I led Kliss and Delta on a tour of Moscow across the deepest recesses of my memories.
Delta was acting a bit standoffish at first, but slowly and surely she became used to the company of the Overseer. Similarly, Kliss initially had a very sour attitude, but as I showed her more and more things from Earth, she gradually began to understand my strange, alien origins. As the night went on, she began treating me less like a mad necromancer and more like someone her age from another, foreign country. The fact that Delta and I looked twenty in the dream-world had helped immensely.
As the warm rays of the morning sun bathed the grand campus of Moscow State University, Kliss, Delta, and I found ourselves sitting on a bench in front of the university's Administrative building.
The Main building of Moscow State University was one of the city's most iconic landmarks featuring Imperial Stalinist architecture. Designed by Lev Rudnev and finished in 1953, the massive structure loomed high above us, its 36-level facade reaching towards the skies, intricate stonework and star-tipped towers a testament to a bygone era that existed only within my dreams.
"This... Earth, it's so different from what I imagined. Is every building on Earth this big and beautiful?" Kliss asked, her voice filled with wonder as she examined the campus.
"Not all," I admitted, "But Moscow State University is one of the exceptional ones, built to commemorate the glory and pride of our national ideology. It was the 7th tallest building in the world when it was finished. Seven other buildings like it were built across Moscow after we won an incredibly bloody war against another empire."
“That sounds like an oddly magical number in a world lacking magic,” Kliss turned to me, her expression warmer. "And you lived in a place like this?"
"Not quite, since this is an Administrative building. But, I did study mathematics here in one of the smaller buildings and visited often. It's a place that's very close to my heart,” I explained.
“Cessna has nice cathedrals and towers,” Kliss said. “But it’s nothing quite this tall. I cannot believe that something like this could have been constructed without magic!”
“Forty thousand tons of steel were used for its framework alone,” I explained, translating the tonnage into an approximation of Ishikarian weight. “We used prisoners of war and lots of machines in its construction.”
“What sort of... machines?”
"See that red, metal tower over there?" I said, pointing at a distant crane. "That's a machine called a construction crane. We used those to lift heavy materials to great heights. It's utilizing engines that are powered by a type of... fluid that catches fire."
Kliss squinted at the distant crane, a look of fascination on her face. "So, those machines did the work of a hundred men?"
"More like a thousand," I said. "With the right tools and knowledge, my people have accomplished incredible feats without the aid of magic."
“I thought you were messing with me,” Kliss said and she watched a car passing by us. “But seeing all of this… I feel like a fool, knowing how much I underestimated your world," she admitted, her gaze transfixed on the hustle and bustle of the city around us.
I winked at her as I went to the nearest kiosk and brought the girls "Soviet Plombir" ice cream in a wafer cup. Delta already knew what the treat was like so she rapidly devoured it, while Kliss simply stared at the ice cream in her hands.
"Eat it," Delta advised. "It's one of the best things in the universe!"
“In… the universe?” Kliss arched an eyebrow.
“Take a bite, it's not gonna kill you,” Delta laughed.
Kliss hesitated, her nose scrunching up as she examined the foreign substance. Finally, she took a tentative lick and her eyes widened as the sweet, creamy taste exploded on her tongue.
“This is… really nice,” she admitted.
“Don’t you mean amazing?” Delta grinned.
Kliss nodded tentatively as she took a larger bite of the ice cream.
We spent the rest of the day exploring Moscow, walking along the Moskva River, visiting the Red Square and the Kremlin, and eating more food. As we wrapped up our day on the Sparrow Hills overlooking the city, the setting sun painted the sky with hues of gold and purple.
"Your world... It's beautiful, Slava," Kliss admitted, a soft smile gracing her lips.
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"It was," I nodded.
It was the first genuine smile I'd seen from her since we'd begun our dreamscape journey and it was worth to me more than all the ice cream in the world. Through Klint’s soul-shards I sensed exactly what Kliss was now feeling.
The Overseer was finally at peace with me, no longer terrified of Delta and no longer hating me for what I did to save her.
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On the 40th day of Temminus, at the end of summer, the [Vow-Breaker] was finished. It functioned akin to Radio jamming tech, except it didn’t jam a radio signal. It simply jammed the connection between the Vow and the brain of its user, encasing and intersecting the entire Vow in layers upon layers of shields.
I tested it by making Kliss pass over a doorway in which the [Vow-Breaker] was embedded as a massive crystalline Alanian battery.
When the Vow-bound Overseer passed through the field, she momentarily became confused and dropped the bundle of wood that she was carrying.
"Whoopsie," Kliss' face became a smiling mask once she left the doorway. "I think… I.. spaced out for a second there."
She leaned down and recollected the spilled branches, smiling serenely.
"Frenny," I said.
Kliss' face remained a smiling blank.
"You disobeyed me," I said, crossing my arms.
"What? No I didn't! I got lots of firewood… just like you asked!" She insisted, shaking her pile of branches at me.
"Frenny," I said. "You've been keeping Kliss bound. Did you think that I would not notice?"
"What? Don't be silly, Dante! Frenny is sleeping, like you told her to. I'm Kliss," Frenny insisted. "I don't want to wake her up. She doesn't like you. She will probably tell the Inquisitor that you're an aberration!"
I eyed the Vow-controlled girl wearily as she kept on spinning ridiculous lies around me.
"I'm your friend!" The Vow of Friendship lied. "I will make sure the interview goes smoothly when the Inquisitor comes!"
"How?" I asked.
"I'll tell him that there's a single Vow of Equality that's aware of everything I do and is watching over me!" She said, making fake puppy eyes at me. "Goddess Equality can't be fooled! She is all-mighty! See? It's the perfect answer!"
I frowned at her.
"P-please… Slava… don't hurt me. I am your friend! I belong to you, alone! I will make sure that Skyisle is safe!" Frenny begged.
“Fine,” I nodded.
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It was the midday of the 48th day of Temminus and we were having lunch inside the nearly finished Sentinel's tower. I was really enjoying Blood-elk sandwiches purchased from the Fox pub. The overpriced meat of LV 20 elks practically melted in my mouth.
“An Imperial skyship has docked to the church tower!” Kliss suddenly declared, tapping her armacus to deactivate a flashing rune on it. “It must be the Inquisitor!”
“Here, I have a gift for you, for being such a great friend,” I said and handed her a necklace.
“Aw, thank you, Dante,” Frenny grinned, putting the necklace over Kliss’ head.
I led her to the broken, fern covered entryway at the front of the tower and asked her to put on a bag that was sitting in one of the corners. She complied with a smile, as she always did, grunting at the weight only a little as she put the heavy backpack over her shoulders.
We quickly left our home base, briskly walking to the Church of Equality.
[All systems go?] Delta asked through the Astral.
[More or less,] I replied. [The device… is ready-ish.]
[Why is there an “ish” in there?] She asked.
[Because like always… we were a tad short on time,] I replied.
[Let's pray that it works then,] she said.
[Soviet Academics don’t pray,] I rebutted. [I know that it works. It worked just fine during the tests.]
In about half an hour we were there. A skyship made from gleaming steel, glass and dark wood hovered over the old Ishikarian church. A steel, unfolded stairwell connected from the ship to a balcony at the top of the building.
We went into the church and there our paths split.
“You know what to tell him, yes?” I asked the Overseer.
“I do,” she nodded with an ever-present, fake smile. “I will make sure you and Skyisle are safe!”
I went into the Overseer's office and closed the door behind me. Kliss went up to the warship, climbing the spiral stone stairwell to reach the balcony.
I sat down on the Overseer’s chair and started to watch the action unfolding through my Infoscopes.
A man in a white cloak, wearing gleaming silver-white armor and a reflective convex-shaped, face-covering helmet descended from the warship a minute after Kliss had emerged onto the church balcony.
“Welcome to Skyisle, Inquisitor Jubz!” Kliss said with a bow.
The Imperial Inquisitor stepped onto the church's balcony, his polished magisteel boots clanking on the old stones.
“Password,” he said.
“Beta nine five seven two eagle eleven,” Kliss said. “Password?”
“Seventeen lion nineteen two five zeta,” the Inquisitor replied in a cold, stale tone.
“Confirmed,” Kliss nodded.
“Confirmed,” the Inquisitor nodded with his mirror-mask helmet.
He aimed his armacus’ bearing hand at Kliss, the truth-sensing rune shimmering on the magitek device. “Do you serve the Empire? Have you taken good care of this village? Have you obeyed the laws of Equality?”
“Yes. I have. I serve the Empire with all of my will,” Frenny replied with a deep bow. “I am a child of Equality and I kept Skyisle under her wings as the laws demand of me.”
“Any problems to report?” The Inquisitor asked.
[She’s on script so far, maybe we won’t have to…] Delta said.
“Just one,” Frenny's face twitched, suddenly going off script. “And, it’s a big one too! A local boy named Dante is…”