Grey static was replaced with deep blackness that slowly resolved into a white background.
[Systems restoring. Estimated time of incongruent consciousness flow: 8.4 micros.]
8.4 micros!!? Sixteen of the kid's heartbeats!! That was a god's-damned lifetime! Anything could have happened!
His sensors were still coming online one by one, rebooting like lights on a runway. Internal sensors would be last to re-engage per protocol. RX couldn't argue about it with his side processors or main comp unit. It was undeniable that critical threats were generally outside his exo-plating. As such, RX needed to know about them first, so outward-going sensors came up first...
But the kid is inside my dome!
RX went through their Essence bond and directly communicated.
Anak! Kid!! Are you alright?!!
...
Anak!!
An irritated mind responded—If you call being squashed like a dangler grub in my mother's grip 'alright', then yeah… I'm great! I was trying to talk with Uncle Sen'ak when these giant white pillows inflated and... and squashed me... Then we spun around a lot! I think I threw up. What happened?"
Thank the gods! A second passed while RX's neural synth took a virtual sigh of relief.
Then Anak's voice came back quizzically. And what's inside these things? Bambooyan strands? They're really strong!
Close kid, they're double covalent plas-cells supported with twined, hyperdense adamite tendrils, sheathed in blast-resistant plas-var. As to what happened, my RAM was put offline by the blast, so my short-term recall has been corrupted. I'm reviewing the sensor data to restore it. As soon as I know the particulars, you will as well... But I think someone lobbed a handful of nukes at us. A serial EMP chain is one of the few things that could knock out my systems and redundancies. Give me a couple of micro-gyra to review, get my sensors back up, and assess for damage. Then we'll get out of here. Do you need anything right now? Anything broken?
Anak took a second before answering. But when he did, it was all business. No RX, I'm good for now. These bambooyan pillows protected me... Mostly. Take care of business. I'll focus on absorbing Essence and increasing its flow to our joint matrix so your systems won't run low. Whatever all of that was, it knocked out about half of our shared pool. Give me a micro-gyra on that.
You got it, Kid. And they’re not bambooyan they’re—
Ya, ya, ya... I heard you... But my dad always said that bambooyan was the strongest thing in the world... So, they’re bambooyan to me.
I can't argue with that. Couple of micro-gyra. Then I'll be right back. Call if you need me.
Bless the kid! He always knew when the situation was actually dire—when to give RX the necessary space to take care of his side of things. In times like this, Anak's wisdom outstripped his years by a long way. It was probably due to his insanely close connection with Karma. RX didn't pretend to exactly understand all the details of it. Or why, of all the spirit beings RX had met, Anak's connection was so well developed. As an individual, RX was an AI mechanical without any direct Karmic ties. Only his Essence union with Anak allowed him to 'ride the kid's Karmic coattails,' so to speak. Right now, the particulars were irrelevant. RX would take the preteen's wise compliance.
Anak was already holding up his end. A surge of Earth Essence flooded RX's systems, and all his processes sped up. Soon after, his full sensor suite came online as his nano-tides increased their productivity by a factor of ten, getting his repairs underway.
RX got to work, as well. He used his freshly restarted internal arrays to inspect Anak's vitals and organic frame for any injuries. A few contusions on his arms and light nose bruising were all the med-scan found. It was good to know that RX's internal safety measures were sufficient to keep the kid from damage in a scenario energetic enough to take him offline.
After their initial assessment of the raw IoT data his sensors had collected, RX's side processors began reporting up their chain of command to his facilitators and then to his main comp unit. External video and short and long-range acoustics indicated that they were buried in boulders and pulverized rocks from the shield wall they had been under. Standard maneuverability was largely negative. RX was only able to flex his left-lower appendage 0.4 cm. Everything else was stilled by the entombing rubble.
Getting out was going to take joint Essence activity with the kid. Well... that's what we'll do then.
His nano facilitator confirmed that RX's adamite frame and exo-plates were holding without the need for additional resources to maintain stability.
No surprises there.
His father had made it plain that, aside from being the rarest element in the iteration—once it had been smithed, adamite was as close to indestructible as any material in existence. Still, RX was glad to know he was intact. There had been a loss of approximately three percent of the composite underlayer from which his electronics, sensors, and data storage were constructed. His analytical facilitators postulated the loss had most likely occurred in the blast before his exo-plates had fully locked down to shield his internal structures.
Fair assumption.
It was time to review the IoT data and formulate a plan for their evacuation. RX'S main comp unit accessed his information stores and spun up his complete suite of logic processors and facilitators for assessment and interpretation. The playback began.
RX was back in the cavern looking at the two strange humans...
...Both intruders' body language indicated a likelihood of advancement to active aggression if provoked. 87.0 percent for the tall one and 99.97 percent for the shorter, quiet one. Despite the apparent threat, Several of RX's intuitive side processors were prodding his main comp unit with a rapidity that made it impossible to ignore. His main comp unit allowed them to propagate their information.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
[91% match for anticipated Cultivator pair.]
What?! These two jamokes?
How could they be the mighty warriors that would help him stand against Dod Stal and his army of ruthless mercenaries? Impossible! Despite the short one's melee competence, RX was sure he could disassemble both of them without even letting Otak go. Still, his main comp unit had never been wrong before, so there was nothing wrong with checking. Finding Sophie's father and uncle was why he and Anak had come to this backwater-dry gullet of a planet in the first place.
RX straightened his battle frame to its full three and a half meters and put Otak down. He casually patted the octagog on the head and muttered from a side emitter on his dome, "Stay put while the grownups talk." Simultaneously, he reactivated the external monitoring systems for Anak.
Ah, listen up, kid. A few of my recognition arrays are saying that these two guys who just showed up might be who we're looking for... I need you to take a look.
As the screens came online and he saw the seven dead octagog pirates, Anak called RX out on his deceit. I knew you were going to send them to their ancestors!
Ah... Ya... You caught me on that one, kid. Just look at the two that are still standing, will ya?
A brief pause ensued. Anak leaned into the viewport and studied the two figures to see if they were the two that Sophie, his Karmic dream-friend, had told them about.
Anak sent his thoughts. Sophie was clear. They would be together; her father and uncle are strong and mighty warriors. I can only guess that this skinny guy appears like a mighty warrior to a four-year-old... Even if she's a Karmic savant...
RX saw Anak shift his attention to the other face, and his eyes lit up. That's Uncle Sen'ak! There is no question. It's just like she said, 'He is really strong, but his ponytail is kinda girly. I can sense his warrior's prowess—RX, let me talk with them! Now! Quick!
Anak was jumping up and down in his impact chair as he pointed at the two on the forward viewer and barked excited, instinctual-high-pitched vocalizations.
Okay! Okay, kid! Take it easy! You know I hate it when you get all screechy! I'll tell them what's up and patch you through.
Best foot forward, then. RX activated the resonant base filters on his dome emitters and spoke. "We have come a long way to find you. My partner wants to speak with you."
That was news to them. Social protocol centers and his body language side processors read surprise on both of their faces with 98% certainty.
Go ahead, kid. They're listening.
Anak leaned forward in his seated position and studied their faces as he spoke. The kid was taking it as seriously as could be expected of a preteen. Okay, I'm ready.
"Uncle... Uncle Sen'ak? Is that you? It has to be you!"
Acoustics registered the hollow tube expulsion of three masses consistent with fusion devices from approximately 170, 224, and 375 meters outside the front and back entrances of the cavern they were staying in.
Multiple shooters. RX's autonomic emergency response facilitators had closed his exo-plating to shield it from the blasts as the devices slid across the solid rock flooring of the cavern.
The shorter, bald Cultivator had activated an Earthen Shield and was running for his partner as the world filled with white and the IoT data playback stopped.
Three Darkstar nukes... Someone isn't messing around. But who? Dod Stal and his mercs? It could be... but this really isn't his style. Besides, Dod didn't want RX buried under billions of tons of rubble. He wanted RX's adamite to mix with Jaz'lyn and Shet-0J's in his half-baked plan to salvage his mangled chassis. Good luck, you evil bastard! Even if Stal was somehow able to capture RX and Anak—Which is never going to happen! Masamune was very clear that adamite could only ever be worked one time. Whatever Dod Stal thought he knew better than Masamune, their father and joint creator, escaped RX. But if Dod didn't shoot the nukes, that meant that there was a dangerous and unrelated party on this planet willing to kill first and ask questions later...
Terrific...
RX's theoretical centers had excluded the two Cultivators as the instigators of the blast. His speech centers confirmed that their body language and actions demonstrated they were just as surprised as he had been. Furthermore, it wasn't probable that the tall one had erected any defenses in time. Right now, he was likely a piece of irradiated charcoal indistinguishable from the rest of the slagged living rock of the cavern. The short one had gotten his Earthen Shield up in time. But would that have been enough? There were Cultivators who could survive much worse than three Darkstar detonations. But RX's databases all indicated such Cultivators were above the Spherical Cultivation level. AKA: Really tough muthers! RX's neural synth didn't put the pair at that level. Certainly not with only a couple of Attunements each.
RX's theoretical centers chimed in again and advised him that it was not probable but possible [to a 27 % likelihood] that the attacker would still be waiting when he and Anak dug themselves out. His combat and game theory facilitators put forth a joint recommendation.
[Allow nano constructs to complete repairs. Estimated time 20 gyra. Then evacuate under the surface of the shield wall five hundred or more kilometers from this location.]
His main comp unit didn't disagree, and RX's feelings were in alignment with the caution. It might take some time and doing, but with their dual Earth and Water Attunements, it was very feasible. His main comp unit compiled the IoT and predicted that it would take them no longer than four standard galactic days to get five hundred kilometers away through the shield wall and hopefully exit undetected.
There was no way they could hook up with ‘Uncle Sen'ak’... if he were even still alive. Survival was their primary concern right now. Noha-3 was too hot, and he needed to get the kid off it and reformulate what their plan was going to be. He would take Anak into his planning once they were far away. Perhaps his Karmic ties could lead them in a better direction than being a backstop for three high-grade nukes?
Anything is possible.
The micro-gyra ticked by as RX's nano constructs completed the repair of his electro-functions. Anak had told him he had no information about what had happened to Sophie's father or uncle. RX could tell he knew there was little chance that they had survived the blast. Knowing Anak, RX was sure the kid was taking responsibility for their deaths and thinking they had led the assassins to them. RX left that alone for now. It was possible... But the kid had been surrounded by too much death already. RX's social protocol centers advised him to wait for Anak to bring it up.
Smart thinking.
... Kid, the nanobots have me functioning at optimal capacity and can finish the remainder of our repairs on the way. I'm going to start tunneling now with Fortification and Plasticity applied. So, I'm gonna need you to start absorbing Essence and really funneling the juice. Got it?
...
...Kid?
RX's internal monitoring side processor forced a priority override of the queue and posted to RX that Anak's vitals were spiking across the board. Respiration, heart rate, autonomic stimulation, and brain activity were all five to ten times normal waking values. Its diagnostic function reported:
[95 % chance of novel Essence activity vs. 0.4 % chance of spontaneous cardiac arrest.]
The kid's Attuning?!
RX focused his main comp unit on the internal video receivers and IoT from the cockpit. The Essence receiver he had paired with Anak's Essence sense in their joint matrix detected an aura of power filling the space. On his video receivers, golden sparks showered down on Anak as several of the dome's cockpit's circuit breakers had melted and fused under the strain. Through the main viewer, RX saw deep void star patterns swirling through Anak's open eyes.
The kid's star-filled gaze caught RX's, and he spoke in a voice with a thousand modulations.
"I don't think we’re going to need to dig."