12 Miles Below

“I see you have new accommodations, Tenisent.” Atius said, after putting down a mug from a long drink. "Did that pendant grow too confined for your tastes?"

Father looked up, eyebrow raised slightly. Avalis didn't look anything like Father, and lacked the hint of a beard he'd once had. Still, that didn't seem to have fooled Atius for a moment. Then he turned to Shadowsong, narrowing his eyes.

“I did not speak to the clan lord of our altercation.” Shadowsong said, matching the gaze.

“Come now, Tenisent.” Atius added, giving a light chuckle. “A new Deathless returning with the Winterscar whelps who’s very first actions were to stare down my first blade, and later attack him in the airlock? Not a huge swath of motives possible. And not a lot of Deathless who can move faster than Shadowsong as of now. I am very curious about how you’ve managed this particular feat. I assume then that there was a connection made with the gods and you were granted the powers of a Deathless? How were you able to retain the winterblossom technique's speed I wonder?”

Father gave a non-committal grunt and returned to the meal. “The boy can tell you more. He has a mouth.”

Technically true, but right now I had three bites too many in my mouth and talking would be a magic trick. There were cricket croquettes in grabbing range and I had eyes bigger than both my mouth and stomach. This dish was basic enough even I knew how to cook it for myself, but having the genuine thing made by an actual cook that clearly knew what they were doing was all the difference.

“I’m sure the lad can. Once he stops choking.” Atius said, shrugging back and turning my direction while I tried to do exactly that. “Last I’d seen your Father, he was a soul inside a soul fractal training my knights within the digital sea, as To’Wrathh called that realm. Did he tap into the same occult powers that let a Deathless return to life?”

“His body isn’t alive.” Kidra said, when she noticed I wasn’t getting the food down fast enough. “It’s mechanical.”

“Ah.” Atius raised his own eyebrow, then glanced between the guests at the table. Wrath was doing Wrath things, which was mostly sampling a bit of everything on the table, and possibly the table itself too if she could sneak it.

Currently she was crunching down an oyster shell, and seemed pleased with the texture and taste. I don’t know what the Agrifarmers would think of that, honestly. Those nutjobs revered all the animals they kept within the hydroponics systems, since everything there was precisely measured. Oysters and other filter feeders were a critical part of all that, just like their fish.

Selling off oysters always gave a sour taste in their mouths to hear them say it, but maybe seeing every single bit of that oyster not go to waste would give a balance to that. And Wrath was supposedly a Deathless, so they might look the other way all put together. Something to ask a friend I knew among their ranks.

Atius’s gaze moved between her and Father, adding things up. Knowing who To’Wrathh was, and watching how human she’d made herself look. And watching how human Father looked too.

He already knew Father was a Feather, I could tell the real question he was debating was how in the three gods that happened. "You convinced a mite forge to craft a body?"

"No." Father said flatly, then brought another piece of food to chew on, clearly done talking.

The real Deathless in the room tilted his head, pondering. "If it wasn't constructed for you then..." his eyes widened, looking genuinely surprised. "You didn't. Is this even possible?"

“He did.” I said, inhaling another croquette. In my defense, I hadn’t eaten a good meal for the past week and these were some of my favorites. On her part, Wrath was looking at the empty plate, tapping it lightly with her chopsticks, before looking my way.

I gave her a thumbs up and nod, because chaos is a choice and I am its loyal agent.

Without hesitation Kidra lightly slapped me on the head, and followed it up with a glare. Wrath saw it and gave a calculated frown my direction. I returned with my best 'Your fault for asking me.'

“How did it happen?” Atius asked, then turned his gaze over to Kidra for an answer, since Father was clearly occupied with testing the Feather's taste buds. “And which Feather has he taken? I don't recognize the shell.”

“Feathers have soul fractals," She explained. "And human souls can leap between fractals. Machines are frozen into the fractal their soul originated inside. He made a leap into the enemy and fought him directly for control. The enemy was To’Avalis. The ringleader of the three Feathers at the temple.”

Atius leaned back on his seat, contemplating the new options. "The one behind the entire attack. Impressive Tenisent. He's dead?"

Father put his chopsticks down. “I failed to kill the Feather.” He said. “I held his shell still while my son was about to cut through his soul fractal with your new blade. He had no choice but to flee and cede control to me.”

“To’Aacar’s gift that keeps on giving.” Atius said. “Just about the only thing he’s done that I’m thankful for. Although, that might change.”

“Change?” I asked. “There something else he left behind we can loot?”

“You brought it with you on the war frigate.” Atius said giving a dry chuckle. “The armors. I have ears in the right places. It was only a matter of time until I got my answers on this mass raid. All these bands have been brought together by a mix of threats and bribes. All tracing back to one single figure. A pale man with a halo and metal arm, as was described.”

“He’s still alive and kicking somehow?” I asked, feeling completely befuddled. “No way. I saw his soul be ripped apart down to the very concept. That cockroach couldn't live through that.”

“I've fought him for centuries in the past, and I've seen his dead body in person at the city. Even then, it seemed unbelievable to me that he was finally put down. But no, he’s not behind this right now, I checked and rechecked. There is no sight of him since the city, and General Zaang would have had his body either destroyed or moved into imperial hands, to one of their fortresses." He took a bite of food himself, chewing slowly. "As for the raiders, the truth is far more mundane. Plans of this scale take time to start moving, and even cutting off the head, the rest of the body stays in motion."

"One thing I'm having a hard time understanding is why they'd work with a Feather." I said. "The Chosen were one thing, but the surface dwellers should know better than to work with machines trying to wipe out humanity. They might be the scum of the earth, but humanity getting wiped out includes them in it. Or were they planning to take the armors and run?"

"If they had planned to run, they would have already." Atius said. "Othersiders straddle the divide between underground and the surface. They’re aware of what Deathless struggle against, and what a Feather meant. That was the threat that had all the slavers and raiders spooked into action. A Deathless hunting them down was possibly survivable, but a Feather? The enemies that kill Deathless on a regular basis?" He chuckled, pointing his chopsticks at Father. "None of them wanted an old monster like that hunting them down. This was the threat he used to cow them into compliance. As for the bribe, that I wasn't able to uncover. However, given what you’ve returned with, seems we have that answer now. An army of armors, no wonder the raid leaders kept it confidential. I suppose after centuries of killing humans, he must have had a long collection of armors to part with.”

“Unlikely." Wrath said. "To’Aacar would not keep human armors, they were too far beneath him. I was able to scan and analyze the equipement personally. They are newly forged."

"The mites agreed to print out a few hundred armors for him?" Atius asked. "I had thought they were friendly to humanity's cause. Perhaps some colonies are not."

“Crafting armors in bulk from a mite forge would not require a great amount of convincing." Wrath said, reaching for a plate of what looked like honeyed iso-ant bruschetta. "The more armors exist, the greater chance humanity has to survive combat. I assume that to the mites, it would be seen as if their enemy is purposely sabotaging themselves. Giving them an excuse to tilt the favors around without breaking their rules.”

“Got real lucky then finding the exact location that cache of armors arrived at.” I said, showing Wrath how to eat the insects she’d picked out. She didn't trust me at first until I ate part of the meal myself.

“Not luck at all.” Atius said. “No, what I suspect is that this was just a single shipment. Every slaver band out there is also being supplied with armors, and that was set up long before To’Aacar was killed off.”

“... You mean every band surrounding us is about to have a few hundred armors?”

“It had to be a large enough gift that would give these raiders confidence enough to take on a well established clan with a Deathless at the head.” Atius said. “But the surrounding bands will not be keeping those relics for long. Nor am I particularly worried for the threat.”

He motioned to Shadowsong.

Shadowsong nodded. “First strike is no longer an optional strategy, it is the only strategy forward and we must ramp up.”

“The clan can resist far more than ever due to the discoveries you’ve made, Keith. But a wall of armors is still a danger we have to be cautious around. The raiders would pose a threat from numbers alone. We'll employ divide and conquer tactics - each band divided away from the others can’t hold against us, as you’ve shown in your last raid. And the advantage snowballs from there. Each band we defeat, their armors are added to our strength, inscribed with fractals and given to trained knights. At a certain point, even if the enemy does get the courage to mount a real attack, we’ve already gone past the point of being threatened.”

“So it’s all about speed now.”

“For far more reasons than simply the raiders. I’ve begun to mobilize the clan for migration, to the underground. Soon, scout parties will be sent off to search for a pillar heart within a suitable location. If anything, migration is the only option forward for the clan. It'll soon be obvious to the people the number of armors we have.”

Surface clans kept one singular goal above all others - amass enough armors to return underground, to the promised lands. I could see why Atius was already preparing. It couldn't be stopped, so he might as well be at the head.

“It’s really happening then.” Kidra said, taking a breath. “In our own lifetime.”

Atius nodded. “Not tomorrow, and finding the right place to settle will take some time to find. But there is a time limit.” He motioned to Father and Wrath. “We don’t know when Feathers will attempt to attack the clan given your presence. They’ll find us soon enough. And they aren’t the only threat out here the clan need to worry for. If they find us, the resulting fight might draw attention on us.”

He motioned behind him. The curtains there spread apart mechanically, revealing the room's briefing screen. “Tsuya has been keeping the surface cleared out of all traces that might alert Relinquished we exist. Whatever she’s done to the enemy, it’s strong enough to resist Feathers knowing of the surface and being unable to do anything about it. But not unbreakable either, else she wouldn’t be keeping things cleared out up here.

I know she’s the one who set everything up here, the clans and our culture. So I searched through all the traditions we had to find something that stood out as a coverup.”

“The clan gravesites.” Kidra said.

Clans didn’t always win their wars against slavers or the raiders out there. A large enough band could overrun a clan colony if they lose the relic armor matchup. After that, the clan gets wiped out. With the large distances involved, other clans don’t find out about this until they notice missed shipments and trade routes going dark. Or escaping airspeeders attempting to ferry off survivors.

Occasionally, some songs sing about clans that outright vanish into the night, swallowed by the earth.

Gravesites aren’t to be visited for a month, out of respect for the fallen. The superstition is that the souls of so many dead haven’t had time yet to be carried off by the lady of the night to the gods above. Airspeeder expeditions sent too early don’t return, attacked by the maddened wraiths.

“Always seemed a morbid superstition to me.” Atius said. “What if there were survivors? Stranded within the broken clan. I simply assumed it was made to cut off that feeling of hope. By the time any help can arrive to a remote clan that’s been attacked, any survivors will have already died off from the exposure. It’s only after you brought Talen’s book that I began to suspect there was something more to all this. So, I sent an expedition to one such gravesite from the past. And telling the crew to look for something more.”

“You found something?” I asked.

“I did. I know now what Tsuya uses to keep the surface clear. Watch.” A video began to play on the screen. A recording of a surface dweller, voice level and calm as he asked the camerawoman to turn to him.

“To whoever is watching this recording, if anyone ever does, my name is Umir, of House Ishnar, in service of clan Adrias, under the rule of clan Lord Makkan.” An altercation broke out a moment after, with the group clearly disjointed and having different opinions on what to do.

“Clan Adrias?” I asked, not recognizing the name.

“Extinct clan from near three hundred years past, before I brought my city to the surface. It took time to plot out the most likely location since they’ve been wiped off for so long no archives are accurate anymore. Even the people of that day couldn’t find the clan anymore, as if it vanished away into the white wastes. The expedition I sent were no ordinary scavangers, and I knew they wouldn't give up without looking as deep as it gets, under every pile of snow that doesn't blow away.”

The recording continued, this Umir fellow talking straight to the camera, voice level. “Before we could begin to update the map of the tunnels here, a bright blue pillar of light appeared roughly a half mile before the colony and moved across it. Wherever the light touched, the ground broke and melted. It moved across the ground and cut the colony in half in a heartbeat. Like a slice of an occult knife on the ground.”

Here, Atius paused the recording. “There is only one celestial object we know where a beam of light could originate from.”

Shadowsong seemed completely unpuzzled by this, while Kidra and I were gawking. I know Tsuya had tried to blow up an entire site just to stop Relinquished, and if two humans happened to be walking around in there, unlucky for them. But for her to wipe out entire clans off the surface of the world?

“You already knew?” I asked, turning to Shadowsong.

He nodded back. “I’ve been briefed. It continues.”

Footage cut out, as the man recorded in diary segments now, detailing life after his clan's destruction.

“I’ve constructed basic equipment that should preserve this recording with the gear and supplies I have on hand." He said, taking steps through a cave of some sort, the camera swinging despite his attempts to keep it leveled at himself. "I fear it won’t be enough, and I’ve realized I cannot go to the clan wreckage. The gods are still circling above, I dare not be spotted by them. The rest of the younglings have gone underground, to attempt their luck at surviving. I hope for the best, but I do not expect much. Rations I have will last me for a good few days, possibly a week if I stretch it out. Equipment is far more likely to fail earlier. I will do what I can.”

The screen went black, then flickered again. A small campsite, boxes with rime covering each.

“It’s been two days. Gear is still functional, no signs of tearing on the tent and the quality is still as good as when I got it. It'll outlast my food supply at least. I’ve found more paths and the wreckage of an airspeeder that crashed into the mountainside. Likely part of the initial destruction. I’ll be searching through it for ways to duplicate this recording a few dozen times, scatter it all around. And if you are listening to my voice, then I’ve indeed succeeded.”

Another black screen.

“Day three, still alive and well. I’ve already placed a few recordings as far as I could walk without stepping outside. But I’ve… I’ve seen something. The airspeeder I’ve been taken shelter in, when I returned to it, I found it filled with small lights. All swarming around it, like insects eating away. Instead of flesh, they ate the metal. Only a skeleton was left of the ship, and even that was being broken down before my very eyes.”

Another click. Another view. Near dark now, and the camera was having difficulty adjusting to the low light. “I’ve returned to my vantage point, where I can see the ruins of the clan. From a distance, it all looks the same as it had yesterday. Now that it's night, what I see are tiny stars of different colors all across the ruins, like a bed of moss growing across the entire area.” The camera zoomed in on something blurry, but the lights he spoke about were too dim to be seen. "These must be those same lights, now eating away at the clan."

Click.

“It’s the morning after, I’ve gone to look at the airspeeder wreckage and found nothing. Not a trace of it was left. The clan ruins are also vanishing away, being consumed by this cloud of lights. Whatever these are, they are consuming everything wholesale. I've begun to carry all essential gear on my person, in preparation for them finding my camp. The metal there will draw them eventually.”

Click.

“Day five. They’ve spread out into the tunnels finally and wasted little time. I returned from a foraging trip, and found lights within my camp. The supplies that were left behind to me are gone, eaten as well. As were all my spare recordings. Whatever these lights are, they haven’t spotted me yet. Food is down to three days at most if I spread it over. I'll need to find frostbloom, and fast.”

Click.

“Another day, another night. My bones ache from walking each moment in the day, carrying the camera’s containment seal and evosuit. Parts of it are breaking down already, but I’ve kept it together. It has to outlast whatever these lights are. The ruins of the clan are almost completely gone. Even the ground itself is being mended. They might leave once they've consumed everything.”

Click.

"I woke up this morning to my tent being eaten. And I'd settled deep into the caves, they shouldn't have been here for a few days at least. If I hadn't been sleeping in my evosuit... the cold would have done it's work. I think I was careful enough when escaping the compromised tent, I can't afford even one of these landing on my evosuit. The lights didn't chase after me either for whatever reason, they moved lethargically. Perhaps they think I am a dead man walking already, and not worth the effort to follow behind. They're right. Without a working tent, I have no way to safely remove my helmet and eat. Last night's meal was my last. Likely the last time I can sleep as well. That's fine, my gear will break down long before my body does. The freeze will take me one way or another."

Click.

“Tunnels are beginning to fill with the lights.” The voice said, rasping now. The camera was shuffling along, no longer pointed at the exhausted scavanter. Up and down it went, up and down. “Everywhere I walk, I find them lurking in the distance, slowly combing through. They’re searching for me. I know it. Exhausting me, forcing me to walk miles to avoid them. They’re here to wipe away everything. It’s not enough to leave the recording where it won’t be destroyed by time. I must find a way to hide it where these lights can’t destroy it. The suit is breaking apart now, and I’ve run out of ways to fix it. I can’t keep myself warm for long. There’s only one way I could see this work - I must plant the recording where they’ve already passed over. And then I have to walk somewhere far away, so that when they cross my corpse, they won’t suspect I doubled back.”

Click.

“I made it.” The voice was breathing heavily now. Camera shaking as it pointed at an empty cave entrance. The old man laughed, almost unhinged. “It took two days of fighting the suit, of backtracking and trying a new path each time the lights were in sight, but I've made it back to the airspeeder without seeing the lights a single time. This was where the airspeeder was, right here." The camera zoomed in on an empty cliffside, just outside the cave structure. "I know it. I know these fault lines, this is where I can leave the containment seal behind. It’ll be buried in snow and ice, but the rare earth materials inside of it will appear on magnetic searches if they're done close enough. It’s the best hope I have. The caverns here will mask the signal, and I dare not walk outside to place it in a more noticeable location. The gods will see me, and the lights will return to consume this recording. Instead, I have to hope that someone out there will choose to look further off.

Please. Someone. Find this recording. I do not fear death, I only fear a meaningless one.”

Click.

Next chapter - Interlude: Hexis II