by Isaac Hooke
“When we found you, the creatures were all around you,” Nebb said. “It was like they had it in for you. But I valiantly threw myself at them anyway. You know, self-sacrificing man that I am.”
“Actually, he stayed back the whole time,” Chase said.
“Hey, I was providing covering fire,” Nebb said. “And moral support. The latter, mostly, considering our weapons were useless against those things.”
“How did you get them off me?” Tane said.
“I placed a moderate Healing work inside them,” Lyra said. “Since all of the creatures were essentially overlapping, when I set it in this reality, it struck them all at the same time. They dispersed, and the current swept them downstream.”
“They were hovering in place when I saw them,” Tane said. “Unaffected by the current.”
“Yes, I noticed the surface variants have the ability to ignore the physics of this reality at will,” Lyra said. “And I assumed the same was true of the aquatic types. But when I damaged them with my Healing work, apparently it negated that ability.”
Tane used the next few minutes to rest, just as Lyra prescribed.
He checked his notifications during that time, and noticed he had gained a few levels. But as Jed had once told him, the excitement and sheen of leveling was wearing off. At this point, it seemed mostly one big grind to Tane. Still, he was grateful for the attribute point.
Level up. Your overall level is now 13! Neural pathways have been enhanced and reinforced! You now have an attribute point to allocate.
Level up. Wound Healing is now Level 2. You can now heal more serious injuries, at the cost of greater stamina expenditure.
New sub-skill received.
Beam Hilt Control — Essence Sheath. Level 1. You can now wrap your blade in another work to enhance its effect. The sheath is currently limited to White Essence Level 1 and 2 works.
He put his attribute point into Endurance of course.
That latter “sub-skill,” Essence Sheath, was really the only thing that excited him. With it, he could probably make himself a blade of fire if he wrapped it in Persistent Flame, for example. Like a dweller’s beam hilt.
That reminded him, he had taken a C’Havar beam hilt from a fallen dweller. He had tried activating it on the journey to this planet, but hadn’t been able to, even when he poured Dark Essence into the blade. G’allanthamas had explained that the weapon was biometrically locked, but offered to hack into the blade for him. The dweller had succeeded, and returned the weapon. As promised, it allowed Tane to create a blade of the Dark, but so far, he hadn’t had a chance to get in much practice with it. And he wasn’t about to do so in the middle of combat. He didn’t really have much reason to use it, considering that his beam hilt control was already level three for the White Essence. Still, someday he planned to get his Dark beam hilt control up to speed.
Positron opened up a panel in the stasis pod while the others rested, and repaired the remote interface so that the pod could levitate again—after Tane slid off of it of course and propped himself against a small boulder instead. Tane could have probably fixed it himself, given his Engineering background, but he was simply too weary.
At the ten minute mark, Tane continued to lean against that boulder, still feeling too weary to resume the mission. No one else said anything. They all wanted to rest, too.
Finally, at the twenty minute mark, Jed stood.
“Come on, Engineer,” Jed said. “We can’t stay here. You know this. There are ghostly entities out there that seem intent on our blood. And rogue Amaranth, hunting us.”
“But where are we supposed to go?” Nebb asked.
“We follow the sparks,” Tane answered, indicating the translucent green sparks that emanated from his body, leading away into the jungle. Those glowing eaves still seemed welcoming, despite the fact that Tane knew the jungle was anything but.
By then the makeshift river had receded entirely, and they marched across the floodplain toward those eaves without issue, stepping around the trees that had fallen during the storm. Overhead, lightning occasionally sparked across the sky, reminding them that another squall could come again at any time. Steam rose from the foliage as the sun baked away the last of the rainwater.
They reached the intact canopy and entered the glowing jungle. The sparks led ever onward through the trees, while sunlight occasionally javelined down through cracks in the leafy awning.
Jed took point, and was invisible this time; the others followed, with Positron conveying the stasis pod in the center of the group. Tane relayed the occasional directional change to the Volur, guiding Jed based on the sparks emanating from his own body.
Without his faceplate, Tane could finally smell the jungle around them. The scent was slightly dusty, as could be expected after a rainstorm, with hints of mold and decay. The sound of their feet crunching through the undergrowth seemed muted slightly, perhaps because Tane was listening to it directly with his ears rather than through any enhancement provided by the helmet. That crunching faded entirely when they reached the spongy moss that was common in the glowing forest.
Sawed-off rifle in hand, Nebb came up alongside Tane.
“You know, I’ve been thinking about what you told me when you zapped the control chip in my head,” the smuggler said over a private channel. “Speaking of which, thanks again for that, by the way. I can’t tell you how bad it was to be trapped inside my own body and not able to control my actions, but to see it all. Brings new meaning to the phrase living vicariously.”
“You’re welcome,” Tane said, not looking away from the surrounding trees. Like most of them, he was worried about an ambush. He kept his voice low as he continued, out of respect for Nebb’s privacy—the man had chosen a private channel for a reason, and Tane didn’t want the others to overhear, which would be an easy thing given that his helmet could no longer be sealed. “So you were thinking about what I told you?”
“That’s right,” Nebb said. “About the price. Once we find these archaeoceti, what will it cost to save Sinive?”
“I don’t know,” Tane said.
“If it takes a life,” Nebb said. “I’ll pay with mine.”
“I’m worried it might take all our lives,” Tane said.
“Ah,” Nebb said. “I try to be heroic for once, and it’s lost in all the noise as usual.”
Tane smiled at the man. “It wasn’t lost, my friend.”
“Is that what I am, your friend?” Nebb said. “At first I told myself that I was helping you only for the money. And then to rescue Sinive, when the aliens had her. But you know what? You’re right. I guess you are my friend. I can’t say I’d die for you. But for Sinive, you already know I would.”
“Why?” Tane said.
“She reminds me of the person I could have been,” Nebb said. “Before I let life twist my insides into what I became. The smuggler is driven by profit, and profit alone. Reputation factors into it as well. If people think they can get away with ripping you off, they will. I could be ruthless at times, protecting that reputation. I killed a few people who crossed me. I’ve always regretted that, more than anything I’ve done. I told Sinive I had an apprentice once. Someone who reminded me of her. And that I let that apprentice go.
“It was a lie. Well, some of it, anyway. The part about the apprentice reminding me of her was true. But the other part... I couldn’t tell Sinive the truth. I made up some story about how my apprentice became addicted to VR and eventually uploaded her mind into an AI core. None of that happened. I actually killed that apprentice. Killed her. Because she crossed me. Yes, I can feel you judging me. And you should. I’m not a good man. I can’t be. This is why I’m here. This is why I help you. My second chance. And if I can save Sinive, give my life for hers, it’ll right all the wrongs I’ve made.”
Tane studied the man for a moment. That was a little more than he wanted to know. But it did explain some of his motivations, at least.
Finally, Tane spoke: “
If I can help it, none of us will give up our lives. We’ve all made mistakes at some point in our short existence. Some bigger than others. We pay the price for those mistakes, in one way or another, and when the price is paid, those mistakes don’t have to define us anymore. You’re not the same man you were all those years ago. The ruthless smuggler who would kill to protect his reputation is gone. And you’re right: we all get second chances. All of us. This is yours.”
Nebb stared at him, seeming stunned. Then the smuggler blinked rapidly and looked away. “I can see why you’re the Bender of Worlds.”
Nebb slowed as if planning to return to his previous spot in the group marching order, but then accelerated to remain by his side. “Oh, and when we revive her, I have to ask that you don’t tell Sinive any of this. It’s better if she doesn’t know.”
“Already you’re assuming we’ll save her,” Tane said. “That’s what I like about you.”
“Of course,” Nebb said. “So you won’t tell her?”
“Never,” Tane said.
Nebb bowed slightly, and left his side.
Tane returned his attention to the glowing forest as he continued the march.
8
Soon, ancient metal spires began to jut up from the jungle surface, joining the trees in their domination of the landscape. Invariably, those spires were choked out by foliage, and almost hidden. They disappeared when Tane didn’t look at them head-on, so that the enclosing plants seemed to cling to empty air at the corners of his vision.
“We’re getting closer to the ancient city,” Lyra said.
Thanks to Tiberius, Tane remembered those spires in their primes, decorated with the glowing vines of the archaeoceti. And the beautiful grazers that had spanned the valley beyond them.
Where were they now? Did either still exist in this universe?
And what were those ghostly entities that had attacked during the storm? The native inhabitants of the Khaeota? If so, maybe they had killed off the archaeoceti when they had entered this universe fully. Or maybe the entities were what the sentient plants had evolved into.
Both were troubling thoughts.
He was glad for the walk through that jungle, because while it was wearying in and of itself, it allowed him to rest his mind, Essence wise. After about an hour, he felt like he was back to at least seventy percent of his former self.
Shortly thereafter the canopy began to recede, allowing the sunlight to illuminate the area in bigger swaths; meanwhile the spires became more common, until even the thick undergrowth could no longer hide them, and it became obvious the team had fully entered the ancient archaeoceti colony. The sparks leading from Tane’s body had become more substantial, and stretched farther in front of him.
He was getting closer to whatever it was he was tethered to.
Glowing vines began to outcompete the undergrowth around them, so that soon the climbing plants were everywhere, covering the forest floor like thick cables, and girding the metal structures in spirals all the way to the top. The vines glowed brighter than all the other undergrowth combined; however, like Tane and the others, the plants also seemed slightly translucent, as if they didn’t entirely belong. Some of the vines growing along the forest floor had pulsing appendages that reached waist high, and seemed to sway though there was no breeze.
“I don’t like this,” Gia said. “It feels like these plants could move at any moment and wrap around us.”
“If this is an archaeoceti, then yes, they can,” Lyra said.
“Gall, is this an archaeoceti?” Tane asked.
“You tell me,” G’allanthamas said. “You’re the one with the actual memories of these aliens.”
“I think it is,” Tane said.
“Keep in mind, if that’s true, then this is only a small part of the entity,” G’allanthamas said. “The remaining portion of the creature will reside deep underground, the roots spread throughout the area. Likely the entire city.”
“I assumed that by entering this universe entirely, the archaeoceti would have evolved into something more like pure energy,” Tane said. “I thought they’d have to. I wasn’t expecting a physical form.”
“You forget that we dwellers hail from a separate universe as well,” G’allanthamas said. “And we are not pure energy, as you can tell.”
“Actually, I suspect Tane is right,” Lyra said. “I think that what appear to be glowing vines to our eyes are in fact tendrils belonging to a being of pure energy—the archaeoceti is only presenting itself in a physical form for our benefit. An attempt at communication perhaps.”
“Well that’s all well and good,” Nebb said. “But the question boils down to, how do we communicate with them?”
“That I don’t know,” Lyra admitted.
Nebb glanced at Tane. “So what’s next? Do we keep going? Or are you going to surprise us, and show us how to communicate with these things?”
“I have no idea how to communicate with it,” Tane said. “Our only choice is to continue onward. Hopefully, when we find the source of the sparks, we’ll find some answers.”
“You think you’ll find an artifact of some kind?” Gia said. “One that will give you memories?”
“I really don’t know,” Tane said.
They walked across those vines, and between the spires, for a good ten minutes.
And then they found themselves in a clearing girded by several spires. There, the waist-high appendages from the vines interlocked to form a hammock of sorts for a large piece of bone. It looked like a spinal column segment taken from one of the grazer skeletons Tane had seen shortly after arriving on the planet in his own universe.
The sparks leading from him were at their longest and most visible yet, and converged on that elevated bone, seeming to sink inside it.
Tane stared at the gray-white object in confusion.
He wasn’t sure what he was hoping for. Maybe a dark artifact left behind by Tiberius, or something similar like Gia had mentioned. But certainly not this.
“We came all this way for a piece of bone?” Nebb said, giving voice to the disappointment that Tane, and probably everyone else, felt.
“Or in your case, a piece of ass,” Gia said.
“I like your girlfriend, Jed,” Nebb commented.
“She’s not my girlfriend,” Jed told him.
“Oh good, then I can have her,” Nebb said.
“I’m not into spineless men,” Gia said.
“Spineless?” Nebb said. “Spineless! The very fact that I’m here should prove I’m not spineless.”
“Quiet, please,” Lyra said. “Tane, ask your dweller friend if it’s possible there might be memories contained in that object.”
“Why don’t you ask me yourself?” G’allanthamas said. “I’m right here.”
“Well Gall, what do you think?” Tane pressed.
“I don’t know,” the dweller said. “I don’t believe there are any memories inside the bone. I’ve never heard of such a thing. But I suppose touching it is worth a try, if that’s what you’re thinking.”
“It kind of is,” Tane said.
Now that he was here, he might as well at least try to touch the gray object. What was the worst that could happen? Actually, now that he thought about it, he might well get sucked into another universe. It had happened before after all, when he’d first touched a dark lens in the Umbra.
Yet this wasn’t a dark lens.
There was no way to reach the bone without stepping onto the springy hammock formed by the vines. Tane tentatively placed his boot onto one of the elevated plant sections, but without anything to grab onto, he couldn’t pull himself up.
Beside him, Lyra held out a hand and he gripped it. That did it: he used her arm for balance as he hauled himself onto the lifted vines.
They held his weight.
With his arms outstretched, he slowly made his way across the interlinked appendages. The vines essentially formed a net, with the diamond-shaped holes between the lattices
of that net quite wide, and it required effort on his part not to fall through. He bounced up and down with each step: it was a little like walking on a trampoline.
“Should we follow?” Gia asked.
“No,” Tane replied. “Stay where you are, for now. I don’t think I could balance if there were other people on here shaking it.”
The smell of the vines was different here, Tane noticed. Erotic, somehow. Spicy. And… eager?
That last thought made him shudder.
He finally reached the bone and extended a hand to touch it. The sparks traveled from his fingertips and directly into the gray surface.
Tane paused a moment before making contact.
Well, this is it.
He opened his gloved fingers and touched the surface. Nothing happened.
“Anything?” Lyra asked.
“Not at thing,” Tane answered.
He removed his glove and tried placing his bare hand on the surface.
Of course nothing happened. What was he expecting? To have all the power and knowledge of the lost archaeoceti flowing through his body? This was just dead bone. And the archaeoceti were dead along with it. These vines beneath him may have once been sentient, but after coming to the Khaeota, the archaeoceti had obviously de-evolved.
He replaced his glove. For a moment, he couldn’t turn around to face the others. He couldn’t reveal to them the crushing disappointment he felt. Because it meant Sinive was gone, and she wasn’t coming back. All of this, coming here, running from the Amaranth, escaping the ghostly creatures, it had been for nothing.
Sinive was dead.
He raised a gloved fist to his open faceplate and pressed it to his mouth in anguish. He felt the fabric digging into his lower lip, and he relished in the pain, a distraction from his sorrow.
“Tane, are you all right?” Lyra said.
He quickly removed his fist from his mouth and straightened. He took a few moments to compose himself, and then said: “I’m fine.”
