Song of the Void

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”Here we are. Dalzamar.” Lightbringer Yrala stated while they looked towards a fairly large and snowy world that looked a bit odd to the eyes of the others. It took them a moment to figure out what bothered them.

“The axis of the planet’s rotation is weird.” Xiaoli voiced her realization. They all knew she was right now that she mentioned it. A large portion of the planet was tilted in a way that kept it turned away from the sun, while the other parts were almost constantly tilted towards the sun. As the planet rotated, it became clear that a small part of it was in fact shrouded in a constant night. Or would’ve been if not for orbital mirrors reflecting sunlight towards the area.

"Ah yes. Back when we had a lower technological level we had to constantly migrate from the summer half of our world to the winter half. At least those that didn’t live in the sweet spot zone in the middle. Now we have the space mirrors and the cities actually fly, so no nomadic life anymore.” Yrala explained.

“Wow, Selendil, you guys really did a bad job in terraforming that world," Xiaoli stated playfully, knowing the Dhar had a hand with most inhabitable worlds.

“That’s likely because we didn’t terraform this world. It was habitable as is, although borderline, so there was no need. This galaxy already had a fair number of intelligent species capable of space flight by the time we arrived and they were fairly self-sufficient. We didn't bother them that much. Only about two-thirds of the habitable planets in this galaxy were moved in place and terraformed by us. That’s why you’ll likely find more planets in this galaxy that are habitable but not quite catered to our tastes.” Selendil explained.

“Wait, wait, wait!” Yrala exclaimed. “Your race terraformed worlds in this galaxy?”

“I told you we visited this galaxy before. Of course we would create worlds to suit our own needs.” Selendil said as if stating the obvious.

“Huh. We’ve been speculating for a pretty long time why there’s such a large number of similar worlds in the habitable zone. It didn’t seem random enough to be naturally occurring. It’s been bugging our scientist for ages.” Yrala seemed a little stupefied by the news.

“We could use your identification by the way. The planetary defenses or the defensive fleet are not really taking the presence of a strange vessel all that well. They haven’t fired on us yet, but…” Amaterasu interjected. The only reason they had not been attacked was because they had not approached the world itself too aggressively and there was also a large number of trade ships of varied types going to the facilities surrounding the planet.

The planet itself had large orbital facilities. It didn’t have a full orbital ring, but it might as well have had one, as the facilities it did have were extensive enough to create one if formed into the shape of a ring. Most of the facilities seemed to be shipyards and dozens of the white warships of different sizes were being constructed at the same time. There were of course trade facilities, fleet academies, testing centers, economic, recreational hubs and other sundries as well.

“Ah, right. I informed them that we would be coming but…” She moved to a nearby comms station and sent a coded signal that seemed to mollify the defensive forces.

“So what now?” Moonshadow asked.

“Now we’ll take a shuttle to the surface. I’ll introduce you to the people specializing in AIs, and then I’ll rouse some support and do some politicking before traveling to the capital world of CAS to get chewed out by the brass. We’ll see what they have in mind for me. They won’t be able to do much when I show up with the support of the leadership of my race. I’ll keep you updated as it concerns you as well. I think you’ll probably want to stick around to get Nox that body she wants. It will take a while. My friends can show you around Dalzamar in the meantime as well.” Yrala shrugged.

“I want to study a weird world like that a bit," Nochehuatl said wistfully. “I think I should stay on the ship to run the necessary scans.”

“Xiaoli, you’re supposed to be helping with Nox as well. Amaterasu, I believe it’s your turn to come along. Moonshadow, try to prevent anyone shooting at my ship. I’ll take Ka’eo and a team of Dashane along this time for security.” Selendil decided.

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Their shuttle darted between the net of almost a hundred defending CAS warships, and quickly slipped among the continuous traffic of big and small ships buzzing around the orbital constructs and the planet surface. They headed towards the ‘dark’ side of the planet, although thanks to the mirrors that darkness was lessened a great deal. Still, large swathes of that hemisphere were covered in a thick layer of ice and snow. The shuttle didn’t actually go all the way to the ground as they followed Yrala’s instructions to one of the floating cities covered in a dome of energy.

The city itself seemed to be something built of thick but clear glass, crystal, and hard-light. The city sparkled under the light from the mirror as they approached. “Those aren’t exactly the most heat-insulating materials ever.” Xiaoli pointed out.

“You’d actually be surprised. The dome also keeps most of the heat inside. Besides, the Eriads are quite used to frigid weather. Even the summer side is only moderate when compared to most inhabited worlds. It would feel odd if we were suddenly placed in a tropical temperature. Fly toward the center of the city. Aim for that really tall building near the center. The building has landing pads capable of dealing with the shuttle.” Yrala instructed, pointing towards the building she spoke about.

Many of the buildings in the city were tall but this one was the tallest by a rather wide margin. Many hover-vehicles flew in and out of the sides of the building, and the whole thing gave the vibe of some sort of corporate office. “They seem well-off," Xiaoli commented.

“I should certainly think so. The company is in charge of the AI development used on most CAS vessels not defending a particular race’s territory, and their AIs are used in most official CAS facilities as well. The other races don’t like their home systems defended by our AIs but that’s their loss. There are other companies in the field, but this one is the most advanced. Only the Eriads get the most cutting-edge stuff though, so we constantly have an advantage in the field. Incidentally, most of the city is owned by the company and most of the people living in the city work for them.” Yrala explained with a small grin.

“And you’re connected to them how?” Xiaoli asked eagerly.

“They are…family of sorts. The Eriads have a concept of sister-families where the children swap parents periodically with among two bonded families. The idea is that the children won’t even know which set of parents are their real biological parents, though usually the child figures that one out at some point. The children grow up as sort of siblings as well.” Yrala explained with a shrug. It was just something she was used to, but other races always found it odd.

“So these people are your parents in a way? How do such bonds form? Is it the rich bonding with the powerful and the poor with the unfortunate, or is there some cross-pollination?” Amaterasu asked, intrigued by the idea. What a great way of tying influential families together!

“It’s a bit of a mixed bag. The two families are usually similar in wealth and power, although there are inevitably differences and exceptions. Some families are bonded over generations and some bonds form for political reasons or as a result of a friendship between the parents. The AIs actually help determine the best matches to avoid conflicts, but it’s not perfect. Still, the whole thing has tradition worth several millennia behind it, so we are used to dealing with small squabbles. There are some extremely surprising bonds at times though.” Yrala said just as the ship landed near the top of the building.

As they walked off the shuttle they were greeted with a fairly sizeable contingent of security guards in powered armor. A large hulking Eriad man grinned as he recognized the Lightbringer. “Yrala! You should’ve told us you were coming! We would’ve prepared a party instead of this reception!” The large man easily lifted the Lightbringer off the ground and spun her around like a child.

“Haahun! Brother, put me down. Don’t embarrass me in front of others.” Yrala gave the man’s shoulder a semi-serious punch that made him grunt, but she was not serious enough to actually force him to let go.

“I reserve the right to embarrass you any time I so please baby-sister.” He finally let her down on the floor though. “So who are you bringing with you? And seriously, why didn’t you send a word?”

“I’m sure you’ll soon start hearing rumors about them, but these are travelers from another galaxy. They helped me with a spot of trouble that a fricking Eorthian cunt stirred up near the rebel border. Then they actually helped me turn a rebel attack back before their psions got the chance to trap me. I promised them a favor in return.”

“Language little one!” The man tried to give her head a knock but his hand was batted away easily. “And you managed to create more questions instead of answering them.”

“I can’t help it if you’re a bit slow and uninformed.” Yrala teased. “I said I promised them a favor, and they wanted some assistance in constructing their AI a body. I happen to know the right people. I think you’ll like working with their AI. It’s better than any of ours.”

“I seriously doubt it.” The man grunted with some well-earned confidence.

"You'll learn," Nox promised in a slightly expectant voice.

“What she said.” Yrala pointed with her thumb towards nowhere in particular. “Anyway, the recent events have landed me in a bit of political trouble as well and I’ll need to talk to Mother.” The way she used the word ‘Mother’ made it clear she used it as a title with significance instead of the generic meaning.

“That serious?” The man looked at Yrala seriously.

“Well, that remains to be seen, but there are some large forces moving behind the scenes. I need Mother to shake some trees and see who falls out.” Yrala explained.

“You do realize that once Mother starts shaking trees, that means a whole forest gone?” The man suggested.

“Oh yes. That’s what I’m counting on. Incidentally, meet Selendil, a person more powerful than Mother.” Yrala gestured towards the rest of the group and Selendil moved forward a bit. Her almost ethereal appearance drew everyone’s eye, and everyone except the man had been staring at her the entire time. Haahun had been too busy with his little sister to notice.

“More powerful than Mother?” His voice squeaked a bit. “An honor to meet you Matriarch. Welcome to our most humble abode.” He gave a deep bow.

“Greetings Haahun of the Eriad. I would say I’ve heard a lot about you, but Yrala has not mentioned her family before.” Selendil joked a bit.

The man gave a small cough. "Yes, well, she never does. Doesn’t like riding on our glory or something like that. Doesn’t stop her from pulling the connections out when necessary as we just heard, but she tries.”

“Oi! I’m a Lightbringer in the CAS fleet!” Yrala sounded indignant.

“Yes, in a Podunk system in the ass-end of the galaxy. You have the gifts to become a Torchbearer or even a Starkeeper, but here we are.” The man pointed out with a small smug grin.

"Hey, at least I'm not just working in the family business," Yrala said defensively.

“What’s wrong with our family business? The business is booming, I’ll have you know, and I’m doing my part.” The man retorted shamelessly.

“At least I’m...no matter. We’ve had this discussion before. Anyway, these are Xiaoli, the fixit of their crew, Amaterasu the conniving adviser, and Ka’eo the…security guy? I’m sorry. I haven’t actually spent enough time with you.” Yrala suddenly realized.

“Don’t mind it. The description is not wrong.” Ka’eo stated while keeping an eye on the security personnel of the Eriad. Those guards had already mostly calmed down.

“So. You’re here for some AI work while my sister is raising hell? Sounds like fun. I’ll take you to the labs and you can tell me what you have in mind. Ah, sister dearest, Mother is at her villa on the summer side. I’ll get you a transport.” The man said, quickly adapting to the situation.

“Thanks. I better ask if Mum will want to come along. She can keep Mother from blowing her horns off once I explain what’s going on.” Yrala mumbled.

“Ah, Mum is in her office. You know where to find it. The rest of you come along.” The man turned around and seemed to remember the security personnel for the first time. “Oh, you guys can go back to work. Yrala wouldn’t have brought these people if they wished us harm.”

As the security people scattered, the man couldn’t help a small whisper. “Though I still think she should’ve given us a warning.”

“I think our departure was a bit too sudden for that. She might have even received orders to the contrary.” Amaterasu explained.

“Fair enough.” The man sighed. “So you saved her from some trouble, eh?”

"Well, the system she was defending was attacked by a fairly sizeable number of those black ships that apparently belong to what you call rebels. Their timing was a bit too convenient though, and they had a trap for the Lightbringer. Additionally, the reinforcements really took their time in arriving. The whole thing seemed like a setup. So she asked for our help and I shooed the black ships away.” Selendil explained lightly.

“That…sounds like trouble. It also sounds just like something my baby-sister would get mixed in. She mentioned something about an Eorthian that annoyed her, although she used less polite wording. I guess there’s a story there. Or not. She can get annoyed by the furry buggers surprisingly easily.” He looked towards them. “Which reminds me, she mentioned something about being from another galaxy?”

"That is accurate yes," Amaterasu confirmed.

“Or well, you could say that she’s been here before your race.” Xiaoli thumbed towards Selendil.

“Ooookay then. That definitely sounds like a story. One that I won’t bother asking for just yet. I’m pretty sure Mother will want to hear the story as well once sister is finished with her. I won’t make you tell the story twice.” The man smiled.

“Very considerate of you.” Amaterasu returned the smile. “And it seems this Mother is someone you respect very much.

“Well, truth be told I know the whole thing is above my place. We have Mother to handle that sort of stuff, so I can focus on what I do best. She’s a Grandmaster Superior-ranked psion so I’ll leave the political and military stuff to her.” The man’s smile widened.

“Why does everyone insist on giving their psions such ridiculous ranks?” Selendil asked rhetorically and looked towards Amaterasu. “You call them Deities and you just heard the title monstrosity that her Mother has.”

To everyone's surprise, Haahun burst into laughter. "Mother is going to like you! She hates the whole ranking thing as well. She calls the name pompous, and I tend to agree. However, it's not my place to judge. My place is to work with AIs. Now, what did you have in mind?"

At the same time, they walked into a large laboratory that doubled as a workshop. Xiaoli was ooh-ing and aah-ing at the machinery already. It was less stupendously advanced than the Dhar technology, so the Cybran woman could understand and appreciate them more. Haahun’s powered armor seemed to fall off him and vanish inside the floor, revealing a lab coat of sorts underneath.

“Nox?” Selendil prompted.

“I want one body that is more combat-focused and that is obviously robot-like. I also want one that looks like a humanoid that I can use to actually do all the enjoyable things in life and blend in with others.” Nox explained curtly.

"The first one is easy, and I assume you'll be providing the weaponry? Yes, I suspected as much from galaxy travelers. The second one is a bit more challenging. We can easily handle the body, but the point where you join with the body, the brain so to speak, is going to take some work.” Haahun rubbed his broad chin in thought.

"I can provide that," Selendil interjected and a glowing core the size of a fist appeared in her hand. The core was surrounded by soft gel-like material that seemed somewhat similar to brain tissue. "And she's an expert in joining together biological parts and cybernetic enhancements that look aesthetically just like the real thing." She pointed at Xiaoli.

Xiaoli's arm opened into a dozen different tools just to show an example. "Well then. I think we can do this." Haahun nodded.