Bunker under the Royal Palace - Past - Va’Dresruyuna
“Are you absolutely sure you want to go through with this?” Thi’Aphallir asked as they hooked up the final few lines between Dresruyuna and her bio-monitoring chair. “There’s no going back once you dive into the engram. Frankly, I’m unsure whether you’ll be able to pull such a large amount of data and skills out of what remains of Tha’Trezimala without damaging the engram. Or your own brain for that matter. There’s a lot I don’t know about this process, what with it being considered heresy and all.”
Dresruyuna kept her eyes closed as Aphallir worked. They were in the most heavily-guarded and protected area of the Royal Bunker in what was supposed to be the Supreme Queen’s lodgings. Instead of keeping the bed, Dresruyuna had Aphallir and Ti'Thell set up an apparatus that would allow her to dive into Trezimala’s memory engram for an extended period of time. The result was the highly-advanced recliner Dresruyuna now sat in.
Outside the white padding beneath her, the rest of the surfaces were black chrome. All manner of bio-monitors forked off from the chair via articulating arms. Those monitoring Dresruyuna would be able to see any problems with her vitals the instant they started to crop up. The chair itself had pre-programmed actions it could take as well should external input not be given.
Theoretically Dresruyuna could stay under for five cycles if it came to that. Any more and she’d be risking permanent neural damage according to Aphallir. Something the Prime of Medicine kept mentioning as they worked. Thell had simply delivered the engram in its head-sized black box and departed, meaning the only other Kuxpir in the room was a discontented Udivax.
“Relax, Thi’Aphallir. I’ll be fine with you and Udivax watching over me,” assured Dresruyuna. “As far as the unsealed documents from the Royal Archives show, the process should be fairly straightforward. I go in, I ask Tha’Trezimala to teach me, then sit back and wait for the knowledge to ‘download’ into my brain. Simple and easy.”
Udivax grumbled back, “I seem to recall those same documents saying that your neurons could burn out if the transfer rate is too high. Same thing happens if you were to try and access the engram of a Kuxpir that wasn’t part of the same clutch as you. There’s a reason this procedure has not been used in myricycles.”
“What other choice do we have, Udivax?” demanded Dresruyuna, not even noticing she’d dropped their honorific in front of Aphallir. Luckily, Aphallir either didn’t register the blip or chose not to comment on it. “Shoot tungsten rods from orbit and hope we get a direct hit? Detonate an EMP that will cripple the city?”
“At least the EMP doesn’t involve you resorting to insanity!” Udivax retorted. “Even if, and that’s a big if, you manage to come out of this with the ability to create another Asmoor Core, what then? How are you going to explain suddenly having the knowledge and skills to pull off such an effort? It took Tha’Trezimala kilocycles to make the first Core. Do we even have that kind of time left?!”
“Do you two need a millicycle?” asked Aphallir.
“No!” both Dresruyuna and Udivax shouted in unison. Then Dresruyuna added more softly, “No. The truth is I don’t have those answers right now, Udivax. Not fully. I may be able to hide this procedure from the public and the nobles by claiming I’ve been studying Tha’Trezimala’s notes she left us prior to her passing. But I have no way of stopping this from getting out if you, Thi’Aphallir, or Ti'Thell decide to leak it.”
Udivax’s scowl grew darker. “Oh don’t you worry about that. I’m going to be keeping a very close, uncomfortable eye on both Nan until this situation stabilizes.”
“Oh joy,” Aphallir remarked sarcastically. “The final wire between the black engram box and the support chair is connected. Ready to send you under at your order, Va’Dresruyuna.”
Dresruyuna motioned for Udivax to come closer. When they did, she grabbed their hand, gave it a squeeze, smiled, and said, “I’m coming back from this. Don’t worry.” Then to Aphallir, “Do it.”
The last thing Dresruyuna’s senses picked up was the beep signaling the process had begun. She found herself in a black void, utterly devoid of any features or colors other than herself. For her part, Dresruyuna was a translucent, glowing figure. She could move about with thought alone, though whether she was actually “moving” was unclear given the environment.
“Alright. If those documents were correct, there should be a virtual grid coming my way soon,” Dresruyuna said as she looked around, mostly to calm her nerves.
Sure enough, she spotted a light in the distance growing brighter and larger the more she focused on it. Suddenly the darkness was stripped away as a bright blue grid formed a “floor” and “ceiling”. Between the metaphysical boundaries were holographic representations of Trezimala’s memories, stretching beyond sight and playing without sound from her point of view. The mute specters of the past unnerved Dresruyuna. Such things were supposed to be sacred. But there was no turning back now.
“I call upon the spirit that remains of Tha’Trezimala!” Dresruyuna called out across the sea of experiences. “A clutch-mate seeks her wisdom and talent for a grave and dire matter!”
“Even in death, you still find ways to bother me,” said Trezimala’s voice from behind Dresruyuna. She spun about and came face to face with the former Prime of Science. Unlike her, Trezimala’s avatar was solid and exactly how Trezimala used to look in life, right down to the golden clip on their rightmost hair tentacle.
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“Trust me, if there were any other option, I would have taken it,” said Dresruyuna as she offered a flourish of deep respect and honor. “I need to know everything you do about the Asmoor Project.”
Trezimala’s avatar floated past Dresruyuna down the lines of memories. She followed behind as the avatar spoke, “I seem to recall leaving you everything via your bodyguard. Did they get killed or misplace the data shard?”
“No, but…”
“But nothing. Everything you could need is on that shard.” Trezimala stopped to turn and face Dresruyuna. “What possible reason do you have for violating the tenets of society that you hold ever so dear?”
Before Dresruyuna could answer, one of the nearby memories sprang to life with sound and color. She recognized the Royal Gardens immediately. There younger versions of Trezimala, Udivax, and her were playing among the greenery.
“Haha! I got you, Ruyuna!” cheered the young Trezimala. “Now you’re dead!”
“Nuh uh!” cried child Udivax as she stepped forward while brandishing a toy dagger. “I deflected your shot with my special dagger!”
“That’s cheating!” Trezimala complained. “Tell you bodyguard to stop cheating, Ruyuna!”
“It’s okay,” said the smaller version of Dresruyuna as she put a hand on each of the other children’s shoulders. “Both of you did well. As the Queen-to-be, I hereby grant you each a boon for your service.”
“Keep it,” said mini-Udivax. “I don’t need a boon.”
“More for me then,” giggled mini-Trezimala. “I can wish for anything, right Ruyuna?”
“Anything.”
“Then um… I want the three of us to promise to always come back here every hectocycle! Even if we have to try really hard to get away from our duties!”
Mini-Dresruyuna smiled warmly. Then the memory vanished into the ether.
“I’d… forgotten about that,” the current Dresruyuna said. “Two cycles following that I had to cloister myself in the Archives under the tutelage of many different instructors to prepare for the cycle when I’d ascend to the throne.”
“Funny what you forget when you’re chasing after what’s ‘good’ and ‘right’ and ‘proper’, isn’t it?” sneered Trezimala’s avatar. “And now here you are, demanding from your dead clutch-mate that you tossed aside for the very principles that you’re breaking.”
Dresruyuna tried to formulate a response. No matter how hard she tried to justify things, there were no clever word plays or tricks that would work. So instead she decided to be honest.
“You’re right. I threw myself too hard into my duties and forgot nearly everyone close to me. I might have forgotten Udivax as well if they didn’t continually force themselves as my bodyguard. I wronged you, Trezimala. And for that I’m sorry.”
She bowed lower than any Ixfour had a right to. She was expecting a sharp rebuke or other form of tongue lashing. What Dresruyuna was not expecting was Trezimala to giggle.
“Oh how I missed seeing you kowtow earnestly. You know that’s why I pursued being the Prime of Science over some other position in the Ixfour, right? Because if the Supreme Queen listens to anyone, it’s the Primes. Now I suppose I’ll never have the satisfaction of seeing you squirm in council meetings.”
Dresruyuna raised her head. “I really do need your help, Trezimala. I’m willing to do whatever it takes.”
Once again, Trezimala floated past her as the memories all shifted in intensity and colors. “Seeing you bow like that is enough. Out of respect of the friendship we once had and knowing how dire things must be for you to resort to this, I’ll give you what you’re after.”
Dresruyuna bowed once more. “Thank you, Trezimala. What do I do now?”
“Now you sit and float here with me until your brain either assimilates all my knowledge or it fries,” Trezimala joked. “No idea how long it’ll take though, so I hope you’re comfortable.”
While they waited the two made small talk. Dresruyuna gained a peace of mind knowing that, in the end, she’d been able to repair a long-lost friendship. She had no idea how far into the transfer progress she was, only that the process couldn’t be interrupted short of killing her.
Something about that thought triggered another memory of Trezimala’s, this time between Trezimala and Aphallir. The two of them were discussing typical Prime matters in Aphallir’s office within the Spire of Medicine. Behind the white, wooden desk where Aphallir sat was a beautiful vista of the city of Mithea sometime near sunset. Rows of books and data slates littered every surface not unlike Trezimala’s workshop.
“...And that’s about all the Anetrizine I can spare,” Aphallir sighed as she tossed down a slate onto her desk. “You sure you need that much for the Project?”
“Quite sure,” nodded Trezimala as she wandered around the desk to look out onto Mithea. “And a deal’s a deal. What can I offer you from Science?”
Aphallir steepled her claws as she spun in her chair to also gaze at the city. “How much bio-mimetic gel can you give me?”
“Depends on what you need it for. More genetics studies, I presume?”
“Something like that.”
Trezimala nodded, holding up her own data slate and tapping away. “Done. You’ll get two canisters delivered next cycle.”
The memory faded at that point. Trezimala’s avatar looked after the space where it had played out. “I never did find out what she needed all that gel for. Though there was more than enough for her to create any number of clones or organic explosives.”
Something about that remark gave Dresruyuna pause. “Hold on, organic explosives?”
“Yes. If processed a certain way bio-mimetic gel is highly volatile. Why?”
Then it all clicked. Dresruyuna’s eyes widened as she said, “The explosives used on the Spires were all organic in nature. Kurilia save me. Aphallir was in on the attack the entire time. And right now she’s in the perfect position to kill me while making it look like an accident.”