Alright folks, looks like I'm starting my third piece. I will warn you all though that this one will probably be a good deal longer than One Night Out and What the Speaker Didn't Say. I blame myself for reading too many grimoire cards relating to Exos, warlocks, FWC, and Vex. Hopefully this part one (and those to come) are of the same quality you all have come to expect. As always, thank you so much for reading.
“Next question Applicant: Prior to your initial death and Light-born resurrection, did you partake in reading?”
“Excuse me? I… Well, I don’t have to read, ma’am. As an Exo, I am able to download information such as reading material and analyze it in digital form.”
“Allow me to rephrase the question then: Did you download any fictional novels during the time period I suggested.”
“Yes ma’am.”
“Did any of them end in terms that were unsatisfactory to you? Specifically, did any leave you wanting in terms of what happened to those characters after the story ended?”
“Yes ma’am; however, it seemed that such cases were the authors’ intents.”
“Here at the FWC, we do not stop at Design’s intent. We seek out the entirety of the truth whether it has been written or not.”
“I thought… It was my understanding that the FWC’s focus was on upcoming conflicts. Preparing for them, waging them, and benefiting from them.”
“Correct Aegis-43, that is one of our focuses; however, War is simply one character among many, all of whom have been neglected by Design. It is our mission to… expand on these characters beyond initial intention. Does this intention align with your own?”
“Who are the other characters?”
“We all are, Applicant, each of us as individuals, all of us as a whole, and even those that are outsiders. Everything from the dirt on your shoes to the Traveler’s Light is a character.”
“Then our intentions align.”
[i] Fifteen months, twenty-seven days, four hours, thirty-eight minutes, and four seconds later.[/i]
He stepped carefully through the ruins of what he imagined was previously a cellar system that connected all of the buildings in the Ishtar Sink, at one point at least. Granted, the murky waters of Venus had slowly corroded away the concrete and caved in sections, creating a claustrophobic artificial cave soaked and grime-filled. He pushed hanging vines out of the way as he felt the orange, Venetian liquid slowly filling his boots and staining the bottom of his long coat. Silence welcomed him as he pushed through the sludge, even as he found an incline leading out of the broken cellar.
“Aegis, we’re approaching the energy patterns Ikora requested data on. It looks like we’re…”
The Ghost didn’t have time to finish its thought. The Exo continued up the rough ramp and stepped into a massive library. The floating companion followed close behind and finished with a sense of awe, “… in the Ishtar Academy. Do you know how long it’s been since anyone has been here?” The room was four stories tall and lined with digital and analogue reading materials. Nature had done damage to the structure, but the majority of the room seemed intact. Grass grew up through cracks in the floor and vines hung down from the broken skylight, but many buildings on Venus and the other inner planets had fared much worse.
The middle of the room was left empty down the length of it to increase the feeling of size and grandeur, but time had allowed another object to fill the space. Unlike the signs of erosion and plant growth, a tower of light pushed up through the ground and almost to the room’s high ceiling. Aegis-43 stepped closer to the structure, his hooded and covered face scanning the length of it. The tower was hollow and, rather than distinct walls, had lines and blocks of light, which gave the impression of a massive circuit. Although it glowed with distinct light, he could feel something otherworldly about it, something far from the Light of the Traveler.
“This must be what she sent us for! I’ll scan the structure and we can get back to her.”
The Ghost moved forward and shot a blue electron beam into the tower of light, trying to interface with it. When it couldn’t connect or get readings immediately, it began to flit around the tower, scanning and bombarding it with electrons at various angles. Aegis’s voice said quietly, “I’ve seen this before.”
“Before? In the Dreaming? Or is there a record of it?”
The machine continued to work diligently as its companion shook his head and replied, “Neither. I’ve seen one of these towers or… a piece of one in person.” He stepped closer to the monolith, trying to inspect it further, trying to tease some meaning from the random lines. He reached out, only to have his hand stopped as if the tower was made of solid matter.
It took time, but the Ghost finished scanning and turned towards Aegis. “If that’s true, then you’re lucky to be alive. This is a Vex conflux, a relay station of sorts, a way for their single mind to permeate their throngs. They-”
Aegis cut it off, “Yes, I know what the Vex are; I’ve studied the collective grimoires, remember? Now, what else do these things do?”
The Ghost looks annoyed for a moment, but then stared back at the conflux in near reverence. “Well, it certainly does more than just let them communicate. These towers connect to Vex nuclei, a kind of seed planted in planetary cores so that Vex can teleport to them at any time.”
The warlock stared at the machine for a moment and then said sternly, “We have to get back. Now!”
The Ghost looked confused, “Why? What’s happened?”
The air darkened and lightning seemed to cackle behind the conflux. A single red eye beamed out of the black fog. “Because the one I saw was on Earth.” Fifteen more red eyes appeared and the hum of weapons charging filled the room. “Ghost! Orbit! Now!”
Thanks again! Let me know what you think!
Scroll down for part two!
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This is really good. I like how you added in the FWC's ability to foresee the future and how they stockpile armaments accordingly. Very cool. How's the next part coming?
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Alright, part two of who knows how many is ready! A couple of things: 1) I named the warlock Aegis-43 without realizing that the relic in Vault of Glass is named Aegis. My bad. That's complete coincidence and I apologize for the oversight. 2) Yeah, this is still going to be a longer piece, so I apologize that there's still no form of resolution. 3) I'll readily admit that I had a few beers writing and editing this section; I also listened to far too much alt-J. That being said, if it is below par, I will fix it without such things clouding my judgment. 4) Enjoy! Two hours, eight minutes, and forty-four seconds later. Aegis’s coat was still damp with the muddy orange water of Venus. His boots smacked against the Tower’s floors, spreading their dampness. One of the numerous janitorial Frames soon took up a place behind the warlock, cleaning the foreign water dutifully. Other guardians milled about the common area. Some sorted their vaults, others haggled with Rahool, and still others stared in awe at the surroundings having been newly resurrected by their Ghosts. More than a few took note of Aegis though. His coat had multiple burn marks in it, some deep enough to reveal his red outer shell, scorched by the same source. His hood had taken fire as well, burning a third of the fabrics away and revealing his mechanical face. Although red like his body, Aegis’s face had been painted with white runes; though, many of them that were exposed had been singed to darkness as well. His one visible eye still glowed bright white though. It scanned the landing area and beyond as he walked swiftly towards the Tower hangars. “Would you just wait a second? Just explain what you mean! How did you see a conflux here?” His Ghost whirred and spun around its companion, keeping speed and trying to be an obstruction to receive any answer. The Exo grimaced as he turned a corner and saw the FWC Guardian Diplomatic Office sitting above the general hubbub of the hangars. The orange lighting could be seen from the distance as well as the royal purple banners exclaiming the room’s allegiance. Aegis kept walking towards it as he replied, “Eleven months, two days, thirteen hours, five minutes, and fifty-eight seconds ago I asked you to remain in the Tower as I accompanied Lakshmi-2 into the city. I saw those same designs there.” “Then is it really prudent to confront her? Why don’t we alert the Speaker? Or Ikora?” The little machine’s words were in vain though. Two sets of stairs later, the warlock stepped up into the comfortably furnished room. It consisted mainly of couches and small tables; there wasn’t anything pragmatic in the room at all. There was no need for it. The Diplomatic Office was for wining and dining Guardians, new and old alike. Aegis-43 could still remember sitting there and being enticed by the seemly endless amount of knowledge the conflict-based faction had. His temptress had been Lakshmi-2, Head FWC Ambassador to the Tower. She stood there that day, staring at the stairs and waiting for hopeful candidates, as always. As an Exo, the amount of a smirk she could display was always surprising. Lakshmi wore it then along with robes of purple and peach to show her affiliation and to match the peach colored lines running across her face. If his anger were not so complete, he would have been attracted to the woman and her secrets just like when they first met. Instead, he could only see what FWC and she were hiding. Her voice danced across the room, always a constant song of unspoken joy, “Aegis-43 as my cortex functions, how long has it been?” The warlock remained silent with Ghost in tow. As he crossed the room, he focused on the Dreaming, on the sights within the Traveler’s mind, and felt his mind burn. The circuits inside him wanted to fizzle and die; transistors felt as if they were melting away. He could feel the heat of the Light and it manifested as burning yellow, a radiance that shown off every part of him. There were only two others in the room aside from the Exo pair. The two humans looked shocked and tried to sink into the couch they had been lounging on. Lakshmi’s blue eyes narrowed as she added coolly, “Gentlemen, you may want to excuse us; it would appear Aegis-43 and I have pressing matters to discuss.” The two humans stood up, gathered their few belongings, and then stared at the FWC representative, unsure if they should abandon her. She said more forcefully, “Go! And don’t bother the Vanguards with this… private matter.” After another long glance, they left wordlessly, so Lakshmi added to the warlock, “Now then, what could be bothering-” Aegis moved to fast for her to finish the question. His body dematerialized, much like a Ghost’s ability, only to appear directly in front of the representative. He grabbed her by the throat, the Traveler’s Light burning at her neck, and then slammed her body against a glass wall behind her. As it made a spider web of cracks, Aegis yelled, “You have a Traveler-be-damned Vex conflux. Hidden, stored away… You’re harboring them.” Exos had been designed to mimic humans, so even though they had no need to breathe, they still reflexively coughed when choked. At least, they were supposed to. Lakshmi-2 gave her unerring smile and replied, “Oh? Found one out on the Tower’s errands did you? Made the connection all on your own?” “Explain yourself. Explain now before I throw you in front of the Vanguards and personally burn your cult to the ground.” She actually managed to laugh, as demeaning a sound as she could have made. “Some Warlock, hm? I misjudged you; rather than threatening me you should be asking the pertinent questions.” Aegis stared at her, instinctively loosening his grip slightly. “Why haven’t they overrun our headquarters and, more than that, the whole planet? What could we be possibly doing with such an object? What is so important about it that a supposed warmongering faction would have a whole facility devoted to it? And now you’re going to toss me in front of your superiors like some precocious child hoping for its parents’ affections? I had such higher hopes for you.” Aegis sat the woman down at the berating and stepped back. The Light that had engulfed him died down as he narrowed his eyes. “So you want me to believe that you have access to a conflux for the benefit of the City?” “I’m saying that the conflux would be there whether FWC had it or not. We are preventing the influx of the Vex certainly, but our focus is examining it and learning from them; we’ve already learned so much.” Lakshmi twisted her neck back and forth; the metal creaked, readjusting without the Light-infused grip crushing it. “Like what?” She sighed and turned to study the broken glass. “The Battle of Twilight Gap was almost a complete disaster, you know that. The Sand Eaters and the Dust Giants pounded at our doors, destroying everything in their path. Then came Lord Shaxx with an arsenal large enough to crack the Moon had he been so inclined. I wonder who had supplied the ordinance and why they had the stockpile ready for nearly five years.” Aegis furrowed his brow in disbelief. “You’re saying the FWC knew the Cabal were going to attack? You couldn’t have done anything more?” “When we first met, I told you that the cult was interested in characters beyond the current Design. Twilight Gap was one of many places where our methods were utilized successfully. Now, you have a choice. Turn me in to your Vanguards and Speaker, then watch centuries of work be washed away in ignorance and fear. Or you can follow me and find the answers to your questions now and many you’ve not yet asked.”
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This just keeps getting cooler. If Alt-J's fantastic music inspires you to write these stories then by all means, please keep listening. Again, this is [i]something good. ;)[/i]
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Love it
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dude I want to read moarr! Soo interesting, more the actual storyline shown in the game. You're amazing man
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I liked it. Not quite as much as the others. I feel you last two were excellent for their development of characters we all knew. They easily exist within the story as we know it. This one is creating its own story on top of what we already have. This is MUCH bigger. I hope to learn more about your character as the story progresses. I liked the time in the jump forward. Was its exactness due to the main character being an exo? I am interested to see your interpretation of a warlock using their abilities. Keep up the great work.
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He could tell you... but he.....
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Well done, once again! But who is "she"? And the Dreaming? Is a ref. to AL or ES?
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Keep up the good work man! I'm loving these stories from the world.