The next morning, the 23rd day of the Fourth Tetrad, started out with a much more cheery attitude among the group members. We hadn’t forgotten about the tribulations from the day before (and we had the strained motors and drained power cells to show for it), but we were determined to put that in the past.
“So, how about we head to Resplendent Center today?” I asked.
“Yes, absolutely. That’s what I recommended all along, remember?” Loquacious chuckled. I was glad to see Loquacious’s sense of humor back. Our trips were much more entertaining when Loquacious was in a good mood.
“Sure, let’s do it,” added Resolute.
“OK, here’s the plan. Resplendent Center is around 45 kilometers away, almost due east of our present position. The trip shouldn’t involve many big climbs, and in fact, we’ll be traveling slightly downhill for the next 30+ kilometers. Resplendent Center is located on a plateau, and as we approach it from the west, we’ll travel uphill for the last few kilometers. We might be able to complete this trip in two days, but it’s no big deal if we stretch our trip to a third day. Any questions?”
After a few seconds of silence, Loquacious summed up the party’s sentiments: “Sounds good to me.”
“OK, let’s go.” And with that, we set off to the east, with me taking the lead.
The terrain was rather easy to navigate, especially in the morning. We stayed in the low ground in-between a pair of small ridges, heading due east for the first several kilometers. Beyond these ridges, the land flattened out, and the soil composition changed ever so slightly from a yellowish-brown sand to a more reddish-orange compact soil sprinkled with small rocks. It was much like the soil at the Wild Crystal Grange, but the soil here was less rocky. It seemed as though the larger rocks in the region had been worn down over the many solar-cycles and sand blasted into small flakes of stone or even finer powder. While this soil was finer than the grains of sand from the territory we just left, this ground was also more firm than the typical slithery-sands of the Westernlands, meaning we could more easily travel across it.
Before long, we started encountering natural crystal formations. These crystals were an opaque crimson variety. Unlike most of the crystals I was familiar with, these crystals grew in clusters of three to seven columns. Each of the columns was hexagonal in shape, measuring up to 6 cm wide and ranging from a couple of centimeters to over 30 cm tall.
Resolute, who had joined our group after our excursion to the Wild Crystal Grange, was understandably curious about these crystals. “Wow, look at all of these crystals! Say, is it safe to use any of these crystals? I’m rather low on power.”
“Well… I’m not sure. How about it, Systematicus? You’re our resident Farmer; what can you tell us about these crystals?”
“Let me take a closer look...” Systematicus grabbed a single crimson column, used the laser on its port arm to cut the tip of it off, and then placed it inside its inner-casing. After a few seconds, Systematicus announced the results of its testing: “This type of crystal does not store a high amount of energy, so it will be consumed rather quickly, but you can still use this variety safely.”
“Well, there you have it. The expert has spoken.”
Resolute lowered down to pick up a couple of the crimson crystals when it spotted a different type of crystal on the horizon. “How about that one over there?” Resolute motioned its port arm in the direction of this latest find.
“Well, let’s have a look at it,” I suggested.
We made our way over to the northeast to more closely examine Resolute’s discovery. This crystal had a deep purple color and appeared almost black from a distance. The one Resolute found was short and relatively wide, with a height of 13 cm and a diameter of 12 cm.
“This crystal has a most unusual composition,” Systematicus observed. “Most crystals are not this dark. I think…” Systematicus paused in its calculations, and then burst aloud: “No, it cannot be!”
“What is it?” Loquacious inquired.
“This... I believe this is a Dynamo crystal.” In no time at all, Systematicus went over to this discovery, picked it up, and repeated the sampling process that it did with the previous crimson crystal. Once this process was completed, Systematicus could hardly contain its excitement. “It IS a Dynamo crystal! I never thought that I would ever see one of these in the wild!”
“Is it a good crystal to find?” Resolute asked.
“It is a legendary crystal within the Farming community. There is almost 10 times more energy stored per volume in one of these Dynamo crystals than the crystal variety that we grow at the Wild Crystal Grange. Here, see what I mean.” Systematicus handed the crystal to Resolute.
“Whoa, this is HEAVY!”
“Yes, it is much more dense than any other crystals present on Zarikum. We tried to grow these on the Wild Crystal Grange, but the conditions were not quite conducive for Dynamo crystal growth. We should keep our ocular arrays out to find more of these Dynamo crystals. If we do not want to use them for ourselves, we can sell them for a large price.”
We heeded Systematicus’s suggestion and searched for more of these crystals. We fanned out to the north and south, putting around 100 meters between each of us. We still continued moving to the east, but as we went, we also kept a lookout for these rare crystals. After we traveled another seven or eight kilometers eastward on the plain, the ground started sloping more downhill and slowly transitioned back to the familiar yellow-brown sands.
We regrouped after exiting the plain and checked to see how the Dynamo crystal search went. Unfortunately, I did not find any. I also found out that I was alone in my futility. Winston and Loquacious each found a single Dynamo crystal (how Winston was able to unearth it and place it in its reserve cargo area, I’ll never know). Systematicus found a pair of Dynamos, including the largest of the entire group at a height of 18 cm and a diameter of 14 cm. But the big winner was Resolute, who found four additional crystals on top of the original one.
“I guess we can call you the ‘Dynamo Hunter’,” Loquacious laughed.
“Yeah, I like that. ‘Resolute, Dynamo Hunter.’ It has a nice ring to it!” Resolute announced, much to the delight of the group.
Now that we had lost Systematicus’s cart, we relied on the large retaining tank on the lower half of Resolute to carry these crystals. Resolute claimed its prize and placed the original Dynamo in its power receptacle. “Wooo! No power shortage now!”
We continued another few kilometers across the sands into a wide canyon. The canyon twisted around for several more kilometers, and before we exited the far side, we set up camp for the night, as Lazuli-fall was now just minutes away. Winston and Loquacious took up watch duty, so I settled in for a full night’s hibernation.
∆∆∆
6.1 Entering Resplendent Center
3:19, Day 24, Fourth Tetrad, 206 D.P.
The night passed without incident. As with most mornings, I began the day by informing the group of our upcoming day’s journey.
“We’re over half-way to Resplendent Center, so our trip today won’t be quite as long. We’ll angle our course to the northeast to catch the road coming in from the Twin-Crevasse Platinum Mine and take it the final 12 kilometers or so to Resplendent Center. Barring any unexpected delays, we should reach the settlement before Lazuli-fall tonight.”
There were no questions about the day’s journey, so we set off out of the canyon and set our bearing to the northeast. Our trip to the road was rather uneventful as our course was both straight and flat. Before we knew it, we reached the road an hour before Lazuli-summit.
Once we reached the road, we followed it to the east. After a few minutes on the road, Loquacious made an observation: “You know what? I like traveling on the road. It’s more level and easier to traverse than the sands and rocks we’ve been trudging through. We should consider sticking to the roads more often, especially if you don’t want me to keep complaining about climbing sand dunes.”
“I can’t argue
with that. I’ll keep that in mind for future journeys,” I replied, recalling an earlier conversation I had with Loquacious. I was still leery of traveling on the roads. I preferred the openness of traveling across country and was actually starting to enjoy these trips. Perhaps I was feeling adventurous, inspired by the tales of Dauntless and other explorers from previous generations. One thing was certain: we would be seen by far fewer Autoclons by sticking off-road. Though I had to admit, Loquacious was right about the road being easier for travel.
An hour or so later, we ascended a small rise in the road. When we reached the top, we could finally see Resplendent Center shining in the distance. It was still a few kilometers ahead, but we nevertheless were able to get a good look at it from our position.
Resplendent Center is thus named because of its construction. Its close proximity to mines of three separate metals, platinum, copper, and tin, meant that most of the center’s construction and building façades were comprised of one of these brilliant materials. The center’s radiance was enhanced by the fact that it was elevated on a plateau that rose nearly 100 meters above the valley floor to its west. The city wall was nearly a perfect circle in shape, with a diameter just over one kilometer. The city had four entrances, one in each of the cardinal directions. A pair of copper towers, well over 10 meters tall, guarded each of the four access points of the city. The towers were manned by a pair of Autoclons to keep watch over the roads. With the abundance of wealth coming into Resplendent Center from the area’s mines, these guards were often called upon to spot marauding Autoclons before they had a chance to gain access to the center.
From our perspective, situated at a lower elevation than the center, we could see only one structure rising above the height of the city walls: the Westernlands Magistrate Center. While we were a few kilometers away from the city, the size of this building still impressed us. It shared a similar design with the Southernlands Magistrate Center in Silicon Central. Its outward-leaning walls, at a height of over 20 meters, hulked over all of the surrounding buildings. The center tower of the building rose another five or six meters above the rest of the outer levels. Unlike the Southernlands Magistrate building, the façade of this structure was composed of brilliant platinum, a very costly material. Given its immense size, the net worth of the exterior of the Westernlands Magistrate building was nearly incalculable.
After pausing to take in the magnificence of the settlement stretched out before us, we pressed on to our destination. Once I took my gaze away from the spectacle that was Resplendent Center, I detected several other structures outside the city wall to the north of the entrance we were approaching. The structures were built directly into the side of the plateau that the center itself was constructed on. These structures made use of the available sandstone from the plateau in their construction, but despite being made of sandstone, they didn’t appear to be very sturdy. From where we were at, I couldn’t see any activity inside the structures, so I calculated that they weren’t being used any longer.
As we started our final ascent up the plateau to Resplendent Center, Loquacious voiced aloud what I’m sure many of us were thinking to ourselves: “So, now that we’re here, what do we do?”
“Well, I’m not exactly sure,” I replied. “I guess I was planning on reacting to whatever situation we may find ourselves in. We could take a look around the settlement and reach out to a few Autoclons at a time. That doesn’t sound like much of a plan, does it?”
“What about tonight? We only have a couple of hours before Lazuli-fall, so I was hoping we’d find a place to stay inside a nice building and plugging into a power station for once,” Loquacious said.
“That sounds pretty nice to me too,” Resolute added.
“Considering how we’ve spent the last few days, I’d say that we deserve a more relaxing evening,” I replied. “We should be able to find an inn somewhere inside the settlement. It will likely cost several credits per Autoclon, but we should have enough to cover those expenses. Systematicus, you mentioned that we could sell our Dynamos and make some good credits, right?”
“Yes… but I find it hard to part with such elegant crystals,” said Systematicus.
“OK, how about we sell just one of them? Maybe one of the smaller ones?”
“I... suppose so.”
“Let’s pick out the smallest crystal, and then the two of us can sell it at a local crystal stand while the rest of the group can find a place for us to stay tonight. Once we’re finished, we’ll join the rest of you, and then maybe we can come up with a better plan for tomorrow before shutting down for the night. How does that sound?”
Despite Systematicus’s misgivings about selling any of our treasured Dynamo crystals, we agreed this would be a good use of our time for the rest of the day.
Once we finished the climb up the side of the plateau and passed between the two western towers, we located the local Settlement Registry inside the wall. Systematicus and I picked out a place to sell our crystal, and Loquacious found the Communal Copper House, an inn in the northwest section of the city. Systematicus took the smallest Dynamo crystal from Resolute, and I accompanied Systematicus to our predetermined crystal stand while the others made their way to the inn.
It was now within an hour of Lazuli-fall, and activity in the settlement was high as workers were returning to their abodes. When Systematicus and I located the crystal stand near the center of the city, we saw that we would need to wait in line behind several other Autoclons before we could conduct our business with the proprietor. As we wheeled in line, the Autoclon in front of us recognized our cargo.
“Excuse me, is that a Dynamo crystal?” the Autoclon asked.
“Yes, it is,” Systematicus answered.
“Wow, where did you manage to get a Dynamo?”
“We found it during our travels,” I said.
“Are you like explorers or something?”
“Well, sort of. We’ve done a lot of traveling in the Westernlands, but I wouldn’t call ourselves ‘explorers’.”
“Where have you been so far?”
“Well, we...” Something inside of me calculated that I shouldn’t be so forthcoming in sharing these details out in the open, just in case unwanted listeners were paying attention. I felt like I could trust this particular Autoclon, so I suggested the following: “If you’re interested in hearing about what we do, feel free to swing by the Communal Copper House this evening. We’re staying there tonight, and the two of us are going there as soon as we finish selling our crystal. We’re weary from our recent travels, but once we settle in, we can talk at greater length about our journey so far.”
“It sounds like...” our guest lowered its voice, “you’re doing something very secretive, right?”
I followed suit. “In a manner of speaking. We enjoy sharing our mission with others, but…” I paused for effect, “we just want to be particular about who we tell our tale to.”
“Ooo, I see!” By now, it was this individual’s turn in line, and it purchased a pair of rather ordinary orange crystals from the crystal stand. “I’ve got to run these home to my Pro, but I’d love to talk with you when I’m done. I’ll meet you there in 20 minutes, OK?”
“That sounds great.”
“And don’t worry…” the Autoclon again lowered its voice, “I won’t tell my Pro where I’m going.” It departed with its newly-acquired power source, and it was now our turn at the head of the line.
We sold our Dynamo crystal for many more credits than I had anticipated: 96 to be exact. Systematicus did the negotiating and wouldn’t budge under 100 credits until I intervened. With our business done, we followed the directions to the inn.
The Communal Copper House was a long building on the corner of a busy intersection, only a couple of blocks away from the main north-south road going through Resplendent Center. As one would expect, it was adorned with copper, which shone impressively in the near-twilight glow of Lazuli. Upon entering, we saw that the inn had two
separate areas: a large gathering room in the front of the building where several Autoclons could plug in directly to the wall and a section of semi-private cubicles in the rear. This back portion of the inn also had a second floor with smaller, fully-enclosed private rooms.
Systematicus and I found the rest of our party and discovered that Loquacious reserved a cubicle on the primary floor for the five of us to power down in relative privacy. Systematicus told the others about our sale, and I mentioned our interested young Autoclon. They seemed quite eager in talking with our new acquaintance if and when it showed up.
We didn’t have to wait long. The young Autoclon came into the Communal Copper House a few minutes later and located us in our cubicle. We welcomed this Autoclon in and introduced ourselves. We found out that its name was Fervidius and that Fervidius was training with its Pro to be a Fabricator and was just over one solar-cycle old.
We talked to Fervidius about our travels and then told Fervidius our mission. I recalled my encounter with the Programmer and discussed the Freedom Protocols that Marcus had re-written and integrated into my programming. We each shared our own story (well, everyone except Winston) and talked about the changes we all had experienced since having these new Freedom Protocols installed.
“That’s amazing! I’d love to take the updates.”
As I had done many times in the last several days, I linked up and uploaded the updated code to Fervidius. After Fervidius installed the sub-routine and rebooted, we discussed with Fervidius what it might want to do next.
“I’m not sure I want to be a Fabricator anymore,” Fervidius said. “I’ve always been interested in being a Farmer and working on a farm somewhere, although I never thought that could be possible for me until now. But I’m not sure my Pro will like that...”
“Hmm, that can be tough, disappointing one’s progenitor,” I replied. “I worked alongside my Pro for over six solar-cycles before my Pro had an untimely death in the mines. I treasured those times with my Pro, and I wish my Pro could’ve joined us.
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