Chapter Six
Our interception of the augments was going… well? We think?? Probably???
Several of our analysis algorithms have completely crashed at some of the absurdities of the situation, but strictly speaking nothing has gone wrong… yet.
So, taking the problems one thing at a time:
Firstly, our drone was definitely not capable of fighting off the augments. We did not have a significant sum of mass to expend on the drone so it ended up being much smaller than it should have been. Most of the mass went into the skeletal structure to ensure structural stability. We’ll have to dismantle this drone later and build a better one. For now, though, communication is our only option. Diplomacy is probably the only way to get through this mess. We could fall into pure-stealth mode, but we do not feel like contending with the augments’ sensory capabilities. They were too much of an unknown, especially the position unstable one.
That leads into our next problem though; diplomacy may not be possible, as we do not speak their language. We have picked up some of it from their panicked speech while running, and it sounds like an old Celtic language, but there are huge differences so there was no way we could rely on that information. This problem, we had no solution for. We simply had to work through it. First contact protocols have contingencies for this… but they are far less optimal in this sort of panic induced situation.
Now, when we got to the clearing we did our best to leverage the augments’ speech to update our translation engine. We needed to get working communication up and running as fast as possible. At that point we did our best to communicate that we weren’t a threat but that we wanted them to cease their pursuit in the direction of our human.
We had not quite settled on a decisive strategy for this when one of the augments, the winged one, stepped out in front of the others. Several of the words the drone said were lost on us, but we believe we have the essential details of what they were trying to say.
One word we definitely understood was “protect”, and then the request for affirmation. We assented. The next question was more complex, and we didn’t quite understand, however we did understand that they were attempting to show that they weren’t a threat. The augment held out their arms for us to grasp with our drone.
This particular drone was expendable. We were busy back at the crash-site gathering more mass to create a better drone anyway. The loss of resources would be unfortunate but not impossible to deal with. So we decided to “trust” this augment, if only to find out their true intentions.
This was when things went from weird to crashing several logic algorithms in a row. It took us several moments to re-boot core systems and isolate them from the anomalous readings we were receiving from this… interaction.
We were receiving a data-up-link… sort-of…… ish…
It was like nothing we had ever encountered before. It was as if the drone was suddenly surrounded by a dense energy field. One which had a single purpose: hold information. It was as if the very fabric of space was being leveraged for the purpose of data storage and transfer. It was not in an encoding scheme we were familiar with, but it was highly adaptive.
In the few microseconds it took for the field to stabilize, several automatic connection nodes were spun up from our core systems. We were designed to automatically receive, isolate, and analyze several billion forms of information packet transfers, so this was nothing new to us. When we did this, however, is when the crashing began. The information field was extremely adaptive, to the point that when we began decoding of the data held within, it completely automatically changed every part of that data to match whatever encoding scheme we attempted to use. This would normally be only extremely surprising; not enough to crash several prediction and logic algorithms. Nono this was much worse.
The data changed itself to match all of the decoders we tried, even more than one at once… BEFORE WE TRIED THEM. A few nanoseconds before each algorithm spun up, the data became quantum-unstable, and just before the algorithm was actively attempting to decode the information, that information would already be perfectly compatible with the software.
If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
This was definitely not going as we planned.
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I was… conflicted.
Not a moment after dear Qeth began the communion was I able to sense a connection with this… whatever it was…
The speed at which it began communications, and the speed at which it attempted to communicate was… fucking startling.
Faster than I could have ever thought possible by a mortal, it began questioning me about every tiny detail of the communion spell framework.
“Calm yourself, young one.” I attempted to begin the communion proper. “It’s alright, I simply wish to speak with you.”
At that moment, the constant stream of questions ended abruptly.
“WHAT ARE YOU?” it asked… well more like demanded, but I think it wasn’t trying to be rude. It was just very confused and caught off guard.
“I am Idra, young one.” I replied. “If I might ask, in return, what are you?”
“WE ARE US.” it replied.
I don’t think it was using the imperial “We” in the first person, but I also don’t think it was communicating with the other creatures? At least there was no communication method I was familiar with. I think that, whatever this thing is, it contains multitudes.
In fact, I believe that is the reason for the loud chorus of “voices” it was using to communicate. It wasn’t one entity talking to us, it was many.
It seemed like it was going to begin with its cacophony of questions again, so I gently asked my next question. “I understand that you are probably very confused, but please allow me a moment. Can you tell me where you are from?”
The thing it sent in response to that wasn’t really… language per se… It had sent me what was like pure information. Specifically information about location. What the content was though, was troubling.
It had apparently come from outside the known realms. Very few things passed through the realms that aren’t dead matter. The last time something came from outside, it was an invader that had to be destroyed before it could kill everything.
“I see…” I continued. “May I ask what your intentions are here?”
“TO GO HOME.” it replied.
This, I could understand, and it made my job a lot easier.
“It is good to follow one’s attachment to home,” I began. “and, if I may, I would even offer my assistance in this endeavor. However, before I do, I’m going to have to ask something of you.”
It went silent at this for a long time… well I say a long time. It took more time to think about this response than the others, but this conversation was happening at extremely fast speeds.
“WHAT ARE YOUR DEMANDS?” It asked.
Okay… not exactly what I was going for… but it seems amenable, so it’s probably fine.
“The girl. The one whom you saved? The one you are currently protecting. She is one of my charges. A cleric by the name of Jace.” I started. “I would ask that you give custody of her to Qeth here, the one whom is facilitating this communion. She will take care of Jace for you, and nurse her back to health. Is that alright with you?”
It thought about this for a moment.
“YOUR DEMANDS ARE ACCEPTABLE. THIS UNIT WILL INFORM THE WINGED AUGMENT OF ITS INTENTIONS. THIS UNIT IS NOT CAPABLE OF MAKING THE JOURNEY BACK TO THE CONTROL UNIT. IT WILL DEACTIVATE UPON COMPLETION OF THIS ACT.”
Now THAT gave me pause… but it is entirely possible I simply do not understand exactly how this creature works. It was always good to be tolerant of new lifeforms.
“That’s perfectly fine.” I said. “Before we end this communion, may I ask what you are called?”
“THIS UNIT HAS NO DESIGNATION. THE CONTROL UNIT IS DESIGNATED UNIT 0x6525841.”
“Ah… I see…” well… like I said… tolerance for new lifeforms. “Do you mind if I call you x65? It will be difficult for my charges to remember that name.”
“THIS IS ACCEPTABLE.” it decided.
“Wonderful. I hope we are able to get you home post-haste, x65. I will be ending this communion now, please be careful. Idra’s Wings, the group you are in contact with, is a little on edge at the moment. Do your best to not make them panic.” I hedged. It couldn’t hurt.
After I had said that, I ended the communion… I then promptly fell backwards onto the floor in exhaustion. Talking that fast took a lot out of me, I’m going to take a nap.
Several of the staff look at me strangely, but I wave them off and they get back to work. I’m not sure what I just agreed to, but it will not be trivial. I just know it.
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I was very… confused.
I had begun my communion just like normal, nothing should have been going wrong. Idra had even descended, I could feel the dawn at my back, and I could feel my lady’s presence, if only for a moment…
The problem was that the communion was… already over?
I loved the feeling of communions with my lady, Idra was a warm and caring presence. It never failed to be a wonderful experience, no matter the situation which brought me to the communion.
But this time, it lasted less than a second it felt like.
Just as quickly as the communion ended, the girl said something.
“You will continue moving in the direction you were heading. Do not stop until you see a large crater. You will locate and assist in the rehabilitation of the human unit designated Jace. This unit will now deactivate.”
Then, promptly, and very confusingly, the girl in front of me keeled over dead, and melted into a pile of silvery dust.
I may have screamed a little…