He called upon the god he’d known / the misty face of water’s flow / Velumar condemned his trade / His fate was sealed, the pact betrayed.
- “The Apostatical Sailor”, second verse.
Mercury regained perception suddenly. It shifted, shaking off small silica debris that stuck to its structure. It suddenly became aware that both Tintin and Battus were viewing it directly.
“...is there additional debris on my structure?”
Battus expunged air repeatedly from his body, in a way that the AR unit indicated was a reaction to humor, followed by a gesture of relief. Good, the translator seemed to have survived the emergency water landing. As well as the crew. Tintin recalibrated itself by rubbing its upper structure against Mercury’s vestigial digits. A sudden pain shot up Mercury’s rear central spire, and it assessed an alarmingly large fracture patched together with local materials and Tintin’s emergency silicate epoxy.
“...you administered the silicate-epoxy salve and applied Silicarite first-aid techniques. I was under the presumption that you were unfamiliar with my physiology. I assumed incorrectly.”
“It's my job to know what to do in situations like this. What, you think I'd let you die on me? I'm not gonna write that report up,” Battus bared his facial bones. Mercury tilted forward to a diagonal angle, both an affirmative gesture and one of respect. It too, understood the pain of red tape and paperwork.
“It is surprisingly pleasant to experience your vibrating communications now that I have regained consciousness. During our first encounter it was unpleasant, nearly intolerable. But it seems I have acclimated to you,” Mercury rose to its full height, investigating its surroundings.
“Yeah, your translator isn’t exactly the easiest thing to tolerate, either,” Battus nodded. “But it’s growing on me.”
“Scientifically impossible. This AR unit’s technology is not organic, nor is it self-replicating.”
“Whatever you [TRANSLATION ERROR] communicate,” Battus replied, baring his facial bones once more. This error was likely worth investigating later, perhaps it was a local expression that bore significant, untranslatable meaning. But that was the lowest priority at the moment.
“Status report,” Mercury flashed to Tintin and the AR unit. Lines of information filed across its perception.
“There is fortunate data and unfortunate data. Do you prefer one to be delivered first, Battus?”
“Just give it to me straight, Mercury.”
“Unfortunately, the ship was destroyed in its entirety. It is unlikely even if we were to collect the greatest remains of the wreckage that I would be able to reassemble it in working condition.”
“So, we’re stranded here then,” Battus turned, his ocular orbs scanning the environment slowly.
“An adequate assessment of the situation. However… the Shard may not be required to reach our destination. We have conveniently arrived within .01768 degrees latitude, and .00912 degrees longitude within the signal’s coordinates. Within one significant digit of discrepancy.”
“There's a landmass here? No… that can't be right. This area is all open ocean. The map clearly showed that,” Battus turned his cranial structure from one side to the other and repeated, a negative response. Denial.
“Global scans and topography indicated thusly. But, as we can plainly perceive, incorrect,” Mercury made a gesture with its upper limbs, activating a trail of blue hologram arrows into the pink and purple foliage.
“So we’re gonna hoof it into this uncharted territory, huh? Hell, I feel like I could do anything after surviving this. Let's do it.”
***
A fraction of the day was spent, Mercury reforming one of its upper limbs into a long sharp tool to cut through the dense biological growths barring the path forward. Battus had been silent for the majority of the journey, but suddenly began to emit vibrations.
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“So, Mercury…. Now that we’re in deep, maybe you could give me a clue for why you're here? Maybe give me a little more motivation, so I know this'll be worth it?” Battus tilted his cranial structure, awaiting Mercury’s response.
“...very well. You prevented my core from becoming inert by demonstrating critical thinking. A brief explanation of my mission would not put it into jeopardy, as long as you pledge your assurance that you will continue to assist, and not impede the expedition.”
“I've come this far, haven't I?”
“Understood,” Mercury paused, utilizing a clear area within the pastel canopy to display another blue hologram, materializing a pointed 3-dimensional cardioid, with facets similar to a cut diamond.
“This… is the Crystalline Heart. It is an artifact of great importance, and the ultimate goal of my expedition.”
“Looks expensive. So you're after a big hunk of rock.”
“That is the crudest and most offensive way to refer to it. But I suppose that is all your species would see it as,” Mercury shifted, attempting to restrain itself from committing an egregious act against the human that would violate about 57 galactic laws. Battus seemed to sense this tension, and rescinded to the previous topic in the conversation.
“B-but I'm sure you've got a great reason for looking for it. I've seen my fair share of treasure hunters looking to make a quick buck, for one reason or another.”
“Yes, while the Crystalline Heart is inherently financially valuable, there are other reasons that I seek it. The first is that it contains a dense concentration of propagite,” Mercury pulled up another hologram adjacent to the projection, further illustrating its point concerning the average concentration of propagite, and the percentage of propagite within the Heart.
“So, this is some kind of valuable mineral for your species.”
“Correct. In fact, it is the reason most of us are spacefarers at all. It is one of the main components of our propagation, or in simpler terms, part of our reproductive cycle.”
“You need it to make your own kid.”
“Silicarites are formed from formations of quartz minerals with significant deposits of propagite, into fully grown members of our species. If I choose to propagate, the Crystalline Heart would become its own individual, capable of making decisions for itself, as soon as it emerged. To describe it as you do, comparing it to carbon-based reproduction, is factually inaccurate, although there are similarities.”
Battus contemplated for a moment, appearing to be in thought.
“If there's stuff like this all over the galaxy, though, why does this one have a name?”
“This particular specimen-” Mercury halted itself mid-sentence. It hadn't become aware until that instance, but something had been drawing closer, approaching them. It couldn't perceive what was out there, but Mercury could sense something was amiss.
“What?” Battus turned, using his cranial orbs to rapidly perceive the environment, “what’s happening?”
Mercury couldn't place it, but it could sense something. A message? Down. Where was that coming from? It wasn't present in the AR unit’s translation display. DOWN. It was an intense sensation, the Silicarite’s mind suddenly flooded with an imperative command, but all it could think was-
DOWN!
Mercury dropped to the surface, its structure stretched out horizontally, as well as Battus at the exact same moment. A silent razor shot through the overgrowth, a long thin blade slicing cleanly through every tree branch and nearly scraping across Mercury’s newly-mended back fissure. Whatever had accelerated past left a completely razed field of arboreal stumps in its wake, a perfectly level line of wood about 20 units across, lined either side by perfectly upright growth.
“What the hell was that!” Battus shouted, resuming an upright position.
MOVE!
This time, Mercury didn't hesitate. It shifted quickly forward, gaining momentum in the direction it had been facing when it fell prone. There wasn't time for a proper assessment, but whatever the source of this message, it clearly was attempting to assist in keeping them intact.
Left!
Mercury and Battus raced through the newly created clearing, Tintin following behind as best as its treaded directional wheels would carry it.
Forward!
The trio parted the tropical purple appendages, no time for thought or reason but enough trust to follow these instructions.
DOWN AGAIN!
Battus and Mercury fell again onto the mud-ridden forest floor, using their upper limbs to shield their bodies, and once more a long silent scythe cleanly sliced the grove just above them.
Forward!
Another hurried movement, a rush into more overgrowth.
In!
“In?” Before Mercury had another moment to reconsider where it was headed, the foliage opened up into a yawning pitch-black chasm, and the three of them tumbled into the dark abyss.
“Oh. In.”