by Tony Corden
“See if John can visit after the break or before I head to Dunyanin. I’ll arrange the time after I’ve discussed the plans through with him.”
REAL WORLD
No one was in the kitchen, so Leah brought the plate of food back to her room and ate on her own. Even though she knew what she was eating, Leah no longer enjoyed eating as she couldn’t taste or smell it. The only sensation that changed was the interplay of textures, but that wasn’t enough to make her want one sort of food over another. She now chose food based on what Dr Roberts thought was best. Three kept a record of what she ate and updated her each time on what she needed to add. Even this wasn’t really necessary with all the supplements she was taking, but Three had reminded her that it was vital for her to keep her gut healthy.
STORK TOWER
As she logged back in, Three said John would be free just before Leah went to Dunyanin, so Leah spent two sessions practising the new moves for the gravity skates then spent an hour with Jenny working through two more types of Time and Gate Attacks. Jenny suggested she was ready to do a Tier Twelve race later that day, but needed some time learning the trick moves before attempting anything higher than a Tier Nine race.
John was waiting in the gazebo when Leah logged out of the world Jenny owned. Leah sat opposite him and said, “I’m sorry I’ve not had more time to help get things ready, but it seems like something is happening everywhere.”
“J☼: To be honest, that’s nothing new. Ever since I’ve known you, you’ve been running from one thing to the next. You worked harder as a kid than anyone I know. Besides, we knew that most of the planning would need to be done by Lacey and me. We set up the base as a separate business like you suggested, using people Jimmy knows. They have no recorded connection to the Switch or any of the negative-tax areas. Reed, Alan and Tesfaye did deep searches of their lives. We found no link to any law enforcement agencies, and nothing connected them to any of the families we know use slaves.
“As far as they are concerned, we are setting up a small consultancy looking to provide logistical advice, similar to what Peter does for you but across a range of games. Believe it or not, but we already have queries from players on our proposed fee structure. I talked with Peter, and he offered to help us set it up as a long term business proposition and suggested some names of people we might want to employ.
“We’ve managed to lease part of a building only two blocks away from the Kodoman’s corporate building where Meredith is being held. We have had ten state-of-the-art pods installed. Everyone’s suit is finished except Meredith’s, and Aker will finish that this morning. I’d like us, and that includes you, to shift to the new building later today. Of those on the team to infiltrate the warehouse, Lacey, Joel, Marie, Wes and Martin are already on-site, so that leaves you, me, Isabel and Michio. Besides installing a top-of-the-range security suite, we’ve four guards who provide physical security.
“Lacey and I have added the information from Meredith’s PAI, Akira, to what we’ve been able to uncover about the building. Some associates of Jimmy’s used the riots in Sydney and Melbourne to make attacks on facilities with similar security designs. Without telling me, Jimmy made a few arrangements with a couple of the mafia families and had them do similar raids in a number of American Union cities. His payment was his promise to ask for some quid pro quo from you concerning data you possess about them.
“All the information has been fed through to Gèng, and she asked Reed to do some deeper searches. They found a list of things that normally go with the sort of additions Akira talked about, and she’s added all of the options to the mock-up she’s designing. Lacey and I have done a basic walkthrough of the first draft and have a tentative plan. Like last time, we’re going to need to depend a lot on your special skills. I know you’re busy, but you need to find some time to do the walkthrough with the team, and then dozens of practice runs.”
“What if I do a walkthrough, then ask Gèng to have a virtual me do the practice runs? When you’ve made all the changes, then I’ll do a cyber session with Gèng to bring me up to speed. I’ll be able to see all of your practice and make sure I’m up to speed with what needs to be done. Gèng is fully aware of what I can do. Also, ask Six if it will help go through the problem. It’s developed a real knack for pattern-based problem-solving and may have some good insights.”
“J☼: That will probably work better in the long run as it means we can keep working even when you can’t be there.”
“What are the plans for getting the rest of us from here to there?”
“J☼: We can’t use all the vehicle switches we did before, because the government is searching every vehicle leaving the area and they’ve boats patrolling the river. They still don’t have the power to detain people without cause, but everyone who leaves is being DNA tested and tagged. Lacey suggested we all take separate routes. Although it makes things more complicated, it does reduce the risk of losing people if we are discovered. We have a pretty good picture of their surveillance coverage. We’ve been able to utilise a few gaps to get the others out, and that’s only because of the suits Aker’s made. Lacey and I are convinced they know they are not catching every one, and they are slowly tightening the cordon.
“It’s pretty straight forward to get from here to the Switch, but I’m going to dissolve the foam in the tunnel and get the rest of us out that way. Once in the Switch, we’ll make our way through the last few holes. Your route is to cross the river and make your way north to Mount Crosby. Peter has someone who will pick you up and bring you to the building we’ve leased. I’ve had the route and people checked out as much as I can, and am pretty confident it’ll work as planned.”
“What time do you want me to be ready to leave?”
“J☼: Any time after it gets dark. We’ll have gone by then if everything goes to plan. Isabel and I will be leaving before lunch and Michio will leave mid-afternoon. Isabel and I will be moving during the day and through public areas, so we won’t be wearing suits and we’ve already sent our suits via a different route. Michio and you will be using stealth corridors and your suits. When you get to the Switch, Jimmy will meet you with the latest on river patrols. Crossing the river, you’ll need to move slowly as we’re pretty sure they have drones and passive sensors set out. Nothing they have should be able to pick you up wearing the suit as long as you move slowly. You need to be in Mount Crosby before eleven to make it to the new Pod for your time in Academia.”
“I’ll arrange a later time with Dr Ellis because more people will notice if I leave Dunyanin early. I may still be able to make it in the three hours but it’s best not to rush.”
“J☼: Agreed!”
After John had left Leah logged out for a short break then headed to the Dunyanin portal.
49
December 29, 2073
DUNYANIN
Stepping out of her tent, Leah stepped up beside Yürek and said, “Good morning, Yürek.”
“Y☼: Good morning, War Leader. Those in your clan have worked diligently through the night. So have others, and there has been a surge in those making their way to this area hoping to attack you and the clan. It seems, from what several travellers have heard via the traveller magic, that the gods have directed their followers to stop you from finishing this artefact. Our scouts have reported that those heading this way are working more as an army and less like a rabble. Although you had not made the declaration, I’ve already asked Brin to work with Jack, Pod, Fetheden and Sevelin to prepare a plan to do battle. Thad and Amy have joined them, and their support of Brin has cemented her leading role in this battle.”
“Thank you. I think Brin is the one, but please assess how they work together to draw up the plan. I’ll stop by and let her know she has my full support. I want to help fight, but I’ll need to spend most of today working on the artefact, although if the battle gets out of hand we’ll put this on hold and finish it when the attackers are defeated. Let Brin know that some of the crafters will
be free to help with the defence as they did last time. Give me thirty minutes to check on the progress, and I’ll have a better idea of who can step away to help the army.”
As Yürek went to talk with Brin and the others, Leah made her way to where the different pieces of the artefact were being worked on. Each of the disks representing the different continents was finished but for the jewels, which were yet to be activated and charged with mana. A spell had been engraved on the back of each disc and Leah was planning to have this inlaid with an alloy attuned to her will and powered initially by her mana. Small holes had been added to the area to be inlaid, and the idea was that the hardening alloy would grip the discs tightly. Even the holes had been placed in a pattern which matched runes for strength, stability and security.
Eight of the voussoirs had an area carved ready for the discs to be fitted into. The crafters had extended the discs’ theme onto the various vertebrae and enchanters continued to work with adding spells to increase the artefact’s ability to pinpoint an exact location for the army to be transported to. The posts and lintel of the arch were mostly finished, with spells and enchantments added to not only strengthen the arch but to stabilise the portal formed. Other spells were designed to allow mana of all types to be used when charging the portal. The crafters needed several more hours to finish the posts, but almost half of those working were free to assist the army.
Besides the arch, several jewellers had worked on gems to be used in five rings of power to control the arch itself. They had crafted moulds for the bands and Leah hoped these would be filled with the alloy she was going to create. After reorganising the crafters and enchanters, Leah took some small samples of various metals from her bag. She lay them before her on the Anvil of Truth. Leah wasn’t entirely sure of her rationale, but she’d discovered that while the gods had an affinity with steel, each of the other races also had set affinities. Humans had a range of preferences, and in the highlands made their objects of magic from an aluminium and bronze alloy. Elves were partial to mithryl, and each group of elves had developed methods for slightly tinting the mithryl to emphasise their particular characteristics.
Similarly, dragons loved most precious metals and gems, but each type of dragon used a different metal or gemstone for their higher magics. Darkness dragons used gold mixed with elemental darkness which formed what they called Black-Gold. Frost dragons preferred the purity of platinum combined with elemental ice, which created a highly thermo-conductive and translucent alloy they called Glacial-Platinum.
Reaching into her bag, Leah removed two vials of Elemental Darkness that she’d received in Bukalemun Instance, a vial of Elemental Ice from the Frost Lord’s dungeon and some Malachite Essence from the slime dungeon at Gumus. Peter had sent a second vial of Elemental Ice, and she added this to the others. Leah borrowed a set of scales from one of the crafters and measured out weights of each metal to match the proportions she’d calculated would match her racial makeup.
Using a table of atomic weights she’d found in Tufek Horozu’s Designs for the Forge, she worked out weight percentages for each element. Fifteen per cent was to be steel, thirty per cent each of black-gold and glacial-platinum, and twelve and a half percent each of the bronze alloy and malachite tinted mithryl. After double-checking her calculations, she took a deep breath. Leah planned to make the black-gold and glacial-platinum first and then start the mixing process by melting the mithryl because mithryl had the highest melting point. When it was liquid, she could dissolve the others into it.
She’d moved everything from the anvil except the gold when she felt the world around her change—Leah found herself in colossal forge. The heat was almost unbearable and made the sensations on her body difficult to decipher. The effect caused her surroundings to shimmer on her skin. In front of her was what looked like a dwarf, though he was tall as Thad with arms thicker than her torso. She checked and discovered this was Lord Çelik, Lord of the Forge.
He said, “C☇: Counsellor, Empress, I have watched with interest as you have learned the skill of smithing. Already you are a Master Smith. I have brought you to my domain to suggest that what you attempt is still, most likely, beyond your skill. Your smithing ability is enhanced because you are a Grandmaster Crafter, but such a work as this has not been attempted by a traveller before. Some of Dunyanin have attempted such magic, but none have been successful. Each time, they have been destroyed as their spells collapsed.
“The artefact should be possible to one who has already achieved the rank of Legendary Smith, but none have achieved that rank on Vatan since Tufek Horozu. No traveller has ever achieved it. Ideally, to be successful, you would need to be working with other grandmasters and be able to direct each so the metals could be prepared simultaneously. It will not succeed if they are made at different times as you have planned.”
Leah bowed her head slightly and said, “Thank you, Lord Çelik, for your advice and your warning. Still, I have considered all the options and my only choice is to press forward. Perhaps I might still succeed with the use of Lady Utsal’s Anvil, unless you might be persuaded to help me in this endeavour?”
Lord Çelik shook his head and said, “C☇: To do so would force me to choose a side in this war and that I do not wish to do.”
“I understand your hesitancy, but I suspect you continue to make weapons and armour for those arrayed against me.”
“C☇: True, for this is part of my purpose. Perversely, I do understand that you will not hold that against me while your opponents would not be so objective.”
“What of your purpose in developing the skills and craft of the Smith?”
“C☇: That purpose has driven me to this meeting, a meeting where I might help guide your thoughts. It would have been unseemly not to offer some instruction. If you are committed, then I suggest you do not attempt to practice with a sample. You should pour all your effort into the attempt itself. Such a deed may only be achieved rarely, and it would tempt fate to think you might form this alloy twice in the one day. Furthermore, even though Lady Utsal’s Anvil may indeed suffice, for she did seek my advice when she made it for you, it will be a significant drain on her mana with the temperatures and the volume of alloy you will require. I suggest that it is not the instrument best suited for your purposes. Perhaps you might use a large crucible instead.”
“Thank you for your advice, Lord Çelik. Would it be seen as taking sides in the conflict if you were to lend me a crucible?”
“C☇: I suspect even this small amount of advice already offered will be held up as an example of my bias, and to do more would add flame to that accusation. Such a claim of bias I can withstand, for I am constrained to advise those who attempt works of metal beyond the capability of Grandmaster. As for a crucible, you have made such items from mana before, and I suspect you have the ability to do so again. Finally, I applaud your decision to choose the amounts based on atomic weight instead of using a simple understanding of their mass.”
“Then I thank you for that all that you have done. I understand that to succeed or fail must rest upon my shoulders alone.”
Lord Çelik gently reached out and touching Leah’s right forearm said, “C☇: That is as it must be. I wish you success, Empress.”
Once again, Leah felt her surroundings change until she was once more standing in front of the anvil. Yürek was standing nearby and sent a quick message asking what happened. Leah mentioned she’d been briefly called to discuss the project with Lord Çelik.
“Y☼: That helps explain the residual heat that surrounds you. You are glowing as iron that has just been removed from a furnace.”
Leah checked her statistics, and as she did, Three showed her a message explaining that Lord Çelik had gifted her with temporary access to his furnaces through her divine earth shroud. As the shroud was currently spread through her bones and ligaments, her whole body was affected. The additional heat didn’t seem to change her health, so Leah left it as it was and said, “It appears I will
shed that heat for some time.”
Asking Three to magnify her voice, she said, “Everyone, I’m going to create the alloy needed to join the different parts of the arch together. We will only have one go to get this right, and I’ve no idea how long it will take although I suspect it will be three or four hours. When the alloy is ready, we’ll pour it directly into the arch and quench it in place so I’ll need everything set up and ready. Smiths, each of the metals needs to be prepared and melted separately before being added together, but they need to be melted simultaneously. I’ll form the crucibles from mana but will need you to help add the metals and make sure I don’t lose focus. Those of the Kraliçenin Çekiçleri, you will lend me mana as I need it.”
50
December 29, 2073
DUNYANIN
Once everyone had agreed, Leah brought out enough metal to make over a hundredweight of alloy. She formed five crucibles from the earth shroud, and then strengthened them using either her light or darkness shrouds depending on the metal being worked with. Leah let heat flow from Lord Çelik’s forges to each of the crucibles. She wouldn’t have been able to do this without her multi-tasking ability or without the constant stream of advice from her helpers who kept up a continual stream of information about what was happening in each crucible.
When each of the base metals was molten, Leah used her darkness shroud as an extra limb to add the vials of elemental darkness to the molten gold. Tufek Horozu had described how to combine elemental liquids to metals, and Leah used gravity mana to gently swirl each drop through the molten gold before adding the next drop. After fifteen of the sixteen drops were used, Leah was satisfied that the molten mixture was as Tufek Horozu had described for black-gold. Leah used the same process to make both glacial-platinum and the green-tinted mithryl favoured by the Forest elves. As her mana levels decreased, the dwarves took turns sharing their store of mana with her. Leah would have them hold a spell at the point where they were ready to cast it, and then she would absorb the mana.