Mori examined Pandora, her newest death knight if she were to be technical, with an appraising eye. The undead in question could do nothing but look down as Mori examined him, “Madam?” Oloa asked, “Is that your death knight? One of the immortals?” she asked. The other necromancers behind her began to mutter to each other, Mori catching discussions about how her undead were made. Pandora only looked down further, his little helper drone-- whose model still needed a name, since she left VII and Fara to design that one on their own-- looking around like a curious puppy.
Mori nodded, “Yes, he is. This is Pandora. Pandora, don’t be rude, please.”
“Yes mistress,” Pandora replied, “Good evening. I am Pandora, the first of the Talonec undead to become a death knight. May I ask who you might be?” he greeted, glancing at Mori. Mori could tell that he was worried about potential leaks in important information. Mori simply shook her head. What they were allowed to know all depended on whether or not the gods let her take on so many… disciples. Or initiates. Or soon-to-be undead. Mori did not know how to classify them, but they were far from the human passengers she took on in the Kharon.
“Ah, I am Oloa. I am- err, was, the guild mistress of the Necromancers’ guild. I asked Madam Athanatos to take us on as death knights. Of my guild members, though, only fifteen decided to follow. My members are…” she glanced back at the nervous necromancers, “Shy, so we will stick to ourselves-”
“No, you won’t,” Mori cut in, “I don’t want you guys to be reclusive here. No one here will dislike you for being necromancers. Most of everyone around here is an undead, while the rest don’t mind. We can talk about that later, but for now…” Mori trailed off, turning to Pandora, “Now that you’re… you know, sapient, I wanted to talk with you. You’re not in trouble, but I still want you to tell me about… well, everything.”
Pandora nodded, “I understand. Should I go to the lounge for the other death knights?” he asked.
Mori nodded, giving her newest addition to her roster of death knights permission to head to the break room. As Pandora left, Mori turned to her other new additions, “Alright, let’s get this out of the way quickly. Some things you will see here may change your entire worldview, breaking pretty much every assumption you had about how the world works. Maybe. I might show you things that you seriously cannot tell anyone else. If you don’t end up staying with our little crew, my friend will seal your lips on what you saw. I might keep it from you guys for a little while, too; it’s all pretty complicated. Anyway, with that in mind, are you all still in?”
There was a moment of pause that spread over most of the necromancers, with only one exception, “I am!” Oloa replied, turning to her necromancers, “I won’t force you to do anything, but this is the last chance. If you want to back out, then I won’t hold it against you. Anyone?” she asked. None moved to leave, “Alright, then. Madam Athanatos, we’re ready.”
Mori rolled her eye-flames. Oloa had been using that to refer to her over the previous hours as they transported the corpses from the crypt to ATHENA’s body, “Please, just stick with either Mori or… actually, just Mori for now. That goes for all of you. I’m just another person trying to take down the Hive. Now then, let’s start a tour, I guess.”
She led them to the massive staging area door, half-raised to let them pass through unhindered, “This is the staging area. If there’s a battle that you need a large formation to handle, then this is the place where we set it up. There are some benches around, but not many. We haven’t needed to use this place yet, but I have a feeling that will change soon. That hallway over there,” she said, gesturing to the one hallway leading to the staging area, “Is the real entrance to the rest of this place. Let’s go, then.”
The next place she brought them was one of the spare recreation rooms, close to the room claimed by the death knights. As the necromancers looked around, she stepped up in front of them, “This is one of the break rooms or whatever you want to call it. It’s mostly just a spare room with a higher amount of furniture than normal, but there are other places around that can be used for anything from spell practice to murals. Just keep everything clean and interact with the others.”
She then showed them to the store rooms, pointing out the room she kept the more potentially dangerous items, “Don’t go in there. I had a… let’s call it an adventure and got a hold of a bunch of odd items and the like. If you really want to go in there, talk to me first. Anyway, this storeroom has all of the preserved food-- there’s a lot, so help yourself; just remember to tell someone if we are running out.”
They continued on as such, Mori showing the group various places aboard ATHENA’s body. Mori noticed that someone, likely ATHENA, put her Talonecs on patrol routes throughout the hallways. She was not complaining-- it was even nice to see ATHENA be comfortable using the undead for her own protection-- but it was something she made a note of nonetheless as they walked about. Eventually, she reached the hallway leading to ATHENA’s core room, “So… This is the last time I’ll ask. Do you guys still want to follow me here? You can still decide to leave if you want to.” No one moved, Oloa shaking her head, “Alright then. Come on.” With that, she rounded the corner to ATHENA’s room.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
The room was a bit more well-organized than when Mori left before. The desks were clustered around the opposite side of the room, while the rest of the room was empty of furniture. In the center, beneath ATHENA’s core, was a wide, waist-height pillar the size of a dinner table. Mori took it all in, then turned to ATHENA.
ATHENA herself was looking at the pillar below her, but turned to greet them as Mori brough the necromancers in, “Hello, Mori,” ATHENA greeted, “Who might they be?”
Before Mori could reply, Oloa yelped, staring at the pseudo-Clockwork, “Mada- Mori… Do you have a mechamancer friend?” she asked, “Because…”
“Yes, I have a mechamancer friend. Of a sort. I also have a mechanic friend, who helped design the armor for the Talonecs. You’ll meet them later. Anyway, ATHENA, why don’t you introduce yourself?”
ATHENA nodded her core, turning to the necromancers, “Very well. Hello, I am ATHENA. I also go by Athy, but I ask that you remain professional until we can become better acquaintances. Is there anything I am missing, Mori?”
Mori shook her head, “No, I think you got everything,” she replied, turning to the necromancers, “So, since I can’t really let you in on too many of my tricks of the trade, let’s do this: I’ll teach you guys some of my own observations and we can work together. How’s that?”
Mori internally smiled as grins blossomed on the necromancers’ faces. She could not say that she disliked the company she always had, between her death knights, Fara, and VII, but it was nice to discuss her self-proclaimed profession once in a while.
*=====*
Pandora opened the door carefully, glancing into the room beyond. There he found his role models, superiors in their natural hierarchy, and his now-fellow death knights. In the room were six death knights and, oddly enough, two humans both huddled up around Desire. He glanced at his little buddy and stepped into the room.
None but one of them paid him any mind, and the only one who did was Idle. She turned from her seat at her table and stared him down. He suddenly felt very, very weak. The stare Idle could give him was enough to make him want to step back. He did not, though, and simply sat down at her table, “Hey there,” he greeted, much to Idle’s surprise, “So… I got my sapience, like, an hour ago. Do you have any… uh, tips?” he asked, a smile in his voice, since his helmet was annoyingly static.
Idle examined him, the stare similar to the mistress’ when she herself examined him, and sighed, “Honestly? Nothing much changes,” Idle replied, “You become more independent, but that also means that you have to be proactive.” She leaned forward, him doing the same, “You and I both know that this… lifestyle is not one where everything is easily mapped out. We were tools originally, but the mistress may not always need a hammer.” She subtly nudged her head to Fury, “She may need a microphone.” Her head went to Desire, “Or a chisel.” Her head went to Avarice, “Point is, we each have a role we were made for, and there may not always be a need for our services.”
“So we need to figure out what else we can do to help out,” Pandora finished, “Luckily for me, I won’t have any lack of work to do in the near-future. War makes a need for immortal soldiers, after all.”
Idle smiled a brilliant smile that he somewhat wished he could replicate, “That’s good, then. So, who’s this little guy,” she asked, gesturing to his little helper, perched on his shoulder. The drone, enraptured with the room around them, snapped to Idle with a curious stare.
“I haven’t had time to name it. I’ve been sapient for an hour and I’ve had it for less time than that. I don’t know what to name it, either, so I can’t make a sudden decision,” he replied, plucking his helper from his shoulder and putting the little guy on the table. It floated up, looking at them with curious looks once more.
Idle shrugged, “I can’t give you a name off the top of my head, but maybe you should take a name from the knowledge the mistress gave us? I don’t have anything, but you may be different.”
“I don’t have anything,” Pandora replied, “Though… How about Chip? Since he’s so chipper?”
“So he’s a boy now?” Idle snarked, smiling, “But that’s a good name. How about you,” she asked the drone, “Do you like Chip?” Chip bounced up and down making quiet little metallic beeps.
“He likes it alright,” Pandora chuckled, “Do we have anything important to do right now?” Idle shook her head, leaning back and closing her eyes as if in meditation. Pandora did not judge. The dragons had their vices, after all.