Chapter 05

MECHANICALS

PART 1

Rounding the opposite side of the ever-humming hemisphere, Jackle saw that their escort had come to a stop next to the only other things in the room. Flanking a large staircase that descended to the lower deck were two brutish desks made of the same stone as the rest of the ship, behind which was a circular pillar, roughly chest-high.

As they approached, the lifeless eyes of the machine ahead of them watched their every step with a lidless stare, its ‘eyes’ composed of black lenses wreathed in white light.

It’s frame, or body, was closer to an abstraction of a skeleton than something obtuse or rigid, a flexible and dexterous construction strung together by woven cables that seemed deceptively thin. More concerningly though, was that it looked almost nothing like the debris they’d found outside the forge.

Approaching the mechanical biped with apprehension, the Jackle and Mara kept their distance as they joined it by the desk, a construct now clearly identifiable as some form of command and control board. An array of information and buttons were packed across the screen with labels written in a script that seemed vaguely familiar.

Placing a metallic palm upon the surface, the mechanical biped activated the pillar, summoning up a mirage of a green and blue sphere as it turned to Jackle and Mara.

“Answers Required. Define.”

More out of curiosity than the mech’s insistence, Jackle studied the illusion, a mess of blue, green, and white splotches, slowly rotating around, but he couldn’t place what he was looking at. However, his mentor already seemed to have the answer.

“Do you recognize it?”

“Should I?”

“The bottom left might help.”

Straining to see what his mentor was referring to, Jackle was about to ask for another hint when he suddenly realized he’d seen the same ‘splotches’ on their sea maps.

“What do you- Oh my… Is that a full map of the world?!”

“Mmhm.”

The mech, seeing that both organics in front of it held the knowledge it sought, reiterated it's question.

“World. Yes. Expand.”

Looking to Mara for what card they’d play, cooperate or deny, Jackle knew his preference. The less information these machines had, the better. They already posed a significant risk as-is, however, they could learn a lot about them if they played along, which seemed to be the route his mentor preferred as she spoke up.

“I’d be glad to help, but you request information of us, yet you offer no barter. If you tell us your intentions, I'll answer your question.”

Sliding its hand from the console, the mechanical fell silent for a moment, considering Mara’s challenge, eventually opting to satisfy her query.

“Expansion. Stability. Growth.”

The words chipped out of the machine like a typewriter, but it had answered her question, so Mara returned the gesture.

“Interesting... Well, this world is known as Somniantes in our tongue, and most have no idea about the world outside the borders of their immediate neighbors, let alone a concept of the entire thing.”

“Somniantes.”

As the mech uttered the name, Jackle saw the lights in its eyes flicker before it returned its hand to the desk, replacing the sphere with an illusion of one of the mech's they'd found outside, but this one was still intact, and moving.

Watching as the illusion of a spider-like creature skittered along a jungle floor, another lunged into view, attacking its twin with fervor until there were only debris splayed across the ground, at which point the mech in front of them chirped up once again.

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“Explain.”

Realizing what they’d just been shown was indisputable evidence of mech-madness, justifying all of his immediate concerns, Jackle grabbed Mara's shoulder to garner her attention and gave her a glare that said all he needed to.

Nodding a bit nonchalantly, Mara seemed to understand, but had already made her own mind up, turning back to the mech with a plan.

“What can you offer in exchange?”

Once again, the metal skeleton took a few moments to respond, but eventually reached for a different button on the console, this time summoning a clamor of noise from the stairwell.

Growing exceedingly uneasy at how events were progressing, Jackle focused on calming his heart rate as two additional mechs emerged from the darkness, carrying a hefty chest between them- Easily two meters long and filled with the sound of coin, which they promptly deposited next to their ‘leader’.

Reaching down to grasp the lid with its metallic digits, the prime mech slid back the lid of the stone chest, revealing an absolutely ludicrous amount of gold coins before speaking once more.

“Seven-Hundred Thousand Gold Pieces.”

“-Excuse me?”

The words came out of his mouth before he could stop himself- Jackle couldn't believe what he was seeing, let alone hearing. The purported contents of the trunk were easily the net worth of a small country, or two, and it looked quite real from where he stood.

It had to be an illusion though, that was the only rational explanation for how this mechanical was able to even bluff an offer so extreme- Yet his mentor seemed to have a different take all together, stepping forward with a proposition.

“Let my partner authenticate the gold pieces, guarantee you won't harm me or the members of my group, and you have a deal.”

Wide-eyed, Jackle was starting to think his ears were faulty, or perhaps the air was thin. He could have sworn his mentor just offered to tell these mechanicals about their greatest weakness, but, clearly, he must have been mistaken.

He wasn't. The machine’s cold voice chipped out like the strikes of a hammer, confirming his sentence like it was engraving his tombstone.

“Jackle May Approach.”

He’d heard his name called, but his feet were going nowhere. Jackle felt like he’d just downed a cabinet of liquor. Mara was bloody bargaining with them, and making him an accomplice!

Suddenly, a hand pushed him forward, and Jackle's feet stumbled beneath him, only just recovering from the slight tumble as he reached the chest of gold, its unblinking watchers hovering just to its side.

Seeing he didn’t have a lot of choice given the circumstances, between the glare from behind and the unnerving gazes from above, Jackle sighed and gently reached in, fully expecting his hand to phase through the ruse, then all hell would break loose, but that was not what happened.

As the tips of his fingers brushed against cold metal, gold clinked against gold, and Jackle’s eyes went wide. Baffled, he snatched up a handful of pieces at random, even some from deep-down, and immediately began inspecting each on meticulously.

Weight, feel, and branding were all infallible- By all rights, they were authentic, but they just couldn’t be. Tossing back what he’d already looked over, Jackle tried to find flaw or error in others, but no matter how many he checked, they all appeared legitimate.

Grunting under his breath, Jackle thought to the spell specifically used to validate currency, yet the lack of immediate mana firmly ruled that out. Apart from sheen and hardness, even the sigil of the Five Cities appeared identical to a piece of his own gold.

Cursing to himself as he stood up, Jackle glanced at the mechs standing around the chest. By all available metrics at hand, the thing really was filled to the brim with gold pieces.

Glancing once more at the lead mech, Jackle turned to trudge back to Mara’s side, where he reluctantly have her an affirmative nod- But paired it with a glare that said ‘you better know what you’re doing.’

Giving him a smile that was somehow both reassuring and terrifying, Mara turned to the mech, her words laced with honey.

“A fair price, given what I think your intentions are- Though I suspect the cost to you is far less than it appears. However, you've struck proverbial gold in return, as I, Mara Ordanavi, am somewhat of an expert on the symptoms you suffer, because forges like yours are a bit of a hobby of mine.”

Taking a few steps closer to the three mechs as she talked, Mara approached the desk and pointed up to the visualization of the spider-mech.

“That- Is what is known as ‘Mech Madness’, a poor catch-all for a far more nuanced issue: ‘Unintended Mana Infusion’. In short, your mechs are being corrupted by the tides of magic, known as mana, which is ambient to this world like waves on an ocean.”

Displeased with her answer, the lead mech dismissed her explanation.

“No Unaccounted Forces Detected. Invalid.”

Chuckling, Mara elaborated, backing her words up with evidence.

“It's not a spatial force, it's temporal. An expression of chaos and change in the form of an fundamental force through time. You'll need a different detection method, but for confirmation, I know that you're limited in how far you can go before the onset of symptoms becomes a statistical inevitability.”

As it lifeless eyes flickered once more, the metallic skeleton seemed to consider her words for several tense and silent moments before its robotic voice returned.

“Hypothesis Probable. Assist.”

With a shift in her demeanor, and smirk tugging at the edge of her lips, Jackle suddenly realized what Mara had been doing, and they'd walked right into her trap.

“Ha. You paid for an explanation to your ailment, which I've obliged, as education is a right to all. However, what you seek now is the release of the dharma this world has imposed upon you for your transmigration, like antibodies to an infection. Perhaps that's what you are, an infection, perhaps not. After all, no one has seen a living forge in ‘reputable written history’. So, with that in mind, what do you offer for your absolution to the only one who can give it?”