Driller whined beside her, climbing onto her lap and flopping there. Anaya grunted—the machina was heavier than it looked.
“I know. We can’t stay here. We’ll wait until they camp for the night then sneak into the tunnels.”
The machina’s teeth buzzed happily in response, Anaya’s hand running across its armour.
“Yes, I know. You like digging.” Anaya lifted the machina and plonked it on the ground beside her. She stood up, leaning against the side of one of the dozens of openings across the ruin. “Don’t think you could dig something like that on your own. Might have been a bigger machina, maybe?”
Driller just looked at her. It had shut its mouth, sulking over being moved.
“Don’t worry, I’m not going to replace you.”
There was movement down below, followed by the first sparks of a fire being lit. The night was closing in now, the tall buildings adding to the deepening shadows. It was nearly time to move. Anaya gripped her spear and began the long walk to the base of the ruin.
***
The portal closed, the shimmering void vanishing into nothingness as Emilia stepped through. She was furious, anger bubbling up inside her. Austin had gone ahead with his assault on the chosen, but it had been conducted with brutality beyond what she had voted for. What was worse was that he had easily gotten the location of the Towers and had immediately tabled a motion to begin planning to capture them. Thankfully the board was divided, for now at least, giving her time to prepare her militia to defend it. Horton wouldn't like it, but Emilia needed to expand her reach, snatching resources away from the guild to support her forces.
That meant another session snivelling before the council, begging for zenni and manpower to be diverted her way. Emilia would get it, dealing with the council was like dealing with the board, there was very little difference between politicians and executives in her experience. They both had the same self-serving desire for power and were both interminably slow. Any attempts she made to hinder the progress of the board's decision would be wasted by spending that same time convincing the council when it would be better served improving her grip on the Towers. Emilia was not ignorant of her actions, slowly consolidating her control on the stone spires.
The difference was that Emilia was convinced that she could let go of the reins of power. Whilst her employers were a threat to the aether lands, the Towers would need a firm hand to guide them, to keep the corporation from conquering them. Once they were safe, Emilia would willingly release her control, or at least that’s what she assured herself.
“Time to get to work, Emilia. Lots to do, not much time to do it.” She hoped that her Anaya would have something useful for her when she returned. Emilia couldn’t imagine that her protégée would be pleased with the destruction of her people, despite her status as an exile. Emilia could channel that rage.
She opened the door to her office, flagging down a passing militia member.
“Yes, Grand General?” the woman said.
“Take a message to the council chambers. Let them know I want to see them. As soon as possible, it’s rather urgent.”
“Of course, Grand General.” The militia woman nodded, her visor bobbing as she did, then strode off down the corridor.
“Time for things to get serious,” Emilia said to herself.
Chapter Thirteen
Scripture
Anaya carefully made her way down into the tunnels, choose to drop down as far as she could get from the heretic camp. Her gifted armour afforded her protection, but it also made near-constant noise. The eternal jingling of the chain shirt had annoyed Anaya at first, but she had quickly gotten used to it. The trade-off between stealth and defence heavily favoured the suit of armour. Anaya had seen some knights wearing thick leather-the material salvaged from machina-metal studs placed across them to deflect blows. Even the heretics accepted that standard armour was poor for stealth.
Despite the noise coming from her, Anaya reached the bottom of the crater without being spotted. The heretics above had placed their wagons up against the edge, setting their fire before it so they could see anything approaching. That had been their intent anyway. In reality, focusing their vision in one direction left a blind spot in the slim gap between the wagons and the edge of the hole, one that Anaya had crept along without issue.
The inside of the hole wasn’t what she had expected. Anaya found herself in a tunnel, one forged of the same artificial stone as the ruins. The darkness stretched for some distance both ahead and behind her, the tunnel carrying on deep into the ground. The tunnel had an arched roof, along with strange pitted indentations on the ground. Every so often a lump of metal had been staked to the floor. Anaya had watched the heretics drag out long pillars of dark metal, and it was obvious to her that the chunks on the ground were remnants of where those had once been attached.
Torches had been left at intervals along the rail, bound with rope to several of the stumps. The heretic torches were similar to the ones Anaya was used to; rags soaked in machina oil. It would burn brightly and for a long time. Each could easily provide light for around an entire day. Anaya pulled one free from its binding and turned to face the edge of the hole.
Driller was stood at the precipice, the machina tentatively edging forward. The drop had been significant for Anaya, and Driller was much smaller and much heavier. Its cogs whirred gently as it considered its options. It took two steps away from the edge, the charged, leaping down into the hole.
Anaya winced at the display of daring. The machina hit the stone floor, skidding across it, armour plats spraying sparks into the air. It staggered to its feet, walking over to her in a meandering wobble.
“You ok?” Anaya said. The machina whirred its gears in response. “I’ll take that as a yes. Come on, we need to get moving, your entrance was loud.”
Anaya chose a direction, deciding to follow the line of torches deeper into the tunnels. It stood to reason that if the heretics were lining the route with light, then they had been back and forth multiple times. If Anaya was going to discover what they were doing, then this was the right way. Their scrap collection had to be cover, or at the very least opportunism. Anaya was certain there had to be another reason for them to delve into the depths, and she was determined to find it.
Immediately she came across the corpse of a machina. She didn’t recognise the species, though it reminded her of some of the multilegged creatures the cave crawlers used. Across its back was a metal shell, one that had been carved up by the heretics for parts. It was a sad remnant of its former self now. Anaya took a moment to honour the creature, before squeezing past it and heading deeper into the tunnel.
The torches continued, Anaya following their path. The tunnel split in several places, but she left those dark corridors untouched. She needed to find what the heretics were looking for. The tunnel opened up into a large chamber, one that acted like a confluence of pathways. The floor was raised around the edges of the tunnels, forcing Anaya to clamber up from the pit she found herself in. Another dead machina lay nearby, sandwiched between the platforms. Like the first, it was being carved up for parts, though the heretics hadn't finished slicing up its shell.
A torch flickered at the far side of the room, tied to a pillar near a staircase. Anaya headed in that direction, her curiosity drawing her onward. She hopped across a gap in the platforms, Drillers feet clattering as it did the same, the machina catching the edge and pulling itself up. As she drew closer, she could see text on the walls, ancient words scrawled across the stone. Anaya held out her stolen torch to read them
“Berat Corporation loading station. Berat like Berat-Kor?” Anaya said, keeping her words to a whisper. “What is this place? A temple of some kind.”
Driller scuttled across the stone, putting one foot tentatively on the steps.
“Yeah, we’ll go up. Looks like there’s a door at the top though.”
The top of the stairwell was sealed by a heavy metal door, worn runes w
ritten across it. It too declared it was property of Berat Corporation. Anaya began walking up the steps. This had to be it, the thing the heretics were looking for. She had never seen a door so impressive, not even within the heretics’ blasphemous constructions within the bones. Something wonderous, or deadly, had to be behind it.
“What do you think it is?” Anaya said. There was no answer, no grinding whine of cogs. She turned, worried about her companion.
Driller was standing at the edge of the platform, facing down three armed knights. The small beast was outmatched, but didn’t back down, snapping its jaws at one carrying a shield.
“Driller, come here!” Anaya tapped her side and the machina responded, bounding back to her.
“Our mystery saviour,” Alex said. “Not as sneaky as you thought you were, I think. Your little friend made a hell of a racket when it fell. You want to tell us who you are?” He began walking forward, his sword in hand. Casey and Cassius followed, holding their weapons close.
Anaya tightened her grip on her spear, standing up as straight as she could. She weighed up her options. With the ward Emilia had given her Anaya was certain she could fight toe to toe with one heretic knight, but three was a big ask, especially without a mount. With the door behind her, she was cornered, with little room to manoeuvre.
“Just an interested party,” Anaya said.
“One wearing militia gear,” Cassius said. “A spy, I think. Someone wanting to see what we were up to.”
“Must be really disappointing to find out its just salvage.” Alex kept pushing forward, his friends following as they closed off Anaya’s escape. “There’s no reason to be uncivil here, we’re all on the same side after all. We’re just some knights looking to make a little side zenni. That’s all.”
“Then what do you call this?” Anaya bashed the tip of her spear against the doorway.
“Couldn’t tell you. We can’t get this open. Want to lift that visor so we can see who you are?”
“No.”
“I don’t think I was clear.” Alex raised his sword, pointing the tip towards Anaya. “Lift the visor.”
Anaya didn’t see she had much choice. She put a hand to her helmet, lifting the visor to reveal her face. Her metallic. eyes glimmered in the torchlight.
“You!” Casey said. “The Chosen girl we captured. This is where you went? Everyone assumed you escaped, but you’ve been working for the militia this whole time?”
“I work for no one. Our goals just happened to align.” A light glimmered near Anaya, something on the wall shimmering. “I wanted out and needed shelter, and someone offered it to me.”
“And then asked you to follow us,” Alex said. The newly appeared light hadn’t passed his notice. “There’s no reason we need to fight here. We can all walk away.”
“You killed so many of my people. Without you, there would have been no battle in the pass. That's right, I've been told of what you've done.”
“We did what we had to do to defend the Towers.” Cassius adjusted his grip on his cannon. “Would you have done any different if the tables were turned? If your people had attacked the Towers, can you say that no one would have died?”
“You want to know what we’re doing? Why we’re down here? We’re collecting salvage to build an airship. One we were going to use to bring a message of peace to your people, to try and find a way to bring your captured warriors home,” Alex said. He knew he was giving away the purpose of their mission, their secret construction in the infinite, but he was sick of being responsible for Chosen deaths. “If you want to stop us, you’re welcome to try.”
Anaya let her grip on the spear relax. Avoiding a fight here was in her best interest. She couldn't imagine Emilia would be pleased with her being discovered, but it would be better than learning nothing. “What then, is behind this door?”
“I have no idea,” Alex said. “But we can find out, together. It’s responding to your presence.” He gestured towards the glowing light on the wall. “It didn’t do that for us.”
“You sure about this, Alex?” Cassius said, narrowing his eyes at Anaya.
“No. But I do really want to know what’s behind that door. You can't tell me you don't want to know as well?” Alex watched Cassius shake his head. “Thought not. There's too many questions here. Berat Corporation, the railcrawlers, this door responding to a person with machina parts? It's all got to be connected.”
The other knights murmured in agreement. They had found a second railcrawler sleeping in the station, the knights making short work of it in ambush. Like the first, the train carriage had been melded with its body. They were more certain than ever that the train section was part of the beast's body, rather than something it had slithered into.
“I must admit, I am curious,” Anaya said. “Very well. A truce. For now.” She approached the light, wiping at the dust. An eye blinked back at her, the glow pouring from the iris. A machina’s ocular organ, implanted into the wall.
It stared into Anaya’s eyes.
“Augmentation detected. Welcome, Berat employee. Opening main doors.” A voice boomed from an unseen speaker, its tone flat and robotic. The staircase began to shake as the heavy metal doors started to slide open, the motors waking after centuries of quiet.
“After you,” Alex said to Anaya, pointing at the waiting portal.
***
Through the doorway, there was a small reception area, thick dust covering the glass table within. Behind the table was a large window, revealing a warehouse area beyond. It reminded Alex of a car garage, the reception designed to keep the public away from the work area, whilst allowing them to watch what was going on. Against one wall was the frame for a sofa, the fabric rotting away with time to leave only a hollow shell.
Casey moved behind the desk, something catching her attention. “This is a monitor. And this is a mouse, I think.” On the desk there was a mound of plastic, a red ball mounted to the top. “It’s like one of those ones for people with bad wrists.”
“Can we turn it on?” Alex wasn't looking at the computer, instead, he looked out through the window into the room beyond. A track ran through it, working its way into the network. A train sat in the centre; a more typical style rather than the ones fused with machina. That made sense, the multilegged train-creature hybrids did not need rails. Near the train was a large flatbed truck, its cabin open. The truck's engine lay on the ground nearby, still attached with chains to a toppled manual crane. Whatever had caused the facility to become abandoned had happened quickly.
“Maybe…” Casey bent down to look below the desk. “The power seems to be working, and that eyeball computer thing was still active. So, I don’t see why not. I think this is the tower down here.” There was a loud click as Casey pushed a button. A happy tune played briefly as the computer sprung to life. Fans within the machine groaned with the weight of the dust upon them.
“They must have built these things pretty sturdy,” Alex said, turning away from the window. “Can’t imagine any Earth computers lasting all this time.”
“What is this thing?” Anaya prodded the monitor with her spear.
“It's a computer,” Casey said, putting her hand on the mouse. “It's like an electronic book, kind of. It can do a lot more than that. Hopefully, it might have some information on what this place is.”
“Or…” Alex said as the image on the monitor changed. “It might need a password.”
The design was unfamiliar, but the text was clear. The username was still present despite the passing aeons, but the password box, more of a bubble in the ancient operating system, was depressingly empty.
“Yeah…another slight issue as well.” Casey gestured at the keyboard before her. It was twice the size of an English language one, covered in what looked like hundreds of distinct runes. “I can read the language, but I have no idea how to write it.”
“Oh yeah. It’s never come up really. Cass, can we borrow you?”
“I suppose.” Cassiu
s glared at Anaya. “Make yourself useful and watch the door.”
“Come on, Driller.” The machina chirped happily as it followed its master to the entrance.
“What do I do?” Cassius said, staring at the keyboard. “I’m assuming I push the keys to write out the appropriate word, but what am I writing?”
“Try password one. With a capital P,” Casey said.”
“A what?”
“Uppercase?”
“No idea what you’re talking about.”
“Grammar might work differently as well, Case.” Alex sat on the desk. It creaked but held, Alex correctly assuming that something that had lasted so long could take his weight. “Password one is your best guess?”
“Got any better ideas?” Casey said with a shrug.
Cassius pressed the keys one at a time, his index finger extended to the fullest as he purposely pressed the buttons. “It’s doing something.”
“You have to be joking me.” Alex rolled his eyes, his disbelief hidden by his helmet.
“Look, I’ve worked a couple of these boring front of house jobs in my life. Nobody doing them cares about cybersecurity.” Casey leant towards the monitor. The screen was covered in several round icons, each with runes upon then. “I think these are folders. Yeah, we’ve got appointments, memos, this one says messages so maybe it’s email? Let’s just try one.”
The red ball depressed to click, and Casey opened a folder marked memos. The bubble expanded, revealing several smaller bubbles within with file names.
“We've got one here about putting your name on lunches, one on proper password security, ironic. Ah, this one seems interesting.” With another click, Casey opened the memo. “Deployment of new machina based trains delayed due to public worries.” Casey scrolled down to the text of the memo. “Berat Corporation is saddened to report that the deployment of the new machina based trains is delayed temporarily due to growing protests over the use of aetheric energy and machina technology. Berat Corporation is committed to its rollout but have decided to postpone it temporarily. Staff are reminded that the Hernost generator failure was an accident caused by outside forces and that any rumours of unsafe practices are categorically false. Aether power and its derived technologies are totally safe.”
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