The next morning, after a breakfast and more of Osar’s excellent coffee, Eric called his companions together to discuss what to do about Luna’s information. Before starting the meeting, Osar insisted that all of them do the breathing exercises.
“Sezai must become a daily habit for all of you,” Osar explained as he laid down the mats they would be using. They had cleared the hangar yesterday, helped by an army of Luna’s drones, and the entire space was empty except for the bulk of the Plunderer at one end near the closed hangar doors. “Practice cycling aether to allow your Gens channels to strengthen and reach not just your cores but also different parts of your body.”
“What are the advantages to getting all the aether channels connected?” Cid asked as he folded his legs beneath him and began regulating his breathing. Serra and Eric took their places to either side of the scientist. To his surprise Eric found it easier to get into the proper state of mind today than it had yesterday.
“Smoother and easier aether flow means quicker reaction times, more aether capacity, more precise control, and most items and equipment have enhanced functions when connected by an active Schema channel.” Osar was already settled and ready, his legs folded comfortably beneath him and his hands loosely open on his knees. “It is actually advisable to have at least thirty percent aether saturation before slotting your Root Core.”
“Can you give an estimate on how long that would take?” Eric asked, breathing in and out according to the rhythm Osar had taught them yesterday. He still hadn’t used the breathing technique he had received as a reward, although the memory crystal was secure in his ring. Best he learn the basics before trying to go his own way.
“The saturation rate varies from person to person Jad Eric,” Osar’s eyes were closed as his breathing evened out and a pale-yellow glow began to appear around his body. “The main limiter is the way aether tends to suffuse pretty evenly across the Schema, rather than being directed in the direction you want it to go. At least the System gives a saturation percentage if you ask, making it easy to monitor your progress.”
“You are currently at nine percent, sir.”
“Excellent,” Eric said softly, responding to both Osar and Pig as he closed his eyes and began concentrating on the mechanical in and out of breathing that drew the aether into his body. Pig immediately began helping, directing the flows down towards the Gate core slot, readying that area in preparation for later.
After just under an hour of meditation and controlled breathing, Eric was gratified that not only did his saturation rate rise to twelve percent, but several channels were already connected to the circular area that surrounded the Gate core slot. He had been keeping his Gens window open as he did the breathing exercises, allowing him not only to see his progress, but also direct Pig to several smaller channels that branched out from the major ones that directly led to the Gate.
Eric opened his eyes and looked up and then, seeing that the glow was receding from around the Urgan, asked: “Osar, are there any channels around the Gate core that need to be saturated first?”
“Not really, Jad-Os,” Osar answered automatically, opening his eyes after a last exhalation. “It would be beneficial to just connect. Realistically, you should be able to do so after roughly two weeks of regular exercise… It wouldn’t be an issue normally, since most adepts would be well and truly connected by the time that the Gate slot opened.”
“Oh, Pig already helped me connect the channels, I just need to know if there are other critical areas I should saturate before placing the core.”
“WHAT?!”
Osar’s shout startled Serra and Cid out of their own meditations, and Eric reflexively closed his Gens window to stare in surprise at the Urgan’s reaction. Astonishment, confusion, and anger flickered over Osar’s features, before he was able to gain control of himself enough to speak.
“My apologies, Jad-Os,” The big man said after clearing his throat and swallowing several times. “I may have misheard but did you say a Pig already helped you connect your channels to your core?”
“No, you heard right, Osar,” Eric explained, looking at the other Terrans for support. “I, all of us really, have an implanted Assisting Intelligence, similar to Luna in many respects, that helped me just now connect my Prime to the Gate core slot. The name of my AI is Pig.”
“An Assisting Intelligence?” Osar’s words sounded strained, as if he spoke between gritted teeth. “Is that why all of you keep muttering and talking beneath your breath?” All the Terrans nodded in assent. “And this Assisting Intelligence has helped you connect your Core channels within a day after learning about breathing exercises?”
“Yes.”
“No.” Came from Serra, looking at Eric with irritation.
“They can do that?” Cid exclaimed, before getting that far-away look that meant he was consulting with his AI.
“THAT IS SO UNFAIR!” Osar bellowed, surging to his feet and shaking his fist at the hangar ceiling. His shout echoed loudly in the large empty space, and Luna’s drones began appearing from various areas, all of them with weapon appendages extended and ready for a fight.
It took a few minutes for Osar to calm down after that, and eventually everyone had a laugh when they all finally understood what had brought about the big man’s outburst. Osar himself explained after taking some time to get a drink from his ring and walking a few meters back and forth across the hangar floor.
“My apologies everyone,” Osar offered contritely when he finally rejoined the group. “I have just been reminded once again that the Universe and System are not fair at all, and that some people,” That one with a mock-glare at all of them. “Some people just have obscene amounts of luck where everything is practically just… ahem!” The big Urgan stopped and took a deep breath, holding up his left hand to forestall any talk as he took a quick drink from the flask he held. Eric, standing closer to Osar than the others, caught a whiff of something strong and alcoholic.
“Okay, I’m fine.” Osar said harshly, deep lines appearing over his forehead and around his eyes. “Ifni gives as Ifni wills after all…” He took another deep breath, visibly gaining a hold of his emotions, before turning to everyone and giving them a painfully bright smile.
Stolen story; please report.
“As unfair as all your advantages are my friends…” Osar began, giving them all a glare that was softened by his rueful smile as he continued. “It actually makes everything a lot easier, since with practice, we can probably connect all your cores and channels in record time. Doing so will help you all reach the Tempered Stage faster, which in turn advances the timeline for planned improvements that I plotted out for all of you achievable much, much faster than I ever dreamed possible.”
The big man inhaled deeply, closing his eyes for a long minute. When he finally opened them, his dark eyes were clear. His deep voice was settled and even when he spoke.
“This is actually very good for us.”
About an hour later, after everyone had showered and exercised and more or less readied themselves for the day, Eric called them all to a meeting at one of the Plunderer’s meeting rooms. As everyone else filed in, they noticed a drone within the room, hovering over the still and silent form of Luna as she talked quietly with Eric.
“Thank you for coming everyone,” Eric began as his three companions pulled out chairs and sat themselves down in front of the plain table that took up most of the space within the room. “I called you all and Luna here so we can discuss what we will be doing for the next few weeks.
Eric then explained what Luna had told him earlier, interspersed with more tidbits of information from Luna as he spoke. With Osar’s surprise at Pig’s existence and ability to help earlier still fresh in his mind, Eric tried to explain his Quest-Driven ability and the fact that he had been receiving Quests from the System, or at least he thought it was the System.
The discussion moved a bit along that tangent of Quests and rewards, with the other Terrans a bit disgruntled that only Eric had the Trait. After Eric pointed out that he had no control over what the System granted him, as well as enduring Osar’s obvious delight at Serra and Cid’s getting a taste of how he had felt on discovering they all had AI’s, everyone settled down enough that Eric could actually ask Luna to proceed with showing what information she had gathered so far.
At Luna’s command the drone beside her flew up, its wings nearly-invisible as it settled to a stable hover above the table surface, the spindly stalks of its clasper-armed legs hanging down like plant roots. The front of its head scissored open, revealing a red, beautifully faceted gem. It glowed brightly, and soon a three-D representation of the Stage appeared on the tabletop for everyone to examine. Luna walked forward and began explaining what they were looking at.
[The Stage is separated into four quadrants, with the Fortress Belzond occupying the fulcrum in the middle.] The view zoomed in, showing the stubby bulk of the Fortress overshadowing every other building in the area, although there was a fleeting glimpse of higher towers and complexes along what Eric arbitrarily designated as the northeast and southeast sections of the map. The view shifted to focus on the northwest quadrant, where long, arrow-straight streets created a grid of thoroughfares. The widest, longest road ran from the northwest gate of the Fortress straight onto a building that formed the base of a massive statue that was situated at the very edge of the Stage. [The first quadrant was the residential and entertainment district, where most of the visitors and non-citizen residents were housed. Your first objective, as given to me by the Commander, is to return the Atmospheric Envelop that used to cover the Stage.]
“This place had atmosphere?” Cid asked, leaning forward with interest.
[Yes, Councilor Arth-Veda,] Luna replied, using the title that Eric had authorized when he had told the VI that his three companions were all part of his Advisory Council. Cid looked over at Serra, pointing a thumb at his chest while nodding triumphantly and mouthing the word ‘councilor’. Serra just gave the man a disdainfully-raised eyebrow. Ignoring the by-play with a sigh, Eric focused on what Luna was saying. [When activated, the Nine Statues of the Founders generate an aetheric force shield that prevents aether particle bleed into the void, as well as providing a surface environment similar to a Class-Five Planet.]
“That’s a long way on foot.” Osar rumbled beside Eric, pointing at the length of the road from the Fortress to the statue.
“I assume those red-colored portions on the map are hostiles?” Serra asked at the same time, pointing out several clusters of red across the quadrant. Arguably the biggest, and certainly the closest to the Fortress, the concentration she indicated was just roughly five hundred meters from the Fortress entrance, situated around what appeared to be a collapsed apartment complex.
[You are correct, Councilor Jakobin: My drones have identified that area as the Stage’s main Chitterer nest, where the scavenger beasts are lorded over by an exceptionally large specimen of their kind.]
“So, to pass through safely, we’ll have to clear out that nest?”
“That’ll be fun.” Osar rumbled again, rubbing at his temples, his large hands splayed over the bluish patterns on his hairless skull. Everyone looked at him, and the big man began to explain.
“Chitterers are regarded as a major nuisance for a reason,” He said, crossing his arms across his broad chest. His chin fronds were swaying slightly, which Eric interpreted as his associate being calm and focused. “They multiply very quickly and can appear in a variety of forms with abilities that make them annoying to plan for and against.”
Eric remembered the chitterers they had encountered as they had made their way from the teleport circle towards the Plunderer as well as the carcasses they had examined when sorting through their loot. All of the chitterers had hard carapaces, some incorporating metals and other substances that made them tougher and slower than the others around them. For weapons, there were a variety of arm blades and serrated cutters, as well as pincers, bludgeoners, piercers combined with venom sacs, glands, sprayers, and many other methods of protection and aggression commonly found in insects and other invertebrates familiar to Eric from the Union-verse. Scaled up to the size of the chitterers then they were a terrifyingly effective arsenal.
“Remember Lugthal and his men were professional hunters and reavers and yet they were still overwhelmed and killed by a horde of these creatures.” Osar continued, trying his best to emphasize the danger. “Granted they were battered and spent after their battle with Vashanka, but that still doesn’t diminish how dangerous a fully roused Chitterer nest can be.”
[Especially when they are led by a Behemoth.] Luna added, her multiple eyes inscrutable.
Osar inhaled sharply, looking at the projection. “You have proof of this?”
[One of my drones managed to get close enough to get a visual before it was driven off by the Behemoth’s guardians.]
The topographical map flickered and disappeared, to be replaced by a tri-D depiction of a lobster-like creature with several legs and arms, its carapace covered by large accretions of metal and other objects.
“That is a big fucker.” Serra said, though she sounded more excited than worried.
“Can’t we just bombard it with explosives from a distance?” Cid asked, jotting down notes.
“Anything we can throw at it that would be guaranteed to kill it would also create a horrendous amount of damage to the surrounding area.” Osar interjected. “Can the Stage sustain that sort of damage, Luna?”
[Probably Councilor Baratuu.] Luna answered promptly. [Although to my knowledge you do not have anything capable of creating an explosion of that magnitude.]
“I can try to build something…” Cid began, looking up from his notes.
“That will remain an option, Mr. Arth-Veda,” Eric interrupted quickly before the excited scientist could really get going. “However, since we have a hard deadline to gain control of the entire Stage I think it would be best to explore other methods for the mean time.”
As assents rose up all around the table Eric settled in, listening to suggestions and plans as they all tried to come up with a way to clear the nest without undue risk.
It was well past lunch time before the meeting finally ended, with much still to prepare and do. Eric clasped hands with everyone, thanking them all before heading out to one of the vaults with Osar to prepare to upgrade his build.