Alan noticed something different about his left arm. The same purple looking metal he had seen before was embedded in his arm like a partial bracer that covered a large portion of his upper forearm. He ran his fingers over the surface of the metal. It’s surface and texture looked just like the octahedron device Father had left hanging in mid air. The brighter purple lights moved in the tiny grooves and the small holes in the surface.

He looked to see if the original octahedron was still around him somewhere. He couldn’t see anything. He guessed this was it, somehow fused to his arm.

He pulled out his datapad and pinged Sara.

“Hey... you’re as white as a sheet. Are you alright?”

“No. I need you to get Heapa and have him bring you down here right away. We have a major problem I’ll tell you about when you get here.”

“Are you hurt?”

“I don’t think so.”

“You don’t sound very convincing. I’m on my way!” The screen went black.

Alan drew a quick map to show her how to get to him from the lift and sent it to her. They had no maps of what was down here. Not too surprising. He sat on the sand and watched the waters of the lake. The place was so tranquil and soothing. It was no wonder Father came here to clear his head if that’s what he actually did.

He worried at how the Saru might react to the news that Father had abandoned them all. Or at least put them in Alan’s care, which might not be any better.

Alan pulled out his datapad and started making notes of things he would need to know about. Like what was going on in orbit around the planet? How was he supposed to even find that out? What defenses did the planet have? The requirements to feed and run an army hit him like a pile of bricks. How the hell was he, one man, supposed to keep all this running?

Alan had to really restrain himself from casting his datapad into the lake. Maybe I should throw myself into the lake and be done with it, he thought.

The sound of heavy armor beating against the stone coming in his direction got his attention. He got up off the beach and turned around just in time to see Sara in her full battle armor sprint from the top of the entrance and disappear into the trees.

Alan rolled his eyes. “Really woman?” he muttered.

It only took her a few minutes to reach his position.

She came to a halt when she reached the beach. “I take it you really are fine and there isn’t any threat down here?”

“There is no threat down here. I’m physically fine I think.”

The weapons on her power armor retracted into their stowed positions. Her armor squatted down and the torso opened up revealing Sara embedded inside the small giant of a human. “Well you could have told me there was no threat down here. Everyone’s on edge with what has happened the last few hours.”

“What’s been happening up there?”

Sara hopped down from her armor and walked to Alan. “You mean you don’t know? Father didn’t talk to you about it already?”

“He didn’t mention anything about something up there going on. What happened?”

“The Ustobo did a hard core assault. We lost a lot of ground before they could be stopped. There is a lot of dead and wounded Saru. They fought hard and killed a lot of Ustobo. Now the Ustobo may gain more resources for building. The Saru are not doing well with these kinds of losses.” Sara looked him over. “What’s that?” She pointed to his forearm.

Alan stood up so she could see it better. “I don’t know yet. I think it was the octahedron thing Father released in front of me. There was an intense bright light that must have knocked me out. When I was conscious again, this was on my arm.”

“WHOA! Father knocked you out with this thing!? Where is he anyway?”

Alan closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “Let me start from the top... I came down here and we talked a bit. He asked me questions that were kind of odd. It felt like I was being given some psychic evaluation, kinda like what they do to troops to make sure their head is still on straight. I must have done alright as he seemed happy about the answers I gave.

“Then he went on about some internal thing going on inside of him that was assessing you and me as a possible threat. And recently it started to do the same for the Saru. He wasn’t sure if it might be from some outside influence or not. Because I apparently answered the questions the way he liked, he put me in charge of watching over this whole place. Oh, and he dump the full responsibility of the Saru on me too.”

“WHAT!?”

“Yeah! Because of the threat assessment issue he had going on inside of himself, he decided to lock himself up and put himself into some sort of hibernation. All to protect us from him. So he conjured up a crystal room in the middle of the lake.

“He pulled out the octahedron and said what I guess were some commands. That’s when I got knocked out by the light. When I woke up he was in the crystal thing and looked like he was passed out. Then the crystal thing plunged back down. That’s when I called for you.”

Sara looked up as if going over something in her head. “That message makes a whole lot more sense.”

“What message?”

“About a half hour ago there was, I’m guessing a base wide broadcast, from what sounded like Father. He was speaking to all the Saru that you and I could be trusted and we could help them in ways he could not. He also mentioned they would not be seeing him for a while until an important issue could be resolved.”

She looked back down at him. “Any idea what he meant by we could help them in ways he couldn’t? Or did he neglect to tell you that part?”

“I asked him about what you discovered yesterday and if that was on purpose or not. It wasn’t on purpose. It started out with him giving orders to them to follow so they wouldn’t end up dead from Ustobo. The ones that obeyed where the ones that survived. Then he didn’t have the ability to teach them any different, so life went on with them just following orders.

“He believes we can actually teach them to think on their own again and fix what he did.”

Sara threw up her arms. “Great! Why not just tell us to save the world while we are at it!!!”

Alan took a deep breath. “That... I think was implied in taking responsibility for the Saru.”

She just looked at Alan as if he just slapped her. She cussed. “Are you kidding me!” She turned around screamed in frustration.

Alan realized this might also be why Father only sent for him. “I’m sorry. I feel like I’ve just dumped a huge burden on you.”

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

Her jaw was set and tears were streaming down her face. “What do we do about all the wounded? Did he mention at least that much? I have no idea how to medically help them.”

Alan looked down in frustration. “No,” he said softly.

The two of them just stewed for a few minutes.

She eventually turned around. Her eyes were actually bloodshot, her cheeks were wet. She sniffed and rubbed her nose. “Okay... so you’ve been given access to everything in this place right?”

“That’s what it sounded like.”

“So does he have some nukes stashed somewhere in here we can use to blow away the other Ungar? How much more do you have access too?”

“That’s a good question.” He looked at the hexagonal stone pillar father had used. “I didn’t dare try and access anything until you were here with me. Just in case something happened to me.”

“I appreciate you thinking of me, and I’m glad you waited.”

He went to the pillar and accessed it. Sara stood right beside him, just in case.

As he placed his hands on the orb the tiny white tentacles touched his hand. More reached out and touched the purple metal as if they sensed something there that they wanted.

The white tentacles turned to purple light. Alan grabbed Sara’s left hand with his free right hand. She looked at him with concern.

His voice sounded shaky. “I feel like I’m being explored by something.”

“That’s...” she gasped. “I feel it too! I don’t like it!” She didn’t let go of his hand though.

The sensation ended and withdrew. A purple light in the form of a human woman surfaced from the water as if laying in it. The body pivoted upright at the feet so that she stood on the water’s surface. She seemed to resemble Sara with some differences. She “wore” as dress the flowed in a breeze that neither of them could feel.

The light figure looked at Alan and bowed her head. The woman spoke the language of the Masters. “Greetings Keeper.” She looked at Sara. “I sense that this one is your mate? Should I treat you as two parts of a whole?”

Alan was quick to answer, “Yes.”

“Very well.” The figure lifted her right hand as if lifting something. From out of the center of the lake a purple metal thing came flying at them. It slowed and stopped for a moment in front of Sara. It was a octahedron just like Alan had seen before.

It transformed from a solid shape and flowed like liquid in the air onto Sara’s left forearm. Sara let out a whimper as the metal embedded itself into her arm and did something unseen to her. Sara was squeezing Alan’s hand tight. He noticed she was holding her breath. Eventually she gasped for air. He guessed it was done with whatever was happening.

“It is done. You are Keepers of the Vault of Galthierian. I’m pleased with this arrangement. My name is Aleiria. I am the vault assistant. How may I help you?”

“What exactly do you assist with?” Alan asked.

“I manage all things relating to the vault to ensure its continued operations that the Keeper has whatever they need to accomplish their mission.”

“Can you give us an example?” Sara asked.

“Certainly. One of the many tasks assigned to me is the repair and modification of the inhabitants of this vault.”

“YOU do the surgeries? I thought Father did those.” Alan asked.

Aleiria smiled. “His name is actually Gallithar. Father is what the Saru chose to call him. Gallithar would observe surgeries for study. Using the resources of the vault, I performed them.”

“There are a lot of wounded from this morning. Will you be doing surgeries for them?” Sara asked.

“If you want me to. I’m at your disposal.”

“Please. Do whatever is needed to help them. Also, if we ever receive wounded, please see that they are tended to as soon as possible,” Alan said. “I’m not going to study any of that. So there is no need to delay immediate help.”

Aleiria bowed her head. “I will do it Keeper. Is there anything else I can help you with?”

Alan considered his next question carefully. “Is there any... defensive weapons this place has?”

“There are defensive turrets placed near the entrances to the vault. There is also the orbital cannons to defend against satellites and ships. Any other defense is what the inhabitants of this vault provide with the weapons, vehicles, and equipment made available to them.”

Alan sighed. He was hoping for better than that. It meant he would still have to deal with the Ungar and the underground outpost the hard way. He let go of Sara’s hand and pulled out his datapad that he had been jotting down questions that needed answered.

Aleiria told him everything he needed to know and then some. Sara asked questions of her own, things he hadn’t considered. Aleiria knew about everything that was going on in the background that they had no clue about.

Father, or rather Gallithar, was only really making course correcting decisions. Most of what Gallithar was doing was continuing to collect information and storing it. His capacity to utilize that information was limited. It wasn’t his purpose in life.

It turned out Aleiria was the one behind the scenes running the show. She was sent to Gallithar by the Masters. To provide him with whatever he needed to exist and protect the vast information and samples he had been collecting until they arrived.

As Aleiria answered more and more questions, it made Alan consider something. The more Alan thought about it, the more he began to believe that Gallithar had actually stepped aside on purpose. He may have believed he was being a hindrance to Alan fighting off the Ustobo.

Alan rubbed his head. The information dump they had just gotten was a lot to process.

“Why do you look so similar to me?” Sara asked.

Alan was blindsided by the question. He took a quick look at Sara. She was looking at the image of Aleiria with suspicion.

“As I searched both of your memories, I looked for a form that might be comforting to the both of you. I chose the image of your mother.”

Sara just stood there looking like she was shell shocked.

“I’m still learning human expressions. I hope I haven’t caused you offense or illness by my appearance.”

Sara was trying to hold back fresh tears as she looked at Aleiria. Sara took a step forward as if to attempt physical interaction then stopped.

Alan stood slightly behind her and looked at Aleiria.

“If it makes you uncomfortable, I can change to another form.”

“No...” Sara said softly. “I don’t remember my mother.”

“I-”

Alan rapidly shook his head and mouthed the words “Don’t go there!” to keep Sara from hearing. Aleiria’s eyes shifted to him for a brief second. Alan hoped she understood.

“Perhaps, someday we could look into that issue. If it is alright with you, I would like to continue with this human form. Humans are so... unique.” Aleiria looked over her arms and hands. “The longer I am in this form the more I’m finding I really like this. There is a certain beauty and grace that I find alluring.”

“I’m fine with it,” Sara said.

“Thank you Keeper. Is there anything else I can help you with?”

Alan took a deep breath. “I think Sara and I need to go over all that you’ve already shared with us before we can go any further.”