by Jeremy Dwyer
“Commissioner Wallace, calm down. This is in my district, and I will be supervising, and no one will occupy the structure before I give my approval. Fantine, have there been any problems with the constructor lately? And, can you detect and fix them before they become serious?” Commissioner Hannah asked.
“No problems, Commissioner Hannah. I still check the integrity after the construction process, rather than assuming success. The imaging is useful to allow me to learn from successes, so that they can be repeated and improved upon,” Fantine said.
“Then I expect a copy of those lightkeeper crystals containing the city images,” Commissioner Wallace said.
“The lightkeeper crystals are of the highest quality, so they do come at an additional cost,” Niven said.
“You’ll have a copy of the lightkeeper crystals, Commissioner. I’ll cover that cost,” Fantine said.
“Let’s not waste any more time, then. I’m ready to begin now,” Commissioner Wallace said.
Ximenez recorded this conversation into his book. He then said: “Under the authority of the Chronicler’s Oath, I will be coming with you.”
Commissioner Wallace exited the alchemy shop, accompanied by his twenty (20) armed guards. Commissioner Hannah, Captain Gijsbert and Romey followed. Fantine and Niven exited behind them, and Ximenez followed.
~~~
Fantine, Niven and Ximenez walked to the docks and boarded the Sandstone Cutter. They entered the wheelhouse and Captain Arata was waiting there.
“Captain Arata, we have another project. It’s a new city, with irrigation canals, in Western District Nineteen (19) of Ihalik. Here is the charted course to the site,” Fantine said. She handed the page with the charted course.
“Are you ready to leave?” Captain Arata asked.
“Yes. While you follow that course, I’ll go down into the cargo hold and prepare the other sapphires on the constructor pillars,” Fantine said.
“On our way,” Captain Arata said. He pulled levers to retract the boarding ramp and raise the anchor. He then steered the Sandstone Cutter out of port and sailed the ship southwest across the Medathero Ocean, according to the charted course.
Fantine turned to Niven and said: “I’m going to need your help.” She tugged on his hand to lead him. Ximenez watched and followed, recording everything he observed into his book.
~~~
Fantine exited the wheelhouse, walked across the deck and climbed down the steps leading into the cargo hold. Niven and Ximenez followed her. The twenty-three (23) constructor pillars – each ninety (90) feet in length – were positioned on their sides. Each pillar had a sapphire affixed to its tip. The pillars were stacked like lumber on top of each other, in five (5) piles of four (4) pillars each and one (1) pile of three (3) pillars.
Niven drank anew of the waters of the Trerada Ocean from his vial to be energized with the power of good health. It didn’t give him strength, but it did enable him to heal from any injury, along with maintaining his handsome looks.
Ximenez drank anew of the waters of the Ursegan Ocean from his own vial to be energized with the power to slow the passage of time. He thus maintained his youth and longevity, as well as his ability to observe fast moving events in detail.
Fantine drank anew of the waters of the Kazofen Ocean from her vial to be energized with the power to manipulate crystal and stone.
“Niven, I need you to help me balance so I can reach some of the higher pillars and alter the low-level crystal structure of the sapphires,” Fantine said.
Niven took Fantine’s hand and helped her to climb up the stacks of pillars by using the gaps between them as steps. As he did this, Fantine touched and molded the sapphires affixed to each of the pillars, modifying their low-level structure according to her earlier design. Because she let go of his hands to do her work, Niven held her by her waist to steady her during this process.
When Fantine completed her work on the last of the sapphires in each stack, she said: “I’m done here. Please help me down.” Niven then took Fantine’s hand and helped her climb down each pillar stack. He then held her hand to escort her as she walked across the floor to the next pile. Niven continued helping her, holding her hand or her waist, until all six (6) stacks of constructor pillars had their sapphires modified.
“Thank you,” Fantine said at the end.
“You’re welcome. So, what’s the layout of city and the canals? What’s your plan for the imaging?” Niven asked.
“There are several key points. The city has a trapezoidal shape, and each vertex requires an individual visit and examination. We can’t take advantage of symmetry for sampling. We’ll need more lightkeeper crystals because of the irregular sides. The piers will be examined first, however, and the irrigation canals last,” Fantine said. She took a notebook from her coat pocket and drew a detailed sketch. She then leaned closer and showed this to Niven.
Ximenez watched Fantine and Niven closely and recorded their activity and conversation into his book, including the sketch that Fantine drew of the city. While he could not see the low-level structural changes she made to the crystals atop the constructor pillars, he could see the grip that Fantine held on Niven’s hand while he was helping her to climb the pillar stacks. Ximenez could also how she didn’t let go of Niven’s hand after climbing back down and walking across the floor to the next pillar stack. He also noticed how Fantine leaned in to Niven, shoulder to shoulder, to show him the city sketch. The body language was telling, although he was not allowed to draw conclusions, because of the Chronicler’s Oath. For a notoriously cold and detached woman, she now seemed just a bit friendlier.
“We’re done down here for now. Let’s go back on deck,” Fantine said. Niven held her hand and escorted her back to the staircase and up the steps leading out of the cargo hold. Ximenez followed closely, watching and recording every little detail. For some reason, this fascinated him, and he hoped for the best.
~~~
Commissioner Hannah, Captain Gijsbert and Romey followed Commissioner Wallace and his twenty (20) armed guards as he led the way back to the docks and boarded the Industrious Metal Miner North Eleven.
“We need to set sail immediately, Captain,” Commissioner Wallace said.
Captain Gijsbert and Romey entered the wheelhouse. The captain pulled levers to retract the boarding ramp and raise the anchor. Romey began steering the ship out of port and sailing it southwest across the Medathero Ocean. She and Captain Gijsbert took turns at the ship’s wheel, following the charted course.
~~~
Claudia drank anew of the waters of the Elanatin Ocean from her vial and was energized with the powers of telepathy and empathy. She had been waiting in an adjacent office inside the castle, probing the thoughts of Imperial Prince Trahaearn and the resource coordinator, Nathan, so she knew her orders. Neither of them was acting dishonestly, and each was genuinely unaware of the cause of the discrepancy. However, this also meant that they were failing in their responsibilities.
She walked through the halls of the castle and found her colleague by probing for his thoughts. She used a key to unlock a door and enter a side room where he was waiting. She closed and locked the door behind her. The tiny room was lit by radiant gems on the walls and ceiling.
“Agent Claudia, do you have evidence to support the case against them?” the young man asked when she entered.
“Agent Cheveyo, I do have evidence of financial fraud. The resource coordinator, Nathan, detected it and brought it to the attention of Imperial Prince Trahaearn. We have an oversupply of precious gems, but neither of them can explain the cause. They are not responsible for the discrepancy – at least, not deliberately – but they are lacking in their ability to prevent, to correct or to explain it. At best, they have a plan to detect future occurrences. However, they have no plan to rectify the current situation,” Claudia said.
“Do you have a plan, Agent Claudia?” the young man – Agent Cheveyo – asked.
“I’m working
on it, Agent Cheveyo,” Agent Claudia said.
~~~
Captain Arata continued sailing the Sandstone Cutter southwest across the Medathero Ocean until reaching the Glivoran Trail land bridge. At that point, he pulled levers to pivot the masts and sails to the sides of the ship and elevated the vessel to one hundred twenty (120) feet of altitude. He steered the ship across the land bridge, and returned it to sea level in the Kazofen Ocean. From there, he sailed the vessel westward until reaching the Road of Kovoxotu land bridge. Again, he pulled levers to pivot the sails and masts to the sides of the Sandstone Cutter and elevated the ship to one hundred twenty (120) feet of altitude. He steered the vessel across the land bridge, returning it to sea level in the Zovvin Ocean. From there, he sailed southwest until reaching the Way of Raza’Deptorum land bridge. Yet again, Captain Arata pulled the levers to pivot the sails and masts to the sides of the ship and elevated the vessel to one hundred twenty (120) feet of altitude. He steered the ship across the land bridge and returned it to sea level in the Gradaken Ocean. From there, he sailed the Sandstone Cutter southeastward according to the final portion of the charted course. Captain Arata steered the vessel to the designated location along the western coast of the continent of Ihalik and pulled a lever to drop the anchor.
~~~
The Industrious Metal Miner North Eleven steered up alongside the Sandstone Cutter and dropped anchor.
Commissioner Wallace stood on deck and could see the markings of the other vessel. “That’s the ship, the Sandstone Cutter,” he said and walked directly to the wheelhouse, followed by his twenty (20) armed guards and Commissioner Hannah.
“That other vessel is the Sandstone Cutter, the ship that Fantine said she retained. Extend the boarding ramp, Captain Gijsbert and wait here until I return. I want to meet with the architect and make sure that she is ready to begin construction,” Commissioner Wallace said.
Captain Gijsbert pulled a lever to extend the boarding ramp to the deck of the Sandstone Cutter.
~~~
Captain Arata went out on deck, where he met Fantine, Niven and Ximenez.
“Do you have everything you need?” Captain Arata asked.
“Almost,” Fantine said.
~~~
Commissioner Hannah followed Commissioner Wallace and his twenty (20) armed guards as they exited the wheelhouse of the Industrious Metal Miner North Eleven, walked across the boarding ramp and stepped onto the deck of the Sandstone Cutter. Wallace approached Fantine and asked “Are you ready to begin construction?”
“The constructor is ready. I just need help positioning the pillars. It requires some strong hands to lower them down on ropes, after we steer to each location. I need ten (10) people to make quick work of this,” Fantine said.
Commissioner Wallace turned to his guards and said: “You heard her. Ten (10) of you, get ready.”
The first ten (10) of the twenty (20) armed guards lowered their weapons and drank anew of the waters of the Nabavodel Ocean from their vials to be energized with the powers of strength and speed.
“They’re ready. Let’s get the ship into position,” Commissioner Wallace said.
“Actually, there are twenty-three (23) positions. We need to visit each and situate the pillars. They’re below deck, in the cargo hold, along with the rope,” Fantine said. She then led Captain Arata back to the wheelhouse and directed him. Niven followed and remained close to Fantine.
Captain Arata pulled levers to pivot the masts and sails to the sides of the Sandstone Cutter and elevate it to ninety (90) feet of altitude, matching the heights of the constructor pillars. Fantine directed Arata to steer the ship to each location around the perimeter of the construction site. At each of the twenty-three (23) points, she went out on deck and directed the guards to secure the ropes around the constructor pillars, hoist them up from the cargo hold, and lower them down onto the ground.
Ximenez recorded all of the activity into his book while both Commissioner Wallace and Commissioner Hannah observed closely to understand what was actually involved.
When all twenty-three (23) constructor pillars had been placed – which required six (6) hours of work – Fantine had Captain Arata return the Sandstone Cutter to sea level at their arrival point and drop anchor.
“I’m ready to construct. Let’s go out on deck,” Fantine said. She exited the wheelhouse with both Niven and Captain Arata following her.
Fantine held up the original sapphire and said: “The pillars are all in place, Commissioners. I’m going to send the control signal from this sapphire and activate the constructor.” She drank anew of the waters of the Kazofen Ocean from her vial to be energized with the power to control crystal and stone. She manipulated the low-level structure of the control sapphire and it emitted the light that was previously stored within its internal structure. The beam of light met with the altered sapphire atop the first pillar, which then turned a bright blue. That sapphire then emitted light beams toward the other sapphires atop the other twenty-two (22) pillars, several miles away, forming beams of light along all two hundred thirty (230) possible geometric diagonals among the twenty-three (23) pillars. The beams of light began to rotate and the circular flow of energy drew up the mists of the waters of the Gradaken Ocean near the western coast. These mists began to swirl, congeal and form a trapezoidal city structure, measuring five (5) miles from northwest to southeast along the western edge at the coast, six (6) miles eastward and inland along the northern edge, three (3) miles southward along the eastern edge and two (2) miles eastward and inland along the southern edge. Eight (8) piers – each fifty (50) feet wide and equally spaced from north to south along the city’s edge – extended seven hundred (700) feet westward from the coast out into the Gradaken Ocean. Three (3) irrigation canals – each four hundred fifty (450) feet wide – traversed the city from the western coast to the eastern edge. The city stood one hundred ten (110) feet at its highest point, and all the buildings within were luminous blue crystals. The sapphires atop the twenty-three (23) pillars then turned dark, signifying the end of the constructor’s operation, which lasted fourteen (14) minutes.
Ximenez recorded what he could see into his book, although only one (1) of the constructor pillars, two (2) of the piers, and part of the city’s western edge had been within his line of sight during the process. He could not see the irrigation canals from where he stood.
“It’s done,” Fantine said.
“The construction process was impressive to watch. But now you need to inspect the city and capture the images in the lightkeeper crystals,” Commissioner Wallace said.
“I’m going to have Captain Arata take me throughout the city. Niven and I will work to capture the images and conduct the inspection. This part will take around six (6) days,” Fantine said.
“I will be waiting on my ship,” Commissioner Wallace said.
“After your inspection, we’ll pay the balance of the transaction. Assuming everything goes well, I’ll have more work for you,” Commissioner Hannah said. She then followed Commissioner Wallace as he walked across the deck of the Sandstone Cutter, accompanied by his twenty (20) armed guards, and used the still-extended boarding ramp to return to the Industrious Metal Miner North Eleven.
~~~
On board the Sandstone Cutter, Fantine turned to face both Niven and Captain Arata and said: “We’ve got work to do. Let’s start by sailing the ship to each vertex and landing nearby so we can inspect and image the city’s key points. This city doesn’t have the usual symmetries, so I have to verify more points, and use more lightkeeper crystals for imaging.”
“Under the authority of the Oath, I request a copy of the lightkeeper crystals as well,” Ximenez said.
“Each copy of the lightkeepers will be an additional expense. This is my line of business, after all,” Niven said.
“I’ll pay for that copy as well. I want the Chronicler to take the images back to Emeth,” Fantine said.
“I’ll steer the ship back to th
e city’s corners,” Captain Arata said. He then returned to the wheelhouse where he pulled levers to pivot the sails and masts to the sides of the ship and elevate the vessel to one hundred twenty (120) feet of altitude. He then steered the Sandstone Cutter to the each of the city’s four (4) vertex points and landed the vessel down on solid ground.
From those points, Fantine and Niven disembarked from the ship and went into the crystal city to closely inspect its structure. Ximenez followed them, recording what he saw into his book. Niven captured the images into lightkeeper crystals. Fantine closely examined the low-level structural features of the buildings to check their integrity, using the powers she gained by drinking the waters of the Kazofen Ocean from her vial.
~~~
On board the Industrious Metal Miner North Eleven, Commissioner Hannah and Commissioner Wallace waited for the results inside a cabin with the door closed. His twenty (20) armed guards waited out on deck.
“Now that I’ve observed the constructor put to use, I see its potential, and it’s far greater than even I expected. We can achieve so much more economic growth using this machine,” Commissioner Hannah said.
“I agree that many possibilities exist due to its efficiencies – assuming it’s reliable. We still need the inspection to be completed,” Commissioner Wallace said.
“As long as there are no uncorrected faults, we’re going to use this city – and others like it – to regain our economic leverage. I plan to cancel several contracts with the central bank. Under the rules of bankruptcy, we can’t be forced to repay all debts or pay all contract default penalties, so we choose the ones we do pay,” Commissioner Hannah said.
“We need to hold the central bank accountable for the fraud they’ve committed and even charge them interest and penalties on top of reimbursement for our losses. I agree with that much. However, when you cancel contracts, the central bank is going to file complaints directly with the Ihalik Senate and financial council. They won’t simply accept cancellations without a strenuous legal battle,” Commissioner Wallace said.