As Angela carried the worker down the mountain, Em'brel couldn't help but watch her friend with an emotion somewhere between awe and trepidation. If the AI stood still, she would be the finest, most detailed, and most beautiful statue Em'brel had ever seen. To see her in motion was like watching a goddess stride across the land. Somewhere in the back of her mind, Em'brel fought down the urge to worship the woman she'd come to know so well over the last couple of seasons.

Looking around, it was clear the worker's own impressions lay somewhere between hers and something more akin to fear. Angela was striking, but she was also physically imposing, standing taller than all but the largest argu'n males, and would put even Dek'thul to shame in that department. The ease with which she was carrying a full-grown male made it was apparent that Angela wasn't even nearing her limits, though there was something about her movements that bothered the younger woman. After a few moments, she finally realized what it was.

Turning to her friend, Em'brel tried to break the silence to ask her a question but found herself unable to do so. Finally, after a moment, Angela took the initiative. Without taking her focus away from the path she walked, the AI addressed Em'brel. "Come on, out with it! You've been awkwardly staring at me long enough. Ask whatever it is you clearly want to ask!"

Em'brel's ears folded back a little in dismay as her tendrils lightly vibrated, but grinning awkwardly, she responded. "I was just wondering... How are you moving so much quicker and smoother in the suit than either Jack or I could?"

Anglea's smile could be heard in her voice, even if the face's movements could be described as stiff at best. "That's an excellent question! There are actually a few reasons for that. First, I made a few modifications to form and function that gave me a finer control. Since I don't have to worry about damaging any muscle or bones, I have a whole range of motions available to me that you wouldn't be able to perform, and I modified the suit to take advantage of that. Second, and related to the first, the suit was always slowed down, so the strength enhancing servos wouldn't move faster than you could compensate for. It's better to have the joints move so slowly that you almost feel restrained than to have them move too fast, resulting in you trying to 'fight' the motion, thus injuring yourself. Lastly, being an AI, I'm far more aware of the mechanics of my movements than those of you born with limbs and can control my movements on levels you simply never think about."

Jack was on the other side of his sister. "Yeah, about that, am I ever going to be able to use the suit again?"

Angela turned to the man who was her little brother, now literally as well as figuratively. "Well, this is my home now, so no, not unless we find somewhere else for me to stash myself first. But, even then, I'd have to undo some of the modifications I made so you could use the suit safely or comfortably again. So I'm afraid you'll just have to depend on me for any real heavy lifting from here out."

Em'brel still felt odd seeing the tiny woman she adored in her new, larger-than-life body. Angela must have picked up on that because she switched to human speech so only she and Jack could understand her. "Don't worry, it's still me in here. I even have a few projectors on the suit, and you'll probably see me in the manner you're used to more often than not in the house, but for now, this will be my 'public face.' I have a certain reputation to uphold, what with being the dragon and all..."

Em'brel nodded. She understood what Angela was saying, but it seemed like appearance was all anyone was worried about these days. She missed last winter when everyone had simply been themselves, and this world had seemed new and amazing to her. Of course, in their own way, Jack and Angela had somehow become more impressive as their secrets had been revealed, but that initial spark of wonder had faded in the warm glow of familiarity. Still, it was good to have her friend by her side once again, even if her new body wasn't as fun or cute.

Jack seemed lost in thought, though the concerns he finally voiced were of a very different tune. "So, how power efficient is your new body, anyway?"

Angela tipped her head to the now much smaller Jack to acknowledge his concerns. "Well, I unhooked the solar generator from the ship and created my own charging dock. An average day of charging will net me four or five hours of casual mobilization or maybe a single hour of more...intense exertion. I won't be winning endurance competitions against even an argu'n, but I hope to make up for that by finally having my own mobility. After that, I can still function as my old self without mobility for a few days on backup power, and in an emergency, I can now go into stasis for an indefinite period, though I prefer to avoid that, if possible."

Jack nodded, but his expression was still thoughtful. "Alright, but I'd like you to limit your movement until you’ve got a good energy store for unexpected situations. Enough that you could act for a full day if needed, maybe more."

The dwarfed man looked up at his towering sister with an apologetic smile. "For the record, that's not an order. It's more of...a request. I'm sure you want to explore as much as possible, but it would help me sleep much easier if I knew you were prepared for anything."

Although Angela's expression was as blank as always, Em'brel could feel some heavy emotions passing between them as the AI nodded. "That's a reasonable request, especially given how often you find yourself in emergencies. I'll set aside a plentiful supply of energy for unexpected complications!"

Angela tilted her head as her voice became wistful, as if this next part wasn't directed anyone other than herself. "Though it won't really be feasible to store that much power in this body without sacrificing some functionality I'd rather not do without... I'll have to design some sort of exchangeable battery system so the spares can charge at my dock while I'm mobile, though there’s only so much of the ship I can canabalize before we start running into aother material issue..."

Jack raised his eyebrows at his sister's ambitious plans but kept his thoughts to himself this time.

*  

Angela was finishing up the treatment of Jan'kul in a side room when S'haar walked into the billet. She looked around briefly, focusing on Jack and Em'brel after a moment. "So what's all this I hear about a goddess descending on our Outpost, and where is Angela right now?"

Em'brel looked a little taken aback, but Jack just laughed. He waved toward the room. "She's seeing to Jan'kul's injuries right now, but I'm sure she'll be right out in a few minutes."

S'haar fixed Jack with the unique glare she reserved for him when the human was getting too clever for his own good. It expressed something between annoyance and amusement. "I suppose this has something to do with the surprise you've been carefully not telling me about?"

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This time Jack looked a little chagrined as he explained. "Well, I was going to tell you more before Angela made her appearance, but there was a rockslide and an injured worker. It kind of forced Angela's hand before she was ready, but yes, this is Angela's big surprise."

As if summoned by those words, Angela made her appearance. She ducked carefully to fit through a door that was a little too low for her, despite being designed with argu'n physiology in mind. S'haar fixed the giant AI with an unimpressed glare. "So how's my worker? Was your unannounced appearance worth all the rumors and speculation flying around the Outpost and wreaking havoc on our timetables?"

For her part, somehow, the giant AI looked a little contrite, despite her face moving in such a stiff manner. "Jan'kul is doing well. He won't be able to do much on his feet for a few weeks, but in only a couple of days, he'll be well enough for Fae'en to find something for him to do in the workshop, so long as he's sitting. Though I expect him to fully recover in a relatively short time. Also, I'm sorry."

S'haar's expression softened as she let some of her mock sternness fade from her face. "That's good to hear, and you don't actually have to apologize. I was sure you had a good reason to cause all this confusion."

Angela's demeanor shifted once more as she tensed for some odd reason. "Oh, I wasn't apologizing for what I did. I was apologizing for what I'm about to do!"

S'haar only got out a threatening, "Don't you da....!" before Angela lunged forward and wrapped her almost sister in a hug. S'haar managed to get out a single indignant, "Hmph!" before she relented and tolerated the forced affection. Jack couldn't help but smile at how catlike her demeanor was at that moment.

After another moment, Angela released S'haar and stared at the smaller woman now at arm's reach. "That was for all the times I wanted to hug you but couldn't! You can't get away from me anymore! Angela cuddles are here to stay!"

The AI posed at the last statement before relaxing her stance and looking at S'haar questioningly. "The hug wasn't too tight, was it?"

S'haar rubbed a few of her bone plates as much to restore some dignity as to comfort herself. "It was tolerable, though maybe a bit tight. I think I now know what Jack feels like when I squeeze a little hard..."

Angela nodded thoughtfully. "Alrighty, toning down hug strength by thirteen percent."

She then turned and grabbed Em'brel. Rather than resisting the way the warrior woman had, Em'brel returned the embrace wholeheartedly. Angela spoke quietly as she held the younger woman. "I would have hugged you sooner, but there was the rockslide, then Jan'kul, and then I decided to try it out on someone more resilient first, but there will be lots of hugs in the future. I promise!"

The younger woman tightened her own grip. "There had better be! Lots and lots more!"

Angela was about to respond when Sare'en walked through the door. "Is Em'brel ok? I heard something about..."

She stopped mid-sentence as she and Grim caught sight of Angela's impressive form. The wolgen quickly ducked back and hid behind his mom with a small whimper. Unfortunately, this prevented the herder girl from taking her own step back. Instead, her eyes shot open to the size of saucers as she took in the spectacle before her.

Worried the poor herder girl might faint again, Angela finally activated her emitters, and her more familiar holographic form floated toward Sare'en. "Don't worry, don't worry, it's just me! I've just been working on a little side project, is all. You know, something to pass the time in my relative isolation..."

Sare'en looked back and forth between the AI's two forms with a dazed expression on her face. Angela waved while her new body simultaneously replicated the gesture to emphasize her point.

The herder girl still looked a little lost and confused, and Angela simply floated right up to her face until the younger woman's eyes were almost crossed in an attempt to focus on the AI. "Now, remember when we explained that I didn't have a body in the traditional sense of the word? Well, I made myself one, that's all. I know it's all big and scary-looking, but that's mostly because of what I had on hand to work with. I promise it's the same old me under all that fancy-looking metal plating!"

Finally, reason seemed to return to the younger woman's eyes as she blinked a few times and focused on Angela's new body again. "That's you? Like, the same you? But you're out here. How can you be in there at the same time..."

Angela crossed her arms and assumed the pose of an instructor speaking to a student. "It was the same in the cave, remember? I was floating around while also controlling everything on the ship simultaneously. This is no different. I just condensed my physical form, that's all. Instead of being a giant ship, now I'm a less giant metal woman."

Grim took that moment to peek out from behind Sare'en to sniff the air, bumping his head into her hand as he did so. The herder woman started scratching his head absentmindedly before looking down and addressing him, appearing to relax still further as she did so. "It's ok, Grim. This is Angela. I don't fully understand it either, but I'm pretty sure everything is going to be alright."

Taking comfort in Sare'en's demeanor and voice, Grim stepped out a little further to take in the strange new monster. Angela raised an arm for him to get a better sniff, causing the wolgen pup to yelp again and dive back behind Sare'en. Angela shook her head. "Well, I suppose that's a better reaction than being too aggressive, but we're really gonna have to teach you to be a better guard dog than that!"

Most everyone chuckled, causing Grim to look about in confusion as Sare'en resumed scratching his head again.

*  

B'arthon approached the gate with his bodyguards and several carts in tow. He was starting to get tired of all the roles he had to play. It was bad enough being the foil to his father's persona, though that role did have its benefits. Now he was also part merchant, part delivery man, and part spy. He was starting to wonder if any debt he owed hadn't already been paid...with interest.

Not that his bodyguard cared. They were the real deal, all muscle, and no thought. They were easily pleased, so long as they had food, drink, and females, and in that order, for some reason. The lord's son shook his head. This was hardly the life he'd envisioned for himself when he'd first spoken to his "father" Lord A'ngels about it.

However, this wasn't the time to be dwelling on such things. So, as he approached the Outpost, B'arthon fixed his usual scowl in place. It wasn't hard to do. After the long hike through the hills and forest, he wasn't enjoying himself.

What was worse, now he was stuck escorting new recruits there. Well, a new recruit. Though, at least she seemed as surly as he felt. She was cold and curt, returning any questions or comments with as short an answer as possible. Apparently, she was the daughter of the one casualty of the Outpost, some old hunter.

The noble grinned slightly at the thought of any complications she might cause Jack and S’haar.

As he approached the gate, he could hear the guards talking. "They say the whole mountain was collapsing, and she just flew out of the sky and caught it! Then she brought Jan'kul back from the dead! I'm telling you, she's a goddess!"

The other guard sounded a bit more skeptical. "I don't know about the second thing, but I'm sure I would have noticed the mountain collapsing. There was a slight rumble earlier, but that sounded like what we hear every spring when rocks shift. Certainly not the sound I imagine a whole mountain falling in on itself would make!"

The first guard didn't relent. "Ok, maybe not, but there's still the whole 'bringing Jan'kul back to life' thing! The only person I've ever heard of coming back to life was Lady S'haar's consort, and he's practically a god himself!"

At that, B'arthon growled to himself before slamming his fist against the gate. "Hey, is anyone going to open the gate and let us in? Or are you going to keep sharing exaggerated stories about wizards and gods?"

There was a bit of commotion on the other side of the gate, then the doors slowly swung open to reveal one of the guards. Judging by his voice, it was the skeptic. "Greetings, Lord B'arthon. I apologize for the delay. We'll send someone to fetch you an escort right away!"

B'arthon shuffled past, his guard in tow. "Never mind that. I remember the way. We'll be fine!"

The guards looked at each other, clearly unsure of what to do. They were here to guard the Outpost, but this was a Lord from their village. Whose authority superseded whose in this situation? Finally, after a moment's hesitation, one ran off while the other started securing the gate.