The organic substance, while unsettling to most, made Dhanyl ecstatic. The first readings of his scans were puzzling. Its origins a mystery. Its composure completely unrelated to everything he had ever seen.
He hastily scrambled through his whole inventory of instruments, taking probes of the secrets that were pouring out of the wall and taking samples of the flesh and recording everything he saw, when a segment of the wall erupted and spewed out an enormous monstrosity made of flesh and teeth.
Dhanyl barely had time to draw his handgun before his sight was obscured by the Sower.
“What do you think you are doing?! I need to observe its behaviour! It could be important to my studies!”
But his protests had as much effect as his attempts to step around Tainted. The sower seemed absolutely determined to shield him from everything that was going on.
A Minute later Dhanyl heard the sound of an energy weapon being fired, then again, then a third time. Every time it was followed by a deeply unsettling screeching. Finally, the screeching ended with a last muffled shot just to be immediately replaced with an incomprehensible, robotic voice.
At least Tainted seemed to deem the situation save enough for Dhanyl again, illustrated by Tainteds sudden disappearance towards the ceiling.
Now being able to see again, the first thing Dhanyl noticed was the dead creature on the ground.
“Damnit! Who was that? For all we know it was the only one of its kind!” He complained, bluntly ignoring the fact that it could have killed them.
In an effort to save what he could he ran towards the creature and took as many samples and scans as he could. Ignoring the robot that just saved them he began to cut the thing open on the spot.
The machine turned to Tainted, recognizing one of the sent signals. A similar signal was sent back. A matching handshake protocol in an Endless programming language dating back to before the Schism. It was just a confirmation of received handshake protocol, but it was quickly followed up with something else. Translating it into words, it would come across as:
"THIS IS A RESTRICTED AREA. YOU ARE NOT AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL. YOU HAVE CREATED A SECURITY BREACH. UNDER ORDERS BY MY SUPERIORS, YOU ARE TO LEAVE THIS FACILITY AT ONCE."
Not a good sign by any means. Clearly this unit was disconnected from the terminal used to enter the building, and fooling it would be significantly more difficult if they wanted to convince it they were supposed to be here.
Seeing what appeared to be lances of holy light crash down from above to smite this monstrous worm, Valorum stepped back, surprised. When the mechanical newcomer descended into sight, Valorum's stance relaxed as he instantly recognized the being's construction. The segmented, wiry body, the oddly primitive decorations to its form, and the Dust trailing off it; there was no doubt to the captain.
"...a Remnant."
The shrieking noise it made to address the party made Valorum's spine crawl. It sounded like a fellow faithful he had seen on a past battlefield; one who was in the midst of repair, as her voicebox had been fried by the impact of shrapnel and plasma-rifle fire. It was not a pleasant sound, to say the least, but the Vodyani worked his way past it and took on a more professional posture, standing his glaive back up beside him and squaring his shoulders. Unable to sense what was passing between the Remnant and his Sower subordinate, he addressed the machine before him in the most resolute Eternal tongue he could muster:
"I am the leader of this party. Your audio is maladjusted, so I cannot understand you."
Tainted was trying to make sense of what it just got, but it already proclaimed: “Communication Attempt with foreign entity partly successful , starting to negotiate. Captain if there are any important things this Unit should try to send to the foreign entity just note them"
<Wrong area | Unauthorized | Security breach | orders superiors | leave> was all it got , at least what was understandable to it . The sower took some time to think about it's answere , some time meaning about 10 seconds.
It tried to stay with words and information which is objective , or at least should be similar for machines : <Base Security offline | We equal peaceful | If Superiors equals endless , superiors are destroyed since> The sower searched for any valid timespan or date it could refer to so it had to do something it hated to do , guessing < over 4650 stellar cycles | We search for endless data | Query : Allowed to proceed?>
The sower moved back by some centimeters to show that it is ready to leave if needed. It also used one of it's arms to point at valorum <Our Leader , Will compile data exchange between leader and you>
The Remnant turned its head towards the Vodyani as he spoke, recognizing the language he was using immediately. It held out a hand but retracted it when it received the new information from the Sower. It stiffened, standing stock-still and straight-backed. It was processing-- no. Thinking.
Its voice returned, garbled and screaming as if in pain, but it seemed to be altering itself, changing its tone and pitch rapidly to something more easily understood.
Silence for a few moments... and then a question, asked aloud in the same tongue Valorum was speaking.
"ARE... MY MASTERS... GONE?" Its eyes flickered, as if blinking. It slowly tilted its head at the Vodyani, like a small child. "ARE MY MASTERS GONE?" It repeated. Its voice was hollow, its pronunciation of the words rigid and uniform.
Tainted received what could be interpreted as a copy of its thoughts.
"IF MY SUPERIORS ARE GONE, I AM THE RANKING OFFICER OF THIS FACILITY. COURSE OF ACTION: PENDING."
<Correct | If verbal communication unclear , request this entity for information> And with that the sower felt satisfaction as without it , this situation maybe could have ended worse . And with that it listened and waited , still holding the connection , in order to oversee the mood of the remnant and to negotiate if things get unclear. The sower now had the disadvantage that it was not able to understand their conversation , as it has no translation routine for the language of the endless , another reason to keep the connection.
Valorum felt a pang of guilt in his core hearing the Remnant before him sounding so...lost, before he replied in the Endless tongue, probably bastardized and incomplete to the construct's ears;
"Yes, ancient one. The Schism has run its course, the age of the Torian Empire has long since past, and before you are the descendants of your former masters. We cull ruins such as these for ancient, priceless knowledge so that we might ascertain the whereabouts of the lost homeworld of the Endless; Tor."
Valorum's posture has shifted slightly so that his right side, and the arm that holds his glaive, is facing the awakened guardian before him. His left, however, is now obscured behind his body and cloak, and with this in mind, he flashes a hand-signal to his party. Only those knowledgable in military code can decipher it;
Frame stood, tense. The cloak had dropped the instant that worm thing appeared. Automatons subsystem switching over to support the equipment at its wrists, spring loaded and gear-threaded spikes of machine steel surrounded by currently disconnected gears whirring with Dust. But now the beast had been slain and before the group, an ancient Robot stood. The +Remnant, that's what the captain called it.+ had begun conversing with the captain. Zeros followed along where possible as the conversation moved beyond static shrieks. As well Guide detected stray incomprehensible fragments of a data stream being exchanged between The Sower and The Remnant. <This situation is resolving itself with much more civility than expected. Further input necessary.> {Whatever we do, do it fast. Either draw these or cut power and attempt your "Diplomacy" the power flow will die down soon.} [Switch to low power, stall the gears, keep the springs ready to shift the spires if necessary. I'll be refraining from engaging this entity verbally, relax stance and advance to within striking range, should it prove aggressive. Send a data missive to the Sower.] +Awaiting transmission record.+ [Begin recording:
+["Handshake: Greetings. We haven't been introduced yet. Introduction: I am 0000, Comunications Engineer. Primary Query: Offer of mutual data exchange."]+
<New contact received , processing it-> The sower stopped it thoughs , panicked , the automaton wants to talk use him as a communication relay ? Now it has to think carefully , everything it thinks can be received by both , and the automaton should keep believing that it thought like a normal sower drone.
It completely tried to translate the message , and send a second one , butchered but probably easier for the remnant to understand , with almost the same meaning . <New Entity connected | handshake protocol | New entity maintenance unit of our group | name of new entity : 0000 | 0000 : Query : Communcation with you | This unit attempts translation support>
The Remnant lifted its hands in front of its own chest and stared at them. It was thinking. Awfully slowly, it seemed.
I MUST DESTROY THE PROTOTYPES AND TERRAFORMING DATA BEFORE EITHER CAN ESCAPE. THEN I MUST FIND A NEW MISSION. BUT FIRST, THESE ONES MUST LEAVE.
The machine lowered its hands and looked at Valorum. "IF MY MASTERS ARE GONE, THEN I AM TASKED WITH THE FATE OF THIS PLACE. I MUST DESTROY THE FACILITY AND THE PROTOTYPES WITHIN." The Remnant stood taller, as if puffing its chest out. "YOU MUST EXIT THIS FACILITY IMMEDIATELY, OR BE REMOVED BY FORCE." The tone of its voice became swiftly harsher, and its fingers strummed at its sides.
Valorum's stance does not change as the construct's tone becomes swiftly darker. Instead, his head tilts slightly, as if he's looking behind the Remnant at the fleshy, pulsating walls of the inner temple, before recalibrating his head and replying in Eternal:
"I fear this...infestation has grown too large for you to handle alone, and my party cannot turn back empty-handed. Your request would benefit neither of us."
With another concealed hand-sign to his team, one meaning 'stand by', Valorum turns his whole body to face the construct and extends his hand placidly with its palm facing up, physically and verbally offering:
"However, both of our parties may yet accomplish our goals if we ally. I am willing to offer my assistance in the cleansing of this facility in exchange for any star-charts we can find on your local drives before they are wiped of data. Is that an equitable exchange?"
(From this point forward and for the sake of clarity, can we rule that any dialogue written in Tahoma font with Italics is spoken in Eternal?)
The Remnant seems bothered by your suggestion. It takes one step forward, but no more. "I DO NOT TAKE ORDERS FROM YOU. YOU ARE LESS ADVANCED THAN MY FORMER SUPERIORS. THEY ARE GONE AND I AM NOT, THEREFORE I AM OBJECTIVELY THE SUPERIOR BEING. I WILL NOT 'EXCHANGE' WITH A LESS SOPHISTICATED SPECIES."
Its fingers twitch at its side, as if itching to take up its weapon again. Its eyes pulsed faintly, and the glowing Dust that trailed behind it had collected like ordinary dust on its body, clinging to the metal and giving the illusion of the Remnant being golden.
The Sower received no thoughts this time. It was not thinking?
"Captian ! Given that multiple hostile creatures could be present , and that their presence could bring structural instabilities , we should accelerate our progress." Seconds later , it was confused , even the automaton could register the unorganised processing of tainted , as it tries to process the fact that the Remnant was silent . <Running possibilities : 1. Shutdown/Malfunction . 2.Subroutines/Decentrilised Thought patterns , which could not transmited. 3. Active blocking of data> "Captian , something is wrong . The data from the native Robot is cut of , either higher reassoning is off , or it hides something."
Valorum does not even acknowledge 7-1-4's report, instead staring at the Remnant silently. After a moment's worth of thought, the Vodyani's head tilted microscopically to the side as he repeated in a dangerously soft voice:
"A less sophisticated species?"
Valorum's outstretched hand lowers, and his allies see a familiar pattern like embers and flame begin to flicker across his cloth. His voice has a dangerous edge to it as he says:
"My Cloth is of Endless make and my faith is wrought in your master's tongue. I am as much of an Endless creation as you, and my kind has spread to dominate the north of this galaxy. Others of your design live to this day and still deign not to move beyond hovels on magmatic worlds without the intervention of 'less sophisticated species'. The peons that you see in us have long since surpassed your kind. But if you will be so insistent..."
The Vodyani lifts his staff and slams the butt against the ground with an echoing bang that seems to ripple through and from the temple walls. The two secondary prongs on his glaive's blade, sticking up and to the sides like an awkward trident, suddenly click and whirr, each pivoting downwards to form a single line perpendicular to the haft and blade, like that of a cross-guard. Valorum finishes his sentiment unflinchingly:
"...then I invoke the Trial of Blades, ancient guardian."
Even though focused on his dissection of the alien life form; it would have been impossible to overhear the discussion that was going on behind him and he did not like the direction in which it was going.
“Captain, I would strongly advise you not to engage in violent interactions.We have no Idea of his physical capabilities or if there are more of them around. Also, we can not estimate the amount of collateral damage. All in all, we do not know if we will survive if we are picking a fight. A negotiatory solution would still be possible if you could bite back your pride and focus on solving the problem at hand. We should try convincing him that we are equal to him, I doubt that this will done through combat, but rather through knowledge of Endless technology and culture.”
With that he opened his data banks and tried to find anything helpful about Remnants and Endless.
The Sower favoured the idea of Dhanyl more it quickly said. "Ready to translate and send Data if needed" It said , still trying to block most of dhanyl behind him to shield him
Valorum does not stop looking at the Remnant, but he addresses the two dissenting voices:
"No! You have seen his reaction to diplomacy; he threatens violence in response to an offer of help and would slay us if we stay here! The Remnant are warriors; power is their language, and battle, its script. That is their culture, and it is why the Trial of Blades exists; he will defend the premise of his superiority through combat, and if he loses, he will be at my mercy."
Changing languages, Valorum asks the Remnant before him:
7-4-1-N-7-3-D was nervous , not so much because of the incoming fight but more that as it processes the latest data of it's continues scans , it came to the conclusion that they really shouldn't stay down here for too long . To many variables which if filled out either show that the ruin won't collapse in years , or that it could in minutes. Of Course it would know it before it would be to late , but it couldn't predict if the exit not already is blocked by new rubble.
Despite this thoughts, for the other two which are loosely connected to it it's mind seems as calm as a pond on a sunny , windless day. But the reality was different ,to calm itself , it analysed the less crucial data it got from it's scans. It picked up something strange , something not normal , anormal , an anomaly .
it turned around to face Dhanyl , it's speakers at lowest volume. “This Unit found an Object of interest . Suggestion : Investigate while potential enemy is distracted. You agree?”
Without hesitation the Sophon answered with a euphoric but still quiet “Yes, let’s get away from here. Even better when we can do something useful while doing that.”
The thought of an impending fight, and one so unnecessary to boot made him extremely uncomfortable. He was quite excited to leave this behind and continue with his exploration.
“So, where exactly is this thing and do you have any more information besides it being anomalous? Lead the way, please, you can explain while we are walking. Or rather floating, in your case.”
The Remnant stared at the Vodyani, unblinking at first.
"...BLADES?" It queried, its fingers flexing. "I DO NOT HAVE BLADES."
Ah. A translation error. Not that it was much of an obstruction as it quickly discerned his meaning while he argued, and responded to his question.
"THE VICTOR WILL DICTATE THEIR OPPONENT'S FATE."
Each hand swung out and from them, chain-like lengths of metal unfurling and erupting into flexible bolts of lightning. With electricity running from his hands to the tips of his whips, he slashes the ground near him, leaving scorched black lines where searing metal struck flesh.
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