Chapter Four: Surfacers

In the early morning, Charles had prepared some tea for himself and Conjurer so that they may have calm minds. There was also a can of oil for Xan-I’s joints so that it may have smooth operation for the quest at hand. Since Charles was the first to wake up, he cleared and moved his desk to use it as a table for his studio guests. Conjurer woke up to the smell of spices steeping from the tea Charles was making and fried potatoes. “Good morning! I decided that I would make us some breakfast.” Stretching his arms toward the sky, Conjurer let out a muffled yawn and through the first smile of his day, said, “Thank you kindly, friend.” As Conjurer got up from his makeshift cot, he wandered to the bathroom to prepare himself for the day, Xan-I booted up from its sleep. “Good morning, Charles!” Charles turned and as he waved his utensil at Xan-I, he said back, “Good morning to you, Xan-I! I wish you could experience breakfast, but I did bring out some oil for you if you needed to loosen up for today.” Xan-I looked at Charles’s desk where he had positioned two tea cups for himself and Charles, there beside them was a can of oil of itself. It felt the warmth of kindness creep through its casing. “Thank you, Charles! I will take this opportunity to use it indeed!” Charles finished cooking up the potato dish, and set down plates and utensils for the meal.

Conjurer returned from the bathroom and took a seat at the desk next to the standing Xan-I that was applying oil to its joints. “Good morning, Xan-I. How are you feeling this morning?”

“Good morning, Conjurer! I am operating at full capacity, and now my joints will allow me to move efficiently, thanks to Charles.” Taking a swallow of Charles’s tea, Conjurer responded, “That’s good to hear. We will need any or all the efficiency we can handle!” Almost on cue, Conjurer and Charles laughed together. Xan-I was lost as to why they thought that was funny, but it did not want to ruin the fun that they were experiencing together. Charles walked over to the desk with the breakfast now ready to eat. As he put the large skillet on the desk he made an announcement, “Alright, I have one rule as we eat. We will not talk about the mission until after we have ingested a proper amount of food and feel as refreshed as possible. Do we all agree?” Immediately, Conjurer and his hunger replied, “Agreed!” He then dove into the meal of potatoes and vegetables that Charles had prepared. Xan-I nodded to Charles’s request, and the three spent the duration of breakfast in tranquility together.

As soon as they had finished breakfast, there was a knock on Charles’s studio door. Charles got up to find that Mele had come over to help see Xan-I and Conjurer off on their mission. “Mele! I am so sorry, I would have made more food if I had known you were coming!” Mele lovingly rolled her eyes, “Please, Charles, it is fine! Don’t worry about it! You can feed me next time!” Mele and Charles walked toward Xan-I and Conjurer, who both welcomed Mele. As they all met at the desk, Mele asked, “Okay, so, what is the plan? What are you all up to before these two ascend to the surface?” She had her thumb directing attention toward Conjurer and Xan-I as she smiled at them. Charles took the empty skillet and walked over to another desk where Silver Swan was docked. “I was just going to clean up and get Silver Swan turned on. This is going to be another companion for the two that will transmit video and audio to us as we prepare to start the removal of the first vertice.” Mele laughed in astonishment, “Wow! You never cease to amaze me with your work, master artificer!” Charles set the skillet aside and raised his eyebrows and Mele’s kind title she gave him. He approached Silver Swan and with a few taps on his bracelets he said, “Well, we will see if I am worthy of such a title Mele. Let’s make sure that it starts and operates properly first.”

Soft humming started to whirl from the bottom of the metallic bird. Slowly as the humming got louder, Silver Swan started to hover above the desk. “I guess I still got it!” Exclaimed Charles. Silver Swan then started to glide forward to Charles, casting a spectrum of rays around the studio. When the mechanism paused in front of him, he turned to Xan-I and Conjurer and directed them, “Okay, you two! I need you to stand right where I am standing for a couple of seconds.” With no questions, Conjurer and Xan-I walked over to Charles and swapped places with him. When Charles was standing on the side of them he tapped his bracelets a couple of times and soon Silver Swan began to register the two with a small blue ray of light sliding up and down Conjurer and Xan-I. “Alright, now, if you both would, go ahead and walk around the studio for a bit. This should complete that bonding operation!” Xan-I and Conjurer then began to walk around casually, and as soon as they started, Silver Swan turned itself toward their direction and glided alongside them. “Just amazing, Charles!” Shouted Mele. Conjurer started to clap to give Charles recognition for finishing this mechanism and giving them a new companion for their quest.

After getting Silver Swan bonded to Xan-I and Conjurer, the company got Conjurer packed up with a bag of essentials, and they made their way to Stratos. When they reached the zone of Stratos, Charles said to the company, “Let’s go over our mission again before I open the seal.” Mele, Conjurer, and Xan-I huddled in close together to go over the plan again. Mele started to go through the plan again, “Conjurer and Xan-I will return to the surface and first make their way to Lake 125, to assess any recent activities from the tyrant.” Xan-I continued with the second step of their plan, “After we document what has been going on near Lake 125, we will then make our way to the second vertice to meet with Hyanthra and the people of the second vertice.” Conjurer then expanded on the second step, “To avoid as much conflict as possible, I will try and handle as much of the talking between Hyanthra and us, seeing that she does not take kindly to mechanisms. As we are up there, Charles and Mele will start gathering people to prepare our removal operation from inside the tetrahedron.” Charles and Mele both shook their heads, and the company broke out of their huddle. It was now time for them to begin their mission. Charles took out his marionette controllers for Stratos, and vicariously through the colossal mechanism, he opened the seal and brought the platform down to the surface of the Inner Planet.

Both the monitoring towers and the company were focused on the opening, looking out for any possible threats that may seep down to the Inner Planet. As all eyes adjusted to the small hole of light emitting from the Xanropa, there had been no sign of awaiting danger since Xan-I and Conjurer last made their descent. After confirming that they were in the clear, Charles directed Conjurer and Xan-I, “Okay, I think we are ready to send you both up.” Mele walked over to both of them, gave them each a hug, and said, “You both be careful up there and keep us updated on what’s going on!” Conjurer held Mele’s hand and said, “I promise, we shall, Mele.”

Charles, having his hands busy operating Stratos, bowed his head at both of them and said, “This may be our time to save Xanropa, I don’t think fate could have brought together a better crew. We will see you both again soon, and we will then be the more wiser.” Xan-I,Conjurer, and Silver Swan then made their way up onto the platform in Stratos’s hands. Before Charles raised Stratos’s hands back to the opening in the tetrahedron, Xan-I shouted, “Thank you all for helping me rediscover my purpose and your hospitality!” As Xan-I and Conjurer waved goodbye to their friends, Charles maneuvered Stratos and had the colossus return the platform to the opening.

Slowly, the Inner Planet started to shrink, and soon, the planet was the size of a grapefruit from the perspective of Conjurer and Xan-I. As Stratos’s platform got closer to the surface of Xanropa, it got brighter and brighter until they were standing back in the familiar gazebo of the commonplace. “We are back.” Conjurer said in a hushed voice. Xan-I, without hesitating, went into a surveilling phase. Scanning every direction for any sort of threat, and for any sign of recent activities. Upon its inspection, Xan-I reported to Conjurer, “It does not seem to be any signs of any recent activity since we were here. Do you see anything though, out of the ordinary?” Conjurer took a moment to answer Xan-I, doing a bit more investigating of the gazebo and the streets of Spiral City himself. “I am nervous to say it, but I think we are in the clear. I have an idea though.” Conjurer then took a few steps toward the entrance of the gazebo and his hands began to emit a bright orange light. Putting his hands together, Conjurer created a large bubble and then told Xan-I, “Hop in, we are going to skip walking through Spiral City, I don’t know if I can fly us all the whole way to Lake 125, but we can at least skip this part of our adventure.” Xan-I and Silver Swan made their way into Conjurer’s bubble. It surprised Xan-I that the bubble did not burst when entering it. Conjurer then joined the other two, and soon he had them floating over the city. The sky was still lit up by the rainbow that hung around the base of the tetrahdedron.

From above Spiral City, it felt much less dangerous, for they were able to view the city and the straggling possessed users as sightseers instead of frightened Xanropians on the ground. Conjurer spoke as he piloted the bubble, “In the time Spiral City was civilized, it was actually a neat place to visit and be. Compared to the Inner Planet, it feels so much more like a tomb than a city with what Tyrant Vaine did to Xanropa. Hard to believe that people used to live here.” Xan-I took note of how the buildings were laid out from their aerial view. The buildings made a circumference around the fifth vertice, and not all of the building were the same height, there was a gradual decrease in height as they traveled closer to the beginning of Spiral City. At the beginning of the city was once a barricade and a gate that now lay in ruin after Tyrant Vaine’s attacks. They had made it through the city and Conjurer started to land the bubble by the mouth of the gate. Once they landed, Conjurer’s bubble drifted away into the wind as if it never existed. They turned around to take a look at the Spiral City one more time before walking in the direction of Lake 125, Charles’s voice cracked through Silver Swan, “Wow, you got out of the city in record time with that little flight of yours, Conjurer! Awesome. I hope this sounds okay and is not too loud. I will try to remain silent unless you all call for me or I see any danger before you all do.” Conjurer knelt down to make eye contact with Silver Swan and told Charles, “You sound good, we hear you loud and clear. Thanks, Charles!” Xan-I scanned the broken barricade and the gate some more, it had been severely crushed and bent in many places, but there was no debris left. During Xan-I’s assessment of the wreckage mystery, Conjurer asked, “Wondering where all the debris and little chunks went?” Quickly, Xan-I turned to Conjurer to hear more. “Well, that is why the tyrant’s harvesting patrols exist. They drive around taking any loose material they find to grind it down and make the blood steel that the tyrant’s mechanisms are made out of. If this barricade ever completely fell down, I guarantee that the harvesting patrol would remove it in a flash.

While staring at the gate of Spiral City, the three made their way past it and into the neighboring forest that surrounded Spiral City. The forest still had a fair amount of artificial trees, but some of them were damaged- either missing some pieces or broken down to only stumps. As they walked closer into the forest, it seemed like they were walking into a dark room that had small windows of a bluish-white. “Ah, it looks like it snowed on the other side of the forest.” Exclaimed Conjurer. Xan-I put a hand to its eye as if it could use its lens like a binocular and asked Conjurer, “How do you know that it snowed all the way from here?”

“It is hard to forget the color of something you love, Xan-I. That is the color of snow and potentially ice on the surface. It was one of my favorite things when I was younger and living up here.”

There was no recollection of ever experiencing snow for Xan-I, it was eager to see if it looked familiar to itself. Xan-I and Conjurer were walking with Silver Swan in between them as they walked deeper into the forest. All of the artificial trees were designed to look the same, with the exception of the tree shades, which had a slight variety of sizes and shapes. The tree shades were used to disperse oxygen that flowed through the branches of the trees. They moved like diaphragms, expanding and decreasing ever slowly. Even though they were not organic trees, they were made to feel as living as they could; the artificial trees that were damaged were quite strange. During their walk through the forest, it had grown dark enough that Silver Swan activated a light from its base, Xan-I also turned on its chest light as Conjurer lit his hands to help with the last segment of the forest.

Heavy breathing was coming from Conjurer, it alarmed Xan-I who then paused to ask, “Conjurer, are you alright? Do we need to take a break?” Conjurer took a few more steps ahead before stopping and taking a few breaths. “I am okay, I promise! I may have outdone myself slightly by flying us across the city. It was a little more heavy than I thought it would be. I feel like I just ran a marathon!” Charles’s voice shouted through Silver Swan, “Hey! You should rest for a minute. I am not saying you are old, I just think that we need to remember what you did with your bubble trick a bit ago. Besides, I take Silver Swan ahead to see what is going on.” An annoyed Conjurer sat down and said, “Okay, fine. I’m sorry, I am not grumpy with you guys, I am more just anxious about this mission and mad at myself for wearing myself out already.” Xan-I walked up to where Conjurer was and said as softly and reassuring as it could say, “No need to worry, the fact that we are even doing this at all is more than enough for us. You did just perform a great feat with what seemed like no hassle. You are amazing, Conjurer!” Looking down with a face of disgust toward himself, Conjurer remained silent. He did some breathing exercises and stood up. “Thank you. I apologize again, I promise I am okay. Let’s catch up with Silver Swan.” The two continued their walk to the blinding light at the end of the forest to find Silver Swan.

Approaching the end of the forest, it took a little time for Conjurer’s eyes and Xan-I’s lens to adjust to the brightness of the land that lay between the forest and Lake 125. At the border of the forest, the two could see Silver Swan hovering behind a stump, peering at what looked like an abyss of white light. Conjurer’s communicator device vibrated with the voice of Charles in this pocket, “Conjurer, Xan-I, do you copy?!” Charles was whispering but his voice harmonized with fear. Carefully and quietly, Conjurer and Xan-I stood behind some trees and Conjurer replied into his device, “Yes Charles, what’s wrong? What do you see?”

“I took Silver Swan out of the forest, and I think I spotted a harvesting patrol. I do not know which direction they are going in.” Under his breath, Conjurer let out, “Oh damn!” Xan-I remained silent and turned around behind the tree to see if its lens had adjusted to the bright reflecting light that bounced off the land. It turned out that Xan-I could now see much better, and its lens adjusted and focused on what was ahead. Spotting Silver Swan behind the stump, Xan-I looked beyond and spotted a familiar-looking vehicle with a much more menacing presence. There were a few of the crustacean-looking mechanisms of Tyrant Vaine following the vehicle- just as Conjurer spoke of them. The harvesting patrol was gliding across as chunks of ice flew into its mouth. The assisting mechanisms picked up any shape of debris and threw it into the vehicle's mouth. Xan-I almost forgot that it was looking at snow again after so long, and it got distracted as it peered into the bluish-white blanket across the land. “Hey, Xan-I!” Conjurer was whispering yet yelling at the same time. Xan-I looked back at Conjurer, who was four trees over. “How far away do you suppose they are from us?” Taking Conjurer’s question seriously, Xan-I began to run some equations in its head. “Based on where I am currently standing, they are about twenty feet, I can say with certainty.” Conjurer bit his finger and looked down for a moment. Every second was important, for if they got spotted, Conjurer was not sure if he would be able to rescue the party. Looking around, Charles noticed that a tree nearby Xan-I was coming apart from the trunk. Carefully, Conjurer talked back into his device to Charles, “Charles, do you think you would be able to move Silver Swan back to us?” “I don’t know; the light may reflect off the mechanism and attract their attention. Could be too risky.” Xan-I waved at Conjurer to get his attention. Without making too much noise, Conjurer thought out an idea as he wandered closer to Xan-I, staying behind the neighboring trees. “What is it, Xan-I?”

“Do you see that gold monolith over there? Could it be possible that they are heading toward that?” Calculating what Xan-I told Conjurer, he took a moment to observe the harvesting patrol and their current trajectory and speed. Having some insight into their activities, Conjurer started to nod, “I think you may be right, that is the only real distracting thing out here that could benefit them.” Over by the dredging monster of the harvesting patrol, the vehicle, and its attendants were heading toward the golden monolith that sat further away from Xan-I and Conjurer. Confirming they were in the clear of the monsters, Conjurer ran to Silver Swan and rotated it to show Charles the golden mystery over yonder.

“We are safe for now; it looks like they have a meal to attend. I have no idea what that is over there.” The three remained silent, still crouching and hiding behind the trees. Conjurer turned back and told Xan-I who was a tree behind him and Silver Swan, “See that tree?” He pointed out the tree that was almost separated from its trunk to Xan-I. “If we need to, we can separate that and use the shades as a blanket to cover them in and take them out if necessary.” Xan-I nodded and returned its attention to the patrol making their way closer to the golden statue.

“NOW BRYNE!” A voice echoed throughout the land. As soon as this cue was made, large tentacles burst through a pile of snow that was beneath the harvesting patrol vehicle. Each limb was a tangled collection of what looked like flesh-coated tentacles, and they had reached around the vehicle. In what looked like a deathly hug, the tentacles were able to pull the vehicle down in the snow as far as it could sink. Then, the golden statue moved, and it transformed into a silhouette of a humanoid as it leaped into the air. Something about its head did not feel right to Conjurer and Xan-I. In a quick transition, the golden humanoid crashed into two of the assisting harvesting patrol mechanisms- who did not have enough time to defend themselves from being pulverized by the impact. The golden humanoid had the same three-eyed head that typically belonged to the crustacean mechanisms of Tyrant Vaine. Could this be a new creation of Tyrant Vaine running some kind of a drill? The last remaining mechanism that accompanied the harvesting patrol vehicle charged at the golden humanoid as a different figure emerged from out of nowhere. This new figure had the same head as the Golden humanoid and the attacking mechanism of the tyrant, and with a staff in its hands, a bolt of noise blasted out and pushed the charging mechanism away from the golden humanoid. It looked almost as if some humans were taken and had their heads replaced with the monstrosities of Tyrant Vaine’s mechanisms. Xan-I was not fond of those monsters and the only one that it cared to look at was the one whose head was displayed back down at Mele’s.

The staff wielder ran toward the mechanism it had just cast away from the golden one when from the origin of the tentacles, a large mass cracked through the snow. It was about two times the size of the golden humanoid and the staff wielder. The large being looked like a large human brain with tangled limbs crawling from its base. Conjurer and Xan-I noticed that the being’s tentacles were quite flexible and it seemed that it could produce as many as it needed to serve its purpose. As the staff wielder delivered a final blow to the downed mechanism, the tentacle-baring being took one of its limbs and jammed it through the face of the harvesting patrol vehicle. After the impact, the vehicle howled in pain from the large being’s blow. Soon the vehicle sat silent in the snow that it had been dragged into. Charles’s voice screamed through Silver Swan, “What in the world is that?!” Conjurer and Xan-I were not sure what was happening. Conjurer spoke to Xan-I, “Something does not feel right about those two. But at the same time, something about them tells me we should approach them to find out more.” Xan-I replied, “Affirmative.” Digging in his pocket for his communication device, Conjurer spoke into it, “Charles, we are going to approach them for investigation.” Xan-I followed after Conjurer as they both ignored Charles’s series of concerned questions and remarks about them being out of their minds.

As Xan-I and Conjurer made their way over to the strangers, they saw the staff wielder walk back over to the golden humanoid, who was walking over the now vestigial harvesting patrol vehicle. Silver Swan followed reluctantly behind to document their encounter.

From afar, Conjurer could make out the sounds of words coming from the staff wielder. “I got a feeling these are some clever Surfacers.” Conjurer said to Xan-I. As the suspected Surfacers and the large being were pulling the vehicle out of the snow, Conjurer, Xan-I, and Silver Swan got just close enough to the vehicle to get their attention.

“Stop right there!” The staff wielder jumped away from the vehicle and got into a defensive position. Following suit, the golden humanoid came to the side of the vehicle and put its arms into an offensive position as the brain-like creature squashed along the snow, got down on four limbs, and expanded itself to appear as if it were a beast. “Who are you and what are you doing?” The staff wielder asked, pointing their staff toward the party. Conjurer raised his hands into the air to show that he, Xan-I, and Silver Swan were not of any harm to them, just curious adventurers who had witnessed a heist of some sort. Xan-I followed Conjurer’s lead and raised its hands into the air as well as it said aloud assertively, “You are not making any grunts, screams, or wailing noises. So there's no way you can be mechanisms nor possessed users of the tyrant!”

The staff wielder laughed, “You are right, my mechanized friend, we are not controlled by that monster. Do you want to know why we don’t sound like them besides not being them?” Conjurer and Xan-I remained silent, knowing from the tone in the staff wielder’s voice they were going to answer their own question. “Because evil is a language that no one can comprehend unless they are also evil. We do not speak like Tyrant Vaine. Therefore, we are not evil.” Conjurer was impressed with the philosophical speaking of the staff wielder and gave a nod and a smile to them. Xan-I responded to the stranger’s thought, “Although you all may not sound like the tyrant, it could still be possible to be a different kind of evil, correct?”

“In a world like ours, you are here either because you are leftover from an age gone by or your mind is one with he who devours. Any other form of evil could not compare to that of Tyrant Vaine.” The staff wielder put his staff aside, signaling to their companions that they, too, should stand down. “Would you all be more comfortable answering my questions if you could see my beautiful face?” Conjurer and Xan-I were taken aback by the moment of vanity, and Conjurer said, “Yes, actually, we are not too fond of those heads you wear!”

“Very well, but as soon as I grace you with my beauty, you better answer my questions!” With that, the staff wielder put their staff down and took hold of the mechanism head, and began to lift it off of their neck. As the head was sliding up and off of the staff wielder’s body, long dark-brown hair tossed and fell beneath the seemingly head-turned helmet. The staff wielder was not completely full of themself when they told Xan-I and Conjurer of their beauty. They wore glasses, that had cunning eyes looking through the lenses. Their face was both masculine yet had a  feminine glow. Their long hair was being kept back neatly by a grey headband. From their red-painted lips, they spoke, “I am sorry if the helmets terrified you both, it is for our safety that we wear them while out and about. Tyrant Vaine and his monsters seem stupid enough that they think we are one of them by wearing these former heads of his mechanisms. Pretty rich if you ask me.” Setting the helmet down, the staff wielder then said, “Okay, now it is time for your end of our little deal. Who are you and what are you all doing?”

Xan-I stepped closer and introduced itself and company to the strangers. “This is Conjurer, Silver Swan, operated by our friend Charles, and I am Xan-I. We are here on a mission to see if there has been any recent activity at the first vertice.” The staff wielder and their company then relaxed their bodies and were no longer visibly threatened by these three adventurers. “Nice to meet you, Xan-I, Conjurer, and Charles- if you can hear me Charles, I am a big fan of your work!” Conjurer noticed that the staff wielder’s hands were covered in some sort of plating and curiosity escaped his mouth, “Do you mind if I ask about your hands? The armor you have around them looks incredible! Pardon my curiosity.” The staff wielder looked at their hands and then back at Conjurer with a face that displayed surprise and appreciation toward the recognition of their hands. “Well, I made these myself- thanks for the kind words. With these beauties, I also made this staff that makes me feel like a high-tech wizard. It projects soundwaves, but the vibrations from it did some damage to my real hands, so to help my hands, I designed these gloves. The gloves operate as armor and a key to my staff- so I am only allowed to operate it.”

“That is impressive!” Conjurer exclaimed, Xan-I nodded in agreement. Charles talked through Silver Swan, “May we ask who you all are now?” Raising their arms, the staff wielder laughed and exclaimed, “Yes! Of course!” Pointing a finger to themself, “I am the lovely Garalt, and I don’t like to say this but I am kind of the leader of this here troop. Also, I am the only one who speaks among us.” Garalt then pointed their finger to the golden humanoid, “This is Ana, she may not show you her face for a while, but she is one of the toughest people I have ever met, she also has a beautiful heart.” Ana crossed her arms and looked away with a small but muffled grunt, retaining her tough reputation. Walking over and pointing at the brain-like being, Garalt said, “Lastly, this is Bryne. She is an entity from the legendary planet, Sascia. She is the eldest of us three and by far the wisest.”  Bryne then lovingly hit Garalt on the side of their arm with one of her tentacle arms. Conjurer and Xan-I had so many questions about Bryne.

“Wait, Sascia as in the planet that began all life? How old is she?!” Conjurer asked excitedly. Xan-I followed those questions with, “How do you communicate with Bryne?” Garalt could tell that they and their friends were in good company with Xan-I, Conjurer, and Silver Swan. “Maybe we should move somewhere that is not in the middle of this wasteland and continue our conversation, huh?” All six individuals agreed as they headed toward a nearby abandoned terminal bay where one of Charles's large mechanisms stood with various damages. Bryne followed behind towing the harvesting patrol vehicle that the group successfully deactivated.

  “Look familiar, Charles?” Garalt asked. “Indeed. That was one of the many larger mechanisms I designed and helped create. I am surprised to see it has not been town down into scrap by the harvesting patrols!” Charles responded. Garalt chuckled and said immediately, “One reason we are going to this terminal bay is that they seem to be traumatized by this mechanism since the war. They won’t step twenty feet near here. As they got closer to the terminal bay, Xan-I and Conjurer noticed that there were a few makeshift buildings added onto the sides of it. By the edge of the terminal and behind a fenced-in section were some plants that were raising themselves into the sky. These plants were unlike any that were seen before up here. Conjurer asked in a stupified tone, “What are those dazzling plants?” Pointing toward the plants with their staff, Garalt answered, “Those are organic plants that have been grown by the beautiful Lo’ona, sometime later we can stop by and look at all of them.” Conjurer replied, “I would love that indeed. It is a shame we never started growing real plants in the times of before up here.” Garalt nodded, and Xan-I detected both resentment and annoyance at the mention of the before times’ from Garalt but the mechanism knew better to ask about these feelings since they had just met. Perhaps it would learn more about Garalt’s history sooner than later. Charles spoke through Silver Swan to add interest in speaking to Lo’ona. “I also would love to visit with Lo’ona to talk about her techniques and plants!”

When they all arrived at the feet of the towering mechanism, Bryne let go of the vehicle she had towed. Ana helped her push the vehicle next to the foot of the mechanism. Charles’s voice rang out from Silver Swan, “Are those stairs going up and into my mechanism?!” The group then followed the winding stairs that led from the right foot and up to the human equivalent stomach of the mechanism. Garalt flashed their teeth and took a deep breath as they broke the news to Charles, “So, never in my life did I think I would come into contact with you, Charles. Sorry about what I did with your creation. To be fair, though, it was no longer powering on, so in the meantime, we used the fear that it gave to the tyrant and his cronies to make a safe living zone for us.” Geralt, Ana, and Bryne led the party up the stairs, and Charles responded as Silver Swan slowly hovered up the stairs behind Xan-I and Conjurer, “Thanks for at least honoring the mechanism and not tearing it apart.”

As they all entered the entryway that led into the stomach of the mechanism, they were greeted by a warm room that contained chairs, tables, plants, and other people who were occupying the space. Garalt turned to the group and said, “Welcome, this is our humble abode. We are a safe zone for who you all may refer to as ‘Surfacers’, but as of now, you each are Surfacers too!” After their welcome, Garalt and the rest of the company sat down and they asked their new friends, “So how long have you all been walking up here on Xanropa? Does it feel strange to be up here again?” Conjurer answered, “We have been up and moving since this morning, maybe four or five hours now.” Xan-I’s head twisted in both amazement and confusion. Time seemed to have a trick of deception, the mechanism thought to itself.

“Wow! What a meeting of chance and fate! You all finding us all, and all. I am glad that our plan was in action while you found us, otherwise, you may have been with those freaks by yourselves.” Garalt said with their red lips accentuating concern for the Inner Planet trio. Conjurer pointed and nodded toward Bryne, “If it would be appropriate timing, would you tell us more about Bryne, please!” Xan-I sat down on a neighboring couch, anticipating a great tale about to unfold for it and the company. Looking at Bryne lovingly, Garalt sighed and started, “Well, before the time of Tyrant Vaine’s domination, a vessel that was made of hexagons and narrow triangles landed near Lake 143. My family at the time and I were lucky enough to be the first Xanropians to investigate and welcome our special friend. At the time I was a teenager, and Bryne was an adult.” Bryne produced a tentacle and waved it at Garalt. “Sorry, she was an older teenager, is what I meant to say. That is ‘very’ important to the story.” Bryne nodded and an inaudible laugh could be seen by Bryne’s bopping body. Garalt then smiled back toward the Bryne and Ana- who had taken her helmet off to reveal short black hair and an accompanying smirk on her face, “Before I was so rudely interrupted, Bryne and I became very close friends. The reason Ana and I can communicate with Bryne so well is because we formed a connection with her that her and her kind form back on Sascia. I don’t know how to explain it, but it is like we can hear and understand exactly what is Bryne is saying, but it is not in our tongue. It is not even words really, it is sort of like vibrations and various tactile feelings that allow us to understand what she is saying. Does that seem about right, Ana?” Ana’s short-lived smile faded and her stoic face set in as she nodded to agree with how Garalt described their communication with Bryne.

“It is amazing how I cannot recall Bryne’s arrival! Did Bryne come alone or with any more entities?” Asked a very captivated Xan-I. Garalt’s face turned solemn and they replied, “Bryne had loved ones that joined her in her landing. They were a very solid group of friends. Four of them in total. Cartru, Pien, and Quessa were their names. To keep it short, after all the lovely times we had together, it was during the Day of Illusion that we would be separated. Leaving Bryne and I together, that is until we met Ana- who we met while looking and finding supplies for our home here.” Xan-I and Conjurer could tell that Garalt and Bryne experienced terrors, and on the other side of Silver Swan, Charles’s heart ached for them and their losses. “So, like you, most likely, we helped fight back against the tyrant and his monsters but we did not join you in the Inner Planet nor did we decide to live with Hyanthra. We wanted to stay in the remains of Xanropa. After everything that we had lost, the last thing I wanted to do was leave the land that we fought to try and keep. It made; and still makes, no sense to me. Bryne and I felt the same way, and as we ventured around the marred tetrahedron, we scavenged materials and welcomed other survivors to join us here. Now, after a decade or so, here we are in our home.”

Conjurer looked Garalt, Bryne, and Ana, and bowed to them each to show his condolences. Xan-I also bowed to pay a moment of silence to their new friends. Through a moment of silence and reflection, Silver Swan glided over to Garalt and Charles spoke through the mechanism, “Have you all been on the face of the tetrahedron where Lake 143 is in a while? We are curious about the density of the land plating for a mission we are working on.” Garalt looked at the mechanism with an expression of pure confusion. Bryne and Ana looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders to indicate that they would not be of any help with this inquiry on land density.

Garalt put their fingers on their chin and thought about it for a while before answering as best as they could, “I am curious why that would be important, and what your mission is. I say this because it is not every day I drop what I am doing to assess the land density, you know? What are you all scheming?” Garalt leaned forward to make eye contact with Silver Swan, Xan-I, and Conjurer as best as they could. Charles began to explain their mission through the hovering Silver Swan, “We are going toward the first vertice to see if there has been any recent activity from Tyrant Vaine. Inside the tetrahedron, we are going to start slowly piercing through it to remove the first vertice from the planet so that we may begin anew.” Garalt broke eye contact with their guests and looked at Bryne and Ana who both were more stoic and pondering the removal plan. After shifting around in their seat, looking for sentences, and visually consulting to Bryen and Ana, Garalt finally spoke, “Bryne, Ana, and I think that this solution would be amazing. Seriously, if this plan could work, we could restore everything that has been lost. That would be, more than words could explain. However…” Conjurer and Xan-I made eye contact with Garalt, preparing to hear what they had to say about the plan. “… as you all saw this afternoon, the tyrant surely is still alive. Some damned way, for his monsters still terrorize the surface. If you are going to visit the first vertice, it is probably for the best that we come with, but you all must be warned. No one has ever come back from traveling past Lake 125. It may come as a surprise, but even we have not been past Lake 125. The very act of just looking past Lake 125 could either kill us or drive us into deeper madness than we are already in.”

Xan-I raised one of its hands and said, “If it would make everyone feel better, we could try to make it to the edge of Lake 125, and make an assessment from there. Whether our mission is possible or not, depends on us assessing how the surface looks near the lake.” Conjurer shook his head and bowed his head toward his friend to show that it had spoken well. A heavy sigh came from Garalt, who took their glasses off and wiped their eyes. “Good lord. It is a good thing you didn’t visit Hyanthra first, she would have probably punished you all for such a dangerous idea. Luckily for you, I am not using the word ‘stupid’ and associating it with your idea.” Garalt stood up and started walking toward a hallway. They turned around and spoke, “Well, if we are going to make our trip to the lake tomorrow, I better get you all settled in for the night. Follow me!” Conjurer, Xan-I, and Silver Swan followed Garalt’s waving hair to some spaces to rest that evening.

Toward the back of the towering mechanism from where the company was sitting, was a large area with blankets, pillows, and small desks for Surfacers to dwell. Conjurer almost instantaneously fell asleep, covering himself in some blankets after positioning a couple of pillows to suit him best. “I want to offer him food, but I understand that he is worn out from the traveling today.” Worried Garalt. Xan-I then said, “If you tell me where he can get some food later in the night, I can direct him so that you may go on and do what you need to do, Garalt.” Relieved, Garalt said, “Well, back in the main living quarters, there is a kitchenette not that far away from the couches we were sitting on earlier.” Xan-I made a note in its mind to relay to Conjurer if he woke up in the night. “Thank you for your hospitality, Garalt.” Garalt waved a hand, “Don’t thank me yet, in case things go terribly wrong, I don’t want that on my conscious.” Before Garalt left the room for Xan-I and Conjurer to rest it, they said, “Sweet dreams, friends.”