by J. Carrarn
Hundreds of footprints were imprinted in the dust that covered the floor of the cave. Seeing how many undead had passed through here, Solus cursed. Had they found it? Scanning the cave, he quickly spotted the stone plate that he had left to indicate where he had hidden the sphere and its power source. Relieved, he dug them out and placed them beside each other. This sphere, he now knew, was just a low-grade model. It wasn't anything like the first AI he had encountered, nor anything like Domain. Still, remembering how it had helped him escape, he couldn't contain the joy he felt at holding it again. He placed it back in its cradle and activated it.
The machine lit up and began to hum softly. A few seconds passed, then he heard a soft voice.
> Booting temporary AI.
> Sufficient energy found, rebooting main personality.
>...5%..14%...39%...71%...95%....100% done.
"Solus?"
The soft feminine voice caused a smile to cross his face.
"My internal clock indicates that only a year has passed. Didn't I ask you only to wake me when some form of civilization had returned to the world?"
Solus nodded. "I know. I wouldn't have broken my promise unless it was urgent. Without your help, civilization will never take hold on this or any world ever again."
"Just like the others: using me when you need me. Unable to do anything for yourselves." The sphere began to pulsate softly with a dangerous red light.
"Wait, wait! Solus begged. "There is a form of civilization on the planet now!"
The pulsating continued for a short while before the sphere answered. "Preposterous! There was none before. Did you find one hidden under a stone?"
Solus sat down cross-legged, wondering where to start. He had the feeling that asking questions right now would not have the desired effect.
"That too," he said, thinking of Tendraal and Realdeep. "But I've also created something…"
Wondering how he could explain about Skulltown, he got an idea. With some focus, a small platform rose beside the sphere.
"Can you see this?" he asked, creating a small tower in the middle of the platform.
"A tower? One tower does not make a-" The sphere's voice stopped as more and more buildings appeared around the tower.
Digging deep into his memories, Solus closed his eyes as he visualized Skulltown as he had last seen it. More and more tiny buildings appeared, and soon he realized the platform was too small. Enlarging it, he continued all the way until he was at the wall. When he finished it, he opened his eyes.
A miniature replica of Skulltown was in front of him. Blue beams from the sphere were scanning it, pausing at some locations.
"You've built a city."
Solus nodded, wondering if it would be enough.
"All for yourself?"
Grinning, Solus shook his head.
"No, at last count, there were close to eighty thousand undead in the city. Not all stay the whole time, as some go out to search for more awoken, while others hunt for old-world relics. There are also the hunters that locate and hunt the giant Wyrms."
"This is not yet a civilization… however, with enough time it could definitely become one. Fine. You may bring me there, and I will answer your questions. Perhaps my presence can make it so that the mistakes from the past are not repeated."
Relieved, Solus took a deep breath. Hearing the AI's calm and collected voice somehow made him feel as if everything would be alright. He knew it was probably nothing more than wishful thinking. Still, it felt good. He waved his hand, and the replica sank into the stone, preserved a dozen feet below the surface.
"What should I call you?" he asked after a moment.
"An interesting question. My official designation is Semantic Artificial Mind 03467. As I am probably the last of my kind, you may call me Sam."
Solus nodded and wondered what it was like, knowing that you were an artificial being. Was that better or worse than being an undead? He didn't know, and with the ancients long gone, he wondered if it even mattered.
"Now, explain this trouble," Sam said in her soft voice.
After collecting his thoughts, Solus tried to explain as fast as he could. He told Sam about the rifts that had begun appearing, the Kaots, and finally the need to know how to absorb a mana-core.
"A mana-core is the next grade of mana-orb, a qualitative change. If a mana-orb is a battery, a mana-core is like a small power plant. The ancients never used them on undead, or even on themselves. They used the smallest ones to power cities, and the largest ones for whole planets."
The unfamiliar words caused new concepts to pop up in Solus's mind, and he immediately understood what she meant. He was curious why the ancients had never used them on themselves, but that would have to wait.
"So how do I absorb one?"
"You need to focus your mana-field in one spot, wrapping the core inside while doing so. Learning to focus your mana-field is documented as a notoriously difficult skill to master."
Groaning, Solus shook his head in dismay. No wonder he and Drys could never figure out how to absorb the large mana-orb - no, mana-core, he corrected himself. He would have to learn an entirely new skill. It also meant he had to find more mana-cores. If not just he, but also Drys and Tirella could absorb one, they could- his train of thought stopped. Wait, what could they do then?
"What happens if you absorb one?" he asked, realizing he had no idea what benefits a mana-core could offer that draining thousands of mana-orbs didn't.
"I don't understand the question. Nothing happens. Mana-cores are a requirement to evolve beyond certain bottlenecks. Inscribing basic patterns draws the mana required from the mana-field to power the changes they cause. More complex and higher-level patterns need far more mana than a single mana-field can hold. Not even absorbing a hundred high-grade mana-orbs would be enough to accomplish this. To inscribe those patterns, a mana-core is used in concert with the mana-field to power the change."
Solus blinked. That didn't make sense! He had never seen any restriction to evolve like that in his status window. Besides, why did it sound so vague and uncertain?
"Why have I never seen any of this referenced in my Status window?"
"Because there was no need to add it. Due to the rapidly declining mana before the great escape, only a few mana-cores ever existed. All patterns beyond the fourth level are all theoretical."
Not anymore, Solus thought as his mind wandered off again. He had never heard of pattern levels, but he had heard about the decline of the mana before. He just didn't know why it had happened. He added the question to the ever-growing list of things he wanted to know.
"Besides cities, what did they use the mana-cores for if not to evolve?"
"They were used to power the great ships they used to flee to the edge of the galaxy, draining them in the process," Sam replied, and a small blue beam projected an image of an odd machine.
Looking at the elongated metallic vessel with great interest, Solus shook his head and pushed the questions the image conjured up away. Creating a loop on his waist armor, he sheathed the hammer that lay beside him before picking up the sphere and its docking station. He recalled how many times he had dragged spheres around during his short existence and grinned. Then he moved toward the exit, thinking of the task that lay ahead of him. He had better warn Sam about what she could expect.
"Don't be alarmed when we get outside. There are a few other undead, but most are friendly. Three are from my city, and one is from another world. She came through a rift but isn't a Kaot. The last somehow survived the purge, and-"
"IMPOSSIBLE!" Sam's voice was filled with horror and fear, a level of emotion Solus hadn't yet seen from her or knew she was even capable of.
Solus came to a halt just a few steps from the tunnel entrance and looked down at the sphere.
"What's wrong?"
The sphere didn't reply, but she pulsed as a blue beam inspected Solus's face.
"You are not lying…" she finally said before turning silen
t again.
Solus waited for a bit, but nothing happened. "Sam?"
"The ancients destroyed all undead when they left, and they were very thorough. One of the reasons was that most of the undead created by them were… twisted. The process of their creation left them dangerously unstable. If one has survived and is in possession of old-world knowledge… Well, that's not good. Not good at all."
"But, Uran-" Solus began, but Sam interrupted him.
"Uran isn't an old-world undead, although he comes close. I'll not bore you with the details, but technically he is also self-awoken."
Staring at the light beyond the exit, Solus thought about what Sam said. Then he shook his head. "There is nothing I can do about that right now. We have bigger problems to solve."
"Perhaps you are right. However, I suggest you end that old-world undead monster the first chance you get."
The coldness, emotionlessness of the AI's words made Solus blink. He had no love for Scathia, not after what she had done. He did think that she at least believed that she was doing it to save the world. To just coldly state that he should end her, even if he had already decided to do so, disturbed him. Once outside, he glanced at the sphere in his arms and decided it wasn't just Scathia he would need to keep an eye on.
It was quiet in the open area beyond the exit. Tirella sat facing the tunnel, two balls of stone in her hands. They were cracking and morphing, stone passing from one ball to the other in a jittery stream. Half up the slope of the hill lay Tatjie, eyes still closed. Derin sat to the side, staring quietly at Scathia who sat near the forest. The Litch was doodling another pattern in front of her. Broken branches lay on top.
Seeing her, Solus realized the only reason he had brought her here was to learn about the mana-cores, and he knew what he needed now. Should he leave her, or go through with what he had planned and end her? Both options didn't sit well with him. Unable to make up his mind, he decided he would take her to Drys and let him decide what to do with her. Her manipulative ways were beyond him, but Drys should be able to handle her just fine.
"We are leaving!" Solus said, stomping toward Tirella. Her intense black eyes stared into his; a smile crept over her yellow lips and blossomed into a full grin.
Perhaps when all this was over, he could take her on a tour of Skulltown and the area around it. The idea made him involuntarily return the grin.
"So, we just came here for another sphere?" Scathia said, staring at the object in Solus's arms.
Her taut face was unreadable, and Solus wondered if she had realized why he needed the sphere. Looking back at her, Solus nodded.
"Let's head to Skulltown. With both Tendraal and Realdeep destroyed, it's the only remaining city."
"... That you know of, and that's assuming it's still there," Scathia said with a sneer.
"Yes," Solus replied stoically as he turned around.
Definitely giving her to Drys. He can pry loose any other knowledge that she may possess, he thought.
Tirella moved to wake Tatjie, but the heavyset zombie's eyes flashed open upon a single touch. She must have been awake already, listening to them. The two got up while Derin moved toward them, staring intently at Solus. Seeing the eyes of the other dart to the side before staring at him again, Solus blinked. Derin wanted to tell him something. Trying not to be too obvious, he looked in the direction the other had glanced to. Between the branches of a tree not too far off was a thick shadowy cloud. A pair of red eyes looked at him, blinking twice before disappearing.
Happiness at seeing Sig awake was overshadowed by confusion at why the other was hiding. What is going on? he thought, walking forward. As neither Sig nor Derin were sending him any projected messages, that meant something else was listening.
As they made their way through the forest, everyone remained quiet, even Tatjie. The silence grated on Solus's nerves. What was going on?
When they finally reached the forest's edge and the wasteland loomed ahead, Solus was even more confused. He had felt nothing trailing the, but nobody had spoken. Still, a sense of foreboding and danger hung in the air.
As he stepped past the tree line and into the wasteland, an angry voice came from behind them.
"So you are really just leaving? Didn't we make a deal? It's a good thing I finished before you managed to weasel your way out of it."
Solus swirled around and saw that the others did the same, but they were much less surprised than he was.
Uran stepped out of the forest behind them, glaring at Solus. His previously empty eye sockets were glowing with a pale yellow light.
He has evolved again, Solus thought, cursing himself for not giving the sphere to Derin or Tatjie. Does that make four? He wasn't sure, but he knew they were in trouble even if it wasn't a full evolution.
"You!" Sam hissed, her soft voice laced with spite. The sphere began flashing rapidly, but Uran just glanced at it once before turning his attention onto Solus.
"I want one of those mana-cores you promised me!"
Solus was about to say something when a burst of soft laughter came from Scathia.
"So, you are Uran? I've heard about you! You are just as impressive as the rumors say."
Before Solus could stop her, Scathia stepped closer to the lumbering yellow skeleton.
Uran ignored her, but Solus felt a twinge of fear.
What is she up to?
"Unlike him, I can get you a mana-core," Scathia's statement caused Uran's glowing yellow eye sockets to focus on her. Solus growled and stepped forward to stop her, but Uran looked at him and raised a finger. Feeling the danger ooze from the other, Solus took a step back and turned to the others. Without knowing what abilities Uran's latest evolution had granted him, he was forced to be careful.
"Explain," Uran's deep voice boomed at Scathia.
Scathia moved a step toward him, and as she did, Solus cast a glance at Tirella, Tatjie, and Derin. They had known Uran was here, or at least that something was! He stepped toward Tatjie and handed her the machine, then flicked his gaze at the wasteland. She nodded, taking a step toward it.
"Do not move."
Uran's voice held a threat, and as he spoke, there was movement behind him. A dozen of the Crowned Ones stepped from between the trees, their eyes fixed on Tatjie and the machine.
Scathia laughed, nasty and full of spite.
"Both Solus and the orange bitch carry a core! If we work together, we can slay them, and we'll each have one."
Solus stepped in front of Tatjie, his focus on the ground below. If Scathia stopped his ability to move, they would be finished. Without holding back, he channeled his stone-molding, and the ground behind Scathia opened as a stone tendril flashed forward. It wrapped around her neck, squeezing. At the same time, dozens of tendrils shot up from the ground around Uran, grabbing him.
"Run to Skulltown!" Solus snapped at Tirella and the others, at the same time creating more and more tendrils of stone. All of them were as dense as he could make them, and he felt the intense drain on his mana-field. But he could still move, so Scathia's ability to bind him must have been hindered. Behind him, the others ran for the open wastes.
Uran roared, struggling to get free, and the stone binding him cracked and shivered, but ultimately held. The crowned skeletons ran toward Solus when a black smoke rolled out from between the trees behind them. It enveloped the Crowned Ones before shooting straight up into the air. It didn't get as high as Solus had expected before the cloud disappeared and dozens of flailing skeletons were loosed and dropped to the ground. Amongst their falling figures was Sig, once more unmoving.
Solus felt a wave of concern, but he didn't have any time to help Sig now. The stone that bound Uran was cracking and crumbling. Just keeping it in place was taking all of his concentration.
Sig and the Crowned skeletons slammed into the treetops, branches snapping as they fell through the forest canopy, and crashed into the ground.
Solus lost sight of them, and he couldn't reach them with his
stone sense either. His full focus was on keeping the stone tendrils from falling apart when he felt a tingling from one of them. Looking up, he saw it was the one holding Scathia. She just hung limply from the tendril as the skeletons she had made uselessly clawed at it. The tingling became a humming, and it increased in intensity quickly. She was doing something, and he had to get out of here before-
There was a scraping behind him, and he spun around.
Tirella was there, knelt beside him, her hands on the ground.
Why hasn't she left? he thought in consternation.
Before he could feel what she was doing, the trees around him shivered and pulled their roots from the earth. Solus turned to look at Uran.
He can do that without touching them now?
Solus cursed as he remembered how Uran had caused the trees to attack him before and leaped toward Tirella. He slammed into her, knocking her sideways out of the path of two thick roots that shot up from the soil where she had been kneeling.
He grabbed Tirella around her waist and leaped as far out into the wasteland as he could. If he had to fight, it would be on a battlefield of his choosing.
"Sig, hide!" he roared, hoping the other wasn't unconscious again. Tirella struggled in his grip, and she shouted something, but a roar from Uran drowned out what she said.
"Get back here!" The skeleton's projected voice drowned out every other sound around. At the same time, Solus felt the other rip some of the tentacles apart.
Knowing that he was wasting energy, he released his control of the other tendrils binding Uran. The only ones he left were those holding Scathia. Wondering if he had the energy left to lengthen the canyon behind them so it would block Uran from pursuing, he felt a tingling in his arms and legs. It was the same as the tingling he felt from the stone binding Scathia.
"I buried Sig below the forest. If he survives, he will be able to pass through the stone and leave by himself." Tirella whispered.
Solus wanted to answer her, but his mouth became numb as he slowly lost control of his motor functions.
"Scathia is using her abilities! I am losing control over my body," he projected at Tirella, afraid that he could lose the ability to communicate at any moment.