Mori marched from the newly-organized necromancer barrack, wracked by exacerbation. She did not expect the once-sedate and almost shy guild of necromancers to become so lively when discussions about their craft came up. She could only guess that a combination between a lack of new discussion partners and the general animosity that some held for the guild made the members less energetic, since they were still discussing amongst themselves even after an hour. Mori had to excuse herself so she could deal with Pandora and, despite the many protests of Oloa, she was able to leave without too many issues.
With the necromancers left to their own devices, Mori was free to find Pandora. The first place she checked was the death knights’ break room, since she did tell him to go there. Thankfully, he had not left while she was wrangling the necromancers around, but she did notice that Crave had gone missing. She trusted her undead, but she was a bit worried about him; he was not exactly a sight for sore eyes and she had no doubt that some would attack him.
She pushed that issue to the back of her mind for a moment, as she noticed someone else that she did not believe was there before, “Desire,” Mori whispered from across the room as she entered. Laying in her lap, Eva slept, while another man leaned against her shoulder, doing the same as Eva. Mori quietly walked over to Desire, or at least as quietly as she could with her metal boots, “What happened to Crave. And who’s this?” she asked.
Desire gave a serene smile, “This is Mark, Eva’s boyfriend,” she whispered, “Crave dragged Mark’s friend off somewhere. I think there was some mention of the other dragons, but I wasn’t paying much attention. Is there something you need, mistress?”
“No, you’re alright,” Mori replied, “Pandora became a death knight recently, and I want to touch base with him. I’ll leave you to… your cuddle pile,” Mori chuckled, leaving Desire and making her way-- quietly-- over to Pandora. She walked up to him, along with Idle, watching as his little drone sped around the table, floating a couple inches from the ground, “Hey guys,” she said, taking a seat. The little drone looked up at her with an utterly confused expression on its face-- a detail she thought gave it much more emotion than anything sub-sapient should have had-- and slowly floated towards her. She smiled, or did the best she could with her abnormal body, “Hey there, little guy. You doing good?” She turned to the other two, then to Pandora, “Did you name it?” she asked.
Pandora, nodding, gently pulled the drone over to the center of the table. The drone did not seem to like that, and slouched down on the table’s surface, “I did, mistress. I named him Chip.” He paused, looking at her with his eternally static face, “So, is there something you want from me, mistress?” he asked.
Mori shook her head, chuckling a bit, “No, Pandora. I just wanted to check up on you. You did just become sapient a little while ago, so… I wanted to make sure you didn’t have anything you wanted or needed. Is there?”
“No, no, I am perfectly fine, mistress,” Pandora replied, “Though, I… can I take lessons. From Idle?” he asked, “Her style of fighting is very interesting and I wanted to learn about it.”
Mori gave him, along with Idle, curious glances. They did not shy away from it, but they did seem very interested in the arrangement. Mori shrugged, “Hey, I’m not a tyrant. Or, I try not to be, anyway. I let you guys learn from each other however you want. All I ask is that you treat each other kindly. That’s it. I trust that you can figure things out on your own without my butting into it. Do you two get that?” They nodded, “Good. It’s why I let Desire, Pride, Jel, Crave, and Avar do whatever they want. They have their own way of becoming more powerful, so I let them do whatever they find best, or most constructive for them. Long story short, just follow along with me and, as… rude as it sounds, go along with my whims. I try to do the best I can for you guys. I’m just not very… good at the whole organization-planning thing.”
Pandora and Idle stared at Mori for a moment, each giving a sigh, “Mistress,” Idle began, “You can’t call yourself rude if you give us so much freedom. We’re big boys and girls; you don’t need to caudle us.”
Mori smiled, almost wishing she still had tear ducts to tear up with, “Aww… Thanks, you two. If I can keep trusting you to make sure we don’t crash and burn?” she asked. They chuckled, agreeing to get something in order. Mori was almost half certain that the promise was made as an aside, but she could never be sure how dedicated her death knights were to their jobs.
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Whatever their dedication, she soon left the break room after greeting her death dragons in turn. As she left the room, she pondered her position. If her brief exchange with ATHENA was accurate, she was already manufacturing more Talonec suits to make into new undead. She had no clue how long it would take to make another thousand Talonec suits, but she did wonder something: did they even need to make them at all?
It was far from her specialty, but she had a feeling that the enemies they routinely slaughtered were more than obstacles in their way. The amount of metal and parts on them would easily be enough to create at least one Talonec for every armored Clockwork destroyed. If it were possible to take that metal and use it, then she could eventually outnumber the enemy. Maybe. The idea was a bit dubious to her, since she would need enough necromass to keep up with the suits, but she could think of ways around that, like putting less necromass into the chambers, but that would require testing.
As she thought, her feet brought her to ATHENA’s core room, where the pseudo-Clockwork administered the craft that was her body. ATHENA turned to Mori as she walked in, “Hello again, Mori. You seem distracted. Are you thinking about something?” she asked.
Mori slowly nodded, “Yeah, I am. ATHENA, what do you think about the clocksteel you make?” she asked, “Because I think there might be a way for us to cut down on manufacturing costs.”
ATHENA looked at Mori with an interested gaze, “If you are suggesting that we use the enemy scrap for our units, I have to warn that doing so might cause issues. I am unable to purify it in its current form, so there will be small vestiges of the Forgeheart’s influence still remaining.”
Mori held up her hands, waving them, “Wait, wait, wait. What are you talking about? I thought that the only reason Clockworks needed to be purified was because En’gem’ia spread her influence into them. Why do they need to be purified if her daughter is our ally?”
“Because we’re not fighting Granma’s forces.,” ATHENA replied, “The methods of creating Clockworks also leaves a bit of mana in their bodies that is still linked to their creators. Due to this, the Forgeheart can still sense and, though vaguely, affect the metal. So, if we can purify the metal, we can recycle the enemies. As long as we have enough necromass. But, neither mother nor I have the mana to purify it. Do you have such mana?”
Mori shook her head, sighing. She thought for a moment, and finally remembered something, “Oh! I remember! Fara has something like that!” Mori said, “If she can lend that mana…”
“Then our production costs will reduce significantly,” ATHENA finished, “If I may ask, why are we producing more Talonecs? Do we not have the support of the rest of the mortal army?” she asked.
Mori shrugged, sitting at her desk, “They won’t support any kind of attack unless we’re going first, and if we have five thousand Talonecs. So, I was trying to find ways to decrease the time we need to make new Talonecs.”
“Why’re you making new Talonecs?” someone asked, yawning. Mori turned to see Fara, appearing to have just woken up, “Good morning, Mori. What’s going on?”
Mori tilted her head, “I thought it was still night time,” Mori said, “Also, good morning.”
“It is indeed night. Though, past midnight. Also, good morning, Fara.”
Fara blinked at ATHENA, “Oh yeah, sorry Athy. So, what’s happening that you need more ‘necs?” Mori gestured for Fara to take a seat and, when she did, explained her various adventures throughout the night, including her trial-run of hosting the necromancers aboard the skiff. Once she finished, Fara sighed, “Damn, now I can’t pretend like I’m one of the only living things on this skiff… Oh well, it was lively enough without normal people around, what’s adding a few gloomy necromancers?” she commented, “But you need me to help you with the purifying?”
Mori nodded, “The mana that cleanses the metal would be preferable, but that would also work,” she replied, “There’s also plenty of metric tons of metal out there, if you want to have a bit of fun.”
Fara smiled, almost grinning, “Oh, don’t worry, I will. Oh, can I invite my dad aboard, ATHENA?” she asked, turning to the pseudo-Clockwork.
“I do not see why not,” she replied.
Fara smiled, “Thanks. But for the mana… I can’t, really. The Trait is… was, more of an automatic process. I stick my hand out, think about how I want to cleanse the metal, and it does exactly that.”
Mori nodded, standing, “If that’s the case, let’s go and find some of the stuff the Talonecs left far from the wall; the scavengers shouldn’t have found those. ATHENA, do you want to come?”
“If you do not mind, I would prefer to stay here,” she replied. Mori nodded, asking ATHENA to call a few Talonecs for some extra help, and brought Fara down to the staging bay. After their help arrived, they embarked on their quest for slagged scrap. Mori thought such things often, but she loved Granulous and the friends she made within it very much.