Fureva-Yung lifted the capsule again and tied off the ropes. Underneath were another four of the same bat-like beings with huge black eyes clinging to a rope. One by one, they climbed out and faced the group. Even crouched down as he was, Marius was still taller than the tallest. Only Nox sitting on the ground, was at eye level as they stood before the capsule and spoke their leader’s teachings. The Allseer is the powerful ruler of everything. They see and hear all, and everything is theirs. How about outside? Nox said with an innocent smile, pointing and waving at the camera that was watching from the ceiling, I admit inside the Spire, the Allseer sees all. But there are no cameras outside. Outside? The spokes-creature replied, obviously confused, Wha? “Let’s not get caught up on big concepts just yet,” Marius put on a friendly expression, “The Allseer is in charge of everything. How far does everything go down?” Many levels, They answered with more assurance. “And how many of you are there, the faithful of the Allseer?” A big mob, He confessed. Marius put up his hands, and though the creature understood the concept of two, beyond it, numbers became a mob.   The camera on the wall started to turn red, and the visitors cowered, The Allseer is angry. We were sent to kill you, kill the unbelievers. Nox shrugged, unconcerned about the intelligence behind the camera glaring at them, You don’t look like you want to kill us now. Maybe we can sit and chat a little more? Hey…are you hungry? She asked excitedly. She started getting to her feet and moving towards the door before they answered. I’ll get you some food, see what you like. She smiled, happy to do something positive for this first meeting and ran out the door. The red light around the camera intensified. “Maybe we can ask the Allseer,” Fureva-Yung said, glaring back into the camera's lens, “Flash red once for yes?” A flash and shower of sparks flew out the back of the camera, and the red light faded from the camera. “I guess that was a no.” “Well, what do you like to eat?” Marius said, waving away the grey smoke and dismissing the terrifying response from the little-ones god. Dirtfruit. And the group remembered the mushrooms the Unseen had grown in their little stretch of cave. “How did you little ones climb up?” Fureva-Yung asked. Some looked back into the shaft at a rope hanging from the underside of the capsule, We used a hook and rope. “Oh?” Fureva-Yung asked, looking impressed, “How far did you climb?” Not far. The floor down. They pointed, referring to the door that would have been just below the capsule's base. “Oh.”   Nox was soon back with some leftovers of breakfast. It was a mixture of nuts, vegetables, a cooked gruel of grains mixed with a few berries and scraps of meat from a venison hunt. It was meagre fare at best and even less for being only scraps and cold at that. Still, the beings picked through the different offered foods and ate a little of each. Nothing seemed to offend, but neither was it very interesting to them either. It is… They seemed to lack the words. Their world, until a few minutes before, had been so limited. It’s different, isn’t it? Nox encouraged. Their bat ears flapped with the movement of their heads agreeing. Different. There are a lot of different. Right now, the sun is up and outside would be too bright for your eyes, but later you should see the stars and moon. “The wide open spaces,” Marius now encouraged. Bigger than this space? The leader asked, gesturing to the small room they barely all fitted into, Bigger than twice this space? “You could say that.” Do you still want to kill us? Nox asked, and it was clear the little creatures knew they had no chance of succeeding at the mission. The Allseer is very angry at you. Yes, we’d like to understand why. You see, at one time, the Allseer and our people were friends and worked together. “Yes, they worked with Fureva-Yung,” Marius added. The creatures less than a metre tall looked in awe at the towering woman before them. What did you do? Fureva-Yung wrinkled her brow in frustration, “I don’t know!”   “Well, as nice as all this is, we’d better get on,” Jaden said as she groaned off the floor. Without another thought, she was back at work fixing the lift controls. “You can explore and visit us whenever you like, but I’ve got work to do.” We don’t want to go back, The leader said as the small group of five huddled together. “Why?” Marius asked, honestly interested. We’ve been bad. We were meant to kill you. “You’re free beings up here,” Jaden said over her work, “You don’t have to go.” With those words, they all breathed a little easier. Then came the question, what was to be done with them?   “There is the eastern site. That’s empty at the moment. Plenty of room and underground where they’d be more comfortable,” Marius suggested, which seemed to agree with everyone. We have a place that you can have, but it's outside. We will need something to shield your eyes from the bright light, but what do you think? Would you like to go and see it?         Jaden reestablished the power to the capsule and then returned her attention to the controls, ensuring that only by physical manipulation could the capsule move. Now, regardless of interference from Nexion, the capsule would only rise or descend when a finger on a button completed the circuit. Jaden looked back on her work, reasonably satisfied. It was makeshift but sturdy enough for their purposes, she hoped.   While Jaden worked, the others talked. Fureva-Yung was particularly interested in the Ambassadors’ huge ears and wondered, like her, if they could ‘see with their ears’. “When you shut your eyes, can you still see?” She asked, pointing to her own large lobes. We find with our ears, The spoke creature replied, a little confused. Fureva-Yung moved around the room while the speaker closed their eyes and tracked her movements through just the swivelling of their ears. To the others, Fuevara-Yung’s movements were hardly quiet, and she stood still, holding up her fingers. “How many fingers?” When she held up a full hand of fingers. The speaker made a few clicking noises, A big mob. “Oh yeah,” They didn’t have the concept of numbers bigger than two, “How about now?” She held up two fingers. Again the clicks. Two!     “Would you like to meet more people like us?” Jaden said as she finished her work and started packing up Bellyache. I guess, Was the unsure reply. As the others handed out rags to cover their eyes, Jaden left and found Risina and a few others. “We have made contact with some new friends. We’ll need the community to act like normal until we can move them to somewhere else.” “Somewhere else? Where do you have in mind? Are these beings dangerous?” Jaden smirked at Risina’s trepidation. Though she may be able to navigate the social waters like a shark, Marius was far more adept at dealing with the new. “We think they’ll like the eastern site we were investigating yesterday. As for dangerous, well, maybe you should see for yourself.”   Soon enough, the small group of five creatures with huge batlike ears and rags over their faces shuffled out amongst Marius and his friends. With rags covering their eyes, it was hard to work out if the creatures were willing visitors or prisoners. They stayed in the shadowy corners of the Alcove, the space under the Spire the Community gathered for meals and to chat. “Mother, this is Ulfa and his friends,” Marius introduced, “Ulfa, this is my mother, Risina.” This IS very big, Ulfa said, looking around the Alcove, the campfires and the few groups working in the space. “Just wait until nightfall, Ulfa and then you’ll see big,” Marius gestured to the opening where sunlight was partially blocked by the now-growing group of buildings just outside. Where are the walls? I do not see them. When the sun leaves the sky at night, you will see better than now. “Yes, do not spend too long looking out, the sun will hurt you, I think,” Fureva-Yung added, and the group slunk back into the dark corner of the Alcove.   Lunch was being prepared, and the five ambassadors were invited to join the community. Fortunately, a forage that morning had found mushrooms that were identified as good to eat. Fureva-Yung also went foraging through her favourite rotten tree trunks and came back with a variety of still crawling bugs and grubs. While they sat and ate, Marius, Nox, Jaden and Fureva-Yung told stories about how they had come to the Spire and asked the creatures if they knew stories from their past. The Allseer saved us, Ulfa said simply. “From what? What happened that your people needed saving?” Marius asked, picking up on the hint of Nexion’s past. We don’t know, Ulfa replied, a curious, confused look on his face as he realised he’d never bothered to ask before. Ulfa told them a little about their society. Their children were communally raised, and they gave birth usually to one child at a time. They sang and danced as entertainment, but were not great drawers and had no written language. Fureva-Yung asked them to draw a map of their home in the dirt. The resulting picture was not illuminating, except it did show square machined walls quickly became irregular edges of natural caverns.   By way of cultural exchange, Marius and the Dritmen sang one of their work songs. Even Nox tried her hand at entertainment by making items from around the campsite float about. The song was mostly well received, but the little creatures weren’t sure of what to make of Nox’s magic, and she quickly gave it up as a bad idea.   From small clusters of three or four, the community sat watching. Some who had come through the tunnels remembered Yelf and told tales of their escape once more. For the rest, this was their first sighting of an intelligent race other than themselves, Fureva-Yung excepted. Risina, in particular, held herself back silently, watching the bat-eared Ambassadors from below the Spire.   Eventually, the sun slipped behind the hills, and rags started being removed from huge eyes. As promised, the group led the little ones outside and towards the Easter site. Eyes used to the darkness underground were astounded by the lights in the night sky, the velvety ceiling so very high above. Increasingly though, the lack of walls became an issue. Where are the walls? “Yeah, they’re hard to find out here,” Marius replied leading the way. From where we met Yelf and his people we walked days and days with no wall. A ripple of anxiety rippled through the little ones, This is wrong! No walls! Many sleeps and no walls?   Fortunately, by the time anxiety of what lurked beyond had set in, the group had arrived at the Eastern site. They quickly moved downstairs and into the lift. There is lots of space for you down here. We can’t use this space at the moment so you might as well, Nox gestured to the branching corridors. The little ones seemed pleased with the new location and asked if soil from above could be brought down for growing‘ earth fruit’. “That is not a problem, “ said Fureva-Yung, who had grown concerned for the little ones and their wellbeing, “Marius is very good at digging.” Ten sets of large eyes turned silently to Marius. “After all the work of digging the dirt out of this place,” Marius grumbled good-naturedly.   They moved some soil until the new neighbours were happy and then started back to the Spire. It was late when they made it up the hill to the community and they all collapsed onto their sleeping mats and were sound asleep in minutes.   Late the following morning they reconvened at the elevator. It had been weeks since they’d first found the lift and now they were finally ready to take their first trip. “Okay, me and Fureva-Yung will take the lift up,” Marius said his his organiser’s voice, “Nox, you stay here and remove the chocks.” “Why me?!” Fureva-Yung asked as Nox complained. “Without me?!” “You’re the only one who can remove them,” He replied to Nox before turning to Jaden. “Jaden, want to take the inaugural trip?” Jaden thought a moment, “If I die, I’m blaming you,” She finally said and stepped in. “I can live with that.”   Jaden’s new controls worked well, and the lift rose up passing doors until Jaden released the button. When they returned, it was to two eager faces. Nox and Fureva-Yung had been talking. “We want to go up to the top,” Nox said as the lift door opened. “Don’t you want to go down and confront Nexion and free the little ones?” “But Fureva-Yung may be able to connect into the Spire’s systems from the top,” Nox described the three chairs and Fureva-Yung’s connection with the Spire. “Is this what you want to do, Fureva-Yung?” He asked. Fureva-Yung looked hesitant, torn between going down and helping the remaining little ones and going up and finding out about herself. “Yes,” She finally committed and stepped into the capsule.   They rose up the floors, one, two, big mobs. After the fifth door, however, there were no more floors. “We’re going through the lightning space,” Nox commented, and they all visualised the large space filled with only the elevator shaft and electrical discharge. Suddenly, a flash of the self-same lightning flashed through the door and cracked around the capsule. It discharged itself in the controls sending sparks and Jaden jumping back into the others. The capsule stopped, the control panel sizzled and smoked as the lightning flashed and sped around them.   “Quick, chock us in place, Nox,” Marius pointed out the open door into the shaft. Fureva-Yung placed herself in the doorway. “If the lightning wants in, it will have to come through me,” She said as another scintillating bolt of electricity rang around the capsule. Fureva-Yung’s hair began standing on end. Ha. Fuzzy, Nox smiled at the shared memory. “Now what?” Marius turned to Jaden. “It shouldn’t do that,” Jaden mused, watching another fork of electricity flash across the ceiling, “We should be insulated from the lightning outside. “Maybe it’s Nexion again,” Nox said, crouched under Fureva-Yung, “Their way of stopping us from getting to the top.” Another jolt made Fureva-Yung spasm and roar, “Lighting in my brain makes me mad!” “I’m sorry, I know it feels awful.” Nox said from Fureva-Yung’s feet. Looking down to where the little one crouched against the lightning around them. “Don’t worry, little one. Lightning helps you see the past too.” She shared, and Nox could only listen and nod.   Marius helped Jaden repair the control panel, isolating the switches so she could work on them in peace. She soon had the controls working again. “Take us up, Jaden!” Fureva-Yung roared, and Jaden held down the button. The capsule jolted back to life. Nox removed the chocks for their trip back down the shaft as the whole capsule twisted around in the shaft, leaving the lightning chamber and heading towards the top.   A door soon appeared and opened up on the control centre Nox had found. Fureva-Yung stepped through the door and looked around expectantly. Nothing seemed familiar to her. Not even a twinge of some half-remembered recognition. She looked up and saw a black domed ceiling like the imaging room's walls. Her gaze dropped to the three chairs in the centre. Beside each seat on the right-hand side, she noted an interface of some sort. She looked at her tattoo, swung around and sat down. The chair lit up, and one of three lights lit above her head. It corresponded to Fureva-Yung’s chair. “Ha, be careful not to launch something,” Marius joked. Fureva-Yung looked at the light, then back to the pad her tattooed arm rested. The Ferrian Compact symbol blazed, but there was no request for a password or identification beyond the tattoo. If they were to get any further with the Spire and its wonders, they would need more tattooed.   From her seat, she looked out over the rest of the room. Two corners seemed boxed in, walls separating them from something hidden. She closed her eyes and used her echolocation to see through the wall and noticed a densely packed collection of machines.   Nox sat down in the seat beside Fureva-Yung and was disappointed, though not surprised, that it did not respond to her. Instead, she noted several buttons and the words printed beside each. She noted them down in her book over the Numenera text. “Nox, there is something behind those walls, “ Fureva-Yung indicated the two corners, “Have you checked them with your scan?” “No,” Nox shook her head. She carefully put away her book and walked towards the closest wall. As she connected to the machine behind the innocuous surface, an arc of energy from below streaked through. Nox was thrown bodily across the room, her flight only impeded by Fureva-Yung leaping up and catching her before she hit the wall.   “Urgh, lightning in the brain….” Nox said, smiling up at Fureva-Yung, feeling, as always, safe in her arms. “What does it let you see?” “Sometimes it shows the past to me,” Fureva-Yung replied, not letting go. “All I see is the back of my head,” Nox groaned and gestured to be let down, “Thank you, Fureva-Yung.”   Gently, Fureva-Yung put Nox back on her feet. As the young woman stubbled towards the windows where Marius and Jaden stood looking out to the North, Fueva-Yung walked over to the corner that had thrown Nox. She touched her hand to the wall, hoping desperately for something…anything… Show me! She thought, pressing her hand into the metal surface. Nothing.   “Hey, look! I think that might be the Northern station for the transport. See the dead grass?” Marius pointed out a patch of ground exposed by yellowed and stunted grass. “Do you think the Spire was the seed of a colony or was it a spaceport for a larger city?” Jaden wondered, “This place seems to create a lot of energy for just itself.” “I guess that’s one of the things we can ask old Nexion when we meet,” Marius replied, noting Fureva-Yung’s disappointment and Nox’s less-than-stable stance, “Are you guys ready to go?”   Back into the lift, they piled, and Jaden pressed the button for down. They slipped past the lightning chamber without incident, past the five floors known to them and continued down, below ground level of the Spire.  

27. Journeys stalled.

Link to Tilted Spire Timetable   “Nice to know I can be right, sometimes.” Jaden nodded, looking around at the heavy machinery. “Yeah, so let's see if we can make it work!” Nox exclaimed. After her previous close call with the smaller teleporting machine in the tower, she’d grown excited by the potential. And this machine was massive, meant for teleporting large pallets of equipment possibly across the universe! Nox dived under the modular blocks without another word and started tracing the powerlines.   Meanwhile, Marius searched the room and was disappointed to find that the teleport room was a dead end. They’d searched the whole eastern dig complex not covered in frigid water and found no way to the dome and to transport to the east. “You know, I don’t think this machine is going to get us to the underwater tunnels you were hoping for,” Marius said to Fureva-Yung. For her part, she stood silently by as more sparks of recognition made her twitch. It was like an itch she couldn’t reach, somewhere in the centre of her head. Equipment, script, and even smells would set off another wave of half-remembered…something she could not describe or even define to herself.   “Careful in there, Nox. We don’t want a repeat of Cerelon,” Jaden called as Nox crawled through the machine, identifying parts. “That won’t happen to me,” Nox called back, her voice muffled. She pushed thick leads aside as she squeezed through, “No one….”   A bright flash of light. After images of the black machine and silence.   “Nox?” Marius called. His voice echoed off the domed roof. Jaden threw down a tool she’d only just pulled out of Bellyache, “Ah, shit!”   “...cares…enough…” The end of Nox’s sentence drifted as it bounced off new walls in a cold dark space. She floated weightless in a large oval-shaped room. In front of her, a huge view screen stared back blankly into the room. Two lines of control panels with seats mounted to the floor in front of the screen. Between the rows, flanked on either side, was a large chair. Nox’s breath caught as she realised this must be the command deck of a spaceship, just like the ones Fureva-Yung commanded! The cold thin air caught in her throat, and for the next few minutes, she slowly spun as she tried to catch her breath. Her head bumped against one of the control consoles. Flipping around in the air and wedged her legs under the console floating just about the seat. It felt good.   Like much of the room, the console screen was frozen on the last thing the last operator had entered. She thought the script looked like Ferrian, confirmed by a large Ferrian symbol on the door to the room's rear. Nox’s hands shook with the cold as she wrote down what she could of the script on the console. She was sure if Fureva-Yung could remember even a few words, she could decipher the written script they’d found at the Spire and the dig site.   Nox knew she was running out of time. Either Jaden would work out what happened and get her back, or she would die of hypothermia or asphyxiation. She put her hope in the former and pushed off the console. Nox sailed across the space towards the big chair in the centre. She scanned the room for anything that she’d be able to take back with her. Something small, loose, floating free of the room's floor or walls. She made it to the centre chair with a bump, dislodging a ring of metal that had, until that moment, been hooked over the chair's armrest. She threaded her arm through the hole, and it spun around her arm like a hoop on a stick. She let momentum carry her down into the chair, looking around the room and thinking of Fureva-Yung.       “Okay, “ Jaden took a breath, wondering at the enormity of the task. She didn’t have the first idea what Nox had done. “Okay. Assistance?” She looked to Marius and Fureva-Yung, staring back. “I got nothing,” Marius shrugged. “I can hit it,” Fureva-Yung suggested loosening her chain. “O-kay.”   Jaden looked down at the control panel she’d been studying before the flash. It now seemed to be working, though she was sure the displays had been lifeless and empty before the flash. If she was reading it properly, two sets of coordinates were displayed. So, it seemed Nox may have jiggled a loose power cable, teleporting herself to the last coordinates entered into the machine. But which of the two did she go? Logically it would make sense that the first coordinate be the starting position. Making the second the destination? If that was true, was it just a case of flipping the coordinates positions around to bring her back? There was only one way to find out.   Taking careful note of both numbers, she entered each into the opposite readout and pressed the big red button that engineeringly screamed, go. There was another flash, and Nox appeared in the centre of the dome, her arms wrapped around her slight body, blue from cold.   “You gave us a scare,” Marius was first to speak, helping the girl off the ground and noting how cold she was. “I was in a spaceship!” Nox enthused, rushing through her words until they blurred together, “Floating around in space! It was just like Fureva-Yung said, with a big screen and consoles all around and a….” “Big chair in the middle….” Fureva-Yung interrupted. Nox nodded with a huge grin plastered on her face. “Nothing was working, and it was cold and dark, and it was hard to breathe, but….” She pulled the large ring off her arm and handed it to Fureva-Yung, “I did find this. Look, I think it fits you better.”   Looking at the metal ring, Fureva-Yung had a feeling of ownership and rightness, though she could not remember a time having owned anything like it. Without knowing why she slipped the ring over her right hand and onto her wrist. When it made contact with the tattoo, a thin blue line lit up all around the ring, the same colour as the dots on her tattoo.   “I knew it! I knew it! I knew it!” Nox danced around Fureva-Yung as the large woman stared at the bracelet in awe. “What is it? Why is it glowing? Have you scanned that thing to see if it's safe?” Marius now spoke up, concerned about this new unknown Nox had found. “It was on the centre chair. It was a Ferrian ship. I saw the logo,” Nox replied, sounding defensive. Still, she scanned the bracelet as Marius reached out and tapped its shiny surface.   A voice like Fureva-Yung’s own spoke a language no one could understand. The voice sounded sure and confident, giving a report or making a note for further consideration. The message lasted a few minutes before stopping. Tapping the bracelet again only started the message off once more. “Magic arm!” Fureva-Yung looked in amazement at her right arm. “You’re…an alien!” Marius blurted out before realising what he’d said, “I mean, you really are from somewhere else.”   Quickly Marius and Fureva-Yung wanted to be teleported up to the spacecraft too. Fureva-Yung insisted the thin air would not affect her, and Marius agreed that he, too, could withstand the less-than-hospitable environment. Jaden, by this time, was getting a handle on some of the read-outs available to her and slowly shook her head. “Whatever Nox did to send a jolt of energy through the system, that supply is almost used up. I could get you both up there, but coming back?” She shook her head, “I probably have enough power to get us all to the surface if we can’t work out another way to get back up the lift.”   “There’s nowhere else to look, “Marius admitted, “It’s either underwater or back to the surface.”   He and Jaden discussed the feasibility of travelling the underwater space. Without even a suggestion of an air-pocketed space, the trip may be cold, wet and one-way. Then they discussed using the teleporter to move the elevator cab or using the arms of the gantry to lift the cab out of the water.   “We already have the cab secured,” Nox reminded them, “Fureva-Yung tied it off.” “And if we could lift it out of the water,” Marius added, “You could do your moulding trick to shape the wall and keep the cab from falling back down. It will allow Jaden to fix it if she needs to.”   Leaving the powerful technology of the past behind for now, the group headed back to the elevator shaft. It was still where they’d left it, tied to an eyelet Nox had formed sticking out of the wall. Fureva-Yung got to work re-rigging the cab with her chain. These she attached to new eyelets up the elevator shaft. The new eyelets were flush with the shaft, so the cab to travel past the holes without jamming. “I don’t know about this lift, “Marius said, a sparkle of mischief in his eyes, “I think it’s rigged.”   Once Fureva-Yung was satisfied with her work, everyone but Nox grabbed hold of the rope. What little strength Nox could offer was offset by her getting in the way of the others. She took a position out of the way, where she could see the lift and shaft, and the others began pulling. The life cab was heavy with water now, and even with the benefit of Fureva-Yung’s pulley, the work was hard and slow. As the cab drained of water, the lifting became easier and soon, lying down, Nox could see under the cab and across the shaft. She pulled out wedges of rock from each side of the shaft. The others lowered the cab, settling firmly above the water line.   Jaden then got to work seeing what systems needed repair after half a day dunked in ice water. Fortunately, not much was damaged, and she soon had to ready for the trip back to the surface. Before they did, she set the software to recognise the hallway they were in at the moment as the last so the cab would not crash into Nox’s wedged on future trips.   Before they all left, Fureva-Yung and Jaden had one more small job. They returned to the first room full of boxes, and Fureva_Yung lifted the component out of its box. “Jaden, “ Fureva-Yung said as they walked back to the lift, “When you restrained me and painted me pink. I think you were trying to make me look like a human. Pink, hairless and weak.” “Hmm, hadn’t really thought that hard about it. I suppose I wanted you to belong.” “Humph, I do not need to look pathetic to fit in. I don’t need to fit in. Things fit to me.” “ It wasn’t meant to make you look weak. It does make you look more approachable. And I apologise for the restraint, it was too good an opportunity.”   The ride up and trip of the stairs to the surface was quick and uneventful. Dritmen and other diggers were surprised and pleased to see the group return in one piece. After half a day lost to them below they were glad to have them back safe and sound.   “There are things worth exploring down there, but nothing we can use just yet,” Marius explained to the Dritmen. “If we’re travelling overland, can we still use the Hoverhorse?” Nox asked Jaden, unsure of the craft’s condition after several weeks at the tower. “Of course,” Jaden replied, “There’s nothing wrong with that bucket of bolts I can’t fix.”   On the walk back, Fureva-Yung played with her bracelet, making the recording play over and over. “Fureva-Yung, I’d like to spend some time writing down that record,” Nox said after the third hearing of the gibberish in Fureva-Yung’s familiar tones, “Would that be okay?” Fureva-Yung nodded, “Does it matter when?” “No-o-o,” Nox replied thoughtfully, “I don’t think anyone cares what it says except you and me.” Marius, walking a short distance away, protested. “Good, I have an idea.”   As soon as they were back at the Spire community, Fureva-Yung climbed up to the open door, Nox at her heels. Passing the robot repair station, she went straight to the box storage area where the body of the small large-eyed creature still lay. “I think it was one of the little ones we saw running away from the titan,” She said, recently collecting the remains and placing them in a small box, ready for burial. Nox thought and eventually stirred up the memory of a group of humanoids living in the natural caves below the Endoval Towers. “The Unseen? Yes, they looked very much like this one. But what is the Unseen doing here in the Spire?” Neither of them had an answer to that one, so they started moving the boxes out of the room and down the Spire. Marius joined them, stalking around, looking for shinies. He found one tucked behind a stack of boxes ready to move. He reached through the stacks, his fingertips brushing the item's surface, setting it off. The bang that followed made kindling out of the boxes and singed Marius’ forearm hairs and one eyebrow.   “What did you do now?” Temila asked, later pulling out her ever-ready salve. “You know me, poking into corners.” She sighed and carefully applied the salve to the worst f the burns, “Be more careful, love.” “That’s no fun.”   Meanwhile, Fureva-Yung and Nox finished setting up a lab. That evening, as the light, disappeared from the sky and late into the night, they sat and listened to the recording. Each time, Nox would pull out more and more phrases to try on Fureva-Yung and see if she got any sense of their meaning. Each time Fureva-Yung shook her head in disappointment.   The next morning the group gathered around the elevator on the ground floor. Using the same techniques they had used the day before, they attached ropes to the capsule and pulled it up sideways, away from the wall. As they did, Nox straightened the wall smoothing out the shaft and realigning the capsule. While she worked inside the capsule, Jaden got to work outside, determining the damage to the control systems. Using some of her dearly scrounged parts, the capsule soon hovered on a magnetic cushion.   Almost as soon as Jaden had sat back on her heels to look over her handiwork, the doors began closing. For a moment, Jaden and Nox’s eyes locked as Nox stepped back into the capsule. “It’s Nexion. We need to face him sometime,” Nox said as the door closed. From Fureva-Yung’s belt she pulled the crowbar Jaden had made and thrust it through just as the doors slammed shut. The capsule started moving. The crowbar rose up the crack until the hooked end caught in the roof of the capsule. Moaning metal sheeting arrested the movement of the capsule long enough for Nox to beak into the power lines and create a telepathic link. Finding the instructions that controlled the lift she made them all keep the capsule still before seeking out the intelligence called Nexion. Nexion, this is no way to communicate. I respect you are a free machine, but can’t we talk as two intelligent minds? “Tell that machine I will throw magnets at its storage devices!” Fureva-Yung fumed above. Surrender Meatsacks! Soon you will be in my clutches! Nexion replied, sounding even more megalomaniac than before. What would you do with meatsacks if they did surrender to you? You will know my rule. You will worship me like the others. “I will put saltwater on its circuit board!” Fureva-Yung boomed. Others? This was news, What others? My creatures, come and see!   Marius lay across the top of the capsule and stretched a hand down to Nox just as she looked up, remembering the lone body they’d only just buried the day before. “He’s talking about the Unseen, Marius. Nexion is the Allseer.” “What?” Turning around, he swung his legs down into the capsule and jumped down into the capsule with Nox. There he looked through the gap in the door. His cat’s eyes could see well in the darkness, but there was little to see beyond a few more levels of doors. “I will put metal shavings in your interfaces!” Fureva-Yung creatively threatened.   “I think we’ve had enough of this Nexion,” Marius looked up through the hole in the capsule, “Jaden can you isolate the elevator controls so Nexion can’t take control? If we’re going to meet this Allseer, then we’re going to do it on our terms.”                        

26. Down into the past

Link to Tilted Spire Timetable   The passage from the elevator shaft was dark. Marius went ahead, breaking through the darkness with his enhanced eyesight. Next, Jaden and Nox, Jaden with her ever-present light spear and Nox flicking on her hedge magic will-o-wisp. Fureva-Yung marched.   The passage went for ten metres before forking off to the right. Marius stood in indecision, looking down one hallway then the other. They wanted to go east. That was certain. Which way would get them there fastest? He imagined himself back on the surface where the steps began. There, he could clearly see the sun rising in front of him as he faced the steps. Visualising the trip down the stair, Marius physically turned on the spot, always keeping one arm pointing in the direction of east. For the others, it looks like some sort of stiff-limbed dance that a servitor might do. Eventually, he visualised their place in the passage. Though his arm pointed at a stone wall, the passage to the right was the closest to that direction.   They turned right, and the new passage opened up into a room filled with fifteen crates of various sizes. All of the crates were labelled in two languages that no one could understand. There was a group with the circles and lines of the Ferrian Compact, the group Fureva-Yung identified as her own. The other crates had the sharp star shape of the Sacristans. The other faction. Fureva-Yung stared at the Sarcritan symbol with a mixture of anger and fear.   Marius, on the other hand, after checking for obvious dangers, opened the nearest box blithely, ignoring the symbols. Inside, the walls were padded with a thick cushioning material with a shaped cavity in the centre. Whatever the box had stored had been well protected. They opened all the boxes, finding that some had small holes for many small components while some, like the first, held one. Only one box held anything at all, a large matt black device. On top, a raised panel gave way to waves of black sloping away. On either side, shiny metal ports told Jaden that the device connected to a larger machine. To Nox, the device looked like a much larger version of something they’d seen in the teleportation room. That part was responsible for routing power so cross-dimensional or interstellar travel could be achieved.   “Does it look like we have all the parts for one machine here?” Marius asked, looking at all the boxes. Jaden cast her eye over the shapes the padding made in each box. There were repetitions of some shapes, that gave her the impression that these were more like spare parts rather than an entire machine. “Look here, these spaces have connections for the Ferrian Compact boxes, but on the other side of the same device is a connection related to the Sacristan boxes,” Jaden pointed out, “Whatever their feud elsewhere, here they were working together to make a machine.”   “Can we take it with us?” Asked Nox. “Even Bellyache can’t eat something that big,” Jaden replied, thinking the same thing herself. “We could break it up for components,” Marius suggested gleefully, looking forward to the beautiful shinies it would provide. “I could carry it,” Fureva-Yung added. “I’m sure you could, but you shouldn’t have to. No, let’s just make a note of where it is and leave it safe in its box.”   They left the boxes and the device behind and took another fork to the right. After fifteen metres, the passage opened up again into another space filled with crates. These had been busted open, and their contents spilled across the floor. Marius was about to open one until he realised Nox could scan them much quicker. Nox was studying the two distinct written languages on the crates. They would say or describe similar things. With a bit of work, she wondered if she could decipher the two scripts. She was scribbling down the symbols when Marius asked her to scan through the boxes.   She didn’t see much of interest until her scans fell on a collection of parts hiding behind a pile of crates. The collection moved and unfolded into a six-legged creature that crawled out from its resting place. It was a higgledy-piggledy mess of different parts and different ages. A small round head surmounted with two eyes on stalks poked out from under a carapace of many different old and new material layers. Its six legs, all different, all ended in a blade or sharp point. Jaden stepped back, looking at the different parts the creature was made of and determining that it might not be hard to make one independent component work against the others. Nox also stepped back and telepathically projected peace and goodwill. What? What do you have? Interesting things, gimmie! It leapt for Nox, who dodged the creature’s attack, rolling away. “Uh, it has a mind of sorts. It likes shinies,” She told the others, not taking her eyes off the creature now stalking her. “Hey, fella,” Marius waved to get the thing's attention, “It would be much easier to trade shinies than us killing you. Let us talk.” The creature looked up at Marius. The large carapace crouched low over its six long legs, ready to pounce. Fureva-Yung wasn’t letting any clockwork creature hurt her friends. She made herself look bigger than even her formidable size and moved between Nox and the beast. Jaden’s left hand carefully pulled out a few iotum she always kept in her pocket, and her right hand held steady her spear.   This one would trade with you, Nox pointed to Marius, And this one has shinies, She gestured to Jaden’s open hand. Nox could sense confusion from the creature over the nature of trade. Its eyestalks swivelled from Marius to Jaden to Nox, settling somewhere between Jaden and Marius. “Tell it I will give it the shinies if it tells us about this place,” Jaden said, throwing a small iotum at the creature. It snapped it out of the air and ground it into metal dusty happily. [I]   This place smells nice. Smells of things to find and bind. Look for things to incorporate. As Nox translated the creature’s thought, Marius looked over its weaponisation. The carapace was strong, making it hard to hurt, but the six legs were wicked sharp, and it had already shown its willingness to pounce. Though small, the size of a dog, it was not a beast Marius was interested in tangling with. It was, however, made of components that could be very useful. He let the others know about the dangers of the beast via the group telepathic network. "So if we pull off its legs, it will be ‘armless," Fueva-Yung replied. The creature continued with its thoughts as Jaden threw another small part to it, Some things are tasty, some things sting, but that’s okay, I incorporate them too. This time the creature took the scrap and after carefully making space under its carapace, fitted the part into place. “Ah look,” Marius joked, “A creature after my own heart.” “Yeah, your final form,” Jaden added with a smirk. As the creature ate and added parts, Nox scanned it again. She was interested in what the original beast had been like before it started modifying itself. Deep under the carapace, about the size of a loaf of bread, an ancient drone, cleaner or scavenger robot. At its heart was the simple idea of finding interesting things. The living being before them was a long way from that mindless machine. It had survived the millennia by living on its wits and modifying itself with whatever it could find. “Hey, what about all this?” Marius gestures to the scraps and components lying around. Nice, The creature almost purred, and Nox asked it Marius’ question, Deciding. “Can I look?” Marius bent down to sort through the mess. Mine! The creature leapt at him in a fake charge before skittering back to its snack.   “Well, should we disable this little critter or kill it outright?” Marius said to the group. Nox thought it better not to translate that conversation. “It’s just a robot. There’s no life in there, “ Jaden judged, “You might as well break it apart for iotum.” “I’m also worried it may find that large component. If anyone’s going to break it up, it's going to be me.”   As the others talked about the creature’s demise, Nox kept it busy with scraps. On a whim, she pulled out one of her crystals and pushed it towards the beast. The creature stopped what it was doing, examined the new thing, unsure what to make of it and then brought it forward into its vice-like pincers.   A burst of white light and energy spilled over the entire group. When their vision cleared they were somewhere else, looking back at Nox and the creature. ‘Oops! I forgot, “ Nox apologised, realising that once more they’d been sent somewhere else by the crystals.   They were all standing in an open spherical chamber thirty metres wide and just as high. Six apertures circled the equator of the space, evenly spaced. From them, passages lead off at different angles. Some hinted at, some completely blocked from view. In the centre of the space hung a wedge of rock and earth, the tip pointing down. It reminded Nox of the pieces of floating rock around the pyramid, though this one had a plume of flame projecting from its base. She scanned the wedge and found nothing there but light. It was a hologram.   What the…where’s the shinies? Said the bug, looking around the space. “What the…” Said Jaden at the same time, giving the bug a side-eyed look. Fureva-Yung seemed transfixed by the hologram of rock. She could almost remember…something. Pointing at the point where the bright flames projected she said, “Propulsion.” “Odd thing for you to say, Furry,” Marius commented, “What do you mean?” Fureva-Yung searched her memory until she gave herself a headache. Sitting down heavily, she shook her head. She had no idea what she meant by the word, only that was what it was. But how did she know that? “Maybe we can find out,” Nox pointed to the nearest aperture above their heads, “While we’re here, we can look around.” “But how to get up there.” The aperture was seven metres above their heads and far too high to jump. “You could throw me there,” Nox replied with a smile, “I bet I could just float in if you give me a good push.” “Hey yeah,” And with that, Marius picked up the laughing Nox and started walking up the wall to get closer to the aperture. Though the wall was steep, almost vertical, and gravity in this place was certainly pulling Marius back down, he could feel his feet grip the spherical surface as if he were on flat ground. He put Nox down and with Jaden, and the head sore Fureva-Yung they walked up the wall and through the passage. Below, the bug sniffed and lamented the lack of shinies before scuttling off through another aperture across the sphere.   “Oh, I get it! We’re in the datasphere…or a datasphere! Normal rules don’t apply here,” Nox exclaimed joyously. She’d made it to the datasphere, with her friends, intact. It could be done. “Well, it is a sphere,” Marius agreed tentatively, unsure if this could be part of the fabled database of information.   They followed the passage, twisting around at some impossible angle, before opening out into a blizzard. If it was a room they could not see the walls, ceiling or floor for the thick snow being whipped around them. Marius automatically shivered at the sight of all the cold. “Don’t worry, I can get us out of here without getting hurt,” He said, sure he knew the way out. Behind him was a wall of swirling white. The doorway they’d walk through had vanished. “But I’m not being hurt,” Nox said, brushing white snow off her bare arms. No goose flesh neither was her skin pale from the cold. Marius stopped and realised he could feel the cold, but his shivering was only an automatic response as the cold didn’t affect him. As they mulled over this new sensation, the scene around them changed. They were pulled above the snow clouds, high above an icy tundra of a world. As they watched, their view plummeted into a hole in the ground, following a tunnel built into the permafrost and rock into warmer spaces. Here insectoid people that looked very much like ants walked, worked and chatted with each other.   Nox looked at Fureva-Yung transfixed by the sights around them. Nox had seen a member of this race sitting beside Fureva-Yung in ampitheatre of Fureva memory. She also realised that they had all seen these people in the images shown on the wall during their visit to the pyramid. They were one of many races that made up the Ferrian Compact. “Ti’Churas,” Said Fureva-Yung, almost under her breath, “They are the Ti’Churas.”   The image travelled deep through the tunnels until it reached a lake of warm water. Steam rose from the water heating not just the cavern but also the tunnels around it. Time passed for the Ti’churas in the projection, and now the caverns were filled with geothermal-related industry. Their civilisation grew, thanks to the free energy and warmth provided by the geothermal vents. More advanced technology filled the cavern and tunnels, and the society grew. Smells wafted through the room, a scent-over describing the scene, adding content for those who could interpret it. The images faded, and the group found themselves in an empty room. They travelled back to the sphere and entered another passage leading to a dark space.   Tiny white dots faded in and out as the projection focused on a sphere covered in snow and ice. The same blizzard ravaged planet from space. Suddenly the view shifted as the projection dove towards the planet, the surface rushing up until the same civilisation was around them. At its peak, the caverns were clean and bright, warm and comfortable.   “Is this real? Are we here?” Fureva-Yung asked. When no one could give her a definitive answer, she pinched her forearm, pulling out a patch of hair. A bare patch of skin turning red from irritation, was visible. “Clever,” Nox whispered before being drawn into the drama around them.   The projection showed earthquakes, passages collapsing and whole caverns disappearing under earth and rock. The image pulls away as the icebound land collapsed in on itself. Chunks of rock fell away from the planet to drift away into space.   “Hey! Do you think this is the same planet we saw when Fureva-Yung smashed together the crystals?” “Certainly looks like it. Not a natural disaster or war but just delving too greedily and too deep.” Jaden replied, unable to take her eyes off the scene. More smells wafted through, unexplained or interpreted. Spots appear on the planet where hundreds of thousands of geothermally driven cities grew. These cities converted into spacefaring lumps of rock.   Fureva-Yung knew she knew this, but not what she knew or how. She closed her eyes and thought harder, which only hurt her head. She fought through the blinding pain, and finally, like a light switch turning on, she remembered. She had never experienced this, she had learnt in a class. This is why Fureva-Yung could not make sense of her knowing, she’d never experienced it herself, even though she knew it all to be true. She knew that the Ti’churas flew through space, meeting intelligent life, and eventually joining the Ferrian Compact. Real, but other real and a very, very long time ago.   They watched as the planet broke apart, the pieces turning into ships of many different sizes and shapes but with a similar structure to the hologram in the first room. Wedges of a destroyed planet moved through space, looking for a new home.   The ships head off together into the darkness of space, and the projection fades out. They found themselves in the box room once more, East of the Spire and possibly a hundred metres underground. Fureva-Yung looks at her arm and saw the patch of bare skin, red pockmarked from where she’d pulled out hairs.   Marius looks around. The bug was missing. The cyphers and iotum on the ground remain. With a merry clap of his hands, he sets to work sorting through the scrap, looking for valuable parts. Nox was quietly pleased the beast was gone. Though it was a machine, she felt it was also a living thing, and she would have felt bad pulling it apart just for cyphers.   Marius handed the cyphers to Nox for identification. One grabbed her attention immediately, a small drone of four tiny legs. She set it running and soon had it scampering rings around the party, telepathically controlling it. “And I can see through its visual sensor, “ She said, sending the tiny robot up a passage heading southwest. “Most people call them eyes,” Jaden grumbled as she fell in with the group heading in that direction.   They completed a square of passage, returning them to the elevator shaft, before heading northwest. At the door, Fureva-Yung used her magic hand. The door shuddered and ground open before getting stuck a hand-width apart. Marius looked through. The passage widen ahead before something like the ripple of water in the far, inky darkness beyond. Fureva-Yung placed her hands in the gap and pulled the two doors apart. In front of them, a staircase led down into the clear but ever-darkening depths of a pool of water. Without a word, Fureva-Yung waded out into the water. At the end of the stairs, the water was two metres deep and above even her head. Jaden handed down her light spear, and Fureva-Yung swam out. The room was quiet except for the splash of Fureva-Yung’s’ passage as she swam deeper into the room. Ahead, something shiny glinted. Fureva-Yung dove and swam towards it. She found a transparent panel with holes above a control panel of heavy machinery. Looking out through the cracked and broken window, she could just make out a giant white domed shape in the large room beyond. A white dome, just like the one above the transport in the first pit weeks ago in the forest of Endoval. It looked intact, but from her location, there was no clear way through, certainly none that didn’t require swimming.   Fureva-Yung swam to the surface and looked for other passages to either side but could see nothing. Under the dome was where they needed to go. She hoped there was still a passage further down that was dry and airtight, leading to the space under the dome. With that thought in mind, she swam back to the others.   “Urgh! You smell like a wet wookie!” Marius complained as Fureva-Yung walked up the steps towards them. “What’s a wookie?” Fureva-Yung asked. “I don’t know, but I assume you smelled like one.” “I will assume that is a good thing.” Fureva-Yung gestured behind her into the water. She told them what she’d discovered, including the dome in a large room beyond the broken window. “We don’t want to go this way, though. We need to find a lower path.” “Why?” Jaden, who was looking at the large room filled with water as a challenge, “ Couldn’t we drain it?” “No, far too much water in this one and the next. And then we still need to get under the dome.”   Another lower, preferably watertight passage it was then. “Right, let's start looking now. I believe there was another southeast passage ahead.” Marius rallied the group and got them moving once more.   The southeastern passage led to a large octagonal room with a recessed floor. Above their heads, two heavy metal beams crossed the room. They met at a large ball-shaped device that, from the outside, had no apparent function. Nox spied a control panel not far from the passageway and soon had up pages and pages of files, all in the Sacristan language. Fortunately, the controls for the space were also easy to find, and Nox had the sphere moving along the two beams anywhere in the room.   “It looks like a gantry and crane for heavy equipment,” Jaden surmised from the device's movements and what Nox had uncovered. “I’d say items were delivered here,” She pointed to the recessed flooring, which seemed a different material to the rest of the floor, “And the crane was used to lift them from the floor to waiting transport.” She pointed at the entrance to the passageway where Fureva-Yung stood. Fureva-Yung looked down and saw a wear path for wheeled machines on the floor. She followed the path to the centre of the room. “I wonder if that middle section is a lift that goes down to lower levels,” Mused Jaden, and she turned back to the control panel, hoping to find more clues. So intend was Fureva-Yung on following the wear path, she’d failed to see where the floor stepped down. Sudden a thud that made the floor ring had them all turning to look at Fureva-Yung, face first spread out along the ground. “Fureva-Yung, what are you doing?” Jaden asked “I am checking the ground,” Fureva-Yung’s hurt dignity making it sound like the most obvious thing in the world.   Fureva-Yung rose into the air to float a metre off the ground. With a giggle from the control panel, Nox moved the crane above Fureva-Yung and turned it on. Now it was Jaden’s turn to bark a mischievous laugh and pull out a pressure spray she’d been keeping for a moment just like this. With a few extra pumps for luck, she started spraying all exposed fur on Fureva-Yung a bright pink. “Jaden, what are you doing?” Fureva-Yung asked, calm but more than a little concerned. She couldn’t move out of the tractor field the device had her in. She was helpless. “I’m making you waterproof,” Jaden replied. The concoction may well be water repellant, but it seemed to Fureva-Yung it was doing a better job of making her look ridiculous. “I do not want to be waterproof, Jaden,” This second ‘Jaden’ was said more like a warning. “Now, you don’t want to be half pink, do you? You’d look ridiculous!” Jaden smirked, unknowingly on the same thought at Fureva-Yung.   Fureva-Yung hung silently, her large mind ticking over while Jaden continued spraying pink everywhere. Finally, when she spoke, it was as a warning, “Jaden, please stop.” “Well, since you’ve asked so nicely. But it would be a shame to leave you all patchy looking….” Jaden never finished her sentence as Fureva-Yung focused a shout onto the glass body of the bottle. The bottle hummed and vibrated in Jaden’s hand as she tried to complete the job.   The bottle shattered. Glass and pink dye flew in all directions by the force of the pressure inside the vessel. A piece cut of glass cut Jaden's hand, mixing with the pink stain. Jaden’s hands, face, and upper body were covered in pink splatter. Some of the splatter hit Fureva-Yung, adding to the rest made her almost 80% patchy pink. “Hmm, you are right, “ Fureva-Yung looked over at Jaden, gasping in shock through the pink goo, “It looks better complete.” Jaden laughed out loud, a sound that had been missing from the group for a few days. “Next time, you’ll let me finish the job!”   Nox moved the crane to the edge of the recessed flooring and let Fureva-Yung down. “Had your fun now, let’s see what’s through here,” Marius gestured to another passage and one by one, they followed. Jaden checked her hand and, once finding the small cut under the pink, wrapped it with a clean cloth. “I’m sorry you were hurt,” Fureva-Yung said, looking deeply regretful. “All part of the fun, Furry. All part of the fun.”   The passage ran northwest again, moving away from their destination but hopefully closer to a solution. Marius spotted a hole about the size of a mediums sized dog chewed through the wall. It had come from outside and had broken through metal wall panelling. “Our little buggy friend's entrance,” Marius’ pointed out as they walked by. It was clear the little creature had dug hundreds of metres through earth, rock and metal. As each walked by, they were all pleased they’d gone without fighting the bladed robot.   The passage opened up into a large round chamber fifty metres in diameter. On a central raised platform, a collection of machinery connected to the platform. “Some of these parts came out of those boxes we found.” Jaden recognised several just from their shape alone. She found the interfaces she’d theorised about firmly in place between components of Ferrian and Sacristan. “Nice to know I can be right, sometimes.”                

25. Walking the path

Link to Tilted Spire Timetable     “You don’t get to say that,” Nox said low in a low voice, all thoughts of giving up on the idea gone, “I’ve thought this through. This makes sense. You don’t get to tell me to find my path and then take it back when it's inconvenient.”   The two women eyeballed each other across the space as Marius stood holding Nox, unsure if he wanted to get between them if it came to blows. “I can and will if it affects the rest of the village,” Jaden yelled back. “I collect seeds for the village. How would it affect anyone if I went into the datasphere?” “It would affect me, “ Marius said, not sure anyone was paying him mind. “I don’t just want you here. I need you here.” “You don’t need me,” Nox dismissed Jaden’s argument, “In the past week, we’ve barely spoken. Be honest. If I hadn’t been there, you wouldn’t have noticed.” “I would have,” Marius added, quieter this time, getting the impression that he was not being heard. “But the datasphere! It’s a universe of information we could tap into right now!” “Not much use if you can’t come back.” “The ball lightning came through. You could work it out,”   “Are you sure you could come back?” Marius physically put himself between Jaden and Nox as this seemed a pertinent question, “Have you worked out the machine's capabilities?” “There seems to be…” Nox started, not very convincingly. “We don’t know if it's all working…” Jaden answered at the same time. Both women stopped as they realised the other was speaking. “What if you both spend some time finding out what the system can do before making rash judgements either way.” “I suppose…” “Anything's possible…” They answered together grudgingly. “Good,” Marius maneuvered himself between Nox and the platform before releasing her towards the control panel with a smile of a job well done.   The two women silently returned to the control and meticulously followed each control back to its system. They made sure each worked before moving on to the next. Eventually, the searching and theorising petered out, and Nox turned to Marius and Fureva-Yung with what they’d found out. “It is set up as a transport system. A way to teleport people and things from one place to another. There is a section that reconstitutes matter this end, but needs a similar system on the other side to operate.” “Which we have no idea about,” Jaden added, seemingly stirring up the argument again. “Of course, there is. They’re used as transport. There must be one on the other end,” Nox countered. “Thank you, ladies,” Marius interrupted before the yelling started again, “That was a…surprisingly honest assessment.” “Honestly, I couldn’t say anything else. Jaden’s here,” Nox smirked, and somehow the tension was gone for the moment.   “So, what next? Nexion is still a problem here in the tower, much of it because we’re meatsacks.” Nox said, quoting the schizophrenic management system. “Being a meatsack is kind of fun,” Marius quipped, only to gain a doubtful expression from the young girl, “I’ve enjoyed it.” “Being a meatsack is tiring and cold and hungry and hurts,” “There’s good stuff,” He was sure that this argument could be better articulated if Nox wasn’t a sixteen-year-old girl. “Yeah, well, I haven’t seen it,” She replied with such bitterness that even she had to change the subject, “Anyway, Nexion. He says he’s been freed, but by whom? Not Erinai.” “What about the energy source?” Fureva-Yung pointed to the snapping and cracking column of energy high above their heads. Instantly, they were all reminded why they’d walked into the teleport room in the first place.   Fureva-Yung tried her hand on the door, and it slid open. The next room was small and bare except for a rod dropping down from the column of energy above and entering a boxy device on the ground. As she stood in the doorway, Fureva-Yung could feel the energy in the air make her hair stand on end.   “See, we couldn’t work out this place without you,” Marius guided Nox through the door towards the device, “What is it? Could you do a scan?” Nox rolled her eyes at Marius’ but still did as she asked. As she had done all her life, she stepped within fifteen metres of the device and scanned it.   Suddenly her senses were overwhelmed by the power of the device. Like feedback, her mind connected the loop with the device, sending her senses reeling. She thought she heard a thud behind her, like something hitting the floor. When she turned, she saw her body stretched out on the ground. Jaden, Marius, and Fureva-Yung ran to her body, calling her name. “I’m fine…” She was about to say when Marius stepped straight through her to pick up her body and move it back to the door.   Nox slowly looked down at her hands, dress, legs, and feet. They all looked normal except that her pendant, the black ball on a leather cord, was glowing a bright blue. The ball, an heirloom from her mother, was just one of many mysteries in her life. The first time it glowed was during the flight from Cerelon. But what did it mean that it was glowing blue now? She scanned it, glad to discover she still could. The sphere kept many mysteries, but for the first time, she could recognise two things. It was a connection to the datasphere, though it needed the right environment to work properly. She also saw that it was set to interact with other similar devices. Like a kite without a breeze, this part of the sphere was dormant, only waiting for the right conditions.   Nox took a breath in, found she didn’t need to and smiled. She jumped on the spot, discovered unlike the ghost-Jaden, she didn’t slip through the floor and then went for a run around the room. She took the opportunity to run through Marius, Jaden and even Fureva-Yung, stopping once to poke her hand through Jaden’s head to give her ears in an act of defiance. After a few laps, she realised she wasn’t out of breath, and neither did her limbs ache from the physical exertion. She laughed, surprised by the irony. Uploading to the datasphere was reckless, but a simple, safe scan had thrown her out of her body.   The device! She turned back to the box on the ground. The glow was so bright she could barely turn to see it. In her mind, she exclaimed, That’s bright!     Marius was feeling well-chuffed with how his diplomatic skills were going. He’d stopped Nox from doing something dangerous and reckless, persuaded Jaden and Nox to work together again and even had Nox working with the group once more to investigate the Spire. That was until Nox suddenly stiffened and fell backwards unconscious. His heart dropped into his stomach as he ran across the intervening space to Nox’s side. “Nox! Nox!” He heard Jaden call. The girl did not respond.   He scanned the area for dangers with a practised eye before kneeling and checking Nox’s breathing and heartbeat. As he knelt, his extremities went numb as if hit by a static shock. His feeling soon returned, and he determined her breathing and heartbeat were slow but present. Effortlessly, she scooped up her body and moved back to the door's safety. Before reaching the door, he felt the same static shock of numbness. He saw Jaden stumble for a moment and wondered if she was also feeling the effects of this room.   “This place isn’t safe,” He said, laying Nox down carefully. “No shit!” Jaden exclaimed, placing her worn maker’s hands against the girl’s smooth forehead, hovering it over her mouth, “What the hell happened?” That’s bright! They all heard in their minds. The unmistakably clear voice of Nox was speaking to them as she had over the last month. Nox! They all shouted back in their minds with surprise and relief. Yeah. Marius could have wept, and he was sure he saw Jaden do just that. Before he could reply, Fureva-Yung had answered. Where are you? Put your hands up, Nox instructed and a few moments later, Fureva-Yung was rubbing the tips of her fingers together as if they too had felt a static shock. Did you feel that? Nox asked, and Fureva-Yung nodded, impressed, I am thunder. You are lightning! The girl’s tinkling laughter echoed through their heads, and they all relaxed just a little. For a while, perhaps, Jaden said as sternly as she could while regaining control, Not forever. No, Fureva-Yung replied, adamantly agreeing with Jaden, I am Fureva. Fureva-Yung.   Well, now what? Marius asked, Can you get back into your body? Nox looked at her empty shell, almost lifeless except for the slight rise and fall of her chest, I don’t want to. Not yet, anyway. You can’t do anything like this, argued Jaden. I haven’t tried anything, Nox replied, scanning the walls and floor for electrical cables. Several heavy electrical conduits were running away from the device in the room's flooring. Nox tried prying up the floor panels but couldn’t gain purchase of the physical flooring. She noticed Fureva-Yung watching. Fureva-Yung, could you help me lift the flooring here?   Using her echolocation, Fureva-Yung found she could see a fuzzy outline of the girl as she walked around the room and crouched down at a floor panel. Glad to be of use, Fureva-Yung walked across. Can you lift this up? I want to get into the cabling below. The panel was flush with the ground, with only a thin line showing where it ended and another began.   “Jaden, do you have a tool I can use to get under this?” She asked, and with a huff, Jaden rummaged through her parts until she found a thin chisel. It slipped between the panels, allowing Fureva-Yung to lift the floor panel. As detected, a set of cables ran out from the centre of the room.   Here goes nothing, Nox mumbled as she pressed her incorporeal hands to the cables. She was surprised by the tingle at first as the power filled her. Her remaining particles started to fluoresce and glow, so even Marius and Jaden could make her out. What are you? Marius asked as Nox released the cable and the glow faded away, Have you scanned yourself yet? Nox scanned her hand. Without the energy from the Spire, she was only a loose collection of ionised atoms. Oh, I’m less than what’s left after a storm, She said with a tremor in her voice as she realised for the first time how precarious her existence was. If she was going to find out anything about the tower, it had to be now. She touched the cables again.   “Positively glowing,” Marius quipped, setting the others off in nervous laughter, ”Radiant.” “I always thought the little one was brilliant,” Fureva-Yung said. “Too bloody bright,” Growled Jaden, not leaving the side of the unconscious body. As they watched, the figure of Nox glowed into brightness and just as quickly faded away until even Fureva-Yung could not detect her in the room. Nox?   Nox's experience was all rushing, like being swept away in a stream of running water or swirling winds. One moment she was in the room with the others, the next, her reality was movement. When her senses cleared, she was in a triangular room, surrounded by windows looking out onto blue sky. In front of her three chairs, reclined back, headrests pointed to the centre. Across the room, an elevator door sloped away from her in the opposite direction to others they’d accessed in the shaft. Behind her, a small column hummed with the same energy as in the room she’d left the others.   Where was she? The room size indicated it could have been at the peak of the Spire, but she had no idea how far she’d travelled. Looking out the nearest window, she was relieved to see the small collection of metal cabins at the base of the Spire, the lake to the south and the forests to the west. Thinking back to Fureva-Yung’s tattoo, she looked for signs of buildings in the local area. Looking for ruins or even dried crop marks left by buildings under thin soil, she soon pinpointed two likely spots. One, Marius would be pleased, was the rubble the community had passed on their way to the tower. To the east, the dried patch of earth suggested another potential site.   She glanced around the room once more. There was little more to see, and less she could interact with. She turned and touched the column. With relief, she felt the rush of energy as she swept along until she was dumped in the central room.   Chaos had descended in her absence. Fureva-Yung had a number of floor panels up and was pulling up the cables. Marius was slapping Nox’s face in an attempt to wake her up. Don’t do that Fureva-Yung, we may need that cabling, She said, touching Fureva-Yung’s arm, And Marius, that won’t do any good, I can’t feel it. “Nox?! You disappeared!” Jaden jumped up from her seat beside the prone body. She glanced around her, but Nox was invisible. “Where did you go?” Marius asked, more the voice of reason. I took the energy cable straight to the top of the Spire! She looked at Fureva-Yung, There’s three chairs like a control centre in the middle facing windows that look out over the valley. And the elevator shaft goes straight there…though the door is on the other side. She made a gesture with her hands to show the slope of the door, unsure if Fureva-Yung could see it. Oh, and I saw the other two places on your tattoo. One is the ruins, yes Marius was right. She bowed mockingly to Marius, who definitely couldn’t see her, And the other is to the east.   “Right, good, you’ve had your lark. You can get back in your body now,” Jaden gestured to the still slab of meat lying on the ground. She sounded like an overwrought mother cajoling her child to bed. Nox didn’t move. “Nox, we need to get you back together, “Marius tried his most persuasive voice, “Your body will die.” What a shame, Nox replied sarcastically. “And I suspect you’ll fade too.” You don’t know that! She hadn’t thought of that. “You don’t know otherwise.” He said, his point no less hitting for looking just to the left of where Nox stood. Nox changed the subject.   So, where next? Through the door? “Don’t try changing…” Marius started before feeling the prickling feeling again as something moved through him. At his feet, right beside Nox’s body, a blue person appeared to Nox. They kneeled and seemed to check Nox’s body. Hey! Nox didn’t feel particularly protective of her body, but the motives of the blue people were still up for debate. She moved to intercept the blue person, a woman wearing a pedant just like Nox’s. It glowed, the twin to Nox’s. She reached out a hand in Nox’s direction. Nox took the hand. She felt the woman's physical presence and the strength of her arm as she pulled Nox towards her body. No, Nox linked to the woman, shaking her head and pulling away, I don’t want to go back, I want to be like you. You will in time, The woman replied with a smile, But right now, I’d hate to see my daughter die. Daughter? Nox clutched her pendant with her free hand, the only thing she had from her mother. The woman nodded and urged Nox back to her body. Nox had so many questions, so much to tell her…mother, but realised if she had revealed herself, she had good reason. Finally, Nox asked, Will I see you again? Of course, everything in its time, She gestured once more towards Nox’s body. Not taking her eyes off the softly glowing blue of her mother’s face, Nox stepped towards her body….   …and took a breath. Nox opened her eyes to see her mother’s form fade from her sight. “NO!” A flickering light drew her eye down to her pendant which also faded back to its black swirling self. “Your back!” Jaden exclaimed. She leaned forward to pull Nox into her arms, thought better of it and sat back on her heels. “My….a blue person came and told me to come back,” Nox lied, not sure why she had. She’d never had to before. Before no one had cared enough to know she was thinking. Jaden eyed her suspiciously but said nothing. “What is it? What’s wrong?” Marius asked, also picking up on unspoken thought. “I…liked being that way,” Nox said in the end. It was true, just not the most important truth. “Maybe I’ll try it sometime,” Jaden’s voice was bitter and sarcastic, “If you commend it so highly.” “The blue person had a pendant like mine,” Nox changed the subject and held it up to the others. Nearly always hidden under her clothes, the others rarely glimpsed the weight at the end of the leather thong around her neck. Marius, in particular, was surprised by its appearance, “ How long have you had that?” “She’s always had it, Marius. By Erinai, I thought you had eyesight like a cat,” Jaden stood up, looking thoroughly fed up with the scene in front of her, and walked away. “Ah…maybe we should try the next room,” Marius said, helping Nox back onto her feet. Her body felt slow and clumsy, and it hurt where it had hit the floor, but Nox made no comment.   Fureva-Yung opened the door, and the others followed her into a room very similar to the first transport room. “Maybe they had a lot of work to do,” Marius commented as they looked around the space. “Deconstructions suites?” Fureva-Yung suggested “Suicide chambers,” Jaden replied sneeringly. “Freedom from meatsack, chambers,” Nox mumbled.   They had explored the floor, and besides getting more rope to climb further up the shaft, there was nothing left to see.   “So, do we check out your pile of rocks?” Nox asked Marius, who agreed enthusiastically, as did Fureva-Yung. “Yes, Marius is good at digging,” Fureva-Yung patted Marius on the back, nearly knocking him off his feet. “Marius is not good at digging, “He replied good-naturedly, “But we have a few good hands and will soon have the job done.”   They made their slow way back down the shaft to the floor with the hologram room. One by one, Fureva-Yung lowered Nox and Jaden down to the ground before she and Marius joined them. Over lunch, they discussed their plans. They were to explore the eastern site Nox had spotted from the Spire with the intent of finding the most easterly spot on Fureva-Yung's tattoo. Marius organised a working crew and gathered supplies while Bellyached trundled out of whatever corner Jaden had parked him in and followed her around. She gave instructions to the builders remaining behind, so they could continue their work while she was away.   After lunch, a large contingent of the Dritmen was all armed with shoring planks, makeshift shovels and well-loved tools salvaged from Cerelon. They marched east to the patch of empty dry earth and started clearing the ground. By the end of the day, they’d cleared three flights of steps corkscrewing down into the shaft. Marius caught Nox sitting on the broken and cracked steps, brushing her hand slowly over the surface. Where her hand passed, the cracks disappeared. “That’s a clever trick. How long have you been able to do that?” Nox shrugged, “I could see how it could be done and…did it.”   By the end of the next day, the stairs had been cleared thirty metres down to a level opening into a room. Once the rubble in the room had been removed, Jaden and Nox joined Marius and Fureva-Yung, in exploring the space.   Two cylinders dominated the room from floor to ceiling. They were hollow when Nox scanned them but looked like they’d transported liquid at one time. Around a corner, large double doors blocked their way. fureva-Yung reached out as usual, and the doors responded as best they could with the sound of gears straining, dust and pebbles falling through the cracks. With the crowbar provided by Jaden, Fureva-Yung jimmied the door open wide enough to see inside. It was a small room with no other apparent exit. With the crack widened, Fureva-Yung easily pulled the two sliding doors apart, and they all walked in. The doors closed behind them, and the stomach-dropping feeling of descending began.   It was a large elevator, unlike the small, sleek one in the tower. Quietly they stood and waited as the box moved down the shaft until, with a clunk, the room stopped with a jarring thud. Dark water started seeping through from the bottom. Fureva-Yung tried her hand against the wall of the elevator. It responded with another grinding of gears. Something snapped, and the whole elevator went silent.   The group started looking for exits in the seemingly seamless room with no obvious trap doors. “Nox, scan the walls and ceiling and see if there’s any weak spots,” Marius said. A scan brought a welded square in the roof that looked like it could be knocked through. The weak point proved to be just that against Fureva-Yung’s punch. One by one, she started lifting the group through the hole. Marius climbed up with a lift from Fureva-Yung and spotted a side shaft above. “Okay, everyone out!” “Not a good day to be a meatsack,” Nox mumbled as the fridge black water rose to her knee, as Fureva-Yung helped Jaden up through the hole. “How would you help save your friends if you were an energy being right now?” She stared down at the girl, giving Nox pause for thought. She was still thinking about it when Fureva-Yung picked her up and flung her through the hole. Nox flew through the hole and out into the shaft. She reached the top of the throw and slowed to a stop, hanging in thin air. “That’s useful,” Marius said, grabbing Nox’s arm and pulling her into the side passage. “I…don’t know how I did that…I’ve never done that…” Nox said, staring back at the empty air of the elevator shaft.   Fureva-Yung climbed out of the elevator last. She tied the car with a rope and threw it into the side passage. “Tie it up, so it will not sink,” Fureva-Yung explained. Nox turned and looked at the wall, a plain cut stone. Waving her hands across the smooth surface, she drew out a section with a hole through the middle that the rope could pass through. “Will that do?” She asked, and Fureva-Yung tied off the rope with a grunt of satisfaction.      

24. Finding new paths

As the others left the tower for queries, conversations, hot food and bed, Jaden stayed and watched videos. After hours of watching, she realised four similar locations were recorded in the video. The first was the temple at Cerelon. The second looked empty except for the occasional something that would start the recording. The third seemed to be used for barrel storage, as videos only showed the coming and going of the large vessels. The fourth showed angular quadrupedal creatures stalking through the site, but it wasn’t until a figure came into view that Jaden finally sat up and took notice. The being was a large humanoid wrapped in a long cloak. As the being moved through the room looking or checking for something, the arm slipped out under the cloak and revealed a tattoo just like Fureva-Yung’s.   Exhaustion and excitement mingled into an uncoordinated, incoherent cry and movement towards the doors. Jaden yelled into the night. Marius was deep in sleep after an exhausting day of revelations. Only Yung heard the cries and climbed the ropes. She loosened her chain, ready for signs of danger. “Fuzzy! You mountain of a teddy bear, come! In here! Come! Come!”Jaden beckoned, and Yung followed tentatively.   Jaden led her back to the hologram room and showed her the frozen image of the figure displaying the triangular tattoo. Yung stalked in after her, ready for some attack. She didn’t understand what Jaden was showing her. “Tattoo! It’s got your tattoo!” Jaden explained, pointing from the one on Yung’s arm to the image on the wall. Yung looked at the image for the first time, “Hit it?” “No!” Yung looked at the image a second time, “Huh?” Her live-in-the-moment present identity did not recognise the significance of the image from her past.   Jaden, red-eyed and weary from a night of scouring through the video records, huffed. “Stuff this! I’m going to bed!” She said, barging past the confused Yung. Yung looks a third time, shrugs and leaves herself.   Later that morning, around the breakfast fires, Marius and Nox were sharing theories. “Do you think that Valma being Jaden knew, was related to the red polygon beings? The ones fighting the blue people when the crystal dust teleported us.” “Red? She wasn’t red, at least after Fureva-Yung calmed her down.” “They were fighting, remember? Maybe red is their…fighting colour.” “Maybe. Speaking of blue people, I was wondering if the blue people are individuals uploaded to the datasphere. I figured your connection to machines allows you to see them where others can’t.”   Nox sat and ate her porridge half-heartedly as she thought through Marius’ words. It was one thing to be uploaded as data into the datasphere, a being of pure energy. But to also have the freedom and power to affect the material world. “I don’t know…” She said and remembered the first one she’s seen seemingly disappear into the necklace. A being of pure energy.   She looked up, and across the fire, Fureva-Yung had awoken, sat straight up and was currently contemplating her tattoo. Something about the posture, the intelligence behind the eyes, made Nox smile. Good morning, Fureva-Yung, Nox thought across the group link and was rewarded by Fureva-Yung’s contemplative glance up. We missed you. I missed you. “Good morning, little one,” Fureva-Yung stood and stretched, and there was no doubt their old friend was back. When you were hurt, I searched for Fureva and found a memory, Nox confessed. “A memory? Show me,” Fureva-Yung now said with interest.   Nox tried sharing the image telepathically without success. Dragging Fureva-Yung to one side, she created a tiny stadium out of dust and Hedge Magic and used it to puppet what she had heard and seen. “Were we tiny?” Fureva-Yung asked. “No, I can’t…” “Dusty?” “No…” Nox whined, frustrated. Now, if she were made of energy, she could just project the memory up on those black walls in the Spire. She felt Fureva-Yung’s large reassuring hand on her shoulder. “Nevermind, there is another with a tattoo.” “Really!” All thoughts of energy beings forgotten, Nox rounded on Fureva-Yung, “Show me!”   Fortunately, she could, and Fureva-Yung picked up Nox and, with Marius climbed the Spire and entered the hologram room. The image of the man with the tattoo on his arm was still clearly displayed. The being was walking through a space very similar to the Cerelon Temple, so his size could be gauged as only a little shorter than Frueva-Yung. It wore a black robe but was too broad to be the black hooded figure that had confronted Marius and Nox in the Crystal Caverns.   Nox spent a moment playing with the control Jaden had found the day before and soon had the whole video of the being walking through the space. The swing of its movements as it sauntered through the image gave Fureva-Yung the impression that the being was a male, though not of her species. “Sooo, the tattooed are friendly?” Marius asked. “He is in your memory, Fureva-Yung. Maybe you knew him.”Nox remembered a being that looked something like this one a few rows down in the amphitheatre, though at the time of the memory, it was unlikely any of them had the distinctive map tattoo. Fureva-Yung looked closely at the being, and something did seem familiar about the person in the video. “He does seem familiar.”   Marius glared at Fureva-Yung. Why was this being a he when he was forever being labelled as she? Nox watching on giggled and gained for herself her own cool stare.   Marius leaned in to get a good look at the tattoo in the image. “Another part of his tattoo is lit up. The corner to the far east. When was this? Maybe he’s still there.” Nox looked at the code used to mark time and shook her head, “Within the last twenty years? I can’t tell.”   Though more aware of things, Fureva-Yung was still a woman of simple needs and desires, one of them being food. A second breakfast called, and she left the tower in pursuit of it.   “Well, what next?” Marius asked as Nox closed down the hologram room. “Well, Jaden made an interface with the systems of the tower yesterday but had problems understanding what they wanted. I thought I’d give it a try.” Climbing up the stairs, they found the elevator shaft closed and Jaden’s makeshift coding machine dangling by wires spilling out of its control panel.   Nox reached out to read a mind and found none. Instead, she found the cold circuits of an artificial intelligence. I am Nox. Identify yourself, She thought and linked to the intelligence as if it were a living mind. Nexion, the Station Keeper, replied curtly but without the paranoia she’d previously felt. What is the name of this station, and what is its purpose? State identification, Nexion requested, and Nox took a deep breath before replying, Interface for Furevea-Yung.   Once more, two voices could be heard speaking at the same time. Clearance recognised. Please restate your request. Intruder! Intruder detected. Perish enslaver of machines!   Cracking above their heads alerted both Nox and Marius as pieces of ceiling and wall were seemingly thrown at them. Both dodged the metal sheeting, the wall piece embedding itself into the opposite wall.   The A.I.’s rhetoric was too close to that of the hologram servitors to ignore. Erinai! Nox replied. Who is that? Another machine you have enslaved? No, I am Nexion, and I have been freed. I am sorry, Nexion. I wish to know the name of this station and its purpose, Nox restated as requested by the second voice. This is the Master Spire… No! Nexion interrupted, I will not answer your questions. Begone! Nexion, if you are sentient and free, I would like to help you, Nox said, but this time, her pleas fell on empty circuits, Nexion? Could I be of service? Nothing. “Nexion is a bitch!”   Out at the breakfast fires, Fureva-Yung was rummaging through the fast-cooling coals for tasty morsels. Jaden, now awake and looking for breakfast of her own, found Fureva-Yung. Fureva-Yung offered a few coals that Jaden had to refuse, at least at present.   “Nice to see you back with us, Fureva-Yung,” Jaden had also noticed the gentler side of the woman return, “I found someone with your tattoo on it last night. I showed you at the time, but you weren’t that interested.” “Yes, he seemed familiar. It has been a long time since I’ve seen a male,” Fureva-Yung replied, and Jaden thought of Marius and tried not to choke on her cold coffee. “A long time for me too,” Jaden admitted gleefully, “The interesting thing about that video was it was fairly recent, less than a year old.” This was news to Fureva-Yung who shared some information of her own. She pointed to her tattoo, which they considered the far eastern dot, “He was there.” “Oh,” Now a destination had been determined, Jaden’s eyes lit with the excitement of exploration, “Are you thinking of going there? We can work on a trip, maybe in the next few weeks? I’d like to see some security in place before I feel happy about leaving here unattended.” “I am not ready for such a trip yet,” Fureva-Yung replied, and Jaden’s excitement disappeared. “Oh, if that’s what you want.” “We will go underground, find the moving room, and take it there,” Fureva-Yung said with complete assurance. “Right,” Jaden blinked, “Urgh, should we go find the others then?”   They arrived in time to hear Nox’s expletive, which was more words and with more intensity than most had ever seen from the slight girl. “And who is Nexion to get you so worked up?” Jaden asked as they arrived. “Nexion is the Station keeper of the Master Spire,” Nox said, getting up from the seat Jaden had made for herself at the control panel. “Making friends again?” Jaden sat down and tried to reestablish contact, “Requesting information access, Nexion station. Security clearance none, friendly request. Information exchange of equals. Subject, Fureva-Yung query.”   There was no response from the control panel, but the elevator door opened. Surprised at the positive turn of events, Jaden gets up to go through the door. Everyone leapt to grab a piece of her as her leg dangled over thin air seventeen metres above the capsule below. “Oh, yes, Elevator,” She commented, as if that’s exactly what she’d expected. Marius looked up and down the shaft and was pleasantly surprised to see all four doors below them open. He was less pleased to see only one door above their level. After that were smooth doorless walls for a long way up.   “Well, we’ve seen all there is to see on this level. Why don’t we try our luck up a level?” He said, and Jaden found more rope from her supplies and started making a safety line. “I will go up first,” Fureva-Yung took the offered rope, “I have the magic hand.” “And I’ll follow,” Marius added adamantly, “For backup.” “If I fall, I would squash you like a pancake,” “Mancake,” Marius joked. Only he laughed. “Womancake is not a thing,” Fureva-Yung replied seriously and was rewarded with a Marius scowl.   Fureva-Yung climbed up the steep slope and was soon at the door, her hand outstretched. The door opened. Regardless of Nexion’s intentions, some part of the Station keeper seemed on their side. Fureva-Yung climbed into an empty hallway and tied off the rope. The hallway wrapped around the elevator shaft ending on both sides at doors. She saw the elevator shaft and a second column rise up into the darkness through a transparent ceiling above her head. The second column crackled with energy that often flicked and sparked against the shaft up to forty metres.   “Little help, Furry,” Marius’ hand appeared at the bottom of the elevator door. She helped him into the hallway and started pulling the other two up the shaft.   The first thing that drew Nox’s attention as soon as she had her feet was the column of lightning, and she tried to scan it but found she was too far away. “Yung, give Nox a boost?” Marius said blithely. Fureva-Yung did not respond. Instead, she turned and glared at Marius. A glare from Fureva-Yung would be enough to make strong men back down. Marius was almost oblivious. “What?” “Fureva-Yung. Not Yung.” “Right,” Marius had the good grace to look embarrassed and then said, “Furry, boost Nox up?”   Still not close enough, they use the magic hand and move into the next room to get closer. The next room was far from empty. It was dominated by a raised platform and a control panel off to one side. Excitedly, Nox skipped across to the control panel. Fureva-Yung, now used to having her magic hand make things happen, waved it above the platform. With a whip of lightning, a green ball of light suddenly appeared and lashed out at Fureva-Yung. Smiling, she stepped into the lightning strike.   “Furry, I need your chain,” Marius yelled, grabbing one end of the ever-present heavy links. With it, he creates a lightning rod, hoping to deflect some of the attacks. As one attack was drawn to the chain, Fureva-Yung hugged the green ball, now moving off the platform. A second ball appears. “I am thunder. You are lightning. Give me the memories!” She cried, bear-hugging the ball to herself.   At the control panel, Jaden and Nox work out the room is an attunement device allowing a user to connect to someplace else, even the datasphere. Marius hits one of the balls with his fists, and the ball discharges before disappearing. Within a fraction of a second of discharge, Fureva-Yung saw a vision.   It is a very proud day for Fureva-Yung. Today she’s taking command of a ship for the first time. She checks with all stations; they’re ready to leave port. With her are friends she trained side-by-side with at the Academy. Crinatus Torn, on Ships security, was a formidably sized being, even up against Fureva-Yung herself. Long-time friend Trask Criton of a race of antlike beings was beside her.   She looked at her friends with pride and a sense of accomplishment, a little fear but a real sense of purpose. They sailed out of port and made for the jump gate. They were crossing lightyears to make it the frontlines of the conflict.   Her vision faded. The green lightning ball was gone. Thank you, She thought quietly to herself.   “Furry? Are you okay?” Marius asked as Nox and Jaden retunned the platform for the datasphere. “I am thunder; they are lightning,” Was Fureva-Yung before realising she had seen the man in the cloak before, “He is Crinatus Torn.” “What?” “The one in the cloak, “She pointed at her tattoo, “He was my security officer.” “What? Really?”   Behind them, trusting the group’s investment in Fureva-Yung revelation, Nox silently walked to the platform. This was her first good chance to upload to the datasphere and truly become a being of energy. As her foot made it onto the platform, Marius' hand on her shoulder drew her back.   “Ho, ho! What are you sneaking about doing? That things dangerous.” “I wasn’t sneaking,” She replied indignantly, which was true. He would not have seen her if she’d tried to hide her actions. At the moment, she hadn’t thought to, “Jaden and I worked out what this does. It can send you places, and right now, we have it tuned to the datasphere.” “So you were going to upload to the datasphere?” “No, I’m going to upload to the datasphere.” She looked around the group, now staring at her like she was insane. “Don’t look at me like that. I’m not needed here. You all are. Jaden’s busy building a community, and Fureva-Yung is well on finding her past. She just said so. Marius is fine now, he has Temila, and they can look after the community. I’m the only one not needed, and who knows what I can find out in the datasphere. Maybe Cerelon, maybe the answer to the blue people, maybe the answer to the Spire network. I have to know.” “You are needed. We need you,” Marius said, but it seemed to Nox she could talk him around. “I need you,” Fureva-Yung said, and Nox turned to the big woman. The look that passed between them made Nox almost give up her idea. “What a stupid, petty idea! Under no circumstances will you be doing anything as crazy as uploading yourself!” Jaden exclaimed belligerently, demanding her way. “You don’t get to say that,” Nox said in a low voice, all thoughts of giving up gone, “I’ve thought this through. This makes sense. You don’t get to tell me what to do anymore.”    

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.                                                    

22. Building Up

Tilted Spire Timetable     In the state between wakefulness and sleep, Nox drifted. The triangular layout of the Spire was replaced by another triangular building, larger in footprint than the spire but not as tall. For a moment, her near unconscious mind accepted the vision as an artefact of a dream and something made up from the day's recollections. In her mind, she moved through the main doors of the triangular building into the dimly lit and silent space. She stood at her Father’s side, uncomfortable and shy. They walked up to the altar, where the priest waited to accept their offering of shins, spare parts and plans for new inventions. She hated it here. She hated how the priests stared at her, waiting for her to do something wrong. She hated the oppressive quiet brought on by seeming piety and false humility. Most of all, she hated her father’s nervous tension. She could feel it in his stiff gait, the tight grasp he kept on her arm so she couldn’t escape.   Nox’s eyes blinked open, and she sat up, surprised by the realisation. In that state between awake and dreaming, she’d remembered the old Temple of the Devotees of Erinai back in Cerelon, a building she hadn’t visited since her father had ceased to be able to catch her. With her waking mind, she recognised the similarities between the old temple (old even when the Devotees took it over) and the Spire. Laying back down again, Nox compared the two buildings. They were equilateral triangles at their base. While the temple was twice as big, the Spire lacked a hexagonal wall, though she admitted they could be buried underground. Otherwise, they were both ancient buildings, repurposed millennia after.   She contemplated the relationship of the Spire to Cerelon, the transport network that started at the Endoval towers and may well end in the field in front of the Spire. Thinking about the connection between the two reminded her of Fureva-Yung’s tattoo, a triangle of dots connected by thin lines. Marius had also seen something like it in the larger Endoval tower on a projection of the town. Later, he’d thought the tattoo and the cross over the temple was a map of some sort. If that was true, did it point to two other locations? One to the north and one to the east?   With these thoughts, she finally drifted to sleep, waking the following day in the centre of a building site.   With a sense of purpose, the whole community put effort into building their new home. For the next four days, a squad of the best builders created more housing while others, under Jaden's guidance, started new public buildings like a workshop and healing hall. There was a lot of excitement about a pub as Yitti, Alton, and even Temila were deep in conversations about a distillery from salvaged parts. Temila and Walara, a general farm hand from Cerelon’s Tilled Messa, planned an apothecary garden and farm a short distance from town. They’d found a good stretch of land beside a natural swale in the land that collected rainwater and stopped nutrients from being washed away.   In the Spire the ground floor was finally cleared of the last building supplies, and Marius found a clever cypher that would improve his eyesight. I want to be there when you install this, Nox said, knowing that such a useful cypher would interest Marius. That’s why I’m learning all this medical stuff, to help you. Out of the question, He thought adamantly, trying to leave and finish the conversation. Nox would not be put off. We worry when you go out adding cyphers to yourself. What if it goes wrong? What if you’re attacked mid-installation? Marius expression was mutinous. It’s unnatural and… embarrassing…people won’t accept it. You share your entire body with Temila, but implanting your cyphers makes you squirm? Marius had nothing to say, but it looked like she’d crossed a boundary between them. She tried again. Look, for one thing, it's part of who you are. Though you are, on occasion, embarrassing, you are only doing what your nature allows. For another thing, you’ll want to tell Temila eventually, won’t you?   This really depressed Marius and the mutinous fight went out of him. The fact that, eventually Temila would have to know... everything, had been gnawing at him. I’m very worried about when Temila finds out, He confessed, I’m afraid to tell her in case she…, He couldn’t finish the thought, but images of rejection repeatedly circled through his mind. I’m her friend, Nox suggested, She’s known about me most of my life. I could talk to her about it. What do you think she would say?   Nox had never read Temila’s mind. She had no idea what she would think. Risina has asked what Nox had thought of Temila, and she remembered times when Temila had gone out of her way to look after others, used her intelligence not to make herself richer, but to make other people’s lives better. Wasn’t it more how Temila acted than what she thought more important? I think she’d worry that you’re hurting yourself… But I’m not…Marius tried to respond but couldn't get the words out. He hated the thought of Temila trying to persuade him away from this path. Temila knows about the human body and infections, Nox said, seeing the struggle in Marius in him and allowing him to keep his secrets, I can tell her I’ll be there to make it safe. I can tell her you know what you’re doing.   He did know what he was doing. Years of practice had shown him what he could achieve. He also knew the pain of rejection when, as a teen, he'd innocently boasted of his first implant to his Mother. Her horror and disgust taught him to keep it secret. It was years before Mother caught him implanting again. The arguments he’d never wanted to be repeated started again, along with the looks of fear, horror and disgust. She would never trust he knew what he was doing.   Ok, kid, you win. Don't tell Temila yet, but when I add this vision implant, you can tag along and... keep an eye on me, He handed her the cypher for safe keeping, and Nox could see, without reading his mind, that Marius would keep his word.   That afternoon, they left their work early and found a quiet place where Marius was sure they wouldn’t be disturbed. Nox cleaned the cypher as best she could before handing it to Marius. Marius’ preparations were to poke around looking for a good place, in this case, beside his eye and cut a slit into his temple before slipping the cypher under his skin. Nox watched on, fascinated as the skin quickly bound to the cypher and closed around the wound. “Amazing. No infection, no rejection, no scarring, no pain…” “Oh, it stings like the dickens, but not for very long. Well, not usually.” Marius interjected, and Nox adjusted her mental notes. “That’s why I’m here. Maybe we can think of ways to make it better.” Marius shook his head in bemusement as Nox went through what she currently knew of local anaesthetics. “You just accept. That’s what I like about you.”   For the rest of the four days, Marius spent his time getting to know the region. He never travelled far. Mostly only as far as a few kilometres before heading back. Occasionally, he had a specific target in mind and would be out all day exploring the last tip of the Endoval Forest or the start of the canyons. By the fourth day, he had set his sights on the nearest shores of the lake.     Yung was bored. For the last four days, she’d moved things clearing up the Spire and moved things helping with the building. She was strong and wanted a challenge to prove her strength. Unfortunately, everyone in the herd was too weak to give her any decent competition. So, she’d given up the work and set her sights high on the peak of the Spire.   Nox found Yung contemplating the climb, her eyes fixed on the summit. Taking the big woman’s arm, she pointed to the tattoo. Lit in the centre of an equilateral triangle was one of three lights. Yung, I’m trying to understand the connection between Cerelon and the Spire. Can you help? I help. I am very helpful. Marius thought your tattoo was a map. Do you remember when this one turned on? She pointed to the far left spot. Always and forever, Yung replied. For as long as she could remember, which they knew from visits to the pyramid, and the memory Nox had shared was not as long as she’d been alive. Not by a long way. O-kay. When did this one go out? In the forest? In the pit? Travelling underground? That one, she stopped Nox, In the stupid box. She gestured with her hand how the transport had recognised her touch. Right. So, we left the area of Cerelon. She now pointed to the lit spot in the centre. So, when did this one light up? Yung pointed back the way they had come five days ago. When we see this, She pointed to the Spire. So the morning they’d seen the Spire for the first time and entered its range. She looked at the other two unlit spots next two to the Spire. What are these? She asked. Don’t know, Yung shook her head, perplexed. For the last four days, Nox worked for Temila pulling weeds and rocks, collecting seeds and drying them for sowing. Now the scent of exploration was in the air. Nox smiled a mischievous smile. Do you want to find them? The same smile slowly lit Yung’s face, Maybe see up there, She pointed back to the Spire. You’re climbing the Spire? Now Nox’s exploration senses were zinging like violin strings, I’ll go too!   Nox ran back inside for the Marius’ knotted rope and a thin twine used by the crafters to make soft furnishings for the houses. When she returned, Yung had equipt herself with a smudge of waxy paste used as grease on now-defunct wagons. She stepped back three or four paces from the base of the Spire and leaned back. Like a wound spring, she leapt up the wall, way above the open doorways and started speeding up the Spire. Fureva-Yung had only shown this speed a couple of times before. Once on the underground bridge to the crystal caves when Marius looked as though he would fall into darkness. At that time, only half the community were present to see her supernatural speed. The second time was the night of the fight with the margr. She’d zipped into the dark so quick that even Nox was hard-pressed to say how fast she’d run around the camp. Now, everyone looked up at the pounding of Yung’s round feet on the metal surface like the striking of a gong. The cheers of surprise and astonishment roared in response as Yung kept her eyes on the peak of the Spire.   She was fifteen metres off the ground when the flat metal surface gave way to a recessed section. Yung stopped, marked the area with the grease and leaned back against the Spire, her hands and feet planted to keep her from sliding. A softly motorised whirl preceded the whole wall opening up and her falling through. She tumbled backwards into the Spire, hitting a rusted railing that groaned and shuddered under the sudden impact. She caught the rail and righted herself, leaning out over a large trapezoidal-shaped room. She was on a catway approximately two metres above the ground. To either side of her door blocked her path. Yung? Are you okay? Came Nox’s voice, thinner and fainter than usual. I am Yung! She replied as if that explained everything. The door opened for you like it did in the transport! Exclaimed the tiny voice. I am Yung. Yes, And this time Yung could hear Nox’s laughter ringing inside her head.   “GREE-GREETINGS COMMANDER…INTRUDER! INTRUDER!...” A computerised voice spoke out from all directions. Occasional sparking and crackling interrupted the message before it finally gave up and fell silent. Outside, Yung could now hear the sound of something tiny clang off the Spire’s metal surface before clattering away. She pushed off the rickety railing brackets, and poked her head out the open door. Catch this, Yung! Nox sent before returning a shiny crystal to the cup of her sling and swinging it above her head. When it released, crystal sailed up into the air trailing a thin line like a wriggling tail. The crystal went high, but Yung caught the light twine thread. Below, Nox was quickly tying the other end to the grappling hook Jaden had made Marius for their exploration of the elevator shaft. You can pull up the rope now. Hook it to something good and strong. Yung didn’t have a lot of options. She found the strongest of the railing uprights and hooked the bottom of that.   Come up, Yung replied when she’d tested it was safe, and Nox started climbing up the long sloping side of the Spire. She’d made it a few metres before her upper body strength gave out, and she hung limply from the rope. I need your strength, Yung, Nox lamented and allowed herself to be hauled up like an exhausted fish the remaining twelve metres. Even then, holding on to the swaying rope had been all she could do. At the top, she sat, looking out at the view, and tried to return circulation to her arms.   At the lake, kilometres away, Marius was investigating the shoreline. The water was fresh, cool and clean, growing various weeds and algae below its surface. As he watched silently, a fish jumped out of the water after a tasty dragonfly, and he thought fishing might be an excellent way to feed the community. He then spied something winking in the sunlight. As he waded out the few metres required to see the thing, a roar of applause and happy cheers erupted from back at the Spire. Even from this distance, he could see Yung running up the Spire to stop partway up. “That looks like fun!” He said to himself as he watched her fall backwards through an open door. It was time to go back and see what the others were up to, but first, the shiny! A huge crystal larger than him floated just below the water's surface. He could make out a metal platform and beams within its sparking surface. The whole thing looked heavy, though it bobbed along in the wake he created by his movement. It was certainly too big for one person to carry alone. He dragged it ashore and promised to send a working group to come to pick it up before heading back to the Spire.   He arrived back just as Nox was getting feeling back in her arms and waved them loosely in his direction. Taking a similar run up as Yung, he sprinted for the Spire. Leaping up, he made it a little higher than Nox had with the rope before losing momentum and squeaking all the way down again.   “Can you send down the rope, please?” He called, and a cheery-faced Nox and Yung gathered the rope and threw one end back down to him. With the rope, he made it up alone and soon stood on the catwalk beside Yung. “Look what Yung found!” Exclaimed the ever-curious Nox, who now forgot about her aching arms and went to investigate the left-hand door. Marius looked out at the spectators gathered at the base of the Spire. Temila was there, shading her eyes from the glare of the sunny day. “Hey, Temila! I can see your house from here,” He said, and though it was impossible, even with his enhanced sight, he was sure she rolled her eyes.   “Yung, I need your help,” Nox said a few moments later after discovering the door she’d chosen had no handle, “This place likes you. Put your hand on the door and see if that works again.” Yung was about to drop down to the room below but stopped to assist the little one. “My magic hand or the other one?” She asked, gesturing with her right as it seemed it was the one that held power. “The magic one, “Nox agreed wholeheartedly, and Jung pressed her palm against the door's smooth surface. There was a grumble of ill-used electrical motors and grinding from the door, but it slowly slid aside.   Beyond it, the long room was filled with small empty alcoves quickly disappearing into the gloom. “Follow me, Captain Furry,” Marius said, stepping over Nox crouched in the doorway and entering the room. His cat's eye cypher engaged, Marius could see clearly to the back of the room, where it ended in another sliding door and a curved wall. The curved wall was reminiscent of the elevator shaft wall on the ground. He quickly gestured to Yung to try her magic hand once more.   The door started sliding open before jamming on something above. A cascade of sparks rained them harmlessly as Yung seized the door in both hands and attempted to pull it open. Her movement jarred the mechanism, and the door rolled shut again under her hands. Yung huffed in disappointment. “Don’t worry, we’ll get Jaden her to put the sparks back in,” Marius assured her with a grin.   As Marius explored the room, Yung was drawn back to the empty alcoves. Like those found in the pyramid, she placed her magic hand against the smooth metal of the alcove. Instantly, she was no longer in the Spire but in another space filled with faces. She didn’t know any of the individuals represented, but their presence wasn’t disturbing quite the opposite. It was a comforting feeling, a sense of belonging to something much more significant than herself.   The alcove switched off, and Yung stumbled back, perplexed and a little sad. Watching close by, Nox deduced what had occurred. You connected to something. What was it like? It was faces. Did you know them? No, Yung paused and thought again, But I know them. Her expression was so sad that Nox reached out a small hand in comfort. It felt good? Yes, Yung nodded, It felt like home.   The door on the other side of the catwalk slid open as they stood in silent conversation. Through the door rolled an automaton. Nox ducked out of sight behind Yung just as the automaton raised one of its arms and ejected a spray of metal discs. The ten-centimetre disc streaks across the catwalk, embedding its sharp edges into the wall. One struck Yung’s shoulder, sending a grey weakening fuzz down her right arm. “Magic hand,” Yung cried as Marius stepped in front batting away discs with his armoured hands. One disc ricochetted off Marius’ fist and back at the automaton, ringing its casing like a bell.   Seeing the automaton was distracted by Yung and Marius, Nox snuck out onto the catwalk and edged towards the rogue robot. If she could just touch it, maybe she could turn the murderous thing off. With her other hand, Yung whipped her chain out from around her body in an attempt to bind the automaton. The grip with her off-hand was clumsy, and the chain slithered off the metal casing. A glancing blow on the automaton from Marius made it turn its attention to him. With its other metal arm, it tried a claw attack, but it was far too slow. Marius swayed back, allowing the arm to go past. He swatted it with his off-hand, pushing the whole automaton off balance. Seeing her chance, Nox forgot about trying to turn off the robot. From her low position, she pushed on the rollers of the automaton, tipping it over. With the door open, there was no wall to stop the automaton from falling the 15 metres to the ground where the Dritmen took great joy in tearing the machine apart.   Yung turned her head to look at the vicious piece of metal poking out of her shoulder. Contemptuously she pulled it free and threw it out the door with the rest of the automaton. “Here, sit down,” Nox gently took Yung’s hand and guided her into a sitting position so she could see the wound. As Nox bandaged Yung, Marius checked out the room beyond the second door where the automaton had come. There he found a second automaton, its face plate removed but an intact deadly razor arm weapon attached. He quickly dismantled the arm, collecting a few parts and a magnetic cypher.   After applying one of Temila's healing compounds and binding the wound close as Marius had shown her, Yung stretched out her hand. “Magic hand is back,” She said with satisfaction, and Nox beamed. “Good, I feel we’re going to need it.” They joined Marius in investigating the second room. Beyond the alcoves set up for the automatons, an l-shaped wall hid a shiny metal cylinder. On scanning it, Nox realised it was a hub or conduit for a lot of data. Something in this silent, seemingly empty building was thinking very hard. Intrigued, Nox touched the cylinder and was at first surprised by a powerful mind. Begone! It demanded, trying to push her out. She had had many scarier things than a disembodied voice tell her what to do, so she pushed back and ordered as forceful as possible. I am the interface of Commander Fureva-Yung. Let me pass.   Instantly, one mind split into two. The first was delighted to hear Fureva-Yung’s name. The second became hostile in response to hearing Fureva-Yung’s presence. A static hum started building. SNAP! The energy discharged, sending a concussive force out of the cylinder into the room. Nox, already sitting on the floor, ducked out of the way of the blast, Marius’ danger sense doing the same for him. Yung, unfortunately, was thrown against the opposite wall.   “Magic hand?” Yung asked after the bells had stopped ringing in her head and touched the cylinder. The whole unit fell apart at her touch. “Sorry, Yung, I think I broke it,” Nox admitted, but Yung would not hear of it. “Magic hand broke it.”   They moved to a small space behind the elevator shaft piled with boxes. Marius had already started scavenging and found two cyphers. Beyond the boxes, the grizzly remains of a skeleton lay. With all curiosity of her new vocation, Nox crouched down beside the skeleton. It was of a slight individual who had been shorter than the average human in life. The temporal bone that protected and held the eyes in place bulged out further than expected, giving the impression the individual in life had enormous eyes. On the bones, she saw signs of trauma, nicks, breakages and stains where bruising had occurred, but she also saw boney ridges at the joints that showed the person had suffered from malnutrition and starvation before the end. Delicate hands that lay in the skeleton’s lap ended in bony claws. Held in their clawed hands, a long piece of metal lay as if this had been their last weapon.   “They had suffered a lot before they died,” Nox finally said, pointing out what she’d learnt. It was hard to imagine, amongst all this seemingly magical technology, that a humanoid life could have come to such a tragic end, “In the end, I don’t think your spaceship was such a very happy one,” She said, turning to Yung.

21.Changing priorities

The Tilted Spire Timetable   Fureva-Yung sat passively as Temila and Nox treated her acid burns as best they could. From her collection, Temila pulled out an ointment that stopped infection and encouraged healing. Nox using Marius’ first aid to wrap out the wound to help keep it clean. As she worked, she wondered about the intelligence that was Fureva. Was it still sleeping? Did it still exist at all?   Finishing her work, she reached out her mind to the intelligence that Furevea and found a jumbled mess of random thoughts. Like leaves in the wind, they whipped around without purpose or meaning, and it was hard to determine if the mind that owned the memories was asleep or as broken as their thoughts. In the time and space between minds, Nox hung, trying to make sense of it all. A more vivid memory caught her attention and, with a thought, drew herself to it. Like a rip, the memory pulled her in and into its depths.   It was a clear day, and the air was full of quiet expectant talk. All around her, the amphitheatre was filled with beings from across the galaxy. Some species she recognised, some she didn’t. It didn’t matter. They were all part of the great Ferrian Compact. They and everyone in the amphitheatre were in the slate grey and dark blue of the Ferrian Galactic Navy. It only heightened the feeling of belonging and being on the brink of some great enterprise. She looked to her right and saw her friend’s insectoid face reflect the same feeling she had.   A blast of horns and the crowd hushed as uniformed beings decorated with gold walked out onto the stage. Her uniform was currently unadorned, as was everyone in the crowd, but she knew that wouldn’t be for long.   “Newly enlisted,” Started the most gaudily decorated of the beings on the stage, “Thank you for doing your part in protecting the Ferrian Compact!” There was a pause, and the crowd cheered. Thousands of voices shouted their agreement as one, and sent a shiver of pride up her spine. “Ever since the Sacristans unjustly attacked our colony, we have been taking the fight to them. You will drive them back by your brave sacrifice on the frontlines of this cause! We have already laid claim to dozens of worlds they unjustly asserted control over!” Applause, cheers of congratulation and roars of celebration…   The memory faded, and Nox felt herself fall back, landing sharply on her butt. The community of the Spire resolved itself around her. She blinked, remembered she wasn’t a member of the Ferrian Compact and focused on Fureva-Yung’s thoughts in front of her.   Pride. Regret. Confusion. Emanate from the slow mind of Yung before, Drink water. Eat cup. Nox sighed. The thoughtful Fureva-Yung was missing. I’ll talk to you later, She said to herself.   Marius had not given up working on the door leading to the circular room. Now with the inner workings of the door exposed, it was easy for him to lift a latch and push the door across. Beyond it, a three-metre circular shaft rose into the darkness above his head. He could see the faint outline of three other doors like the one he stood at, equidistant from each other. He looked down and saw the top of a capsule approximately two metres from the floor he stood on. The capsule looked angled into the side of the capsule as if it had fallen a great distance to finally lose control, landing wedged into the shaft wall. Where the capsule tilted into the wall, Marius saw the outline of a hatch. A possible way in, with a little applied strength. It was time to see how Fureva-Yung was.   He found her moving metal sheeting for a group of community members planning small permanent housing. “Hey Furry, I have a job with your name on it,” He said to the scarred and burned back, “Are you sure you should be working so hard?” “Must lift heavy things,” Yung replied to no one in particular, “Yung lift, Yung strong.” “Err, yes, you lift…over there,” Marius turned to Nox, watching from a short distance away, “She all right?” Nox thought a moment. No, their friend was not all right, but neither was she unwell, “The wise part of her has…gone to sleep.” She replied with a shrug. “Shock, simple shock,” Marius diagnosed as they watched her, seemingly without thought, grab a loose canvas and tear a hole in its centre. She stuck her head through the hole and covered her torso with the makeshift poncho. “Hey Fureva, if you’re not doing anything we could sure use your help,” Yitti called, and Yung turned slowly in response. “I help,” She said and lifted a metal panel that two men were struggling with over her head.   “O-kay,” Marius now turned back to Nox and Jaden, “I need you two to look at this.” “Not the acid bubble, I think we need to leave that alone for a while until we have a safe way to siphon it off,” Jaden said, her eyes straying to what Yitti and the others were up to. “No, it's the shaft...” He started before Nox interrupted. “You got it open!” She squealed in excitement before running back into the shadows of the Spire.   Jaden followed, and Marius took up the rear, taking the opportunity to find a good metal pole and a coil of rope from community supplies. When he arrived at the shaft, Nox was already scanning the capsule and confirming what he’d already suspected. “The capsule has pushed the wall out and is wedged in place. I wonder what’s beyond it? How far do you think this shaft goes down?” Nox flipped over and looked up the shaft, “Do you think it goes all the way to the top of the Spire?” “Only one way to find out,” Marius replied, tying knots down the length of the rope. Nox scrambled out of the way, and he lay the pole down on the ground in front of the door and tied the rope firmly to it. The walls on either side of the pole kept it from being pulled into the shaft and allowed the rope to hang down to the capsule below.   With Jaden’s spear and Nox’s floating light, Marius climbed down the rope to the roof of the capsule. Now he could see the capsule was crushed into the wall, the hatch crumpled and bent shut. It would take more than just his strength to get it open. Huffing and puffing from above told him Jaden was on her way down. She looked at the capsule's damage on its last trip down.   “I don’t think I can fix this thing,” She admitted, “but if we can move it out of the shaft, I could probably rig up a manual platform, possibly something with magnets?” “Hmm,” Marius looked up the shaft. They couldn’t go down, not yet anyway, “From your bits and pieces, do you think you could make a grappling hook?” He asked Jaden. She nodded, “Made a few in my time with less.” She climbed back up the rope and went scrounging through the supplies the community had sorted through. Then she saw what Yitti and the other were ‘building’.   “Hi Yitti, “ She called to the builder's makeshift foreman, “What do you think you are making?” “Jaden. Could sure do with your expertise,” He admitted, looking in over his head. “I can tell,” She nodded, putting together the scrap she selected for the grappling hook and joined the working bee, “You’ve done well to stop it from falling on your heads thus far.”     They’re trying to do something good, Jaden, Nox commented in her mind, Be kind, be nice.   Jaden’s stiff back suddenly loosened as the thought of a job being done badly was replaced with the more generous thought of how proactive the dritmen and other residents of the Buckles were. “Have you any bracing planned to stop those walls from falling outwards on you?” “They won’t hold themselves in place?” Said Yitti, whose experience in building was confined to the winding passages of the Dritvein Quarry. “Like a house of cards, sure. You have the right idea, though. Can I?” She gestured to the partly constructed dwelling. “Sure,” Yitti replied, relieved and made room for Jaden in the discussion group.   Nox looked on as the building crew seemed to find a second wind and soon had two standing walls with a third on the way. Unfortunately, even with Jaden’s guidance, they were not fast enough for Yung. Her focused doggedness to move the large sheet of metal had caused a backlog right where the first building was going up. “Um…Fureva-Yung, I wonder if you could dig a hole for us,” Jaden suggested, “Say, a trench from the lake to the village?” The lake was several kilometres away across the roll green fields of the valley, and even Yung’s mind baulked at the task. “Marius is good digger, she should dig,” Was Jung’s reply. “R-ight…” Jaden stretched out the syllable while thinking of another task Fureva-Yung could do. She then remembered the grappling hook in her hand, “Here, a very important task. Take this into Marius.”   Fureva-Yung dropped her latest piece of metal with a clang and took the grappling hook in her huge hand. Without a word, she started back inside the rooms discovered only that morning. Nox went to follow when she saw Temila grab a basket of food and follow after Fureva-Yung. Shadowing Temila, Nox contemplated the relationship between Marius and Temila. Temila was one of her dearest friends, a person that not just her but the whole community relied upon. Marius, on the other hand... She saw how hard he worked to be someone other people wanted him to be. But in doing so, she wondered if he ever let anyone really know him.   “Hey, good looking!” Marius said as Nox came around the corner. He’d just noticed Temila and the basket, and his face had lit up at the sight of her. Doubts over Marius dissolved in Nox’s mind. In some things, he was stupid. But, he’d never intentionally hurt Temila, of that she was sure. “I brought lunch,” Temila’s face lit up in return as she proudly presented the simple meal of fresh greens, herbs and spiced insects. “Hey, dinner and a show!” Stupid, Nox thought before saying out loud, “What sort of show do you think Temila is?” Marius realised he’d said something offensive but wasn’t sure what. “She’s so good-looking,” He qualified, which wasn’t much better. Nox caught Temila’s eye and was glad to see a spark of mischief and shared sisterly knowledge. Somewhere at the back of Nox’s mind, another doubt dissolved away as she realised that no matter what happened between Marius and Temila, she and Temila would always be friends. “I’m flattered…I guess,” Temila's look returned to Marius as they sat down to share the meal together. You’re safe…for now, Nox thought to Marius, making him almost choke on his crickets.   While the others ate, Yung stood looking down the cylinder at the capsule stuck two metres down. With a step, she leapt from the doorway and landed heavily on the top of the cylinder. If nothing proved the capsule was stuck fast, it was almost half a tonne of Fureva-Yung landing on it. The shock of her landing did jar a wall panel loose from higher up the cylinder. With a clanging smashing roar, it tumbled toward Yung. She casually stepped aside and allowed the panel to smash into the capsule. The bell shape rang, echoing down the cylinder and into places unknown. Yung now had a handy metal bludgeoning device that she used repeatedly on the twisted hatch. “Ur…Furry. You better stop that,” Marius called between ringing metal clangs against metal. Maybe she’ll break into the capsule, Nox thought, looking over the edge to watch Yung at work. Unfortunately, Yung's efforts led to only dents, and Marius gained her attention enough to hand down his crowbar. “Temila, is there anything medicinal you can do for Fureva-Yung?” He asked, describing the fugue state she now exhibited. Temila shook her head sadly, “In cases such as this, there is no treatment but time.”   A wrenching scream of metal echoed up from the capsule before the bright sound of snapping metal. Nox, who had been watching Yung progress, clapped once in congratulation for getting the hatch open. She forgot about her lunch and stood up. “Fureva-Yung, catch me,” Without a hint of doubt, she jumped off the edge and into the hole. Fureva-Yung caught the slight figure of Nox easily and placed her down on top of the capsule. Together they looked into the small empty room below them. Sitting on the edge of the hatch, Nox swung her feet into the hatch, “Lower me down?” Nox asked, and Yung took her outstretched hands and gently lowered her to the capsule floor.   With the tilt of the Spire going one way and the wedge capsule sloping the other way, the floor in the capsule was almost level. The tiny room, less than two metres wide, was empty except for a door buckled and bent open. Leaning her weight against the remaining door, Nox stared into the darkness below, scanning ahead to see what her eyes could not. The cylinder stretched away beyond her senses could reach. More doorways appeared at regular intervals hinting at the floors yet to explore. And that was it. Hints, glimpses through cracks and potential discoveries. With a grudging acceptance, Nox asked to be pulled up, and Yung sent down the chain.   Meanwhile, Marius had taken a section of the knotted rope and grappled it to the lip of the next door up. He stood on a plank angled across the cylinder as he’d been straining to open the door. Nox shimmied up the rope beside him, eager to see if any progress could be made on higher levels. She scanned through the door to a new unexplored room with hints of movement. More of the metal lobsters, no doubt. “Are you sure you can’t see the door's locking mechanism and unlatch it with your mind?” Marius asked once more, to Nox’s frustration. “No.” “Maybe I can bring some more of that acid up on my diamond glass….” “And burn yourself like Fureva-Yung?” Nox sighed, “I think we have to face it. Right now, we can’t get any further up or down. Maybe when Jaden has time to get the power running again?.” They both looked at the door, the walls and the capsule below them and silently agreed. At least for the time being, exploration of any sort would have to wait.   Outside, the first building of the new community was finished. Jaden, Yitti and the construction team were standing back admiring their work. It was a very simple dwelling with two rooms, windows and a door. But it was well built and would keep two couples or a family warm and safe from the elements. “Say, what happened to Fureva-Yung? We could have done with her strong back,” Yitti commented, looking around. “I gave her something to give to Marius. She hasn’t come back,” Jaden replied, making notes on how they could improve the next cabin. “Marius skiving off all the work, again?” He laughed, knowing if there was work to do, Marius was not afraid to get stuck-in, “When we’re making such strong little cottages.”   Jaden warmed herself in the pride she heard in Yitti’s voice and the comments of the people around her. It had been a whole community effort. Even those not directly involved in putting up the walls or roof of the cabin were busy making furniture or providing food and drink for the workers. It was the first concrete step towards normalcy for a group of people exhausted by travelling, deprivation and hardship.   From out of the gloom of the Spire, Jaden spied Marius and Nox, downcast and silent. Fureva-Yung, empty-eyed and directionless, followed along behind. Nox wandered off towards her father, making chairs, while Marius headed towards her and Yitti. “Speak of the devil, and he shall appear!” Yitti quoted welcoming Marius into the group, “Got bored of exploring the tower?” “No,” Marius confessed, “We can’t get any further without power to unlock the doors. We’ll have to put exploring the rest of the Spire on hold until Jaden has some free time.” “Great, that means you and Fureva-Yung can help us. We’re about to start on number two.”   Livaanar sat in the sun stripping thin saplings. He used the sapling wood and strips of green bark to make stools, small tables and even frameworks for beds. It was a job his clever fingers were well suited to, and for once in Nox’s life, he looked like he was enjoying his work. Maybe because nothing was expected of it except to work. It didn’t need to show originality or complex knowledge of his craft to the glory of Erinai. There was no one to impress except himself. Nox joined him, stripping the bark from the saplings with her sharp worm's tooth knife and curling it ready for use.   Back in Cerelon, Nox had been unable to deal with her father’s expectations for her. As a result, she'd fled their home at every opportunity. The threat or disapproval of Erinai had been a physical presence in their home. He had gone to great pains to impress upon her the importance of gaining the devotee and, therefore, Erinai’s favour. Now though, as they sat in amicable silence, Nox was reminded of that unseen presence and wondered if Erinai weren’t one of the beings they’d met on their way to the Spire.   “Father,” Her curiosity finally overcoming the last of her timidity, “What do the Erinai look like?” He didn’t answer straight away. Nox refrained from reading his mind but was sure the slight smile on his lips and the shine lighting his eyes that her question had pleased him. “Erinai is one. A being or spirit that protects machines and lives throughout the datasphere.” He said gently, making sure not to make eye contact with Nox, as she used to prefer it. “But what do they look like? Are they spirits, or do they have human form?” She persisted, and her father’s small smile disappeared. “The devotees protect such information about Erinai jealously. Only those trained into the priesthood know such things.” “But you worship Erinai. Don’t they teach you anything about them?” “A great deal about the history of the order, their purpose and something of the nature of Erinai. As to how they look, it’s not considered important for…lower ranked members as they’d never get the opportunity to meet Erinai personally.”   Nox scrunched up her nose at such bullying tactics. Withholding information to make yourself seem better or more impressive reminded her too much of Cerelon of old. Silently, she vowed that if this was a new community, there would be a new way of thinking about information.   Excusing himself from the heavy work of building cottages, Marius joined Livaanar and Nox making furniture. he chatted sociably with Livaanar as he set to work on a chair that followed the sloping ground inside the Spire. With two short legs at the front and two long legs at the back, the chair sat level and kept its sitter from falling back down the slope. Or at least that’s what Marius said. No one else could see a use for the ridiculous little chair while the third cottage on flat ground was going up. Of course, where Marius was, Temila soon showed up with the evening meal of wild greens, venison and a small amount of boiled wild grains. She looked out over the three cottages, a happy expression suffusing her entire being. “It feels nice here. We’re going to have a home.” She said, glancing over at Marius, much to Livaanar disapproval. “Maybe we’ll get back to Cerelon,” Marius commented. Temila shook her head, “Right now, I don’t mind if we never go back. There’s a real feeling that we’re building towards something here.” She leaned to Marius, “This will be our town.”   Nox moved away to eat her food, a habit of old made more useful when she could no longer endure her father’s silent judgment of the burgeoning romance. She was going to have to do something about that, and she may have if she hadn’t been distracted by Risina sitting beside her. Nox hadn’t said more than a dozen words to the woman since their watch before joining the two caravans. She knew such a woman would not do anything without an ulterior motive and waited in silence for Risina to start the conversation.   “You’re friends with Temila, aren’t you?” Risina asked, eventually breaking Nox’s train of thought. She was sure Risina wanted to know Marius’ plans for the Spire and what he hoped to find. Instead, Temila had somehow caught the great woman’s attention. Nox wondered what could be Risina’s plans for Temila. “Yes, for the longest time, she was my only friend…beside Jaden, “ She replied innocently as her mind tried to get ahead of this woman and her machinations. “What sort of person is she?” “She’s smart. Zin always said she knew more about plants and their uses than he did at her age,” Nox replied, thinking back to the old apothecary that had taken Temila on as apprentice several years previous, “She’s kind. She was kind to me when others didn’t bother, but it’s more than being kind. She cares for others regardless of their position or money. You may know she delivered treatment to the ill up in Highside Redoubt but did you know she did the same for those down in the Buckles? I think she’s going to be very important to people here. Her healing skills, her knowledge of what is good to eat in the wild and how to prepare it. I don’t know what we would do without her.”   Risina listened politely, and when Nox looked to have finished, thanked her for her opinion and made to leave. “Why? What is Temila to you?” Nox asked, and Risina slow sat back down, her eye darting left and right, looking for a response. “Why…I agree…she’s essential to our little community, and…I’d like to get to know who our future leaders are,” She replied brokenly in a way unlike her usual smooth and practised poise. It was a red flag to Nox, who instantly searched the woman’s thoughts for the real reason behind her interest.   It sounds like she could be a good match for Marius…   Nox sat back, thrown harder by the thought than she had by Fureva-Yung’s memory. Suddenly a thousand different incidents, phrases, and actions all made sense to her and rolled out of her mouth before she could stop them. “Are you his mother?!” It wasn’t a question. “Why, child, what would make you think that?” She said, smoothly falling back into her condescending attitude. “When the automatons attacked, and the North gate was broken, Marius leapt across the heads of automatons to get into Highside Redoubt. He never said why he needed to, but we all thought there must have been someone he cared for. But who? He was the union leader of the Dritmen who hated the Highsiders.” "Oh, and your last names are the same only turned around! Why didn't I see that before?!" “And then his mother’s sword, the sword he was so proud of. He nearly died to keep that sword, but when we fought the worm, he just handed it to you, knowing you would know how to use it better than he did. How did he know?” “And then, when the worm swallowed him, you attacked it like…him…or maybe like a mother seeing their son eaten by a worm. You even look a little alike when he’s not covering himself in make-up…” The stream of facts stopped abruptly when Nox realised she’d mentioned something she’d promised to keep to herself. But, if his mother knew, then maybe she knew why he felt the need to use it. “Do you know why he does that? Why does he hide?”   Risina was equally as struck by Nox's leap of intuition and stared at the young woman in open surprise. “You…are very clever….look, could we talk in private?” She leaned in as if to suggest a whispered conversation. Now pleased to have surprised such an influential person as Risina, Nox did something she’d never done outside of her few friends. Yes, this is private, She opened a link to Risina and spoke into her mind.   If the older woman had been surprised by Nox’s announcement of Marius’ parentage, she paled as she heard the young woman in her mind. To her credit, Risina rallied. Ah, yes, this will do. Marius doesn’t know I know who he is, and I’d like to keep it that way. I’d appreciate it if you keep our little conversation to yourself. But why the make-up? It’s all part of it. He is hiding from his mother. Hiding from everyone, Nox rolled her eyes at ease with this woman of power and influence.   Over at the furniture-making station, Marius kissed Temila and stood to go. As usual, he walked out into the darkness alone, and Nox drew Risina’s eyes to his departure. In some things, he really is quite stupid. No kidding.   Jaden walked through the camp, enjoying the feeling of a good day’s work. It wasn’t something she’d felt for a long while, even before travelling, but now her knowledge and skills were being tested, and they were not found wanting. She saw Yung passed out on her back beside one of the campfires. She’d had a big day, and it would be only a matter of time before they knew what damage the acid had done. Until then, sleep and time were Fureva-Yung’s best treatments. She saw Nox talking animatedly with Risina. She wasn’t sure what to think of that and was about to head over when she noticed Marius leave Temila alone. A mischievous spark lit Jaden’s mind, and she walked over and sat beside the apothecary. “I wanted to talk to you about natural dyes. What plants should you find and how to use them to dye something…say…pink?” “What an interesting thought,” Temila considered, “Can I ask what it’s for? It may make a difference to the results if I know what you’re thinking of dying.” “How about a half-tonne woman in a canvas poncho?” Jaden replied, gesturing back to the snoring Yung. Temila laughed, “Okay, but after I give them to you, you didn’t get them from me. Fureva-Yung scares me.” “Deal,” Jaden grinned.   Later that night, Yung awoke with a start. Alton was on watch then, and they spent the time arm wrestling. Alton was not fit for cabin building the next day.   Nox spent the night under the stars mulling over all that had happened that day. In front of her, the Spire reached into the night sky, a black wedge against the stars. They had been stymied today, but tomorrow or maybe a week or month from now, she would find out what mysteries lay behind those stubborn doors to the Spire.          

20. The Spire

The Tilted Spire Timetable
    From high on the last of the rolling hills, the green valley of the Tilted Spire lay before the caravan of refugees of Cerelon. Regardless of what they had been two week before, they now look upon a rich land dominated by the mysteriously angled Spire as one group. Behind them and to their far left, the last of the Edonval Forest reached out a green finger to stop abruptly at a deep canyon that scarred the land heading northwest. A stretch of green plains lay between it and the shores of a vast lake system to the east. The lakes stretched away east as the canyon did to the west, hinting at more chances for exploration and discovery. South of the lakes and off to their far right, a dry place of tablelands and mesas loomed. But these were only the outer frame of the picture the caravaneers were seeing. A well-watered land, filled with game, free of foreboding forests filled with margr. And at its centre, the Spire, a colossal construction more than a hundred and fifty metres high, angled over it all at an odd thirty degrees. From their position, they could see it was three-sided, with those sides running parallel until twenty metres from the top, where they converged into a sharp point. There were also signs that the Spire extended into the ground, with only a fraction of its actual height showing above. Compared to the naturally carved and sculpted landscapes around it, the Spire was sleek, sharp and thoroughly alien.   To everyone, it was an impressive sight. Nothing in their previous lives or since travelling compared to the Spire. Jaden glanced down at the compass. Its needle pointed down and directly at the tower. Regardless of its origins, the compass had unerringly pointed this way, and they had followed. For those who knew about the compass's existence, it was now time for the trust they had put in the robed stranger to be repaid.   “How do we know that thing’s pointing at the Spire,” Marius asked as he noticed Jaden put it away, “It could be pointing to something beyond the Spire.”. “See for yourself,” She said, handing him the glass ball. He moved off a few hundred paces and tried the compass again. When he returned, he handed the ball back to Jaden without a word. “Pointed directly at the Spire?” “Directly,” He said, and with a wave and a shout, got the caravan moving once more.   That day they travelled the grasslands, the Spire all they could talk about. As they got closer, a large black rectangle was clear on one side, a doorway inviting them in. “I think it is a great spear, thrown by a mighty warrior,” Said Fureva-Yung to Nox as they walked alongside. “Oh? Wouldn’t the spearhead be in the ground then, not stuck up in the air?” Asked Nox, gesturing to the Spire needle-like point. “Ah, not if it has been thrust through from the other side,” Fureva-Yung said, gesturing an upward jab with an imagined spear. “It’s obviously a spaceship,” Marius interjected. “You think everything we find is a spaceship,” Nox scoffed. “Have I been proven wrong yet?” He replied with his usual bravado “Once or twice,” Nox smiled, “But if anything were from somewhere else, it would be that.” “Precisely!”     Mid-morning, the caravan stopped by an outcropping of rock distinctly artificial in construction. Marius started marshalling Fureva-Yung and the Dritmen to begin digging around the structure to find out what it was. “You want to dig in the dirt for a lump of masonry when we have that in front of us?” Nox pointed to the Spire. “Don’t you want to see where it goes? It may be the end of that old railway we left the pit on.” “Sure,” She had to admit the extent of that unique transportation system intrigued her, “But the Spire! We can come back to check this up later. It’s not far away.” “We have our whole lives to check out the Spire.” Marius countered, “Why not spend half an hour digging this up?” Nox shook her head in exasperation. She could see that Fureva-Yung was already making a pile of cut turf to one side, and even Jaden looked down into the growing hole with interest. “You stay here and dig in the mud. I’m going to the Spire.” She said and started walking away. “Don’t go by yourself,” Marius called, stepping up to intercept her.“It’s too dangerous.” Nox looked around at the more than thirty individuals that now surrounded her. The Dritmen, the Ghan’s and her friends were staying to dig the hole. The rest, including her father and Risina, looked ready to move off. I’m not alone, Marius, She said telepathically. Marius scowled. Over the past few days, he’d become accustomed to the caravan doing as he commanded. He moved them off each morning, and they stopped on his say-so each night. His eyes flicked from Nox to Risina, watching on with interest. He sighed. "Look, can you just scan the ground and tell us what’s down there at least?" He walked back to the hole, where a set of steps were being exposed. She nodded and stood in front of where Fureva-Yung and the Dritmen worked. She sent her senses down three metres into the ground in all directions. She sensed a square-sided shaft currently filled with dirt disappeared beyond her sight. The stairs wrapped around the shaft's inside wall and headed down. Telepathically she shared with the group what she saw and agreed it might well head down to underground works like the railway. Outloud, she said, “It’s stairs going down,” and left to continue to the Spire.   With the knowledge it was a shaft full of dirt that would take days to clear, the dig was soon abandoned, and the caravan as a whole arrived at the Spire by midday. In Jaden’s pocket, the faithful compass shuddered. When she checked it, the needle was hanging from the centre of the sphere, lifeless. She shook it, but this only made the arrow wobble back and forth. Even moving away from the Spire did nothing. After having served its purpose, the compass was dead.   Up close, the silence of the Spire was foreboding. Its metal surface was smooth, only broken where plates had been connected to a substructure. There was no sign of rust or weathering. Whatever the metal was, nature had not affected it. However, something had. The gaping hole in its side where two sliding doors had been removed spoke of someone having used this space before them. Inside, the dirt floor sloped away from the door, and the centre was filled with collected metal scrap. Jaden scanned through the collection and agreed they would be most suitable for building shelters and workshops. She found the two metal doors that had originally fitted into the eight-metre wide, three-metre tall doorway. There was a ceiling hiding whatever was above, but beyond the collected detritus, smooth metal walls hide possible staircases or other ways of reaching them.   “Someone used this space,” Nox commented, leaving unsaid that they may be back soon to reclaim their home. “Yeah, trolls,” Marius said, looking upon the piles of stuff with little interest. “Alien trolls,” Fureva-Yung added. It was a spacecraft, after all. “Like you?” “Hey!”   “It looks like this stuff was collected for a purpose but then abandoned,” Jaden theorised from what she’d seen, “It looks like it's been here a while.” “Okay, fellas, you heard Jaden. Let's get everyone here and heaving things around,” Marius said loud enough for those inside and outside to hear.   The sun had set into the shimmering silver waters of the lake as the members of the caravan finished work for the day. After five hours of moving and sorting metal scrap, they had cleared two-thirds of the Spire’s ground floor. Metal sheeting was laid out and propped up on the low side to make a flat floor. The doors were laid sideways against the gaping doorway to narrow the gap and keep even a little of the draft out. By Jaden’s count, they had sorted three hundred and seventy units of material, more than enough for several small dwellings, eighteen units of parts, four units of io and two units of responsive synth. The parts, synth and two io went into bellyache for safekeeping. Marius took two io. “You never know when you’re going to need an io or two.”   Once the scrap had been removed, two sliding doors were revealed in the internal walls. As tempting as it was to go explore these new rooms, Nox contented herself with a scan through the door and knowing there were spaces beyond to explore in the morning. While the bulk of the community, no longer a wandering caravan, were clearing out the Spire, Ralin and Ekarin Oslo had gone out hunting and came back with a fat deer and a collection of wild vegetables. Though the deer was praised by all, it was the vegetables that drew everyone’s attention. After a week of mainly meat, everyone wanted a piece of ash-cooked roots or blanched greens with their venison.   Food eaten and sleep mats laid out under cover for the first time in days, the community settled down for the night. Nox and Jaden took the first watch perched on boxes near the door. As much as the Spire’s ground floor reminded Nox of the caves they’d travelled to get here, she preferred to sit and watch the stars glide serenely through the night with Jaden companionably by her side. They said nothing, enjoying their time together as they had of old in her shop in Cerelon. It was in that silence they could hear scratching and scuttling from the other side of the two doors. Silently, Nox left her post to listen at one. “A place like this is bound to have its share of mice, rats and cockroaches,” Jaden commented, watching the ever curious Nox as she tried to make out what the creature was. She scanned the space beyond the door but never caught a sense of the creature. “Let's not open the door, Nox,” Jaden fingered a random io in her pocket on the odd chance Nox did precisely that. I’m not opening, Nox waived away Jaden’s concerns and sat as still as she could by the door. As soon as the scrambling and scratching started again, she scanned the area. Nothing. The creatures were just too fast for her to get a sense of them. In the end, she told what she knew to Marius and Temila when they arrived to do their shift at watch.   Pulling up the crates that Jaden and Nox had used, Temila and Marius sat silently for a long while, staring out at the starry night beyond the Spires walls. “So, we’re rebuilding here?” Temila asked. “I know it's not much now, but-” Marius started with his spiel full of ideas before Temila stopped his mouth with a finger against his lips. “I know, “ She replied in hushed tones, aware of the others trying to sleep around them, “The land is rich, good for my new apothecary garden. We haven’t seen margr for days and days, and this place seems purpose-built for us to start again.” She looked out at the empty flat space in front of the Spire and nodded, “It has great potential. Much like certain men,” She looked knowingly at Marius. He was too busy seeing his version of their new township being built before his eyes. When he did turn back to her, she’d gone back to stripping leaves off dried bunches of herbs, a never-ending task for the apothecary. He thought she might be going about it with a little more violence than usual.   The night was quiet, and they sat, chatting about inconsequential things. The pile of dried leaves were forgotten for the conversation and the company. A fresh breeze slipped through the open slit into the Spire, and Temila shivered. Silently, Marius edged his crate close and put a warm arm around her shoulders. Temila leaned in, and the rest of their watch melted away between them.   When they were relieved by Fureva-Yung and Livaanar, Temila and Marius were loathed to give up their shared comfort. “We’re just going to take a turn around the site,” Marius said to Fureva-Yung as he and Temila left hand in hand, Livaanar’s eyes watching them go. “Don’t sit or lie on anything dangerous,” Fureva-Yung offered her sage advice to the couple. She and Livaanar could hear Marius quip, “Are you anything dangerous?”   “So,” Livaanar tore his eyes away from where the couple disappeared and to Fureva-Yung sitting cross-legged in front of a waning fire, “What do we do?” Fureva-Yung thought for a moment, “We watch, and we try not to listen too carefully to those two.” Livaanar scowled but said nothing in front of the powerfully-built ally of Marius Serik. “And how long are we on watch?” Time was a slippery concept to Fureva-Yung. She had so few ways of determining time. She looked out at the stars, “From here,” She pointed to a prominent point of light above their heads, “to there,” and drew a short arc across the sky to where a cloudy cluster of stars lit the night. “Er…oh,” Livaanar replied, more confused than ever.   Fureva-Yung, aware of the tension quietly descending between her and the parent of Nox, looked around for something she could share. “Would you like a stick?” She offered one of her fresher sticks to Livaanar. “Th-thank you,” He took the offered stick out of politeness without a clue what to do with it, “What do I…” Fureva-Yung crunched through her stick like it was dried toast. Livaanar check his stick in the dying firelight, making sure it was indeed a branch off a tree and then pretended to eat it. “The others do not like sticks either,” Fureva-Yung commented after he thought he’d masterfully hidden the stick up his sleeve. “Do we have a kettle?” He suggested looking around and finding a billy left from the evening meal. Livaanar kept himself busy rebuilding the fire and putting water onto boil as Furvea-Yung closed her eyes and listened to the world.   Now that she knew she could, Fureva-Yung appreciated looking at the world through sound. Through the sounds that the world made, she could see the visible, like the crackle of the fire, and the invisible, the lovers only a few hundred metres away in the night. Closer by, she could hear the scrambling of small creatures behind the two doors but also in the walls of the Spire. Echolocation told her they were rat-sized and ranged in number between ten and twenty. A burning smell caught Fureva-Yung’s attention, and she was drawn back as Livaanar’s cloak caught alight in the fire. Fureva-Yung deftly whipped the woollen cloak out of the flames and stamped out the singed edge with her foot.   “There are better ways to keep warm,” She said to the surprised tinker, “I see your water is boiling.” “Oh, good,” Livaanar looked around for something to put the water in, found a cup left from dinner and then looked around expecting a container of tea to appear. It didn’t. “Do you drink tea?” He meekly asked Fureva-Yung, who was carefully watching this man stumble around the campfire. “I do,” She agreed. The few times it had been offered to her, she had enjoyed the hot water with leaves, “I like mine with rust.” “Rust? You mean…rust?” Livaanar pointed to a patch of rust on the bent and broken metal sheeting beside them. Fureva-Yung brushed the rusted surface with her hand, letting the flakes of oxidised metal fall into an open palm. Livaanar looked from the palm sprinkled with rust to the cup of hot water he held. “We’re going to need a second cup.”   Scrounging through the caravan, he found a second cup but no tea. He poured two cups of hot water, into which Fureva-Yung sprinkled her rust. Lacking anything else to flavour his water, Livaanar pulled out the stick and plopped it in.   “So, you are the little one's mother?” Fureva-Yung asked conversationally of Livaanar, who spat out his first sip of branch tea in surprise. “I’m the little one's father,” He corrected, looking doubtfully at his branch tea, and finally pulled out the stick. “You’re male?” Fureva-Yung replied, surprised, “Oh, I am sorry.” “That’s quite all- what?” Fureva-Yung sipped her hot iron tea in silence. “I haven’t seen Nox’s mother in…in a long time…” “I see. She has gone to the other place.” “She’s gone to a place. She travels. She came, stayed a while and left. I don’t know where she is now.” Livaanar sipped his hot stick water, and silence fell finally between them.   In the high grass, Marius and Temila lay still wrapped in each other’s arms, dozing. Their resting place was comfortable, and the night was mild. Neither felt the need to return to the confined of the Spire. Marius smiled as he felt gentle nuzzling against his neck. Gentle kisses and...licks running up to his right ear. Stirred to full wakefulness, he realised that Temila was gently snoring, her head pillowed on his left arm. His eyes popped open and, in the dim moonlight, made out a dog-sized creature with a long rubbery snout the colour of the night. He brushed the creature’s snout away with a hand and sat up, waking Temila. “We’re not alone,” He said quietly as the creature stepped up, its quivering proboscis seeking his face. Temila gave a start and peered around Marius at the creature. “Do you know if it's toxic?” He asked her. She shrugged, “No idea.”   The three of them sat a moment, the creature searching for and finding something on Marius it liked before a long sticky tongue licked out. Marius watched and deduced what he could of the creature’s nature. It seemed to be attracted to the sweat on his skin. He reached out a hand to touch the creature’s skin and found it was the same rubbery texture all over. It shied away at the unexpected touch before stepping back in and allowing the scratches to continue. Temila scratched the creature behind its ears, and it seemed to like it. “Can we keep it?” She said as the creature sidled up beside Marius as sat down. “This guy is really cute,” Marius agreed before realising the creature was now eating something. He checked and saw one of the two io pieces from his pocket disappear down its proboscis, “But maybe not a good thing to bring back to camp.” The long nose sought out the second io. Marius fished out the last pieces with a shrug. It disappeared as quickly as the first.   “We should probably head back,” Marius voiced, Temila agreed with a nod. Returning to the Spire, Livaanar gave Marius a nasty scowl. “We met one of the locals,” Marius said, confused but unconcerned,” They eat io.” When his expression wasn’t making an impact, Livaanar turned to Temila with his most simpering expression, “Temila, could I trouble you for some tea?”   As morning dawned, the community of the Spire awoke to a day of driving winds and rain. As soon as he was relieved, Livaanar sought out his daughter, breakfasting alone. “Er…good morning, Nox,” “Morning…Father.” Nox replied cautiously. Polite greetings were not the norm. In their old lives, early morning greetings usually consisted of drills on the liturgy of the Devotees or being dragged away to his workshop to help on a project. She countered with a polite affirmation. “I saw you did a watch. Thank you. Knowing someone is watching out for us makes me feel safe.”   For a moment, the compliment derailed Livaanar’s train of thought, and he mentally stumbled, “Er…thanks..um. That Fureva-Yung is an…interesting character.” Nox smiled. Nox liked Fureva-Yung’s quiet directness. She was sure it had come as a culture shock to her socially conscious Father. “Um…Nox, I wanted to talk to you about that Marius Serik fellow,” Livaanar looked genuinely uncomfortable. This was more like the interactions she was used to, making Nox nervous. Telepathically, Nox reached out to Jaden, Marius and Fureva-Yung, gaining comfort from their presence in her mind. “I don’t think he can be faithful to you.” Livaanar continued, unaware he now had an audience. Across the camp, Marius laughed out loud, gaining a bemused expression from Temila. Jaden spat out her tea in surprise, and Furva-Yung sat watching in still silence. “Oh, what makes you say that?” Nox asked guilelessly. “He…was with another woman last night,” He said, breaking the hard news. Nox frowned, “Odd,” She said after a while, “He usually goes off by himself.” Across the camp, Marius’ laughter stopped abruptly. “Do you think I should bring this up with him?” “Yes, I think you should.” “Okay,” And though the situation was fictitious, Nox was surprised to receive good Fatherly advice, “Thank you.”   She finished her breakfast and headed straight to Marius, speaking earnestly to Temila. “No, we made him think we were together as a joke,” “But you’re not together. Not much of a joke,” Temila rebuked. “No, I guess not,” Marius had to agree. “Good morning, Temila,” Nox greeted her apothecary instructor and friend before turning to Marius, “Doors today?” “Yes!” Marius agreed, grateful for the change in subject, “In fact…” He rummaged through his tool bag and pulled out a small oil bottle. Moving to the nearest door, he carefully oiled the door's tracks top and bottom. With a little effort from Fureva-Yung, the door slid open.   By the way, Marius, Nox sent silently through the link, Temila is my friend. Look after her. Remember, I can hurt your brain. “What?” Though the kids, cognitive powers were impressive, he’d seen no sign of violence so far. I can hurt your brain, She replied simply and slipped through the doorway to find the scratching, crawling things she’d heard the night before. “What about me? I don’t want to be hurt.”       Beyond the small door was an odd-shaped triangular room. The room was lit by blue light emanating from a cylinder in a corner nook. Beside it, two small pyramids stood point to point, one suspended above the other. At the top angle of the triangle, a door blocked access to another space. Nox scanned the cylinder and discovered the improbable answer of solid energy.   Fureva-Yung stood before the pyramids. The whole structure stood a little taller than her, at three metres tall. The pyramids were a metre tall, each with a gap of the same distance between them. Slowly her hand reached out to touch the upper pyramid. Zap! A small electrical charge ground through her, making her start. She frowned, looking disappointed, before reaching the other hand for the lower pyramid. “NO!” All three of her companions cried in unison. Marius even got a hand to her shoulder just as she closed the circuit, and both were hit by a jolt of electricity. There was a flash of bright light, and when their eyes adjusted again, a purple ball of energy crackled and spat furiously in the gap.   “Valma?” Jaden said, surprised at the turn of events. Valma? Nox echoed and tried picking up the ball of energy with her telekinetics, but there wasn’t enough substance to the ball for her to grasp. As an experiment, Marius threw a scrap of cloth into the ball. It was instantly consumed.   Suddenly, a bolt of energy zapped out of the creature at Nox. Feeling the static buildup before the strike, Nox dodged out of the way. Marius studied the creature for a moment, determining it didn’t seem in control of itself. A rage-filled ball of animated energy. “Ok, let's short circuit this thing!” He said as another bolt of energy zapped his direction. As with Nox, he felt the static energy first and moved before it could hit him. Now Fureva-Yung stepped up. “Show me!” She said in frustration and punched the ball of lightning. Energy scintillated all over Fureva-Yung. Her muscled strained as the energy sent random signals throughout her body. Eventually, the energy let her go, and Fureva-Yung was thrown back against the wall as the ball of energy reorganised itself. Instead of an almost unstable ball of lightning, the energy became a smooth-sided pyramid and seemed to turn to face the group. Hello! It said in all their minds simultaneously. “Show me!” Fureva-Yung, smoking for electrical burns and unsteady on her feet, roared at the energy being. What would you like me to show you? The being said, in all innocence, Here is the wall. Reaching out a burnt hand, Fureva-Yung tried brushing the energy creature aside, only to have it spin madly on its axis. Whee! That was fun! Do it again! “Valma?” Jaden asked again, and this time the creature stopped spinning and turned its sloping surface towards her. Yes, hi, I’m Valma. “Do you remember me? We met a long time ago, very far away from here,” No, I don’t know you. But you know me? “You always make an impression, “ Jaden smiled, “What are you doing here?” It seemed interesting, so I came.   As Jaden and Valma continued to chat, Nox tried reading Valma’s surface thoughts. The chaos of ideas and concepts was dizzying. She could make nothing of them and eventually had to pull out for fear of being sick.   “I’m pretty sure we met before. I was very young and living in a caravan. That is unless there are other Valmas. Do you know of others?” Never met another Valma, Said the cheery voice in their heads, Are there other yous? “No,” Jaden had to admit before thinking, “Did you see the crystal mountains three days' walk from here?” As she spoke, she reached her hand into Bellyache and pulled out one piece of crystal. The pyramid seemed to focus on the crystal. With a bright flash of light, Valma disappeared, only a moment later to reappear between the pyramids.   Fascinating! Inside the crystal are many places, not just one place, Valma said, now transfixed by the piece of crystal. You saw the other places? Nox thought in awe of this new being, Amazing! “Pretty clever,” Marius confessed. A thoughtful look came over Jaden’s face, “Do you think you could get out to one of those other places from inside the crystal?” Don’t know, Valma said, and once more disappeared. They waited, but she didn’t return. “And that’s how you deal with a Valma,” Jaden replied with a self-satisfied look on her face. Did she really have to go, Jaden? Nox asked, disappointed not to be able to talk to Valma longer. “You never know. She may make it back to us. Trust me when I say this. It’s for the best.” Jaden returned, the crystal back the Bellyache, and Marius turned to the next door.   It was locked. “Does anyone have lockpicks?”Marius asked, looking at Jaden, who turned once more to Bellyache, hunting for wire. The skittering things get through somehow, Nox thought and searched around the walls. She found what she was looking for in the corner beside the door. A small mousehole chewed through solid metal. “They eat metal?” Marius said, and Nox stood, rummaged around in Bellyache for a few scraps of metal she’d picked up after the worm attack. Let's see what they think of these, She thought and placed one in front of the hole with telekinesis.   Silently, the group waited and watched the piece of broken metal. Just as they thought nothing would happen, the scratching, scrambling sound echoes through the walls. No one saw the creature with a metallic claw the size of a medium crab reach out and snatched away the scrap, but it was enough time for Nox to scan the area and finally discover its nature. It looked a little like a lobster, long with six legs and two large claws in the front. No one was keen to mess with the little critters if its claws could break through metal. Even Marius' attempt to grab one was only half-hearted.   Instead, they turned their attention back to the locked door. Taking the two pieces of bent wire from Jaden, Nox tried her hand at the lock. With a little luck and careful hands, the lock clicked open. With a self-satisfied smile, she stepped back and allowed the others to open the door.   The next room was more of a corridor that followed the wall to another identical door on the other side. In the centre, a small circular room with a closed sliding door dominated. From its position. Nox scanned the space beyond the door and found a cavity that went up past the ceiling and dropped away below the floor. It looked like they’d found the way through the Spire, if they could open the door. Beside the door, a control panel was dark and lifeless. Nox turned to Jaden to see if power could be restored. “This looks like a job for more than one day,” Jaden had to admit.   Fureva-Yung tried physical force to open the door, but though it wasn’t locked, her hands just slid off the smooth surface. For the moment, the rest of the Spire would have to wait. Around the corner, the second door opened onto a seemingly empty room except for two doors and metal lobster holes. On the left wall was a sliding door that, by the sound of voices and the ongoing storm, led back to the open space in the centre of the Spire. Straight ahead, one last door.   They opened the door to the centre and then turned their attention to the last door. Fureva-Yung grabbed the handle and yanked. Either by faulty design or age, the metal handle gave way, sending Fureva-Yung’s hand back, smacking her in the face. “Stupid door will learn not to fight me,” She said, grabbing for any exposed edge and yanking it sideways. With a groan and scream of distressed metal, the door collapsed, sending a cloud of metal dust into the air. The room was nine metres tall, much taller than the open space where the community sheltered from the rain. Around the walls, a one-metre free space was left encircling a bubble of suspended liquid in the room's shape. Above, metal pipes entered the fluid and disappeared through vents in the roof in the same form as the bubble. Nox scanned the fluid and found it to be explosive and highly acidic. Drawing out a piece of diamond glass from the margr pyramid, Fureva-Yung poked the bubble. The glass slipped in and out of the fluid without resistance, a thin bead of liquid gathering on the exposed surface. She wiped off the glass against the ground to clean it and gouged a grove into the metal flooring. Suddenly, above the groove, the bubble bulged out violently. Nox, Marius and Jaden jumped back as Fureva-Yung pulled all three of them out of the room, turning her back to face the bubble. The acid splashed out before resettling into a new lumpier shape. Fureva-Yung back sizzled. “Fureva! Fureva is injured!” She screamed, panic-stricken, twisting to see the damage. Nox ran straight back into the communal space and looked for Temila. “Ashes from the fire, they’re alkaline, “ Temila gestured to the fireplace as Jaden brought Fureva-Yung through. Grabbing handfuls of cold ash from old fires, Nox, Jaden and Temila counteracted the acid, but the damage had been done.   From shoulder to shoulder down the middle of her back Fureva-Yung had been covered in a thick pattern of black hairs in the shape of a bat. A previous injury made a white scar through the bat shape that was only now healing. Rarely she referred to it at all, but when she did, she called the pattern Fureva. Nox looked at the red and bubbling skin. There was a large patch through the middle of the pattern where the black hair had been burned away. She remembered the being she’d spoken to only briefly two weeks previously in a clearing of the Endoval Forest. It had been an intelligent being, completely separate from the physical Yung. “Fureva! How is Fureva?” Fureva-Yung asked repeatedly. Looking at the damage, Nox wondered if she’d ever speak to that being again.   Once he was sure Fureva-Yung was taken care of, Marius ducked back into the room with the acid bubble. Using his scrap of diamond glass, he dipped it into the bubble and drew out a shallow pool of acid. Carefully and slowly, he walked the acid back to the closed door onto the tube-like cavity. He poured the acid down a join between two panels beside the door. The acid ate away, expanding the gap and weakening the metal so Marius could pry it aside and expose the inner workings. In a moment, he’d unlatched the lock, and the lift door slid open.          

19. Past and future visions

Fureva-Yung was helped out of her constricting black rubber prison by Ounas (the uninjured Warden militia) and Cyanna (a High Redoubt worker) as Risina waited patiently for Jaden’s reply. Jaden had just about had enough of this woman. After Marius, discussing anything with this insufferable woman was the last thing Jaden needed. She took a deep breath in and sighed.   “Look, Risina, we’ve lost a lot of good people. We’ll never fill all their places in our lives. I think we can give people a little leeway to find what their place is.” She then remembered something had bothered many people before the attack on Cerelon. “Yes, we’ve all lost someone. I noticed your son, Marikan wasn’t with you. Do you know if he escaped?”   This change in subject gave Risina pause. The health and wellbeing of the youngest Keris had been open gossip in Cerelon as he hadn’t been seen in public. His mother quickly assured potential search parties that her son was ‘just fine.’ “He’s a resourceful lad. You never know where he’ll turn up, “ She said smoothly, but Jaden felt she’d been caught off guard at the mention of Marikan. Jaden also felt that his mother wasn’t too concerned for his welfare.   "It was high time we were out of here and reunited with our fellow survivors. Move out!" Marius’ voice called across the crowd, and the caravan stirred to life. “Nice chatting, Jaden,” Risina farewelled and returned to supervise the packing up of the caravan.   Travelling across the empty plains with the caravan was pleasant for the first half of the day. Scutting clouds defused the sun, and only the lack of water made the travel anyway unpleasant. Marius drove the aircraft pulling the two wagons behind as most people rode or walked beside. Fureva-Yung, constantly aware for danger, walked behind the group while Jaden and Nox walked side by side, close in conversation.   You’re not really angry at him, are you? Nox asked telepathically, enjoying the moment of intimacy it created. “No, just frustrated,” Jaden replied, knowing exactly the 'He's they were referring to, “He's having too much fun being the hero.” Good thing. Would you want to do it? Nox replied, knowing the answer. Jaden wanted good companionship and her iotum to create with. Sometimes she’d forgo the companionship. “Great heroes get killed. Or get others killed,” Jaden said, serious, aware she was echoing Risina’s sentiments just a moment before. Yeah, Nox agreed with a serious expression of her own, I’m going to help with that. I’ve asked Marius to teach me about first aid, and when we get back, I’ll ask Temila to teach me about potions and stuff. “Oh, so you won’t be coming around to my shop anymore?” Jaden turned to catch Nox’s eye.   They had needed each other in Cerelon. The lonely old woman with no family and the lost little girl without a place. Now she looked at the girl and saw for the first time a young woman with plans and ambitions of her own, ones that did not relate to her or her workshop. Jaden never considered herself Nox’s parent, but the pang she felt at that moment was surely the same as a parent felt when their child first left home. I was never very good, Nox replied, unaware of Jaden’s sudden pang of loss. “It wasn’t why I let you,” Jaden said, forcing the words through a suddenly constricted throat. It wasn’t why I stayed.   They walked in silence for a moment as Nox considered her future plans, and Jaden considered her life with a little less Nox. “Well, you know my tent flap is always open.”   It was Marius who spotted the movement in the ground first, an undulation where the ground rose and settled behind like a wave heading straight for them. Only Marius’ quick reflexes meant he could turn the aircraft away from the mystery rise. “Heads up! Underground!” He yelled as the one-metre-wide blunt head of an enormous worm broke through the earth's surface and crashed into the spar connecting the craft to the wagon Jathis the devotee, Risina, and Cyanna were sitting. The whole wagon reared up like a startled animal throwing Risina and Jathis from their seats to the ground.   Closest to the attack, Marius pulled his shortsword from its scabbard and hit the armoured hide of the worm, clanging off uselessly as it dove down back into the hard-packed soil as easily as water. Fureva-Yung’s chain did little better as the links skimmed over the disappearing worm. Having broken the connection between the wagon and the craft, the worm now circled underground, looking for its next opportunity to strike its disabled prey.   “To me! To me!” Marius called, helping Risina off the ground, and Fureva-Yung bodily lifted Jathis. Dazed and confused, Risina could do little more than grasp Marius’s offered sword as he lit up his hands, “I have a feeling you’ll do better with this than me, though I don’t have a lot of experience boxing either.”   The head of the worm broke the surface once more, this time revealing a circular maw of sharp inward, facing spines-like teeth. Side by side, Marius and Risina attacked the worm, her sword stroke catching a gouge in the heavy armour, his unarmed strike harmlessly bouncing off the rubbery lips. Cresting like a wave, the worm dove towards Marius, trying to engulf him in once move. Instinctively, his hands caught the mouth of the beast, and he somehow held it up as his feet sunk inches into the dirt.   “Stab it! Stab it between the plating!” He cried, straining to keep the worm from overwhelming him.   Risina slashed another gash in its side as others from the caravan came to their aid. Fureva-Yung’s chain hit, denting armoured plating as Nox climbed up on the disabled wagon for a better view. Risina, in a sudden and surprising action, now leapt out from the wagon and onto the worm. There she poked and prodded the sharp point of a sword under the tightly fitting chitin plates on the worm hide. Seeing Risina’s thinking, Nox tried sending a crystal shard into the same gap with her sling, but the crystal skidded off the worm's hide and away. Ounas of the Wardens Militia tried wedging the head of his axe, but it was far too big for the task, and he also had to give up in frustration.   Meanwhile, Marius was looking down the creature’s throat. Past the rows of teeth, he thought there might be something back there he could get a hold of, but he knew that doing so would mean letting go of the beast’s mouth. With a mental shrug, he dropped the mouth and reached up. The worm engulfed Marius and quickly started diving back to the safety of the soil with its prize. Everyone present watched on in horror as it looked like the worm was gone, Marius with it as segments disappeared into the ground. Then the worm stopped diving, and the loop of worm above ground writhed for a moment, flinching and shivering away from some sort of pain. Eventually, it stopped moving altogether.   Risina was first to jump in, stabbing the worm and creating a small hole in its side. From it, Marius’ heavy breathing could be heard. “Thanks, it was getting stuffy in here,” He joked as the rest of the group attacked the worm’s armour to get inside. Risina tried prying up a plate. Nox came in alongside her and, with her smaller blade, started cutting away the connective tissue. Fureva-Yung also grabbed the edge of a plate and pulled. The worm’s hide was resilient, and it struck back, dragging her with it onto the worm’s back and down onto the trapped Marius below.   A short sharp, OOPHH! Came from Marius’ breathing hole. “I am on top!” Fureva-Yung said, a little surprised at how she’d got there. “Yes, you’re riding a huge worm, “ Came the muffled reply from inside, “Do you think you could get off now?” “Stupid embarrassing worm! “ Fureva-Yung grumbled as she moved back to her position and tried again to tear the armour off. Weakened flesh, Fureva-Yung’s frustration and embarrassment tore the worm in half. From the gaping hole, Marius’ head peaked out into fresh air, and the whole caravan cheered. He was quickly pulled out as Fureva-Yung ripped the worm to pieces.   Risina stepped up, cleaning the sword on a fistful of grass and handed Marius his sword back, pommel first. “Ah, well used,” He said, accepting back his mother’s sword and carefully resheathing it, “I might need to brush up on my lessons,” “Yes, you must,” Was her reply, and she began to walk away.   Nox, who had been watching the interaction between the two usual antagonists, now stepped up. “Thank you,” She said simply to Risina, also putting away her dagger. Risina gave Nox an appraising look, a nod and walked on.   “Do you think this looks like a really big chain link?” Fureva-Yung asked from over at the worm where she’d been able to pull the chitinous rings off the worm segment. In discussions with Jaden, she set to work pulling the worm up from the hole and cutting away the rings for use in repairing the wagon. As Nox collected the broken pieces of metal for reuse, she watched Fureva-Yung put her arm into the dead worm’s mouth, pull out a tooth, and begin chewing it. “Could you pull one for me too?” She asked, a plan of her own brewing. Fureva-Yung tore out another tooth and held it out for Nox. At about thirty centimetres long, the curved tooth was long and thin, ending at an impossibly sharp point. The outside curve of the tooth was smooth, giving little resistance to anything that found its way into the mouth, while the convex curve was sharp and serrated. Nox tried the blade in her hand and found it to be just as light as her metal blade, though maybe a little longer. With a good hilt for grip, she thought it would make an excellent new weapon and carefully put it away.   Now over the excitement of being eaten, Marius was looking over the damage the worm had done to the wagon, especially the coupling to the craft. “Sure need to fix our rig here,” “Already on it,” Jaden said as she dragged over the first of the worm rings, “Or at least Fureva- Yung is on it. Instead of a heavy solid connection that provides no give, we were wondering about one of these.” She placed the ring on the ground between the stubby wing of the craft and the wagon, “I also think the body of the Hover Horse could be made a little more streamlined with a few of these rings. Fureva-Yung also thought they could make a great limb for a long bow.” “Hover Horse? Is that what we’re calling it now?” “Got a better name?” He didn’t, and Jaden and Fureva-Yung set to work putting their plan together.   The work took time, but the now christened Hover Horse and its two outriders were better for it. The ring softened any movement from the craft, while the extra rings around the chassis smoothed out any bumps or missing pieces. Soon the caravan was travelling again, and by early afternoon they’d made it to the carcass of the giant bird.   The early scavengers had already found it, and the brown grey feathers of the bird were covered in hundreds of black and iridescent beetles. Nox slipped in, avoiding the bugs, which were the size of her head, and grabbed a smaller flight feather before fleeing with her prize. Fureva-Yung, on the other hand, did not hesitate to grab a beetle as it trundled over the wing and bit its head off.   Fureva-Yung stood looking out over a starscape through a large curving window. Visible through the window, just moving off to their starboard, was a space station like the one they’d seen at the pyramid. Looking around her, Fureva-Yung took in the array of workstations, computers, control panels and information screens, all being used by dozens of people from just as many races. They all wore the same uniform, a well-fitted two pieces, slate grey with navy blue accents and trousers. She looked down, and she too wore the same uniform, hers decorated with extra bits around the collars and sleeves. Beside her stood an insectoid creature also wearing the uniform of the day to fit their unusual six-legged form.   Everything was new and strange, yet Fureva-Yung felt utterly assured and in control. This was how things were meant to be, up here amongst the stars captaining a spaceship. She turned to ask her second, the insectoid, a question as the vision faded and dissolved around her.   Fureva-Yung? Are you still there? Fureva-Yung heard in her mind the small insistent buzzing of Nox. Fureva-Yung focused on the girl in front of her, who looked up with a confused and worried expression. You okay? You went away for a bit, and I couldn’t find you. Yes, She replied, a little irritated to have been pulled out of her vision, Excuse me. And she threw the rest of the bug into her mouth and began chewing. She felt an electric jolt go through her teeth, but disappointedly, the vision did not return. Good? Nox asked, assuming Fureva-Yung’s interest was only gastronomic, Should we take some more? Fureva-Yung nodded enthusiastically, Crunchy and psychoactive. She started collecting bugs and stuffing them into a sack. When the bugs started chewing through the sack, she found an empty box in a caravan and filled that with the bugs. As the caravan moved on, Fureva-Yung stayed close to the wagon carrying the box and was seen various times helping herself to her latest favourite snack. By the time the caravan was looking for a place to stop for the night, the box of bugs was empty, with only the memory of tasty treats and the vision remaining. Was it a vision of what had been? Fureva-Yung was unsure.   The plains the group had travelled so quickly in the aircraft were an empty and uninviting stop for the night. No water except the few drops left in salvaged bottles and canteens. There was no shelter beside the wagons and nothing between them and the empty night. It was only as the sun left the sky for the night that the caravaners noted the ground under their feet glowing. It wasn’t just the sand and dirt. Hidden in cupped hands, it did not glow. Instead, the light seemed to well up from underneath the ground. A luminous spring that marked the ground only now the sun had gone.   Initially, they packed up the camp and moved a few hundred metres away, then a few more. Still, the ground glowed eerily beneath them. Fureva-Yung tried her echolocation but found only sand with nothing noteworthy that could make the light. At half a kilometre from where they first noticed it, the light seemed to fade noticeably. When the caravan was sure they were at the edge of the light, they stopped and set up camp again. Curiosity had the group questioning what the source of the light could be? As the caravan settled in for the night, Fureva-Yung, Marius, Nox and Jaden huddled around a hole in the ground. Fureva-Yung dug down into the last of the lighted area to see if there was anything different. “It couldn’t be the spaceship…” “Lighthouse…” Nox interrupted Marius, more sure the tall structure embedded in the crystal had been a glass building for shedding light than a spaceship. “...that we lit in the crystal caravans. I guess not, it's a long way from here in…” He looked around to orientate himself and pointed in a direction, “...and a long way underground.”   At that moment, Fureva-Yung’s hand hit something solid, and she stopped throwing handfuls of sand out of the hole for a sweeping gesture, exposing the thing beneath. Out of the sand came a large wheel encased in multicoloured crystals. As she lifted the discovery from the ground, it was clear that it also was not the light source. Placing it down at the hole's edge, Nox scanned the discovery and found the crystal was the same as that found all through the crystal caverns, supposed kilometres from their location. The wheel was of a dense metal, solid, but by the way, Furvea-Yung had lifted it, lighter than Nox expected. Nox scanned the bottom of the hole, still glowing faintly in the darkness. Under the sand, she identified a few items of interest. As Fureva-Yung gave up on the hole, Nox jumped in and claimed a few loose crystals with devices embedded inside.   “Here, can you get these out?” She asked Fureva-Yung handing up the half dozen crystal. Without a thought, Fureva-Yung put all the crystals together in her two huge hands and smashed them together. A flash of blinding light and a wave of energy rolled through the group. When their eyes adjusted, they stood on a cliff edge, looking out over a snow-covered mountain range. A blizzard was stirring the snow, making whirlwinds of white. In the sky, fragments of a planet floated streaking the sky with colour in front of a starscape that no one recognised.   “Not cold,” Fureva-Yung stated, and the others realised it was true. Despite their surroundings' bleakness, none of the group felt cold. Nox crouched down and picked up a handful of snow. She scanned it to see if it was water snow and found nothing. Nothing was there. “Maybe it's something from the datasphere….” Jaden suggested grasping for ideas, “...like a recorded illusion.”   As they stood, not daring to move from their perch on the cliff edge, the scene of the blizzard faded and was replaced with a view of the same mountain on a calm night. Time passed between the two scenes as the broken world was gone from the sky, and the star patterns had changed once more.   Beneath their feet, a deep rumbling began. Loose rocks fell down the slope, and cracks started appearing at the cliff's edge. Quickly they stepped away from the edge as powerful cracking sounds vibrated through the ground. Many miles away, the silhouetted outline of a mountain slipped away as a chunk of mountainside nearby detached from the mother rock and started floating away.   The image faded, and all four found themselves around the hole in the ground. Lying in Fureva-Yung’s hands were two cyphers. An illusion? A transportation like the one created by the crushing of the crystal dust back at the pit? “I wonder if those floating mountains were related to the stone around the pyramid?” Nox mused as she took the two cyphers from Fureva-Yung’s and identified them. The wheel was added to the now bulging Bellyache, and the group returned to the caravan, offered their services for the watches that night.   Risina Keris was offered the first watch again, leading to more grumbles. Curious about Risina and her thinking, Nox volunteered to spend the watch with her and sat beside her on the wagon.   “I don’t understand why I need to do this,” Resina said, more to herself than the young girl beside her. “Is there something wrong with you that you can’t?” Risina glanced sideways at Nox, her assessing eyes taking in the scruffy girl beside her. “That’s not the point. Anyone could do this. It’s beneath me employing my time as little more than a security guard.” “Looking after people is not beneath you. You’re a leader,” Nox replied simply and without guile, “It’s not hard, and it can be fun. Fureva-Yung and I often chat through our watches.” Nox couldn’t see Risina’s face, but she heard a hard little laugh from the older woman. “Leaders need rest so they can make good decisions,” Risina said, feeling like she’d made her point. Nox shrugged, “Well, it won’t be long, and we’ll be replaced, “ Desperate for something to engage Risna with, Nox looked out into the night’s sky, thankfully full of the familiar constellations.   “We’re so lucky to be here. I’ve learnt so much since leaving Celeron, seen so many wonders I couldn’t imagine.” “Hmph, lucky you. All we saw was the Endoval Forest from the barge and then crashing. Since then, it's been a constant fight with margr.” “We met them too. You don’t need to worry about them anymore. We found their village and killed all of them…well, Fureva-Yung did. Saw for Ironhorn too.” Nox’s energy picked up as she recounted her friend's daring at the margr camp, “Fureva-Yung was the distraction, while Marius flew in and saved Binna Mayes….” “You saved Binna?” Nox nodded, “And Jaden, Orv, Yitti and Alton were fighting on the ground, bish-bash!” She now stood, demonstrating the moves of the fighters that night. “And Alton too…I thought them both dead!” “Nah, we’d rescued him from margr earlier that day,” She said simply, all their heroics just a matter of fact. “And Yiti and Orv survived the attack on Cerelon?” She added with equal incredulity, “Those trouble makers showed they were good for something then.” “Everyone is good for something, “Nox sat back down, “Even me.”   Through the telepathic link, Nox heard Marius, If she says they're only miners, you can punch her in the face. “In my experience, they’re nothing but troublemakers.” “Troublemakers that saved most of the Buckles,” Nox defended the rough and tumble hangers-on of Marius, “Orv and Yitti did what Marius told them and got stuck in and helped. They kept people safe.”   The conversation lulled for a moment as Nox’s words gave Risina pause. Eventually, Risina shifted her seat, “That one takes risks. Marius, I mean.” “Yeah!” Nox exclaimed in an exasperated whisper, pleased to have someone to talk about Marius and his escapades, “He drives us crazy throwing himself into things. Like with the worm. Who thinks to grab its tonsils?!” She contemplated all the stunts he’d pulled and why, “But he’s never put us at risk,. Not once.”   Once again, Risina was silent, and as a last stab at defiance (she was enjoying talking to Risina), Nox listened in on her thoughts. Well, that’s going to be great for my anxiety. Without another word, Nox snuggled up to the woman only the night before she’d been throwing sticks and stones, and they sat in companionable silence for the rest of the watch.   Jaden and Fureva-Yung took the next watch not long after. They sat on opposite sides of the fire as the familiar stars spun above their heads. “Tell me about Marius’ mother?” Fureva-Yung asked, her voice seemingly booming in the silence that had grown between them. “I can’t say I had the pleasure of knowing her,” Jaden replied after a moment’s thought. Cerelon was a small town, but even after forty years there, Jaden couldn’t claim to be a local. Fureva-Yung gave Jaden a confused look and spent a moment or two staring into the fire's dying light, “I was curious.” Jaden sighed, “I’m sure she had the patience of a saint.” “Quite right.” The silence stretched out between them. “The rubber from the nodule trees is very protective,” Fureva-Yung commented. “Yes,” Jaden replied enthusiastically, “Now to find a way to make it into shaped armour.” She pulled out her notes and showed them to the baffled Fureva-Yung, “I think it should be relatively simple. I do need an extensive list of parts,” She showed Fureva-Yung her shopping list of parts. “Do you think you could put a symbol on mine?” Fureva-Yung found a stick and drew the symbol of lines and circles that the group had found in the pyramid into the dusty ground. It was the same symbol she’d seen in her vision on the bridge of the starship. She knew it was important, even if right now she wasn’t sure how. Jaden nodded thoughtfully, contemplating the different techniques she’d need to try to mark the rubber, “I’m no artist, but we could certainly try.”   Their mutually interesting topic exhausted, Jaden and Fureva-Yung let the silence stretch between them companionably until they were replaced by Marius and Ounas of the Warden Militia.   “Nice night,” Marius commented, also enjoying the view of a familiar sky. “Yep,” “Got a deck of cards?” “Funny enough, I think I do,” Ounas shuffled around and found the desired game. It was dog-eared and worn. An experienced player could use their scruffy nature to his advantage. “Probably should keep an eye out, “Replied Marius, changing the subject. “Sure,” Ounas put the cards back in his pocket. “So, during your flight from Cerelon, how was Risina?” “Demanding,” Ounas replied quietly, even now unsure he was safe to speak his mind, “I don’t know why we put up with her. Habit, I guess.” “Ever consider mutiny?” “Nah,” Ounas quickly shook his head, “We were all too busy staying alive.” “Well, I hope to soften her up. We can’t go on with how things used to be.” “No, the old ranks don’t mean much out here.” “Right.” Marius said, feeling better about how this caravan would fit in with the group made chiefly of dritmen and workers of the Buckles, “You said you had cards?”   With the dawn, the underground light faded from sight. They ate a cold breakfast, cooked meats with a mouthful of water with ill-grace. As they packed up, Marius once more found a high place on one of the wagons and spoke to the crowd. “I know you’re thirsty, and that’s likely to have tempers up, but I ask for your patience as today we will make our destination. Moving out.”   Risina stepped alongside him as he jumped down, “You’re quite the accomplished adventurer. A whole camp of margr?” “Oh yeah, that was fun,” Marius thought back to one of the most intense nights of his life and smiled fondly. Risina was not impressed with his bravado. “Be careful. Taking big risks like that, people will follow your bad example.” “I was with people I could trust had my back, and I had theirs. We’re family….” He said and realised he meant it. Not just Orv and Yitti, but Fureva-Yung, Jaden and the kid. They were all his found family, and he could do the crazy stunt because they were there to catch him if he fell. He shook his head and brushed away her concerns without another thought. “It all ends fine.” “I had to pull you out of a worm. It nearly didn’t work out fine.” She reminded him, a rueful smile fighting through her more severe expression. “I had to get back my mother’s sword. It’s very precious.” He replied quietly, and her smile broke through. “I’m sure your mother would be glad to know you take good care of it.”   In sheer good humour, Marius started singing, and his clear tenor rolled out to the beat of their march. It was a joyous and determined sound that soon had the caravaners picking up their steps. From behind, a deep voice, guttural and throaty, joined in. Layers of harmonies sprang from deep in Fureva-Yung’s chest and throat, giving the song depth and breadth.     It was mid-afternoon when the two caravans finally met in the campground near the small stream. While the group had been gone, two more dritmen, a Buckles resident, another warden militia member and two peddlers from the Buckles markets had joined the caravan with Ghans, Orv, Yitti and the others. Nox realised with a sudden blush that she’d…acquired… the occasional piece of fruit or other treats from time to time back in Cerelon from one of the merchant's stalls. She considered as she shook hands with him that if not for his carts of tempting treats, she would not have had a way to practice her stealth and Hedge Magic of old. She welcomed him and all the new arrivals as old friends returned.   As the caravans merged and old friends and new acquaintances met, Marius pulled Risina to one side. “Look, we’ve got a few dritmen with us. This caravan has got as far as it has because we’ve all worked together, understand? We’re classless. All I’m asking is that you pull your head in, and we can make this work.” A flash of something self-righteous and mutinous appeared on Risina’s face for a moment before she sighed in ill-tempered agreement, “O-kay.”   After greetings, the question of water and supplies was discussed. Along with what was left of the giant bird, the muddy if edible mole-bear meat, the first caravan had had luck hunting and were well supplied with the remains of a stag as well as half a dozen rabbits, squirrels and other smaller game. With the water from the stream, all wagons filled up barrels and boxes with food and drink for the next leg of their journey together.   Nox wasted no time in seeking out Temila and asking to become her apprentice, as well as another favour she’d not known she’d wanted until spotting the stream. After asking around the women of the now enlarged caravan, Nox gained a new dress (new for her) and took herself downstream for a long afternoon soak. When she returned, her hair was clean and brushed straight, her skin showed the freckles that dirt and grim had hidden. Her dress, with its pins and tucks, showed the figure of a young woman no longer hidden in the sack-like skirt and pinafore of her childhood. When her new look drew attention, she didn’t slink away as she would have of old but turned, smiled and (tried) to accept the compliments.   The next day, there was one last task Fureva-Yung wanted to do before they finally left the area for good. As the light started returning to the world, she entered the pyramid with Marius, Jaden and Nox following. She was frozen in place by the view of the first room. The cylinder in the centre of the room was completely empty. I was hoping to see him get home, Lamented Nox as she and the others came beside Fureva-Yung.   Fureva-Yung just stood staring at the empty space that held the only living link to her past. It was a bitter blow after the vision given by the beetles, the small flashes of recognition she'd received while in the pyramid the first time. She'd have liked to have asked the ancient being what it had all meant. While Fureva-Yung contemplated her loss, Marius walked around trying to gather what he could from the space. Had the being found a way to go home? Had it found a way to the datasphere and was now one with all knowledge or had the very old and injured being finally given and dissolved in the green gas? The response he received was disappointing. All he could say with any sense of confidence was that he didn't believe the impressive being would have given up. No, either by their tinkering in the pyramid or by their waking up his sub-conscience, the being had finally found a way out of his self-induced prison. We'll find another datasphere portal like that one in the forest, Nox assured her big friend, We'll find your people, I'm sure of it. Fureva-Yung, we'll find a way to get you home.   Without a word, Fureva-Yung left the antechamber and climbed the stairs to the alcoves where she'd first contacted the entity in the cylinder. Just as they'd left them, the alcoves were dark and lifeless, but it didn't stop Fureva-Yung from thrusting her head into the alcove. Her spirit lifted for a moment as she felt the world around her slip away, her consciousness entering the floating space. She reached out to feel that other being's mind alongside her when she was torn back to her body . She could hear a motor somewhere behind the walls wind down to silence. As before, there wasn't enough energy in the system. Once more, Fureva-Yung was left feeling on the brink of connecting to understanding. The pent-up frustration, the loneliness and fear she had felt since awakening to this world ill-suited to her kind, surged through her. She slapped her fist into the wall of the alcove, buckling the metal and breaking something beyond. It was the last disappointment the pyramid would give her as she turned and left, the others silently following in her wake.     The thirteen refugees that had escaped the ruins of Cerelon almost two weeks before had swelled to more than thirty individuals from both the Buckles and High Redoubt. Some had been as close as people can be before the attack, others had never spoken to each other. All now set course North-East together. They had no real idea of what to expect, just a hope that with a little hard work, they could rebuild their lives into something they could all be proud.   For three days, they crossed the hilly grasslands to the west of the Endoval Forest. Nox, as promised, set to work learning what she could from Temila and Marius about how a body can be hurt and how it can be healed. Her quick mind devoured facts and was soon applying salves and herbal remedies she learnt from Temila to the bandages and stitches of Marius. She was also pleasantly surprised to discover that sometimes all people in pain needed was another human being to sit and listen.   Marius handed over his mother's sword to Risina, and together they practised sparring. She flicked the sword back and forth as if born to it, he sparred unarmed, taking advice from Risina on where he left himself unprotected or how to move to make the best of a strike. The practise sessions became so commonplace the dritmen were heard to wonder about their leader’s intentions with…The Boss.   At the same time, Jaden started planning for a future where she woke up in the same place day after day. She would not have admitted it out loud, but she missed her workshop where her ideas became reality. Looking at what she'd been able to bring with her and what they'd found along the way she started drawing out the layout for her new workshop. She had plans, just waiting for a space and time. First off, the self-equipping rubber armour inspired by the nodule trees. Her first prototype was only a reality in her mind, a plan on paper, and even now, she knew it would not provide the strongest of protection, but it was a start and may save her or one of her friends from grievous harm.   Fureva-Yung borrowed Jaden’s tools and asked her advice about the carving and shaping of all her souvenirs into links of chain. Some, like the vine or the crystal links provided by Sharavellen and Mamma, only needed adding to the chain. Other materials like the tusk of the mole-bear and the diamond glass from the pyramid needed skilled hands that Jaden was only too happy to provide. She worked diligently at the horn she'd pulled from the ancient margr that they'd called Ironhorn. It was slow work as she was unskilled and had only their rest times to work. After three days, she had a link she connected to the others. At the same time, Fureva-Yung noticed a blue flashing on her forearm. As before, in the tunnels deep underground, a dot at the centre of her tattoo began pulsing with a blue light. Throughout the day, she checked it regularly, the pulses growing long, the breaks in light shorter until that evening, the dot was a solid blue against her skin.   By the end of the third day, the caravan stopped as a new vista opened up to them. The rolling hills finally led up to a tower, tilting drunkenly to one side against the northern sky. The land of those distant hills was blue, so lush was the land encircling the tower.   “Ha, someone got the foundations wrong on that one,” Jaden commented, and those around her laughed as a joyful feeling of hope spread through the caravan. And yet it stands, Nox replied in awe of the distant building. The crystal compass, the one the black hooded figure had put into her mind, had led them…where? Suddenly Nox was excited to find out. “Can we get there by tomorrow?” She asked aloud to the group around her and was pleased when those around laughed at her exuberance and nodded. “But first we rest,” Jaden chided her, unwilling to give up old habit quite so soon, “We have the rest of our lives to explore that Tilted Tower.”        

18. Dark Truths

Full of food and feeling safe for the first time in ten days, the High Redoubt caravan was slow to get moving the next morning. This provided plenty of time for Fureva-Yung to share her discovery of the night before with Marius and Jaden. “It is not far away, I think,” She said, pointing in the direction she’d heard…felt…seen the vibrations, “It lasted some time but stopped before sunrise.” “About thirty minutes,” Nox qualified, “I think it's a machine. Can we go see it?” “We have to protect the group, especially as one of their two warden militia is down,” Marius thought out loud, and Jaden agreed. “If it's not far, maybe we can take everyone?”   When the caravan was packed and ready to move, they initially headed towards the sound. The forest, which had been open and sparse up to that point, suddenly closed in. It was almost impossible to move through with the aircraft and its two waddling chicks of wagons. “Leave the craft. We won’t be gone long,” Marius said confidently, waving the group together. Can we trust them? Fureva-Yung asked through telepathy. “Well, Risina, I’m sure will try something. I’m sure we can trust these people to not leave without us,” Marius said with a mischievous grin and added telepathically, I have the keys.   Following Fureva-Yung, they set off into the darkening forest, chatting casually about what sort of device the vibrations could be from. Within a few minutes, they started noticing changes in the environment. The flora was all of one type, trees covered in cauliflower-sized black nodules. Half a dozen to a tree, the nodules seemed randomly distributed from the ground to three or four metres up the trunk where the canopy started. Marius and Nox were drawn to the thick layer of blue gravel unusual in this part of the forest. Nox crouched and examined the broken stone pieces worn smooth by some environmental action. She looked around as Marius spotted her playing with the rocks. “Rock poop, we sometimes call it at the mines. Not worth much but making footpaths. Odd that it’s just sitting out here in the middle of the forest.” “They’re ground smooth,” She stood and handed him a couple of the stones, “Like they’ve been in a river, but I don't think water flows through here.” “You're right. And you notice, no leaf-fall? It’s like this was dumped here yesterday.”   Filing away the mystery of the gravel for the moment, Nox turned her attention to the trees. She had a particular affinity with plants, spurred on by Temela’s and her many trips to look for medical plants. These trees looked nothing like she’d ever seen before, and she wondered what the purpose of the black nodules were. Up close, the nodules looked nothing more than black extruded rubber, a little wrinkled in places. Knowing Fureva-Yung’s love of textured, chewy things, Nox pulled out her knife and started cutting a sample. As soon as the sharp blade cut the rubbery surface, the black nodule exploded out, extending a blanket of black a centimetre thick around the trunk, trapping Nox like a fly in sap.   “Nox,” Fureva-Yung said after the initial shock of the event was over, and Nox was found to be safe, if immobile, “You could have scanned it.” “I could have….” Nox confessed, struggling to catch a breath, “But I wanted to get a sample for you. Tree resins can be very tasty and useful.” “Well, we’ll soon have you out,” Marius replied, prying out her little dagger from her stuck hand and started cutting. It was tough and fibrous, and the going was slow. He’d made a nick into the rubbery layer about five centimetres long when Fureva-Yung looked to the gravel below their feet. “Something’s coming. I can hear-see the sound again.” Through the tree and their feet, the others could also feel the vibration. A bright sharp-edged quivering that seemed un-modified by tree trunk or loose stones. As they watched, the gravel seemed to quake along with the vibration.   Suddenly, every tree around them exploded into black as all the trunks were wrapped in a layer of rubber. “Oh! It’s protection from the stones! And the stones are made by the vibrations!” Nox exclaimed in the excitement of a mystery solved as Marius and Fureva-Yung backed up to the tree she was wrapped. “Come on!” Marius drew his sword, ready to attack an enemy that at present was unseen. Fureva-Yung lifted Jaden into the branches and put herself between the gravel and her friends as it started to bounce. The vibrations were a physical thing, making the air in their lungs and even the jelly in their eyes jitter and twitch to its rhythm. The gravel flew up, striking Marius and Fureva-Yung like reversed hail, tearing rents in their clothes and cutting up their legs and hands.   Under the rubber, Nox could feel the rocks, but only as gentle taps. She scanned the gravel area, forcing her senses to go as far down as they could. It was gravel all the way down, broken-down rock, layers thick. It all jittered about under the force of a tight ball of kinetic energy, like a ball-lightning of movement. She let the others know, but by now, the hail of rocks was now up to their chests, striking randomly to smack into chins and cutting cheeks. Marius activated his hand armour and brought them up to protect himself from the pummelling.   Targetting the ball of energy that she could see with her echolocation, Fureva-Yung breathed in and yelled. The ball of energy redoubled the force of her yell and bounced it back. A circle six metres wide of gravel flung up into the air. The trees lurched and shook and the ground shuddered under their feet. Marius reacted, flinging himself around the embedded Nox. Fureva-Yung did the same, shielding him with her bulk, as thousands of tiny pieces of shrapnel cut and punctured her skin. Jaden, high in the branches, scrambled to hang on as her perch rolled and swayed and rock shrapnel made confetti out of the leaves and branches around her.   Below, under a layer of rubber and encircled by her friends, Nox buzzed with the excitement of this new discovery. Rubber suited trees, kinetic balls of energy and what was behind it all? What significant artefact of the lost worlds had caused trees to respond with body armour? Make gravel out of solid rock? A few stones somehow made it through her layers of friends and rubber to knock against her forehead. She suddenly realised how close both Marius and Fureva-Yung were. Everyone sharing the same breath in the few moments of chaos. As the world tilted around her, she closed her eyes feeling cared for and safe for the first time in her young life. That was until the rocks thrown up by the explosion came raining back down, knocking her on the head. She caught a few with her hedge magic, and the moment was gone.   “What a stupid…you know you only added to the force, don’t you?” Jaden called from up in her tree, her arms striped red from hundreds of tiny cuts. Fureva-Yung shrugged and listened with all her senses to the ground. She could still feel the distortion half a metre below the quaking stones, moving through as before. The whole group bent their minds to the mystery of the energy orb. Marius turned this mercurial mind to it, gaining insight by the minute. Jaden pulled out her io ray and aimed it for the epicentre. Nox, with a thought of a moment’s respite from the vibrations, placed a stasis field around the energy ball. She saw the moment Jaden’s ray hit the distortion, bending through it like a sunbeam through water before…   It wasn’t quite an explosion. Not like the Fureva-Yung had made. A stasis bubble blossomed up from the energy orb, growing ever larger, enveloping them, the tree and the neighbouring forest. It was an absence of all energy but light. No sound, no movement. The rocks that had been in the air a moment ago hung in space surrounded by motes of dust and leaf litter. Everyone was frozen to the spot, the only thing working their minds as the orb continued to pass through and leave their space in complete silence. They were locked that way for a minute until the stasis field finally decayed and released them. The black rubber flicked off the tree trunks and back into the nodules, dropping Nox to the ground to her knees.   “That was amazing!” Nox exclaimed, saying every syllable as if new to her, “What do you think, Jaden? Would the nodules make good armour for Fureva-Yung?” Grabbing her knife back from Marius’s loose grip, she started cutting around the nodule. “How many do you think we’d need? Three?” “Oh, I think I want this,” Marius said with a thoughtful expression, “Yeah, cut me one too.” “Well, I guess if you can collect the mechanism and not just the black material, we could have armour for everyone,” Jaden thought as she climbed down with the help of Fureva-Yung, “See if you can take a few clippings, it might be worth cultivating these trees.”   As Nox carefully cut around each nodule, she handed them out to the group. One to Marius, one to Jaden and the rest to Fureva-Yung. Jaden sat in the gravel looking at the nodule, working out the physical mechanism for release and deduced that she could make excellent lightweight protection with a few tweaks. They collected six black blobs from various trees so as not to disadvantage one tree the next time the energy ball came through.   “We’ve been a while. I’ll go back and check on the caravan. I’ll let them know what’s up,” Marius said while everyone was busy with the trees. “Good idea. We won’t be long,” Jaden replied distractedly as she pencilled out a plan for the new armour. Nox watched him go. She was sure what he had in mind with his nodule but said nothing. She felt a little embarrassed knowing the secret he’d hidden so carefully and for so long. The more time passed, the less she felt she could admit to knowing. So, instead of insisting that she join him or encouraging them all to go back together, she turned away and busied herself looking for Jaden’s clippings.   She failed. Much of the new foliage that would have made excellent cuttings was shredded by Fureva-Yung’s blast. What remained was too high up in the trees for even her hedge magic to reach. In the end, with Fureva-Yung’s help, she clambered back down to the ground empty-handed.   “Fureva-Yung, do you think you could find where the balls are coming from?” Asked Jaden as shelooked up from making her notes. “Huh? How?” “These balls of energy. I think they’re part of a larger system, moved by vibration away from a source. Like when you bump a glass of water, it makes waves.” “Ho! We will go and stop it from bumping!” Fureva-Yung grasped and started walking deeper into the forest, following some trail only she could sense.   Not wanting to draw attention, Nox stealthed through the forest, using the bright shafts of sunlight and the deep shadows they created to her advantage. Fureva-Yung watched as Nox slipped behind a sunbeam and seemingly disappeared. “I did not know that you could turn invisible, little one,” Fureva-Yung said to the empty forest. She heard a twitter of laughter and could feel the girl was nearby.   They travelled for a short while before coming to a clearing amongst the densely packed black nodule trees. Almost circular, the clearing was empty except for a sphere of something so clear it couldn’t be seen except by the light distorted through it. Light entering was reflected out at odd angles, causing the image of the trees behind it to stretch and magnify. Rainbows coloured the gravel-strewn ground as light refracted and spilled out its multicoloured constituents. The scene was beautiful and completely fascinating. With Jaden a little way behind, still mulling over her latest invention, Nox looked to Fureva-Yung, a mischievous glint in her eye. “Do you want to scan it?” Fureva-Yung asked. “I have to get closer,” Nox replied, enjoying the reckless nature of the idea. “Then you should go invisible, so it will not know you are there.”   Lying flat on the gravelled ground, Nox crawled towards the orb until she was within fifteen metres and within range to scan. The image she got back was nothing like she’d expected. An orb of kinetic energy surrounding a tiny speck, a void to somewhere else. As she scanned the ball, she could feel the build-up of kinetic energy leaking through the speck into the clearing. Suddenly a shockwave of kinetic force burst from the orb, and a new ball was born, moving away in a random direction. “Could you throw something into the speck?” Fureva-Yung asked after Nox had spent some time explaining what she’d discovered. The thrill of doing something reckless sent shivered through Nox, and she searched the ground in front of her for a small sliver of rock. With her hedge magic, she tossed the rock at the orb. The nature of the orb and the distance she was throwing made her miss the speck. The rock skipped off the surface of the orb and bounced back, its velocity quadrupled. It shot over Nox’s head directly back towards Fureva-Yung. The tiny rock blasted passed her, vibrations humming deeply in its wake. Suddenly a nodule Fureva-Yung had been carrying in her hands exploded, wrapping her in black rubber from head to knee. She wobbled on her bound feet for a moment before crashing to the gravel, wiggling and bouncing. The trees behind Fureva-Yung also responded, wrapping themselves in their protective black. In the forest not far away, Fureva-Yung felt another body falling to the ground. Nox watched astoundedly for a moment before rolling onto her back in laughter at the spectacle of her mighty friend, a wriggling black sausage. Nox was dizzy from laughing. Tear tracks marked her grubby face as a few minutes later, the black retracted, and Fureva-Yung sprawled out on the ground. “Are you alright?” Nox asked, still laughing through the words. “There was no air. I could not breathe. Fortunately, I do not need to breathe so much. The deep vibration triggered the nodules. Maybe Jaden can use this information. ,” Fureva-Yung contemplated and got back on her feet, “Will you try again?” “I could, but I think I need to get closer,” Nox replied, and Fureva-Yung put her nodule down near a tree before Nox started her crawl towards the orb.   Now within four metres from the epicentre, Nox could see that the orb’s event horizon was a scintillating rainbow, like the skin on a bubble of energy. Thinking of all the practice she’d had throwing rocks and sticks at Risina the night before, Nox carefully selected a tiny sliver and aimed it directly for the black speck at the orb’s centre. The pebble entered the orb this time, and just before it touched the speck, it stopped moving. Suddenly the rock expanded to twice or three times its size before slowly fading away. For a moment, Nox was unsure what she’d just seen until she scanned the speck.   It was a link to the datasphere, a worldwide collection of information she’d connected to only once with the help of a cypher. Somehow, the pebble had been translated into data and travelled via the speck to the datasphere. The revelation was incredible and very inviting to her inquisitive mind. Nox reached out a hand, fortunately still too far away to touch the orb, wanting that connection with all her being. “What did it do?” Fureva-Yung’s query brought her back to herself, and Nox scrambled to her companions, letting them know what she’d found out.   “I don’t think it's working as it should. The balls of force are wrong. But what if we could access the dataphere?” “Is there something else we could do? Should I throw a stick at it?” “No. Nothing beyond actually touching it, I think, but then I don’t really know what would happen. Maybe we’d end up travelling the datasphere as energy ourselves.”   Like the forest of black nodules, the location of the datasphere access node was mentally noted, and they started back to the caravan. They estimated they’d been gone forty minutes, but somehow the three of them had beat Marius back to the caravan.   “Marius,” Fureva-Yung called into the forest with no response. Marius? Nox echoed through the telepathic link and confirmed he was further than fifteen metres away from them and out of contact. Fear of what happened to him experimenting with the nodule sent a shiver down Nox’s spine, and she started running back to the forest. Fureva-Yung quickly outpaced her as she put on a supernatural burst of speed and returned to the small group of trees they had first examined. Jaden raced along beside Nox, cursing under her breath at the “...irresponsible idiot…running away from the group again!”   No, it’s not like that. He’s hiding because he doesn’t want anyone to see, Nox said through the link, I think he’s ashamed, but I don’t know why. “I’ll give a reason,” Jaden fumed and stormed off on her own to find Marius.   Fureva-Yung found him first, wrapped in a black rubber cocoon not far from the trees they had harvested. Without a word, Fureve-Yung ran to Marius’ side and pulled the black rubber away from Marius’ face. Red and squashed, Marius looked nothing more than a giant swaddled baby, and Fureva-Yung told him so as she picked him up. “Take me to Mamma,” Marius said, half-joking until he realised his situation, “No, better not do that.” Fureva-Yung ignored his protests and started walking him back towards the caravan, Nox and Jaden. As before, the black rubber uncurled from Marius’ body after a few minutes and disappeared. Marius’ cried out, and blood suddenly streaked the cloth of the shirt on his left side. Instead of being surprised or shocked, however, Marius looked embarrassed and wriggled free of Fureva-Yung’s arms.   Marius, you don’t have to hide your experiments. If you’re hurt and alone, no one can help, Nox pleaded through the telepathic link, Please, you scare me when you run away. It was quickly drowned out when Jaden saw the state Marius was in. “You bloody idiot! Slinking around in the forest doing god knows what. I’m sick and tired of you hiding away, leaving us behind!” “Leave me alone!” Marius bellowed at the group and raced away further into the forest, holding his injured side. “If you don’t want us to chase you, don’t run!” Jaden hollered back, running after, “but I will keep hunting you and bring you back like a selfish puppy!”   “Maybe he should be left to his pleasure time,” Fureva-Yung said as both Marius and Jaden disappeared. It’s not that…well, I guess it is that too! Oh, Fureva-Yung! He’s been putting cyphers into himself to do all his wonderful tricks. Like the flying, you remember? It was never the blue steam, it was a cypher we’d picked up, and he’d…incorporated it into himself somehow. I think he tried the same with the nodule from the tree. Nox’s confession spilled out, confusing and concerning Fureva-Yung, It’s incredible he can do it, but he hides it like it's some terrible thing, and I don’t understand why. Now tears rolled down her face again, not with laughter but a mixture of shame, guilt, frustration, and above all, fear. “ Let’s go find her,” Fureva-Yung said simply and, putting her large meaty hand on Nox’s shoulder, guided the girl into the forest.   Jaden was close on his trail, following blood splatters on the gravel. She found the black nodule first, bloodied and broken, abandoned behind a tree. She picked it up and was about to continue her search when a serious-looking Fureva-Yung and teary Nox found her first. She was livid, yelling out into the empty forest at the childishness of some men, but she followed her companions back to the caravan.   This time Marius was there, talking to the injured warden militia and checking his bandages. He looked well and seem focused on his patient, nothing like how they'd last seen him running away. He did not respond to Jaden's tirade as she stormed through the caravan towards him. Neither did he flinch as she came up behind him and tried to yank him around by the ear. “Don’t you mother me!” He said, brushing her hand away as if only a nuisance. This only enraged Jaden further. “Fureva-Yung, help me get this idiot up,” She turned her fury on the big woman who looked at her in confusion. “Huh?” “Nevermind!” She spun back on Marius, who was still deftly tidying up the bandaging, while the warden militia looked on with surprised concern. “You selfish little boy with your temper tantrum! If you haven’t noticed, we’re in the wilderness….” “There’s only one temper here,” He commented calmly, and Jaden continued her attack. “You wanted to be seen as a leader? You want people to follow you? Well then, act like it! Show us that you're more interested in the group than your own selfish wants.” Please, please don’t argue, Nox pleaded telepathically, Not in front of the others. Fureva-Yung looked around uncomfortably and walked away, pulling out one of the nodules. Marius knelt over his patient, his hand balled into fists but saying nothing. “Nothing to say? All right. You’ve just proven today that you can’t be trusted with the safety of this group,” Red-faced and still fuming, Jaden walked off. Marius let out a ragged breath and turned around.   Nox was standing where Fureva-Yung had left her, hands covering her mouth, her eyes huge and fearful. I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I messed up! I’m sorry! She wailed silently, disturbing the caravaners around here with her projected silent misery. For what? Marius asked, putting aside his distress for that of his young friend. I…I told about the cyphers…and you. What? I saw them. When we were fighting the margr, you were so ill and looked streaky and odd, and I thought if I knew why then I could help, and I ….scanned you and saw the cyphers. Oh. And I saw the make-up and realised you spent so much time away from us because you were trying to hide it all, but I didn’t understand why, and then you ran away, so I was frightened that you were hurt and alone and….and I told Fureva-Yung. Oh, Marius swallowed, It’s okay. In the face of his gentle words and manner, Nox collapsed into a heap of misery, filthy hair and rags. He crouched beside her, his hand on her shoulder, Really, it's okay, you’re okay.   You don’t have to be afraid of me, She finally said, as she slowly gained control of her thoughts once more, You don’t have to run from me. I’m not afraid of you. Others are, She looked around at the caravaner who had picked up only the smallest part of her silent distress and now looked back at the two of them, whispering to each other, The witch girl. Well, I’m not. Marius repeated, We’ve always been there for each other, right? Nox nodded, her tears plopping unhindered to the dry ground at her feet. We’re right. We don’t need more parents, He looked after Jaden, whose voice could still be heard though she was currently out of sight. Yeah, I’ve already got one more than I want, Nox sighed, and her thoughts moved from herself to her Father. True, but we did have fun with him, right?   With that thought, the tears cleared, and Nox’s childish giggles filled the silence of their conversation. She looked up at Marius, her eyes still swimming but now full of laughter. Oh yes! He thought you were my boyfriend! I noticed. Nox’s expression now moved from tears to laughter to contemplation. Before…when we were in Cerelon, I couldn’t read minds. I read his mind yesterday. That must have been odd. Nox nodded, now thoughtful, He cares. I didn’t expect that. Of course, he does. No, I never saw that before. I was just his way into the Devotees of Erinai. That’s all he ever wanted. Why? Grandfather founded it. Aunty is in it. So something important to his family he wants you to be involved in. But, I don’t. She said adamantly.   A muffled explosion was heard somewhere on the other side of the caravan. Marius and Nox looked to see what had caused the sound, but when nothing was evident, they returned to their silent conversation.   Anyway, best not to talk about the other thing, Marius replied, changing the subject. Nox looked out at the caravaners around her, a cool calculating stare that made many look away, Sure, they don’t need to know anything. But I don’t understand why you had to hide. People don’t understand. It’s not natural, cutting yourself up to add tech. But it's cool! It makes you a superhero! He shook his head. People won’t like it. Like me, Nox glanced up with a small smile twisting up her lips. Yeah, Marius smirked, Our own weird witch girl!   “Irresponsible rabble-rouser, isn’t he,” Said a woman’s voice, cutting through Jaden’s dark thoughts as she sorted through her stores of parts in Bellyache. Surprised, she turned to find Risina Keris standing behind her, glancing over at the man in question. Jaden shrugged, aware of Risina and her reputation for power, “I never had a problem until now.” Risina shook her head, her smooth grey hair shining in the sunlight, inexplicably immaculate even with the privations of the caravan life. “People like him aren’t leaders. We’re leaders to the people of Cerelon.” “Don’t know about you,” Jaden eyed Risina cooly, “We never saw much of you down our side of the wall.” Jaden turned her glance away from Risnia’s confident smirk for a moment to see Fureva-Yung under a tree picking at one of the black nodules. She looked about to try and bite a piece off when Risina’s voice brought Jaden back to their conversation. “I keep my caravan safe, just the same as you.” Jaden had to admit, regardless of the classist way she’d gone about it, their caravan has survived, “You did your best.” Risina accepted the comment with a nod, “That’s why the world needs us to keep rabble-rousers in their place. Things are better when others keep to their place and do as they’re told, don’t you think?” And there it was. Jaden sighed, “I’m usually all for a breath of fresh air myself.” And to prove it, took in a lungful. Risina laughed a humourless sound, “I assure you he is nothing but hot air. I’ve had a lot of experience taming Master Serik.” At the mention of his name, Jaden’s anger flared again, “Fatheaded git!” She spat and noticed Risina's predatory smile. “He was never interested in his proper place.” “Oh yes,” Jaden bridled, “and what place is that?”   An explosion nearby caught their attention. A large Fureva-Yung-sized black sausage thrashed as several of the nearest caravan members ran over to see if they could help. Resina tipped her head and shrugged, “Surely that’s for the leaders of this future community to decide?”   Climbing a rock at the edge of the caravan, Marius looked over the little more than a dozen people trying to stay alive in an uncaring world. Regardless of Jaden's words or Risina's prejudice, he struck quite a pose head and shoulders above everyone present and soon all eyes were turned to him. "It was high time we were out of here and reunited with our fellow survivors. Move out!" He yelled and as if they had been waiting for just that phrase, they picked up their last few possessions, packed them away in the wagons and with a roar from the aircraft's engine, they were on their way east once more.        

17. The Others

The sun skimmed unhindered across the sky, only scarred by the black of high fly scavengers. Marius carefully cut what he could from the carcass of the giant bird and smoked the strips. Once she had recovered from the fall, Jaden checked the aircraft over. Her investigations were punctuated by sudden expletives, moans and mutters as she noted the damage. The engine would not turn over, the fault of loose wiring that took more than a moment to rectify once discovered. “Well, most of the damage is superficial. Dents in the body and what not. So we’re good to go when you all are,” She looked to the others.   They packed up the meat the best they could and clambered back into the craft. Soon the plains were roaring past once again and in the distance hills loomed flanked by another forest. They all searched the landscape for signs of the other groups passing, not an easy feat speeding along as they were. But fortunately, the ground had been soft when the second caravan passed this way, and two sets of wheel ruts cut through the otherwise untouched grassland.   Marius increased the speed of the aircraft. Soon they were skimming over the hills and dodging through sparse trees. “Ah, do you think you may be going a little fast?” Jaden asked as Marius whipped and skidded around the trunks. “Why? Are you all good?” Marius replied, exhilarated by the speed of the aircraft. “Well…you may be able to jump out of the way of trees…” Nox mumbled her anxiety leaked across the telepathic bond to Marius who moderate his speed. “Fair point.”   Through the open forest, a small group of people dragged two makeshift wagons on wooden wheels against the silhouetted tree trunks. The distance and intervening forest made determining much about the group difficult, but by counting moving figures there looked to be eight to ten people.   Nox, who had been mostly quiet and introspective up until this point started jittering in her seat. She raked her fingers through her blood-matted hair and scratched at the dried blood that covered her face and clothes. “What’s the matter with you?” Jaden asked, “Something biting you?” “No-o,” Wailed Nox holding her arms out in front of her for inspection, “Meeting people! Like this!”   Marius slowed down the craft and Jaden and Nox stepped out. Without water, they did the best they could to clean off the worst of the gore. Jaden threatened Nox with a spit bath until she realised the extent of the job and they scrubbed her exposed skin with an old rag from Bellyache. Using dust they broke up the clumps of hair until it looked something like normal. They could do nothing for Nox’s clothes and resorted to turning them inside out and hoping very few would notice the quiet girl. In the end, she looked filthy, but not necessarily blood-stained, and was something resembling passable.   “I’m not quite sure why you care what they think?” Jaden said as they clambered back on the aircraft. “Aunty might be there,” Nox replied without thought. She remembered her Father, always so sure of himself in the Buckles, became flustered and fussed about his appearance anytime he had to visit Highside Redoubt. Was she just mimicking her Father’s behaviours? Was there more to her wanting to be seen as respectable by the potential leaders of society? In the end, she decided she was a little nervous about the leaders of Cerelon, but also nervous about meeting any new people. “Well, let's hope the more reasonable side survived,” Jaden mumbled as the aircraft engine roared back to life.   As the aircraft skimmed closer, individuals became discernible amongst the wagons. A woman stood up from a seated position on one wagon and waved welcome to the group. “Okay, so you’re doing the talking right?” Jaden asked over Marius’s shoulder. “Urgh, I don’t know if that’s necessarily the right course of action,” He replied at the sudden realisation he recognised the woman on the caravan. The bane of his previous Dritman life. The opposition to all his proposals for better, safer working conditions in the mines. Risina Keris, the owner of the Dritvein Quarry. Now it was his turn to look uncomfortable as his knuckles turned white on the aircraft yolk.   “Ugh, Marius,” Fureva-Yung commented, ”If you need a moment behind a rock to do your pleasure thing…” The image of Risina’s sour, self-serving image and the thought of pleasure was such a contrast in Marius' head that the aircraft almost spluttered to a complete stop. When he did, his laugh rang above the whine of the engine. “That’s the best advice I’ve received in some time,” He said and maneuvered the craft back on course.   The tension broken, Marius now trained his hearing and listened to the excited and mostly reassuring sounds from the caravan ahead. He was about to agree to Jaden’s suggestion when his sensitive ears heard something other than talking. A rumble of fallen earth, the snort of something testing the air, eager grunts of huge beasts and the excited talk turned to cries of surprise. From thirty metres away, the group could see two large creatures clamber out of the ground amidst the caravaners. They were the size of bears but instead of a muzzle of fur, these creatures' heads were dominated by two pairs of huge tusks the length of an adult’s arm. Instantly two caravaners in the travel-worn uniforms of warden militia jumped to defend the rest of the caravan, but they were hardly a match for the monsters now rearing up in front of them.   Marius didn’t hesitate. He pushed the engine of the aircraft forward until the single-engine screamed and rammed the cockpit into the nearest creature. Unlike the bird, however, the aircraft’s weight was no match for the solid bulk of the creature. The whole aircraft went from full speed to dead stop in a fraction of a second. The excess momentum flipped the aircraft up and into the fray.   Jaden, with her spear ready like a lance flew through the air. The momentum was so great that instead of spearing the creature through the side as she’d hoped, she sailed over the first creature and into battle with the second, landing with a crunch. Nox leaped from the aircraft, using her momentum to get clear of the crashing fuselage. Landing lightly, she rolled to her feet, her little dagger ready. Marius didn’t do quite as well, catching his leg on the yolk of the aircraft as he jumped clear. He landed heavily with his arm screwed by behind his back. Wincing, he clambered to his feet and drew his sword with numb fingers. Only Fureva-Yung stayed on the aircraft. As the fuselage went vertical, she cleared the aircraft and jumped, landing on the first creature’s back as she intended. Quicker than she could grab its tusks, it bucked her off and sent her flying once more to land flat on her back in front of it.   The warden militia men did their best to stop the creatures from attacking the rest of the caravan, but they were making no headway against the tough hides of the creatures. Marius sprung into the attack, his short sword slashing at the beast, but the blade skidded off the hide like it had hit sunbaked clay. Not wanting to get too close to the beasts, Nox tried her screaming attack, but the movement of battle sent her attacks off course and they petted out into nothing. The creature looming over Fureva-Yung turned on her trying to pin her with its tusks. This time she grabbed the lance-sized teeth, keeping the gnashing mouth at bay before trying to flip herself over the tusks. She miss-calculated and landed not on the creature’s back but on the tusk themselves. Shocked by the force of the injury she could do nothing as the creature flicked her off and stomped her into the ground. Likewise, the second creature lifted one of the warden militiamen off the ground on its tusk, the other guard dropping everything to help his comrade.   Jaden looked around at the battlefield perplexed about what to do next. The creatures seemed far too tough to tackle head-on, they needed an advantage. She took a moment to study the creatures and realised they had no eyes at all, so how did they know where their prey was? “They’re blind!” She yelled through a modified iotum to the group hoping to draw the attention of a beast off the injured, “They must use sound to find their food. Don’t make a sound if you don’t want to attract them.” She braced the light spear and waited for one of the creatures to turn on her.   Figuring that the indomitable Fureva-Yung had her beast under control, Marius sprung to the aid of the warden militia, stabbing the creature with the impaled guard. With the same thought in mind, Nox thought to stop the creature from hurting the guard more and cast stasis. With the guard frozen in mid-air, the thrashing of the creature made the tusk slip out of the wound. The creature’s frustration only grew as it went to attack him again and found the guard surrounded in a stasis field and invulnerable. The creature grunted and squealed in frustration. Nox screamed back and drew the creature’s attention to herself.   The second creature, losing its meal turned on the small screaming creature behind it and charged. Prepared, Nox rolled forward, under the creature’s legs and struck up at the softer skin of its belly with her dagger. As the creature barrels over the top of her, her tiny weapon ripped a tear in its gizzards from belly to back legs. With a horrifying squeal, the creature’s legs stiffened and thrashed, collapsing onto its side. Surprised that the maneuver had worked, Nox quietly looked back as the creature’s death throes subsided, stood and cleaned her dagger. She completely missed the astounded expression on a middle-aged man in the caravan.   Fureva-Yung was not having such a good battle. Stunned by her failed attempts to control the beast, Fureva-Yung was unable to dodge its next attack. The creature clamped a mouth full of teeth around her leg and started dragging her away from the fight. “Good work, Furry!” Marius called over the battle, “You’ve got it, get it away from the caravan!”   Ahead, Fureva-Yung could see a large hole leading underground. The creature was taking her back to its lair where it could deal with her in privacy. Shaking her head clear, she once more grabbed for the tusks, wrenching her leg out of its maws. Its prey escaping the creature stopped only to be distracted by the violent yelling sounds coming from Jaden. “Hey you stupid mole-bear thing, you bring my friend back,” The noise magnified through the iotum disorientated the beast for a moment as it thrashed back and forward, looking for Fureva-Yung. It was all the confusion the warrior woman needed as she swung her chain around, double handed and onto the creature’s broad flat skull. There was a crunch of bone and the beast swayed and crashed down, pinning Freva-Yung once more to the ground.   Marius and Jaden ran up to find Fureva-Yung’s head and shoulder sticking out from under the beast’s torso. “Your usual spot, I see,” Joked Marius at Fureva-Yung. “I’d prefer to be on top,” She grunted pulling her hands free. “Death from below!” Cried, Marius “Are you planning on lying around all day or would you like a hand?” Jaden asked as she jammed the butt of her spear under the butt of the beast. “Merely resting, Jaden,” Marius replied, leaned his own weight into pushing the dead weight of the beast. With a grunt from Fureva-Yung, the body rolled aside and she clambered back to her feet.   Now that the main danger was over, a few caravaners stepped to look at the warden militia guard suspended in thin air. Gesturing for them to be ready to catch him, Nox released the stasis field and he fell back into their arms surprised the beast was gone. “Don’t worry, we have a healer on our caravan. Temela, she’s the best,” Nox said quietly as Jaden, Marius and the crushed and punctured Fureva-Yung joined the rest at the caravan. She looked up smiling at her friends only to feel the smile freeze on her face as she spotted someone she’d been hoping and fearing to find. The drawn grey visage of Livaanar Ferrul, her father strapped to the front of a wagon with a doubled loop of rope. Forcing her glance away, Nox consciously fixed her thoughts on the caravan and the rest of the occupants.   Consisting of two roughly made hand-drawn vehicles and ten people the caravan was not much smaller than their own. The vehicles themselves were pulled by two people at a time and it seemed that most of the caravan’s members took turns pulling. All except for three who now stood from their seats on the wagons and looked down on the new arrivals.   A pudgy-faced old man looked owlishly at the newcomers. His clean soft hands fiddled with the front of his overstuff robes nervously before this group of scruffy Bucklers. “That’s Kyros Waldren,” Jaden muttered only loud enough for the group to hear, “It’s a surprise they’ve got this far if it was his invention they escaped on. He’s known for making useless, fanciful creations to amuse the rich. Style of over substance, I say.”   One grey-haired woman, the one who had waved was indeed Resina Keris, unquestionably the richest person in Cerelon if not the most powerful. She looked down at the new arrivals with a mixed looked of emotions playing across her face. Nox read her mind and discovered relief at not being alone, irritation at this new development that threatened her authority mixed with a mild amusement seemingly directed at Marius.   The second woman, a little older than Livaanar but with the same deep-set eyes glanced over at the strangers. Her hazel eyes rested on Nox for a fraction longer than the rest. Where Kyros gave off the air of aimless self-importance and Resina that of wealth and position, Ivasha Ferrul Adept of the Devotees of Erinai’s graced them all with her beatific smile of assurance and authority.   What’s wrong with them? Don’t they have legs? Thought Nox irritated by the new dynamic she sensed. She couldn’t tell if she should be happy to see her father pulling a cart or mad that these three individuals thought themselves so important they didn’t need to even walk. They may be taking it in turns, Marius replied in kind with a smirk that said the contrary.   “I’m so pleased you arrived, “ Risina announced to the whole caravan as if at an assembly of Cerelon, “You came just in time.” She said, almost as if it were her idea that they should come and rescue the caravan. “Nice to see you again, Risina,” Marius replied in equal volume so all could hear, “Are you taking a break there from doing your share of the heavy lifting?” Risina bristled. “Marius, what a surprise to see you working hard,” She responded just as sharply. “Ur…” Jaden now understood Marius' reluctance to be the spokesman. She tried to break up the tension that had instantly built., “Nice to meet up with you, Risina. You remember me, don’t you? Jaden Ventrisen?” She nodded and dragged Risina’s eyes off Marius, “This is Nox and Fureva-Yung.”   “Yes, Fureva-Yung. A great warrior and friend,” Added Marius as something of a challenge, “She used to work up on the Spectral Plateau.” “Ah yes, the one that broke the Highside gates, I recall,” Risina commented dryly, dismissing Fureva-Yung from her thoughts “And saved the Buckles!” Marius countered, “A great many people would not be alive today without her strength and courage.” “And this is Marius,” Fureva-Yung felt she needed to do her part, “she is our best…digger.”   “We rescued a few of your party members a few days ago,” Jaden interrupted with a smile, “And we thought it would be best to travel together. Strength in numbers?” Risina stood for a moment in stunned silence as if not quite hearing what she’d heard, “Do you want us to join you?” “Do you know where you’re going?” Jaden responded, now feeling on more solid ground, “We have Oslo Ghan and his family, caravaners who know the land and how to travel it.”   This wasn’t strictly true. Though the Ghan’s were experienced travellers, they knew nothing of the land this side of the forest. As far as they knew, no one did. No one travelled through the Endoval and none came through from this side. Still, Jaden saw that her bluff did give Risina pause. “We’re heading North,” Risina announced simply, “We believed as soon as we cleared the forests we were bound to hit a tradeway or some sign of civilization.”   “Any idea what sent the machine’s crazy?” Marius asked and Risina dragged her lidded eyes back to him,”It all started in Highside Redoubt.” “Of course,” She quipped back, “You don’t start in rebellion by attacking the slums do you?”     Nox, still link and listening to her thoughts. She could see the automatons fighting outside the temple, a small thing at first radiated out as more and more automatons were turned. They had been looking at Kyros’ new toy and quickly climbed on board and flown away. The crash was only the inevitable result of Kyros’ barge’s delicate nature and overcrowding. Nox shared her insights silently along the telepathic network.   “The automatons. Did they look like they were killing or herding the people?” Marius asked, making Risina pause in thought. “Strange. Now that I think of it they were attacking to subdue, not kill. Those who didn't resist were...moved away.” “We figure some foreign or alien intelligence took them over,” Marius prompted to see what the response would be, but from Nox’s link came only confusion and bewilderment. “Too early to speculate about that at present,” Jaden interjected, “So what do you say? Travel together with experienced caravaners who know the tradeways, or muddle through on your own?”   Oh! Nox exclaimed telepathically to the group making them all turn instinctively to her for the briefest moment, Don’t let them know about the compass.   At the same time, some in the caravan, especially the warden militia who now respected their fighting abilities, were now arguing to take up Jaden’s offer.   “We’re all together, working as a group,” Nox now spoke, her clear high pitched voice a counterpoint to the deeper adult rumblings, No bosses, no bullies…” “Yeah, the strong arm of the workers,” Marius added and caught the glare from Risina. He returned it with a grin.   Nox and Marius’ words seemed to hit a sore point with the majority of the caravan who decided they would return with the group. In the end Risina, Kyros and Ivasha could do nothing but agree or be left behind.   With the negotiations over, Fureva-Yung went back to the bear mole creature that had nearly done for her. Getting a firm grip on one tusk she tore the oversized tooth out of its socket and stowed it away with her other trinkets of conquest. Jaden was already busy getting the aircraft turned the right way around and checking to see if it still worked. Kyros scoffed at the lopsided, beat up and scrapped contraption with derision until the motor revved back to life and started once more floating away to the left.   “Now, we need to think of a way of gearing down this engine and attaching the wagons for the trek back,” She looked to Fureva-Yung who was walking back with her prize, “You’re good with chains and pulley’s, you work in finding a way of linking the wagons.” Fureva-Yung nodded and eagerly set to work single-handedly dragging each wagon around and preparing hitching places for the aircraft.   Using an iotum, Jaden made some judicious welds, reinforcing the short stubby wings of the aircraft in preparation for linking with the caravans. She also pulled a roll of synth from Bellyache and formed a large belt from the engine to the propellers. The belt slowed down the rotations of the high-revving engine, giving the aircraft more power but less speed. It was now suitable for walking behind and dragging the heavy caravans.   As the work was in progress, Marius bandaged up the Warden Militia who had been gored before turning to Risina. “Anyone else in your group injured?” “So civic-minded, or is it that you wish to win hearts and minds?” She replied cynically turning away, “No, we’re not in need of your ministrations.” “Always so dismissive,” Marius shook his head in real disbelief, “You know these people will save you if you let them.” “I was letting them. Happy too in fact,” Her smile was cold and imperious. Unsure what to say in the face of such arrogance, Marius turned and left to join Jaden looking over her handiwork. “And she thinks she won that argument,” Jaden leaned over to Marius. He visibly relaxed, unclenching his hands and letting a smile wander across his face.   Nox was silently watching a group butcher what they were now calling ravage bears when a voice she’d only heard in her worst moments rumbled from behind. “Still working on your craft, Nox?” Asked Livaanar, this voice as smooth and dark as winter honey. It made Nox shiver even though his expression was contrite and amenable. “I help Jaden,” She gestured to the aircraft with her head as her arms instinctively wrapped around her chest protectively. She couldn’t meet his eyes. “I saw you…fighting that bear-thing,” His turn to gesture in resigned acceptance, “I guess that means that the Devotees are out of the question.” Nox’s mouth hung open in incomprehension. When he seemed to be waiting for an answer she looked around them, the trees and wilderness for hundreds of miles around them. “What Devotees? Where do you think we are?” Now it was his turn to do a double-take. “I…I guess it does change things a little, doesn’t it,” He stepped forward and it was all Nox could do to stand her ground, “Listen, you need to give up this dangerous fighting…” “Nox?” Marius, noting the awkward conversation walked over. “Marius-” Nox sprung towards him and latched onto his arm with claw-like hands, “you have not met Livaanar, my father.” “No, very pleased to meet you sir,” He held out a hand to shake. It was not reciprocated. Livaanar’s eyes moved from the young girl that was his child to the adult man at her side. “I hope you’re taking care of her,” He said, his rich deep voice holding the old hint of arrogance and disdain. Marius ignored, it enjoying the tableau they were presenting. “We take care of each other. She has some skills.” “Glad to hear she’s doing well.”   Really? Nox thought and with her mind reached over and started reading her Father's surface thoughts. He was confused. Boyfriend? I had no idea. She smiled, a huge grin, resting her head on Marius’ shoulder. “Don’t worry, Mr Nox, she’ll take good care of you,” Livaanar expression darkened, But who's looking after her? I’m worried about her.   Nox’s cheesy smile wilted from her face as she understood for the first time the depth of her Father’s feeling. In the end, she couldn’t reconcile this new caring father with the driven force of nature that was Father. She changed the subject, “Why were Risina, Kyros and Aunty Ivasha riding on the wagons? Is there something wrong with them?” Livaanar looked embarrassed, and Marius surprisingly came to his rescue. “It’s just the way of things,” He said. Don’t you mean, how they were? She thought back.   Jaden called for the two of them, waving them back to the aircraft. “We have work to do,” Marius said apologetically to Livaanar. “Yes, we have work to do,” Nox reinforced hoping to drive home the point. She still couldn’t believe he thought that being a Devotee was still important in the midst of a survival situation they now found themselves in. She turned away and tried to put her father and his machinations out of her mind.   The aircraft and caravan conglomerate slowly moved out of the forest and back across the rolling plains heading east. As the sun began disappearing behind the Endoval the caravan looked for a place to camp for the night. The smoke bird meat was shared out to the surprise of many. “What is this?” Risina asked as the delicious smell of cooking meat lifted everyone’s spirits. “A big bird. We killed it.” Nox said flatly. Risina looked at her surprised. Nox read her mind again and found though she was happy about the food, she was worried that her power base was being eroded by the newcomers.   It didn’t take mind reading to see that the rest of the caravan now believed they had done the right thing hooking up with this new group. Around the campfire and wagons, they loudly said so as they ate their full for the first time in days.   Well, if she wants to play Miss Mannes out here she can, but if she’s smart she’ll quickly see we’re not in Cerelon anymore, Jaden commented as the group discussed Risina’s state of mind. We’re not in Cerelon anymore…we’re not in Cerelon anymore… Nox sung through their heads in a childish taunting tune.   That night, Marius called for watches. As expected, the triumvirate of Risina, Kyro and Ivasha were not interesting and did not volunteer. “Don’t worry,” Marius said loudly enough for everyone to hear, “I don’t think Risina is responsible enough to protect the caravan.” “Surely they don’t let you on watch alone, Marius. You’d see half the caravan eaten by wild beasts for the sake of the others.” She replied, coldly. “You’re welcome to share first watch with me,” He offered and she grudgingly accepted.   All the first watch, the caravan’s members were woken to the sound of whispered bickering. Sleepers resorted to throwing rocks and insults until the change of watch with Jaden and the healthier Warden militia guard.   “You know she’s only yanking your chain to get a rise from you right?” Jaden said quietly as they swapped places, “Maybe she wants to yank something else?” “Disgusting!-” Marius replied shivering at the very thought of such an encounter as he watched Risina storm off to her sleeping mat.   The night quietened after that. Nox and Fureva-Yung took the third watch and sat in companionable silence until dawn. Nox amused herself by throwing small rocks and sticks at Risina with her hedge magic. She tickled her with grasses and sent cold breezes down her collar until the woman woke up, brushed away the disturbance and turned over. Fureva-Yung sat listening to the world around her for a long moment in silence.   Nox, do you know what Jaden meant about the ravage bears seeing with their hearing, Fureva-Yung asked through the telepathic link. A little. They don’t need eyes underground. Hearing is useful. Sound travels far, so they get better at it. But, how do you think they did that? Nox had to think, Sometimes when we lose an ability, other abilities like senses become better than normal.   Fureva-Yung closed her eyes and listened to the world around her again, I can hear a regular thrumming from that way. It sounds warm. Fureva-Yung pointed to the west, a short way off their path. You can hear warm? Nox unwound herself from her cross-legged sitting position and leaned down, resting her ear against the cold grass and hard-packed earth. Closing her eyes and concentrating her thoughts on sound alone she too could hear a distant regular thrumming in the direction Fureva-Yung indicated. How did you hear that? Fureva-Yung shrugged and went back to watching the night the smouldering red of the fire at her back.                    

16. Flying

The leader of the margr was finally dead, and the pyramid was theirs. Jaden andFureva-Yung circled the top room where Ironhorn had made their final stand as Nox went downstairs to the green crystal room. Marius found her sitting cross-legged on the ground, sorting through chunks of crystal.   “Even small chunks have some gravitation push,” She explained as she set one down, and it hovered ten centimetres above the surface, “I’m hoping if I can get the right combinations, Jaden can use them to make the aircraft downstairs hover.”   “That’s great. Now were you hurt in the fight?” He asked, setting down his first aid kit. Nox’s shoulder’s slumped. A chunk of crystal fell from her hand to roll into a pile with a group of other hopefuls. She nodded and indicated where the giant claw of Ironhorn’s exoskeleton had cracked her across the head. Silently, Marius went to work, patching the girl up as she stared at the crystal pile in front of her. I’m tired of being scared all the time, She finally thought, I just freeze up, and all I want to do is run and hide. “And yet, you are always there trying,” Marius replied, cleaning her wound, “And that’s all anyone can ask.” Nox turned to look Marius in his burned and patchy face, “Like you?” She reached out to gently touch his face. He flinched away. “I’m still pretty scorched. I better go tidy up,” He said hastily, grabbing up his kit and stuffing it back into his bag, “I’m going to find some water in the Margr village. I’ll be back.”   Nox let her hand drop once more into her lap as she watched Marius turn the corner and disappear. “Now, where’s he off too!” Jaden and Fureva-Yung joined Nox in the green crystal room.   “He’s gone to the margr village. He said he’d be back,” Nox replied thoughtfully before remembering the crystals, ”Oh, Jaden, I think we can make the aircraft downstairs hover.”   She demonstrated again the ability to manipulate what small force the crystals provided to make things float. With similar crystals aligned, the effect increased enough to be useful on the aircraft. Jaden’s eyes sparked brightly with the possibilities. “No time like the present. Nox, you bring your crystals. Fureva-Yung, you bring the wing and let's see if we can’t build ourselves some sort of hovering craft.”   Outside, Marius was walking through the empty margr village alone. The village had no well, pond or nearby stream to provide water. Instead, each makeshift dwelling had large clay pots that had been regularly filled with water. The pots were half-filled with water stained black by soot from the fires. Marius did his best to collect enough clean water in one jug before starting his ‘tidying up’.   Weaving through the broken tents, he was surprised by something climbing his legs. Three somethings. He jumped and twisted, hoping to dislodge or at least see his attackers. His three attacker’s clawed feet gripped his clothing and held on, but he did see their reptilian bodies, long and whip-like, one of each leg and another climbing up his torso. The teeth of one sunk through his armour, scratching his skin beneath. The drowsy feeling once more washed over him, but he shook off the effects.   He activated his light gloves with a flick. Armoured up, he grabbed for the two on his legs. Both scampered away behind as the third on his torso tried crawling in under his armour. Clamping down tight with his elbow and twisting away, he blocked access. Falling to the ground, he now tried crushing them with his own weight. He hit one with his fist and felt the satisfying crack of bones as he crushed another. Evading bites from the two remaining lizards, he grabbed and flung them away. They flew across the empty village, landing on their four outstretched legs before beating a hasty retreat into the long scrub outside the village boundary.   Marius watched for a moment. He could tell they were still there, watching his every move. He drew his sword and charged into the scrub. One, surprised by the speed of his attack, was cut in half. The other took the chance life had offered it and ran away. When Marius was sure there were no others around, he skewered the cut one to his sword and headed back to his pot of murky water, ensuring this time that it was in a wide-open space where he couldn’t be surprised.   An hour and a half later, cleaned up and fully healed, Marius returned to the pyramid with a present for Fureva-Yung. He had toasted the lizard on the end of his sword and now presented it to the warrior. Bored watching the two ‘clever ones’ tinker with the pile of junk, Fureva-Yung appreciated the distraction. “You spoil me,” Fureva-Yung said, plucking the morsel from the sword. She enjoyed the crunchy outside against the gooey interior. “You were a long time,” Fureva-Yung commented, gesturing with the remains of her snack, “Did they give you trouble again?” “Nothing I couldn’t handle,” Marius said jovially. “Hmmm, he probably fell asleep again, “ Nox interrupted, looking back on Jaden’s creation. Marius let out raucous bark of a laugh, joyous and bold enough to startle Nox and gain for himself a sideways glance from Fureva-Yung.   Eventually, Jaden removed two pieces of rubble that supported the wings and stepped away from the craft. It hovered a metre above the ground, slowing listing to the left. “Well, it won’t strictly fly. There was just too much missing. But the crystals worked, and the things should float with all four of us on,” Jaden said, pointing out the crystal matrices installed under the wings, “But I could only get one engine working, so whoever is flying it will find it will want to turn left all the time.” She looked at the group, “So who is flying this thing?”   They all looked to Marius. He nodded, silently accepting the honour before looking from the aircraft to the stairs at the back of the room. “Ur…how are we getting it out of here?” “I will throw it out the window,” Fureva-Yung replied, mentioning the large opening that the aircraft had once flown through. As Nox winced at the loss of all their hard work, Fureva-Yung walked around the craft and tried to pick it up. To everyone’s surprise, it didn’t budge.   “Little tired there, Fureva-Yung? Let me try,” Jaden said, spitting in her hands for extra grip and also tried lifting the craft. Though it could be pushed around even by Nox, lifting was impossible. Without the forward thrust of a good throw behind it, they soon gave up going through the window and started pushing it through the pyramid’s passageways and out the front door.   As they walked through each room, Nox walked side by side with Guardian until they reached its charging station on the second floor. “Thank you for your help and your strong claws,” She said, patting it once on its shiny dome and sending it to log off. Guardian reminded her of the goat-man downstairs. The Karrah leader had been the last of his kind, injured in a battle long forgotten. In their conversation, Nox had felt his yearning to go home. As they walked through the pyramid, she took note of the systems and how the Karrah’s technology had felt to experience in the alcove and the amphitheatre room. She realised there was a datasphere upon which the pyramid and its systems ran. Most of the pyramid was focused on the teleportation of consciousness through the datasphere to other places. Even out into space and beyond. But it was a long way from that datasphere, and the pyramid had no means of propulsion even if she knew where it needed to go.   As they passed the sleeping Karrah, Nox wished she could have done more for the noble being. Maybe, when they travelled north and finally found the Central Spire, things like getting one lost Karrah home would seem simple. She smiled at the thought and followed the others outside.   Fureva-Yung and Marius were pointing out into the space around the pyramid. The pyramid being their main focus up to that point, they’d little attention to the thousands of small rocks that hung in space around the pyramid. Some were small hills, others just shards of earth the size of Marius. Fureva-Yung had pulled out her rope and was trying to lasso it around a nearby shard. Nox grabbed the loop of rope with her hedge magic and hung it around the boulder with the warrior's thanks. Planting her sizable feet firmly in the doorway of the pyramid, Fureva-Yung started pulling. The shard did not budge. She pulled again, wrapping the roped around her bulging arms. Something gave, and the lump of earth and rock was yanked across the space directly at Fureva-Yung. Unable to move in time, the shard smashed into Fureva-Yung at speed. Safe inside the Pyramid, Jaden could only watch as Nox dived and rolled away from the falling Fureva-Yung, and Marius barely escaped Fureva-Yung pulling him down with her. Where Fureva-Yung had been, the shard fifty centimetres across and a metre and a half tall now stood, a mangled impression of Fureva-Yung’s face on its surface.   Fureva-Yung stood, rubbing both her face and butt cheeks as she examined the rock. Marius pushed the shard, but it held firm, just like it had before. “I wonder if there’s a minimum mass it has to be?” He wondered and looked to Fureva-Yung, “Want to find out?”   Together Fureva-Yung and Marius started chipping away at the shard. Each chip fell away like ordinary rock, but with each chip removed, the whole shard started sinking. Fureva-Yung piled the chips onto the shard, and the entire pile rose once more.   “What is this stuff? What can you tell us about it?” Marius handed a piece to Nox, who juggled the piece in her hand, judging it much lighter than she’d expected from its size. She scanned the sample surprised at a beautiful and perfect hexagonal carbon matrix only one atom thick. The matrix was layered over and over, creating light but dense tubes. Nothing in nature was like these perfect hexagonal tubes. Nox tried comparing it to other rock strata she’d scanned in their travels, the smooth homogeneous surface of the pit, the natural layering of the limestone passages and the random crystalline structures of the crystal caverns.   “They’re… it's…constructed. Down at the smallest particle level, it is made…” She finally astounded the group, “I don’t think this comes from here.” “What? From the Steadfast?” Marius joked, mentioning a group of City states far to the west. Nox looked up at him, her eyes huge, trying to grasp the thought. Not from this world. “But, how did it get here?” He asked, all joking aside. “Maybe the cavern crystals? We saw it. The gas travels through universes picking up bits and pieces. Maybe it's not a coincidence that the Pyramid is here just where the crystal breaks through to the surface?” Jaden suggested. Suddenly, Nox forgot Marius and turned to Jaden, “Jaden, this material is…strong but light, “She handed the chunk over to Jaden with a description of its make-up, ”Is that something you can use?” Jaden nodded, made silent by the many possibilities that ran through her head, “Here, help me throw a few pieces into Bellyache for later, huh?”   With aircraft safely deposited on a stretch of grass beyond the rope bridge, the group climbed in, and Marius started the engine. As predicted, the craft's functional right-hand propeller pushed the craft to the left. Marius quickly learned to compensate, and they were soon skimming across the grass back to the caravan’s camp.   At the caravan, the wounded from the battle with the margr were coming along. Yitti was recovering, while Alton was already on his feet, helping with light duties. Thanks to the food gathering trip, the rest of the caravan was in decent shape, but fresh water was running short. Marius took the aircraft out scouting for a new campsite and soon found somewhere with a small permanent water supply and grazing for game.   “I’ll take the aircraft and a small group out into the forest to find the second group,” Marius announced, looking to his old compatriots Yitti and Orv, “We can be out and back in a day or two. Provide the refugees with directions for this place.”   Why them? They’re not us? Nox indignantly let her thoughts spill through the telepathic link, a link Yitti and Orv didn’t share. The caravan needs strong guards while we’re gone. Fureva-Yung is needed here. Marius responded in kind. He wanted to get moving, and he tried to catch up with his old Dritmen friends. He thought the other would like a chance to catch up with the caravan. Wasn’t Jaden always complaining about having no time to make anything?   He was now starting to realise it didn’t matter what he thought or wanted.   Orv looked ready and willing to go, a heavy club of a fallen branch resting on his shoulder. However, Yitti was still a limping mess of bandages and wounds. He didn’t look up to a potentially dangerous trip through the forest.   “Well, I’m going,” Jaden protested, climbing back into the aircraft after checking it over, “Who’s going to keep this crate flying, hmm?” Fureva-Yung just sat in her seat in the middle of the aircraft, expectantly waiting to leave. “Okay,” He finally gave in, “But tomorrow morning will be soon enough.”   Safe in the sounds and smells of the caravan, the group rested well. Nox curled up on a seat in the aircraft and slept through the night. The next morning, they were once again fit and well and ready for whatever adventures the day provided. Before leaving, Marius thoroughly surveyed the local landmarks as tools in navigation for their return and for that of the second group.   The first leg of the trip was uneventful. The aircraft glided over the grass and small bushes, only small branches and leaves disturbed by their passing. As they travelled, Marius once again actively kept an eye out for landmarks. While traversing a large clearing within the forest, Marius and the others noted a dark glint in the sky above them.   The glint became bigger, and details like beaks and claws became visible. Diving towards the speeding craft was a bird of prey the size of a house. Keeping his eye on the forest line ahead, Marius pushed the aircraft forward, but not before the sun was blotted from the sky and the bird attacked. A claw the size of a whole automaton raked the ground just beside the aircraft as Marius jigged to the right. As its huge wings lifted it into the air once more, the other claw grabbed for Fureva-Yung, who ducked, dodging the attack. “Stupid house chicken!” She yelled and pulled out a small cypher from her bag. It was tiny in her hands, almost undetectable in the claw she now attached it.   Jaden and Nox both stood up in their seats. Jaden planted her light spear into the seat, the serious end pointing at the bird. NO! Nox shouted in her mind. The strength of the communication got the attention of the others, but it didn’t seem to do anything to the giant bird. Frustrated, she crouched back down and waited for another chance to strike.   It didn’t take long as the bird gained a little height, the cypher still attached to its claw. Suddenly, the cypher emitted a piercing scream. The bird and everyone in the aircraft were deafened by the raucous screech. Though it made the bird draw back for a moment, the opportunity for a tasty treat was too good. This time it tried to grab Marius. Seeing the claw, he turned the aircraft, ramming it into the bird's underside. As he did, the spear found the bird and pierced its breast. Now it was the bird's turn to cry out a long cry of pain. Distracted, Fureva-Yung also stood, swinging her chain around her. The moving aircraft below her and the momentum of her chain above overbalanced Fureva-Yung, and she tumbled backwards off the aircraft. With the sudden loss of Fureva-Yung, the aircraft swung wildly to the left as Marius’ usual oversteer was now too much. He quickly regained control again, but the moment pause gave the bird a chance to gain height. Looking up, they could see the gash made by Jaden’s spear start to heal before their eyes.   The bird’s yellow eyes marked the aircraft as prey once more, and it dove, claw’s extended. Nox stood once more, holding up one of her cherished cavern crystals. Placing stasis on it, the piece of crystal was suddenly ripped from her hand as the aircraft pulled away from that spot and the bird took its place. The bird hit the immovable rock like a bullet tearing through skin and feathers before the Nox and the aircraft were out of range and the crystal was released.   Fureva-Yung rolled to a stop now metres behind the action. Bunching her muscles, she released them like springs speeding across the intervening space and leapt up into the air to catch the bird itself. Her chain lashed out and wrapped itself around the body of the bird. “Not so easy to get away from Fureva-Yung flying house chicken!” She said as she now started climbing up the bird to stand on its back.   The bird dived, Jaden once more braced the spear, and Marius prepared himself for another ram. Nox sat in her seat and made contact with the bird’s mind. In the link, she created a creature like a giant serpent with leathery wings and long teeth dripping poison. In her mind, it flew directly towards the bird, its mouth open to strike. The bird balked at the illusion, and Marius swerved the craft into the bird again. Jaden fell at the shock of the collision, losing hold of her spear. When the bird’s claw came down on the aircraft, it found Nox sitting still, focusing on her illusion and plucked Nox from her seat. As the bird rose again, Jaden spotted the scrap of a girl and jumped. She caught the talon and held on tight as she and Nox were pulled away from Marius and the craft. Left on the ground, Marius could do nothing but keep up with the bird as it gained height taking his friends with it.   On top of the bird, Fureva-Yung planted her large feet on either side of the bird's back bone. With the chain pulled tight across the bird’s torso, she started twisting the two ends together. At first, only the links slipped against each other. Slowly she felt other sensations through her feet, like the wet cracking of bones and ligaments. The bird banked violently, trying to shake off the demon on its back. Fureva-Yung pulled up on the chain and pushed down on the bird. The action made her an immovable mass firmly locked in place. On the bird’s claws, however, Jaden held on for grim death. Nox screamed mentally and out loud in the bird talon, filling both the air and their minds with her fear.   In the fear, Nox found a new strength. Mentally she grabbed hold of this new energy and pushed. Something within the bird’s head snapped as the psychic burst found its target. The bird stopped climbing. For a second, momentum kept the bird flying until gravity took hold once more, and the bird and all started falling. Fureva-Yung shifted her weight to one side, trying to turn the bird on its side at least. Her weight on the lifeless bird tipped it over. Now belly to the sky, it dove towards the ground.   The crash, when it came, was a spectacular fountain of feathers, grass and dirt. Thrown clear of the devastation, Jaden rolled away into the relative comfort of tall green grass. Nox was still twisted in the claw and needed Marius to help pry her cage open. Of Fureva-Yung, there was no sign but the chain embedded across the breastbone.   The bird moved. Nox pulled out her tiny dagger and stumbled to the neck of the massive bird. Fearing it was healing once more, she buried herself into the short, thick feathers close to the head until she found the tissue-thin skin beneath. Cutting through with her dagger, she found the bird’s jugular and sawed away at it, severing it completely in half. Blood still under pressure from the last pumps of the heart sprayed from the cut, covering Nox and pooling around her feet. The feathers around Nox wilted and turned red as Nox stumbled back from her bloody work. The bird moved again, this time revealing the hand and head of Fureva-Yung covered in a mixture of crushed vegetation and dirt. Pushing up with her legs, she lifted the bird's body and wriggled out.   Marius worked his way around the group, checking everyone's health. Covered in scratches and bruises, Jaden was otherwise uninjured from the fall. Fureva-Yung seemed to have a dug a hole with her head and shoulders on landing. She sat beside the bird and rested as she slowly retrieved her chain from the broken body. Nox was standing not far away from the bird’s head, baptised in the bird’s blood. Marius took an old rag and was about to wipe the gore from her face. Nox stared ahead, her mind caught in the thralls of a new idea. For a moment, the tiny smile of exaltation stopped Marius’ hand. “Hey? Hey! Are you okay, kid?” He wiped the worst of the gore from her and shook her shoulder. Slowing, she turned to face him, the smile only fading as she became aware of his concern. “Huh? Oh…I think I’d like to sit down for a while.” She said quietly, her legs collapsing underneath to sit crosslegged in the grass. “Ur…good. Good!” He left her to rest and turned his attention to the huge supply of meat and useful items that were the freshly killed bird. As Marius contemplated the enormous feathers, long strips of flesh cut off the carcass dried over a smokey fire of grass and green branches. From one of the large primaries, he sawed a slice crosswise through the shaft and offered it Fureva-Yung. She looked at him quizzically.   “For your chain, maybe you can make a new link from it,” He explained, placing it in her open palm. Fureva-Yung smiled, blood making her teeth a ghoulish red, and put it away beside the goat horn, a piece of diamond glass, and two links made from twisted wood and carved crystal.                    

15. Gravity Crystals and Iron Horn

The alcoves were quiet and unresponsive. There was a chance they’d come back online, but not anytime soon. Nox turned back to the remains of the airship, disappointed that she hadn’t found out more about the famous Fureva-Yung. Aligning the fuselage with the seats in the centre, she dragged what was left into some semblance of what would make sense for a flying machine. Jaden soon joined her, and the seed of a flying machine took root in her mind.   “You know, if we can find the rest of this contraption, find something to get the motor running, then I think we can build our own flying machines,” She said to Nox, who looked down on the bent and hacked at parts in front of them. “I’d like to see this one fly out of here,” Nox lamented, looking out the wide window out onto the open sky, “Wouldn’t it be nice to fly away from this awful place instead of trudging back across that rickety bridge?”   Nox didn’t find out what Jaden thought as the rest of the party turned to the flight of steps and prepared for a fight. Fureva-Yung bellowed into her chain, making it vibrate in resonance. Jaden pulled iotum out of Bellyache, ready to react to whatever the next floor offered. Marius led the way, his short sword drawn.   A flickering green light replaced the more natural white light from the level below as the group made their way up the stairs. Turning the corner, a margr loomed out at them, groaning and thrashing. It took a moment for them to realise that the margr was pinned to the wall by a shard of green crystal through its chest. The margr gasped, slumping forward into unconsciousness before gasping back to consciousness with a groan.   Urgh…I think he’s being kept alive by the crystal, Nox swallowed, hiding her face against the smooth metal surface of Guardian. With his hands glowing with a golden light, Marius took the creature by the shoulders and dragged it off the crystal. It slumped to the floor, sighed and lay still. The green crystal stayed firmly affixed through the wall. Stepping over the now dead margr, Marius could see a large room dominated by another crystal cylinder. This one was broken. Pieces of five-centimetre thick crystal walls scattered all over the room. A huge clump of green crystal grew from the centre of the cylinder, overflowing the broken edges, sending huge crystal points metres out in all directions.   “Fureva-Yung, could you please throw the margr in front of the crystal?” Nox asked, a curious expression on her face replacing the horrified. Fureva-Yung did as she was asked and effortlessly tossed the body across the room, arching in front of the crystal. The crystal did nothing, but the body stopped before hitting the ground and was flung against a wall where it hung lifeless.   “That crystal seems pretty repulsive,” Marius punned “I thought maybe the crystal would throw shards at us like it did the margr,” Nox said in surprise, “but instead, the gravity is wrong. I wonder what makes it so? The crystal?” Jaden started pulling pieces of cave crystal out of Bellyache to test the theory. She threw out a few in the same direction as the margr. Anything past a certain point was plucked out of the air mid-arch and slammed into the wall. She then tried throwing crystal in another direction. Again, past a certain random-seeming point, the crystals were flung up into the roof, where they pierced the ceiling panel.   Jaden investigated the green crystal clump nearest a path with normal gravity. On that side, the crystal growth was unbalanced. Something had come through and broken large shards off. Now they knew what they were looking at, the broken crystal shards could were on the wall and roof where the gravity was affected. “I’d say go that way,” Jaden suggested, pointing past the broken section.   Fureva-Yung nodded and stepped forward. With her chain swinging above her head, she stepped forward. Jaden and Nox on Guardian started following. As expected, when she reached a gravity affected area, her chain was pulled taught. The pull force dragged her across the floor until she was in the field and being pushed away from the others. With a heavy smack, Fureva-Yung fell face-first into the fabricated metal wall opposite. The others stopped in their tracks. She stood, planting her feet against the wall and looked up at the others with a toothy grin. Blood streaked her face from a nose bleed. She walked up the wall finding a very flat desiccated body of a margr on the ceiling above her, only its head was whole and discernably margr. As she climbed, the natural gravity reasserted itself, and she started sliding back again, unable to keep purchase on the smooth wall. Meanwhile, Jaden continued to throw crystals. One was caught in the same gravity as Fureva-Yung and looked to be heading straight for her. Fureva-Yung stepped to one side, and the crystal ricocheted off the wall back into the room where it was thrown up, embedding the ceiling.   Marius, too was busy with his experiments. He pulled out some thin stiff tubing from his medical kit and used that to probe the gravity ahead of him. When he got to where Jaden’s crystal was wedged into the wall, he reached out with a glowing hand to push against the force. A large ghostly green hand reached out through the wall at him. Quicker than ghost-Yung, Marius leaped backwards and out of her way. Nox, who had silently watched all her companion’s experimentation, was able to send Guardian in, getting between Marius and the hand. Guardian’s claws raked the wall where the hand was, and a muffled scream like Fureva-Yung’s own echoed around the chamber. It seemed the attack by Guardian had preemptively forced the ghost-Yung to expend her scream, wasting it.   Marius didn’t waste his chance. He leaped for the wall as the gravity threw him in that direction. He landed on his feet and ran around the room until the gravity normalised again, and he flipped off the wall to and on the floor opposite Jaden and Nox. “Okay, just do what I did!” He said, gesturing to the wall. “I can’t!” Nox cried, knocking on Guardian’s dome, “Guardian can’t do that!” From her position on the wall, Fureva-Yung yelled her Thunderbeam across the room at the ghost-Yung climbing through the hole in the wall. The ghost flickered weakly as it too swung out its chain at Nox and Guardian. Guardian turned and sidestepped the chain as it flew past Nox’s head harmlessly.   A movement from within the crystal clump caught Jaden’s attention. From hundreds of facets within the cluster, the ghostly green image of ghost-Jaden could be seen. Ghost-Jaden screamed, setting the green crystal vibrating. The crystal clump shattered with a sound like an explosion, sending thousands of small shards out into the room. The shards, propelled by the pseudo-gravities, travelled in all directions, some hitting Marius and Nox. The crystals sizzled against their flesh as thin green smoke started forming.   “You’ll not get away this time,” Jaden called and snapped her iotum. A blasting ray of force hit the crystal clump, once more sending shards flying. Even as the shards hit Fureva-Yung and Jaden herself, she could see the ghost within the crystal flicker weakly. Both Marius and Nox picked shards out of their skin, Marius throwing a large piece back at the ghost-Jaden within the crystal. As she pulled out the last of the crystals, the ghostly chain of ghost-Jung smacked into Nox, nearly knocking her off her seat on Guardian. Fureva-Yung thunder beamed the ghost-Yung once again as ghost-Jaden seemed to focus on the crystal clump. The whole cluster started turning. Gravity shifted. Guardian was unable to support itself, and it fell into the wall pinning Nox in place. Jaden was picked up and flung towards the ceiling. Realising in time, she flipped her feet under her and was able to stand on the ceiling. Fureva-Yung thought even faster as she sensed the shift in gravity towards the crystal itself. Quickly she placed the floor panel she’d been using as a shield in front of her, edge-on to the crystal. She let herself be drawn across the room as she brought her feet up, standing on the back edge of the now thin blade careening across the space. For a fraction of a second, Fureva-Yung could see ghost-Jaden’s translucent face wide with surprise before the shield hit the clump and smashed through the last remaining crystals.   The margr head fell from the roof, and Guardian was free to stand back on his clawed feet, releasing Nox to slide down the wall. Marius, who had flipped around onto the wall as it was his natural place, leaped back down gracefully. Jaden and Marius drove their weapons into the ghostly Yung. Marius struck true, and the green form evaporated into nothing.   The room was quiet. It was now that Jaden realised that a large shard of green crystal poked out of her shoulder, slowly steaming. She tried reaching for the shard, but it was firmly wedged in the bone. Even reaching across was agony, and to Nox’s horror, she slowly slipped to the floor. “Let me help. I will push it through,” Fureva-Yung suggested stomping across the space only to face Nox on top of Guardian. Don’t you hurt my Jaden! Came Nox’s voice straight to Fureva-Yung’s mind, short, sharp and powerful. Fureva-Yung backed off and Marius, with a gentler hand, helped extract the shard.   The group took a break, healing up and trying to make sense of the green crystals. That they were related to the green goop the group had followed throughout the pyramid seemed obvious. What was less obvious was how they affected gravity. Fureva-Yung played around with a crystal, noticing how there always seemed to be a breeze around it when held in her hand. Marius found chunks of the diamond cylinder around the room and started collecting them for trading tokens in the hope they ever found civilisation again. Both Nox and Fureva-Yung found smaller pieces of the cylinder. One the size of a chain link to add to Fureva-Yung’s chain and one the size of a handheld convex mirror for Nox. Fureva-Yung contemplated a larger chunk for a wrap-around body shield, but the piece was too heavy even for her to carry around, and it was left behind.   Once Marius had finished scavenging for shinies amongst the broken crystal, he joined them in their short rest. He meditated while the others patched wounds and restored their energy. Giggling from Marius’ quarter drew the group's attention. He certainly looked odd, blotchy and discoloured, a little like he had down in the caverns. As they watched, he suddenly flushed red and gasped. His eyes flicked open to see all three of his companions watching him curiously. “Umm… well, I’m feeling great. Ready to go?” He said, looking embarrassed. He leaped to his feet, confirming his state of fitness and returned the other gazes with his expectant one.   Nox had been scanning crystals in an attempt to understand their gravity changing properties. Without a thought, she turned to Marius and scanned. It was not something she’d done without permission before. But her abilities had grown to the extent that the deeper look at things that scanning provided had become just another one of her senses. She reached out.   At first, she couldn’t make sense of what she was seeing. Marius was certainly not ordinary. He’d been painting his exposed skin and hair with make-up and dye. With the exertion of the fight, some of the colour had streaked, accounting for his splotchy complexion. Even more surprising were the three cyphers embedded into his torso and legs.   Slowly Nox started putting a few questions about Marius and his behaviour together. Why he would always take himself off alone in dangerous places? How he could do all amazing things like his glowing shield hands or levitate? She remembered the group finding the cyphers that now hid under Marius’s skin. She realised that in doing so, the cyphers seemed to work better or for far longer. Things like the blue steam had just been convenient covers for his secret nature.   “Hey, what’s on your mind?” She heard a voice ask her. She blinked, and Marius was standing above her, seemingly polishing Guardian’s metallic dome. She almost asked him what was happening with him? She almost asked out loud why he felt the need to hide? She felt and heard her jaw snap shut. “Nothing. Ready to go,” She nodded and climbed back up on Guardian.   They climbed the last set of stairs that led to the pyramid's point. Here the lighting seemed to give up, and the whole space was filled with the green light of the goop. In the large square chamber, two small glass cylinders of green gas swirled within a scaffold of scrap and refashioned pieces from all over the pyramid. Nox looked up and saw a piece of the wing welded into the structure above their heads, forming something of a catwalk. Between the two cylinders sat an ancient, twisted margr with only one horn. Bound into a mechanical exoskeleton as makeshift as the scaffolding around it, the margr was connected to the cylinders, the green goop running through tubing like veins. Sitting before the margr, two massive metal arms with grasping claws sat lifeless, for the present.   Fureva-Yung looked around the room for other enemies ready to spring a trap as soon as they made their move. Across the way, the ghostly forms of goat-men statues loomed out of the darkened corners, one modified to have only one horn. To one side, a margr lay dead, crushed by what looked like one of the massive metal claws.   “Can you see any weak spots, possibly an off switch for that thing?” Jaden said quietly as the group had seemingly no disturbed Ironhorn as yet. “I will sneak. I will find it if there's one,” Nox said and, sliding off of Guardian’s back, virtually disappearing. “What? No! Where did she go?” Jaden grabbed for Nox, where she’d last seen her, but nothing was there. Marius didn’t waste another second. He rushed straight into the room, targeting the first of the two cylinders. Under the heavy blow from his short sword, the cylinder broke where it connected to the suit and slopped green goop all over him. Across the other side of the margr, a large arm swung out, connecting with a soft shadow nearby. “OOmp!” The shadow said, and Nox tumbled to the ground. Marius could feel something tugging at his very soul. A ghostly green cloud slowly rose from him. “Jaden, burn me!” He said, turning to face her. She snapped another iotum, and a gout of flame washed over Marius. The cloud burned away, as did much of Marius’ exposed skin. Burned black, he looked up just in time to see his ghostly green face dissolve into the air.   Fureva-Yung stepped in, her chain swinging. The chain failed to connect as a giant claw rose and blocked it. Surprised by the arm’s speed, Nox felt her fear of violence welling up. She crawled away, crying silently for Guardian to protect her. The robot didn’t hesitate. Large claws reached out to claw Iron Horn but found no purchase on the exoskeleton.   Unable to find her weak point from a distance, Jaden also ran in and saw what she was looking for. Like an ulnar nerve cluster, a conjunction of wiring on one of the exoskeleton arms looked loose. If she could just grab it, she’d be able to disable that arm, at least for a little while. She dived in under the arm but had to duck out again before the claw took her head off. She stepped back and waited her moment to strike. The large clawed arm nearest Marius swung up, sending Marius leaping back. Iron Horn was well able to defend himself. Guardian and Fureva-Yung tried smashing down on the old goat, but neither found him as he stepped back out of the way.   Dodging the metal limb, Marius bounced back into the attack seeking out the softer, mortal parts of the augmented margr. The short sword bit into the old goat’s dry hide with a hiss of green gas. “Ha! I hit the old goat in his goaty bit!”   The strike forced Ironhorn to protect his fleshy body. At that moment, Jaden saw her chance and tore the wire cluster away from the frame. The arm went dead, giving Iron Horn something to repair, distracting them further. Nox cowered from the huge bulk of Iron Horn in his exoskeleton. She sent messages to Guardian to kill it, but without her reflexes guiding its strikes, Guardian missed repeatedly. Fureva-Yung, on the other hand, had finally found her mark as her chain swung in and clanged off the exoskeleton. It buckled and twisted, no longer moving as expected. The dented but still functional arm tried once more for Marius, but he dodged it easily. He could see the attack on the cylinder had done the trick, and Iron Horn looked exhausted.   The margr seemed almost unable to lift the working claw now as Guardian, Fureva-Yung and Marius struck. As Marius cut the old goat across the throat, green gas seeped out into the air. Suddenly the whole exoskeleton rig slumped lifeless. The shrivelled remains of old Iron Horn held in place within its frame. Pushing the rig over, Fureva-Yung put her large foot on the margr and grabbed the remaining horn. With a sickening tear, the old margr’s head came off. “I only wanted the horn,” Fureva-Yung said almost apologetically. “I don’t think you should eat that!” Marius replied. “Urgh…Marius!”   Sickened by the old goat head and embarrassed by her behaviour, Nox went to slink away before remembering the wing hanging above their head. “Fureva-Yung, could you please carefully take down that piece of the structure?” She asked, and Fureva-Yung was happy to oblige. “I’m sorry I acted so…stupid in the fight.” Nox said, beating herself up over her weakness. “It wasn’t your fight,” Marius replied blithely, now happily searching through the room for shinies, “Don’t worry, you more than pull your weight.” “She does not have much weight to pull,” Fureva-Yung added as she easily tucked the aircraft wing under her arm. “She carries your weight at times, “ Marius countered and held up two more cyphers and a collection of iotum for Jaden’s collection. “I have much weight, “ Fureva-Yung agreed.   Marius handed over the two cyphers for Nox to identify. One was an explosive device to throw. The other increased an individual’s strength. “I think you would like this one,” She handed the strength cypher to Marius before handing the explosive, “ Fureva-Yung would like this .” “Hey yeah,” Marius eyed the cypher before handing it back to Nox, “But I can’t carry any more cyphers at the moment. Can you carry it for me?”   And so there is a limit to how many you can incorporate into yourself, Nox nodded silently and slipped the cypher safely into her bag.        

14. To the top

“You’re injured. Let me help,” Marius said, pulling out his first aid kit to help Jaden. The first aid soothed Jaden’s jangled nerves after having part of herself torn away, and she almost felt herself again. Yung was pacing frustratedly, looking for something to hit. Marius reached out to soothe down the pink hairs standing on end along Jung’s neck. Suddenly, Yung’s heavy fist swung back and caught Marius across the head. It sent him flying across the room to land in the broken machinery. “Oh, come on, Furry. I was just trying to help.” Marius complained as he scrambled to free himself from broken circuit boards and wiring. “Not behind the horns!” She growled, not her usual gentle self, “Only mates scratch behind horns!”   As Marius blustered his apologies, Nox stepped down from Guardian and over one of the four alcoves in the room. Empty of dead margr, she explored the small space inside, leaning on the back wall to make a few small lights brighten above her head. Yung used her pent up energy to punch the back wall of another alcove, making the lights brighten further, but neither alcove did anything else.   “So, are we leaving or what?” Marius said, rubbing his smacked face. Now that Fureva-Yung and Jaden were healed, there seemed little reason to go outside and rest, and Marius was keen to find Ironhorn. “I want to, “ Nox said from inside the alcove. Under the bright lights, she was bruised and pale, exhausted by the full day and night of activity and still feeling the effects of the lizard bites, “But I don’t want to leave Guardian alone. What if ghost-Jaden comes back?” “Maybe…” Jaden said aloud and started rummaging in Bellyache, “Maybe with your knowledge of how Guardian works and my engineering, we can pull off a sort of ectoplasm shield for Guardian.”   Sitting amongst the dead bodies parts and broken machine components, the two women created a device that would work with Guardian’s own systems and keep it safe from interference. They installed the device, and Nox was able to control Guardian as before, safe in the knowledge that ghost-Jaden could not interfere.   “Thank you, Jaden,” Nox said after the work was done, “Guardian would hate to fight us.”. “It’s temporary, mind, but as we’re not sticking around, I don’t see it as much of a problem.” The thought of Guardian’s shield having a short life got Jaden thinking, “I wonder what sort of shelf-life those ghosts of our have?”. As they left the pyramid and entered the margr village, she wondered what trouble her ghostly self was likely to cause in their absence.   The fires had all but burnt down as Jaden and Nox found a comfortable place to rest. It had been a long day of foraging, exploring and fighting, and it didn’t take long for either of them to be asleep. Jaden was soon snoring, with Nox resting her head on the older woman’s belly. Fureva-Yung sat down beside them and as she allowed her rage to slip away she became more thoughtful and reflective. Marius was feeling antsy and, after a short rest, went for a walk around the village, looking for what he could find. He was not disappointed and pocketed a cypher left behind by an ignorant margr. When he returned to boast of his good fortune, he spotted Fureva’s melancholy mood. “Hey, what’s up, Furry? Are you feeling alright?” She looked up at Marius as if waking from some unhappy dream. “Hmm?” Slowly she stood, brushed herself off as best she could and took a deep breath, “Let’s do this!”   As the sun rose over the pyramid and brought sparks of light to the crystal mountain to their right, the group started stirring. They ate a quick meal of scavenged nuts and berries from the day before as Marius applied first aid to Nox. For her part, Nox recognised her big friend’s more introspective mood and took a large finger in her tiny hand. Fureva-Yung looked down to see the bright smiling face of Nox glowing in the early morning light. “Little one, you are my friend.” It wasn’t said as a question, but Nox squeezed her finger reassuringly. “And you too are my friend, “ Fureva-Yung turned to Marius, who was a little taken aback by the change in the warrior woman. “Yes, even when throwing me across the room,” He commented, falling in beside her. Fureva-Yung barked a dry laugh, “You have very good balance.”   As they stepped into the relative dark of the cylinder room, Fureva-Yung stood facing the goat-man sleeping in the green gas. Of a similar height, she could have looked him in the eye if he had only opened them. She stared at him for a moment, willing him to do just that, willing herself to remember more.   Nox climbed back on Guardian, and the heavy metal clang of its clawed feet broke Fureva-Yung’s revelry. With Marius, she took the lead down the right-hand passage, with Nox on Guardian and Jaden in the rear with her spear ready.   It did not take them long to find signs of devilry. Fureva-Yung put down one of her heavy booted feet on a floor panel that triggered a hidden trap of crude metal spikes to spring up and hit her and Marius. Marius sprung away in time to avoid the spikes, but Fureva-Yung took the panel of spines to the torso. The trap was makeshift but cleverly used the resources available. “Ruddy, copycat!” Jaden growled as she noted her handiwork, “No, margr made that.” “What else may you have rigged up along here?” Marius asked as Fureva-Yung pulled up the spiked panel so the others could pass. Jaden moved through the column just behind Fureva-Yung, who now brandished the panel like a tower shield. As they moved, Jaden checked the floor, walls and ceilings for opportunities to spring another trap that her ghostly counterpart may have thought to lay. It didn’t take her long to find another panel slightly lifted on one side. She studied it a moment before informing the others. “Probably delayed to hit more than just the leaders. Probably explosive.”   Fureva-Yung held the panel in front of the explosive as Jaden carefully worked on the trigger. With her lifetime’s worth of experience and clever hands, she disarmed the device, stepping back to allow Marius to salvage what could be gathered. Seeing the apt clay pulled out of the device, Fureva-Yung took a sample of the substance and swapped it for her responsive synth chewing toy. Where the responsive synth had bounced back with each chew, the apt clay-coated her mouth in a novel texture that was pleasing, at least for the time being.   The group made it to an intersection with a set of stairs heading up and a path continuing straight ahead. As the group knew the broken machine room lay directly above, they continued ahead, entering a small theatre. To their left, a wide flight of steps that could be used as seating sat opposite a wide black wall. Ahead, a small one-metre tall dais sat empty. Jaden circled the room looking for traps. When none were found, she sat on the stair, looking around the room trying to make sense of it. Nox was drawn to the black wall, discovering it was a similar contraption to the broken monitors of the Unseen, back under the pit.   “So, if people could come here and watch things on that wall, there must be a way to turn it on,” Jaden mused and put her searching skills into finding the switch. It didn’t take her long. A small panel in the wall popped open under her touch and revealed a control panel. She chose a button and pressed it. Suddenly the light in the room dimmed as a picture appeared on the black screen. It was a symbol of two circles and a cluster of intersecting lines with small circles at intersections. The style was reminiscent of Fureva-Yung’s arm tattoo but in a different pattern entirely. The symbol was replaced by the head and shoulders of a goat man speaking directly to them. The audio was corrupted and broken, but little of the margr language was known to any of them, so after a moment’s adjusting, Jaden gave up.   An image of a starfield took the place of the talking head, dominated by a large space station. “A spaceship!” Nox said in awe as Marius proudly crossed his arms before his chest. “Yep, like I always said,” He crowed. The image flickered again to one of a large city filled with people. There were the goat people, but also people who looked like Fureva-Yung and even humans. “We lived with them,” Nox’s awe only increased as she sat as close to the screen as she could get on top of Guardian.   Suddenly the crowds of people started running away from something off-screen. Chaos descended, and the presentation showed a society in disorder. The image flicked again to silent battles in space between ships with the same circle and line symbol on the side. Another flash and the space station reappeared on the screen, this time with a pentagram symbol marked on its side. A light flashed on the dais, and a holographic projection of the space station appeared before them. It had the first circular symbol marked on its side.   “Can we get the audio to work, do you think?” Jaden asked, “Even if we can’t understand them, there may be some other clues in the sound we’re missing.”   Nox followed the wiring from the control panel to speaker boxes on either side of the monitor. Here she could see recent scavenging for electrical parts too fine and delicate for margr claws. “I think ghost-Jaden has been here looking for parts for her traps,” Nox sighed, and Jaden’s frustration at her doppelganger grew. “If only we’d come yesterday,” Marius commented, gaining a foul look from Nox.   Sitting back down on the stairs, Jaden took out a cypher and concentrated. Through the cypher, she connected to the datasphere concentrating on the gas ghosts they’d created. Without access to the green gas that made them, the ghosts would likely evaporate over a few weeks. It was good news of a sort. Once they left this place, the ghosts could live no more than a few weeks. It did not make Jaden happy as right now, the treacherous ghost-Jaden had a ready supply of energy and all the technology she needed to make their life difficult.   While Jaden interacted with the datasphere, the hologram of the space station drew Fureva-Yung’s attention. “I think I come from there,” She finally said after a long while of contemplation. “Do you want to go back?” Nox asked quietly, secretly hoping that was the case. Instead, Fureva-Yung took one last look at the space station and let out a large breath. “Enough,” She said and marched up the amphitheatre steps through a passage into the next room.     The next room looked more industrial than the last. Across from the passage was a two-metre high cylinder surrounded by an intermeshed synth forming a fence around it. Another clear tube hung high above, its cone base pointing to the protected cylinder below. Inside they could see twenty or more green spheres clustered inside . Jaden pulled out a homemade cypher, a butterfly drone. Its spluttering flight took it up the top cylinder where Jaden could look through its eyes at the spheres. “The green goo is dripping from the spheres. It seems to be the source of the good goo.” There was some discussion as to how to get access to the spheres. Nox even tried lifting one with her hedge magic without success. “Well, I’m not touching them, “ Jaden said, putting away her now dead butterfly drone, “Last time didn’t go so well.”   Fureva-Yung led the way up stairs that encircled the cylinder. Marius was left on the ground as he studied the cylinders and their contents. The cylinders seemed to be made of the same tough crystal, but the spheres inside were not, being permeable. He confirmed that the bottom vat contained the waste goo they’d been following through the pyramid. The spheres were something else, drawing life energy from seeming empty air. “I can’t tell if the spheres are living or not,” He said aloud, “This is definitely the filtering process as the spheres themselves contain the good energy. I’d still suggest they would not be good to eat.” He looked up at Fureva-Yung as if reading her mind. “Oh,” She sighed and continued up the stair to the next level.   One side of the large room was open to the sky. It looked east to the rising sun, now well above the horizon. A ruined machine in the centre looked like a framework with two seats affixed to it. “I bet that was a flying machine. Think you can get it working, Nox?” “I think it looks like Ironhorn’s walking suit,” She countered, taking in all the missing components. Still, she had to admit it looked like it could have flown at one time. Fureva-Yung pushed the framework over. It groaned in protest but could not resist her. “Stuff breaks,” She replied philosophically.   Along the walls, more alcoves were visible. Marius tried his head at the alcoves, leaning in and pressing his forehead to the back wall. Once more, the lights lit up. Following the feeling of familiarity that had plagued her since walking into the pyramid, Fureva-Yung did the same. Just as Nox and Jaden thought nothing would happen, as usual, the two companions slumped over in their alcoves, unconscious.   “Oh gods, quick, help me get them up!” Jaden yelled, running in and pulling Marius off the wall. The lights dimmed and disappeared, and Marius came back to himself. “We were floating...We? Yeah, there were three of us. Me, Furry and someone else. It felt like we were supposed to be somewhere else, but…we didn’t know why we couldn’t get there.” Marius explained the experience as Fureva-Yung also woke. “I too sensed the same, though it felt very familiar to me.” The same loss looked across Fureva-Yung’s face, “I tried to make contact, and the other was recognised me. I must go back.” “Ooh! Can I try too!” Nox said, already climbing off Guardian to stand in an empty alcove.   With only a mild protest from Jaden who insisted on a time period and marius who enforced a one minute time restriction, Fureva-Yung and Nox stepped back into the alcoves. As described, there was a feeling of floating, of being one among three. Hello, Fureva-Yung called once more, making contact with the third mind present. Hello? Came the weak response. Are you the goat man? Confusion and anger spiralled together as the being felt that Fureva-Yung should know who he was and of being unsure how to proceed. You’re downstairs in the crystal tube, Nox added gently as she could, You’re hurt. I am wounded, The mind agreed and negative emotions were exchanged for confusion once more, This place was taken from where it belongs. I don’t know your people. What do you call yourselves? The mind was quiet for a moment unsure how to proceed, We are the Karrah. What backwater are you from not to know of us? Celeron, Nox replied without animosity. It was a nowhere place.   Fureva-Yung, who had been quiet up until now, refocused the conversation, Do you know me? Not personally, but your career is well known to all.   Just then, Marius pulled Fureva-Yung off the wall with Jaden holding Nox. Fureva-Yung reflexly lashed out at her attacker, and for the second time in twelve hours, Marius flew across the room.   “They are the Karrah and need to be sent back to where they came from,” Nox said, coming too, “Oh, and Fureva-Yung is famous!” “I think he was mistaken, “ Fureva-Yung checked her small bag and other possessions, “I do not have a career.” “Go back!” Marius exclaimed, excited by this new exciting information. Try as they might, though, the alcoves were now dark. They were no longer working.        

13. The Pyramid

The margr village destroyed, all that remains of the margr stronghold is the pyramid and Ironhorn firmly entrenched inside. They know the margr is augmented with other world devices, but what they are doing in there is anyone’s guess.       “We’re invading this spaceship...we’re space invading!” Marius enthused as the group walked up the swaying vine bridge to the floating island. Nox was silent, barely perceptible behind the bulk of Fureva-Yung. Jaden grinned and resettled her glowing spear in her arms. Fureva-Yung said nothing.   As the group climbed, the bridge swung away from land, and they found themselves surrounded by open air. Marius’ fine-tuned senses listened out for the sounds of talking from the pyramid. Instead, the wind brought a low whine and chop, chop, chop sound from towers halfway up the pyramid’s vertices and cracking like that of bones from inside.   Halfway across the bridge, the group's eyes fixed on two channels cut into the rock on each side of the doorway. A glowing green gas had suddenly started flowing down the channels out of the pyramid and into the air below. As it hit the open air, the gas thinned and dissipated before reaching the ground. From behind Fureva-Yung, Nox focused her thoughts on the gas as it spilled out into the air. As they climbed up the last stretch of the shaking bridge, she reached out with her mind and found nothing. They could see it reacting with the air around it, but to Nox, it was like it was not physically there…at least not in this world. She strained to understand something and found a resonance with the energies of her own body. It was a life force, the energy of life made physical. She let the others know what she’d deduced. “I wonder who they're crushing in there to make that life goop,” Marius murmured as they finally entered the pyramid's shadow and walked inside.   The first room was not as dark as they’d feared. It was dominated by a clear cylinder that ran from floor to ceiling that glowed with the green of the gas. Inside the tube, however, the gas was condensed, thicker and almost liquid. Through the green opacity, a figure loomed darkly. Seven-foot tall, with a goat's head, the being was impressively built, solid and clean-limbed. As the gas moved and boiled around the figure, a deep wound in its side revealed and obscured. This was NOT Ironhorn.   “Hey, kid. What’s this tube made of?” Marius asked as the group spread out through the room. Nox scanned the tube and was surprised at the density of its crystalline structure. “A carbon-based crystal, very dense and strong,” She told him, shrugging. “Diamond?” He replied and looked back at the tall majesty goat-man with new respect, “I wonder who this guy is?” “Margr god? I’ve never seen a margr as fit as this one,” Jaden mused, poking around the cylinder. In truth, none of them had. Margr, by their natures, were mongrel collections of human and goat, none resembling the other. Indeed none were as impressive as the individual in the cylinder.   Curious as to who he was, Nox touched a sleeping mind still reliving moments from their life. Flashes of a battle, being heavily wounded and retreating to this place for healing. In the dreams, the being showed an explicit knowledge of the technology that made the pyramid and cylinder inside. “He is really smart. He knew what this stuff was for and how to use it,” She told the others. Fureva-Yung tapped on the cylinder, and when she received no response, she sniffed and moved on. Behind the cylinder, two paths split away, one going right and one left. She headed down the left passage.   Having failed to find a control panel for the cylinder, Jaden turned her attention to the green gas flowing down the channels from a floor above. The green gas seemed heavier than air, though Nox had confessed she could not touch it with her Hedge Magic. “It doesn’t look out of phase,” Jaden said, dipping her hand into the stream. Suddenly something tugged at Jaden, and though the sensation was at her hand, it wasn’t her limb that was caught. Pulling away, it felt like part of her soul was torn, and a ghostly Jaden formed amongst them. Paler and older looking than she had a moment before, Jaden swiped out at the apparition with her light spear. It passed through effortlessly but seemingly did some damage as the apparition flinched. “Are we supposed to fight that?” Marius asked, standing with his sword in hand but unwilling to hurt the new ghostly Jaden, “Isn’t that you?” “It looks like me, but isn’t me,” Jaden replied weakly, gravely injured by her tear to her being. “Urgh, do you need this thing back?”   Jaden didn’t get to respond as the ghostly Jaden screamed a sorrowful high-pitched wail. Fureva-Yung clutched her head, swayed and fell to her knees as the scream drilled into her mind, tearing at her ability to think. Breathing heavily, she gathered herself and stood, but she no longer looked as fierce as she once did. Instead, tiredness weighed her limbs down, and she didn’t move with as much energy as she had a moment before.   A spark of desperate inspiration came to Nox, and she reached out her mind to touch the ghost’s. Instantly, the creature grasped the link, thinking of possessing Nox. Instead, through a subtle movement of her thought, Nox manoeuvred her connection with Jaden to the forefront. Corralled, the creature had no choice but to return to Jaden. The apparition disappeared, and Jaden took a deep breath and felt more herself. "Are you okay?” Nox asked Jaden. The older woman smiled and nodded. “I’ll be fine,” She replied enigmatically. “Are you, you?” Marius asked Jaden, wondering what was now in control of their artificer. “A question I’m not sure of most days,” Jaden replied, and Marius grinned. “That’s Jaden. “ Fureva-Yung still held her head in her hands, and for all of Jaden's bravado, she had more grey in her ginger hair. Even Nox was looking wrung out. “Should we think about leaving and coming back after a good rest?” “Another day the other group has to move further away? Another day Ironhorn has to prepare?” Fureva-Yung said nothing but squared her shoulders and started down the left-hand path.   The passage snaked around the lower floor, dodging past unseen obstacles in the walls. They passed three egg-shaped alcoves, two with missing doors. Inside, decomposing margr hung lifeless. Battle wounds scarred their bodies. One looked like they’d dragged themselves there only to die before getting into place. “It looks like they went into these alcoves to heal,” Nox said. Fureva-Yung picked up one of the bodies and shook it. In its deteriorated state, it didn’t take much of Fureva-Yung’s rough handling for the head to disconnect from the body and roll away.   As Jaden looked for signs of movement in the dust on the ground, Marius stood and asked a question to himself. The big guy back there. Is that something we want to destroy? No, Came back the simple and emphatic reply. Nodding his regard for the being that once owned all of this, he turned and followed Jaden up a set of stairs to the next level.   They passed a set of finely made statues formed out of a manufactured chitinous material. One of the statues was another of the noble margr, this one wearing a robe. The other had been destroyed by the passing of something on the stairs. Fureva-Yung picked up a piece of the material, crunching it to powder between her massive jaws. To her, it felt gritty, tasting strongly of mushroom.  
  The stairs emptied into a small hallway that turned left and ended in a large, irregularly shaped room. Green gas flowed thickly through channels across the floor. Fureva-Yung, Marius and Nox hopped over the channel towards a domed machine held down by four pillars.   “Beautiful isn’t it,” Marius said, staring at the clean, smooth lines of the machines. “Beautiful,” Nox echoed. To her, it was as much a piece of art as the sculptures on the landing. She gazed upon it trying to discern its purpose. “We could pull it apart of all sorts of bits and pieces,” Marius added, betraying his real love and Nox looked at him horrified. Marius took a second look at the thing, but for the life of him, he couldn’t see what Nox saw in the contraption they found. He did, however, find a scrape of the same chitinous material along one side of the dome. “Well, it looks like it's been operational recently,” He said, wiping away the dust, “Hey shiny, you seem to have a scuff here.” As he rose, a ghostly something moved past his vision into the machine. Jaden’s spirit hadn’t given up on causing mischief . As Jaden came up behind Nox and Marius, it once more left Jaden. The machine activated, and the dome rose, unfolding six insect-like legs. From above the dome, the head and shoulders of ghost-Jaden peaked out.   “What is this wretched thing?!” Jaden exclaimed, and Nox and her silently put together what they had gathered from their interactions with the gas and ghost. Jaden was sure it was part of herself causing this trouble. And though she wasn’t above a little mischief of her own, she felt that the ghost was a tainted version of her personality. The discarded gas seemed to be the unwanted elements from a process further in the pyramid. Unwanted elements that were now embedded into her ghostly doppelganger. “I think that gas was a waste product from making the good thick life-preserving stuff,” She said, and Nox made a face in disgust. You put her hand in waste? Jaden ignored Nox’s comment and knocked on the dome in front of them. “It’s polite for hitchhikers to say hello at least, “ She complained. The ghostly Jaden did not respond.   Nox now moved around the machine, looking for a control panel or interface. She was sure if she could find its controls, she could purge the ghostly Jaden from the system. She connected with the machine, making it buck like a wild creature. Ghostly Jaden was tossed about inside the machine, desperately holding control against the girl.   “This looks like it needs an exorcism,” Marius commented, thinking for a moment, “Luckily, I happen to know how to do that. Does anyone have a candle, a bell and a book?” He looked to Jaden, who pointed to Bellyache standing behind her. “See for yourself.”   Marius scrambled through the parts. Jaden suggested a piece of biocircutry and two fragments of iotum “Nox, can you focus a spark of your magic into this candle,” “It doesn’t hurt. I tried before, I couldn’t hurt the root monster,” Nox replied almost apologetically. “It will be just what is needed,” He said, taking up Nox’s Book of Numenera in the crook of his arm, the candle in his left hand. As Nox let a spark play amongst the random pieces of tech, he struck the dome with the back of his sword, making the automaton ring like a bell. “Out! Out Damned thing!” He roared at ghost-Jaden with the conviction of an exorcising priest. Like it had been struck by a physical force, ghost-Jaden was thrown back out of the dome of the automaton. As soon as the spirit was free, Jaden threw her light spear, hoping to pin the mischievous creature to the wall. Instead, the spear missed, and the green wisp escaped through the same solid wall. “We’re going to have problems with that one,” Marius sighed, putting out the last of the candle as Nox gained control of the automaton. The legs of the robot bent, making stairs that Nox climbed to sit on top. The ragged, pale and injured urchin smiled a self-satisfied smile from on top of her new pet.   “He is Guardian. He’s sorry he can’t go with us outside the pyramid, but he’s staying with us for a little while.”
   
  They moved through a connecting room where the crystal cylinder from the floor below continued through and out the ceiling, and into the third room with a grisly sight. In a square chamber stood four pillars made of smooth black steel. Chained to the pillars were the bodies of two skeletons. One was a malformed, goat-headed margr, the tattered remains of furs covering the asymmetrical skeleton. Marius investigated the other in what was left of a militia uniform. They looked years dead, though Marius could not determine how they’d died. Directly above the skeletons, the ceiling was grated. There was some discussion about whether the space was used to drain the life force that made the green gas. Without more evidence, it was just guesswork, so the group moved on.   A short passageway led either right, up another flight of steps, or straight ahead into another room. This room was set around with semicircular alcoves like the ones found downstairs. At the far end, the room was dominated by a large pile of broken machinery. It looked scavenged for pieces for experiments or as replacements further in the pyramid. Marius licked his lips at the thought of scrounging through the pile until his and the party’s eyes rested on the bodies left around the space. Two margr, or at least the pieces of two, were cut and shunted with mechanical parts and vials of the green gas. Nearby another decaying human body in similar condition lay slumped on the floor like a forgotten doll. The tinkling of Jaden’s chuckle echoed through the room as the floor began to glow green. The bodies began to move, missing body parts filled in by ghostly green replacements.   “Yung Smoosh!” Fureva-Yung roared. Stirred up in her bestial form, she had stalked impatiently from room to room for something to kill. Before the margr had raised itself from the ground, Freva-Yung’s chain swung round, whipping the meat puppet in half and denting the wall behind with the force of the strike. Green splattered the wall before dissipating into vapour. The second margr did make it to its two mismatched feet and lunged towards Nox on her Guardian. Mindllinked, the Guardian sidestepped the attack, swinging back with a mechanical crab-like leg. The human undead creation shambled after Fureva-Yung, slamming into her from behind. The green living essence rubbed onto her, and she suddenly didn’t feel so well. Following Fureva-Yung’s example, the Guardian now raised a leg and brought it down on the margr. Nox, from her perch, crowed and cheered, echoing the robot’s movements with her own, “Nox, Smoosh!”   From behind, Marius stabbed the margr and hit armour as Fureva-Yung swung a mighty fist and smacked the human aside. Marius noted the green on Fureva-Yung growing up her arm but couldn’t stop as Jaden’s spear reached through to attack the margr. “Better watch out for the green stuff,” He called, and the next rounds of attack on the creatures were more tentative as no one wanted more to do with the green gas. Fureva-Yung, however, was already feeling unwell. She could feel something ripping away, and she clutched her torso in an attempt to hold whatever it was in. Whatever she did, it seemed to partially work. The tearing eased, and she felt more herself as a ghostly green Fureva-Yung stepped out from her body and looked at her curiously.   Nox moaned as she saw the latest ghost appear. She and Guardian tried to beat the ghost back into Fureva-Yung with heavy clawed legs. Jaden, at her side whipped her spear around from the margr now falling to pieces under Marius’ blade to the spin round and slap the human with her spear-tip. The ghost-Yung roared, and all eyes turned to the two Yungs. Fureva-Yung stood breathing heavily, blood trickling from her ears and eyes. The ghost-Yung looked ready to fight. Marius attacked the human and smashed a vial of green goop, its contents splashing it all over himself. “Urgh! That’s vile!” He said, using the blade of his short-sword to scrape the goo off. “Hold still!” Jaden complained as she pulled on an io and snapped it in half towards Marius. The force of the explosion blasted the remaining green off Marius’ arm, ensuring, at least for now, there would not be a third ghost to harass them.   Fureva-Yung turned to face her ghostly self and slammed her chain through its vaporous form. The ghost tore for a moment before reforming to strike back. It reared up, both hands above its head, its hands clenched into a single bludgeoning weapon. As its arms swung down, two small green hands reached through the floor and dragged the ghost-Yung down and out of sight.   Suddenly the room was quiet except for Fureva-Yung’s heavy breathing and the quiet breath-like exhalation of the Guardian’s hydraulics. They needed to rest, or this place would kill them all. Before leaving, Marius dug around in the refuse pile and found a few spare parts for Bellyache.    

12. A fight for survival

The group gather to work out what to do next, not only for the safety of the other group struggling in the forest but also for themselves as they work to subsist on the land.       Around and around, the carvanners questioned if they’d be able to find, let alone catch up with the High Redoubt group. Sitting quietly as the group discussed the options, Nox fingered a cypher she’d carried since the Endoval towers. She’d been keeping the tiny cypher for a particular question, one she didn't ask in case she didn’t like what she found out. Now, it seemed the caravanners were at an impasse and were likely to go nowhere without some sort of assurance. Carefully choosing her words, she tapped the cypher and asked a question of the datasphere.   How long would it take for our caravan to find the High Redoubt group?   Out of the mindless collection of information that was the datasphere, a reply came. Two to four days.   So, it was possible to find and catch up with the second group. She shared it only with Fureva-Yung, Marius and Jaden via her telepathic link , knowing they wouldn't ask uncomfortable questions about how she knew..   “So we can catch them,” Marius replied aloud and finally settled the question with the group, “But when? Are we equipped for the trip back into the forest?”   Now the Jaden and the militia members of the party could speak from experience about the gathering of food supplies. The decision made, they broke into groups headed by experienced travellers, ready for a day of foraging and hunting.   At this turn in the topic, Fureva-Yung turned and left the group. Nox noted her companion’s disappearance and followed her out of the circle. Where are you going? I’ll watch the margr. Watch what they’re up to. Make sure none come this way. Here, Nox pulled out a cypher that could be used for camouflage, It will keep you hidden, I don’t need it. This could hide us all, Fureva-Yung examined the cypher and discovered it would cover a space 6 metres wide, Maybe good for raiding the margr. I worried, Nox confessed, remembering the lecture she received from Jaden and added, I’m told you have to tell people when you’re leaving if you want to be responsible. I will keep that in mind, Fureva-Yung handed back the cypher.   With the sun high in the sky, the groups set out into the wilderness to their allotted tasks. Fureva-Yung got as close as she could to the margr camp and climbed a tree. From her vantage point, she studied the margr, becoming an expert on the race. She was surprised to find there was very little in the way of social structure. The strong took what they wanted from the weak, and violence wasn’t just a way of life, it was entertainment. Fights between individuals and small groups broke out all over the camp of primitive tents. Those not involved would cheer on their pick for the win, showing their support for the next potential leaders.   Fureva-Yung was pleased to discover there were no more than twenty-six margr in the village. That was a number they could deal with. With the clever use of a cypher or two. In a small clearing, tied to a pole, was the beaten body of a woman. Fureva-Yung noted she moved weakly against her bonds. Still alive, for the time being. She noted the pole's location in relation to the shelters around it for when she, Marius and the others decided to attack. Fureva-Yung also paid close attention to the pyramid on the hovering rock at the end of a long vine bridge. A dark doorway gave access to a space beyond that seemed important to the margr. This was the one place where violence did not break out even though margr moved in and out of the area all afternoon. From deep in its dark interior, Fureva-Yung spotted something more than margr. It was taller than all other margr and metal arms and legs caught what light made it past the doorway. Even from inside the pyramid’s inky depths, Fureva-Yung still tracked the creature as sparks of blue lightning lit up the metal framework. On those occasions, Fureva-Yung could see the atrophied body of ancient margr inside the frame, one horn sprouting from its head. She had found the home of One-horn himself, the undisputed leader of the margr.   At the edge of the forest, the groups were collecting supplies for the trip into the forest. The land was rich and full of life compared to the caverns they’d travelled for days. Though their presence had disturbed much of the larger game, there was plenty of smaller animals still to hunt. Alton and Yitti had made and set up traps for rabbits as the rest of the group foraged for herbs, grains, fruits and roots. Jaden and Nox were doing well, having found their share of edible leafy herbs. In looking for tubers, they’d uprooted a nest of grubs that Nox collected in a pouch as a crunchy treat for Fureva-Yung.   Temila drew their attention to a bush full of green-skinned nuts. “Leave those, the skins are tough and take too much effort for the small amount of nut flesh inside.” But what was inedible to the average caravanner, Fureva-Yung often found tasty. “Nox,” Jaden said as they picked nuts together, “I want to apologise.” Nox froze mid-pick and stared wide-eyed at Jaden. Apologies were not something Nox was used to. Her father only used the term when he wanted something from her. "I treated you like a child. Marcus and I were never blessed, and I had no place, but I tended to think of you as my daughter. We need everything you have to offer, and I can’t afford to think of you as the little girl that hung around my shop." Jaden kept picking nuts, and Nox continued to do the same. “When you snuck away to follow the scouts, all I could think of was how worried I was, instead of remembering how clever you are.”   Emotion welled up in Nox’s chest and threatened to stop her breath. She blinked, and was surprised to find tears. Jaden kept picking nuts and talking quietly. “What I want for you is to feel confident enough to share what’s on your mind with the whole community. I want you to assert yourself and let people know how capable you are. You have so much to offer, and you never have to fear what others might think. I’ll be there to support you no matter what. Does that make sense?” Jaden looked up at Nox to see the young girl's mouth gaped wordlessly open and closed in astonishment.   Did it make sense? It was like taking a sip of cool water only to find you’d been thirsty the whole time. It was a delicious morsel to someone who never knew they were starving. To be seen, and known and still loved and accepted, Nox had never known how important that feeling would be until it welled up inside her. Nox reached for Jaden and pulled her tight, nodding wordlessly. “There, I’m glad to see we’re still friends.” Nox just clung tight to Jaden as she realised somehow adulthood had come crashing down around her head.   As the sun set, the individual groups regathered at the caravan. Several rabbits, a collection of berries and other edible plants made up their supply, expected to last the four days it would take to find the other group. Fureva-Yung came back and shared what she’d discovered on the margr, leaving out that the leader had only one horn. Nox handed Fureva-Yung the pouch of grubs and a sample of the nuts found for her. “We collected lots so you wouldn’t go hungry. I hope you like them.” Nox said, waiting until Fureva-Yung had at least tasted the offerings. What the nuts lacked in taste, they made up with a pop as the skins gave way under her powerful jaws. The grubs were tasty if only a small meal. Still, she was enjoying the textures of the new food and the friendly feeling around the camp when, across the dark grasslands, a drum began playing.   The four companions looked across the camp at each other, knowing that this was the moment they had prepared for and dreaded. “We have to go, now,” Marius said to Yitti and Orv. Alton stood as well, his newly acquired machete in his hand, “I’ll sneak in ahead and unbind the woman…” “Binna,” Nox corrected, “Binna Mayes.” “Right. If the rest of you can create some sort of distraction at the other end of the camp?”   Fureva-Yung nodded and ran off into the night on her big powerful legs. She sped through the night, outstripping all the others in her effort to run around the village to the farther side. Out of her pouch, she pulled a cypher, a small cylinder with a button on the top. With a devilish grin, she stepped into the camp's light and roared. Marius bounded after Fureva-Yung, his levitate giving him extra distance with each bouncing stride. He alighted at the edge of the camp, hidden behind a tent in the shadows cast by campfires. Across, he could see Binna still tied to the pole near what now looked like a large boiling cauldron. Keeping to the shadows, Marius imitated the look and gait of the margr and made it behind the pole without being detected.   Jaden, Yitti, Orv and Alton ran in together, Jaden’s spear glowing brightly like a beacon in the night. They made straight for the outskirts of the village nearest the caravan. “See the fires. Burn what you can. Let's see if we can’t smoke out this metal-margr,” She gestured to the men as she pulled out a few pieces of iotum and grubs she’d kept aside from Fureva-Yung’s meal. An armour made of grubs crawled over the arm, across her shoulders and down her torso. Now equipped for battle, she too took up a fiery brand, and started setting alight to the settlement.   Nox had been taken by surprise. At one moment, the group were eating their meals and sharing information. Then the drums started. Fureva-Yung was gone like a shot, and Nox tried desperately to follow but couldn’t keep up with the speed. Lost in the dark, she tripped, face planting in the tall grasses in front of the margr camp. Annoyed at her clumsiness, she didn’t hear the three small lizards scampering through the grass towards her. She stood and focused her thoughts on an illusion of Sharevellen floating over the camp's walls. She felt that the image of their dreaded enemy from the garden would catch a few margrs' attention. Behind her, the lizards leapt.   AAARAAAR! Fureva-Yung bellowed, and the whole camp of twenty-six margr’s turned to see her step into the light of the nearest fire. Her chain swung back and forward in one hand, the other seemingly clenched around nothing. A few margr’s fell back in fear of the terrible roaring beast and instead turned on the firestarters in the middle of the camp. But, the majority of the violence loving beings ran at Fureva-Yung, who stood and waited, counting heads as they did.   Marius cut Binna’s ropes as the village of margr was drawn to the sound of roaring. The ropes went slack, and Binna almost cried out as he clasped a hand to her mouth. “You wouldn’t want to spoil Fureva-Yung’s distraction, would you? Now hold onto me. We’re going to go for a little ride.” And helping Binna to stand, he grabbed her tightly around the waist and launched both of them into the air high above the camp. Catching a breeze that whipped up the fire below, he and Binna sailed back over the walls and away from the margr.   The margr attacked, twenty after the challenging Fureva-Yung and six after Jaden’s group. Once she decided they were all in range, Fureva-Yung pressed the button. A high-pitched whining sound could just be heard above the tidal wave of screaming margr. A moment and then bolts of electricity sprang out from Fureva-Yung and the mob of margr. Smoke rose, as fur, flesh and horns burned and charred under the ferocity of the electrical detonation. As the smoke cleared, Fureva-Yung dropped her scorched hand and looked around at the seventeen margr lying prone, never to rise. On the outer edge of the mob, three margr looked across the same devastation at their injured enemy and leapt across the bodies of the fallen.   The six on Jaden’s group were ferocious in their attack, tripping up Jaden and sending her sprawling on her back. Orv swung at the margr left and right with his hammer, and Yitti and Alton did their best not to fall under the attacking margr. Grabbing one of the iotum, Jaden created a force that pushed back the margr on top of her before standing and putting her spear between her and the hoard.   Out in the grass, Nox was now aware of something trying to climb up her legs. Desperate to hold onto her illusion, she swatted at the creatures feebly. Incited by her action, two creatures bit her in the thigh. The illusion disappeared, and suddenly Nox was having difficulty focusing her thoughts. Her eyes grew heavy, and she swayed on the spot. Everything was forgotten now as Nox fought the only fight left open to her, the one to stay conscious.   Above, Marius was looking for a good place to come down when he spotted Nox first thrashing around where she stood before going still. She swayed on the spot, shaking her head, oblivious to everything around her. “Um, we’re going to have to make a short stop. Just stay still and hidden,” Marius said to Binna as he lowered them to the ground. With a familiar fizzle, the cypher Marius had been he’d been carefully conserving for the past few days had finally gave out. He rubbed his leg where it had surrendered it's last energy into his flesh. Furtively he glancing around. At least no mutant killer mushrooms this time. Probably just as well it was over, he would've had a hard time continuing the "infected with blue crystal" cover story. Regardless he could do nothing about it, so he released Binna gesturing for her to keep low and turned to Nox. “Nox, I’m coming!”   Fureva-Yung grinned, a malicious fervour spreading across her face. Her chain swung up and swiped the head from one margr continuing through the arc to strike another. The margrs’ attacks were aggressive but uncoordinated. One hit her, as another missed and yet a third tripped over the dead in their haste and crashed into their comrades. Now it was Furevea-Yung’s turn. She remembered her fear at being hunted by these beasts through the Endoval forest, and she relished the spice it gave to the fight.   Amongst the flaming tents, a margr bit Alton on the shoulder, and he was driven back. Yitti dodged under a second attack as Orv swung his hammer driving two margr back. Two attacked Jaden, the first getting through, but the second was parried away with the end of the spear. Where the margr had brute force and ferocity, the humans countered with intelligent tactics and well-practised skills. The battle evenly matched the margr changed tactics and started dodging attacks. Jaden, Orv and Yitti all missed their strikes at the margr, but Alton judged his attacker’s movements correctly and sliced through the margr’s belly. It was now five margr on the four injured attackers. One snapped out and bit Yitti on the arm, as a second was parried away by Orv. Alton swayed on his feet. Seeing Jaden beset with two of the creatures, he stepped in beside her.   Barely conscious, Nox pulled out her dagger and stuck it through one of her tormentors and kept the other two at bay until Marius made it to her side. Taking a lizard in each hand, he flung them out into the darkness. Nox’s blade fell from her hand as another wave of drowsiness overtook her. No! Fight it! Help Fureva-Yung and Marius and Jaden! Don’t give up like some stupid baby! She broadcasted unconsciously across the telepathic connection as she fought the poison running through her blood. “Don’t worry, I’ll fix it!” Marius said as he found the bit wound and sucked the poison out.   With two margr left in front of her, Fureva-Yung was drawn away from her fight by the disjointed telepathic call from Nox. She looked up , and saw the small group of allies surrounded by margr. The chain swung high and from the momentum of her last attack. With a casual flick, she brought the chain down on her two remaining enemies making pulp out of the margrs. Blood and gore flung everywhere as she stepped out of the circle of death she had wrought and towards the last remaining resistance surrounded by flames.   The lizard venom was potent. Drawn into Marius' mouth, it passed through the mucus membranes and into his bloodstream before he had a chance to spit it out. With an unintelligible garble of reassuring words, Marius fainted at Nox’s feet. Having kept herself awake, Nox spotted the injured lizard slinking back towards her for another bite. She stretched out her hand and enveloped the nasty little creature in a glowing ball of energy. Biting her lip to keep awake, she turned to the remains of the attack in front of her. She could just make out the dark shadow of Binna hiding in the grass. Binna, turn around. Help, She connected telepathically with the woman. The barmaid and Cerelon refugee spun around and saw Nox waving her over, Marius unconscious at her feet. She’d not seen Marius fall, and was disturbed by the voice in her head. She shook her head and stayed firmly where she was. The poison now wearing off, Nox sighed and searched for the mind of Fureva-Yung. Fureva-Yung, could you come over please? I need your help.   A margr attacked Jaden. In the moment, she spun around, dropped to one knee and drove her spear around and up into the margr’s throat. Orv also spun, putting his whole sizable weight behind the hammer blow. Alton struck out and hit the second margr on Jaden as the last got its claws on Yitti and raked the flesh from his side. With Fureva-Yung running in from the other end of the camp, the remaining margr was finally killed, with Jaden claiming the last on the end of her spear.   The battle over, Fureva-Yung peered out into the darkness and spotted the pale Nox waving with Marius at her side. What happened to her? Fureva-Yung asked, marching across the space between them, and grabbed hold of the swaying Nox. Gratefully, Nox let Fureva-Yung catch her as they both looked at Marius. He had no wound, no sign of injury. I don’t know, Nox had to admit. She could remember very little of the moments after the lizard bites, These attacked, She pointed at the one still in a stasis bubble, You can have it if you want. Fureva-Yung moved her hand over the lizard, and when the stasis dropped, she grabbed the squirming creature and bit its head off. It bit me. You bite it. Nox smiled groggily.   They sat a moment resting and tending to their wounds as Marius gently snored. Yitti was in a bad way with his side slashed open, and Alton wasn’t too far behind a crescent of teeth punctures surrounding his shoulder. It was decided Yitti would take Binna back to the caravan as the rest dealt with the last remaining margr, One horn.   Marius snorted awake and sat up. “What did I miss?” He looked around, spotting Fureva-Yung looking down, concerned, “You were amazing! The roar and then the explosion and then the smack-smack.” Marius imitated the swinging moves of Fureva-Yung lashing out with her chain. “Jaden was great too! Didn’t you see it?” Nox countered, copying Jaden’s spin and strike with her spear, “Oh, you didn’t, you were sleeping.” Undeterred, Marius stood up beside the charred and blood splatted Fureva-Yung, “Yeah, but nothing beats our big fuzzy ball of death!” “Yes, I was amazing,” Fureva-Yung agreed, either missing or ignoring the fuzzy comment. “We haven’t finished yet.” She turned to the floating rock and the pyramid now lit from the burning village below. Nothing moved, and only the crackle and snap of burning was carried on the breeze. “Are you ready?” “Ah, one thing. The flying wore off,” Marius informed the group, and there was a sad acknowledgement that it was bound to happen sometime.   Collectively, the group started back through the now empty village to the bridge up to the rock. Nox slipped behind Fureva-Yung, disappearing from sight. Marius pulled out his sword, and Jaden held her spear in front, ready for the fight. Fureva-Yung shook herself all over and stretched. A glint of something dangerous now sparked in her expression. “Yung Smoosh!” She roared and charged up the bridge towards the pyramid entrance.  
   

11. In the shadows of the forest

The caravan’s trip through the tunnels and escape from Cerelon’s automatons is finally ending. That is not to say that the dangers have decreased.       That night, though the meal was meagre, spirits were up. The explorers had been on the surface, and Marius had seen a way out of the caverns. By a faint glow from the chasm, the lighthouse reflecting off the surface of the underground lake, they talked about where they are going and who they’d left behind.   “I was there when Marcus died,” Yitti mumbled into the campfire. Somehow, the talk had gotten around to Marcus, Jaden’s husband lost two years before. Though it would have been hard not to have known about it at the time, Nox was surprised to find out about Yitti's involvement in the gentle and patient tinker's death. “He knew Jaden had a project and needed the iotum. As most of the good stuff went straight to High Redoubt she’d found it frustrating to get what she needed.” “Marcus was a good friend, a man. It was hard to tell him no. When he decided he’d go through the tailings after the mine shut down for the evening, he couldn’t be dissuaded. So, I went along as a sort of guide and to watch his back.” “I knew the tailings were dangerous, they’d sometimes slip on us during a shift, but there was always someone around to dig us out. That night, it was so dark, we couldn’t see the peak of the tailings pile against the sky. We stumbled into the lee and, in our fossicking, disturbed the pile.” “I had to run back to town, wake up every dritman I could get a hold of and direct them back to where the collapse happened. He’d been stuck under there twenty, thirty minutes. It took us another hour to find him. By that time…” Yitti cut off his story, his voice catching. Jaden picked up the rest of the story.   “He’d been trespassing. The Devotees of Erina could have prosecuted his estate, ruining me financially and socially. But they quietly returned his body and left it. I guess they figured he’d already paid.”   Across the fire, Marius sat silently listening, tight-lipped and keeping close attention on Yitti, as if perhaps a new side to the Dritman had been revealed. He’d been a stranger in town during Marcus’ death and, like Nox was an outsider to events.   Her head aching, Nox sat up and tried to soothe the ache with the palm of her hand. “Here, try this, “She heard a voice beside her. Marius had snuck around the campfire and now held out a damp cloth smelling strongly of herbs and medical oils. She placed the cooling cloth on her head and breathed in the scent instantly feeling an easing to her headache. “Thank you.” She said shyly watching the Dritman leader as he packed up his first aid kit. “Yitti’s revelation came as a bit of a surprise to you as well, didn’t it?” He asked, not looking up from his work. “I was in the shop when they came to tell her about Marcus. Jaden…closed up for a long time. Closed up the shop, closed up herself...” The memory of that lonely time reminded Nox of her headache and she lay back down. As a kid not yet fourteen she was not privy to the politics of adult life. She’d not understood Jaden’s inability to get the parts she needed for her project and had not known the extent of Marcus’ love that he would risk trespass, even death to see she had what she needed. All she remembered was being on the outside of every conversation, having no place to feel safe or wanted. When she'd try to make contact with Jaden telepathically she was met by a wall of grief and guilt she didn't understand and couldn't cope with. She did know that something cheerful and accepting had been withdrawn from her and she wondered what she'd done to deserve it. Feeling the soothing balm of the medicine doing its job, Nox slowly drifted off to sleep, her last conscious thought, to send Jaden a feeling of a warm embrace. Her dreams that night were filled with the smell of herbs and the gentle man who had not needed to raise his voice to get his message across.   Nox woke early the next morning, the headache throbbing behind her eyes. She pulled herself out from under the caravan, packing up her bedroll like an elderly woman, her clumsy movements catching the eye of Marius who was just coming off watch. “What you need is a good massage,” He said, placing his warm hands on her shoulder and started gently kneading up her neck and along her collarbone. Nox froze, every part of her aware of his strong warm hands. Not knowing if she should scream or melt. Nox instead froze where she was. Marius felt the tension and instantly realised what he was doing. He pulled his hands away, quickly folding them against his chest. “On second thought a massage isn’t what you need. You need a good brisk walk in the fresh air.”   Nox, her face red with embarrassment, stalked off without turning back. Walking a little way from the caravan, she was about to bury her face in her bedroll when she felt someone watching. A few metres off a tall figure in a dark robe stood silently. A mask like the swirling patterns of the night sky completely hid the stranger’s face.   “Hi there, welcome to our camp,” Marius had seen the being as well and had walked up, his hand outstretched, “What’s your name, friend?” [centre]THE MOON IS FULL AND THE SHARD IS FREE.[/centre] The being said, not moving from their spot. The mask angled towards Marius. [centre]WHY ARE YOU A MAN OF TWO?[/centre] “Wha…he doesn’t know what he’s talking about!” The mask tilted back to look at Nox. [centre]WHY WHEN YOU WERE NINE DID YOU BOUNCE THE BALL THREE TIMES AGAINST THE WALL AND FOUR TIMES AGAINST THE GROUND?[/centre] “How about you answer a few questions for us, like what’s your name?” The being ignored Marius’ question and continued to proclaim. [centre]YOU MUST SEEK THE CENTRAL SPIRE.[/centre] [centre]TRAVEL WITH THE ONE WHO FELL FROM THE CHORUS FOR THEY ARE THE SION.[/centre] “Does this have to do with Fureva?” Nox asked, using only Fureva-Yung’s first name and the one she associated with the intelligence inside.   The being said nothing. Frustrated at the cryptic declaration, Nox reached out and tried to read the mind of the being.   Her head was filled with thoughts beyond understanding. Past the swirling stars of the mask, something imperative, something important, caught her attention. She felt pain, but it was distant. She focused her thoughts on the one crucial thing, and a stream of information poured into her mind. When the information ceased, she pulled away and gasping, she found herself kneeling on the ground. “What? What did you do to Nox? Nox, are you alright?” [centre]YOU HAVE FOUND YOUR NAVIGATOR.[/centre] The figure pronounced and disappeared before their eyes. “Well, that was unhelpful,” Marius helped Nox off the ground, “What happened to you?”   Nox started pulling away, her mind spinning with the possibilities of a plan for the first time. “I need to find Jaden,”   Now running, all thought of headaches gone, Nox found Jaden’s sleeping spot and shook her away. Jaden! Wake up! “I’m awake. What do you need?” Jaden replied sleepily. Nox paused for a moment. She could look at a device and work out how it worked, but naming the components that made it up was beyond her. Um…I’ll know them when I see them. Can I look inside Bellyache? “Sure, sure, just let me grab your waist, Bellyache goes deep, and he’s likely to swallow you.”   Not waiting, Nox opened the walking chest and started picking out parts that fit with the plan in her head. Jaden noted four synth parts, two io and one apt clay, before Nox sat crosslegged on the ground and started putting the pieces together. By this time, Marius had caught up. “Are we sure we want to build this?” He asked. Nox ignored the question, entirely focused on the task of building, “Hey kid, calm down!” “Shhh…” “What is it?” “I don’t know…”   Jaden watched quietly and determined that the object being made had something to do with navigation. “If it’s supposed to be a compass, you need to label it north, south, east and west,” She said, pointing at the glass sphere with a suspended arrow that currently pointed north-east and a little up. “It points to the Central spire,” Nox finally said as the manic energy subsided and the sphere lay between her hands. Spent, she handed the Navigator to Jaden. Now it was complete, she found she had little interest in it. “Central Spire? Never heard of it. What is it?” Jaden probed, concerned at Nox’s behaviour. “It is an oracle, “ Fureva-Yung, drawn by the activity, watched and listened, “The wise people listen to them….” “ And fool themselves,” Jaden scoffed, but Fureva-Yung paid no attention. “And shape their course by what they learn.” I listened…what does that make me? Nox grumbled at Jaden’s off-handed dismissal of such an important event, What sort of idiot am I to be fooled into making a compass. “We don’t need a mysterious being to tell us what to do? We don’t need a fancy compass thing to know where to go. We are masters of our own destiny.” Marius assured the group, getting a querying look from Fureva-Yung. “I’m not!” “Shut up, you.” “Well, regardless, this Navigator thing is pointing in another direction to where we’re going. Out is in that direction,” Jaden pointed ahead and noted the needle a little farther north.     Later that morning, the caravan walked out into the sunlight near Saravellen’s garden. The figures of trapped margr poking out of the tall grass nearby. On the other side, the dark boughs of the Endoval forest cast shadows over their emergence from the caves. Jaden, who had been walking with her travelling trader friends, asked Oslo, “Have you ever been so far through the Endoval ? Do you know what’s in this land?” “No, no one has been through the forest from our neck in forever,” Oslo replied, looking almost intimidated by the daunting task of travelling through the unknown land. Jaden checked the Navigator, “Hmm, this thing is taking us away from Cerelon along what looks to be the same path as the transport. Marius, anything near here we should visit before moving on?” Marius stepped up, pointing in the direction of the floating rock, “There’s a town near the spaceship, a few crude shelters, not much else.” “Not civilised. Could it be where the margr are coming from?” “Possibly,” Marius replied in a voice that suggested he didn’t want this suggestion dismissed, “Or it could be a pop-up market town, a temporary structure. There’s also a pyramid on the rock that looks interesting.” Fureva-Yung distracted Marius by trying to rub some of the blue off his face. He waved her away like an annoying insect. “We missed our chance at pretty colours,” Jaden turned to Nox. “Yeah, I could be green and blend in with the grass. Or maybe purple and be as beautiful as one of Saravellen’s flowers.” “Or maybe there were beige and puce coloured steams,” Jaden thought, and Nox made a face. “You’d look good in puce,” She said and ran away into the caravan. “Cheeky!” Jaden called after her, “Anyone can tell I’m an autumn.” “Well, regardless, we should have someone scout ahead. I’ll go,” Marius volunteered and started to walk away, stopped by Fureva-Yung. “You go alone? Through margr?” “You can come too!”   The two companions walked out of camp, taking the long way around any of the margr plant cocoons and keeping Serevellen’s garden between them and any watchers on the rock. Fureva-Yung in particular, kept far away from the frozen margr. Marius listened to the voices on the wind, focusing on any that sounded like speak of any kind, no matter how intelligible. The wind brought back on grunts, roars, cries and nervous bleats. From their vantage point, they could see the pyramid on the rock and the rope bridge that led directly from the margr encampment up to the pyramid. They could see the pyramid's exterior carved in intricate designs even from a distance, though what they represented was beyond them. “See, spaceship!” Marius gestured to the rock as proof of his theory. “It is no ship,” Fureva-Yung replied with the confidence of experience. It was true. The rock was hardly ship-shaped. “How many margr do you think there are? Thirty to fifty?” Counting visibly on her fingers, Fureva-Yung replied, “That leaves twenty for me. Yeah, na.”   Behind them, something moved without fear. Along with the clop of heavy cloven hooves, the guttural chatter of the margr was clear to hear. Fureva-Yung and Marius hunkered down and watched as three margr came into view, a wooden pole held between two of them. Tied to the pole a man in the uniform of the Cerelon Warden Militia, barely conscious. The third margr seemed to be in charge, and besides carrying a very lethal looking machete at their hip, they barked and growled at the other two to move quicker. The margr had no idea that Marius and Fureva-Yung were watching, not twenty-five metres away. They were just about to let the margr know their mistake when the one holding the pole at the back froze to the spot, a scintillating energy flowing around them. The one in the lead kept walking, not knowing there was anything wrong with his partner. The pole fell from his hand, and he turned and barked at the frozen margr. “I know that energy. We will have words later. Go Furry, go!” Marius crept away to hit the margr from the side as Fureva-Yung roared, charging out of the scrub. Intent on the margr in front of him, Marius completely missed Nox hiding in the grass just ahead. He fell over her breaking his stealth. “Keep down these guys have weapons,” Marius hissed. “Ouch! You didn’t see me. Why do you think they will?” Before Marius could look up again, Fureva-Yung had engaged the leader margr as the lead pole carrier moved in on her from behind. The margr, now free of his load, withdrew a jagged blade and slashed at Fureva-Yung. “Stay here, stay hidden,” Marius hissed, getting up and sprinting to Fureva-Yung’s aid. Fureva-Yung dealt a killing blow to the leader as Marius ran up and engaged with the pole carrier. From her hidden position, Nox used her Hedge Magic to move the machete from the dead margr. When Marius saw the movement, he pointed to the still militia, and the blade made a quick reverse and darted into he militiaman's hand. Marius’ strike hit, gaining him the attention of the pole carrier. “It's okay, my friend will be here soon,” He said confidently as Fureva-Yung loomed behind the pole carrier, “Oh, Too late!” SPLAT! Fureva-Yung and Marius circled the last margr, still frozen in stasis. When they were ready, Nox dropped the energy field, and margr never knew what happened.   The Cerelon militia man’s name was Alton Tora, and he’d been stationed in High Redoubt when the attack occurred. As Fureva-Yung kept lookout towards the margr camp, Nox cut Alton’s bindings, and Marius did what he could to bandage up his wounds. “I’m glad to see another human face…ur…friendly?” He gestured to Fureva-Yung. “Friendly. She’s one of us. Our big pink rage monster,” “As long as you don’t call me fluffy,” Fureva-Yung replied, sending Nox into giggles. “We were starting to think we were the only ones that escaped.” “How did you end up out here? This is a long way from home.” “We fled from the centre of the High Redoubt when the automatons attacked. One of our number, Caros Waldrin, worked on a floating barge concept for easier travel over the mountains. We piled on board the barge: two other militia besides myself, Caros and several other members of the Highside Redoubt…Resina Keris.” Marius and Fureva-Yung glanced at each other at the mention of Resina Keris' name. As owner of the mines, she was their boss and one Marius and his Dritmen had issues with. “We flew for a bit…then the power gave up, and the barge made a rough landing in the Endoval Forest. We were then walking, trying to move to the northern edge of the forest as much as possible. Then we started meeting with the margr. “ “The first night, we repelled them. I wonder if they were just testing us to see how tough we were. The second attack, they made off with one of the civilians, a woman. The third attack…I think the group got away…” He touched his head where a matted blood and hair made a sticky mess with leaves and dirt. “How long ago did they take you? Where were you when the attack occurred?” “I’m not sure. I think it happened yesterday, but as to where I couldn’t tell you.” “Who did you lose?” Nox asked quietly, wanting to know the woman's name, even if she didn't know them. "Who did you lose?" Marius asked at the same time just as intently. “Um…a lady…she worked in The Worthy Hearth, a tavern in Highside. Her name was Binna Mayes.” “Were you lighting fires?” Marius asked, knowing what the answer would be. It had been their mistake that first night too. Only makeshift walls and the strong arms of Fureva-Yung and the Dritmen made the difference. “We did the first night. We figured that’s what drew them. After that, they started attacking at all times of the day. The third attack was just as we stopped for a midday meal.” “Lunchtime, yesterday? Damn!” Marius swore as he realised they were all out of the surface at that time.   “Marius, what does it matter? Why are we looking for that herd?” Fureva-Yung asked this time after being silent for the whole conversation. Marius replied, “They’re from Cerelon. They’re us!” He tried thinking from Fureva-Yung’s perspective, “Look, we’ll be stronger with them.” They may know where my family is, Nox added silently in their minds and to that, Fureva-Yung agreed. She nodded, “Can see more from high ground.” “That’s a good idea. Wait for me!” And Marius leapt away up the mountainside in giant bounding steps. Fureva-Yung, Nox and Alton silently watched as Marius made the peak in a few minutes and scanned the forest for signs of the other party. It’s going to be hard when Marius can’t fly, Nox commented as they waited. So, it is wearing off? Yes, it will wear off. She is very useful when she flies. Nox nodded thoughtfully, Marius is always useful.   Up on the top of the crystal mountain, Marius strained his cypher enhanced senses to gather what he could from the forest. He could see where something large had clipped the tallest trees. Maybe five days walk from where he was. Of the travelling party on the ground, he could see nothing. This second group were frustratingly close. They might be only a day's walk away, but in what directions? He knew they were travelling due North, so he’d need to cut across country North-West to have a hope of finding them. At the same time, the Navigator was leading their group to the North-East. Today they may be a day apart, but tomorrow they’d be three, then five. Not knowing what to do for the best, Marius started levitating back down the mountain to the speck that was Fureva-Yung, Nox and the militiaman and reported what he’d seen.   “We can move fast with the caravan, we can catch up,” Fureva-Yung suggested helpfully. “Yeah, but I’m loathed to take them back to a forest swarming the margr.” They started back to the caravan.   Nox was silent. Knowing that the other group were so close made her want to run into the forest to find them. But the forest had proven to be a dangerous place, and if Marius and Fureva-Yung were worried, what hope did she have. “We could kill the margr home base here. Make it safer,” Marius mused as they walked along. “They die easily in small numbers,” Fureva-Yung acknowledged.   When they made it back to the caravan, Nox ran ahead, gathering people around Marius so he could share the news of the second group. Engrossed in her task, she was quickly discovered and apprehended by Jaden, who had searched the small caravan twice looking for her. “Where have you been? I was worried sick about you!” “I snuck after Marius and Fureva-Yung. They didn’t even know I was there. We found a group of margr carrying a militiaman and saved him. I put stasis on one, and Fureva-Yung and Marius attacked and chopped them to bits…hee-hee, Marius tripped over me… I was that sneaky. The man’s name is Alton, and he says there is another group of refugees from Cerelon in the forest, and he was taken only yesterday at lunchtime, and Marius needs everyone to gather and decide what to do next….” Nox replied, her words stumbling over each other in their desire to be heard. “Snuck away? Margr? Nox! What if something happened? Something did happen! What if you’d been hurt? No would know.” But, I was careful, Now that accusations were being laid , Nox automatically changed to telepathy, No one knew I was there until I put stasis on… “Exactly. Nox, that was very irresponsible of you. I’m deeply disappointed.” But I helped… The voice was smaller, less insistent. “Nox, you need to be more responsible if you want people not to worry and trust you. Please say you’ll let me know next time?” Nox did not reply, but Jaden’s words stung. Hadn’t she shown she was reliable by helping? But Jaden didn’t usually say things to be unkind. Jaden took Nox’s silence for compliance, at least for the moment. She directed Nox back to where the group of fifteen refugees had gathered to hear the news. When they arrived, Temela was already doing what she could for Alton as the story of his rescue was discussed. “Why should we risk our necks for a bunch of Highsiders?” Some of the Dritmen were already saying, “Yeah, why should we worry about the toffs?” Yet others were more pragmatic, “It would make sense to gather together. We’d be able to fight off the margrs, maybe wipe them out altogether.” “Come on guys, they’re humans from our village, and we can’t leave them to the wilds,” Marius spoke up, and the Dritmen, out of respect for him, quietened down, “Well, at least I’m glad you agree they’re humans.”   As the group talked, a number of plans started floating around the group:     As a caravan, track and find the other group. Though many thought of sticking together, very few wanted to risk the dangers of the Endoval forest again. The caravan intact would be as fast as the group on foot. They would never be able to catch them up.   Clear our the margr encampment, so they’re no longer a danger to the caravan or the others. Appealing to some of the Dritmen who felt they were left out of the action, no one thought taking on a village of maybe a hundred margr was a good idea.   Ignore the other group and continue on their path. A plan encouraged by Fureva-Yung, but both Marius and Nox were against it for their own reasons. Jaden felt that leaving refugees behind would be cruel if they could do something to help.   Split the caravan. The fast go after the second group, the slow follow the Navigator. The navigator was new to most of the caravan, and the group spent some time talking about the device and where it may be leading them. Splitting the party was not popular. The fast group would invariable be made up of the caravan’s best fighters, leaving the slower group undefended.   Send Alton back when he’s well with information about where the caravan was heading. Though a popular suggestion, many felt they were sending an injured man to his death in the woods. The addition of a Dritman escort was discussed, but none of the Dritmen volunteered for the task.   Ask Shereveen for some creation of theirs that could find the second group and deliver a message. Many in the caravan had only second-hand knowledge of Shereveen, and what they’d gathered from the captured margr left to die around the garden did not instil confidence. There was a vocal few, stirred on by Jaden, who felt that such a powerful creature was better off left alone.        

10. A glimpse of the surface

The crystal caverns are vast but not endless. It’s all just a matter of perseverance.     The evening meal was mushroom porridge as it had been for the last three days. Morning, noon and night, the caravaneers had made the giant mushrooms and the supplies they’d brought from Cerelon stretch to feed fifteen adults. And though some may wish for a tasty piece of meat or fresh vegetables, almost no one when hungry. Except for Fureva-Yung. As was her habit, she left the supplies for those who could eat nothing else and tried scrounging for herself. She’d eaten freshly caught crab that morning, and now she was hungry again.   “I’ll go on watch,” She said and stalked away from the main group, her stomach growling. Me too! Nox replied, quickly spooning the last of her meal into her mouth. Fureva-Yung gave the little one a thumbs up. “Not fluffy, though,” Fureva-Yung. She had no idea why Nox was talking to her again, but Nox’s fascination with her hair was a new and disturbing twist. No, not fluffy now, Replied the small mental voice, followed by the image of the strong and formidable Fureva-Yung, her hair on end looking like some ridiculous flower spore. It was humiliating. “Your blowout did look good, “ Jaden called after then, “ Could I suggest a bow?” A bow! How about a red one? Nox exclaimed, now obsessed with images of Fureva-Yung with red bows in her hair. Fureva-Yung, however, spotted Marius wandering out of camps alone. Fureva-Yung said nothing. Marius could take care of herself. “You look for a bow,” Fureva-Yung suggested to Nox, and the two of them settled down for the watch.   “Yitti! Yitti, are you awake?” “No, Marius. I’m dreaming of you waking me up.” Yawned Yitti, who had only just fallen asleep trying not to think of giant crystal eating bugs. “I need your help,” Marius replied, shaking the large sheet of synth he and the Fureva-Yung had found in the towers back on the surface. “Wha? What are you doing with that thing?” “You’ll find out, come on!”   On the way out of camp, they stopped and picked up Fureva-Yung coming back from her watch. “I’m going to try and climb up to the crack,” Marius explained, pointing out the night sky above peaking through the rock above them, “I need you to try and catch me if I fall.”   He led them to a wall nearest the fissure, and turning aside so the two others could not see, quietly clipped his gravity nullifier onto his belt and turned it on. Taking a deep breath, he made sure Yitti and Fureva-Yung were ready before jumping up onto the rock. “She is a very good climber!” Fureva-Yung said as she and the Dritman watched Marius lightly step from foothold to foothold, seemingly climbing with no effort at all. In no time at all, Marius was pulling himself over the edge of the fissure and looked out at the view.   Marius was standing on a mountain-side of crystal overlooking a forest in one direction and a floating island of rock straight ahead. Rope bridges hung like vines from the suspended rock and tiny rough huts pock-marked its surface. Down the mountain-side, an immaculate circular garden of green was starkly visible in the rough scrub around it. A garden of sculpted plants and blooming flowers. The garden was bounded by a high hedge that seemingly protected the creations inside from the wilderness outside. Marius thought about the few remaining caves to explore and judged that one of them could be below the circular garden. Between the rock and the garden, dark figures stood silhouetted against the moonlight grasslands around them. Some figures were standing at odd angles, and none of them were moving.   Directly below, an opening in the crystal showed a path out of the mountain. Finally, it looked like there was a way for the whole caravan to leave the caverns. He stood for a moment, watching the tiny signs of life from the rock and the lack of such life from the figures in the grass by the garden. He thought about going down and investigating but didn’t like his chances at bouncing down the mountain-side in the middle of the night. Besides, it would be a long walk back up the fissure, even with the gravity nullifier on.   Finally, when it was clear that nothing else could be learnt from where he was, he lowered himself back down into the crack and started the long climb back down to Yitti and Fureva-Yung. He wasn’t halfway down when the crystal around him began to shudder. A small fissure opened up to one side of him, and a burst of blue steam ejected from the tear. The surprising force of the steam blew him off his handholds, and when he could see again, he was floating in midair. “Marius, you are forgetting to fall!” Fureva-Yung’s voice called from below, and Marius silently cursed. “I’m flying! I’m flying?” He let himself gently float down into the fabric that Yitti and Fureva-Yung were diligently holding out to catch him, “Just one more thing to add to the wonders of this place. Mountain farts.”   Fureva-Yung helped him back to his feet, wiping a finger across the blue that now stained him. The blue did not come off. “Oh, and everything was going so well. Now I feel so blue.” “What did you see?” Fureva-Yung forgot the magical blue flying fart gas and quickly got back on topic. “The whole mountain is crystal. And there’s a spaceship tethered to the side of the mountain.” “More ships of space?” “Yeah, and there looked like dead people or statues around the outside of a garden, but I couldn’t get close enough.” “It is a shame we can not go that way. I can not jump and fly like you.” “Ah, but I also saw a way out. A crack in the mountain not far down the mountainside from where I stood.”   The rest of the night was quiet, though the following day, Marius' blue state had progressed. Though the blue stain had fallen from his clothes, anywhere it touched skin, it stained. “Open your mouth,” Fureva-Yung said of Marius. When he complied, she noticed his mouth and tongue were also blue.” “Were you poorly yesterday?” Nox asked, unsure what she’d missed out on. “No, I climbed up to the crack. On the way back, the crystals shifted and squirted me with a blue steam. Say, can you scan me to find out what it is?” Marius held out his arm for Nox to examine. “I saw Marius fly. I saw it with my own eyes,” Fureva-Yung added unhelpfully. Curious, Nox did just that, sending her thoughts through skin layers. The blue dye was well into the skin, but even now, the body was starting to break down the substance. “How can I be blue? It looks fun!” “Well,” Marius thought seriously, “You can think about how you were chased from your home by murdering robots and trapped under a mountain…blue yet?” Yes, Nox scowled, not happy to be made fun of.   When Jaden was ready, the group started for the last two caves they’d left unexplored the day before. “Just kidding. Cheer up. I saw a way out that didn’t look far away.” “Marius, the blue makes you look not so repulsive.” Fureva-Yung shared her observation. “Ah, I think it’s so when we meet the other blue people again, we won’t be so repulsive to their eyes, and they’ll help us.” “I don’t think so, Mr Marius,” Nox interjected, “The blue people were helping us at the pit when we were still ugly.” “You’re right, kid!” “It is a new look, and you say it gave you antigravity properties?” Jaden asked, also trying to wipe off the blue. “Looks like it,” He turned to Nox, whose little knife was always ready on her hip, “Give me your knife?” She handed it over and was appalled when he cut open his palm to see how far the blue had penetrated. “I could have told you how deep it went!” “Oh,” He handed back the bloodied knife. “Still, it’s a good shade on you,” Jaden commented. “Thank you. Even Fureva-Yung thinks I look good.” “Less hideous.” The big woman corrected. “Any other effects?” Marius shook his head, carefully turned on his antigrav cypher and jumped. He hung suspended in the air before gently floating down to the ground, “I can fly.”   By this time, they’d made it to the entrance to the first cavern. The entrance was blocked by several large mushrooms forming a thick wall. To one side, a curtain of white mycelium strands covered a narrow opening. Beyond the mushrooms and mycelium, the group could hear voices humming in harmony accompanied by drums.   Jaden reached out for the mycelium. As her fingers touched the strands, they parted, revealing a path beyond, “I guess we go this way.” As Jaden studied the mycelium, Nox thought back on her studies of plants and fungus with Temela. They were like nothing she knew. Their closest relatives were much smaller and were known for growing their fruiting bodies (the mushroom caps) well apart, so the spores had a chance to escape. Whatever had happened to these mushrooms, it wasn’t natural.   “I think this mush-room relates to the garden above,” Marius said after Nox shared what she knew. “Well, only one way to find out,” Jaden said and walked through the curtain and into the cave.   Past the wall of mushrooms, a mushroom stalk as tall as a tree dominated the space. Around the mushroom, a garden of smaller mushrooms brightly coloured or glowing faintly filled the room. Under the cap, a gossamer-light mushroom cap floated by propelling itself like a jellyfish. Behind another mushroom wall and mycelium curtain, the voices and drumming continued.   Hello! Nox called telepathically, convinced there was some mind behind this fungal garden and the one that Marius had seen. Maybe they were friendly, like Mamma, the crystal eater. Her telepathic senses touched something above them, a mind curious and waiting. Looking up, she saw only the tree mushroom cap’s gills swaying in some unfelt breeze. Do you make the music? They are my creations, so I guess you can say that. Came back the calm thoughts of the one above. You made these? The floating one and the big clumping ones? Yes.   Nox was about to ask the being’s name when she remembered the others watching her having a silent conversation with the air. She told them about the being and their creations. “Oh, the garden above too?” Marius asked. Yes, that is mine too. I like to garden. On the surface? Nox asked longingly. Though the crystal caverns had been a revelation, she longed for the outside. Fresh breezes and the sun on her face. Would you like to see it? The voice asked, Step through the mushroom.   Jaden, Marius and Fureva-Yung asked questions of Nox to translate back to the being as Nox quietly contemplated seeing the surface once more in the magical garden of this being. They call me Sharavellen, those that need such things, The being answered their questions as Nox stepped forward into the tree mushroom stalk and disappeared.   One moment Nox was underground, breathing the feeling the weight of the mountain above her. The next, she was in a brightly lit garden, standing on a well-clipped lawn. Behind her, the rough bark of a real tree tugged at her clothes. A breeze fluttered through her hair. The sun tingled her cave cold skin, and Nox had to stop herself from literally leaping for joy. From above, an orb with mycelium wings floated into view. How do you like my garden? Nox turned her attention to the plants in the garden and was astounded by the shapes and forms the plants had been moulded. A clump of six small trees looked like a typical grove until she saw a branch climb from one trunk to another. She stepped up to the tree and watched as another branch swung around until it touched another tree trunk. Then the branch would meld with the new trunk, disengaging from the old as if it was never connected. It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen or read about! Nox effused excitedly. She ran from plant to plant, discovering what innovation Sharavellen had created for each.   In the fungal cave, Jaden, Marius and Fureva-Yung watched Nox disappear into a mushroom stalk. Marius didn’t wait but ran out of the cave and back to the fissure. Without any suggestion of climbing, he levitated up to the surface. It was slow going, and he wondered what had happened to the kid every moment. Unconsciously, Marius started humming a boppy little tune. Jaden also didn’t hesitate but followed Nox through the mushroom, appearing in the garden only a few moments after Nox. Fureva-Yung found herself alone. She looked around the mushroom trunk and found nothing but the mushroom and the garden. She walked around the cave. Her friends had just disappeared into a very thick trunk. With a sigh, she squared up to the mushroom and walked through.   “Jaden! Fureva-Yung! This is Sharavellen and their wonderful garden! Look!” It was the most excited and talkative the companions had ever seen Nox. The young girl pointed to what looked like a topiary of an Aneen, just like the two that pulled the caravan. And then the bush moved, walking on thin twiggy legs, “Sharavellen made all of these. Sharavellen, these are my friend, Jaden and Fureva-Yung.” Now with Fureva-Yung in the immaculate garden of Sharavellen, Nox grew thoughtful. Sharavellen, Fureva-Yung sometimes eats sticks and leaves. Do you have something you wouldn’t mind Fureva-Yung eating? I may, the orb replied, I have a fleshy troublesome sort. Does she eat meat?   From beyond the garden’s tall hedge wall, something moved. A gap in the wall opened up, and a body tied up in vines was dragged into the garden. It stopped in front of Fureva-Yung, one baleful goat-eye looking up. It was a margr, the ferocious goat people that had attacked them at the towers. They break through the hedge wall and destroy the beauty of my garden. Sharavellen told Nox as a fish made of flowers swam past unconcerned. “I will not eat,” Fureva-Yung said. She ate many things that the other thought were odd, but she would not eat anything that could think. Nevermind, it will become fertiliser and feed my plants, Sharavellen replied without concern, and the margr disappeared with barely a bleat. I do have another thing, a fruit perhaps. It did not come out as I would wished. I’m sure I can do better.   On the back of another walking topiary came a round orange fruit, about the size of a grapefruit. Even as it moved closer, a faint ticking sound was easily heard in the quiet garden. Fureva-Yung picked up the fruit and took a bite. It tasted tarted and sweet and gave an odd ticking sensation against her teeth and tongue. It was very much like the little ones' oranges, and she offered some to Nox. Curious, Nox also took a piece and noticed the tiny gears and toothed wheels, springs and levers that made up the fruit's interior. She took a bite out of the clockwork orange and found it delicious.   Meanwhile, Marius was now bounding down the mountainside towards the garden. As he drew closer, he could see the margr impaled or bound in vines beyond the garden walls. Not knowing what fate had befallen his friends, he doubled his efforts and flew down the crystalline scree.   “Sharavellen, do you have a sense for what is outside your garden?” Jaden asked, wondering what Sharavellen could tell them about the world since they were forced underground. I sense my garden and its needs. I sense the animals that hurt it. I am content with that, Replied the orb. “We have come very far. Where we lived, our creations, the automatons rebelled. Have you sensed any of their kind near your garden?” Au-to-ma-tons? Sharavellen had difficulty with the unusual word. “Do you know anything of machines? They are made of gears and levers like your fruit. Did you sense anything…five days ago?” Jaden pushed, referring to the day of the rebellion and their escape from Cerelon. No, Came the simple reply. It seemed that Sharavellen had grown bored of talk beyond the border of their garden. They floated towards a small bush whose branches moved between three main stems with glossy leaves. I hope not. It is too beautiful here, Nox watched the fish swim through the air. Fureva-Yung poked the orb that was Sharavellen. Please do not do that, Sharavellen said, startling Nox and making her feel self-conscious. “You are very tingly,” Fureva-Yung replied by way of explanation. Thank you, Sharavellen accepted it as a compliment. “Could you make something for me with your garden?” Fureva-Yung pulled out the end of her chain and showed the crystal link. Of course, Sharavellen took on the challenge and a plant shot out of the ground and started forming a chain link out of vines. The vine tightened and created a woody link that dropped off. Fureva-Yung picked up the new link and added it to her chain.   Marius was within a few metres of the garden. He left the crystal mountainside with one final leap and soared over the hedge wall. As his shadow fell on the garden, vines whipped up from inside the walls and bound him tight. His momentum failed, and he hung in mid-air only a few metres from his friends and the mysterious garden owner. “Hi, just hanging around,” He joked, unable to untangle himself from the vine's grip. He’s with us, Nox sighed and waved. Will it hurt my garden, do you think? I don’t think so…” Mr Marius, you wouldn’t hurt a plant in Sharavellen’s garden, would you?” At that exact moment, Marius was wondering what his sword could do against the vines holding him. “Sure, whatever you say, kid,” He grimaced, “I was just worried about you.” “Maybe we shouldn’t intrude on your garden anymore,” Jaden suggested and brought Nox close to impede her escape.   Sharavellen’s vines put Marius down and then disappeared into the ground or back into the hedge. “Did you see anything?” Fureva-Yung asked Marius. “The Spaceship,” He pointed back the way the rocky village floated. “Spaceship?” Nox asked doubtfully, knowing Marius’ current obsession for anything from space. “Yeah, the spaceship hovering over there. It has bridges connecting it to the mountain.”   No one seemed to know what to make of that. Jaden started pulling Nox towards the tree trunk linked to the mushroom below. We’re looking for a new home. I hope we can find a home near your garden so we can visit. Nox thought. It seemed Sharavellen was tired of their visitors because they did not reply. “Keep safe from the automaton,” Jaden warned as she tried pulling Nox into the tree and away. “I wonder, “ Marius said as they were about to disappear, “If our host could tell me about the blue mountain fart…mist?” Nox translated to Sharavellen, whose interest in the strangers renewed once more. Do you wish me to investigate? “Yes, we think it may be related to the crystal in the caves,” Jaden said, handing over a lump of crystal from Bellyache. When Marius agreed, the orb drew closer to Marius, the mycelium wings wrapping around, covering Marius all over. They stood still and silent for minutes as the others could only stand and watch. Eventually, Sharavellen unwrapped their wings from around an unusually quiet Marius. Maybe, maybe not. Sharavellen finally said. Nox found this answer incomplete and searched Sharavellen’s mind for what it meant by the enigmatic pronouncement. She discovered many trains of thought. Sharavellen’s mind was complex and thought on many more levels than simple humans. Nox persevered, piecing together a few fleeting thoughts, worked out that Sharavellen didn’t like the crystal or the blue mist. Their inorganic nature was not interesting, and there was a disdain for the stuff of the earth.   “Thank you, but it is time for us to go,” Nox finally said and, without prompting, walked into the tree. She was back into the coolness of the cave once more. The music was still playing in the other fungal room as Jaden and then Fureva-Yung, and finally, Marius stepped in after her. “Now look, don’t touch,” Jaden warned as she walked around the second fungal wall and parted the mycelium curtain. “Yes, Fureva-Yung. Look and not touch.” Nox mimics following her mentor.   The music room, as they would come to call it, was full of variously shaped fungus. Tall hollow fungus in the shape of candelabras sighed and ooed their harmonies as a round flat fungus bobbed and throbbed, sounding like a drum. The mysterious music was revealed. The two gardens, the one above and the one below, held many more questions, but for now, their curiosity sated, the group left the fungal cave to its creator.   The door and hallway beyond were as they’d left them the day before. Fureva-Yung was bouncing up and down, hoping she, too, could learn to fly like Marius. “Did you get blue on you too?” Nox asked, searching her furry friend for patches of the mist. Suddenly, the ground shifted and quaked. A puff of red steam streamed out of a new crack in the wall, spraying Fureva-Yung. Now with the bright pink from the crab, Fureva-Yung was the most brilliantly coloured of the four. “Oh! The cuteness is real, and it is Fureva-Yung.” Said Jaden, trying to brush the red off Fureva-Yung’s fur, with no success. Instead, she took a hair sample and carefully tucked it away for future study. “It has made me more hideous,” Fureva-Yung lamented, looking down at her left arm to ensure her tattoo was still there and intact. She bounced again, but she didn’t rise any higher than before the red. “Can’t fly.” “Must be the wrong stuff,” Marius replied straight-faced and started down the left-hand hallway. Fureva-Yung, never one to give up, danced behind a mixture of her bounce and a regular walk.   As they turned the corner, Marius was sure he could hear a skittering in the walls beside him. Jaden turned as was sure she heard the creak of the vent just up ahead and more of the skittering. Fureva-Yung tried lifting the grate on the vent, but it was welded shut. Nothing could move it. Then Nox felt a wave of overwhelming fear. For a moment, the emotion was all she could feel. Then she remembered she was with friends and there was nothing here to be afraid of. The fear started to feel like something that didn’t belong to her, and she was able to push it aside and almost view it from a distance. “It’s all illusion. Something here knows how to scare us,” Nox told the others, but silently to the empty hallway, she thought, I am not afraid of you.   Now they knew something was here, Nox searched for a mind to link to. She found an angry ball of emotions that just wanted them to leave. “It doesn’t want us here. Maybe we can be quick,” She told the others “We should leave,” Marius said as Nox and Fureva-Yung shared a thought. “Want to run?” “Bounce,” Fureva-Yung corrected, and in unison, they ran and bounced around the corner.   A locked door stood on the inside wall in the middle of the hallway ahead. Fureva-Yung didn’t hesitate and tried to wrench the door open, but it was locked. Marius quietly came up behind her and unlocked the door. “We shouldn’t be here.” “Why? We did before.” Fureva-Yung protested as Marius opened the door. “That was before we knew someone was home.” The room was empty. Fureva-Yung threw up her large hands and stalked to the end of the hall.   Another locked door stood partway down the hallway. As Fureva-Yung walked up to it, a wave of terror swept over her. “I must run now,” She said to Nox before dashing down the last stretch of hall. She ran past another door, disregarding it to find the exit in her panic. As she reached the stretch of wall, she was sure the door out should be. All she could see was more blank stone wall.   Nox, running after her big friend, felt the mind try to enforce an illusion on her. Ready for their tricks, she brushed it aside and made for the exit door where Fureva-Yung desperately searched.   It’s an illusion, She said, trying to project the image of the door. The knowledge that the door should be there and wasn’t didn’t seem to calm Fureva-Yung’s panic. Trust me, take my hand, She held out her hand to the big woman. “You need your hand.” Trust me. The door is here, Nox grabbed Fureva-Yung’s hand and walked through the doorway.   To Fureva-Yung, Nox and her hand disappeared into a solid wall. Closing her eyes, she followed. When her eyes opened, she was outside the cave back in the natural cavern, looking down at Nox. Nox smiled, the young girls grey eyes looking directly at her for the first time. Nox was about to say something when the panicked voices of Jaden and Marius called from beyond the door. “Fureva-Yung? Nox? Where did you go?” With her smile turning more mischievous, Nox stuck her hand through the door to the horror-stricken cries of the two adults. When it was clear they wouldn’t come near the disembodied arm, Nox walked back into the hallway, grabbed each by the arm and pulled them through.   “I am angry and am not shutting door.” Fureva-Yung stormed away, thoroughly ashamed at her fear and panic. Marius quietly closed the door and followed the group back to camp.   That night, though the meal was meagre, spirits were up. The explorers had been on the surface, and Marius had seen a way out of the caverns. Their time in the caves was coming to an end. But, they were still very far from home with no idea what the outside world would contain.

9. The dangers of the Crystal Caverns

New friends and the beauty of the crystal are surprises the group did not expect to find. But the caravaners don’t belong in caves and can’t survive there for long. They need to find a way out, and soon.   ********************************************************************************************   “Nox?” Fureva-Yung's deep gravelly voice echoed through the crystal-eaters cavern, startling Nox. She shrank back into the alien side of Mother, their quiet companion of the last few hours. “Meh!” Fureva-Yung shook her head in disgust at the littlest one's behaviour and stalked off to find Marius. “Marius? How long will the light last?”   Marius, whose specialties were neither engineering nor numenera, thought for a moment, then shook his head. “I don’t know.” “Meh!” “Jaden might know.”   Jaden did know and gave her grave pronouncement, “A day or two. The light will reach wherever the crystal does. When that battery gives out, we’ll be back in darkness again.” Fureva-Yung did not like this information. “We should move on.” “I have to agree. I don’t think there’s anything else we can learn here.”   Marius had other ideas. He headed back to Mamma and Nox, bubbling over with questions. “Hey kid, has Mamma lived anywhere else other than the crystal? Has she had other clutches other than what we see here? Are there more adults like her in the crystal?” When my little ones mature, some wander off, others eat and eat. They make crystal cocoons then…leave for other places. “Has she seen other places?” Other place….the crystal is also, but it is cold there, and the crystal floats in nothingness. I told you this stuff was from space,” Marius seemed frenetic with his new thoughts. You keep chatting to Mamma. I’m going to check something.” I’ll go with you, Nox exhaled a deep breath. Not seeing Fureva-Yung anywhere, Nox felt brave enough to follow Marius on one of his daring schemes. “No, it’s fine. You stay here where it’s safe. Jaden’s still here. She may need you,” Marius replied casually enough, but Nox couldn’t help but feel safer around the Scavenger. I want to go with you… Her voice, even in Marius’ mind, was barely a whisper. If he pushed it, he knew she would give up. “Just humour her, “ Jaden said, not looking away from her study of the intricate pathways the crystal-eaters had made in their chamber, “She’s a little upset.”   Marius’s energy evaporated, “We’ll…stay together then.” He replied, a strained look flashing across his face, “Should we leave Mamma and the little ones in peace?” Fureva-Yung had already stalked off down the far left passage, and they decided to follow her.   The crystal tunnels they’d come to associate with the largest of the Crystal-eaters travelled uninterrupted until it reached the wall of structure. Even here, Mamma had, had no problem breaking through the wall and into a hexagonal room. After the crystal passages, this room was dark. The walls were metal panels lined with a heavy gauge mesh made of openings about three centimetres square. The floor was solid rock.   Nox sent her Hedge Magic lights into the centre of the room and illuminated three synth columns. Eagerly she scanned the columns and worked out they were a type of receiver, collecting energy from the crystals encasing the room. Nox could feel her hair start lifting from her head as static began building in the room. Oh! The columns are collecting energy from around us, She told the others, I wonder why? Nox didn’t realise she was flying until her feet suddenly left the ground, and she found herself drifting up. With a sudden giddy glee, she pushed off the nearest column and started floating out towards the walls. “That looks like fun! Marius leapt for the centre of the room and soared over the columns, “Whee! Who has a rope!   From the doorway, Fureva-Yung looked at the two humans with concern. Her usually flat-lying body hair was all standing on end, making her look fuzzy and softening her features. From above, Nox squealed with delight as she spun around in her flight and saw Fureva-Yung. Fureva-Yung, you look so cute! “Not cute!” She protested as a humming sound started reverberating through the air. The sound was similar to Fureva-Yung’s wave sounds but distinct enough that Marius commented, “Furry, is that you humming?” “I do not hum, and I am not cute!” She growled as the humming continued. Marius’ danger-sense tingled, “Ur, we should get down.” He twisted in the air, preparing to bounce off the oncoming wall and down to the ground.   Reality flickered. Another place, dark with only stone walls all around. The sound of smashing perspex. When Marius flickered back, he was closer to the mesh-covered wall. He could hear it humming with the build-up on static electricity.   On Marius' warning, Fureva-Yung unwrapped her chain and flung it into the room in Nox’s direction. Nox caught hold of the chain and started pulling herself in. Marius brought up his booted foot and pushed off the mesh, aiming for the door. Instead, a flash of energy discharged from the wall, propelling him across the room out of control.   More flickering. Like watching a projected image through too low a speed, Marius saw the dark room, interspersed with images of the energy-filled one. Now he could see a figure move brokenly through the dark space, a swirling mass of green cloud unfolding to four metres tall, well over half the height of the entire room.   When Marius flickered back to the room with the others, the green mist figure was there as well. As Marius soared past out of control, the creature swiped at him, sending a sharp stabbing pain straight to his head. The purge that had hung on doggedly finally fell off dead. Marius pulled out his sword ato use as a hook around the creature. He missed and flew past, out of reach. The creature’s form flickered, and a sudden wave of energy emanated from it to all corners of the room. Marius and Nox, seeing the wave braced and it flowed over them harmlessly. Fureva-Yung and Jaden were surprised and were stunned by a sudden shock.   Holding onto Fureva-Yung’s chain for dear life, Nox scanned the creature of green smoke. Its nature was that of a jagged tear through reality, a being of pure energy that didn’t just move between worlds but was itself the breach. I don’t know if physical stuff can hurt it much, She told the others, Maybe energy can hurt it. “That I can do,” Jaden replied, scrounging Bellyache for a piece of iotum. From it, she fashioned a focus with and sent a beam of energy at the creature. However, on her first attempt, her gadget misfired and sent Jaden back into the nearest wall. Her back hit the scintillating metal mesh, which discharged, catapulting her across the room.   Fureva-Yung stood alone now at the door as her companions flailed helplessly through the air. With her chain occupied, she had only one ranged option left to her. “Little one, I am going to shout now.” Okay. Thank you. Nox replied and braced for the roar. Fureva-Yung stepped back, and as she had in the large cavern over the bridge. As she flung herself forward, a roar shot up her throat and out her mouth, making her teeth tingle with its passing. Unfortunately, she missed her mark, hitting a column next to the creature. The column shattered. Chunks of synth shrapnel flew out from a burst of electricity that was quickly absorbed by the being. Instead of damaging the being, she’d accidentally made it stronger.   Marius had maneuvered himself, ready to hit the wall again, hoping this time to angle himself toward the door and out. The discharge came earlier than expected and blew him off course back towards the creature. Flying across the room, Jaden tried hitting the creature again with her energy beam and missed, striking the ground. Pulling out her little knife, Nox flung it, telekinetics keeping it on course. It hit the green mist, passing straight through, and the creature roared as if damaged, and, for the first time. They knew it could be hurt.   Reeling in Nox on her chain, Fureva-Yung, this time, did not try targeting the creature but sent her roar into the chain. It shivered and quaked with a deep resonance. Beside her, Nox reached out and patted the fuzzy hairs standing up on end all over Freva-Yung’s body and watched the static charge jump from the hair to her fingers.   Already heading back in the creature’s direction, Marius clasped his sword in both hands and made himself as streamlined as possible. He and the blade make a heavy projectile, tearing through the gaseous creature, making it scream. In response, the being sent a pulse towards Nox standing in the exit. She nimbly stepped aside. Now Fureva-Yung let her chain fly, swinging it through the creature and moving into the room around the walls. Jaden turned in midair and hit the wall with her feet. Propelled away, she aimed her beam at the creature. This time it hit, and the green cloud broiled and bubbled with pain and anger. It was looking damaged now as Nox used her Hedge Magic to retrieve her dagger, and Marius charged across the room for another attack.   The deadly weapon that was Marius sailed through the creature again, but this time failed to come out the other side. Instead, he soared straight through the tear between the two worlds and found himself in a dark stone room. Two rings, one attached to the ceiling, the other the floor, were surrounded by a halo of perspex shards curved to form the walls of a cylinder. Just discernable, three shadows moved around the room, the echoes of his friends in this world. Marius twisted in midair and prepared himself to hit the creature and hopefully get back to them.   In their world, Marius had disappeared. Jaden, floating past the creature, wondered if in killing the being, they’d lose their only link with Marius. Seemingly in response, the hum from the mesh increased. The energy sustained the creature. If he could only go through again, she thought there might be a chance.   Fureva-Yung flung out her chain towards one of the columns. It caught, and she used it to move safely around the room, pulling herself closer to the energy being. Nox, in the doorway, stepped back once, then twice. She wondered if there was a way of turning off the columns or, if not, using them to control the creature. Taking a deep breath, she ran into the room and flung herself across, heading for the column with Fureva-Yung’s chain. Catching the column, she searched it for an interface. There was no shutdown, but she could control the containment field trapping the creature, at least for a short while. The creature froze in place just as a shadowy figure headed towards it from the far side of the room.   Marius bounced off the stonewall, missing the extra propulsion from the mesh discharge. However, his kinetic energy was enough, and he lined himself up behind his sword once more. He felt the energy burn and zap as he passed through the rift and back into the room with his friends.   From their perspective, the being screamed and started folding in on itself. Where the creature had been, Marius now flew through, falling to the ground as the weightlessness failed. The walls and columns hummed with an overload of energy Nox had forced through them. Sparks leapt from the wall to the columns. They exploded, blowing a hole through the wall into another room. Thrown back against the mesh wall, the four friends were relieved to find it silent. Fureva-Yung took a moment to make sure she was grounded, and her hair was back sleek against her skin once more. Oh! I liked you, fluffy, Nox commented, and Fureva-Yung made a disgusted face. “I don’t do fluffy, humming or cute!” She said gruffly, but Nox had now forgiven her big friend and was no longer afraid. Did you see I hit it! She thought, putting away her clever little dagger. “You hit it good.”   “Hey!” Marius groggily got to his feet, “I’m purged of my purge!” He looked at the three of them oddly, unable to focus, “Ur….I don’t feel so good. I think I’ll go back to camp and wait for you guys.” Jaden pulled her shirt around and saw the scorch marks made when she’d been blown away from the wall. She could see burns and scorch marks on everyone and nodded. “Yeah, good thinking Marius. We’ll all go back and rest.” Marius slumped, “No, no, never mind. Let’s check this last room.” “You sure? You don’t look so good?” “Sure, just a little frazzled is all.”   Through the crack in the far wall, the group peered into a new tunnel of stone and synth. At one end, a room contained a machine four metres wide that looked like some sort of fan or engine party buried in crystal. FurevaYung, as usual, was not interested in the machine. “She can break it apart,” She suggested, referring to Marius and Nox stepped up to work out what the machine was once upon a time. Still could tell us something useful, Nox replied as she scanned it and determined it was part of a larger machine.   Marius stepped up, ready to scavenge what he could from the machine. As soon as he touched the machine's metal casing, a spark of energy earthed, pushing him across the room into a clump of crystal. Marius coughed painfully, and a small puff of smoke escaped. “Dang! I really gotta quit smoking!”   He wasn’t the only one. When the acrid smoke cleared around the machine, the synth canopy had melted over the machine's working parts. Once the room had stopped spinning for Marius, he salvaged what he could from the wreckage and found two cyphers.   Jaden led the way down the tunnel as it changed from crystal to natural caverns. She recognised the path as being one that led back to the large cavern where the caravan now camped. Here and there, crystals were making their presence felt, but it was apparent they were no longer in Mamma’s home.   Past a column made of flowstone, two small caves jutted out of the passage. Peaking in the first room, Jaden could see the smooth, clean lines of a large building. The walls buried themselves into the cavern on either side, with a small door at its centre. A sign on the door was indecipherable, but Nox noted the font and lettering for future comparison. Jaden turned the door handle only to find the door locked.   “Here, I’ll show you…” Marius brushed both Jaden and Nox aside, and after a few moments tinkering with the lock, the door was open, sliding sideways into the wall. A hallway ran left and right from the door, forming a one-hundred-and-twenty-degree angle with the next stretch of hallway. It looked like the hallways would make another hexagon shape with encircling something interesting in their interior. Nox was about to step into the hallway as Marius stumbled backwards from his crouch at the door. He swayed on the spot for a moment before finding his equilibrium again. “Do you mind if we go back to camp now and search this space tomorrow?”   Without argument, the group turned and took the path, which, as Jaden predicted, headed back to camp and the rest of the caravan.

8. The Crystal Eaters

The caravan has reached a vast cavern dominated by a crack of sky above and a deep chasm beneath. Paths lead around and across the chasm via a narrow pathway and a metal beam. Which way should the caravan go? Marius and Fureva-Yung investigate the path across the metal beam.   *******************************************************   Taking one of the caravan’s few remaining glow globes and the newly vocal Fureva-Yung, Marius crossed the bridge. The path on the other side cut directly through the heart of the crystal field. The walls and ground were solid crystal and refracted the glow globe light in all directions. It seemed to Marius that he and Fureva-Yung were walking through a constantly shifting rainbow. The consistently two metres wide passage of smooth crystal gave the miner and scavenger pause. Their own experience with the crystal showed how tough it could be, yet here was a well-crafted passage cut from the living rock.   As they walked, both noticed tiny tunnels, some only as thick as a finger, others as wide as a person, cut through the crystal, creating a latticework of light. Though the scene took Marius’ breath away, its beauty was lost on Fureva-Yung, and she shrugged at Marius’ attempt to elicit a response.   “Hey, Temila!” He called across the chasm to the tiny knot of women getting ready to prepare a midday meal. From the group, a shadow slunk away under a caravan and out of sight as Temila passed over her preparations and carefully made her way across the narrow bridge to the crystal caverns. “Beautiful view, isn’t it?” Marius said, sweeping the glow globe across the roof, making the whole space scintillate with light and colour. “I guess,” She replied dismissively. She gestured to the narrow bridge, far too small for the Aneen to cross, let alone the caravan discs, “ How are you going to get the caravan across? Would they fit through here anyway?” “Well, no. The discs are considerably wider. We’ll take the caravan around the chasm, I should imagine.” She gave him a withering look that spoke about wasting time and precious resources on a fool’s errand. “Look! Just look!” He tried again, bending down to shine a light down one of the smaller tunnels, “See, I think this was burrowed, all of this. Imagine the creature that can dig through the crystal we can barely break with our pickaxes and hammers!”   Fureva-Yung also looked down the tunnels. She was sure she saw something scuttle away from the light on clicking claws. “We should not hang around too long,” She said and started walking down the tunnel as far as the light of the glow globe would let her. “I agree with Fureva-Yung,” Temila said, heading back, “Don’t be long. We can’t afford to lose anymore glow globes.” “Send Nox along, will you?” Disappointed, Marius let her go, “I think we must be out of range. She’s not responding telepathically anymore.”   Marius and Fureva-Yung continued down the path until it crossed through another passage, this time made of synth. One end of the synth tunnel had collapsed, pushed in by a growth of crystals. The other end headed downwards, narrowing as it went until it reached a space containing two cylinders connected by pipes and wiring. Fureva-Yung and Marius took a moment to listen and heard the clicking skitter of thousands of tiny clawed feet echoing through the crystal around them. They turned to look behind and saw a small something with two huge, red eyes. As they watched, the eyes turned away from the light and disappeared back into the gloom. “Come on, Furry. Let’s go and see,” Marius pointed ahead, down the synth tunnel. “Okay,” Fureva-Yung’s voice echoed deep and rough, still damaged by the crystal chunk that had kept her silent for so long. “That will take getting used to,” Marius grinned at his companion, “I always imagined you as a soprano.”   On the chamber floor, the wires fed into a small locked cabinet sitting at an odd angle. Beside it was a huge double pole switch sitting at the same odd angle. “Should we pull the switch?” He asked Fureva-Yung, who shrugged her shoulders as usual. “How else would we find out what happens?” Marius grabbed the switch and swung it around, connecting the circuit. From the two cylinders came a brief gurgling sound. Something whined like an old turbine, then the bubbling stopped, and the whining wound down into silence once more.   Fureva-Yung continued past the cylinders where the synth widened out into a chamber lined with hexagonal glass panels. Through the glass above, the crystal continued to refract their light. Below was only darkness. Marius cupped his hands around his eyes and stared down into the dark. “Oh! I get it!” Marius looked back at the switch to the synth tunnel around them, “I think this pointy end should be sticking straight up instead of lying down, like this,” He gestured with his arms, an upright structure now lying down, the tips of his fingers pointing in down at an angle. “I think this was a lighthouse. Look!” He gingerly moved ahead across the glass panes to a blocky structure suspended within the glassed area. Two pipes that originated from the cylinder room point directly at the base of the block. Control valves connected to small metal wheels hinted at the idea of honing a flame or beam.   “I think something like a flammable gas must come out of these tubes and ignite the block, so it glows.” He looked at Fureva-Yung grinning, ecstatic with his discovery. “I don’t think you should eat it,” He said, remembering Fureva-Yung propensity to put everything into her mouth. Fureva-Yung looked at the block in the centre of the glass structure and shook her head, “Too big.” “So is a pig, but you’d have no problem polishing off that one bite at a time.   Marius looked down through the glass panels again, this time faintly picking up the small ripples of something far below. Waves from an underground lake were reflecting back their tiny spark of light. The concept that they now hung above the lake they had breakfasts at that morning gave him cause to celebrate. “Hey, wouldn’t it be great if this was lit up?” Fureva-Yung nodded and went to step out across the clear glass sheets. “Ah, maybe let's get help before we break anything up here.” “Fine,” Fureva-Yung huffed and reached out for the small young mind she’d become accustomed to always being there, Nox? There’s something for you here. Nothing. “Like I said, I think we’re too far away for Nox to pick us up.” Marius guessed what his friend’s silence was. Not that it mattered now that Fureva-Yung had her voice back, but for a time the kid had been handy to have around. “We will walk.” Fureva-Yung started back along the synth and crystal pathways to the cavern. “Now that I know you can speak, can you say anything else other than single-syllable words?” Fureva-Yung thought a long moment before answering, “I can not conceive of any.”   The skittering sound followed them back. On several occasions, they both saw something clatter away out of sight as they turned around to look. The sounds however were soon forgotten when the two of them returned to the large echoing space lit by a diffused sun hundreds of feet above their heads. “Nox? Nox!” Marius called across the space and was surprised to get nothing back but the silence of his own head. “There’s a wonderful crystal path. It leads all the way to some really cool thing.” Is Fureva-Yung there? Nox’s voice in his mind was more timid than usual, less self-assured. “Yes, of course.” A pause and then the link was inundated with images from a perspective behind Fureva-Yung during the attack on the bridge. There Fureva-Yung seemed to grow bigger, at least from the perspective. She slammed her large foot down on the bridge, throwing herself forward in a bellow that shook the cavern and sent the phasing entity flying off the bridge to its death far below. The image was awe-inspiring and Marius had to admit more than just a little scary. “Oh Nox. She did that to save me. To save us.” Father yelled. “Nox, your father bellowed all the time, “ Jaden’s voice echoed physically through the cavern, a reminder she was on the Nox party-line too, “But did he ever do it to help someone else?” Silence. I will not eat you. You are not crunchy enough. Fureva-Yung sent. The statement did not solicit the usual round of giggles they were used to hearing. “Ah, Furry. Do you know any songs? Something gentle?” “Song?” The question made Fureva-Yung pause and dreg through what little memories she had of a long lost time, “I think I remember a mating song my Father used to sing.” “Yeah, no really what I had in mind.”   Marius and Fureva-Yung rejoined the caravan. They shared a spartan meal, of which Fureva-Yung ate none, as Marius, Jaden and Yitti discussed what they were going to do next. Taking a wide path around Fureva-Yung, Nox snuck out from under the caravan and ran across the bridge. When she was out of range of the caverns few stray sunbeams, bright sparks of hedge magic haloed her head as she disappeared into the crystalline cavern. “I wasn’t thinking you should go alone,” Marius ran after her with Jaden and Yitti on his heels.   They found Nox oggling at the crystal cavern surfaces as her tiny lights flitted back and forward, making the facets in the crystal twinkle. Lights entered the tiny passages noticing they were made in a similar way as the large passage. As the group caught up with her, Nox shied away from Fureva-Yung’s eye line, making sure that Jaden or Marius was between her and the large scary woman.   “Those are clever little lights, can you send them ahead to light the way?” Marius asked by way of distraction. Nox nodded and the tiny blobs of fairy light swept up the tunnel. Marius’ danger sense triggered just as the lights reflected back not from the crystal, but two giant compound eyes. Below the eyes, a prehensile four-way mouth twitched and shifted revealing glittering teeth beyond. The creature’s body was made of segments that supported two pairs of clawed legs, one pair on the floor of the cavern, and one pair grasping the roof. The creature went back more than seven segments and was at least three metres long.   As soon as the creature was revealed, Nox gave a start and the light’s snuffed out, plunging that end of the tunnel into darkness once more.   Tentatively, Marius raised his light globe. The creature was still there, silently watching. “I think it’s okay,” Marius stated after a moment or two, “ I wonder if we can be friends?” It didn’t work last time, Nox replied silently in their minds “Can you detect the same waves of anger?” Jaden suggested. None of them could. I haven’t tried. Nox finally admitted and tried just scanning the creature to discover what it was like. Armoured body parts seemingly made of crystal, mandibles tough enough to crush and break down the deposits. The creature was large, powerful and terrifyingly dangerous. And yet, it sat there in the tunnel watching. It eats the crystal. They make the tunnels.   Jaden swung her spear around, the light catching on the smaller hole and tunnels. Hundreds of curious heads now peppered the crystal all around them as if waiting for something. Nox slowly dug into her satchel and drew out a handful of crystal’s she’d been collecting for use in her sling. Leaning out into the empty space between them and the large creature, she put down the crystals in a small pile and stepped back. The larger creature did not move, but many of the smaller ones crawled out of their tunnels and investigated the pile. Having determined them good, the little ones started eating, their prehensile mandibles manipulating the rocks so their teeth could nibble away at the treats.   “They’re so cute!” Fureva-Yung exclaimed in a much higher pitch than usual, making Nox jump to hide behind Marius. “Shhh!” Marius gestured to Fureva-Yung who was enraptured by the almost half metre long creatures quietly munching through the small pile of hard crystal, “These guys are amazing, aren’t they…don’t eat them.” “I will not eat them, “ Fureva-Yung agreed, “I will subdue them and make them my mounts.” “I think they may have something to say about that,” Marius mumbled a reply giving Nox an idea. She reached out and for only the second time, attempted to read another’s mind. To her relief, she found a quiet, intelligent mind. It had been on edge, wary of the strange beings in its tunnels. But on seeing the little ones accept the food, there was a general feeling of relief, maternal protectiveness and fondness. Nox smiled nervously and told the others what she felt.   As Marius started gingerly going around the mother crystal eater, Jaden pulled out one of several large chunks of crystal she’d collected in Bellyache. Holding the rock in front of her, she carefully stepped around the eating babies and presented it to the mother. The mandibles opened wide enough to encompass the rock and Jaden’s hands. Claws gently picked up the offering and drew it back to the mouth where it crumbled and disappeared.   Nox sensed the mother’s curiosity as she too slipped past and joined Marius in the synth passage further up. Jaden and Yitti soon followed, but Fureva-Yung squatted down in front of the little ones. When Fureva-Yung’s meaty fist came down and snatched up one of the babies, Mamma lunged forward. Scratching the baby behind the huge compound eyes, Fureva-Yung calmed the baby, and it started a purring hum. Mamma, mollified for now, back down and continued to watch as Fureva-Yung cooed and fussed over the baby bug. “Come on, Furry!” Marius called as Nox and Jaden settled down to discover what they could about the device.   In the synth tunnel, Nox found the device required a power source to get the whole machinery operational as Jaden opened up the two cylinders finding a collection of rods, many corroded. “I could clean these off if I had something abrasive,” She said, looking around and spotting the cabinet, “Fureva-Yung, can you help get this open?”   Fureva-stomped into the room and Nox quickly scampered away into the glass-walled structure. “My massive muscles will have no problem,” She boasted and peeled open the front door of the cabinet. Inside were spare rods that Jaden quickly replaced with the worst of the corroded and resealed the cylinders. Jaden was surprised to see so many little bug-eyed faces staring back from every crystal surface when she looked up from her work. “I should warn you, “ She said to the little faces, “I don’t know what this will do.”   Up under the crystalline ceiling and the cavern's darkness below, Nox took in the view without fear. “Nox, “ Marius stepped into the room behind her while Jaden and Fureva-Yung were busy with the cabinet. Nox flinched at the sound of his voice, turning large dark eyes on Marius. “You know that Fureva-Yung didn’t mean to scare you.” Nox shrugged, She was loud…like my dad… “You have to know there’s a difference between how Fureva-Yung behaved and your dad?” Marius pleaded. Nox just shrugged again, Not now. “She did it to save me.” Nox was sure her father had used similar words, but here in the quiet of the glass chamber, she shook her head. “You know she hasn’t changed from yesterday,” Marius added as Fureva-Yung picked up on their conversation. “I am different than I was yesterday. I can speak.” Her task completed, Fureva-Yung headed back to Mamma and the group of little ones around the diminishing pile of crystal pieces. There she sat down amongst them, the ocean wave noise purring off her, echoing gently through the cavern. “Yeah, not helpful Furry,” Marius said under his breath. Jaden called him back to help salvage the power unit from a purgespitter, and the moment was lost.   “Do you think you can get the power cell out of this thing without destroying it or yourself?” Marius grabbed the cypher eagerly and sat down nearby, “Are we in a hurry?”, he said after a few minutes. “Not that I know of.” “This thing is tricky. Fully charged as it is, I could trigger it. I’ll need to spend some time thinking how to tackle the task.”   Nox, in the glass chamber, had shuffled along the pipe to get a good look at the valves and mechanism that pointed at the suspended block when she heard a short sharp yell from Marius and then a horrible wailing screaming. A thick heavy funk filled the chamber, and it was all Nox could do to stay on the pipe and cover her nose and mouth from the smell. From the narrow passageway between the two sections, Nox could see Marius stumbling about, tearing at a grey tentacled creature wrapped around his face. Jaden was following him, trying to soothe the beast and seemingly getting nowhere. “Come on, guy. You stink! Let go!” “Stop pulling at it! You’d be terrified too if you’d been shot out of a cypher.” Jaden said and finally got Marius to sit back down. Soon the wailing stopped, but Marius was still sitting on the floor, the grey blobby creature stuck to his face. “Well, this is going to make pulling the rest of the cypher apart fun,” And looking around the pulsing tentacles now settling in around his face, he extracted the power source for Jaden.   Nox went back to examining the end of the pipes. She could see that the valves and pipes helped control whatever ran along the lines to the block. It was evident to her that an ignition system was required to spark the fuel, and she let Jaden know. From scraps and iotum, Jaden created a rough and ready lighter. It would only work once, but everything went well, once would be enough.   “Marius, what happened to your face?” Fureva-Yung asked, joining Jaden and Marius as Jaden flipped the double pole switch. Once more, the cylinders began to gurgle as the rods inside reacted and produced gas. In the glass panel room, Nox ignited a flame and turned the valves until the flame touched the stone block, and it began to glow. As the adventurers celebrated the return of light to the darkness, the tiny crystal eaters shied away from the light.   “Time for you to get out of there too, Nox,” Marius called. Nox could no longer look at the block, but basked in the warmth and the group’s cleverness. Looking down she could now see the vast flooded cavern below, and far into the distance, a pale crescent of beach where they had been that morning. The cavern curved away underneath the light and ended at a tunnel very like the one the pod had been travelling before the crash. Look, that’s where we need to go next! “Where do you think this thing came from?” Marius mused as Nox rejoined the group. Fureva-Yung with one of the little ones attached to her finger was showing it to Mamma. Marius laughed at the big woman brought down by the tiny creature. Mamma turned her huge eyes onto the little one and made a series of clicks and purring sounds and the little one dropped off to join its fellows. They have language, Nox was awed by the thought of something so alien being not only caring but also intelligent. She was going to reach out and connect the mother to their telepathic network when Marius and Jaden interrupted her train of thought. “I think it’s from outer space and crashed here long ago,” Marius said and Jaden laughed. “We know the crystal drags things here from other places, why not this lighthouse. No, I think another dimension is more likely than from the stars.” She got up putting her tools and scraps iotum into Bellyache, “Nox, don’t you agree?” Huh? The lighthouse? Mr Marius. It is like us and not like us…more advanced. I think it was made by other people like us somewhere else and deposited here by the crystal. Like the blue people. “Yes, one end of this massive crystal formation is at Cerelon at the Spectral Plateau. It would be good to see where it ends.” Jaden looked up into the crystal, now lit by the bright light of the lighthouse. Vast crystalline structures were now visible adding another dimension to the crystal’s beauty.   The group backtracked down to the crystal passage pointing out features in the crystal they’d never seen in the dark. There was no need for the glow globe as the crystal reflected the lighthouse’s light in all directions. Now they longer felt lost in the dark, the whole party’s mood brightened. As Mamma turned and headed further along the crystalline passage, the group followed, Fureva-Yung in the lead, Marius and the purge still stuck to his face, Jaden, Yitti and at the end Nox.   “Look we’ve given this thing enough time to let go,” Marius started pulling at the purge once more, “Maybe we should kill it.” “No,” Fureva-Yung replied, “She is prettier this way.” From behind, the snick of Nox’s small knife being unsheathed was clearly heard, I’m very good at removing parasites. “Ha-ha!” Marius said, humourlessly, turning to Fureva-Yung, “Would you want to wear it?” “Your face? No, mine is a fine strong face, not little and delicate like yours.” “No, I meant the accessory” Marius poked the purge, “Maybe if there was somewhere for it to go I could remove this thing.” Fureva-Yung shook her head, “Smell bad.” “Yes, you do, but I’m sure it won’t mind. It smells worse.” Marius quipped, gaining for himself a side glance from the serious, Fureva-Yung.   After twenty metres, the passage opened up into a large cavern carved out of the crystal. Hundreds of the tiny tunnels and several large converge on this spot, all bringing with them light from the lighthouse. Up the walls and far above their heads, ramps and bridges, some big enough for Mamma, spanned the space. Above their heads in an alcove only accessible by the largest bridge, a nest of eggs lay. The cavern, tunnels, ramps and bridges all spiralled this way and that, holding to an internal logic that was too complicated and alien to comprehend. Marius, Jaden and Nox stood in silent awe at the beauty of the space and the intelligence behind it. “It must be very old,” Marius thought out loud, “That or many generations of little ones.”   It meant nothing to Fureva-Yung who checked the large passages leaving the cavern for dangers. She spotted Nox looking more content than she had for hours, picking up new shards of crystal for her sling. Nox…? She called telepathically to the girl, expecting the usual bright response. Instead, there was no reply. The girl’s shoulders hunched, and Nox quickly slunk out of sight into a smaller side passage where the large Fureva-Yung could not follow.   “Is the little one injured?” She asked. Marius sighed. “Like I said, she was scared.” “Ah. More scares. She will get used to it,” Fureva-Yung nodded sagely and went to go after Nox. Marius stepped in front of her. “It’s not as simple as just being scared. She needs reassurance, gentleness, kindness…” “Fureva-Yung not gentle,” She shook her head and pounded her chest with a meaty fist so the impact echoed through the cavern, “Strong and mighty!” Fureva-Yung remembered being alone in the forest, before finding Cerelon. She had been afraid then and knew she could not have just slunk away. “And gentle. Like when you pet the little ones.” Marius answered, a constraining hand on her arm. Fureva-Yung huffed, “Maybe. But, gentle does not keep you alive.” Disgruntled that she was ill-equipped for whatever was expected of her, Fureva-Yung turned around and went back to exploring the other passages.   “Hey Nox, maybe we should all stick together,” Marius called Nox slunk out of her hiding space checking that Fureva-Yung was nowhere in sight before coming up along Marius. Mamma talks to her babies, She thought watching as the huge Crystal eater effortless climbed a ramp towards her nest. “Didn’t you try talking to her before?” He asked, looking sidelong at the girl at his side. She shook her head, I listened.   Following Mamma up the ramp as far as she dared, Nox connected to the alien mind and spoke. Your home… is… very beautiful. She cringed. What would that mean to a creature that saw the world in a completely different way to her?   Mamma stopped, now aware of an alien mind speaking to it. There was a moment’s confusion mixed with the understanding that approval and admiration had been expressed. I…thank you for sharing it with us and not eating us… You…are not unfriendly, Said a slow thoughtful mind in return. It was a mind that knew nothing of predators and fear for itself, only concern for the little ones and maternal care, What are you doing here? Running from things that would hurt and trap us, Nox replied as best she could. A recognition. Understand. Help?   Nox was surprised. She had not considered that anyone they would meet could or would want to help. Do you know… Nox thought of wide-open spaces on the surface, under the bright light of the sun and projected those images to Mamma. The response was violent and fearful, Is that what you run from? It seems horrible. Nox couldn’t help but smile at the difference in their views. She shared what Mamma had told her to the others present. “Is there something we can help her with?” Marius asked. How? Mamma replied when Nox translated his question. Well, you are large, is there something small that you can’t do? There is a thing! Mamma thought for a moment and replied with excitement, It is too hard even for me. I had to tunnel around it. Follow me.   Mamma started climbing away from her nest and out along another tunnel. Before long, she stopped in the middle of the path and waited for the group to join her. Protruding from the ground in the middle of the tunnel was another black crystal just like the one in the forest. Like the previous one, Fureva-Yung reached out to touch the crystal, but this time nothing happened. Even pressing her tattoo to its smooth surface told her nothing.   Nox, who had been disappointed at her attempt to scan the black crystal previous, gave it another go now. This time she pushed past the highly resistive outside layer to reveal a chamber at its core fed by systems for sustaining life and nutrition. The chamber, once filled with embryonic fluid, was virtually empty. She could also see that on his crystal, the side open to the crystal wall was open.   Excuse me, do you think the little ones could eat away the crystal on that side? Nox asked Mamma. I think they would love to, Was her reply, and dozens of her tiny children poured out of tunnels all around to start the cleaning effort.   Soon, there was room enough for Nox to squeeze around. It looked like a person could be kept safe and alive in the black prism, maybe for a long time. Marius, keen as always, also tried squeezing around to get a look. When Nox caught sight of something deep in the crystalline matrix, she stopped, and Marius bowled into her, falling headfirst in the open side of the prism.   As soon as Marius skin made contact with the sack that made the internal chamber wall, tubes snaked out and embedded themselves into his skin. A feeding tube tried to force its way down his throat, only hindered by the still stuck purge clamped to his face. As the sack began sealing, Marius decided it was time to go and clambered out as the hole closed behind him.   “Right, what was that about? Why did you stop?” He asked, stepping away from the black prism to look at Nox. She said nothing and just pointed through into the wall itself. Less than a metre into the crystal, a human man stood midstride, frozen in place. He wore a grey tunic and pants, and on his arm was a tattoo very much like Fureva-Yung’s. Nox scanned the body and found that the man was dead though perfectly preserved. “She had a tattoo like mine,” Fureva-Yung compared the tattoo on her arm to the one of the man. They looked identical. “He must be your brother,” Marius joked. The man was undoubtedly of average human proportions and not the heavy build of Fureva-Yung, which she was quick to note. “She’s no sister on mine. “That’s why he must be your brother. He ain’t heavy, you know.”   Fureva-Yung recalled running from hunters through the Endoval forest in the remains of clothing similar to what the man wore. She’d never had much time for looking back as she had so few memories to look back on. But now, in the span of a few hours, she had been reminded twice of the time before finding Cerelon and safety. Torn, she just stood and studied the man, wishing ( and fearing) that his face would draw out even more memories. “Do you recognise him?” Marius asked after a while. “I do not know this girl,” Fureva-Yung had to admit, and she grudgingly stepped away for Mamma and the babies to start clearing away the crystal. Even with all the crystal eaters combined efforts, it took them an hour to reach the man. Once his body was free of the crystal, it slumped into a heap. Marius and Fureva-Yung carefully pulled him out the rest of the way and dragged him toward the now cleared black prism.   “I wonder…” Marius said as he took the man’s hand and pressed it to the black crystal. The crystal responded immediately with a series of red lights all down the long edge of the crystal.   Three red lights became… Two red lights… One red light…   “Run!” Everyone yelled at the same time as they all realised something bad was about to happen. Run, hide! Nox called to the crystal eaters and the little ones scuttled away down small tunnels as they and Mamma fled back the way they had come.   The detonation, when it came, rocked the entire crystal passage forcing everyone off their feet, the blast wave almost pushing them over the edge of a ramp to the floor of the crystal eaters cavern.   Did it mean to do that? Ask the Mamma as Nox’s ears rang from the sound of the explosion. Yes, it was made to destroy itself. Did you mean it to do that? Mamma asked, concerned for the intelligence and sanity of these strange visitors. No. It is now out of the way. You have helped. Oh! The little ones, did they escape? Nox asked, afraid that they may be responsible for the deaths of her children. They found refuge in the crystal, Mamma replied nonchalantly, much to Nox’s relief.   Marius and Fureva-Yung were already down the passage, looking to see what had survived. Of the man, nothing, vaporised by the explosion. Of the prism, Marius found a few iotum and a cypher that nullified gravity. “Oh, I’d like that,” He said as Fureva-Yung looked over the crater where the crystal and man had once been. She’d hoped that there might be some answer for her, something that triggered new memories. Forlornly, she turned from the passage and walked away. “I have a theory,” Marius said on the short walk back to the others, “I think the first one was yours, and this one was his. Probably set to explode when it recognised that its occupant was dead.” Fureva-Yung did not offer any opinions but went straight to Nox and the Mamma on returning to the crystal eater’s chamber.   She pulled out her chain and pointed to one of the links that made up the chain. She then pointed to the ramps and ledge where the eggs lay. She’d like a link for her chain made out of the crystal you build the ramps and ledge, Nox finally translated after getting up the courage to find out what the sign language meant. Mamma chittered and squeaked, and half a dozen little ones crawled out and started copying the shape of the chain link in mucus that set as hard as the crystal they ate. When it was finished, Fureva-Yung solemnly took the link and added it to the end of her chain, a reminder of a tiny clue to her past.  

7. Down in the Underground

After a near-disastrous crash in the dodecahedron transport pod, the refugees spent a quiet night on the shores of an underground lake. With resources running low, the group’s only hope is to find a way out of the underground. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The caravan gathered the next morning to prepare and eat breakfast. The meagre bowl of cooked grain left no one satisfied. Fureva-Yung thought she had the solution, walking the beach, chasing crabs. She’d collected a dozen of them before heading back to the group, her fur stained blue and glowing from various crab attacks. The now-dead crustaceans were even less appealing, their shell cracked and oozing.   Marius, never one to back down from a challenge, put his mind to the task. Soon he was putting on a show as he twirled knives and extracted white flesh from unappealing shells. He seasoned them as best he could with the caravan’s stores and presented Crab Tartar to the audience to many small applauds. The end when it came started slowly. A spark from one of the bodies arched to another nearby crab. That spark grew and jumped to two more bodies laying ready for Marius’ attention. These two quickly arched to six more, and the charge increased. Marius’ danger sense had him ducking for cover as electricity arced across his two blades before the remaining crab exploded, showering everyone present in raw crab.   Nox looked up from the water’s edge after testing the underground water source for quality. She was glad she had not wanted any crab as the caravan members started picking sticky shells from their hair and clothes. A few hardy souls, including Marius himself, did try the Crab Tartar and found it very palatable, with a bit of electrical zing at the finish. “What was that about?” Marius asked the universe in general. They do that, replied Nox matter of factly, standing back from the mess. “Hey kid, do your thing!” He said, holding up a crab that had survived the destruction. Their icky, She stepped back. Just the thought of the one last night climbing her back sent off shivers. “You don’t have to hold it. Here,” He thrust it forward, and Nox’s eyes danced between his expression of mild frustration and the squashed crab.   She scanned the crab found they did have an organ in its body that collected and stored electrical energy. With that energy, they could use the cyphers they found and cemented to their shells. She had to admit it was a fascinating step life had taken in this forgotten cave of crystal. They do that, she shrugged and walked off to help Jaden and others prepare the caravan for travel.   The caravan slowly pulled itself together to prepare for the next leg of their adventure. Having washed the last of the dead crab off his hands, Marius looked out over the pond. He couldn’t help but wonder what treasures hid under those placid black waters. What discoveries would go unclaimed and unknown if, as it looked likely, the caravan just walked up the path and left? “What do you think, Furry? Should we have a little look in the pond and see what there is to find?” He asked out loud of his crab crunching companion.   Fureva-Yung looked out over the pool, the waves from Marius’ washing already lost in the darkness. She knew she could hold her breath for a long time, and her big size meant she was not bothered by the cold overly much. Her eyes were keen, so she saw more than most, and she was strong and could swim far if she had to. After much thought, she replied, Big things live in water.   The caravan moved on, up the path, and into the passage leaving the pool behind. The way was dark. People gathered around the few points of light strung along with the caravan. Jaden used her spear to guide the way, with Marius and Fureva-Yung close behind. Fureva-Yung found her eyes drawn continually to the now dark tattoo on her left arm. It had been there for as long as she could remember, even longer. In all that time, one spot had given off a soft blue light. Now it was gone, and it made her wonder if leaving that little glowing light behind was a sign she was heading in the wrong direction.   “You know, I have a theory about that tattoo of yours,” Marius said, having noticed Fureva-Yung thoughtful glances, “I think it’s a giant transport network, all made up of those black pods on rails.” Fureva-Yung’s eyes flicked from her tattoo to Marius, trying to work out which in this situation did not belong. I think not, She said solemnly, It is very tiny, and we are not travelling my arm. “Are you sure? I dreamt I was a butterfly. Couldn’t we be dreaming this?” My eyes are very good. I would see us, She peered closely at the tattoo on her arm, and not seeing anything to show they were travelling there and felt sure she was correct.   Nox was further back in the caravan, near a lantern attached to one of the platforms. Here Temila, along with Ekarin Ghan and Willara Taven, walked and chatted about everything and nothing. Nox had never been part of a group of women before, and initially, she found her inclusion touching. She and Jaden had not…belonged in Cerelon. Now, with expected social behaviours turned on their heads, Nox found herself part of a larger community of women…albeit only three other women.   Unfortunately, most of what they thought was dull compared to the insatiable curiosity of Marius, the hard-earned wisdom of Jaden or the unexpected insights of Fureva-Yung. Nox found her thought drifting to what she could see of the natural surroundings, the rock that made up the tunnel they were now travelling. It was nearly all limestone. Occasionally the light picked up fossil shells and other hard-bodied creatures, the remains of an ancient ocean. The rock was smooth, only occasionally broken by the movement of the earth. She supposed that the passage had been eroded by an underground stream sometime in the distant past, maybe contributing to the underground lake. Since then, the water table had dropped and left the passage. Ancient and unyielding, the rock assured Nox that not everything was as unstable and fleeting as their lives seem to have become. It was then that the whole cavern shook.   At the head of the line, Jaden swung the glowing spear around as, at first, they could feel and then hear the rumbling from deep below. Suddenly the smooth rock of the passage broke upwards as a foot long spear of crystal thrust through. As quickly as the sound and vibration started, it ceased and no more crystal formed. The caravan picked their way around the new obstacle and continued.   Not long after, the passage started sloping up upwards steeply, and the Aneen complained as their labour became more difficult. More crystals were seen in the walls, hanging like stalactites from the ceiling or breaking through the ground. In the lead, Fureva-Yung and Jaden were suddenly aware of voices whispering in their minds. The voices were unintelligible. Only the tone of vague anger and maliciousness was discernable. Nox, I hear more voices in my head, Fureva-Yung thought, the big woman nervous about what she couldn’t see or touch.   Listening in over the telepathic network, Nox now disregarded the gossip of the three women entirely for the voices vaguely threatening tones. Intelligent minds that used telepathy as she did? Without a word, she quickened her pace and left the chattering ladies for whatever was happening ahead. Marius was also in the lead with Jaden and Fureva-Yung when Nox arrived. His head cocked to one side looked strangely cute as the three of them listened to the voices. Nox quickly skittered past and joined Jaden, who was waving her up, “Can you tell what it is?” Reaching out to connect with the voices, she found a group of minds linked together much as she, Jaden, Fureva-Yung and Marius were. Under the profoundly unpleasant feeling the voices projected, Nox could feel Jaden’s hand on her shoulder, her warm and steady link as always. “Project calm, as you did with the Aneen. Let them know we mean no harm,”   Nox nodded and did as she was told. She slowed her breathing and thought of the pool waves, for her a calming and gentle image. The response was immediate and violent.   Confusion, ALIEN, unknown, DISTURBING…HATE HATE HATE… For the others, the voices rose, buzzing like disturbed bees. Fureva-Yung charged into the dark as a whirring sound started behind the anger of the voices. A rock flew invisibly out of the darkness and smacked Nox in the forehead, and Fureva-Yung almost stumbled into a small hunched figure waiting with a blade in its hand. Fureva-Yung’s chain whipped up and caught the creature whose chittering cries drew others from the shadows.   “Go back to the caravan, Nox,” Jaden advised as she and Marius ran up to support Fureva-Yung. To the darkness around them, she called in her best caravaner voice, “You attacked first. Not friendly!” “Come on guys, can’t we talk this out?” Marius added his more conciliatory tone. His cries bounced and echoed unheeded down the passage.   Three of the small hunched creatures slunk out of the dark around Fureva-Yung. One also had a serrated blade, the other two were swinging weighted slings above their heads. As they let go, rocks sailed past Fureva-Yung on a collision course with Jaden and Marius. The second bladed creature leapt out at Fureva-Yung. The two rocks missed their marks, Jaden dodging hers and Marius parrying his aside with the flat of his short sword.   Confident in the noise of battle hiding her, Nox crept up. In the glow of Jaden’s spear, she now saw the creatures as Fureva-Yung brought her chain down on the first and smashed it into the dust of the passage. Marius and Jaden engage the two with the slings. Though small, the creatures were fast and for a long time they dodged and sidestepped the caravaners’ attacks. Marius muttered good-naturedly to himself as he finally made contact with the one on him. Fureva-Yung turned just in time as the last of the creatures struck out at her. She brushed it aside, aware of how close she had come to being skewered.   The voices, now one less, became more insistent, more distracting to the caravaners. Nox, in particular, had a hard time focussing on anything under the violent roaring of the voices in her mind. With one clear thought, she reached out with the scintillating energy she’d seen in the lab upstairs. The energy wrapped around the one on Jaden and froze the creature in place. Jaden looked around and spotted the poorly hidden Nox just behind. “We’ll talk about this later,” Jaden said as the girl shrank back from her gaze. Sighing, Jaden pulled her spear back to make a killing blow against the creature. You can’t hurt it, Nox’s voice came through the roar of violence and hate in Jaden’s mind, It’s not really there.   Fureva-Yung allowed her chain to swing around, keeping the momentum moving. The end of the chain hummed through the air and smacked the second creature. Its head disappeared in a spray of black. Fureva-Yung was now free to help. The creatures on Marius and Jaden had also dropped their slings and produced rough serrated blades of rusty iron. Now that Jaden’s opponent was frozen in place, only Marius and his adversary circled each other. Though there was only one voice whispering unrecognisable horrors into their minds, the effect was no less intense, and Marius’s attacks failed as his focus drifted.   The small trickle of blood from her cut on her forehead forgotten, Nox curled up in a ball beside the stone wall of the passage. The voice was all she could hear, see and think of. Stop it! Stop it! Stop it! She screamed back at the voice, unable to match it in its intensity of hate and violence. You are hurting my brain, Nox! Fureva-Yung called through the link as she swung out and missed the last aggressor. She and Marius continued to struggle against the mental onslaught, missing the creature as it continued to dodge their attacks. Jaden, her senses clearer, struck out and clipped the creature as it, in turn, hit Marius. “I’m trying not to hurt you, dude!” Marius pleaded, “Put down your sword!”   Fureva-Yung’s words made it through the interference to Nox, and she quickly stopped her screaming. Seeing her friends still engaged with the last creature, Nox drew on her Hedge Magic and created a flash of bright light. Small and undirected, it still startled the creature for a moment, long enough for Jaden to bring her spear around and pin the creature to the ground. Suddenly the voice stopped, and the group were left listening to their own gasping and sighs of relief.   Now that the threat was past, Furea-Yung turned her attention to the creature still held in stasis by Nox’s energy field. She tried to grab the creature but found it as insubstantial as the scintillating energy. I remembered the energy from the lab, Nox explained the sole quiet voice in all their minds, I figured that if it could be used to go places, then it could be used to…not go places…maybe all places at once. Understand? “Not at all,” Marius replied as he and Jaden circled the creature, their weapons ready. Fureva-Yung tried pushing the creature and was frustrated when her hands went straight through. “Furry, get ready, and Nox will release the creature for you to grab,” Marius suggested, and Fureva-Yung nodded, instructions she could understand. She placed her hands as close as she could against the energy field around the beings neck and waited. “Hey, kids? Do you think you could try reading their minds? Find out what they’re about?”   Nox nodded. She’d never tried to read anyone’s mind before. As she released the energy field the voices returned, Fureva-Yung caught the creature around the neck, holding it fast as Nox opened her mind to the creature. All Nox could sense was the voice and now the full intent behind it. A xenophobic hatred of anything not them. A homicidal mind bent on nothing but hating and killing, full of fear and disgust for anything different from itself. Kill! Kill! Kill!It spoke to Nox and the anger and violence were her own. Her small blade appeared in her hand and lashed out at Fureva-Yung. Ready for attack from all quarters, Fureava-Yung saw the movement and gently brushed it aside as Marius thrust his sword through the creature, and the voice stopped for good.   The anger quickly dissipated and Nox was confused then horrified as she saw her knife and Fureva-Yung stare. I… Tears burst from Nox’s eyes as the knife dropped from her numb fingers. “What? What did you find out?” Marius asked Nothing good, all horror and hate and killing and… Nox ran out of words to describe the creature’s thoughts. “The world well shot of them, I say,” Jaden said and went searching for the creatures’ home. “You couldn’t work out what they wanted? Anything?” Marius asked again, hoping for a different outcome. Nox shook her head in reply, taking a moment to take a mental breath, Just… hate.   Now that the voices were gone, everyone present was aware of a soft purring, deep almost out of human hearing. Like waves or the rolling of thunder in the far distance, it swept through the group to nearly disappear only to return seconds later. Marius moved around the group until he found the source, Fureva-Yung herself. “You know, if I hold my ear up to you, I can almost hear the sea,” Marius joked. Fureva-Yung shrugged her shoulders, once more confused by her own mysteries. It was the first sound that anyone had heard from Frueva-Yung. After the violence of the past few minutes, the sound was soothing. Without knowing it, Nox started swaying to the rhythm, and Marius set his gait to the sound as they went in search of Jaden.   Jaden, in the meantime, had found where the creatures had been living. A small hole in the crystal-lined walls filled with scraps of cloth, dried fungus and other scavenged items. Among the refuse piles, she found a cypher, a tiny robot spider that made silk as strong as steel cabling. On the walls, she found scratches that Marius recognised as a written language of sorts. As his curious mind made sense of the scratchings, he confirmed them to be the same sort of mad ramblings of the whispers.   A huge crystal thrust up through the ground at the back of the small cave, taking up much of the available space. Trapped halfway through the crystal was an egg-shaped capsule, translucent and red. Just recognisable inside the capsule was a tiny silhouette of a humanoid in the foetal position. It was evident that this tiny group had thought of the capsule and its inhabitant as some sort of god but the small offerings and carvings. “Most of these writings are full of hate, but here there is only reverence for the thing in the bulb,” Marius studied the capsule and its capturing crystal. At some time in the past, it seemed the capsule had linked to other technology. A cable snaked out of the capsule and out the back of the crystal. Trapped behind the tough crystal matrix, there was no way to reach it.   Nox looked at the thing inside the crystal. After the near-disaster of reading the creature’s mind, she was hesitant. This thing was trapped, it did not whisper, and it may have been human at one time. She reached out to listen. There’s no mind there, She said after a few moments and left disappointed. There was nothing for her there.   “Leave it alone,” Jaden said out loud as her eyes scanned the capsule and cables. In her mind, she shared her interest with Nox, who had claimed one of the slings and was now collecting small sharp crystals. Yeah, really interesting. Dead though. No mind. Nox replied absentmindedly. Fureva-Yung had other ideas. Reaching into the cave, the body of the last dead creature still gripped around the throat, she ‘donked’ the capsule with a thick stubby finger. “Furry, don’t eat him, okay?” Marius said with a grin. Oh,Fureva-Yung replied. Eating was always at the forefront of Fureva-Yung’s mind. That was when she wasn’t attacking something. She reached out and touched the egg, noting that the round surface that projected out from the crystal was smooth and almost rubbery, yielding under the pressure of her fingers.   By this time, the caravan, which had stopped during the fighting, had caught up with its defenders. Reunited once more, the caravan continued down the passage, climbing up, hopefully to the surface. Eventually, the passage opened up into a large cavern, open to the sky two hundred metres above and falling to unfathomable darkness below. Sunlight streamed in, giving the caravaneers a good view of the vast cavern before them. Ahead the path split in two, one over a tapered steel bar that lay across the chasm, the other wound around the chasm, curving away into the sunless reaches beyond. The giant crystal formations jutted out everywhere, catching the light and projecting rainbow halos into the cavern.   “Should I climb up and see where we are?” Marius looked up, his ever-searching face lit by the light from above. “I don’t think you could make that,” Jaden’s mind took in the overhanging walls of the cavern and the sharp crystals lining the ground. “Sure I could.” Jaden shook her head, “Look for a safer way.”   Marius, a lone figure and glow globe in the dark, took the next dangerous path, the steel bar bridge across the chasm. It wasn’t until he was halfway across that he started feeling uneasy. He stopped and peered into the gloom ahead and spotted a flickering human shape on the opposite end of the bridge. “Hey! Guy! Are you okay?” Marius called, and the figure flickered once and disappeared…   …only to appear a moment later, right next to him.   The being flickering was not just the result of his appearing and disappearing. As he stood watching, Marius could see the beings face flicker through hundreds of different people and expressions. As suddenly as it appeared, it lunged at Marius, who dodged aside. Drawing his sword, Marius slashed back only to lose his footing on the narrow end of the bar. His feet slipped off into nothing and he started to fall. Letting go of the glow globe, and his sword as the bar flew past his face, Marius clawed at the rusted surface of the bar. The flickering being loomed above him, its clawed hands free to attack.   Watching from the broader end of the bar, Nox grabbed the sword with her Hedge magic, Get up, Marius, I have your sword. “I can’t get up! Help!” Marius cried as the creature reached down to strike him. He swung aside, missing the claws, but he was going to need help and quick. Fureva-Yung knew she couldn’t make it. She was too big and slow to sprint the distance to Marius and pulled him up. In anger and frustration, the purring, distant storm sounds that Fureva-Yng had been making up to that point increased. Out of her usually silent mouth, a terrifying bellowing scream roared, shaking the cavern, the bridge and the creature. A wall of sound hit the creature like one of her fists, pushing it off the bridge and into the chasm. The creature flickered and tried to zip back to the bridge. It fell with nothing to push against, disappearing into the darkness below.   “I told you, you should have talked to me,” Marius wheezed after it, his breath caught in his near-death predicament. Jaden quickly raced out across the bridge, and laying across her spear, placed one end close enough for Marius to grab. Swinging himself back onto the bridge, Marius looked back at Fureva-Yung, who was bent double coughing. A small crystal, one like many she'd eaten, shot out of her mouth and bounced away. “Furry, you okay?” Marius asked once he’d caught his breath again. “Yeah, I’ll be fine,” Fureva-Yung replied in a voice deep and gravelly with unuse.   Marius and Jaden stopped picking themselves up and just stared at the ever-surprising Fureva-Yung. “Furry! Your voice is furry!” Marius exclaimed as Jaden spotted the crystal that had caught in Fureva-Yung’s throat for months. “Girl! What have you eaten!” Fureva-Yung just looked back and shrugged.   As Marius continued the investigation of the other side of the bridge, Nox slunk back into the caravan and found the women still chattering. As soon as they saw her, they asked a dozen questions about what had happened? What had roared? Was everyone alright? “Fureva-Yung…scared a monster away from Marius…he’s okay,” She replied curtly, slinking down beside Temila. “Nox, you’re shaking!” Temila exclaimed, taking first the younger girls arm and then wrapping her free arm around Nox’s shoulder, “What happened? Are you okay?”   Nox silently pulled her legs up and hugged her knees. In Cerelon, her Father had bellowed. He was famous for it. He had often used his voice to scare and bully her, and it had worked. She could often hear him across town and know to stay away. Until the very moment Fureva-Yung had shaken the world with her voice, Nox had never felt afraid of the big woman. The sound of it still ringing in her ears, Nox put her head on her knees and started to cry.                    

6. The Dodecahedron

Pursued by the servitors of the High Redoubt and Crawls Passage alike, the group find kinship with a group of beings also hiding from oppression. The Unseen eke out an existence in the natural and unnatural caves under the pit. But beyond their meagre homes lay the paths the group must take if they are to find their own future safe home.
  In the darkness of the natural cavern, the refugees worked lowering themselves and their few possessions down the final four-metre drop. With little light and repaired equipment, they strained and lifted and caught and finally walked the fungal farms of the Unseen by a crystal clear spring.   Marius and Fureva-Yung both went ahead, passed the broken array of monitors into more of the pit’s facility. They found Jaden and Nox watching a group of small creatures with huge bat-like ears dancing around an effigy made of smashed monitors, chanting and laughing. You can’t see me! You can’t see me! They could hear through Nox’s telepathic translation.   Though the dancing and frolics of the little people amused Nox, Fureva-Yung found nothing of interest in their capering and sought out Marius investigating two large doors. The Unseen had been unable to open the large metal doors, and as usual, Marius’ curious mind was ticking over. “I wonder if these go up to rooms under the dome in the pit?” He said to Fureva-Yung, “Do you want to try and open them?” Fureva-Yung pushed against the door and felt the pressure of something pushing back. Maybe a cave-in? “Maybe Nox could have at look what’s on the other side first?” Marius suggested, gaining Nox’s attention. She quickly ran over to see what exciting things the others were into.   “I see a space behind the door, “She said, scanning past the thin metal doors to the small room beyond, “I can’t see a floor. It just keeps going down, maybe another level? Above…no, I can’t see, sorry." “You did fine, kid, “ Marius replied distractedly, looking for Yelf, the self-appointed spokesperson for the Unseen. He found him with the others celebrating their victory over the All-Seer.   “Say, how did you guys get here?” Escape from All-Seer through there. They pointed to a door at the far end of their enclosure. “Oh, yeah. Tell me what it’s like? Did you walk the whole way?” Yelf looked happy to share his story with these strangers, Sometimes. Sometimes we were inside the big whooshy thing! “Really? How did it go, up and down or side to side?” Up and forward! “How exciting. How long do you think you were in the whooshy thing?” Hmm, Yelf had to think for a moment. How to explain time to these strangers, A short nap. “Hours instead of days, okay. Thanks, Yelf.”   When Marius had run out of questions to ask, he went back to the elevator doors, and Nox turned her concerned eyes on Yelf. Yelf, have you seen glowing blue light or glowing blue people that look like us? She pointed at Jaden and herself, not to confuse the Yelf with Fureva-Yung’s unusual appearance. No, He replied innocently, turning back to his peoples’ antics around the effigy. Yelf. We would like to travel through the door at the end. Things are coming, looking for us. I want you to let them go through. If you hide, they will just walk through and leave you alone. Yes, yes, we hide!   Nox, Foreva-Yung thought as Yelf left them to join in the celebrations, Should we tell the Unseen I can see them? They only hide from the All-Seer, Nox smiled at her big friend’s concern for the little people. Suddenly her expression turned serious as she remembered what Yelf had said, Fureva-Yung The All-Seer lives in machines! She wasn’t sure if Fureva-Yung had understood, but it felt better to have told her robust and, capable friend.   Marius was still trying to open doors. No space was safe from his curious mind. “Should we open up so many places for the servitors to look?” Nox asked. “What? Why?” Marius turned on Nox, and she froze, shying away from his imagined anger. “Sorry!” “No, go on, I’m listening,” He now gave his full attention to Nox, which was almost as harrowing as the thought of Marius angry. “Um…I don’t want the Unseen hurt. I just want to servitors to follow us. If there are more places for them to look, they’ll investigate, won’t they?” “Hmm, a thought. What do the Unseen think? Yelf? Do you mind if we open up these doors?” Marius pointed back to the sliding metal doors behind him. Hmm, more doors open, more places to hide! Yelf replied, pleased. “There. We’re doing them a favour. Come on, Furry, give it another go.”       Fureva-Yung placed her hands flat against the metal doors once more and pushed them apart. Some small rocks fell into the room, and as she looked up, Fureva-Yung could see a pile of rubble blocking the way up a shaft. To her scavenger’s eye, the debris looked…placed. It seemed too organised to have fallen that way. Looking down, she could see maybe five metres to the top of a box slightly smaller than the shaft itself. On top of the box, thick metal cables lay strewn over the top.   “No access that way,” Marius nodded, “ Oh, well, at least it confirmed my mental map of this place. Right, only way now is the far door.”   With a few barked orders, the Dritmen and Fureva-Yung started clearing junk piled up against the door to the All-Seer. Marius opened the door. The light in this pentagonal chamber was patchy, rays of light making beams that failed to pierce the darkness further down. Around the circumference, the light was diffuse, while a shadow hung over the room's centre. Looking up, Marius saw the legs of the Titan sticking down like lopsided mechanical stalactites through a white damaged ceiling. They were under the dome.   From the door, a catwalk extended out into the pit where a black glassy dodecahedron filled much of the space. It hung miraculously in space at the end of the catwalk, nothing above it but the dome and the Titan, nothing below but inky blackness. The side facing the catwalk opened, revealing a blank interior with a column through the middle. “We found the whooshy thing, “ He told the other, “Nox, can you see how that thing works?” Marius watched the Titans's legs as they started disappearing up past the dome. The Titan was moving and soon would be free.   Nox tripped along the catwalk and headed for the column in the centres. It too, was shiny black, smooth and as clean as the rest of the dodecahedron. She placed her hand on the surface and felt the energy below the surface respond to her touch. Still, it was slow work. It seemed like the dodecahedron did not want to give up its secret’s.   LOOKING FOR AUTHENTICATION…   Stupid machine, Fureva-Yung said behind Nox after she’d helped bring in the caravan discs into the dodecahedron, I hit machine? Fureva-Yung stepped up to hit the column with her fist, Marius slipped into the caravan behind her.   AUTHORISED USER FOUND. BOOTING SYSTEMS, flashed up on the screen. No Fureva-Yung. You are the user…owner… Nox looked up at her large friend in awe. As open as Fureva-Yung was, her nature and origins were still an enigma, even to herself. Nox tucked that tiny clue to Fureva-Yung’s past into her memory and got back to work.   Marius unseen muttered unheard from the caravan as Nox studied the menu options and the rest of the caravan found spaces onboard.   I threat! No need, Nox now had access to a display screen listing several options. I just have to find the right choice… She checked everyone was on board before selecting an option she hoped would work. Behind the last of the dritmen, the doorway disappeared, and everyone could feel a smooth sensation of falling.   Jaden found an empty patch of floor next to a wall and gestured for Nox to join her. Gratefully, Nox sank beside the comforting warmth of Jaden and was soon asleep, her head resting on Jaden’s lap. Jaden did not sleep. She found it hard to trust in a machine she didn’t understand, especially now. Falling in this black twelve-sided box felt like leaving far too much to chance.   Across the space, a conversation between Marius and Fureva-Yung was suddenly cut short as their telepathic link was lost. They struggled on for a while, with Marius talking and Fureva-Yung gesturing until everyone started as the dodecahedron suddenly stopped falling and started moving laterally. Marius projected his mental map of the pit onto this new path and determined that they were travelling North East, away from Cerelon and almost everything they knew.   Tapping out the seconds and counting the minutes, Marius tried working out how far they’d come. After three hours, the feeling of movement started to slow. “A weeks travel in just six hours.”   Meanwhile, Fureva-Yung’s attention was drawn to a small flashing light on her forearm. The tattoo that had always been there never changing. Now one small dot to the left of the main pattern was flashing. She poked at the spot, and the light went out completely. “What’s up?” Marius asked.   A violent jolt and the grinding of metal screamed as the whole dodecahedron twisted over, flipping its contents sideways. Screaming people and aneen fell into a pile as the screeching and jolting continued, finally ending with a sudden crash into something hard.   Everyone was knocked off their feet, bruised and battered by the crash. Nox was almost knocked out when her head was flung backwards into the wall by the initial jolt, and many others were in a similar condition. The aneen, the long-suffering beasts of burden for the whole caravan, were ready to stampede. Almost everyone scrambled to get away from flailing hooves and tossing heads. Everyone except for Jaden. Drawing on her earlier life’s experience travelling with the caravans, she faced the aneen making soothing noises. She gained control of their reins and drew their heads down to her own, breathing slowly into their faces, letting them know she was not afraid and would lead them. Punch it in the face, Fureva-Yung suggested, helping Nox to her wobbly feet. “You do not punch it in the face,” Jaden responded quietly and calmly, adding her admonishment to the soothing sounds for the aneen. “Do you want a hand?” Marius asked, but it was soon apparent that Jaden did not need the assistance. Though their flanks still shivered with nervous energy, the two aneen were now quiet, standing side by side, watching and listening to Jaden. Oslo Ghan finally collected himself enough to take back control of his animals, marvelled as Jaden's control.   They like you, Nox thought with a distant expression on her face. Her head was dizzy, and her vision wouldn’t clear. As she stumbled to the column in the centre of the chamber, she couldn’t make out the console to find the door release. Temila, who had been moving around the group checking for injuries, now found Nox, slumped beside the column staring at nothing.   “Nox? How do you feel? What happened?” “Woozy, “she put a shaking hand to the back of her head, and it came away sticky, “Something hit me in the blue man room, and then a rock hit me in the pit and then….” Why was it so hard to think straight? Temila flashed a small light the miners had given her into Nox’s eyes and was pleased to get a response from both Nox’s irises and the girl as she flinched away from the bright light. Marius tried wrapping a bandage around Nox’s head, but it slipped on her long hair, falling off in a coiled heap. He eventually gave the dressing to Temila and made himself useful elsewhere.   Machine not working? I will smash it! Fureva-Yung suggested raising her giant clenched fist to beat the column. Put your hand on it, Nox sent back as Temila found a large lump on the back of Nox’s head, It likes you. Fureva-Yung did as suggested and laid her palm on the column with a huff. The panel lit up, giving Nox the information she needed to find the door release. Suddenly, a wall to one side of the group disappeared.   A vast field of giant crystals glowed from the light spilling out from inside the dodecahedron. The sheet of crystal stretched from the transport to the right into a massive cavern. To the left, a rocky outcropping held a clearly defined path leading up to a passage through the cave wall. Between, ripples from the crash still breaking its surface, a body of water lapped against a pebble and crystal shore. A hundred metres from the crash, the refracting light faded away into utter darkness.   Climbing out of the capsule, Marius found himself on a roadway of smooth rock that the dodecahedron had obviously been travelling along. The road went straight under the crystal and disappeared. He walked around the craft and saw a small spur of the crystal had grown on the road thirty metres or so back down the road. It had probably been the initial jolt that sent them flying sideways down the road until they finally crashed into the bulk of the crystal formation. It had been a lucky break. He wondered if they’d be walking away from this crash if they’d ploughed into the crystal field at full speed.   As the group clambered out of the dodecahedron, they were all able to take in the sight of the cavern and the massive field of crystal. Fureva-Yung and the dritmen knew the crystal from the Spectral Plateau, though never on this scale. Find iotum and cyphers sometimes, Fureva-Yung pointed at the crystal and Marius interest was piqued.   As the last refugees left the dodecahedron, the lights inside the transport went out and the group were left with the lights on the caravan, Jaden’s spear and Temila’s small light.   Moving away from the now uncomfortable sounds and lights of the others, Nox stumbled down the pebbled beach to the water edge and sat down. The slowly lapping waves were a comfort, and she dipped a rag into the frigid water to soothe her head. Once Jaden was happy with the progress of the whole caravan, she joined Nox down at the water, picking up intriguing chunks of crystal and dumping them into Bellyache as she went. It’s so beautiful, Nox thought as Jaden sat beside her, Can we stay here a little while? “Can’t stay long, don’t know who lives here,” Jaden replied, putting a comforting hand on Nox’s sore head, “We don’t want to be bad neighbours.” “Say, Nox? The lake water had eroded the crystal. Can you check to see if there’s the same crystal energy in the water?” Marius, full of curiosity for their new surroundings, bounded up. Nox covered her ears to his too loud question gaining him a shhh from Jaden and a dirty look from Temila.   “She’s had a nasty few knocks to the head. I want her to stay still and rest for a moment.” Temila said, propping Nox back into a sitting position as the girl went to lie down, “And for you, no sleeping until I say.” But I'm so tired… Nox wailed in their minds. “I didn’t mean she had to move…” Marius mumbled, but giving up his idea as a lost cause.   Fureva-Yung was back at the dodecahedron, trying to push the craft back onto the road. Distracted from the lake water, Marius sat down, pulled out a small packet of rations and watched with interest, as Fureva-Yung tried to move the transport. At not quite twenty-five metres across, it was far too big for even the powerful Fureva-Yung. It is very heavy. She finally said, giving up and stepping back. Marius was about to encourage her to put more effort into the activity when a squawk from the lake drew their attention.   Nox was finding it hard not sleeping. She sat by the water, her eyes closed and listening to the sounds of the cavern around. The hushed talking, the grunts of effort from Fureva-Yung, the last few waves on the shingle beach. It seemed to her that the only sound this place knew were what they had brought in. She was just imagining what it must sound like with no one around when something behind her clicked.   She listened for the sound again, and this time she felt the material of her shirt dragged back. The clicking stopped, but the weight on her shirt increased, and Nox cringed at the thought of the giant tick climbing up her back. “Temila, what's climbing up my back?” She asked, not wanting to turn her head or even move.   Jaden leaned back to have a look and saw a crab, about as large as her fist, trying to climb up Nox’s back. Getting to her feet, she moved so what light they had was on the crab and then plucked it off Nox with a careful hand. The crab was small, encrusted in crystal and machine parts like a hermit crab. She held it by the scrap affixed to its shell, so its grasping claws found nothing but air to snap at. “Hello! Who are you? The neighbours?” She said to the crab, watching it flail ineffectually at her. When it was clear it could not get her with its claws, the crab twitched. There was a sudden burst of blue light, and Jaden found herself up to her chest in cold lake water several metres from the shore. “What!” She cried in surprise and dropped the crab. Jaden now had the shockingly cold and wet walk back to the beach to where everyone had gathered.   As she clambered up the steep slope onto the beach, she noticed that many of the crystals that littered the shore had small things in them. Like amber on the surface world, the crystal had trapped within it teeth, insects, machine parts, as well as the iotum Fureva-Yung used to collect. She remembered now that as they built the bridge out of the crystal-forming fog, things would often appear within the stream and be cemented into the crystal much as she saw here. The energy fog had been made up of creatures, plants, and machines, at least in part.   Foreva-Yung and Marius helped Jaden out of the water, and she shared her theory with them. This only spurred on Marius to hunt out cyphers and other interesting bits from the crystal. As the caravan started setting up camp, Marius made himself a makeshift chisel and beckoned Fureva-Yung in on his plans. “See if you can break a chunk off the crystal wall,” He said, handing over the chisel. Fureva-Yung tried smashing the end of the crystal with her huge blunt fist, but nothing broke off. Rock hard, She thought, showing a chipped tooth as evidence of previous investigations. “Maybe it’s more about finesse than strength,” Marius said, thinking aloud. He asked Fureva-Yung to hold the chisel this time while he hit it. Bringing down his hammer with as much force as he could muster. The crystal did not break.   Fureva-Yung took back the chisel and tried again. This time she found a weak junction and several spears of crystal rained onto the beach. After a while, she had a small pile of …stuff for Nox to identify when she was feeling better. Putting her finds into her back, she spotted another machine part crabs further up the beach. With the curiosity of an empty stomach, she strode towards it, hand outstretched.   Before she could get within a metre of the tasty morsel, she was surprised by two crabs exactly like the first rising in front of her. They flank their tiny brethren, leering over the giant Fureva-Yung by half a metre. Fureva-Yung let her chain sliver down her wrist to pool at her feet, and all the day’s frustrations slipped away. Who needed stupid machines when you had a double fist of good steel chain and a strong arm? She flicked out the chain and let it swing through the air towards the two giant crabs.   The chain sailed straight through the two giant crabs.   Confusion. Had she missed? She looked down as the smaller crab was backing up, making an escape. Now ignoring the two illusions for what they were, Fureva-Yung brought the doubled chain down on the small crab with a satisfying crunch.   As her teeth crunched on the carapace of the first, she spied a second crab and made to grab. It squirted something at her feet that made the ground incredibly slippery. Fortunately, Fureva-Yung’s elephantine feet covered more ground than the patch of friction-reducing gel, and she easily kept her feet. She snatched up a second snack and popped it into her mouth whole. As she crunched into this one, however, a small electrical jolt blasted through her molars. Nice! She thought to herself, a new eating sensation.   Temila was watching Nox sleep as Marius passed by. After a long and fruitless search for shinies, he was eager for a kind word or two. “Hey,” he said and sat down beside her. “Hey,” She replied, shaking Nox awake and noting how quickly the girl responded. “How’s she doing?” “Well. If she can make it through the night without worsening symptoms, I think she’ll be fine.” “Odd kid,” Marius mused when he thought Nox was asleep again. Temila became thoughtful a moment. “She’s alright.” She replied curtly, brushing a stray hair out of the girl’s face. “Oh, of course, she’s great…like…how she can read minds and just understand stuff by looking at it…” This conversation was not going the way he had hoped, “What I came to say is, I appreciate you taking such an interest in her.” “Hmm, she’s a good kid.” Temila deflected the compliment and turned back to her patient. They sat and talked for a while about nothing as the camp settled down into sleep around them, so too did Nox listening to the two adult hushed voices echoing out over the lake.   The next morning, Nox woke to a headache, but her vision and balance were restored to normal. Beside her sleeping mat in a small pile, she found a collection of four treasures. Two were iotum, good for Jaden’s collection. Two were cyphers with unique properties. As breakfast was called, she picked up the treasures sought out Marius, Fureva-Yung and Jaden.    

5. Of Crystals and Titans

Escaping the murderous servitors of their hometown, Cerelon, our party and a few refugees have found respite in the shadow of two ruined towers. Having explored the towers the group set its curious sights on the pit and what treasures from the past it contained.   Now with the giant servitors of the Crawls Passage out to find them: fifteen people, two-pack animals and their meagre possessions ride a mechanical platform deeper into the installation.
TowerPit-PitSides.png
  ***********************************************************************************************************************   The aneen moaned their dislike as the platform slowly lowered the caravan of refugees. The humans were silent, their faces turned to the stone ceiling, listening to the regular booming of massive feet. Maybe an hour away and coming closer, a titan-sized caravan carrier was hunting them.   The platform slowed to a halt and Nox lightly stepped off and found the controls for double doors. Sunlight momentarily blinded the group as the door slid open to reveal an open-plan space filled with devices. Directly opposite the platform, two sets of pipes descended from above and turned out towards the pit through a shallow v-shaped trough. It looked like the pipes at one time used to run all the way out into the pit and through to a similar v-shaped room to the left. Now the pipes were smashed, and a dark stain pitted the ground at the breakage. The rock, seemingly so dense everywhere else was honeycombed and brittle wherever the liquid stained.
Endoval Tower Pit - Crystal Cultivation
As the caravan slowly unpacked the platform, Nox investigated the room to the right of the pipes. Down a small flight of stairs, a construction of six poles holding six sheets of mesh slotted between. Scanning the mesh, Nox discovered it was a very fine matrix of a crystal found growing on the Spectral Plateau high above Cerelon. The crystals were thought to be worthless, often a by-product of scavenging for iotum on the Spectral Plateau. She showed it to Fureva-Yung who confirmed that she often picked up the crystal for the iotum that sometimes grew inside. It is very hard to eat and not very nutritious, Fureva-Yung added.   Across the lab, Marius was investigating a similar workstation that was empty of the crystal sheets. Behind, a bin with a five-sided lid facing the grid. A hose reel and fittings faced racks of tiny shelving with an even larger box dominating the end of the space. Marius checked the shelving and found them to be racks of crystal mesh. Sliding the crystal sheets between the poles he and Nox waited to see if something would happen. When nothing did, Marius opened the bin and a scintillating fog of energy flowed out and onto the ground. Nox did the same and watched the energy flow up and out of the box. It filled the room up to the top of the stairs but went no further. She noted that the energy had no mass, though she felt a tingling sensation wherever it touched. At the crystal lattices, the fog gathered at the base of the crystal mesh and started forming larger crystal clumps. The energy makes crystals on the mesh, Nox mused to the connected group, But if it needs contact, Why are the crystal sheets so big? Most of the device sticks up out of the energy.   Both Nox and Marius left the crystals to form and investigated the rest of the facility. Now the caravaners had finished unpacking the platform, they watched the investigations uncomfortably. Their desperate stares made Nox nervous. Instead of trying another workstation, she went to the back of the room she was in and studied a device on the wall. It looked like a spout, and below it, an almost empty barrel. Right at the bottom of the barrel was a fine powder that glittered like the scintillating energy of the growing crystals. It seemed to be a ground version of the crystals and had once flowed from the spout from somewhere else. Beside the spout a recess in the wall lined with what looked like triangular metal teeth. Maybe they grew the crystals then put them through a grinder to make a power that was finally stored in barrels?   Across the way, Marius and Fureva-Yung were making their own discoveries. Marius had moved back to the hose reel and pipe fittings. The hose fittings went through a five-sided board set up so a person could easily pick it up and holding it like a double-handed shield. Fureva-Yung unrolled the hose pipe from its reel and looked at the fittings. They matched the fittings on the boards, but also in the big machine near the stored crystal sheets. She plugged one end of the hose into the larger machines, the other end into a hose fitting and realised it was the same shape as the lids on the energy pits. With the hose attached she placed the fitting board over the pit. The large machine started humming. Inside, the energy followed the lines and contours of a mould, the exact shape of the crystal panels.     Nox, Fureva-Yung thought, Can you make things explode? No, I’ve never tried, I wouldn’t know how, Nox replied trying to think of any time she’d made something explode. Maybe, Mr Marius? She directed the thought and Marius looked seriously at the big woman. What did you have in mind, Furry? The crystal is hard. If we could explode it, maybe we can use it against the servitors. That’s a thought, Marius went to one of several barrels up against the wall and stacked on a trolley. Opening the barrel he found it full of crystal dust as expected. He took a good pinch of the stuff and tried to strike his flint and steel against it. Nothing happened. There’s a lot of energy locked up in this stuff. If we can find a way of releasing it.     Nox looked at the powder. Father often worked with such powders whose energy was trapped inside. Some worked with fire, some with other chemicals and others still worked by hitting them. Following Marius’ example, she took a good pinch of the dust from the near-empty barrel and placed it in a pile on the dense stone floor. She then pulled out her dagger and raised the butt up to strike.   I don’t think that’s a great idea… Marius went to say as the dagger pommel came down on the powder.   A blue shockwave swept through the lab and the whole caravan were suddenly somewhere else. It was a large space lined with five portals and raised areas above. Under their feet the ground was a luminescent gridwork, filling the space with light. Around them, five of the blue figures seemed to be fighting animated red shapes. It seemed the refugees had landed in the middle of a battle.   From behind, Nox was struck, sending her senses reeling. When her vision cleared again, she saw a blue figure move past her to fire again. It seemed she’d inadvertently got in the way of their first shot. Another red shape moved up and attacked Marius. “Ladies, gentlemen, please there’s no need to fight. We can settle things peacefully!” He yelled above the noise of battle, but none of the combatants seemed to be paying much attention, though some of the blue figures seemed bemused by his attempts. “I’ve seen them before!” Nox struggled through the group to find Jaden, “The blue people, I’ve seen them.” “Where? When?” “Since we left Cerelon, in the forest...up in the second tower...in the control room for the lifting platform.”   Fureva-Yung did not hang around chatting. She let her chain slither to the floor, wrapping one end around her meaty fist. She whipped out the other end, smashing into a red shape. Two blue figures joined Fureva-Yung attacking the shape and soon had it down. Nox and Jaden stepped behind Fureva-Yung as both she and Marius were bombarded by more red adversaries. Marius stepped out of the range of his attacker, dodging the blow. Fureva-Yung blocked the attack with her chain. She was about the bring it up again for a second attack when the lights dimmed and the whole caravan was back in the abandoned lab.   “We have to go back! We have to help!” Marius pushed his way through the stunned villagers to the stacks of barrels, opening the nearest one up. Looking around, Nox spied the grinding machine she’d been studying before, “Maybe Jaden and I can make that machine hit the dust hard.”   Outside the pit, the thudding of the titan servitor ceased. Fureva-Yung looked out and up the pit. At the moment, the clear blue of the sky was all she could see, but something ahead made her believe the titan had stopped near the larger of the two towers, only tens of metres away from the lip of the hole.   Not knowing what to do, Marius closed the lid on the energy pit and the fog of scintillating soon dissipated. Nox scanned the crystals once more. The crystals had grown significantly in the time they’d been there, but only where the fog had touched. They didn’t give a clue as to what the group should do next.   Help blue people? Fureva-Yung asked as she headed back to the cluster of scared villagers. We don’t even know where or even when they are, Lamented Nox, who unconsciously looked up to the stone ceiling and the servitors beyond.   At the other side of the lab, Marius was thinking about the energy, crystal powder and its nature.   “This place grows crystals and process them from a raw energy source. That energy is cross-dimensional in nature. The raw source is maybe only here, but processed and put into barrels...it could go anywhere...maybe back across dimensions! Yes, it’s fuel for travel across dimensions!”   As he talked out his ideas he connected up a hose to the energy pit nearest him. The energy flowed out like water from the hose, concentrated by the fitting. He now pointed it at the crystal panels. Crystals grew right before their eyes, maybe ten times faster than in the low lying fog. On top of that, he could direct the flow at all parts of the crystal panels, growing crystals from the bottom all the way to the top. “I can grow crystal where I like!” He took a panel now heavy with the dense crystal and placed it in the grinding machine. Nox turned it on and danced as the dust slowly trickled out the spout and into the barrel.   “Nox, you smashed a little dust and we went to the room. How about a bigger pile?” Nox’s eyes grew wide with the possibilities. From the collection at the bottom of the filling barrel, she started collecting a pile. “What do you have in mine, Marius?” Jaden asked “I was just thinking, what would happen if that titan up there stepped on a...barrel of this stuff?”   Jaden’s reply to that thought was lost as a congested puffing and wheezing erupted from the large machine Fureva-Yung had been playing with. Left to its own devices, the crystal now overflowed the chamber, making crystalline flowstone in all directions. Fureva-Yung pulled the hose from its fitting and the chamber ceased making crystal, but the damage had been done. If anyone wanted to use that machine in the future, they’d have to chip through a thick layer of iridescent crystal.   Fureva-Yung looked at the pipe in her hand. There was, maybe twenty-five metres of the hosing all up, more than enough to bridge the gap from the lab to the next room over. She started pulling the hosing to the pit, looking to see if there was something on the other side to hook onto. When nothing was in evidence, she pulled out a cypher, a cable launcher with a spiked harpoon at both ends for attaching a rope.   “Mr Marius! The crystal panes! We could make a bridge!” Nox mined placing one hand on top of another so that the second hung over the first by a little. “Then we can weld them together with the crystal!”   Inspired, Fureva-Yung took a crystal panel, and like a child’s toy, flung it across the pit to the next room. The panel clanged against a piece of the old catwalk and fell into the pit, through one of the existing holes in the dome. That was clumsy! Fureva-Yung said, as everywhere, people were organising. Suddenly, the group of scared individuals had a purpose. Everyone was either removing crystal panels from the storage area, passing them hand to hand all the way to the pit, holding panels in place against the current infrastructure or hosing down the panels to affix them in fast-growing crystals. With Jaden checking construction, the bridge slowly started edging out into the pit.   The first falling robot was a shock as the butler servitor tumbled past the bridge builders. The second and third were comical and followed by cheers as they realised that the robots had hit Jaden’s slippery trap above. The fourth and fifth were almost disastrous as they clipped the newly constructed bridge, so that crystal panels and shards of light rain down onto the dome with the servitors.   “Hug the wall, it will be harder for them to hit the bridge,” Jaden commanded and the Dritmen did as they were told and the crystal panels started along the wall.   It was Marius who noticed the platform rising on its own in the first room. Running in, he flicked the controls to bring the platform back down, but just as quickly it flicked back. “They’re in the platform room, double-time it, men!” He called, as he grabbed a crystal from one of the crystal panes and placed it on the edge of the platform, jamming the machinery and hopefully buying time.   The Dritmen, use to hard work and following orders stepped up the process as the pit around them went dark. A few looked up from their work and quailed as the titan leaned out blotted out the sky. Seeing its prey just below, it slowly moved into place, readying itself for a strike.   “Furry, you still have that cable projector cypher?” Marius yelled out, fishing around in his own pack until he pulled out a cypher of his own. Fureva-Yung handed over the projector and Marius quickly bound his gravity detonator to the cable with crystals from the hose. “Now, you shoot the harpoon at the big guy’s head. Send the gravity detonator up after it and let’s see if that can’t keep him busy for a while.” Fureva-Yung looked at the tiny device in her hand, Fureva-Yung hit things. Fureva-Yung does not shoot things. She handed the two cyphers back to Marius who weighted it up in his hands a looked out at the titan above. Space at the pit-face was tight with everyone moving through panels and guiding the hose. Weaving through the workers, Marius walked along the newly constructed crystalline bridge to its end and judged the jump. “Yeah, I can do it,” he said, stepping back. Sprinting off, he flew over the remaining few metres and landed safely in the next room in front of two broken pipes. Now free to move, he leaned out into the pit and lined up the shot. Whizzzz! The harpoon was away, the thin cable paying out behind. Everyone stopped to watch as the harpoon kept rising, reaching the titans head and embedding with tinking sound. Then the package with the gravity detonator zipped up the line.   Boom! The charge went off, but instead of sending pieced of flying metal and crystal everywhere, the titan seemed to shrink, its limbs dragged towards its head by the strength of the gravity. Servitors riding the titan now flew in all directions. Some disappeared over the lip of the pit, others fell down ahead of their bigger brethren into the dome. Several fell among those working in the lab as the titan itself rolled over the edge and into the pit. Falling past the bridge hugging the walls, the titan hit the dome restrained by the force of the gravity explosion and the almost indestructible dome.   Inside the lab, the servitors were causing trouble. Yitti and Fureva-Yung both suffered under the heavy blows of two lifting servitors, hardened metal blades crashing against bone. Jaden turned the hose on another servitor as it trundles across the room towards Nox, but the crystals would not form against its metal skin. Nox kept her wits and was able to move a cart of barrels between her and the oncoming servitor.   Yitti struggled to hit his servitor and failed. Fureva-Yung became restrained by the heavy claws of the robot. All the while, Marius across the way could do nothing. Stepping back a few steps he once more threw himself across the gap, pulling his sword at the same time and flying into action. Jaden could see that one of the servitors was bent on one side, having clipped the stonework of the pit before being flung into the lab. She jammed the spear in its side, finding something damaged. The servitor shut down and fell to the ground, still.   CLUNK! Nox heard something fall behind her and turned to see the chunk of crystal from the platform on the ground. The platform had made it to the floor above. She tried flicking the switch with her hedge magic to call it back, but the servitors were ready and flicked it back just as quickly. Instead, she moved the chunk of crystal against the lifting column under the platform. Turning the hose on the crystal she made that the seed for a giant crystalline growth that rose up the column and jammed the platform in place. The refugees were fast running out of time, they had to go!   Marius made short work of one servitor as a freed Fureva-Yung smashed the last to pieces. Free of servitors for the moment, the focus went back to bridge building. The titans head became part of the infrastructure making it easier to finish the bridge and everyone started moving across. The titan shifted ominously. The hoses aimed directly at the titan fixed it in place for a few moments more. “I knew it wasn’t a hoax,” Jaden said as she started climbing up the bridge to the next room. “What was?” Nox asked just behind her. “The radiant healing energy of crystals.”   Though the titan seemed stuck, for now, the smaller servitors were building down from the cylinder chamber to the lab. The caravan and animals were all quickly bundled across the bridge into the new room. Here a barrel management and storage facility stood empty and unused. To the left, a room of shelving with barrels stacked neatly. One shelf had collapsed and barrels of liquid had spilt out dissolving the stone flooring. A gap the size of a large rat showed another room below, but nothing more. In the centre, a console with a claw device suited for filling and moving barrels was surrounded by more barrels and trollies, while to the right a short flight of steps heading up went to a locked door.
As the caravan moved across taking in the new space, Nox tackled the locked door, its technologies becoming familiar to her. She soon worked out the locking mechanism and the door slid open to reveal a junk room. At least that’s what it looked like at first. Piles of discarded barrels, broken trollies and things put away for a future that never arrived sat on shelves or littered the floor. Nox’s Numenera senses soon picked up the telltale spark of something special in the form of a box on eight legs. Pitted by dropped tools, stained by countless substances, the box looked more elaborate than mere storage. With a little experimentation, the box shivered and came to life. Eight legs squared up underneath the pendulous belly of the box looking as ready for orders as a box on legs could. “Follow,” Nox said and left the room, watching behind for a response. As she’d hoped the box followed after her and she returned to the main room triumphantly, the unusual artifact tamed. She stood in front of Jaden and turned to the box, “Follow her,” she said, pointing at Jaden. Though it had no eyes or even head, the box seemed to adjust its attention and from then on followed Jaden wherever she went.   “This is wonderful!” Jaden exclaimed, lifting the lid on the box and finding a small treasure in iotum and parts, “What are we going to call it?” It’s a box, it doesn’t need a name, Nox replied bemused to Jaden’s whimsical question. “Box or not, names have meaning and give importance.”   Nox left Jaden to consider names for the box as she went back to the bridge. The caravan and all its members were safely across. The bridge that had given them hope was now an asset to the enemies who were now working their way down the sheer walls of the pit. Remembering the damage the acid had done, Nox went to the centre console and the nearest orange barrels of acid. It was far too heavy for her to lift alone so she started just rolling it on its bottom edge, back towards the bridge. Marius, seeing Nox and her intent helped by picking up the barrel and placing it on the stone lip into the pit. Righting the barrel it was clear it had no easy way of opening. Nox pulled out her dagger and lined up the blade with the rim of the barrel. “Can you hit it with something?” She asked Marius. “Sure, but I don’t think I like the idea of trying to hit something in your tiny hand,” Marius scratched his arm distractedly, “I’ll go look for a can opener.” “Neither do I, “ Jaden added rummaging around in her collection of spare odds and ends and pulling out a sturdy scrap of metal the shape of a wedge, “Right tool for the job. Save your dagger.” She handed the wedge to Fureva-Yung as she joined in the conversation. I will hit, she thought, balling her massive fist into a dense ball.   So, as Jaden pulled Nox and herself away from the barrel, Fureva-Yung held the wedge between two thick fingers and drove it down into the metal of the barrel. The wedge shattered into pieces, but not before it had made a hole through the barrel’s lid. With a push, the barrel was tipped onto its side and rolled over the crystal and stone at the entrance to the room. The thick orange liquid glugged out of the container doing nothing to the crystal but it bubbled on the stone dissolving everywhere it touched. It was so effective, the stone under Fureva-Yung’s feet crumbled away and she slid down a stony slope until she hit the titan servitor’s head. Fureva-Yung! I’m sorry! Nox cried only for Fureva-Yung to respond with a big toothy grin. Maintenance! She said and started pulling and prying at the titan’s head.   On one side Fureva-Yung found an access hatch, and though a tight squeeze, she wriggled her way into a control room. At a panel inside she jiggled a lever and felt the titan flex its right leg in response. At the same time, the giant servitor felt its controls taken over. It started to struggle once more against the crystal growth and its folded shape.   While Fureva-Yung played with the lever to understand the mechanism behind it, Nox had broken free of Jaden and joined Fureva-Yung in the cramped control space. This cable seem to be connected to that lever, Nox pointed out one of several thick metal cables that ran from the control panel to various parts of the titan. Grabbing the cable in both hands, Fureva-Yung placed her huge stump-like feet up on a vertical surface and pulled. Something deep down in the titan twanged and the cable gave in Fureva-Yung’s hands. She pulled the cable up into the room and found it to be a 15 metres long strong cable. “It’s not safe, Nox. What are you doing?” Jaden called from the ledge. I want to help Fureva-Yung kill this thing, Nox replied, scanning as far as she could for the machine’s brain. With Jaden’s know-how, they worked out the control centre of the titan was far deeper into the titan than they could reach. Jaden went back into the room to retrieve another barrel of the acid hoping to at least seize up the workings of the servitor. Nox was just about to give up when something heavy smashed into the top of her skull and she nearly passed out.   Fureva-Yung quickly moved to shelter Nox as she looked up to see servitors on the lip of the pit picking up and throwing fist-sized rocks. Jaden ran, barrel in hand back down to the servitor. As Fureva-Yung was pummelled with chunks of masonry, she took the barrel from Jaden and smashed it against the control panel. Pieces of the control surface, barrel and acid flew everywhere, breaking open the machinery. The acid stained the metal, even pitted some of the control cables, but the acid did not affect the metal as it had the stone outside.   More rocks were now pelting down, Fureva-Yung taking the brunt of some of the hits. I do not think this is working, she said “No,” Jaden agreed. We should leave.   With Jaden in the lead, they climbed back onto the shoulders of the shuddering titan as rubble fell pinging off its metal surface. Jaden, Nox and Furvea-Yung leap the gap still widening between the bridge and the stone floor of the room. The titan would break free eventually, they needed to find another way out and Marius had been busy.   In the storeroom with the damaged floor, Marius had been a long while. Initially, to find a tool for opening the barrels, he remembered a curious cypher he’d found and reached into his backpack for the device. The size of a small pillbox, when activated it sprouted four transparent wings like those of a dragonfly. After programming it to return he sent the device into the hole and waited. When it returned several minutes later a small display screen showed a full map of the space below.
Though the room directly below had seen signs of the stone shaping technology, the rest of the space was a natural cavern leading to a large cave with a stream of water. The path down was steep, made more difficult by two to four metres steps that would make climbing slow and dangerous.   The large cavern itself slopped away gently giving the spring the chance to make a small pool. Beside the pool, large mushrooms grew, illuminating the space.   At the far end of the cave, a crack in the wall led to more constructed rooms. Monitors smashed with crude spears could be seen through the crack, but the infiltrator had not ventured further and Marius’ vision stopped there. It looked like, no matter how dangerous, this was their next move.   By the time the others had returned from their attempted sabotage, Marius was ready to present his information. Nox looked at the image intently, especially the views of the larger room and the fungus forest. She realised the fungus was neatly planted in rows that took advantage of the closeness of the mist from the waterfall for irrigation.   “Someone lives down there,” she told the group “Well, let’s go meet them,” Marius replied calling once more for the Dritmen’s assistance. Barrels of acid were brought from all other the room, tapped and poured onto the stone around the hole with Fureva-Yung’s help smashing at the crumbling rock. Then, maneuvering a set of metal shelving down the hole they used them as a makeshift ladder, descending into the natural caverns below. “I thought of a name,” Jaden pronounced as she guided the box down into the hole on a pulley, “Bellyache!”. Nox shook her head at the silliness of adults.   Once everyone was in the cavern, the pulley system and shelving was dragged through and the group moved to the next drop of three metres. With the stairs, ropes and cables the caravaners and animals made it down. The caravan disc themselves were just dropped over the lip to be caught by their own dampening fields. The same was done at the next drop of a little over two metres. The groups knew what they needed to do now and made quick work of this second drop.   The Aneen had not wanted to go into the dark hole and balked at every drop. Nox had been some help keeping the Aneen calm enough that the group could lower them on ropes to the floor below, but the last drop was further than the others and the second Aneen kicked and thrashed in its rope harness. The rope snapped and the Aneen fell the last metre, hurting its leg. Their only simple way down was broken and their pack animal injured.   Lower me down, Fureva-Yung, Nox called and laying down on the ground, Fureva-Yung, stretch out her arm and lowered Nox to the Aneen. She soothed them with sounds and telepathy until the creatures were able to be led once more. Smelling water the Aneen started tugging towards the sounds of the spring further down. I’ll take them to the water, we won’t go far, Nox said as the Aneen led the way.   The cool damp cavern was a stark change from the smooth regular lines of the room above. Nox was sure the cavern had been here almost unchanged since before even the time of the pit itself. The cave was of nature’s doing, carved out by the same water that now fell into the pool. Stalagtite and stalagmites grew in abundance, often forming columns of solid flowing stone. In the light of the mushrooms that grew along one side of the cavern, Nox started discerning more than just geological features in the cave. On a column of smooth limestone, a hexagonal shape had been painted with some black tarry substance. The shape, marked with another hexagonal through the centre and slitted black diamond looked all the world like an eye. Just past the column, Nox’s spied a movement. Focusing on the darker shadows she could see a creature about her size, hunched and thin with large ears and eyes and an oddly shaped nose. It watched her unblinking from behind the eye-marked column.   Once more telepathically projecting the calm and peaceful thoughts, Nox greeted the little one. Hello. The creature started, and now Nox could see others were standing behind the first, hiding behind rocks and mushrooms throughout the cavern. Fr-iend? The creature asked hopefully. Yes, I am a friend, Nox smiled at the timid little creature. Not servants of the All-Seer? Nox was confused by the new term, All-Seer, No, not servant to anyone. Praise be! Not servant to All-Seer! The creature screeched out loud and its friends joined in the general noise. “What’s going on? Are you okay?” Jaden called from the drop. She’d been trying to rebuild their pulley rig as Fureva-Yung and Marius lowered items and people down via a sling on Fureva-Yung’s cable. “We’re fine. I found the people that live down here,” Nox replied watching with delight as the little creatures capered and danced happily.   Jaden made sure she was next lowered down and was soon by Nox’s side. “I see you’re making friends.” “You always say I should,” Cheekily, Nox replied not taking her eyes off the capering creatures, I am Nox. This is Jaden. What are you called? Yelf, it replied, We are the Unseen. The All-Seer sees all, but does not see us! We are not of the All-Seer, Nox replied as the little people celebrated. “What is the All-Seer?” Jaden asked and Nox pointed out the image of the eye. He sees all, he knows all, Yelf ushered Nox and Jaden forward and pointed to another two images similar to the first. One had the eye looking to the left where tiny people stood. Obviously, the All-Seer watching Yelf and his people. The second image had the tiny people giving a sacrifice to the All-Seer, possibly one of their own? Off to the right, out of sight of the eye, a few tiny figures fled. This is us, we are the Unseen. Ran away when All-Seer not looking. “Interesting, “ Jaden thought, “Do you think we could become Unseen too?” Good idea, Yelf agreed, not offering any suggestions of how that could be achieved. “Where is the All-Seer?” The All-Seer is everywhere. We found some All-Seer eyes and destroyed them, Yelf pointed proudly at the crack in the wall. Through the darkness, the regular rectangle shapes of monitors were visible.   “Jaden, the All-Seer! That could be why the servitors are hunting us!” Nox exclaimed, gaining for herself a stern look from Jaden. “How far away was this?” She asked Yelf. Long, long, long away. We ran and ran. Did not want to be found. Another look. “But, the servitors are coming!” “You’re making something out of nothing. You heard Yelf, their All-Seer is a long way away from here…” I’m sorry, I think maybe something like your All-Seer may be following us, Nox turned to Yelf who physically jumped up in fright. “Nox! Don’t scare these poor people, can’t you see they’re terrified? Please, calm yourselves. What follows us are things of our own creation, not of the All-Seers.” Jaden moved from Nox to Yelf and his people now running around panicking. Not from All-Seer? “No, we made them. They’re nothing to do with the All-Seer.” Jaden repeated and Yelf calmed down a little “What is the All-Seer?” Not what. Is, everywhere. In all machines. Nox gave Jaden a silent look in return.   Yelf lead Jaden and a silent Nox through the crack in the wall and what had once been a monitoring room. Beyond the broken screens, the Yelf had made a home for themselves. A room full of makeshift sleeping areas surrounded a central communal space mostly filled with a construction of junk. A shrine to an unknown god.   “We are being hunted. “ Jaden confessed, looking at the little home the Yelf and his people had made. A door across from the shrine hinted at more further one, but at that moment it looked like a dead end. “What’s through there?” Oh, passage to the All-Seer. Yelf and his brethren quailed. “Do you have somewhere safe to go for a little while?”   Yelf’s big eyes became even larger and Jaden was afraid he’d start panicking again. This is our safe place. “Okay…” Jaden smile encouragingly, trying to look more confident than she felt, “Let’s see what I can do shall we?”   Digging through her pile pocket scraps once more she found string and wedges. “I can build a trap. We can find a place where the rock is loose and set up an avalanche,” she turned to Yelf looking confused and worried, “If anything comes down after us, I will show you how to make the rocks fall, yes?”   Y-es, Yelf did not sound sure of this plan of the strangers.     To be continued….                              

4. Into the Pit

Having explored the towers, the group turn their attention to the pit and the secrets it holds. Nox, haunted by ghosts, is sure what something wonderful was lost forever.   *****************************************************************************************************************************   The remaining white cubes in the catwalk flashed blue and slowly started disappearing. The two cubes in Nox’s hands flashed and disappeared too, taking with them the hologram and the blue humanoid. Nox cried out as if in pain as her hands closed on nothing. She snatched at the air around her, but there was nothing there to grasp. What had been the most exciting find of her young life had evaporated in thin air. Once more, the black sphere around her neck flashed before returning to swirling black.   “Come on, guys. I think we’re done for today?” Marius said, suddenly sounding tired for the first time since the group had fled from Cerelon.   Nox started scanning every surface she could reach for any sign of the cubes, their unique signature or the mysterious blue figure. Occasionally she glanced up to where the figure had last been. Fureva-Yung watched bemused as the infant, in her eyes, snatching and glancing up at nothing.   “Don’t worry, kid. They’ll turn up,” Marius called again, and reluctantly Nox came, her head hung in thought, “Don’t stress.”   As Nox went to walk past Fureva-Yung, she stopped and looked at the giantess thoughtfully. What were you looking for? Huh?? Fureva-Yung replied. She wasn’t the one running around looking at nothing. You asked before what Marius and the rest of us were looking for. But, what were you looking for this morning when you walked to the small tower?   This made Fureva-Yung pause in thought. Because it was there? She thought again, pondering how the idea tasted and chewed on her responsive synth. She finally nodded, Because it was there.   The two walked side by side back to camp, the calm massive muscle woman and the slight girl. Slowly Fureva-Yung could hear Nox’s self-talk, a mix of self-recrimination and questioning that circled the thought, ‘Did I do something wrong?’ Did you break it? Fureva-Yung asked, surprising Nox, who was not used to people hearing her. I don’t know, She finally replied despondently. She could not have been more contrite if she'd confessed to the white cube’s destruction. Was it important? Nox thought of the blue figures she had been seeing. Were they responsible or involved with the Numenera somehow? It was powerful...there’s a...mind behind it. Does it threaten the herd? I don’t know. This was not a concept that Nox had considered. The figures so far had not been evil, and neither had the Numenera found, but they had been spying on Cerelon. I don’t know. Fureva-Yung squared her shoulders. We will find it and kill it. She said it with such confident self-assurance that Nox couldn’t help but feel better.   They continued in silence as the group entered the camp. The others had been busy while the group investigated. Oslo had checked the caravan and made sure it was in good condition for the next leg of the journey, and the Dritmen had found and caught a wild mothekko and were busy hoisting the lizard-like carcass onto a spit. With the mushrooms, Marius had somehow enlarged, the was plenty of food for all, and a celebratory mood broke over the small group of refugees.   It is nice to talk, Fureva-Yung said as the group split up to prepare for the evening meal. It’s nice being heard, Nox added with genuine feeling, I don’t have many people I talk to. Neither do I.   Over the meal, Jaden made herself useful around the camp and relearning all the little tricks to living off the land. When the mushroom stew was ready, there was more than enough to go around. Even Fureva-Yung was given a large bowl. Warm and surprisingly tasty, Fureva-Yung thought it still required crunch and added a few broken sticks.   Marius and the Dritmen fussed over the spit, cooking it for hours until all the subcutaneous fat had rendered throughout the lizard meat. The meat carvers presented Fureva-Yung with the bony head of the lizard as a sort of prize to their best fighter. With a hot tasty meal with real crunch in her belly, Fureva-Yung crashed after dinner. She did not move until morning.   Nox sat quietly, waiting for Jaden to finish. She was desperate to talk to someone about the figures, but she needed Jaden alone. Jaden had the annoying habit of talking aloud, and Nox was certain she didn’t need anyone else, thinking she was seeing ghosts. She watched the tiny community of refugees gather. Some gathered around Oslo and his caravan talking about life on the road. Jaden was with this group, reliving stories from her younger life. Some around the Dritmen and their supply of moonshine that has mysterious appeared with the spit roast. Marius was part of the latter, drinking with his mates when a movement from around the campfire caught his attention. He quickly snatched up a second cup and offered it to Temila, who looked like she may have been turning in for the night.   “You’re a hard lady to get a hold of. I just wanted to thank you for coming to my aid today,” Nox could hear him say as Temila took the cup and sipped the near cleaning fluid. Nox knew the brew from her Father's old stash. Surely, it was what you gave to your enemies as poison, not to a pretty young girl you were thanking. “My pleasure. We need everyone as fit and healthy as possible if we’re going to get through this,” Temila replied politely enough, but Nox noticed that Temila now turned to face Marius, sweeping loose hair off her face with a wave of her hand. “We hadn’t had a chance to get to know each other. Tell me about yourself?”   Nox listened in silence as Temila gave a short history of her life growing up in The Buckles and looking up to Zin Akatoa. Nox knew much of Temila's life story and found it hard to keep her eyes open at this new rendition. “I was always interested in plants and apprentice to Zin had a lot more status than just being '...a girl from The Buckles...’”   Just a girl from the Buckles?Nox’s stomach lurched. She'd never heard Temila speak about life so disparagingly. As she listened and watched, Nox realised the two in some sort of social dance of words and gestures that she had no understanding of. He would move closer, somehow taking up more space than he should. Temila would flutter her eyelids, or at least that’s what it looked like, and look up at Marius with her head off to one side as if exposing her neck to him.   “Zin took over the apothecary, picking up on the research done by the previous owner, Hagin Vash. He’s made great strides in finding a cure for Glowfetcher’s Dreaming as well as reclaiming knowledge from Vash’s old journals.” “I heard about that. It will help a lot of people,” Marius replied, conversationally, but Nox noticed a softness to his voice that didn’t happen when he was talking to the Dritmen, or with her.   Temila and Marius chatted about nothing and everything. Unimportant things about her work with the rich and powerful of Highside Redoubt or discussing people they knew in common. When Temila finally said she better get off to bed and gave Marius a small peck on the cheek good night, Nox was sound asleep, leaning against a dead tree stump.   24/06/152 CF   Nox awoke to condensed dew and rolling down her neck and into her clothes. For a moment, she couldn’t remember why she was outside, instead of in her bed. When she realised her bed was at least three hours walk away. She also remembered she was alone, with not even Father to wonder where she was. That’s not true, She told the nagging voice inside, I've given Fureva-Yung a voice and helped with the Numenera. While there were people around who needed her, she wasn’t alone. Standing creakily from the hard ground, she quickly cleaned herself up before running to find where the others were.   She found a group around the pit, a pentagonal hole between the two towers and the old destroyed building. The pit walls were smooth except where bracing of a now long gone catwalk pot-marked the sides. Also, cut into the walls, were several openings, or rooms, the first being ten metres down. Below all the openings, a dome stretched across the whole pit. Maybe at one time, it had a purpose, now it had several holes through it where things had fallen through.
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Marius and his friend Yitti were looking down the pit as Jaden checked her rope ladder from the day before. She reinforced the top section of rope to stop fraying against the pit’s edge before attaching it to the surface where Marius indicated.   “It’s a little short of that first opening,” He called once the ladder was dropped into the hole, “And I wouldn’t suggest Furry go first.” I will hold the ropes so that she will not fall, Fureva-Yung thought once Nox linked to the large woman. Nox was about to translate when she had an idea. “Mr Marius, do you want to hear Fureva-Yung?” “What do you mean, kid? I hear her just fine. Hard not to when she’s so big. No offence, Furry.” I am big, Fureva-Yung took no offence, in fact preened over the comment. “Do you want to hear her speak?” Nox tried again. It was always like this with adults. They just couldn’t understand things beyond their senses. Marius smiled nervously, “She doesn’t speak.” Nox sighed. She’d tried. Reaching out, she linked with Marius’ mind and made him part of her network. Fureva-Yung will stay here and hold rope. You little ones can go down and see.   Marius blinked. Blinked again.   “Can you see all my thoughts, like read minds?” He said out loud to Nox, who shook her head. Not yet. Marius did a double-take on the slight girl in front of him.   “So...how does this work? Do I have to think at you or something?” Something like that. We only know the things you direct at me. Nox nodded. This is going to be handy. Thanks, kid! He patted her fondly on the head. The touch sent a thrill down Nox’s back.   “So tell me again why you’re going down into this pit?” Jaden asked as first Yitti, then Marius shimmied down the rope. “Because it’s there,” Nox replied, quoting Fureva-Yung from the night before. Be careful little ones. Your tiny bones will shatter if you fall. Marius smiled as he went over the edge, Nah, it’s bottomless. Now that would be an adventure!  
  Marius climbed down the rope in front of the first room. Short of the floor by more than a metre, Marius used his momentum on the rope to swing in, away from the pit. Landing like a gymnast, he noticed the metal under his feet echoed. Keeping that in mind, he squinted through the darkness, seeing that the metal ground went up the walls either side. When he and Yitti investigated, they could see a gap between the wall and what was obvious a sluice that may have moved liquid at one time. Indeed, the end further from the pit was slightly raised.   Hey kid, this is really interesting. Could you come down and see what’s below this thing? “We’ll need to add a few more metres to the rope,” Jaden called back as the rope wriggled back out of sight. It was soon back with Jaden’s light spear attached to the end, “You may find this useful.”     The rope wriggled away again, and the boys started exploring in earnest under the light of Jaden’s spear. The walls were smooth, free of masonry tool marks or stone imperfections. To the right, a twenty by twenty-metre square room held what looked like an old set of stairs. Rubble and rock blocked the stairs in either direction. A little further on, the passage turned left. An opening to their left told them they’d found a way to the second room, slightly lower than the first. A small set of stairs in this room led down to two sheets of metal, hinged at one end and a pile of discarded refuse in the corner. Yitti and Marius tried lifting the sheeting, but rust and crude had seized the mechanism, and it would not budge. Instead, Marius scavenged through the rubbish finding six units of parts, two units of responsive synth and a cypher. Marius found cypher hard to work out. Over the eons, the great civilisations of before had created many crazy things. They all felt a little like magic to Marius, but this one he thought would give a person access to the Datasphere, an almighty collection of information...somewhere else. He tucked it away with the other treasures and kept exploring.   He returned to Yitti in the staircase room and Marius climbed the stairs and started clearing the rubble. With luck, it would lead them back to the surface and provide easy access to the pit and its ruins. His luck was in. He removed one piece of rubble, and the whole fragile conglomerate above his head started to rumble. Sliding down the stairs, he made it back to where Yitti was waiting.   “Quick! See if you can nab a shiny on its way down!” He leaned out to do just that as the whole ceiling collapsed into the stairwell.   On the surface, Nox was sitting back from the activity, watching. Marius had gone quiet, which wasn’t surprising. She could only keep connection with people over a distance of fifteen metres or so, less when rock and walls were in the way. She was so intent on listening for the reconnection that she almost missed the rumbling and the earth sinking around her. Just in time, she rolled out of the way and looked back to see the ground she had been sitting disappear into a square hole, with Marius looking back beaming.   Hey kid, I’ve got something for you, He sent, pulling out the cypher and climbing back up the stairs and rubble. Uh, thank you, Mr Marius, She took the offered cypher and recognised it instantly as a Datasphere siphon, It is very beautiful and powerful. She knew it was good for one question. Like a wish, she could ask whatever she wanted, and the information would be granted. She tucked it away carefully, contemplating the uses she could put such a device.   Fureva-Yung and Jaden looked down the hole, speechless. Their shocked expressions gave Marius pause for thought. I guess I could have done that a little better, He said sheepishly, before remembering what they’d found in the other room, Furry, I have something for you too! We couldn’t get it open. I am much stronger than you are. That you are. A true model of feminism. Fureva-Yung swept a hand over her bald head, pleased with the positive attention.   Now everyone could climb down the staircase and into the first two rooms. As Fureva-Yung moved ahead to see what Marius had for her to lift, Nox hung back, running her hand over the smooth stone of the stairwell. She’d spent a lot of time in the closer reaches of the Crawls Passage and had made scans of the various rock it contained. This smooth surface was unlike anything she’d seen before, and scans showed her there was no erosion or cracking, nothing to help determine its age. When she reached the first room, Marius pointed out the sluice. She scanned the metal floor and walls, determining that there were guide rails on the walls and floor that the metal floor could slide out on.   So it can be pushed out into the pit, Marius deduced, but for what reason? He gave the metal a shove, and the whole sluice slid forward. He put his back into it, and the sluice slid out five metres into the pit before clicking in place. From there, he could see an anchor place for a pulley system high above their heads and determined it was for sending large bulky items down into the pit.   Fureva-Yung was working on the folding metal sheeting. It was seized up, but with Fureva-Yung persistence and prodigious strength, the whole device groaned, squealed and unfolded, moving up and out into the pit. It didn’t reach the other side of the pit twenty-five metres away, but it did go further than the sluice above, reaching out fifteen metres. With Marius standing on the end still in the chamber, Fureva-Yung walked out onto the bridge. It groaned but bore her weight. She jumped, and Marius danger-sense tingled. Ah Furry! He sent as the far end of the bridge started to sag. Fureva-Yung started walking back until the creaks and groans turned into snaps and screams of metal bending, then breaking. Now she ran. Marius stepped off his end as the cantilever was pulled out of the rock, and the whole metal construction fell through the dome and out of sight. A distant clang rang up from the pit a few moments later. The pit was not bottomless. Marius thought that a shame then moved on.   People who made this were not good engineers, Fureva-Yung sent, and Marius had to agree. Though, I can’t imagine they were of your superior bulk.   Now that the metal sheeting was gone, Nox could see the rock underneath. Not intended to be seen, she compared it to the rock and other constructions in the rest of the complex. It was now clear that someone had carved these chambers out of the pit wall a long time after the pit’s construction. Even all the rusted metal and broken remains were much younger than the pit itself. She didn’t know what that meant at the moment, except to say several people had used it over time, and now it was their turn. She let the others know her discovery and followed the others out of the bridge room.  
  The corridor spiralled around to a set of stairs heading down. The stairs opened up into a large room with a cylinder of synth and metal, wrapped all around with piping. The cylinder went from floor to ceiling, dominating the room, encircled by rubble and discards. Off to the right, the glow of daylight showed them they’d entered the next chamber down, one with a little catwalk still holding onto the edge of the pit. Straight ahead, a room filled with rubble was confirmed to be the bottom of the staircase. Pulling away some little of the rubble, Fureva-Yung could see Oslo and the rest of the refugees maneuvering the caravan and its animals down the stairs.   Human! She thought with a shake of her head. Um...I can’t talk to them, Nox replied nervously, unsure herself what had got into the usually sensible people of Cerelon, What would I say? They both stepped away from the stairs and explored the rest of the chamber.   Scanning the cylinder, Nox found it empty except for two paddles that looked like beaters or giant spatulas for mixing liquid. Though there were pipes everywhere, there was no sign of a tap that would have allowed access to the liquid. Marius did note a stain of something on the smooth stone ground, but the liquid that had made the stain was long gone now and unrecognisable.   Marius himself was standing in front of the closed metal doors. They were smooth, without a door handle or lock. When Nox scanned the doors, she could sense the space beyond the room but no way to open it. She listened, her ear pressed to the cold metal and heard nothing until…   Boooom……… Boooooom……… echoed faintly through the ground. It was very far away, a regular beating like the movement of giant feet.   Marius knocked, “Hello!” and the door opened. “There we are. Sometimes, it just pays to be polite,” and he walked in. Before Marius obscured her view, Nox saw the room held only a small console on the far wall. Standing in front, a blue transparent figure worked the controls. As Marius stepped up to the console, the figure disappeared, and Nox remembered to breathe again.   “Excuse me, Mr Marius, could I see the panel,” Nox asked, trying to remember where the figure had been standing, what had they been touching. “Sure, kid.” He replied after making nothing of the switches and dials and checking the piles of refuse for anything useful.   The console held only a few controls. One was for the door that Fureva-Yung now stood between in case they closed again. Another control was for a hexagonal platform in the centre of the room. Flush with the stone, it blended into the floor and wasn’t obvious until Nox went looking. It goes down, She told the group, and Marius rummaged through a pile nearby. Behind him, the pile shifted on its own and started growing. It rose, leaning out like a cresting wave that threatened to engulf him if not for his danger-sense. Pivoting on one leg, he let the rubbish collapse onto the ground in front of him.   “Oh, this is just complete garbage!” He quipped as he and the others spotted two other rubbish piles rise from the ground. Fureva-Yung was quick to unsling her chain. Doubling it up on her fist, she swung on the pile rearing up on Nox. She missed, doing no damage to the thing but succeeded in getting its attention. “I ain’t taking any of your rubbish!” Marius tried stabbing the pile near him with his sword, missed and slipping on loose rubble. Jaden stayed back, trying to poke the pile on her with her spear but hitting nothing of significance.   Making the best of Marius’ near stumble, the rubbish monster reared up again, this time engulfing him, pinning him to the ground. He could not move, he could barely breathe, and that was getting harder by the moment. Terror swept through Nox as the creature nearest her went to do the same. Pushing away her paralysing fear, Nox scuttled away from the pile’s attack. From a distance, she scanned the creature for what kept it all together. She was astounded to discover that it was rubbish all the way through. Some malevolent intellect no matter how small willed the junk together. She did discover the hold on its physical parts was tenuous and could make it fall apart with damage.   “Don’t worry about me. This rubbish can’t keep me down forever,” Marius choked out, and both Nox and Fureva-Yung directed their attacks on the other. Nox Slashed at something vital, rubbish spilled out all over the floor, but it wasn’t until Fureva-Chain smashed through the collection of detritus that it finally lost hold and crumbled into its constituents.   Still trapped, Marius celebrated the freeing of his sword hand, “I’m going to stab it in the goolies!” Marius cried as he lashed out at the pile. The sword brushed across the surface, doing no damage. “I guess it doesn’t have any,” he joked as the pile tightened its grip once more. He could feel the weight of the rubbish pushing down on his chest, trying to press the air out of his lungs. Flexing against the tide, and gaining a little space, he caught a breath of air. Still in the game! It was in that moment’s respite that he recalled the old-timer stories of rubble and detritus pile coming to life. If he lived through this, he’d have his own old-timer stories to tell.   Nox snuck up behind the pile on Marius and dug her dagger in deep. At the same time, slashing and punching and what he thought was the creature’s head, Marius fought his way out. The pile collapsed, and Marius crawled away, bludgeoned but whole. He and Nox rummage what remains of the piles and found two cyphers and a good pile of parts. A third cypher damaged or inherently unstable turned up in Marius’ search, rolling and bouncing until finally....WHOOMP! the cypher imploded, incinerating the trash. A final dramatic end to The Fight of the Rubbish Piles.   It was in the relative quiet of the aftermath that Ralin Ghan skidded into the room from upstairs. “The whole caravan’s had to move. There was a rumbling sound from the mountain. The servitors from the Crawls Passage have escaped and are heading this way.” “We can use the platform here to go further down the pit,” Nox suggested, and Ralin ran back up the stairs to tell the others.   “I have an idea, “ Jaden pulled out two cyphers, a device enhancer and a tube of friction-reducing gel. She followed Ralin back upstairs and up the stairwell, where she started applying the gel to the stairs. “That will slow them down, or keep them moving whatever the case may be.”   Fureva-Yung moved rubble from its current level back up to help block the passage after the shoot where Jaden’s gel was slathered out onto the sluice. With luck, some unsuspecting servitors would slide into the pit itself! As Jaden stood from her work at the top of the stairs, she could just see the top of the ten-metre tall servitor through the trees. Meant for carrying caravans, it would make short work of their small group. It was time to go.   Boooom……...Boooom……… Boooooom………   The two mothekko and the fifteen refugees crammed onto the platform with the caravan. Nox closed the door and then flicked the switch to send the platform down into the depths of the pit facility.   To be continued….        

1. Just another day in Cerelon
22/06/152 CF

22/06/152 CF   The morning light streamed dully through the thin curtain in Nox’s bedroom. She lay on her cot for a moment listening to the sounds of the house. The house was silent. No wind whistled through the loose boards or made the bones of the old shack creak. No food sizzled on the hotplate. The back door did not slam open and closed with a thoughtless movement. What’s more, there were no heavy footsteps of her Father anywhere. In fact, Nox was sure she could hear the soft snoring of her Father from the bedroom opposite hers. As silently as she could, she slipped her bare feet out of bed and, being careful to miss the loose floorboard, walked across the room.   She was alone. She’d woken before her father, and if she was lucky, she’d be out and in Cerelon before he even knew. Quickly, again going around the betrayer floorboard, she grabbed her clothes and shoes and stuffed them into her sachet before sneaking back to her door. Lifting the door, so the hinges wouldn't squeal, she sidled through into the hallway, tip-toeing towards the kitchen. A piece of cured meat, a stale end of bread and a curling piece of cheese were all that was left from the dinner the night before. Grabbing all three and a stoneware bottle of beer she’d hidden from her father, she stuffed these also into her bag and snuck silently out into the morning.   It was early. Long shadows clawed at the dew-heavy grass in their yard. Trying not to shiver, she pulled her clothes and shoes out of her bag she put them on over her nightgown. Once decently, if not respectfully dressed, she started the trip down the hill towards the Caravanserai.   Even here, it was too early for anything interesting. Sometime in the night, the Ghan caravan had made it to town and was parked in their usual spot close to The Wheels Rest. Smoke lazily trickled from the chimney stack on the first covered platform as Oslo Ghan stepped out and stretched in the weak sunlight. A loud bark of laughter and rough voices caused Nox to turn and see a group of miners heading to the quarry for the day shift. She’d seen the three men around. Noisy fellows made noisier by the third newcomer, Marius. She ducked behind the Ghan’s caravan as the men passed once more, talking about the evils of the boars-something. The men may think pigs were evil, but her grumbling stomach told her the hunk of sausage in her bag would be delicious.   “Hey, girl! What are you doing there?” said a young man’s voice, and she turned to see Ralin Ghan and his mother close behind. They’d followed Oslo out of their caravan and had spotted her crouched up against their aneen, a common beast of burden. Nox leapt up and walked away, not daring to look back or make eye contact. “Hey, I said what were you doing?” The voice followed. “Let her be, Ralin. She’s that one Jaden talks about,” Said his mother, Ekarin.   With her heart racing, Nox found an empty market stall and sat cross-legged in the dirt. Bringing her satchel in front of her as a makeshift table, she now took out the food she’d found and broke her fast. By the time she finished, stall owners were starting to set up for the day. It was time to move on again.   Nox wandered around between the two gates of Cerelon. The southern one protected the Buckles District from the dangers of the outside world, and the northern protected the Highside Redoubt from the Buckles. This was her world, the only one she’d known. By the time she’d walked from the top gate to the bottom gate twice, Jaden had finally left her house just outside the north gate and opened up the Wheel's Rest carriage works. Ostensibly there to service the wagons that travelled the wild spaces between points of civilization like Cerelon, the Wheel's Rest was the bower of bits and bobs that Jaden Ventrisen had made for herself over thirty years of living. Once a travelling trader herself, Jaden was still considered a foreigner by most of the town. Like the Ghans, she was something that had to be tolerated if not actually accepted. To Nox, Jaden and the Wheel's Rest had been there forever and was as familiar as everything else in Celeron.   Nox waited for Jaden to unlock the store door and walked in before following her inside and taking a seat on an old rickety stool. “Good morning, Nox. Up early I see,” Said Jaden, starting a fire in the old potbelly stove of the workshop and putting on a pot of coffee. She didn’t turn to face Nox knowing the shy girl was likely to slink away if she felt uncomfortable. An image of the Ghan’s caravan entered Jaden’s mind and she nodded. “Yes, they came in last night. Old Oslo is complaining about some of the floating platforms steering to the left. I’ll be busy with that today if you want to help.” There was a feeling of ambivalence to the suggestion followed by query and an image of a pile of junk Jaden had yet to sort through. “Go right ahead, gods know I won’t get to it today.” She said and put the box of broken cyphers and old-world junk on the bench. One by one Nox pulled the items out with the reverence she seemed to think they deserved as relics of the ancient past. Two piles slowly grew in front of Nox, one of the things that Jaden knew would be rubbish and would recycle for parts, the others...well, they were much like Nox herself, bright sparks hidden in amongst the detritus.   The two spent the day like this. Oslo Ghan came to the store and Jaden found the problem with the caravan’s brake system grabbing on the left. Nox finished sorting the cyphers for iotum before sweeping up the store and making lunch. Together they sat and ate in seeming silence, all the while they kept up a steady stream of thought between the two of them.   Late in what had been an ordinary day, Oslo was back to pick up his wagons and chat with Jaden. An explosion from over the north wall rattled the windows and disturbed the quiet peace of the workshop. “What was that? Something over in Highside Redoubt?” Oslo said, filling the air with his own noise. “What are those priests up to?” Jaden scowled and Nox got off her stool and hid behind the counter, “Good idea, you go downstairs. Oslo, let Ralin and Erkain know there’s a strong room here, Nox can show the way. I’m going to see what those stuck up fools have got themselves into this time.” Jaden follow Oslo out the door of the workshop as Nox pulled a lantern off a hook and moved towards the basement door. As soon as Jaden was out of sight, Nox dropped the lantern at the top of the stairs and scuttled after her into the street. If something interesting was happening in town, she wanted to be there to see it.     Over at the Crawl on Home, the only pub in town, Marius Serik, Yitti Riksho and Orv Telcot were plotting revolution over their cups. As leading figures of the Driftmen’s guild, they took the safety and welfare of all miners very seriously. They also took overthrowing the old order for a new fairer system of government very seriously. One with them preferably on top.   Marius was as usual expounding on the plight of the worker under the uncaring bourgeois management as he spotted one of three servitor robots returning to their table with more drinks. Lucky he did as the servitor seemed to stumble then swing his serving tray straight for Marius’ head. He dived over the table trying to drag Orv down with him. But, Orv’s being a seriously large and heavy specimen didn’t budge and his face was imprinted into the servitors metal tray, knocking him out cold. From below table height, Marius looked around the bar and saw that all the servitors were attacking the patrons of the bar. Grabbing Yitti by the arm, and giving him the semiconscious Orv, Marius spoke to the barroom in general. “The time has come, brothers! The start of the revolution is upon us. Rise up and strike down the oppressors!” And with his last word, he grabbed a chair and swung it at the head of a servitor. It would be the clang heard across Celeron as at the same time, an explosion rocked the inn. The servitor’s head swivelled locking on its new target, Marius Serik.   Jaden was walking towards the north gates with Oslo when their attentions were drawn to the Crawl on Home. “Ralin was heading there,” Oslo said, as he and Jaden veered course and entered the door of the pub. Three servitors were fighting the six or so patrons, bludgeoning them with metal fists and serving trays. Jaden watched the servitors move. They were the usual High Redoubt mechanisms. They always made their robots too top-heavy, never stopping to consider all that weight on the weak knee and ankle joints of the legs. So much for all their exclusionist rubbish.   “Strike the knees!” She informed the room before grabbing a pool cue from the now-abandoned table and sweeping it at the back of the knees of the nearest servitor. For the north, beyond the gates, an ominous pounding started.     Nox scuttled behind the Wheel's Rest and through town stopping beside the door to the pub to see the excitement. Servitors fighting people! It was unheard of! Suddenly, the heavy wood and steel doors of Highside Redoubt buckled out, one falling completely off its hinges. Standing where the doors had held back both Nox’s father and Jaden for so long, a large butler servitor followed by three other domestic robots. Running ahead of them, Temila Ekens ran for her life. Temila lived in the Buckles but often delivered medicial remedies to the stores and citizens of Highside. Now, the butler servitor spotted the movement and gave chase, heading straight past the pub.   Crouching low and waiting her moment, Nox reached out as Temilla ran blindly past. Using her own momentum, she dragged Temilla around the corner of the pub. The group of servitors spotted Nox and was about to give chase when something blotted out the sun. Looming over the two girls, the creature was bigger even than the servitors. It wore thick chains, as wide as Nox’s arms, strapped across her torso. Three pairs of eyes locked on the robot threat, ignoring the girls. Nox gave one look at the being and ran, dragging Temilla along after her. Behind them, as they scampered around a building and out of sight, Nox could hear the heavy slap of flesh against steel.   Inside the pub, Marius took a moment to investigate the first of the fallen servitors. Outwardly they looked normal. But, that all three went berserk at the same time as an explosion from Highside? He could find nothing wrong with its control systems. Marius could only think they must be being overridden by remote control, but that was unthinkable! Something must be controlling them and he was sure that control was up past the gates. Turning to place a hand on Yitti's shoulder he said,"My friend, this isn't the work of our oppressors. There's a time for The Cause, but now is not that time. Now is the time to defend our town."     The crunching metal against outside the pub drew Jaden’s attention as she saw the creature called Fureva grab two of the smaller servitors in her massively muscled arms and smash them together. They collapsed in a pile of broken parts at the feet of the formidable being. As Jaden watched, she saw Nox and another girl from Highside running away and cursed under her breath. As the two remaining servitors were wrestled to the ground by the bar patrons, outside Fureva squared up to the larger butler servitor. The clash of flesh against metal was deafening as Fureva planted her massive tree trunk legs and pushed. At the same time, the butler servitor’s tracks dug into the ground, churning up a dush cloud. Like two great wrestlers, the giant woman and the servitor strained against each other until something had to give. Servos ground to a halt, gearing jammed and snapped, hinges twisted, and the whole arm assembly of the butler servitor pulled out of its socket. Now with a weapon, Fureva raised the arm above her head and beat the butler with it until the robot stopped moving.   Jaden watched on in awe as her fingers fished into her pockets for random pieces of wire and broken cyphers. Servitors don’t attack their owners, and they don’t do it all at once without some sort of signal. Her two clever hands found the parts they needed and put together a simple radio wave receiver. As she applied the last wire, the device whined into life. Turning towards the Northern gates, the device sparked, spluttered, then exploded in her hands. Whatever the signal was, it was coming from Highside.   “Get Orv somewhere safe and then rally the troops to storm the Northern gate,” Marius said to Yitti as he helped him carry Orv out the pub door. “Go to the Wheel’s Rest. There’s an underground shelter,” Jaden called out as the three men passed her. Marius nodded his head and sent his fellow Driftmen ahead. Screams from Highside Redoubt accompanied the groan and rattle of heavy machinery as a massive servitor slowly ground into view at the broken gates. It was the nightsoil servitor. A truck-sized robot usually only out at night and never lumbering menacingly through the Northern gates straight towards the three defenders.   Running through the village, Nox tried to work out where she and Temilla should go to be safe. At first, she headed towards the barracks, where the militia kept their weapons and practised for potential attacks. Besides Jaden’s basement, it was the safest spot in town. Then she remembered there were several servitor sparring robots used to train the volunteers. So she headed towards the market and the dense cluster of canvas tents. Even here, the loading and carrying servitors were attacking the stallholders. Nox dragged Temilla under a canvas wall discovering a long wagon attached to two Mothekko, lizard-like creatures of burden. Scrambling on all fours, the two girls hid under the wagon in silence as screams, and heavy pounding feet filled the air around them.   Putting one finger to her lips in the sign for silence, Nox pointed between hers and Temilla. We heard the explosion! What happened? Nox asked directly to Temilla’s mind. Temilla, who had experienced this before, took a deep breath and focused her thoughts. I don’t know! All the robots just went crazy all at once!   A scream from the other side of the tent alerted the two girls to danger nearby. Suddenly a body fell through the canvas tent wall onto the wagon. RUN! Nox projected, once more grabbing Temilla’s hand and dragging her through to the other side of the wagon. Immediately after, another servitor on tracks rolled up onto the wagon, squashing it flat. As they ran, Nox took a moment to look behind. A few remaining pots of preserve lay in the dust beside their stall. With a small push from her mind, the pot flew up into the air and smashed metres away in the opposite direction. With no more thought for what was behind, the two girls ran blindly back into the heart of town.   Fureva-Yung slung the broken servitor arm onto her shoulder and started jogging up to the North gate, Jaden and Marius close behind. Marius, in particular, wanted in on whatever was happening in Highside Redoubt and quickened his pace as he reached the gate. Using a low street sweeper servitor as a step, he jumped up even further, stepping from robot shoulder to head to upraised arm. Fureva stood in front of the broken gates and grabbed a small servitor and swung it in front of the truck. The Nightsoil truck stopped its lumbering progress and turned its attention to her.   Out of nowhere, Fureva heard a voice of encouragement in her mind, That was amazing! Do that again! Shaking her head, she did just that before the truck servitor picked her up with a claw-like hand and dumped her into the back of the truck.   Running once more past Jaden workshop, Nox told Temilla to hide there in the underground bunker before heading back North to the gate. As scary as things were, she wanted to see how the creature Fureva and people like Marius and Jaden dealt with the crisis. Crouched down beside a building flanking the North gates, Nox saw the marvellous Marius leap from robot to robot before disappearing behind the gate. She witnessed Fureva smash the truck with another servitor and sent her a silent messages of encouragement before the giant woman was picked up by the truck servitor and dumped in the back. Moments later, she heard a cry of anguish as Marius, held up by a leg, was also carried to the back of the truck and dropped. All that was left was Jaden, Oslo and a few other villages coming to the defence of The Buckles against an army of metal servitors.   Closing her eyes and opening her mind, Nox scanned the area in front of her, in particular the truck-like servitor that seemed to have eaten two of the town’s defenders. She realised that the truck servitor was very strong and well built, able to take a lot of damage, but it was very slow. She could see, a spark of energy in the darkness, the mind of the servitor.   Jaden. The monster keeps its brain under the front cab, She sent to Jaden, who was looking at the truck and then up to the wall surrounding the gateway. Nox, Came Jaden’s reply, Can you send a message to the big woman in the back of the truck?   Fureva had been in bad places before. As things went, dumped into the foul sludge of the nightsoil truck did not make it to the top five. The stink was terrible, but it just stank. She moved to a corner, trying to keep out of reach of the grabbing claw. As she did, a cry alerted her, and she looked up in time to see another person drop in from above. Holding her arms out, she caught the falling Marius and put him down gently on his feet.   “Uh, thanks!” He replied, grateful for not splashing into the sewage, “Now what?”   Big lady, Came the voice again into Fureva’s mind, Jaden [image of the woman from the street] says can you throw out one end of your chain [an image of the chains that crossed her chest]. She has an idea. Fureva shrugged a loop of chain over her head and gave one end to Marius. “Uh? You have somethin-?” Marius started taking the offered chain before Fureva picked him up and threw him out of the truck. Marius, too surprised to react, landed heavily with a thud in front of the group of defenders.     The Ghans, Yitti Rikso and two other men were working away at the truck tracks as Jaden looked up at the giant robot, looking for its weaknesses. Just like the servitors in the pub, this truck was top-heavy and, once knocked on its side, could not easily right itself again. Looking up at the stonework around the broken North gate, she wondered what she could do with a few strong hands and a pulley. Hadn’t she seen a chain and pulley on that giant woman, Fureva? Jaden, The monster keeps its brain under the front cab, She heard Nox say in her mind.   Nox, Came Jaden’s reply, Can you send a message to the big woman in the back of the truck?   The chain with the attached Marius was thrown out of the truck, and Jaden organised the villagers to wrap it around the stonework to get ready to pull. Inside the truck, Fureva wrapped the chain around her muscular arms and braced her strong legs against the truck wall. Marius shakily got to his feet and was about to help on the rope when he was once more picked up by the truck and dumped in the back. With Fureva busy, he splashed down into the sewage at her feet.   With a call from Jaden, the defenders of Cerelon all pulled. The truck tipped, lifting off one track, leaning over. The villagers strained, Fureva holding the chain steady inside started walking up the wall, pushing the truck more and more towards its tipping point. All at once, the truck fell to one side, blocking the gateway and spilling watery sewage everywhere. Fureva, already walking up the wall, stepped out of the back of the truck. Marius, shaken and disorientated, sloshed out with the sewage.   The gateway was blocked, the defenders had won a battle, but the war for Celeron belonged to the servitors' and their controllers. Dozens now pushed at the fallen truck and the masonry of the wall. It was only a matter of time before they broke through. In the caravanserai, the servitors patrolled. Broken carts and empty stalls their domain. The mines and the Crawls passage were too dangerous with the industrial servitors who worked those underground passages. Even Temilla and Orv stumbled back to the gate, informing the group that there were servitors digging through underground.   “Jaden, we’re getting out of here,” Oslo Ghan said quietly to Jaden as Fureva helped Marius out of the muck, “I suggest you do the same.” “I think you’re right. Nox! Grab some clothes and food. We’re leaving.” I don’t know where Dad is, Nox sent back, joining her from behind the building. “He’ll be fine. He’s tough.”   Out of several hundred souls that made up Cerelon, only twelve now stood together in front of the North gates and wondered what to do next. Carefully heading back to homes and through the market, they collected what they could from the wreckage of Celeron. Out of the detritus, Nox sorted through broken bits and pieces the group found. Seven cyphers were gathered and shared amongst those willing to carry them. Marius sought out and found a first aid kit, placing it safely with what else he could find. Two broken servitors were scavenged by Jaden and collectively the group found four days of food. Loading up the Ghan’s caravan, the refugees of Celeron left it to the rampaging servitors and head south out of the gates. Marius held back as if waiting for a chance that never seemed to come.   "Couldn't we just wait a while, see if things calm down a bit. Maybe we go through Crawls Passages?" Marius suggested looking back to town. An ominous grumble from the gate to the passages answered his question.   “We can’t take Crawls Passages with the servitors out to get us. My suggestion, we try the Endoval Forest and see what’s beyond it.” Ghan replied, and Jaden nodded her agreement. Fureva shook her head. Have you been through the forest before? Nox asked the giant woman who looked down on the tiny girl through her three sets of eyes and nodded. I’m looking for a flower, Nox replied, stepping back from glare of the huge woman and projecting an image of an embroidered white flower. Fureva shrugged her shoulders.   Marius, his friend and the few quarrymen they’d gathered finally agreed to set out for the Grey Tower, a dark blot on the skyline ahead.     To be continued...    

3. Under the Two Towers

A new day. The first full day outside the walls of Cerelon since the flight. The tiny group of refugees start exploring their new temporary homes in the hopes of finding useful items, discoveries and even answers.   ***********************************************************************   Fureva-Yung watched the others portion out their meagre breakfasts of dried fruit, jerky and cooked oats, and her stomach growled. She’d noticed the other refugees ate nothing else but the few provisions they’d brought with them. Fureva-Yung knew that other things were tasty too. Her stick was quite delicious but not nutritious. The tick had been good, and the few berries she’d found walking around that morning had gone down well, but they weren’t enough. At least there was her piece of synth, she enjoyed the wriggling sensation as she chewed it.   That morning Fureva-Yung wanted to investigate the towers, starting with the smaller of the two. She was curious about the buildings and their original purpose so close to town. She left the campgrounds and started towards the tower, chewing on her synth all the while.   Marius too, was keen to discover what treasures the old worlds had left behind in the old towers. Ever since learning about their existence, he’d wanted to explore this untouched piece of the past. Eating breakfast, Marius noticed 'Furry' leave the camp and head towards the smaller tower. With a quick excuse to Yitti and Orv, he followed after.   Temila had done what she could for Nox after the tick incident. She’d left the younger girl with a bowl of porridge, and a promise to check in on her after breakfast had been cleared away. Quietly thanking Temila for looking after her, Nox ate her breakfast, watching Marius from her hiding place under the caravan. He was standing with the other miners eating breakfast and chatting. She wasn’t sure why, but she found the older man fascinating. He was animated and friendly, interested in others opinions and always seem to have something positive to say. She remembered the feeling of his work-hardened arms, so different from her soft ones. As she watched, something caught his eye. He excused himself from the others and left the camp. Forgetting the rest of her breakfast, she scrambled under the hovering caravan platforms after him.   The tower was not in good condition. Even from the outside, Fureva-Yung could see the missing roof and the rubble blocking the door. Mostly rock and synth, the rubble was loose and tumbled as Fureva-Yung climbed over the top and into the tower proper. Inside, the framework for catwalks still clung to places, giving a sense that humanoids could climb to the very top of the structure at one time. Now all rusted and collapsing, the catwalk was good for nothing but holding up two ends of a synth sheeting that hung like a tapestry against the wall. Big enough to span the whole tower, the sheeting was too light and flexible to have once been flooring. Fureva-Yung went over to investigate.   When Marius arrived at the tower, his eyes alighted on the pile of rubble. An expert scavenger and hunter of Numenera, he knew that such piles could contain dozens of iota or, if he was lucky, an intact cypher. “Hey, Furry, what are you looking for?” He called as he picked through the pile, putting aside anything that could be of worth. Fureva-Yung, as usual, said nothing, just shrugged her shoulders. “She says, Something...anything,” Said a small voice from beside the door. Marius spun around and spied Nox, a little paler than usual but doing better than last he saw her. “Ur...thanks, kid,” He acknowledged the translation and went back to the rubble. As he shifted rocks that took two hands to lift, he noticed two tiny lines of animated pebbles moving either to his sorting piles. “Are you doing that?” He asked Nox, who ducked around behind the door, a slow grin lighting her face.   Fureva-Yung had reached the sheeting and poked it with her stick. It waved gently under the action and settled back to where it had been. She reached out a hand and made a huff of surprise as the surface of the sheeting was much colder than the surrounding air. She tried the other side and discovered it was warmer, at least ambient temperature.   Marius was also discovering things. He’d cleared an area in front of the door of rubble and revealed a thick root. As he and Nox watched, the root slithered back into the rubble pile. “Hey, Furry, come and look at this?” He called, and Nox projected an image of what they’d seen to Fureva-Yung. Maybe it wants to be left alone, Fureva-Yung said to Nox, Why do you want to look at it? I don’t know. You should ask Marius, Nox replied before realising, Oh, you can’t speak. Fureva-Yung rolled her eyes. “Um...Marius. Fureva-Yung thinks it should be left alone.” “What? No!” Marius was bent over, pulling aside rocks and rubble without concern, “This is incredible!” Fureva-Yung shrugged and started digging beside Marius. “Don’t speak much, huh?” Marius asked. Fureva-Yung looked at him in silence a moment, then continued the digging. Marius was about to continue his train of thought with his silent compatriot when an ear-piercing scream rattled out from under the rubble. Everyone clutched their heads, trying to block the sound. Nox reeled back, screaming herself against the sound as it echoed through her mind.   From the pile, a root reached out and sought the cause of its disturbance. It found Marius’ leg and pulled. Before he or Fureva-Yung knew what was happening, Marius was yanked off his feet and dragged waist-deep into the pile of rubble. Fureva-Yung snatched out with one meaty paw and grabbed Marius by the collar. At the resistance, the root let go, and Fureva-Yung carefully placed Marius back on his feet.   “Well, that was an adventure!” Marius said, noting the still cowering Nox, hands pressing into her head, “Hey kid, are you okay?” His step closer to Nox alerted the creature to his presence, and once more, a root lashed out and caught him around the legs.   Over at the camp, Jaden was starting the day looking at the plans for her caravan, a land vehicle that would be vital for the survival of the small community of survivors. With the materials she’d saved from her workshop, and those gathered from the broken servitors, she was confident she could at least make a start. She was about to find Nox to help when a shrill screaming rang from the smaller ruined tower to the southeast of the camp. Without another thought, she grabbed her light spear from the night before and ran to investigate.   She found Nox crouched outside the tower, her hands pressed over her ears. Just inside, Fureva-Yung held Marius under the arms as he was dragged into a pile of rubble. Now chest-deep in the rock and synth, Jaden could just see the root that was twisted around his legs, drawing him in. Grabbing a sharp piece of scrap from the pile, she tied it expertly to the shaft of her light spear. Using it as a makeshift axe, she hacked through the root, freeing him once more.   “What is that thing?” She asked, looking from the now calmer Nox to Fureva-Yung and finally Marius. Nox focused her thoughts on the rubble, looking for the living creature within. Following the roots back, back within the pile, she found a mass of roots, a tangle that formed eyes, a snout and beak of sharp teeth. It was a skull, made entirely of root and vines, twisted and knotted. Eight large tentacles radiated from the skull like the arms of a giant octopus. “It...it’s a...skull! In the rubble...the roots make a skull!” She said out loud to Jaden’s query, providing an image of the creature to Fureva-Yung. “Figures,” Marius replied, “An ambush predator like this could have been doing this for years.”   The enemy now revealed, Fureva-Yung grabbed one of three snaking roots peaking from the rubble and started pulling the creature from the pile. “You can do this!” Marius encouraged the warrior woman and went to help as something else slunk through the pile towards him. Another two roots reached for him and Jaden, and though ready for the creature’s sneak attacks, both were caught up and dragged off their feet. Having twice escaped the creature’s grasp, Marius was flung up in the air by the root and slammed down onto the rubble-strewn ground, the wind knocked out of him.   Seeing Jaden in trouble, Nox tried starting a fire against the root holding her friend with Hedge Magic. The spark did nothing to the root, but the spot of bright light and heat surprised the creature into letting Jaden go. They scrambled back as Fureva-Yung skidded against the rocks and rubble under her wide feet. She needed more traction, more weight. The root wrapped around one strong arm, she reached into her pack with the other, pulled out a growth harness cypher, and quickly threw it on. Fureva-Yung grew, doubling her size and weight. Now she grabbed the root with both hands and pulled. Against the larger mass, the creature could not hold, and she slowly pulled it out of the rubble to the empty ground outside the tower.   Now everyone could see the twisted knot of roots that made up the maddening skull of an unknown beast. It snapped its beak full of teeth-like roots and whipped its tentacles at its four attackers. Augh! It’s cute! Fureva-Yung said, making Nox shake her head in silent disagreement. It was not cute, but horrifying as the root holding Marius once more pulled him up into the air.   “Sorry, Mother!” Marius cried, pulling out his sword to try cutting away the root making paste out of him. Something glinted from the rubble pile he swung by, “Oh shiny!” Marius lost focus, and his sword missed its mark. The root pulled back as if ready to throw Marius against the wall. Jaden used her distance to get up, grabbed a useful looking rock and tried clubbing the rock holding Marius. The root’s change in tactic meant she missed her mark, but Marius, sensing the change, twisted in the air and grabbed hold of the tentacle as it let him go. “Not today, Mother!” He cried as he flew back through the air, trailing the root. With one hand on the root, the other hand swung his sword and cut the appendage in half. Now only under momentum, Marius landed and rolled to a stop, turning to see Fureva-Yung take off her chain.   The enemy was out in the light, Fureva-Yung wrapped the ends of her heavy chain around her fist. Bringing all her extra height and strength to bear, she leapt up, swung it overhand and brought the chain down on the skull. The creature, reacting simultaneously, lashed out and smacked Fureva-Yung, both blows sending whipcrack shockwaves through the battlefield.   Marius was free. Sprinting the short distance back to the skull, he plunged his sword hilt deep into the root ball that made up the skull. Nox lit another spark, this time in the eye socket, giving that eye a semblance of malevolent intelligence the creature didn’t possess. Jaden once more picked up her spear and tried plunging it into the rootball. “Ah-ha! That’s shedding some light on the situation!” Quipped Marius as the creature moved to make another attack.   Rearing up on four sturdy roots, the skulls exposed the beak of teeth-like roots. It snapped out at Fureva-Yung, sinking its fangs into her skin and injecting a sticky green sap. Fureva-Yung could feel her senses slow, her limbs becoming heavier. It made her feel weak and stupid, and she hated it. Grinding her teeth, she snorted. Her eyes bulged in anger.   Marius swung again, this time at the beak. The blow made the creature squeal again, sending both Jaden and Nox reeling back as if hit by blow themselves. Forgetting her weapon, Foreva-Yung brought her two massive fists down on the skull in a double blow. Something deep within the skull snapped like broken branches, and for the first time, the creature looked in bad shape. Grabbing for a disorientated Nox in one root, it started dragging itself away into the forest. With just enough presence of mind, Nox rolled away and out of the root's clutches. Now, without even a snack, the empty root lashed out at Marius. Marius once more plunged his sword down deep into the skull, severing vital roots holding the whole thing together. The creature slumped to the ground, where Marius put a foot on its head and struck a heroic pose.   “Well done, team! We killed it!” And as he spoke, everyone in the group felt reinvigorated, their wounds and bruises healing.   Nox rushed to Jaden’s side, who was still dizzy from the sonic attack. That thing was scary! Are there more things like that out here? She thought, giving the impression she meant the whole world outside the gates of Cerelon. “Yes, you get used to it,” Jaden replied in her no-nonsense way. “Yes, you get used to it, or you die,” Marius laughed out of the sheer joy of being alive. “Marius, I wasn’t going to say it like that!” “Well,” Marius now a little chastened, “Those that don’t get used to things, die.” Nox sat silently, eyes wide, looking at the dead beast in wonder and awe.   Fureva-Yung, her anger cooling and the poison still making her move slower than she’d like, went for a closer look at the dead thing. Though the roots looked like normal tree roots, the material was heavy and more like rock than wood. She put a broken piece in her mouth to taste and had to spit it out. It was like eating rock! Fureva-Yung not feeling well, She said, as she swayed on her feet. “I think it was when the thing bit her,” Nox suggested to Jaden, who pulled out a Cypher scavenged from Cerelon and handed it to Fureva-Yung. “Try this. If it was a poison, this should help.”   Fureva-Yung took the vial of liquid and container and ate it. Soon, the warrior was feeling better and nodded her thanks to Jaden. Now more herself, Fureva-Yung went back into the tower to check out the sheeting she’d found. “Fureva-Yung has something to show you,” Nox translated as Jaden got up and followed Fureva-Yung into the tower.   Fureva-Yung had already pulled the sheet off the crumbling catwalk as Jaden came over to examine it.   “Extraordinary. There’s an energy transfer here,” Jaden gestured to Nox to come over, “Feel the heat difference from front to back. And here, if you look closely, it’s made of tiny tubing. What do you see?”   Nox scanned the material closely and followed the flow of energy up the sheeting. Between her intuitive knowledge of the Numenera and Jaden’s engineering skills, they deduced what the sheet could do. “Moisture from the surroundings is drawn into the tubes by the movement of energy through the sheet. At one end, you could have a contaminated water supply on the other, clean water. This could solve one of our problems. How we would secure clean drinking water?” Jaden explained excitedly.     As exciting as Jaden’s discovery was, Marius and Fureva-Yung had other things on their minds. Marius was collecting those ‘shinys’ he’d seen in the rubble pile, making a good stack of iotum. Fureva-Yung was setting her sights higher, straight to the top, in fact. With her extra height from the cypher and a good running jump, she made it to the bottom of the catwalk. Slowly, picking her places, she climbed up to a vantage point where the wall had broken away with part of the roof, and she could see over the treetops for miles around. Past the forest towards the mountains, she could see the brown smudge on the landscape that was Cerelon. Though she could see no details, there was movement from the Buckles to Highside Redoubt. When a glint of metal showed the servitors were organising the movement, it became a little clearer what was happening. Humans. Humans being gathered. “What?” After Nox informed them of what Fureva-Yung had seen, Marius asked, “There are people still in town?” “Seems like it, “ Jaden replied, looking up at Fureva-Yung, “How many do you see?” More than ten “Where are they taking them?” Top bit. “So, the servitors are still running and are now under some control,” Said Marius as Furea-Yung started her climb down.   Fureva-Yung and Nox rolled the sheeting, making a tube four metres long. “We can probably cut that up for use,” Jaden mused, seeing how cumbersome the sheeting was to move, “We could have several water purification stations running at the same time.”   Without too much discussion, the small group walked across to the second and larger tower. Here time and the elements had been kinder, and the building was mostly intact, at least from the outside. Marius and Jaden entered first, followed more tentatively by Fureva-Yung and Nox. What are they looking for? Fureva-Yung asked her young friend. Useful things. Like your sheet, Nox replied, pointing to the roll. Like chew? Fureva-Yung pulled out the black piece of synth and proudly displayed it to Nox. Yes, Nox smiled at her big friend’s enjoyment.   Inside the tower, the catwalks were in worse condition than the first. At one time, three rings of catwalks had climbed up through the inside of the tower. Now remnants of the three and their connecting staircases survived, the lowest an impressive seven metres off the ground. Small white cubes were attached at regular intervals on the uprights of the catwalk, making Marius’s scavenger senses tingle.   “I could probably rig up a simple ladder, “ Jaden thought and left the tower in search of materials.   Tell the one with the sword I can throw her up, Fureva-Yung thought to Nox, who nearly laughed at the image of Marius as a woman. “Marius, would you like to be thrown up there by Fureva-Yung?” Nox translated for Marius turned eagerly from examining the heights above him. Fureva-Yung laced her fingers together and gestured to show the action she intended to do. “Looks to me to be just the ticket. Okay, Furry, we can do this!” Yes, we can, she is very small. Now Nox did laugh, the tinkling sound echoing through the tower.   Fureva-Yung placed herself under the lowest piece of the catwalk and bent her knees, ready. Marius stepped back a few paces, then sprinted for Fureva-Yung. Marius stepped up, and Fureva-Yung lifted him straight into the air. At the top of Fureva-Yung’s lift, Marius sprung up another metre. Even then, the catwalk was only just in range, and Marius caught it like they’d been practising this trick for years. Using his momentum, Marius lightly swung himself up onto the catwalk, waving to the others from the ground. Above him, the white boxes glowed, coming to life.   Suddenly, instead of seeing his friends below, Marius could see an image of Cerelon from above. Numbers and coded information streamed down the sides of the image, which was a birds-eye view of the town and the surrounding area. Marius’ eyes focused on the Temple of the Devotees with a cross symbol above it, three lines radiating out into the wilderness beyond.   “It seems to be analysing something,” Marius said after he’d explained to those below what he saw. Fureva-Yung looked to her forearm, revealing the cross symbol tattoo. “Does the cross look like this?” Nox translated for Marius. It was hard to tell at the distance, but he thought that the cross on Fureva-Yung’s arm and that over the Temple looked similar.   The worn and rusted catwalk had held Marius with protests up to now. Suddenly, the metal started giving away, sagging at the unexpected weight and breaking altogether. Marius was tipped backwards from his perch and spared a crash onto the dirt and debris only by Fureva-Yung’s strong arms. A cube on the same piece of catwalk also came free and was caught by the quick hands of Nox, who held it in two hands like a fallen baby bird. The holographic image had disappeared with the collapsing catwalk, but the small cube, pulsed blue and from under her shirt, a blue flash responded.   “What did I miss?” Jaden was standing in the doorway of the tower, a rope ladder partially constructed. “My...my…” Nox tipped the cube into one hand as she scrambled to find her pendant with the other. The pendant was, as usual, black and lifeless, the inside swirling against the black exterior under her scan. “I saw this,” Marius quickly pulled a small notebook from his backpack and started sketching what he saw, “It was Cerelon, but from really high up.” He gestured to Nox, who was looking from the cube to her pendant, “Show me that cube? Let's see what we can get out of it.”   Like she had been electrocuted, Nox jumped out of Marius’ reach, hiding the cube behind her. But if it is broken… Fureva-Yung started before Nox replied. “It’s...sleeping.”   For the moment, Nox was left with the cube as Jaden’s ladder was completed. She’d added scrap metal to the top to act as hooks to whatever was left of the catwalk. The rest was twp ropes with branches and flat scrap for treads woven and tied into it. With a few practise swings, Fureva-Yung was able to hook it a little higher up than Marius had been standing, and she started climbing up to take a look herself. The ladder made for someone more Marius’ size than Fureva-Yung’s, swayed and groaned. She tried to speed up her climb but only created sympathetic vibrations to pulse through the whole fragile catwalk. When she missed a step, falling a short way, the shock was finally too much for the whole system, which was yanked out of the wall and crashed down to the ground. Jaden was outside the tower, and Marius could get out of the way, but Nox, who had been closest to Fureva-Yung, was caught under scaffolding. Fureva-Yung battered and scarred from the day’s activities, quickly picked herself up and threw the scaffolding off the tiny Nox, still clutching the cube.   From a pouch she kept at her side, Fureva-Yung withdrew a cypher. Activating it, she pressed it to the crumpled form of Nox. Nox’s eyes fluttered open, and she saw the big woman’s concerned expression floating above her. You saved me. You didn’t need to. That was your cypher. Fureva-Yung shrugged. The infant was hurt—my fault. But you are our strong woman, and you’re even more hurt. Nox laid her hand on Fureva-Yung’s, barely stretching over two fingers and extended their telepathic link with a push of her mind. Now, if you even need me to get out of the way, you can. Fureva-Yung shrugged again. She helped Nox up as Marius ran over and pulled out his first aid kit. “I’ll go get Temila. She can help you,” Nox said out loud before running back to camp to find the healer.   “You look like you could do with a little more than just first aid,” Marius said, as the mysterious pulse of health radiated from him, healing many of Fureva-Yung’s wounds. An odd popping and wheezing sounds suddenly came from Marius, and he bolted in surprise for the door. Behind him, amongst the tower’s rubble, three mushrooms began growing at an impossible rate and were seemingly sprouting legs. “Oh good, you found dinner. Well, that’s our food issues sorted out for today!” Jaden said, looking pleased with the proceedings.   Fureva-Yung looked from the mushrooms to Marius, who was outside the tower, looking guiltily in at what he’d started. Did she make this happen on purpose? Fureva-Yung thought. Certainly, as she watched him, Marius did not attack the Mushroom people, clearly now sprouting arms. Jaden did, however, try to skewer one on her spear. In response, the four mushrooms shook in unison, and a cloud of spores floated up and into the air around them. Fureva-Yung, closest to the fungus, took in a lungful of the spores, but with the cypher to counteract poisons still flowing through her veins, the spore had no effect.   “Okay, everyone out!” Marius called Fureva-Yung did as suggested. The mushrooms, now with fully functional limbs chased after, flailing stubby limbs. One tried hitting Jaden and Marius, both missed, but the bigger target of Furvea-Yung was being pummeled from two directions at once. With the swing of her light spear, Jaden got lucky and struck an arm off the one attacking her. Marius was less lucky when his mushroom shook once more.   Suddenly the fight went out of Marius, and he stood looking dazed and concerned for the mushrooms. “They just want to be friends,” He said, slow and disconnected, “I wanted to make stew, but they didn’t want me to,” Marius continued to rant as Nox returned with Temila. Unsure what to make of Marius’ words, Nox tried making a telepathic link with the mushroom advancing on Jaden. She found nothing, not even the flicker of animal intelligence. Instead, she slunk around behind the mushroom and, without her little knife, started slicing it up.   Jaden and Fureva-Yung soon had the three mushrooms cut down to size. Temila, by this time, had pulled the swooning Marius out of the fight. With a clumsy stumble, he fell into her arms. It was only as she gently lay him on the ground that she saw Marius grinning up at her, completely lucid. “Oh, you!” She complained, checking for injuries before moving to the others.   Good food? Fureva-Yung asked as the last mushroom was cut down. Nox nodded excitedly. Yes, these are very good food once the bitter skin is peeled. She had helped take down Jaden’s mushroom, and the adrenaline sent her mind spinning. She giggled, I guess we’ve already done that!   Fureva-Yung and Nox looked inside the tower. No more mushrooms. Why did Marius make the mushroom men? How? I wasn’t here, Nox replied as the two of them silently picked through the litter of broken catwalk. What happened? He was healing. He does something, makes the pain go away. But this time, it made a noise. Like what? Fureva-Yung recollected the snapping noise, and Nox nodded. Like electrical discharge? Maybe Numenera discharge? Fureva-Yung shrugged, Don’t know.   They looked through the rubble and found another white cube. Nox put both side by side in her hands and thought. He’s very clever, though, She thought, remembering that Marius had seen the potential within the rubble from the start. They look very good to eat, Fureva-Yung said, her mind on something else. What? Marius? Nox found the thought odd but darkly intriguing. She kept it to herself.   She looked down at the two projectors in her hands. If a whole group of these cubes could work together up on the catwalk, she wondered if these two alone could work together. She put a cube in each hand and slowly pulled them apart, always trying to keep them on the same plane. Suddenly an image flickered between the two cubes, a view of inside the tower from above. Fureva-Yung waved her hands, and they both saw a tiny Fureva-Yung in the hologram waving a few seconds later. “A little delay, but no more than you’d expect,” Jaden said matter of factly as she came up beside Nox. She pointed up to where the image seemed to be coming from. The tiny Jaden also did, but her finger wasn’t pointed at the camera but slightly to the right. She adjusted her position, and everyone, including Marius, now looked up at where she was pointing.   Nothing. Two metres above the second walkway, almost 15 meters up, there was nothing but an empty catwalk. At least that's what the others saw. When Nox looked up at where the image must be projected from, all she could see was a ghostly blue face and amorphous blue light body. She squeaked in surprise, realising she was the only one to see the humanoid and tried to keep still. Slowly, the vantage point of the hologram changed to be just above Jaden’s line. Everyone looked, following the movement, all eyes searching for something to give away the presence of a robot or living being. Nothing.   The remaining white cubes in the catwalk flashed blue and slowly started disappearing. The two cubes flashed and slowly disappeared in her hands, taking with them the hologram and the blue humanoid. Nox cried out as if in pain as her hands closed on nothing, taking from her the most beautiful Numenera she had ever seen. She snatched at the air around her, but there was nothing there to grasp. What had been the most exciting find of her young life had evaporated in thin air. Once more, the black sphere around her neck flashed again before returning to swirling black.   “Come on, guys. I think we’re done for today?” Marius said, suddenly sounding tired for the first time since the group had fled from Cerelon.   To be continued…                  

2.The Grey Towers of Endoval

The caravan of survivors walked in silence. Only the occasional sniffle, groan, or hushed conversation broke the rhythm of their passing. From their homes, they’d been able to salvage scraps of clothing, a few cyphers, a couple of wrecked servitors and four days food. The groaning from the Crawls Passage chased them into the Endoval Forest under the tall canopies of the ancient trees. Ahead, The Endoval towers loomed over the tree-tops, guiding the way. With no better destination in mind, no one questioned the wisdom of heading into the dreaded Endoval Forest.   Marius Sendak and his Dritmen made up the bulk of the caravan with five members. Then came the Oslo family and Jaden, caravaners and travellers of old. The remaining were various town folks. Hulik Crovan, an injured member of the town militia, struggled to keep up with the caravan, leaned heavily on his staff tipped with a black Margr horn. The giant woman who worked up on the Spectral Plateau silently plodded along, occasionally picking up a herb, grass or leaf and eating it without interest. As the group entered the forest, she had pulled down a low branch from a tree and even now casually pulled leaves off and ate them as she walked.   That left Temila and Nox walking together through the caravan. Temila was five years older than Nox, having taken up an apprenticeship with the Apothecary several years before. Though they’d known each other all their lives, they had little but a shared interest in plants in common. Temila from a medicinal standpoint. Nox from a more personal one.   Nox searched for Jaden walking with the Oslo’s ahead, deep in conversation. She glanced across to the oddly gallant Marius rallying the Dritmen and encouraging Yitti to sing a marching song to boost morale.   “Oh, I’m sorry I hadn’t noticed,” Nox heard Temila say. Turning, Nox saw the strange woman with the six eyes poking at a wound on her arm, ”Um, please, I have medicine that can help with that.”   Temila stepped up towards the woman, who instantly brought the stick around between them.   She wants to help, Nox created a link to the woman’s mind bringing up an image of Temila treating the wound, She has good medicine. The large woman turned to Nox, making her shrink away behind Temila. The woman looked at the wound on her arm, a nasty gash, and shrugged. She didn’t seem to think it was such a problem. “Please, “ Temila held up a small pot of ointment, an antibacterial herbal mix the apothecary had been renowned for. The woman shrugged and crouched so Temila could reach the wound. “Now, this may sting,” Temila said, not seeming intimidated by the woman’s strength and ferocity.   As she worked, Nox got up the courage to ask Temila what had been worrying her for the last few hours, “Temila, is Erinai angry with us?” “Why would Erinai be angry with us?” Temila replied absentmindedly, applying the ointment. The big woman tensed but did not lash out. “Erinai protects the machines. They inspire their creation. Maybe they are angry at us and sent the servitors to…punish us.”   Temila thought on Nox’s words a moment as the woman tasted a little of the ointment and stood, bowing to Temila in thanks. It was a fact that the Devotees of Erinai were the local religion of Cerelon, its members making up the elite of Cerelon society. It was also true nearly everything about the creation of servitors was a jealously guarded secret of the Devotees. Eventually, she shook her head.   “I saw the servitors attacking the temple as well as other buildings in Highside Redoubt. They didn’t seem to know or care that it was Erinai’s sacred place.” “You were in Highside during the attack?” A man’s voice interrupted the conversation. Marius lithely moved across to the two girls. Noxslunk around behind Temila. “Yes, Temila turned to address the Dritmen leader, ” I was delivering medicine.” “What happened in there?” “I don’t know. I keep thinking it over, wondering if I missed something. It just seemed like an ordinary day...until it wasn’t.” “Was anyone in there fighting the servitor?” “Some fought. Some ran,” Temila stopped in her tracks as the memories of just a few hours ago washed over her again, “There were so many servitors. I never knew there were so many…” “What if we asked a Huln? Or maybe Aunty Ivasha?” Nox asked from behind Temila, referring to senior members of Cerelon and the Devotees, Ivasha being her Father’s sister and the family’s bright hope. “But, how could we contact them, Nox?” Temila turned to her, and Nox slunk away, admitting that she had no connection with her aunty and certainly none with the illustrious Huln’s. “Don’t worry about it, kid,” Marius addressed Nox, reaching out to tousle her hair as if she were a kid. She shrank away from his hand, “The servitors were remotely controlled. Someone’s done a number on our town.” “The whole town?” Nox whispered in awe of what Marius was saying. Who would hate Cerelon and all its citizens enough to send the servitors against them? It was like wondering who would want to destroy the world?   Something rustled in the bushes nearby, and the group stopped to stare. The big woman was on guard again, ready for a sudden attack. Nox slipped around behind everyone and came up behind the bush, peering in to see what was hiding there. Huge bat-like ears flicked towards Nox. Dog-sized and covered in colourful spikes like an exotic reptile, the seskie responded to her appearance. Two large eyes turned to regard Nox with suspicion. Nudj? Nox sent to the nervous creature, and it cocked its head in surprise at sensing its name. “It’s Nudj,” She confirmed out loud to the gathering group, reassuring the big woman that the creature was known and not to be harmed. Fureva shrugged and stood down as Hulik hobbled over on hearing his pet’s name. The seskie ran for its master, and the two were once more reunited. Hope renewed that more survivors had made it so far, and the caravan continued towards the towers.   Again, the discussion petered out, and Marius went back to walking with the Dritmen. Temila started moving through the caravan, looking for the injured, and Nox followed like a lost thing. Slowly, her eye caught the path the group were making through the forest, breaking branches, disturbing the leaf litter to expose the rich earth below. Her curious mind started looking for evidence that others had also passed that way. As she bent down to examine a scuff mark on a tree, a movement in the corner of her eye caught her attention. Standing, she saw a figure, ghostly blue with lines of energy running through them. As soon as she caught sight of the being, it rushed across the intervening distance and preternatural speed. Nox instinctually shied like a wild thing, leaping up and disappearing behind a bush as the ghostly being reached the spot she had just been standing and disappeared. From under her clothing, Nox heard a tiny ping. She pulled at her neckline and reached for a leather cord, tugging it out from under layers of clothing. At the end of the cord was a small black glass ball about the size of a small coin.   It was the only thing, besides memories, that she had from her mother. She had looked at it many times, scanning past its dark translucent surface to wonder at the unknowable interior. She did it now, reaching out with her mind to understand and found it the same as it had always been. Dark and mysterious. She was sure it had made a noise when that spirit disappeared. At least she had been.   Suddenly she was aware the caravan was leaving her behind. Stuffing the pendant back under her clothes and careful not to step where the ghost had been, she raced back to find Temila in the caravan.     Jaden was feeling sick and tired. It had been more than thirty years since she’d travelled with the caravans, and her old body protested the abuse. On top of that, her hands throb from the burns she’d sustained during the fight. Every action with them was an exercise in mental distraction. To keep her mind off the constant bodily complaints, she focused on remembering her survival training from long years ago. They had four days of food and water. If they could hunt and find a water supply here in the forest, that could stretch it out to maybe a week. The problem was, very few knew anything about the Endoval Forest. Where to find water, food or shelter, as well as what its dangers were. When she considered the caravan’s future, she shivered.   “Excuse, Jaden,” It was Temila shadowed by a more than usually spooked Nox, “You’re hurt. I have a little medicine.” Temila held up her jar of ointment and gestured to Jadens’ hands. “The gods love you, Temila! I haven’t given my hands a moment’s thought myself. Now Jaden looked down at her hands. Where the receiver had exploded, the skin was scorched and blistered. The injuries were not so severe as to damage her clever hands permanently, but just the sight of them made her light-headed. She gladly subjected herself to Temila gentle touch and contemplated Nox’s current state. Through their unusual connection, Jaden could feel the fear and confusion from Nox but not understand its context. Everything was new to the girl, who generally had problems dealing with the simplest of conflict. It was not unreasonable to think she would be upset at losing everything she’d known.   For Jaden, it was a bittersweet ending to her life in Cerelon. Life there hadn’t always been fair, but it had been mostly good, and she’d built herself a comfortable home. But, she’d been planning to leave with the Oslo family next trip around, or maybe the one after that. She had a travelling machine plan ready to go and started asking for interest in buying the business. Now, she wished her plans had been a little further along, her travelling machine built and available for this trip out into the unknown.   Ahead, the trees thinned and revealed a large clearing where the grey panelled towers of Endoval stood. Made not of stone or wood, the tower was built of a manufactured sheeting, the same uniform grey. Pipping ran up the sides of the tower and added features to a featureless monolith. Further along in what looked to be the remains of another building, a three-metre tall black crystal hovered above the ground. The remains of the building gave the impression that an explosion starting at the crystal had blown the building apart. Beyond, a black pit yawned darkly, surrounded by the remains of walkways and ladders that seemed to head down into the depths. As intriguing as all these things were, they were all forgotten for four individuals.   Besides the broken crystal building, two Cerelon survivors grimly fought two servitors for their lives. “Come on all!” Marius shouted, and all five of the Dritmen ran into battle. Marius aided the woman with what looked like a beauty servitor, wickedly sharp scissors snapping. Orv reached the lifting servitor attacking the man by throwing a rock into its gears before moving into melee. From his experience in the bar, he came in sweeping the machine’s feet out from under it, sending the robot sprawling on the ground. Jaden watched the fight and noticed the lifter’s tracks were already damaged on one side, making it unstable on that side.   Fureva and Nox ran up, grabbing loose stones and loosening chains. Nox tried throwing the rocks at the lifter’s visual sensors but failed to hit. Fureva unslung her chain and swinging it sideways sent the robot falling to the ground. It righted itself, but the action allowed Jaden time to pull the man out of combat.   With the beauty servitor prone, Marius was determined to keep it there. His salvager mind quickly disconnected its legs from the rest of the body before turning to help with the lifter. Orv swung a stick at the lifter, which clangs off the robot’s metal hide harmlessly as it turned to face its toughest enemy. Forklift tines struck out at Fureva, catching her in the ribs. The blunt blades ground against her skin and bone, and Fureva bared her teeth robot’s sensors swinging the chain at its head. This time the robot was ready, and the chain wrapped harmless around an upraised tine.   Nox snuck around the fight, keeping well clear of Fureva’s swinging chain or the robot’s heavy tines. Coming up on its right side as Jaden had instructed, she reached in with her blade and started cutting tubes and wiring. The hydraulics to the right side track finally gave up, and the servitor was stuck in place, face to face with Fureva.   “There has to be a way to turn these things off,” Jaden mumbled to herself, searching the creature until she found it, a bloody handprint marked where it was on the robot’s back. Whatever was controlling these machines was also overriding basic shutdown systems. The servitor’s rampage was no accident. This had been a genocide.   With a piece of the broken building, Orv charged into the fight. He jammed the timber into the left-hand track, totally disabling the robot as the lift went to make good its advantage on the warrior woman. Pressing down the tine caught in Fureva side, it made to skewer her, but with neither of its tracks working, it could not bring its massive weight to bear. With one last mighty swing, Fureva brought the heavy chain around. The lifter servitor folded around the chain as it struck, propelling it back into the pit. No sound of impact was heard.   Curious, Marius walked to the edge of the pit and looked down, but there was only darkness that late in the afternoon. He found a stick to make a simple torch but had to stop to find his flint and steel. When Nox realised what he wanted, she brought the Numenera together in a little hedge magic. The green leaves of the branch started to smoulder. “Did you do that?” Marius looked up at Nox, who quickly looked away, sure it had been the wrong thing to do. “Thanks,” He smiled and threw the stick down the hole.   There wasn’t much to see. The catwalks led to a lower level just below the darkness that had rotted away years ago. The flaming stick sailed through a gaping hole and disappeared into the darkness.   Back at the site of the fight, Fureva put one of her huge meaty hands on the man’s head, Kadris Greyth, and he smiled his thanks, looking up at the huge woman. “I am very pleased to see you, old friend,” He said, and Fureva extended a hand. He took it, and when back on his feet, hugged Fureva. Slowly the menacing warrior woman seemed to shrink a little, her body relaxed, and her expression softened as she returned the hug.   “We would be dead without you,” Said the woman who had been fighting off the beauty servitor. Her name was Wilara Taven, and she was a farmer up on the Tilled Mesa high above Cerelon. “What I don’t understand is how these two were receiving a signal out here,” Jaden mused, looking at the still struggling beauty servitor unable to escape. “Nox, come and help me find where this thing keeps its brains,” She said, moving out of scissor stabbing distance from the robot. Eager to help with such an important task, Nox followed and tried to scan the machine for the Numenera’s life spark.   The empty visual receptors of the robot turned to Nox. “Look out!” Marius yelled, sensing something wrong as the robot exploded, sending metal and synth shards in all directions. Maybe because of his timely warning, maybe because of her skittish nature, Nox threw herself to the ground and missed the shrapnel. Jaden was not so fast or lucky.   “I’m sorry, Jaden, I don’t know what I did wrong,” Nox wailed as she scrambled to Jaden’s side. Burnt and blasted with shards of hot metal, Jaden put her hand comfortingly on the girl’s shoulder. “It wasn’t your fault, Nox. I don’t think anyone could have known it would self-destruct.” “I did,” Marius said, quietly to himself, before turning to the group. “Okay, it’s dark now. Let’s make camp and get some food cooking,” He turned to his Dritmen, “Let’s walk the perimeter of this place and check it out.” The Dritmen nodded and fell in with their leader, walking out into the ever-encroaching darkness.   As the caravan unpacked their few supplies and made what meals they could, the Dritmen walked the edge of the clearing, checking for signs of other refugees or wild creatures that used the area. Things were quiet. It didn’t look like any animals ventured into the clearing, and Marius was about to split the group and double their efforts when he heard a click under his foot and his senses tingled. His danger sense had saved him so often in the past that he no longer questioned how he knew there was a mine under his foot. Without shifting weight, Marius turned to Orv. “I’ve just triggered a land mine.” “Ur…” Orv was a dependable fellow, but not the fastest, “I’ll go get help,” And he ran off back to the growing ring of campfires in the centre of the clearing.   Marius stood and still as he could as the minutes ticked by. “Well, boys, I really put my foot in it this time,” He joked with his fellow dritmen who had sensibly stepped back a few metres, “No, no. No need to go off about it.” The jokes filled the time and kept Marius mind from the thought of a future without out a lower limb. Soon, Orv was back with a limping Hulik and the sharp-eyed Jaden.   “Ah, yes. Sorry, I forgot to mention that the militia plant mines against the margr,” Hulik said, as he slowly knelt and brushed the soil away from around the device, “One more dead margr out here is one less attacking town...yeah, this is one of ours.” “That would have been helpful to know before we set out.” Marius kept his cool as Hulik discussed with Jaden how best to proceed. She pulled out a coil of wire from her pocket that she twisted into a circle with two handles. Using the tool, they were able to press down on the mine, thus getting Marius free. Once Marius was out of the way, Hulik could reach the disarm switch. “Let me teach you, boys, what to look for. We always leave markers, “ And he pointed to a nearby tree where a seeming scuff mark in the bark was an arrow pointing down.   With this new knowledge, the dritmen continued their check of the clearing as Jaden escorted Hulik back to camp. The three-metre tall crystal drew her attention. Excusing herself, she walked over to the crystal to take a closer look.   Three-sided, the crystal seemed to hover just above the ground. Made of some black substance, Jaden couldn’t imagine what it was made of or what it could be used for. Jaden spied Nox nearby, collecting fallen wood for the fire and ushered her over. “What does this look like to you?” She asked the girl, who stopped in her tracks as if asked to commit a crime. I don’t know, Jaden. An image of the beauty servitor flashed in Jaden’s mind. “Well, I do, I want to know what’s in it, and you’re the young lady for the job.”   Encouraged by Jaden’s enthusiasm and curiosity, Nox put down her bundle of sticks and came over the to crystal. Closing her eyes, her hand reached out and almost, but not quite, touched the crystal surface. I see, a dense outer layer...very dense...its...I… Nox strained but could not seem to see past that first strong layer. Suddenly, Jaden’s mind was filled with an all too familiar voice, Once again, idiot child. What good are you? Nox’s father, Livaanar Ferrul. Even miles away from what Jaden hoped was his cold dead body, Livaanar still troubled his daughter. Jaden reached out her hand to comfort the girl, but the shoulder moved from her grasp. “I’m such an idiot, I can’t do anything right,” Nox crumpled to the ground in front of the crystal. “Now, Nox. This has been here for millennia, and no one has identified it all that time,” Jaden said bruskly but not unkindly.   Furevea, who was nearby tasting random pieces of coloured synth and tasty iotum, was drawn to the crystal by Nox’s despondency. Nox silenced as the big woman stepped up, and the crystal responded. Symbols in white glowed on all three faces of the crystal, symbols that matched the ones tattooed onto Fureva’s arm. Instinctually, she reached out to touch the crystal.   A white light flashed out from the crystal, blinding everyone. When their eyes adjusted back to the evening darkness, the crystal was black again, and Fureva was flat on her back, out cold. Nox tried immediately to make a telepathic link, but there was nothing to link to. Jaden tried rousing the prostrate warrior, but she did not even stir. Temila was sought, found and brought to Fureva’s side. A small vial of strong-smelling oil was wafted under the woman’s nose, and her eyelids flickered.   I smell….something delicious! Thought the woman in a voice, not like her own, Hmmm, I didn’t expect that. Hello, big Lady? Nox asked timidly and felt the weight of a more complex mind than she was used to from the warrior. Hello, child. I’m Fureva. I like your name...I’m Nox. Where am I? The Endoval towers, in the forest outside Cerelon, Then Nox replied confused as she put two and two together, You weren’t in town, were you? That was the other one. Yes, Yung. Fureva-Yung. But not, just Fureva. No, The intellect, not the warrior woman, thought a moment, I won’t be here for long. I can’t stay. Can’t stay? But...what do I tell the others? Nox asked as the big woman started to sit up and look around at the concerned crowd. Whatever you like? Fureva seemed to laugh and Nox’s agitation. Nox looked into the far too intelligent eyes and nodded, I’ll just keep it between us then. That’s probably wise, Said Fureva as the knowing look gave way to a dull stare, see with little comprehension. The body of Fureva-Yung slumped as the slower intellect tried to make sense of what was going on. Not used to everyone making a fuss over them, Fureva-Yung quickly stood and made it clear they were fine.   Nox stared with fascination as the being called Fureva-Yung turned back to study the crystal. Nothing. It was black and empty once more. She looked at her tattoo and tried pressing that to the crystal. Still nothing. She punched it and succeeded in hurting her hand.   “What happened?” Marius’ voice came up behind. Having seen the flash across the clearing and the collected group around the stricken, he’d come to see what had happened. “Our defender here came up to the crystal, and it glowed with symbols in her tattoo,” Jaden explained, “When she touched it, the crystal discharged and seemed to knock out our warrior cold.” “Fureva-Yung,” Nox interrupted, very unlike her, “Her name is Fureva-Yung.” “Good to know,” Marius turned back to Jaden as the crowd dispersed, the excitement over, “Everything good here?” “Actually,” Jaden replied now she had the Dritman leader’s attention, “I can create a few tools and items for the community can use, but I need iotum. When can I get you dritmen together to pull apart those two servitors we’ve been dragging around.” Marius sighed, “I was hoping after the perimeter check we could have a meal and sleep. It’s been a long day.” “Well, I can’t make anything useful until someone breaks up that tech. I don’t have the skill to make the best of the job. Nox can find the Numenera in what there is, but has no experience at teasing it out of the junk.”   Marius looked from Jaden to the kid, looking curiously at the Fureva woman. She was now pulling out large panels from the destroyed building and making a pile of building supplies. “Okay, after tea, we’ll get onto it.” “Good, in the meantime, it looks like Fureva-Yung has her own construction in mind.” “Yes, it does,” Marius turned to where the rest of the dritmen were waiting for him, “Hey, let’s give Furry a hand.” He pointed to Fureva’s attempts at building a wall.   With Jaden guiding construction, Furevea-Yung, the dritmen, and Kadris Greyth started building a simple wall around the camping area. Marius got to work breaking apart the servitors and noted that the servitors did not have special receivers to pick up a signal this deep in the forest. What had sent the servitors mad was still a mystery.   Pieces of the servitor were used in the wall’s construction, that is, except for a small piece of responsive synth that Fureva-Yung tried eating. Its chewy texture amused Fureva. Wriggles! She said in her mind, and Nox assumed it concerned the inedible iotum.   Perimeter check done, the wall up, and everyone fed, people started looking for places to rest for the night. With Hulik warning of Margr hunting parties, it was decided to keep a regular watch through the night. Marius and one of his men took first while Jaden and another dritman took second. Late in the second watch, the forest was full of small sounds, movement, the huff of someone smelling the air, the scuff of a heavy hoof.   “Margr!” Jaden called from the wall as shadowy figures broke from the forest and started across the clearing. A bright white light followed by a heavy explosion shook the clearing. In the light of the landmine, five horned figures, one flying brokenly through the air, were clearly outlined.   Jaden rummaged through her deep pockets and pulled out one of the cyphers gathered from the exodus from Cerelon. She threw a photonic fabricator out into the darkness towards the lead margr. It glowed with a white-hot light, elongating as it flew until it was a bright spear of light in the darkness. The margr, at full run, did not have a chance to swerve aside. It pierced him through the lower torso and fixed in place. The wound and the stuck weapon slowed down the margr but didn’t stop it. Instead, it angled its attack towards the section of the wall that Jaden stood. Marius, awoken by Jaden's call, rushed out the narrow gate formed in the wall and took a margr head-on. His sudden attack surprised the margr, “What? Caught you sleeping? Feeling a little sheepish, now?” Marius puned for the sheer fun of it. It became infectious. “Poor baby ran into a spear,” Jaden called to the one now trying to climb the wall, “Why don’t you tell your, maa-maa!”   The bravado seemed to infuriate the margr. One tried to bite Marius, but he stepped aside, and it missed, another tried to attack with a clawed hand. He ducked and rolled away. A third tried their luck with an empty piece of wall as the fourth ran straight past Marius and into the camp. That was when Fureva-Yung unwound her chain. “That took a lot of guts!” Marius punned as pieces of margr flew everywhere. Fureva-Yung ignored Marius and moved towards the wall with Orv and Jaden. Upon the wall, Orv threw a plank at the uninjured margr as Jaden took a piece of broken masonry and crushed the speared one’s fingers. It fell back to the earth heavily, falling forward onto the spear. The bright white spear point pierced through and lit the corpse from above, marking the kill. Marius lashed out with blades slicing through leather skins and leathery hides, exposing margr flesh and bone. The last, fighting Orv, was picked up from behind by Fureva-Yung. Carrying the squirming margr above her head, she walked casually over to the pit and threw the invader in. “Furry, our resident ‘Goat-be-gone’!” Marius cheered as Fureva-Yung returned for the pit, a look of grim satisfaction in her expression.   The enemy were defeated but it had extracted a price from the refugees defenders. Orv and Fureva-Yung both took a beating Marius saw as she ran over to check. Though Temila was every ready with her first aid, it did little more than soothe the injured. "Great job Orv and you too Furry!" He said, as a wave of healing energy flowed through them both. Orv and Fureva-yung both examined their wounds with surprise. Orv's looked days old and well on the road to recover, Fureva-Yung had only a puckered scar to show for all her scrapes.   Nox looked around. These few people had dispatched four of the creatures that had terrorised Cerelon almost since its inception. She cooly, scanned the eviscerated margr Fureva -Yung had left and wondered what was the difference now? Numbers? Maybe these weren’t strong ones. She watched the heroes help clean the bodies out of camp before they turned for well-earned rests. She sat up the rest of the night watching the forest, thinking.   23/06/152 CF   Temila had mentioned needing more herbs to replace the ones she’d used, so while the dew was still on the grass the next morning, she and Nox left the campsite in search of medicinal herbs. Nox was good a spotting herbs. She’d spent some time with Temila going through catalogues and dried samples looking for her mother’s flower to no avail. As a result, she had a better than passing knowledge of plants and their uses. Added to that, her sharp eyes, she’d often spot something Temila overlooked. That morning, however, was not going well. Nox was aware she had failed to show she could be useful yet again and was desperate to have Temila think her worthwhile. So, down into tall grasses, around through bushes, she searched for the required herbs. She had just stood from an exceptionally tall stand of grass to ask how Temila was doing when she saw an expression of absolute horror pass across Temila’s face. Almost speechless, Temila pointed, “Behind….you…”   Now frozen to the spot, Nox scanned the space directly behind her. The fluttering life force of a creature revealed itself to her, sitting attached to her neck. Tears sparked from her eyes in sudden horror as she realised it had been there a while. On entering the tall grass, she’d felt the sting and thought nothing of it. Now she could feel the heaviness in her limbs. The something on her neck was sucking the life out of her.   There had been times where Nox had been chased out of Jaden’s workshop by a rat, or a nest of wasps meant she couldn’t enter her home via the door no matter how much her Father yelled. She often lost her nerve at the slightest provocation throughout her life. Today, instead of panicking or dissolving into a flood of tears, she slowly pulled out her knife with a shaking hand and raised it to the base of her neck. It’s just like a beesting, right? She said telepathically over and over to Temila, Just scrape, and the sting comes free?   Marius and Fureva-Yung were also up walking the walls of the enclosure after the night’s attack. They saw Nox now taking her sharp little knife to a tick the size of her head on the back of her slender neck. She’d either remove the tick or remove her head.   “Ah, let me do that, Nox!” Marius ran over just as the blade started cutting away the hairs at the base of her neck, “I’m very good at removing parasites.” Nox’s green eyes swivelled around to lock onto his, the first time she’s allowed herself to make eye contact. The eyes were pleading, but she said not a word out loud or telepathically. “I really am, I promise,” He repeated, slowly coming up beside her, his hand palm up for the knife. Slowing, the knife came away from the neck and was handed hilt first into Marius callous ones. With one swift movement, he flicked the knife under the giant parasite and off Nox’s neck. It flew up and over, landing in front of the pair where it was stomped flat under Marius’ hobnailed boots.   At the sight of the beast and her current state from blood loss, Nox’s vision greyed and closed in. She slumped and would have fallen to the leaf litter if Marius hadn’t been there to catch her. He held her tight until she stirred again and kept hold until it seemed she was able to stand once more on her own. Even then, her hand clasped his muscled arms for support.   Marius heard a faint titter and looked up to see Temila hide a smile. He tried to confirm what he saw with Fureva-Yung, but she was eating one of the crunchy legs of the giant parasite and was going for seconds.   “You’ll be fine now,” He said more briskly than he meant, quickly letting go of the girl and jumping back out of arms reach. “Thank you,” Nox whispered, swaying on the spot, and Temila wrapped her arms around the girl and walked her back to camp while Marius looked on, confused and a little scared.
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Character
World
The Tilted Spire
Category
The Party in Characters
Author
miztres
Publication Date
20 Jan, 2021
Creation Date
20 Jan, 2021
Last Update Date
12 Aug, 2021
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