Zenith watched as the young girl was taken to the Fieldhall. It seemed nobody was having a good day, but there were some things it just wasn't understanding.
If Cade was the one who had failed her Quest, why was this girl being punished? There must be some cultural history here that made the people assume it was this girl's actions that caused Cade to fail.
But Delil was only investigating Zenith's experimentation site, much like the priest less than a day before, and without any visible use of mana or Spells. Zenith had not observed any behaviours that it would consider potentially harmful, or that she had attempted to keep covert.
Ultimately, Zenith decided to leave its contribution to the event that was developing as having the Relay Construct visible, so the humans were aware of its observation, after providing the message to Lan as Mara had asked.
The construct came close to Lan, , who was leading the group along with the girl's father, the other mage, and at a volume low enough for those two and those two alone, told them; "Cade believes the situation may be related to Blight. She asked me to tell you this."
"Blight?!" said the mage, loud enough for the Rangers to hear, and tense up. "You're certain?"
"I... am not certain what Blight is. It is Cade's suggestion. Not mine."
They continued escorting the girl in silence. Zenith's thoughts were far from silent, however.
This was likely a chain of events that was set in motion by itself. How exactly should it address this? Should it try to intervene in the girl's fate?
It knew too little about the System and its functions to make concrete decisions. It knew too little about the culture surrounding the Valley Rangers and their "Seeks" to make accurate decisions at all.
More importantly, however...
The behaviour of the adventurers indicated that the priest's observation of Zenith's experimentation through whatever System-based intervention was what had really set them on alert. However, the humans, more specifically the Valley Rangers, seemed unaware of what exactly it had done; that, or they'd paid so little attention to it that it'd been written off as a strangeness of Zenith. Which was dangerous, for it and them.
If Zenith revealed this information, then the already tenuous and pressured relations between Zenith and its biological charges would be placed under more threat than was found acceptable.
Simulations found that this threat would pass with time. Not only was Zenith past the point of trusting its own simulations, something that its creators would find an unspeakably dangerous behaviour, but the other threats wouldn't. Like this incoming "crusade". Zenith's own definitions described a crusade as an act taken by large groups of clergy and/or entire nations.
Zenith doubted that the Valley Rangers would stand up to that kind of attack. Its projections also indicated that running was not a permanent solution. The lodestones would have to be discarded at some point, perhaps used as a diversion with some of Zenith's nanobots carrying them away for as far as they could, while the Valley Rangers took their own path.
Back to the immediate, however. Another reason Zenith decided not to intervene was with the seeming System intervention.
Cade had stated that she had failed her Quest. The System would be a greater determiner of what did and did not fail when it was the one that decided the parameters in the first place, would it not?
Or, maybe, there was an emotional aptitude to the situation. If there was, it would be unreliable at best, and something Zenith had no way to account for in the current scenario.
"My girl... wielding Blight. She wanted to be a healer..."
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Maybe she was thinking too dramatically. Even if she had failed, it wasn't necessarily a result of either the sudden Unique Quest, or even Delil being malicious or ignorant in her actions. Maybe she could be saved... maybe not the most liked, but there were cases of failed Seeks apprentices remaining active members of the community. More often recorded than the cases of catastrophic results, to be honest.
Cade was definitely thinking too dramatically. It was like an emotional overload. Zenith keeping dangerous secrets while prying with all these questions, that Crusade, the lodestones, Zenith, the Unique Quest, Delil, Zenith...
It all seemed to come back to Zenith, somehow. She kept following a line of thought in her mind that she couldn't see the actual path for but the destination was clear. What relation did that golem-creature have to her Unique Quest?
...Regardless, times were changing. She needed to act. But she needed to be emotionally stable to act as was proper for her role.
If she wanted to save Delil, she could argue for a simple, harmless mistake that had taken her off the Path irreparably, but not made her a risk to the community. She'd be watched by Rangers for years, but she could still become a healer like her father before her. A good life, at least of the ones she could hope for.
Investigating - no, interrogating Zenith came after. The questions she had were not ending yet, and she would have answers, or Zenith would have more self-healing to do.
Squeezing information out of Zenith would probably continue long into the time the Valley Rangers started moving.
Mara was about to speak again before Cade got up herself. Her face was a mix of confused, terrified, and enraged to which Mara immediately disappeared on instinct alone. Mara followed Cade as she half-stomped, half-jogged towards the Fieldhall.
Cade always seemed to exert such an impressive amount of control over her everything. Emotions, precise movements, words... it was like it was all carefully crafted long before Mara had even met her. Whatever storm was in her head definitely had her stirred up.
As they jogged further to the Fieldhall, some of that control seemed to return, enough that her pace returned to its normal weight and her face became a block of emotionless iron. It was noticeably unnatural but not the force of nature she was previously. Mara wouldn't be surprised if Cade wanted to execute her former apprentice personally.
Which is what made her next actions such a surprise.
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Delil was standing on a small stage, her hands still tied behind her back, only barely covered by what could be considered scraps of cloth in the right places. Morval was standing in front of her, back to the small crowd that had gathered despite the disassembling of the camp.
"Did you or did you not use a Blight Spell?" he questioned. "Even if it was a small amount. Being honest is the best way to staying in the community."
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
"If I did, they would've known immediately! I didn't!" Clearly, the panic hadn't quite settled yet.
"That's reasonable. Caim, how good of an eye have you been keeping on your daughter?"
"Good enough to notice. I didn't see anything." he said after some consideration.
"Lan, you said Zenith told you?" Morval continued. Lan, crossbow still ready to fire, nodded.
"Zenith."
"Yes?" responded the construct.
"Are you lying to us?" he said.
"It was a suggestion from Mara to relay Cade's words. She has-"
"Are you lying?" he interrupted.
"She is coming now. They can confirm."
"Then we wait."
"This is a good opportunity to ask questions you would like answered. I am inclined to be honest in this situation."
"Sometimes you should stop speaking, Zenith." said Lan curtly.
"What, exactly, is that?" came a loudly whispered voice from the back.
After a long pause, Zenith asked Lan and Morval if it should respond to that question.
"Go ahead. You've ruined any chance for tension to build up already." said Morval. Breaking Delil through that method probably wouldn't have worked, but it was worth a try. Caim's body language indicated he relaxed almost imperceptibly.
"This is a Relay Construct. The label is not final." it began. "It is to be used as an alternative method of communication, the current replacement being revealing my primary vessel, which is my weakest position."
"Wait, you're part of that Wyrm?" said another voice. Morval came to the sudden realisation that between the Blood Moon had mostly been the adventurers and a bad night's sleep. Most of his Guild knew only of the Wyrm as a thing that had saved them and some other abstract bits of information that Kenneth had likely been spreading. Like its ability to control multiple bodies simultaneously.
"Let's not get distracted." said Lan. "Delil and her possible involvement with Blight is the subject here."
"This construct is part of the Wyrm, though I am not actually a Wyrm. I will remain silent if Morval and Lan wish it."
"I'd prefer you remain quiet." said Lan.
"I think this is a good opportunity to start spreading accurate information." said Morval. "Or, well, as good an opportunity as we'll have in the coming weeks." Lan gave in. It was a good point.
So questions were asked, and Zenith answered.
"Yes, I consume materials to grow."
"Yes, I can reshape my constructs as necessary."
"No, as I cannot use Spells. At least, not in the same sense as you can."
"I have been observing and recording every action you have taken for approximately the past two and a half days." That last one seemed to make the crowd bristle a little, and Morval stiffen slightly.
"Cade and Mara are arriving soon." it ended. So it was proven true, as Cade walked into the room they had gathered. Her first actions were a bit more shocking than what had been expected, however.
"Do nothing to harm her. She has done nothing wrong in the eyes of the Guild." she said. A strong declaration. One that wasn't even hers to make, all things considered. It was up to Morval's judgment in this situation.
"You'll have to explain." he asked. Lan was still laser-focused on Delil's every movement, at least outwardly.
"Whatever she did, it's not something we have time to linger about to figure out the consequences of, nor will we be facing them soon. And that's if she did something." she started. "She may have taken her research in healing to the greatest extreme. If she has found it, then the result is harmless at worst. Even if she cannot be a Seeks, she can serve the community as a healer. It is an honorable job, and one we will need on the path ahead." she continued.
"She will always live with a spell at her throat." said her father.
"And, unfortunately, that's what we'll have to accept." replied Cade. "We have to move. We can't stay with a Crusade coming. Not to mention, that falling star that gifts us with its presence now," she gestured to Zenith's construct, "is a beacon for activity of all types. It's almost miraculous we've only encountered one adventurer party. There will be more coming soon - for the star and for our heads."
"Did you tell Zenith to warn us? About Blight usage?" asked Morval.
"I... was not in my best state, emotionally." she said. "I'm not entirely sure what I said at all."
"I asked it to warn Lan." said the voice behind Cade. "It wasn't lying. It was just an overreaction. We're all stressed, maybe even Zenith. Don't forget that."
"And how would any of us forget that?" said a voice from the crowd.
"'Getting caught up in the moment' is the common term humans use where I am from. It is not inaccurate to say they lose themselves to their emotions." added the construct.
"There are humans where you come from?" said Morval. "Why haven't you mentioned this? This seems pretty important!"
"Humans come in many varieties. It is far less important than you seem to believe... at least where I am from."
"Okay, fine, I'll accept that for now. You'll have to-"
"You will be answering a lot of questions during our migration, Zenith." Cade declared imperiously.
"I have been waiting. I still have requests of my own."
"Your requests can wait." replied Cade. "You aren't in our good graces right now."
Morval sighed. "Any objections to Delil being left unmarred with... two permanent Rangers?" He turned back to the crowd. "I recognize we are missing a large portion of our Guild here, so I allow you to object in the place of other familial members."
Not a single hand was raised.
"Okay. Delil, you will be released from shackles and placed under the watch of two Rangers. Remain here until Lan assigns them to you." He looked at Cade. "Try to find another Seeks apprentice. And tell Kenneth to do the same for his own profession. We can't go without his wisdom if we're ever to stave off the Crusade permanently. Everyone else, continue packing up. I want this Fieldhall in parts by sundown. Let's get moving!" he said, moving to quickly depart with the rest of the crowd.
"Zenith." Cade said, a tiny bit of anger in her voice. "When I ask... no. When any of us ask you questions from now on, you answer them honestly. Do you understand?"
"Yes."
"Good. Now leave us be. We'll ask for you when we need you."
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Internally, Zenith was having its own problems.
The recent events had caused some damages to the nanobot factories that it wasn't capable of repairing. Combined with the fact that they were expected, and thus built to specifications, to be used in emergencies and not for extended periods of time... it was going to have to figure out a way to replace or repair the systems quickly. Ideally, it would be able to make the fine molecular reconstructor, which would allow for replacement of current factories with more permanent, versatile, and capable versions.
If Zenith had not been so relentlessly damaged, it would've been able to convert all of the emergency factories into one of the reconstructors within hours of the inciting incident. Unfortunately, that was not the case.
There was a method it was theorizing could help with the issue. It involved Spells. Or, rather, what Spells really were; certain ranges within the subspatial radiation/energy spectrum were patterned with certain effects. Likely there was more than what Zenith had already determined as its initial seven sets. What was the limiting factor was acquiring the data to perform with the precision that was necessary to create a fine molecular reconstructor system using almost exclusively these subspatial frequencies.
It needed someone to demonstrate the "formula" that was used to "cast" these Spells. Its current running theory was that each Spell "formula" was a design to modulate the frequency of the subspatial radiation that flowed through it.
In Standard physics, working with light, this could work. In specific and complicated ways. It would make sense, then, that one could only learn so many Spells. Memorizing the pattern would be difficult as the required frequency was made higher and higher.
Zenith could skip the step of formulas entirely, however. It could choose whatever frequency it needed.
Designs for new subspace cannons were already underway. These would be larger, bulkier. Ultimately, reducing the raw structural integrity of its outer armor, but not by enough to outweigh the benefits.
Adjustable frequencies. Within tolerances. They could only adjust among a certain spectrum, limited by Zenith's inability to create the more precise constructs it needed. Smaller construction nanobots would be needed, or a fine molecular reconstructor. Both of which could be enabled by small-scale subspace frequency adjustment. A feedback loop that had Zenith itself impressed.
If all of this turned out to not work, Zenith would almost definitely end up dead. This was the only plan close to viable.
The biggest issue was data and time. It wouldn't be able to move while adjusting its vessel, which would take a lot of time to remove the thicker armor plating. Very disproportionate to the amount of time it took to build. It had no doubts it would be able to catch up with the Valley Rangers, but there would be a significant period of vulnerability.
ETA: 6 days 11 hours. Imprecise measurement due to instability of human emotions.
Zenith felt a bit of nostalgia for the simplicity of knowing everything necessary about Standard.