It was nearing twilight before they made it to the tower. Between pulling the armor and gear off of the bodies, loading it in bags for transport back to the lander via drones, and disposing of the bodies. It was a few hours before they could get back on the road. Disposing of the bodies consisted of dropping them in the forest for the wildlife to consume.
The lander was going to send the HAARDsuit out to pick up a body if they could make it before they were all gone. There were some interesting physiological differences between the Shins and Humans. Besides the scales, the different hands and feet, and likely a load of internal differences, they had no genitalia. At least, nothing they could see. It would be foolish not to take the opportunity to examine the anatomy of the Shins.
Apparently stripping and dumping the bodies of their comrades was too much for the last 2 survivors of the Shin party. They tried to attack and were easily cut down. It solved a problem, but Mako knew he’d need to make better plans for the future. Thankfully, since this was a scrum this all felt a little less like dancing along the lines of war crimes.
When they left the area, the only thing left were the bodies in various places in the forest and some blood spots they had little ability to eliminate. They covered it with dirt, but who knew if some animal would come behind them and dig it up.
They made their way to the tower with haste. On the way, they came to a stop when Skeet sent them the images and footage of Tedexa Goran. And especially the images of the people.
“Well...if we have any furries, they will be very excited.” Jhakaas noted.
“That portal is huge. It’s not what I expected at all.” Mako shook his head trying to comprehend the sight.
“Did you see the tents near the forest?” Ceridwen asked.
“Yeah, it’s nothing to sneeze at but that is a far cry from 10,000 soldiers. Skeet said she is going to take a closer look when it gets dark. She’s trying to get a head count in the part of the city she has access to.”
"They have a very significant choke point too. Hell, we could fill it with concrete foam in a week. it would take them forever to dig through that.” RIff said.
“That’s a good idea. It would be even better if we could weld that door shut. Before we filled it. It looks like that wall is assembled with rivets.” Boomer noted.
“We couldn't do it in a week. Maybe if we had a month and materials ready to go. Do we even want to get involved in this? Do we want a war on our hands?” Mako asked. “Maybe more importantly, do we want to be Conquistadors 2.0?”
“Well, technically, it’s not the same. This is more like French vs. English.” Ceridwen pointed out.
“Huh?” Mako looked at her in confusion.
“Think about it, this world we are standing on doesn’t belong to the Shing’risgi any more than us. If I heard everything correctly, they are from the other world. That means that this is now a matter of staking a claim. They have the portal. I don’t think we have any interest in that. They can go home. We theoretically, could go home, but it’s a lot harder.” Ceridwen explained.
“Hey, that’s true. They are acting like the colonizers we don’t want to be. For crying out loud, they are farming intelligent life here. We surely aren’t going to do that to the Dwellers.” Riff expounded.
“Maybe we shouldn’t make promises before we know for sure?” Jhakaas said.
Everyone looked at him with a puzzled expression.
Jhakaas shrugged. “What if those little goats are delicious?”
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They were closing in on the tower when they got the vid of Mahina and were informed that she unlocked the system.
“Wow, look at her go.” Boomer was grinning.
“Man, by the look of her you’d think she’d been doing this her whole life.” Riff said.
“Hmmm, I have to give her credit.” Mako spoke distractedly. “Everything she is doing is completely within the capacity of most of the heavily modded people. I think we are so accustomed to urban actions and human enemies that we aren’t pushing our limits.”
“Seriously,” Jhakaas started, “You hit the nail on the head. But look at her reflexes and the way she is jumping from tree to tree so precisely. Maybe that would be in the realm of normal if she had a subroutine loaded for exactly those types of actions. I don’t think that is the case.”
“Hmmm. How close is everyone to unlocking the system?” Mako glanced around at them.
Everyone was at 85% or higher except for Ceridwen and Faelanx. They had been mostly studying the materials brought in or directing the research activities of others. Harpy was at about 80% having gotten more party IP than the other two.
It was a little curious to Mako. He had been out in the wilderness more than anyone else, yet his system wasn’t unlocked. Perhaps it is because he was always in a party. Ceridwen had spent almost no time outside of the lander and Faelanx had spent about a third of Mako’s time out and yet they were at about 50%. They said they had gotten only a few notifications and some of those were party awards. It seemed like it was easier for some to unlock it compared to others.
“We’ll make it a priority to get that system unlocked before we head back to the lander.” Mako noted.
“Do we really need to?” Ceridwen asked. “This is a scrum. None of this will matter in the end except for what we’ve learned. This PHENOsystem isn’t going to exist on Argyra.”
Mako considered. “Unlocking the system may not matter. Learning to adjust our mentality to a non-urban environment with non-human adversaries is going to be crucial to our success. I must admit. I’m not certain how the PHENOsystem fits into this. It doesn’t seem to just categorize what we can do but also it appears to enhance us?”
“Nice. Male enhancement.” Jhakaas muttered to himself. Everyone ignored him.
“Is it enhancing us?” Ceridwen scowled. “Or is it going to be a function of something on Argyra? In other words, is the PHENOsystem enhancing us or is it categorizing the enhancements that are going to take place?”
Mako shrugged, “I guess we’ll find out.”
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Roh’Ovi met them at the entrance with several other dwellers. “Greetings, Mako. I am glad you were able to arrive safely.” He glanced around the group. “I don’t see the other Shing’risgi?”
Mako grimaced. “They attacked us again. We didn’t have the ability to contain them. They are no longer a concern.”
Roh’Ovi tilted his head to the side and down. Not a bow but perhaps some sign of acceptance or understanding. “Perhaps that is for the best. I’m not sure how this meeting would have proceeded were they still here.”
“If it is possible, we would like access to the tower?” Mako asked.
“We certainly cannot stop you if you choose to do so.” Roh’Ovi spoke as if it were obvious.
Ceridwen broke in. “Roh’Ovi, we are not like the Shing’risgi. While it is very important we access the tower, we would very much prefer that we did so with your permission. We understand this is your home. If we could access it without intruding upon your home, we would happily do so.”
The Dwellers looked at each other. Another spoke up. This one appeared to be a little older if Mako were to judge. “I am Dua’ayan. I am one of the elders of the Black Mountain tribe. We are very concerned that your interference with the tribute may already doom us. We may be able to beg forgiveness and only have to offer a double tribute. If you are here when the Shing’risgi arrive, that may be seen as tacit complicity with your actions.”
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“Did you say ‘Dwayne’?” Mako inquired.
“Yes, Dua’ayan.”
“Dwayne.” Mako repeated.
“Dua’ayan.” He lifted his chin a little in an expression that Mako couldn’t quite parse.
“Ok, Dwayne. I am Mako Nagata of the Colony ship Oracle. I understand your concerns, therefore, we are offering the Black Mountain tribe our protection from this moment on. We have the capacity to monitor the movements of the Shing’risgi anywhere near this location and especially to and from, uh, Tedexa Goran. We will know if they are coming long before you know. And we will intercept them and send them on their way.”
“Why would you do this, Ma’ayko Na’aga’ato? Who are we to you that you would risk your lives?”
“We are interested in living in peace and alongside peaceful peoples like your tribe. We believe that all peoples benefit from a peaceful coexistence and we all can grow and become greater and live better. Unfortunately, to accomplish that we must be willing and able to stand up to those that would break the peace.”
“And what tribute is required of us?”
“If anything, access to the tower? But our protection is not contingent upon anything. We have altered the status quo here. It is our responsibility to protect you.”
“Sta’atu’us koo’oh?” Dua’ayan tried to sound out the word.
“Ah, my apologies.” Mako considered for a moment.
Ceridwen stepped in, “It simply means that the accepted situation that has remained unchanged for some time, has now changed.”
“I see, sta’atus koo’oh. That is a nice and simple term for such a complex thought.” Dua’ayan’s head dropped in what would be a bow to humans. Mako interpreted this as being pensive.
He turned to look at the others behind him. They looked back for a moment, and each jerked their head slightly to the right as if they were directing someone to follow. This appeared to be an indication of agreement.
Dua’ayan sighed in acceptance and anxiety. Mako noted it as another likely commonality between air breathing creatures. “Then, we welcome you into our conclave.”
Mako bowed slightly since he was not certain as to what else he should do. “Thank you for confidence and invitation. We have some gifts we would like to offer in the name of our new friendship.”
This brightened the countenances of all the dwellers. Everybody likes gifts. Mako felt he should temper expectations. “These are simple trinkets and things we thought you might find useful.” Mako stated. “We are still new to this...place. We are not even certain of what substances that might be found in our food might be harmful to you. Otherwise, we probably would have brought more examples of our treats and delicacies.”
“It is not important what the gifts are, we appreciate the sentiment.” Dua’ayan replied diplomatically. “Please follow us. We will show you into the Tower. We would invite you further into our den, but I fear some of you would not fit through the entrances.”
Mako smiled, “We will be happy to make do in the tower.”
The entrance area was as they had seen it previously on the camera. They made their way through a tunnel that was carved through the rock that followed the curvature of the tower. It was slightly taller than a human might make it. Perhaps, a full 3 meters. This also had the telltale hexagons that indicated this was likely some maintenance area that was built by the original builders of the tower. Up ahead there was a crossroad. The tunnel continued ahead. There was a smaller tunnel to the left that headed further into the mountain and to the right was a hatchway that led into the tower.
As they entered, they could see little but what they could see was reminiscent of any industrial facility on earth. There were metal gangways and catwalks. The rails were a little too high for humans just as they would later find the stairs to be the same. The rest was obscured by darkness.
“Harpy? Get a drone in the air and make sure we are alone in here?” Mako asked as he took in the sight of the place as much as he could.
“On it.” Harpy replied in a chipper singsong.
The Dwellers watched in awe as Harpy pulled an orb about the size of a baseball out of her pack and held it in her hand palm up. A moment later, lights flashed on, and it hovered over her hand for a moment. Then, it silently bolted up into the air and disappeared from their sight.
Mako thought about it and realized he didn’t ask for something in particular. “Is it set to map?”
“It sure is.” Harpy winked at him.
“It should be safe in here. We have used it as a refuge many times. The wildlife seems to avoid entering these tower structures.” Dua’ayan explained.
“Structures?” Ceridwen asked.
“Indeed. There are several in the local area and a few more that were destroyed by something and then reclaimed by the forest. There is also an underground city to the south. It is very dangerous there. The wildlife does not avoid that place like they do the towers.”
Based on the certainty of the Dwellers, Mako decided to move on to the next order of business while the drone was mapping the interior of the tower. He walked over to Riff and grabbed the pack off his back.
“Should we set up some lights?” Boomer asked.
Mako nodded to her as he kneeled on the floor in front of the Dwellers. He opened the pack and started pulling out some objects. The first one is a white globe that was about the size of a softball.
“This,” Mako said, “is much like the lights we are about to deploy.” He tapped the top of the globe and it lit up with a white light. He set a finger on the side of the globe and dragged it up. The light became brighter and he moved it down, then it dimmed.
“Ah,” Dua’ayan said, “This is like light magic.” He looked back at one of the others and pointed up.
That Dweller held up a hand and a ball of light shot up and hovered above them illuminating the room quite well. The humans all gasped and cooed with delight.
“I guess we don’t need these.” Boomer started putting the lights away.
“How long will it last?” Ceridwen asked.
“Several hours.” Dua’ayan replied.
“Thank you.” Mako said as he turned back to the globe in his hand. “This is not magic at all. It was made or crafted like a tool. And...” He tapped the top twice. The white light turned into an image of the Earth rotating slowly in his hand. “This is what our world looks like.”
Almost in unison, their faces went blank, their shoulders pulled back, and their heads tilted slightly from side to side. This appeared to be what they looked like when confused.
“You are not from this world? But from a moon?” Dua’ayan asked.
Mako tried to parse the latter question.
“Ah, I think I understand.” Ceridwen said. “We are not from the world, but we have traveled here from very far away. This is not a moon but a planet. Just like this world is a planet that orbits the sun you see in the sky.”
“Orbits the sun?” Dua’ayan asked shifted in discomfort. The natives were getting restless.
Ceridwen grit her teeth. This may have been a mistake to show them this. Hopefully, they were not about to challenge some deeply held religious belief. Ceridwen pulled out a tablet and brought up an image of Argyra from space.
This turned into an impromptu lesson about planets, moons, suns, solar systems, a brief sidebar on the gist of orbital mechanics, and even a display of the galactic arm showing them the location of Epsilon Argyra and the Sol system. The Dwellers took in all the information. It wasn’t entirely clear if they truly understood this entire shift in the paradigm of their existence. The look of confusion they had now seemed permanent and perhaps slightly agitated.
“This is a lot to take in.” Mako said. “I apologize if we have made things difficult. Maybe we should show you something simpler and more practical.”
“We appreciate your knowledge and wisdom.” Dua’ayan said quietly. “It is a lot to digest.”
“If anyone has any further questions, we are more than happy to answer.” Ceridwen stated.
“I think it is enough on that subject for now.” Dua’ayan held the globe showing a rotating earth in his hands. He then passed it back to Roh’Ovi. “Was there anything else?”
Mako pulled out a few more basic odds and ends. He had a holo projection of flyovers of different areas of Earth to show what their world looked like. He felt like he couldn’t anticipate what sort of questions that would bring up and perhaps it would be disturbing.
“Well, based in how you were able to generate light, this may be of no use to you.” Mako said as he pulled out a small gray rectangular box that sat on one end. It was 13 sens on each side and 20 sens tall. There were vertical slats on each side and more slats on top. Mako touched a button on the side and the slats on the side opened. Heat radiated out. “This is a portable heater. If you touch this button the slats on the side open and heat will radiate out. If you press this button, the slats on the top will open and the sides will close, and it can be used as a cooking surface. Assuming you might cook your food?”
“We do cook some food.” Dua’ayan looked at the device with interest.
“If you press this button, the slats all open and it stops heating. This allows it to gather and store energy from another heat source like a fire or from the Sun for later use.” Mako presented it to the Dua’ayan after closing all the slats. "If it stops working. Open it up and leave it in the sunlight or next to a fire, but not in the fire, and it will gather energy for later use."
“That is very interesting and generous.” Dua’ayan said. “Thank you.”
Mako handed out a few hairbrushes which seemed to be a hit among the Dwellers. Then he gave them a few blankets made of a very resilient cloth. These also seemed to be of great interest to the Dwellers as the quality of the cloth was something they were not able to do. Finally, he held up a small bag of individually wrapped hard candies.
“These are a bit of an experiment. These are what we call candy. They are made of a substance called glucose or more commonly called sugar. Glucose is the most basic form of food for life on our world. Likewise, we’ve found the same substance here on this world. It seems to be a commonality among organic life.” Mako took one, unwrapped it, and placed it in his mouth.
The bag only had basic pure sugar hard candy and caramels. Those were the only ones they could make without adding other compounds. The Dwellers tentatively placed the candies in their mouths. There was something...familiar in the way they looked at each other and appreciated the flavor.
“Hey, Mako?” Jhakaas spoke up behind him. Mako secretly hoped Jhakaas wasn’t about to make an inappropriate joke. He continued. “You might want to see this.”
Mako looked over his shoulder to where Jhakaas approached. In his hands, he held a head. A robotic head.