Reality's Plaything 4: Savants Ascendant

by Will Greenway

  “Sen, these things are alive. They aren’t like the frames I saw at Quasar’s place—there’s living things inside them.” He stared up at the boomer’s face. It’s brow furrowed and it stared as him with those glassy intelligent eyes. Such brutal power, and what appeared to be a keen intellect as well.

  He felt the Kriar behind them mumbling.

  “They have their hosts mounted,” she said. “If you were going to run away, you couldn’t very well leave your brain behind could you?”

  “Nooo…” he drew the word out.

  “Actually, the Baronians probably force them to run with their host intellect installed to act as a safeguard. It’s difficult to discipline an uncooperative slave that doesn’t die when you kill its body.” She leaned toward him. “Do you see anything?”

  “These things are really complicated,” he tempered. “I—” He paused.

  On the back of the boomer’s humanoid neck was a tangle of threads that seemed to intertwine throughout its body. The thing seemed to be exerting a lot of energy that the rest of the boomer’s body appeared to be resisting. That cylinder did seem to have a connection that extended to the other creatures around them and ran off into the sky.

  “There is something strange on the back of his neck,” Bannor advised. “He seems to be fighting with it.”

  “That would be it.”

  Senalloy drew a breath. “Big boy, I can take that thing out, but you have to let me.”

  The creature seemed to struggle with itself, but lowered itself down to one knee with a whirring and a thud as its bulk clunked down on the stone. It bowed its head, its body twitching.

  Bannor pointed. “It’s that triangular thing.”

  Senalloy carefully reached over the boomer’s massive head and took hold of the object protruding from its neck. Her fingertips turned pale as she applied pressure. “Damn, it’s in there tight.”

  “Let me,” Bannor said. He looked down at the metallic creature. “Now, stay calm. I’m going to change.” He willed himself into battle form. Energy crackled along the surface of his skin, and his flesh hardened with snap.

  The mecha all focused on him; weapons retraining and eyes narrowing.

  “Okay, I’m going to do this slow.”

  He reached across and took hold. The metal hardness and density of his skin made it difficult to know how much pressure he was applying. He tried to lift up, but all it seemed to do was pull the boomer.

  “Try turning it,” Senalloy suggested, indicating a left-wise turn with her finger.

  The thing must have been locked in place somehow because it started to turn and stopped. Bannor applied more pressure and finally with a snap that made him and all the mecha around them jump, it turned free. After the tension of the creatures relaxed, he continued turning. The object, which was like a cylindrical plug, backed out of the boomer’s neck.

  The cylinder came free with a soft hiss. Bannor handed it to Senalloy who studied the object.

  Bannor willed himself back to flesh.

  The boomer blinked at them. The trembling of its metallic body had stopped. After a moment, it straightened up with a whine of mechanisms. The red illumination of its eyes faded and became a golden yellow. It let the huge weapon it was carrying fall to the ground with a rock-shaking clank.

  It turned its head to one side and uttered a sequence of strange clicking melodic sounds.

  Senalloy nodded, and responded in the same language.

  Bannor saw the Kriar behind them relaxing and putting away their weapons.

  “What did he say?” he asked.

  Senalloy licked her lips and brushed at her silver hair. “They’re asking for asylum…”

  * * *

  Chapter Sixteen

  Heavily Armed Refugees

  « ^ »

  Where do a bunch of giant, heavily armored, intelligent weapons sleep? Well, duhhh…

  —Bannor Nalthane Starfist,

  Prince Conjugal of Malan

  The defenders braced in the room relaxed, dropping their weapons, but still keeping ready. Many of the Karanganoi mecha still had the red glare in their eyes that said they were still fighting the control of the thing Senalloy called an ‘inhibitor’. The giant assault boomer, leaned over the silver-haired woman and rumbled in that clicking language. She nodded apparently having no trouble following whatever was being said.

  “So,” T’Evagduran said. “If they are deserters, why come here? Shouldn’t they be asking the Kriar?”

  Senalloy glanced up at the huge creature. “They aren’t asking the Kriar. They are asking for refuge here.”

  “Here?” Kalindinai let out. “Why? We have no such—creatures—amongst us.”

  Senalloy turned to the boomer and rattled something to it. The mecha responded giving a very human-like shrug as it spoke.

  “It seems, they don’t feel safe on Fabrista Homeworld,” the silver-haired warrior explained. “The Karanganoi did not protect them, so they feel the Fabrista will do no better. Apparently, they were impressed with the resistance put up here.”

  Kalindinai folded her arms. “That’s all fine and well, but we have been harboring enough misfits—”

  She stopped as her husband put a hand on her arm. “Senalloy,” he asked. “Do they understand what they are asking? What’s expected of a citizen of Malan?”

  Senalloy conferred the question.

  The mecha peered at T’Evagduran blinking with those glassy intelligent eyes. It pressed its massive hands together, dropped to one knee, and bowed its head. It rumbled something to Senalloy.

  “To acknowledge the sovereign ruler, to be productive contributors of society, to obey the letter of the law, and to defend the country when needed,” Senalloy translated.

  King T’Evagduran rubbed his chin and looked speculative.

  “Father?” Ryelle said looking over.

  “Jhaan,” Kalindinai said his name in a tentative tone. “You aren’t actually considering allowing them to stay? We have enough problems with the houses now—how could we possibly explain…”

  “Golems,” T’Evagduran responded. “We use golems in many places—you yourself made many of them.”

  “Yesss—but—” Kalindinai said.

  “The houses accept them.”

  “There’s nothing to accept—they are magical creations—they aren’t citizens… they don’t expect rights. This creature is smart enough to know what being a citizen is.”

  “Yes, and speaks to it better than many of our existing citizens,” the King responded. “Given our recent problems, I believe we could be forgiven if the castle guardians were supplemented by some new upgraded intelligent golems.” He focused back on Senalloy. “Can they learn our language so we can speak of this?”

  Senalloy nodded. She turned toward the Tarkath Chauser and held out her hand.

  Frowning, the gold-skinned commander came forward. He pulled a black box off his side. He narrowed his black eyes.

  “They aren’t Fabrista citizens,” Senalloy said with an arch expression.

  he said.

  “They’re already here,” Senalloy said. “It’s not like they can take them apart and figure out how they work.” She took hold of the device in his hand.

  The Tarkath and Senalloy eyed each other for a moment then he let go.

  Senalloy made dismissing motions and punched on the device for a few moments. She turned to the boomer and held it up to him. She indicated something on it, and spoke in that other language.

  The boomer turned its huge arm over so its wrist faced up. A rectangular panel opened in its thick limb. The metallic creature took the device from Senalloy and placed it in the opening with a clunk.

  The boomer leaned its head back for a few moments with its glassy eyes closed. Less than a breath passed and it straig
htened up, and removed the box from its arm and handed it back to Senalloy.

  “I assimilated the trade language, and the three dialects of Elvish,” he echoed in a deep bass that made the floor hum. The language was the common tongue. Kriar artifices were indeed amazing. “I assume this will be satisfactory for basic communication, yes?”

  “It’s sufficient,” Senalloy said, handing the device back to Chauser.

  The Kriar took the item back with a sour expression.

  Megan came forward. “Could you reiterate your intentions?”

  The boomer hummed and turned its head. “You are a Protectorate officer, yes?”

  “I am the commander in charge,” she answered. “I am Megan Vinax. Representative for eternal Koass.”

  The boomer lowered its head then fixed its golden eyes on her. “Karanganoi forward interdiction assault frame Nomar, Zersis legion elite—retired. There are others,” he looked back to the mechas behind him. “Better at negotiating. However, they must be freed from the restraining hardware.”

  “Nomar is it?” Megan repeated.

  The boomer nodded.

  “Are there more of your kind?”

  “I am not aware of any that managed to override the control protocols as our subnet did,” he rumbled. “We managed by chance, during a maintenance cycle. Our directives were in the middle of being changed when the overseers in our section were slain by something they were controlling in the battle here. It gave one of the infiltrators an opportunity to weaken the directives.”

  “Guess that confirms the covens being killed when the dreadnoughts went down,” Bannor said.

  King T’Evagduran shouldered his bow and walked slowly toward the group with his hands behind his back. Sarai came from the spot where she’d been standing to join him.

  “Nomar, do you know who I am?” the King asked.

  The boomer lowered his head slightly. “Shal’kar Senalloy informed me that you are the acknowledged monarch of this principality.”

  The King raised his eyebrow, apparently impressed by the creature’s speaking ability.

  “I wanted to verify the request you made earlier.”

  The metallic construct made a thrumming sound. “My initial request was for myself and the rest of my subnet to be given asylum. The Karanganoi people are no longer a cohesive political entity, and we have no desire to serve the Baronian warlords. Fabrista Homeworld, while it is more familiar to us, faces a similar threat of incursion. It is therefore our desire to seek citizenship in a neutral territory.”

  “You could hardly call this place neutral, Nomar. They are attacking us.”

  “We would be helpful in keeping it neutral,” the boomer said. He bent down and picked up his massive weapon and slung it over his shoulder with a clank.

  the Tarkath said.

  The King glanced at Chauser. “Nomar, your request intrigues me. However, what assurances of good conduct can you give me?”

  The boomer tilted its head to one side with a whirring sound. “We are rational creatures. In order to have satisfactory lives, we must be productive and serve a purpose. To be detrimental to a society where we wish make our homes is illogical.”

  The King raised his chin, a glint in his amber eyes. “Are your kind always logical?”

  Nomar blinked. “The majority of the time.”

  “There are exceptions then?”

  “Well,” the boomer tempered. “It is not always possible to be logical when dealing with emotional and often unstable organics. Logic is not always effective with them.”

  “Organics?” the King wondered.

  “Us,” Senalloy said. “We’re organic—another way of saying naturally born—not manufactured.”

  “Technically, we are not manufactured,” Nomar said. “Super-alloy nanolathing is a growth process.”

  “Your kind are grown?” the King asked.

  Nomar nodded. “In your world, metal is not grown. In our world, it is.”

  King Jhann glanced back to the Queen, then looked up at the boomer. “Nomar, pending further review, we tentatively accept your request for asylum.”

  “Our thanks,” Nomar responded. “I must begin freeing the rest of my subnet from restraint.”

  “Nomar,” King T’Evagduran said. “Please coordinate with Lady Senalloy, she is our head of security.”

  “Acknowledged,” the boomer said, turning one of the smaller mechas. “Lady Senalloy if you and…” He looked to Bannor.

  “Bannor,” he supplied.

  “Bannor,” Nomar repeated. “Would assist in freeing one more of my subnet, we can do the remainder.” He held out a massive hand. “One of the disadvantages of such a large frame is that manipulating small objects is quite difficult.” Nomar gestured to a smaller mecha and murmured in that other language.

  The metallic entity strode forward and stopped in front of them. It was only slightly taller than an average man, but broad across the shoulders. The metal of its frame was polished to a mirror gleam. It carried two large weapons, one in either hand and glared at them with crimson eyes. Bannor saw the conflict inside of the creature.

  Nomar put its huge weapon in a rack on its back, reached out and picked up the smaller mecha and turned it to expose its back and neck.

  Bannor glanced at Senalloy. The Baronian glanced back and shrugged.

  He assumed battleform again and broke the bolt loose in back of the mecha’s neck, and let Senalloy finish turning it free.

  Once pulled from the body of the smaller creature, the mecha seemed to relax. It dropped its weapons, turned to them and nodded with golden eyes.

  “With your permission,” Nomar rumbled. “We will continue.”

  She nodded.

  “I want to know what they used to get in here,” Megan said when Nomar was out of earshot amongst the other mecha. “Why didn’t the Baronians use that route?”

  Luthice walked up. “I see some transversal interception mechas.” She pointed to some odder-looking members of Nomar’s subnet. “Their function is to detect and ride gate paths. We probably gave them their way in when you opened that gate to incarcerate the prisoners.”

  “Why didn’t we get a flood of Baronians too then?” Sarai asked.

  Senalloy shook her head. “My people are using stolen technology, they use it without completely understanding it. Magic is our field of study, not machines.”

  the Chauser asked with narrowed eyes.

  “I had a very close working relationship with an engineer, that’s how I learned to speak Kriar. I helped him and several others in an underground movement to resist the Baronian incursion on Karanganoi Homeworld.”

  “Is there a way to prevent that from happening again?” Megan asked. “I would be very concerned if the Baronians could start using our gates against us.”

  “Yes,” Luthice answered tapping the black staff on the ground. “There is a way to conceal the gate juncture in such a way that an interceptor cannot tap into the pathway.”

  “Good,” Megan said. “We will discuss that later, and make sure such precautions are taken in all future gating activities.” She turned to King T’Evagduran. “I believe the worst of the incursion is over. I wish I could say that it’s done and they won’t be back—but one can never be sure with these people.” She glanced at Luthice. “They can be damnably stubborn at times.”

  “Understood,” the King answered. “To you and everyone who has assisted on our behalf we are thankful. We will make an effort to compensate you for your time and energy.” He looked at the Tarkath. “Belkirin Dulcere lauded our gardens, the sunlight, and winds. Perhaps your contingent may wish to partake as some small reward for their efforts.”

  The Kriar commander blinked. He hadn’t smiled in a while. He let out a sigh and nodded, finally seeming to relax a little. “That’s generous. I’m certain my squads will appreciate the gesture.”

  Sarai looked around the damaged chamb
er. “Damn we have a lot of cleanup and repair to do before we can let the regular staff back in.”

  Hands behind her back, Kalindinai strolled over. Bannor saw her gaze lingering on the mecha busily releasing one another from the Baronian controls. Janai and Ryelle followed her also watching the synthetic life forms with some trepidation

  “Jhaan, I hope you know what you’re doing,” she said.

  The King glanced over his shoulder. “Kal, the irony is that I can get elves to accept a magical man of metal far more easily than I can a human of flesh. If we can get them to accept a human prince; a few intelligent golems running around the citadel grounds will be easy.”

  Kalindinai stared at him. “I wish I could refute that logic.” She focused on Bannor. “Do you know anything about these creatures, Bannor?”

  “I met two on Homeworld,” he answered. “They are very—alive.” He frowned not knowing if he had the proper words. “They have a refined sense of who and what they are. Better than many people I know.” He let out a breath. “One of them sacrificed itself to protect Daena and I. It put itself between a dread and us, and got…” He paused. “It wasn’t pretty.”

  The Queen seemed to take that in. She glanced back to the growing number of golden eyes wandering around the far side of the room.

  Tymoril and Kegari had turned and were peering at all the activity with apparent interest.

  The Felspars, Kriar, Shael Dal and valkyries had gathered into groups and were obviously discussing recent happenings.

  Kalindinai took her attention off the mecha and focused on him. “So, Bannor, this new you—how long does he plan to remain with us?”

  He glanced at Sarai. “Well, probably until we’re sure the Baronians have gone away.”

  The Queen approached him and reached up a long nailed hand to his face and turned her head. “I like it. You’re quite handsome—for—whatever you are.”

  He looked down at himself. What was he? He kept referring to himself and the other ascended savants as first ones, but they really weren’t. This was a body created by the Kriar to simulate joining with his beta self. Marna had even said she had improved on nature. Who knew the extent of what that entailed? He did know it had helped him to protect Sarai and others, and for that he was thankful.