Chapter 95 - Starborn

Note : Chapter 98 has been written and added to the queue !

Apologies for the late upload, had a nap and forgot to set it up in advance.

I'm kind of worried how I handled this chapter, and I'm not sure it all makes sense right now. The problem is Kalia's personality. She's not a 'That's impossible !' lady denying crap to herself, if she's presented with new data, she asks questions, analyses, and then if she believes the source of that information is trustworthy, integrates it. The problem is showing that happening, from outside of her perspective.

And I'm not sure I succeeded in that. So you guys will have to tell me.

Happy new year everyone !

Chapter 95

Starborn Mountains, Starfire Valley

Settlement of Astralis

There was a long silence, as they stared at each other, Kalia clearly trying to parse through what she'd just heard.

"I-What? How...WHAT?"

The AI sighed.

"I came from the stars Kalia. I'm not...from here."

"How? How would you..." The mage-magistrate shook herself. "Are you saying you're from the First Landing?"

"No. I came here only recently. I..." Sapphiria trailed off, as something occurred to her. "Wait. A few months back, was there a meteor? One that landed west of the valley, a few days before you launched your expedition down into the mines?"

"Yeah. Some reported seeing it, but we only felt a small tremor..." Kalia's eyes widened. "THAT WAS YOU?!?"

"Yeah. I, uh...Crashlanded."

"What? Why?"

Sapphiria took a deep breath.

"That is part of the problem. There's...something defending your world, Kalia."

"Tylis. 'My' world is called Tylis."

Sapphiria smiled. Good to know. And definitely not in the colonial database or starcharts. Not under that name anyway. Nor were any of the stars in the skies identifiable. Though she'd need an observatory or better yet, an orbital telescope to be sure.

"There's something defending Tylis. A fortress, far above. It attacked me when I arrived."

"A vestige?"

"I would think so. Those are ruins from..."

"The First Landing. At least most think so."

"Right. Then probably."

They stared at each other for a few seconds.

"So...the people down there with you...are they your crew? The other survivors? They're the ones who've been making your stuff and writing the messages, right?"

Sapphiria bit her lip. Should she tell the truth?

Lying here would only make things worse.

She shook her head.

"There's only one other...person with me." With a start she realized that she did think of Cia as a person. Not a tool, not an assistant. A full person. A very literal, directly minded person, but a person.

"...Oh. I'm sorry. Was your ship...big?"

"Very. It was bigger than this valley." She hastily started speaking again as she saw the look of pure horror on the mage-magistrate's face. "We didn't lose anyone I...we were the only people aboard."

"What? How-" Kalia stopped, then nodded. "Golems. Of course."

"Of a sort." Sapphiria shifted uncomfortably.

Kalia was taking this...exceptionally well, all things considered, but that was to be expected. When surprised, she didn't panic. She asked questions. Assessed the situation.

Still...there was a world of difference between admitting you're from another world, to someone on a planet with very clear evidence of a high tech civilization and possibly perfectly aware of the possibility of interplanetary or interstellar flight, and saying that you're not human, despite all appearances.

The mage-magistrate squinted at the AI.

"What are you tip toeing around? Out with it. You've already hit me with the big one."

"I..." Sapphiria sighed, and extended her arm. She shed the armor plates on it, using the emergency disengage. Then...she removed it.

The entire forearm. Wires dangling between elbow and it.

"I am a golem, Kalia. I'm not...I'm not human." She licked her lips. "And I don't mean I'm a human in a golem. I was never human. Ever. Where I come from...we're called AIs. Artificial Intelligences." She reconnected her arm, flexing it as connections were restored. Thankfully the self repair system was already checking for any problems.

Kalia stared at her arm, then at her, opening her mouth and closing it repeatedly, before finally speaking up.

"But you're...you, right?"

"...Yes?"

"Then that's good enough. You're more lifelike than almost anyone I've ever met."

Sapphiria's eyes widened.

"You...don't have an issue with that?"

"My second in command is a pile of sapient bones. Why would I?"

"That's...a good point. But I was never human. He was."

"And? I've seen plenty of people who weren't human at all, and were quite nice."

Wait, what? Did she mean elves? Or something else?

"But." Continued the mage-magistrate. "There is one thing I must ask you."

"Anything."

Sapphiria blinked and suddenly Kalia was there, holding her shoulders, her eyes centimeters from hers, their noses almost touching.

"Under no circumstances must you tell any of this to Ramina. Do you understand me?" Sapphiria weakly nodded, and the mage-magistrate relaxed. "Okay. Good. I don't want to have to shoot her for assault. Now, you're going to go for the long and full explanation."

"I'm not sure if we-"

"We will take the whole damn night if we have to. And the day after. I don't care. I will get answers." She sat back down, and Sapphiria could see the spark in her eyes. "Now. Let's begin. Where are you from, exactly?"

*****

It was a long discussion. But Sapphiria followed her simulacrum's advice. She stumbled, got lost, but she was as genuine and honest as she could be.

Kalia looked down at the tabletop, as silence stretched. She'd asked for quiet to think. Then she looked up.

"So your Federation will be coming here?"

Sapphiria grimaced.

"I think so. Eventually. But I'm afraid of what will happen when they do."

"Given your own experience, that's hardly surprising. You want to destroy that fortress, preferably before your brothers and sister in arms fall afoul of it."

The AI nodded. Explaining space tactics and strategy would be impossible at this point, but 'big fortress sink ships that come through' wasn't exactly a foreign concept to the mage-magistrate.

"Pretty much. And save as many people as I can from the Bane. I took an oath."

Kalia's eyebrow rose.

"Sure. And your own feelings on the matter don't come into the equation? I know you care Sapphiria."

"Well, I...yes, but that's hard to accept for many...humans."

The mage-magistrate's lips quirked up slightly in what might have been the hint of a smile, before it returned to polite neutrality.

"Alright. And you are planning to annex Astralis? I note you've been very evasive about any government other than your Federation. As allies or rivals. Which tells me you have neither."

The AI started to shift again. That was...essentially true. The Federation was hegemonic by its nature. Over humans, mostly, but after the encounter with the Theocracy...yeah, it couldn't abide another competing power. Not again.

And there was no way this world would be left alone, with antigravity as one of the many, many prizes. Better to broach that subject later however.

"...Yes. But with your help. I don't want conquest. I want...unification."

There was a short silence.

"You know my position on the Kingdom. And how I would rather bring the Magistracy back from its ashes."

"...Yes?" More or less anyway. The mage-magistrate hadn't been shy about it.

"Could it, under the Federation? Would you protect us?"

Sapphiria's ears prickled.

"The Federation doesn't care how humans govern themselves. So long as they obey our constitution and high laws. Why?"

The mage-magistrate stood up.

"Then, fleet admiral Sapphiria, of the Terran Federation Navy." She stood up, and extended a hand. "I am prepared to offer you an agreement that could help with both of our problems. If you are ready to remake the magistracy, or at least something like it, and prevent the Bane and the Kingdom from devouring it, I will pledge to you my full help and that of my people."

The AI slowly stood up.

"And what's the catch?"

Besides the fact that this more or less committed her to at least fraught negotiations, if not outright war, with the Kingdom of Turlor at some point down the line. But they both knew that.

She really hoped it wouldn't come to that. Thankfully, feudal societies tended to be far more pragmatic about the loss of territory than others, it being the normal course of business with the ever shifting allegiances of nobles.

Kalia smiled.

"I get to see your 'escape pod' and that 'Cia' of yours for myself. I'm not passing up the chance of seeing Vestige technology for myself."

Or, you know, verify as best as she could that this wasn't a tall tale, but once again that went unspoken.

"Of course." Sapphiria took her hand, and they shook. For once, there were no sparks. Okay, there were some sparks and flutter in her stomach. But most of it was muted. "Glad to have you onboard." She smiled. Showing her downstairs would prompt some awkward questions, but maybe she would have some answers as well. This was all moving a bit too fast, but it was necessary. This would have become untenable otherwise, even if they weren't sharing a bed. "When do you want to see them?"

"As soon as possible would be good."

"Certainly. Cia! Front and center!"

"Wh-HOLY SHIT!"

Kalia jumped back, got caught in her chair, and fell down as Cia's hologram appeared.

"Uh...apologies, mage-magistrate, ma'am." Formally said the simulacrum, looking as stiff as someone meeting an in-law. "I did not mean to startle you."

Sapphiria offered her hand, and the mage-magistrate took it.

Once she was back on her feet, she gazed at the hologram, studying it.

"So you're her colleague, right?"

"Assistant." Corrected the simulacrum.

"And you're..."

"Not human. I am a Carrier Integrated Assistant."

"That's- wait, your name is an acronym? That seems...artificial."

"So's Kalia. Or would you care to point out where in your natural biological matrix the letters of that name reside, let alone in that particular order?"

Kalia's jaw dropped, and Sapphiria had to stifle a laugh. Okay, seeing the simulacrum's dry wit at work on someone else was awesome. No one expected the computer -or golem- to sass them.

"Point...taken?" Finally said the mage-magistrate. "You're the one who's been sending the messages, right?"

"Correct. I hope my reports proved satisfactory."

"They were." Kalia flicked a glance at Sapphiria. "Is she actually...here, or like, communicating?"

"That's a complicated question." Said the AI. "In pure, technical terms, you could say that both of us are in the pod. But in truth...I have parts of me in my android. Er, my golem. And in my armor too. So does Cia, though to a lesser extent. She, on the other hand, has parts of her spread throughout all my golems." Technically Sapphiria could as well, but it was easier and less resource intensive to piggyback off of Cia's processes for this. A daughter of Arcadia could interface with damned near anything, her code was practically malware, but it didn't mean that it was particularly resource effective. Plus, simulacrums were more processing power efficient than sapient AIs by a significant margin on simple, routine tasks. It was the whole reason for their existence.

"That's...kind of weird. But I've heard of archmages who inhabit golems, or use multiple bodies."

"You'll have to tell me about that."

"Sure. After we see your little 'crash site'. When can I visit?"

"When are you available?"

"I am right now."

"Well, I'm sure we can-"

She received a ping, and closed her eyes. Oh for fuck's sake.

"Everything alright?" Asked the mage-magistrate.

"I got an alert. From the artillery outpost. It's-" She blinked as she processed the data inload.

Given the state of her relays to the surface, the laser communicator on the tower and the workshop's roof were, er...'economical', which was a nice way of saying 'cheap pieces of shit designed by the lowest bidder'. They relied on the same tech that enabled orbital stations to beam power down to a planet's surface, using wavelengths that the atmosphere wouldn't interfere with, but the bandwidth sucked.

Thankfully, she was able to ping the tower to go for direct transmission, since she was on the surface, but it took a second for the message to make it through and the tower to start sending.

And it took another for her to process what she was seeing.

"Uh...Kalia?"

"Yes?"

"Did the Bane ever...negotiate?"

"Once. At the start. If you could call it a negotiation. Why?"

"Because there's a skeleton wearing a wolf's pelt holding a white flag walking towards the outpost."

"...What?!?"

*****

The skeleton came to a halt, in full view of the outpost. A couple of junkbots had their sights trained on it, as the machineguns slowly swept across the landscape, looking for a possible trap or flanking force.

The howitzer was dialed onto the pass' fortifications, ready to drop a barrage of shells before the Hand's forces could sortie. Provided that the incoming creature wasn't there to destroy it before that could happen of course.

It wasn't an insane notion. The undead was a velites. A wolf pelt older than even the Imperial road at the center of Astralis hung off of their frame, its head seemingly precariously balanced over their skull, and the metal head of throwing javelins appeared over their shoulders. Some of those metal spikes glittered with more than sunlight, as arcane energy coursed through their runes.

The skeleton seemingly scanned the outpost, looking for someone of authority, failed to find any, then spoke to the outpost as a whole, startlingly in a clear, female voice. The kind used to shouting across battlefields, though it was monotone.

"Hail, rebels of the Magistracy of Trunevald! Their Excellency Sarcher, Hand of Dominion of Imperator Luna Malites and Dominion Prime Kalys, wishes to negotiate with your leaders! They extend their promises of safety, so long as their own is guaranteed, and the protection of the Throne over the discussions to follow!" The skeleton planted the white flag. "In recognition of conflicts past and current, the Hand wishes that this assembly take place on the site of this flag, so that you may rest assured that no treachery will be performed. Hail to the Throne, and glory to the Empire!"

The skeleton turned around, and headed back up the slope towards the pass.