Chapter 4
Buried Treasure
District C-1, Central Sector, Dominion of Nylos
'Dog face' may not have been the most accurate way to describe the mages of the Cerberus Guild. It reminded Gally of the classic rendering of the Wolfman, or maybe that one genetic disorder where people grow hair all over their faces. It was more man than animal, but you could not really ignore the animal part.
Apparently one of the conditions of joining the Cerberus Guild was to have your body magically altered to become more like a dog. You gained traits like improved hearing and smell, but that came with some extra hairiness, among other issues. They wore masks and gloves to hide their nature from outsiders. Master Zarzadu broke a rather big taboo by showing Mordekai, Giger and Gally his face, but it was thanks to a number of rules and taboos having already been broken that they were still alive.
They were transferred to another location because Master Zarzadu alone did not have the authority to take them to the Star Seed. For something like this, it would take a decision by all the masters of the Cerberus Guild. It took a couple days for them to assemble. The one upside was that by that time Gally had gone mostly noseblind to the smell, for whatever that was worth.
Once the masters came together, Mordekai, Giger and Gally were summoned to wait outside the council chamber until they were called upon. Bogdar was charged with keeping watch over them. He did not have much to say at first, but eventually he started talking to pass the time.
"The Cerberus Guild has nine masters, you see, three by three," Bogdar explained.
"Of course you do," Giger muttered.
Mordekai gave him a look, but Bogdar ignored him and continued, "They are the Three Heads. Each Head has Masters of the Eyes, of the Ears and of the Mouth. The Master of the Eyes is charged with our defenses, like Master Zarzadu. The Master of the Ears is charged with our intelligence-gathering operations. And the Master of the Mouth speaks on behalf of the Guild."
"If you were in the Cerberus Guild, you'd definitely be Master of the Mouth," Gally said to Giger.
"Are you wanting a pay cut?" Giger asked. "Because this is how you get a pay cut."
"Save your flirting for later, you two," Mordekai said.
The two of them simultaneously raised unintelligible, tongue-tied objections to the charge, but Mordekai motioned for them to cut it out before they could properly articulate how thoroughly baseless the charge was.
An attendant stepped in and said, "The Masters are ready to receive you, Master Grummond."
Along with Bogdar, the three of them entered the council chamber. There were three daises, each with three seats, and in each seat sat one of the nine masters.
The first to speak, appropriately enough, was the Mouth of the First Head.
"Mordekai Grummond, you can imagine our surprise to learn that you are not only alive, but in such a shape and interloping in our territory. Of course we trust Master Zarzadu's nose, but, if you would, a small demonstration to prove your identity. Lavrent."
An attendant stepped forward carrying a small bundle. He approached Mordekai, knelt down and unwrapped the bundle, revealing an oddly shaped metal object with a crystal in the center.
"One of the relics of Belmond Weiss," Mordekai said.
"If you are truly heir to Belmond Weiss, this instrument will prove it," the Mouth said.
"Very well," Mordekai replied.
He reached out and took hold of the object. Closing his eyes, he began to chant in a low voice and the crystal started to glow. It grew brighter and brighter until Mordekai allowed his chanting to trail off. As the object dimmed, he placed it back on the cloth and the attendant wrapped it up again.
The Mouth of the Second Head spoke next, saying, "We acknowledge you as Mordekai Grummond, but now we must ask how you came to be in this state. Restoring youth and extending life are forbidden arts."
"It is more complicated than that," Mordekai replied. "I do not know what you have been told about the Vigau Incident. A young mage's ambition outstripped her discipline and she became an Abomination. That mage was my pupil and her lack of discipline was my failing as her master, so I took responsibility for the tragedy, fully expecting to pay with my life. After a fashion, I did. However, in some strange fluke that was not of my intending, our essences merged when I freed my apprentice from the curse of the Abomination. My old flesh was lost, but I was given new flesh, born anew from that selfsame apprentice.
"Regardless of my intent, I was given a second lease on life. You may deem me Abomination, but I would advise you against trying to stand against me. There is work that must be done with this second life and I will not allow any interference."
Even with her mundane senses, Gally could feel the tension in the room. It was not like Mordekai to make a threat like this, but he must have had a good reason for it.
The Mouth of the Third Head said, "And that business brings you here, seeking the Star Seed?"
"That is correct," Mordekai replied. He motioned to Giger and said, "This apprentice of mine—a different one, obviously—made a rather remarkable discovery recently. The Ancients are among us, and I do not mean that as any figure of speech but rather in a very real and tangible sense."
Mordekai did not need to draw attention to Gally. The nine masters all looked to her without any prompting. It was hard for her not to shrink back at the sight of all those eyes on her.
"This girl?" the Third Mouth asked.
"Yes," Mordekai said. "Over three hundred years since the Cataclysm and an Ancient walks among us."
"How?"
"Consider her fellow Ancients," Mordekai said. "It was they who guided us to this place."
"The statues?" the Ears of the Second Head asked.
Mordekai nodded to Giger, who took the cue to speak.
"I was researching Lost Technology and was finding myself at a dead end," he began. "I needed the knowledge of the Ancients and so I decided to test a theory I had about the bronze statues." He gestured to Gally. "This was the result of my first experiment."
"Is it truly an Ancient?" the Eyes of the First Head asked.
"Honestly, I wasn't sure at first," Giger replied. "She had no memory of her previous life. I thought she might have been some form of familiar or a transmuted homunculus, but with the right trigger, her memory was restored. Not completely, mind you, but enough to prove that she is in fact an Ancient."
"Speak, child," the Mouth of the First Head said. "Show us that you are indeed an Ancient."
Gally removed the choker around her neck and began to speak. She could have said anything. Without the choker's enchantment, no one would understand her language.
She did not have to speak long before the Mouth of the Third Head said, "Put that choker back on and speak so that we can understand you."
Gally did so, then asked them, "What do you want to know?"
"Tell us of the world before the Cataclysm."
"I really don't know where to begin," she said. "What I'd think of as normal, you couldn't imagine, just like I have trouble wrapping my head around what you think is normal. I mean, we were more technologically advanced. Your cities, what I've seen, look like something out of the storybooks, like how things were hundreds of years ago back on Earth."
"Earth?"
"Yeah, Earth," she said. "You know, the Capital Homeworld." She paused. "Oh, I guess you wouldn't know. I mean, I don't really know either to be honest. I'd never been offworld."
"Offworld?" the Mouth of the First Head asked incredulously. "As in a place beyond this world?"
"There are hundreds of planets in the Empire," Gally said. "And that's not counting the Alliance, the Federation or all the Unaligned Worlds. It's really not that strange. I mean, I guess it would be for you. I'm only a second-generation colonist myself."
"If you were creating a fantasy, I think you would make something more believable," the Ears of the Second Head said.
"So there may be something to your story," the Eyes of the First Head added.
The Mouth of the First Head looked to Mordekai and said, "You seek the Star Seed, Mordekai Grummond. What do you expect to find?"
"Answers," Mordekai said curtly. "I hope to uncover the truth behind the Cataclysm, the secrets of the Ancients, everything that has been lost to us, everything that the League has tried to hide from the world all these centuries."
"As a master of the Phoenix Guild, keeping those secrets hidden was part of your duties," the Mouth of the First Head said. "Do you feel yourself freed of such obligation now that you live a second time?"
"We have wallowed in ignorance too long," Mordekai replied. "With the League trying to suppress us, we owe nothing to them."
"You could bring about a second Cataclysm," the Ears of the Second Head said.
"I could also heal this blighted land and usher in a new age of prosperity."
The Mouth of the Third Head balked, "You would try to bait us with dreams, Mordekai Grummond?"
"I simply wish you to acknowledge the range of possibilities. We have let fear stunt our development for too long. We could be so much more."
"That attitude invites destruction," the Ears of the Third Head said.
Mordekai placed his hand on his chest and said, "I am not mad with power, nor do I lust after gain. My obligation is to the new generation, to the generations yet unborn. We cannot continue like this. Someone must take the first step."
The masters exchanged glances, then the Mouth of the First Head said, "We will grant your request, Mordekai Grummond, albeit with some misgivings. Master Zarzadu and a pack of his choosing will look after you. If he should judge you a danger, your lives will be forfeit. Do you accept these terms?"
"I cannot speak for my companions," Mordekai said, "but for my part, I accept."
Giger was a little more reluctant. He furrowed his brow and looked at Mordekai before saying, "I accept."
That left Gally. She was not at all keen on the prospect of dying, but as she thought about it, what else did she have? If anything happened to Giger and Mordekai, she would not be getting back to Vigau and even if she did somehow make her way back, what was waiting for her? What was a life out of joint with time, separated from everything she knew? What did she have to lose? It was like she said before. She had come this far...
"I... I accept."
"I smell your fear, girl," the Mouth of the First Head said, "but you have said the words and we will hold you to them. Master Zarzadu, we entrust these three into your hands. Give them every aid in pursuit of the good. Uproot them without pity should they prove to be a force for evil."
"The three heads of the Cerberus are of one mind," Master Zarzadu replied.
"Go," the Mouth of the First Head said.
"And hope that you are right," the Mouth of the Second Head added.
"Pray that you are right," the Mouth of the Third Head said.
Mordekai gave the council a slight bow and said, "Thank you. Mayhap I can produce favorable results."
"For your sake, Mordekai Grummond, I hope that you do," the Mouth of the First Head said.
Once dismissed, they were led out of the council chamber and a short while later, Master Zarzadu emerged.
"Well, that went about as well as you could hope," he said. "Are you ready to go?"
"Quite ready," Mordekai replied. "How long will it take to reach the site?"
"On your legs, somewhere between two and three hours. We should get moving."
"What about your... your pack?" Gally asked uncertainly.
"They will be joining us along the way," Master Zarzadu said. "Do not worry, young Ancient. They are quite well-trained. If it comes to it, it will be quick."
If he meant that to be comforting, Gally found it anything but.
Once they emerged from the headquarters den, it proved to be just as Master Zarzadu said. The other members of the pack selected to keep an eye on them assembled as they headed toward their destination. The pack consisted of three of the nine-man squads like the one they first encountered. Clearly they were not going to be taking any chances.
It was a long walk to their destination. There were all manner of ruined buildings throughout the city, but this one looked different. It was more like a controlled demolition, the whole structure brought down with minimal scatter of the debris. It was almost like the ground opened up and swallowed the building whole.
"Took us years of digging to get down there," Master Zarzadu said. "There were some that said we should have left it as it was, but we had to be sure."
"Have you ever been down there?" Mordekai asked.
"It has been over a hundred years since anyone went down there last."
"The Guild didn't try to study it?"
"I was never taught the details, just that it was declared off-limits."
"I'm all the more surprised the council agreed to permit this."
"Something has to change," Master Zarzadu said. "Central keeps us working despite the Mage Ban, but we cannot recruit and train new mages. Young Bogdar is among the last initiates into the Guild."
"Depending on how this goes, the League might reinstate the guilds," Mordekai said.
"And it might try to wipe us out," Giger countered.
Mordekai sniffed dismissively.
"Ever the optimist."
Master Zarzadu rested his hand on the barricade that had been placed over the entrance and said, "It will be dangerous. Karel, your squad will go first. Bogdar, your squad will escort our guests. Andrej, you will follow after."
"Yes, master," the three squad leaders said in unison.
Karel's squad went to work tearing down the barricade, then lit lanterns, readied their gear, and headed down.
"The hole is deep," Master Zarzadu said. "It is about fifty floors down."
"What would that be, nearly half a kilometer?" Mordekai asked.
"Near enough, I imagine," Master Zarzadu replied. "I have not taken a meter stick to it."
"Fifty floors underground," Giger mused. "It'd have to be the Ancients."
"Is it that unusual?" Gally asked.
"Mines are one thing," Giger replied, "but a building fifty storeys down? I don't think I've ever heard of anything more than five storeys below the surface."
"Should we be concerned about cave-ins?" Mordekai asked.
"No," Master Zarzadu said. "If there is a cave-in, we will not have anything to worry about anymore."
He chuckled at this. Again, if this was meant to be comforting, Gally was not feeling the effect.
One of the younger mages began tying a rope around Gally's waist. She was connected to Giger, Mordekai and Master Zarzadu with one of Bogdar's squad in between each of them, as well as three at the front and three at the rear.
"This way if one falls, the others can catch him," the mage in front of Gally told her. "Or else we all make good friends all the way to the bottom."
"All ten seconds of it," Gally said.
This gave Giger pause. He knitted his brows, then asked her, "How do you know that?"
Gally was surprised herself.
"How did I know that?"
As she thought about it, the words spilled out unbidden.
"Fifty stories... That's about five hundred meters. Gravity is point-nine-three G, which is 9.11856 meters per second squared. The square root of two-D over G is about ten seconds..."
She paused.
"I... I guess I'm good at math?"
This only served to annoy Giger, who said, "You did that calculation in your head, but you can't even cook bacon without burning it?"
"Those aren't exactly related skills," Gally said. "Anyway, I think I was trying to get into accounting. Was I in Finance, though, or was I in HR? I don't remember..."
"Do you have any idea what she is talking about, Mordekai Grummond?" Master Zarzadu asked.
"Only a vague sense," Mordekai replied. "Her memories are still fragmentary, but I'm hoping this might help clear things up for her."
"There is only one way to find out," Master Zarzadu said. "We go. Bogdar."
They reached a seemingly bottomless hole that Gally recognized as an elevator shaft. You could barely see the light of the lanterns of the squad that went ahead of them.
"Can't you just magic your way down?" Gally asked. "Do we really have to climb?"
"You do not want to use magic carelessly in here, little Ancient," Master Zarzadu said. "Our records say that magic behaves strangely the further down you go."
"The Heart of Disaster," one of the mages muttered.
"Whatever the Star Seed is, if it's still active, we don't want to stimulate it unnecessarily," Mordekai said.
"What was your plan if you had made it this far by yourselves, Mordekai Grummond?" Master Zarzadu asked.
"I honestly didn't know what to expect," Mordekai replied. "I certainly was not expecting a half-kilometer hole."
"It might have been interesting to see what solution you would have devised."
"Maybe so, but now the solution is to climb. I'm afraid this body cannot be much help, but on the other hand, it ought not be much of a burden either."
"It would wound our pride to complain about supporting you three," Bogdar said. "Mind your feet on the way down."
And so they started to make their way down the elevator shaft. Gally looked around for any sign of a ladder for maintenance workers. If there had been one, it must have come loose and collapsed a long time ago. The internal framework was a mess, but at least it provided some sort of foothold, even if you could not trust it too much.
The first squad had already run a line down as they went, but rather than using that, their squad prepared their own rope. It was important to have a backup, she supposed.
It was scary from the start, but the further down they went, the more afraid Gally felt. It was becoming more and more difficult for her to breathe. Her legs were not cooperating like they should. Then her foot slipped, causing her to lose her grip. Rather than a scream, it was more like a yelp as her voice was cut short by the tug of the rope. The Cerberus mage above her did not budge.
"Galatea, are you alright?" Mordekai asked.
For some reason, she found herself annoyed that it was not Giger asking after her wellbeing.
"I, I fell," she said.
"This is why we have the lifeline," Mordekai said. "Stay calm and we'll get you back in position. Find a handhold and grab on."
She had to twist herself back around and reached out searching for anything to hold onto.
"I got it," she said once she found a bent piece of frame.
"Now find a foothold," Mordekai said. "Don't rush. See that it's solid footing."
Her foot searched about for something that would support her weight. When she finally did find that something, she was able to breathe a sigh of relief.
"I'm okay now," she said.
"Take your time going down," Mordekai told her. "There's no need to hurry. Make sure of your footing as you go."
Was Giger not going to say anything? It was just as well, she imagined. He would probably just say something snide and make her angry. She would rather not have anything else on her mind but their descent.
There were a couple more close calls but no serious mishaps the rest of the way down. When they were safely at the bottom, that unpleasantness Gally was expecting from Giger finally arrived.
"A good thing you don't weigh that much," he said. "You nearly got us all killed."
Unable to think up a proper retort, Gally simply opted to punch Giger in the arm. This was not the response he was expecting.
"Is this how you treat your employer!?"
"Giger, honestly," Mordekai chided. "Would it kill you to show a little delicacy for a change? I realize you yourself were too scared to speak up earlier, but still..."
"M, me, scared!? Are you out of your mind, old man!?"
"I would actually be more surprised if you had gotten over your fear of heights. Have you forgotten about that one time Priscilla got away from you and—"
"Enough!"
The thought of Giger having been just as scared as her made Gally feel a little less ill-disposed toward him. It did not mean he had to be a jerk to defend his fragile pride, though.
A good person would have probably left it at that. However, her sense of charity was found lacking now that she had some ammunition against him.
"I could hold your hand on the way back up," she suggested.
"And I could turn you back into a statue for another three hundred years."
"Enough, you two," Mordekai said. "It's time to move on."
Gally looked up and did not see any lights from the third squad.
"Are the others not coming?" she asked.
"The will be staying up top," Master Zarzadu said. "Someone needs to watch the ropes. They can come down if we are in need of rescue and, in the worst case, they can collapse the shaft to prevent anything from getting out."
That did not seem particularly encouraging to her.
"Mind your step," Master Zarzadu said. "It has been a long time since our excavation. Things may have gotten rather unstable in the meantime."
Despite all the broken panels and decayed wiring, the corridors actually seemed pretty well intact. Apparently they were carved out of the rock, then reinforced with concrete. The expensive stuff, not the cheap junk used in a lot of the buildings on the surface which were nothing but piles of rubble.
As they were walking, Gally could not help but feel the oppressive atmosphere. Something inside her knew this was a place where she was not supposed to be. Over three hundred years and she still expected twenty armed men to spring up and apprehend her.
"We'd be sent to mine some asteroid for sure," she said to herself.
"A what?" Giger asked.
"An asteroid. You know, one of those big rocks in space. Even though they can just use robots, they send people there for punishment."
"What the hell is a robot?"
"Nevermind."
"A world we know nothing about," Master Zarzadu mused. "What more might we learn?"
"That's why we're here," Mordekai said.
Eventually they reached a sturdy-looking security door closed fast. There were scorch marks, apparently from where the Cerberus Guild tried forcing it open during their excavation.
"This was as far as we got," Master Zarzadu said. "The Star Seed is just beyond. You can feel its power. Any suggestions on how to proceed, Mordekai Grummond?"
Mordekai looked at the scorch marks and said, "Brute force doesn't seem to be the answer, or perhaps you simply didn't use enough of it."
"We can't be bringing down the whole building on our heads, now can we?"
Mordekai rested his hand on the door and said, "There is a magical seal we must deal with before we can devise a mechanical solution. Giger."
Giger stepped forward and touched the door as well.
"Sixth Circle," he said. "Boosted to Seven, so it's unstable."
Mordekai looked around the room and said, "We might just have enough. Master Zarzadu, you know the Stanislaw Pattern 86, I trust."
"Not by heart, no," Master Zarzadu replied.
"You can copy it easily enough, yes?"
"Yes."
Mordekai took a small booklet out of the inner pocket of his jacket, then pulled out a pin hidden in his hat and pricked his thumb. He traced a symbol on the cover of the booklet with his blood and when he opened the booklet, the hidden figures started to appear.
"A clever trick to hide your grimoire," Master Zarzadu said.
"The Mage Ban has served to encourage a lot of clever tricks," Mordekai replied as he thumbed through the booklet looking for the right page. When he did, he offered the booklet to Master Zarzadu, saying, "Here you are."
"Are you telling me you know Pattern 86 by heart, Mordekai Grummond?"
"I can refer to Giger's grimoire if I need it."
There was nothing for Gally to do but stay out of the way and watch as the mages did their work drawing their magic circles on and around the door.
When they had finished, Mordekai went over the lines to double-check them and when he seemed somewhat satisfied, he said, "Giger, test the connection."
Giger rested his hand near the circle he drew and the lines began to light up, but as the light spread to the other circles, it sparked and fizzled out. Mordekai made some corrections and had Giger try again. It took three tries before they got the connection working.
"Even with all of us, I don't know if it'll be enough to overcome a Seventh Circle seal," Mordekai said.
"We have something for that," Master Zarzadu said.
He nodded to the other mages and they all removed their masks and pulled out little paper packets. Gally could not see what was in the packets, but whatever it was, they put it in their mouths and crunched on it.
"A channel booster," Mordekai said.
"We carry them in case we encounter a problem we cannot handle normally," Master Zarzadu said. "This time, it was in case we would have to fight you, Mordekai Grummond."
"Such farmaceutics are dangerous."
"We are prepared for it."
A few of them reacted a little more strongly than others as the drug took effect, but all of them had dark lines of tears streaking down their furry faces. It was difficult to tell for sure by the dim light of the lanterns, but it seemed like it was tears of blood. Gally found herself shrinking back toward Giger.
"Careful," he grumbled. "We don't need you smudging the lines."
Gally bit her lip rather than say anything. She would just see that he got some eggshells in the next omelette she had to make for him.
"Let's begin," Mordekai said. "Gentlemen, please take your positions and begin focusing. The image will come to you soon. You do not need to do anything at the moment. Just let the energy flow through you."
Mordekai began a low chant, then Giger joined in, followed by Master Zarzadu and the Cerberus Guild mages. When a voice was added, the lines grew brighter and by the time all of them were chanting together, Gally had to cover her eyes. Mordekai shouted something and then everything went dark and quiet again.
"That takes care of that," Mordekai said, clapping his hands. "Now we just have to physically open this thing."
Mordekai ran his finger along the rim of his glasses and one of the lenses started to glow. Giger did the same and the two of them started looking over the door.
"The mechanism is damned complicated," Giger grumbled.
"No matter how complicated the mechanism, the component parts are simple if you break it down far enough, Giger," Mordekai replied. "This cam here. If we can move it up, over, down and back, the lock should release. We need to move these eight points, simultaneously, I imagine."
"You're seeing inside the door?" Gally asked. "Like a Röntgen?"
"A what?"
"Nevermind," Gally said. "Just don't look at me while that thing's on."
"Why would I—? Gah!"
Giger turned toward her and immediately looked away.
"Focus, please, Giger," Mordekai said.
Giger made a bit of an annoyed growl before going to work. Without another word between them, they wiped away the previous magic circles and started drawing new ones. They worked quickly and efficiently. Their years together as master and pupil counted for more than their years apart. The Cerberus mages watched them intently. It was unnerving enough having all these dog-faced men staring, but it was even worse with the dim lantern light and the stains of their tears of blood.
Though Gally knew next to nothing about magic, she was able to figure out what they were doing. There was a circle for each of the eight points they needed to manipulate and one in the center connecting them all so they could work at the same time like Mordekai wanted.
Mordekai activated the magic circle in the center and the light spread to the other eight circles. Once they were all lit up, he twisted his wrist, much as you would do to open an ordinary door. There was an ear-splitting whine as the locking mechanism that had not been used in centuries reluctantly surrendered to the magical command to open.
"Well, it's unlocked," Mordekai said. "Now we need to open it. Shall we do it the old-fashioned way? Did any of you gentlemen bring a prybar?"
"Why use muscle when you can use the mind?" Master Zarzadu said. He nodded to a few of his mages, then said, "They can handle the task."
Four of the Cerberus mages took left and right, top and bottom, drawing fairly quick and simple magic circles. Once they were done, they placed their hands in the circles, activate them and began to push the door open. The doors resisted and opening them just enough for a person to crawl through seemed to be their limit.
"How would you like to proceed?" Mordekai asked Master Zarzadu.
"Much as I would like to witness this moment for myself, I have my orders," Master Zarzadu replied. He looked to a few of his mages and told them, "Timofey, Jan, Teodor, you will go with them."
"Yes, Head," the three mages replied.
"If anything should go wrong," Master Zarzadu explained, "we seal the door, this floor, and if needed, the whole complex."
"You can never be too safe," Mordekai said dryly.
"If I were so concerned about safety, the three of you would already be in an unmarked grave, but the world needs change and I am willing to risk the world to make it happen."
"It's the moment of truth."
"Indeed," Master Zarzadu replied. "Do not make me regret trusting in you, Mordekai Grummond."
Mordekai made a lazy gesture somewhere between a wave and a salute before motioning to the door to offer the Cerberus mages the opportunity to go in first. They declined, so Mordekai took it upon himself to make that fateful first step.
"Come along, Giger, Galatea," he said as he crawled into the gap between the doors.
Giger gave an exasperated sigh and followed after with Gally close behind. Once they were all through, Mordekai pointed down the corridor.
"This way."
As they proceeded down the corridor, Gally could feel a prickling sensation on her skin and in her nostrils as she breathed. It was nothing more than a minor discomfort, yet it put her on edge.
"What if it's some kind of reactor leak?" she muttered to herself. "I wish we had a Geiger counter..."
"And what exactly do you intend to do by countering me?" Giger asked. "And why are you pronouncing my name wrong?"
"Wha—?"
It took her a moment to piece it together.
"Oh, never mind."
"Stop saying pointless things and I won't mind," Giger said.
"This thing, it isn't meant to counter Giger, or to count him," Mordekai reasoned. "What does it do?"
"It's used to measure radiation," Gally said.
"I'd ask, but I don't think I have the patience for your fumbling explanation," Giger said.
"Suffice to say that this 'radiation' is some sort of energy of a harmful nature and the device you mentioned would detect any potential danger," Mordekai concluded.
Gally nodded.
"You see, Giger?" Mordekai said. "That wasn't so bad, now was it?"
"You got around having her explain it too."
Their banter was cut off when the next door came into view. It was much like the one where they came in, but it was all bulged out, as if it had been deformed by an explosion.
As Mordekai inspected the damage, he said, "It would seem that the magic seal on the last door is what allowed it to hold."
"Was there not a seal on this one?" Gally asked.
"If there was, there isn't enough of a residual trace for me to notice."
He then crawled through and the others followed. There were several more rooms to get through. Probably if the facility was above the surface, half the city would have been destroyed. Probably why they were so far underground.
Finally they reached what had to be the Star Seed's chamber. 'They' were only Mordekai, Giger and Gally, as the three Cerberus mages opted to hang back near that door that had been blown out. Apparently that was what was going to serve as their first line of defense should things go wrong.
The Star Seed's chamber was a large round room with only one way in or out. The walls were patterned like a geodesic dome with several panels cut out for windows that probably connected to some sort of observation or control room. The fact that those windows were blown out indicated that direct observation was not the best idea.
In the center was this pod about three meters tall and two meters across. It really did look like a seed. All sorts of tubes and wires were connected to it from the floor and ceiling, but most of those connections had been broken, leaving dangling ends hanging about. If the power was still working, Gally was pretty sure this room would be a death trap. Surely all those wires and tubes served a purpose. It was hard to believe there would be anything salvageable in that pod.
"Can you feel it, Giger?" Mordekai asked. "This power... It's sleeping, but beneath the surface, the potential..."
"This thing is alive," Giger said. "After all this time, it's still alive. I don't think we want to wake it."
"Come now, Giger," Mordekai chided. "We've come all this way and the Star Seed itself is right in front of us. Don't tell me you're getting cold feet now."
"I'm seeing where Kamellia got it from," Giger muttered.
Mordekai shook his head.
"I'd like to think you were above such low blows, Giger. If it will comfort you any, we will proceed cautiously. Galatea, please stand back, near the door. If I tell you to run, you run as far and as fast as you can."
Gally did not object and promptly moved over to the door while Mordekai and Giger were looking over the chamber. Mordekai brushed his foot on the floor, then whistled for Giger to bring the lantern over.
"Look, he said. "They've etched a magic circle into the floor. You almost never see a permanent circle like this. With the damage to the floor, though, I don't think it can be reactivated."
"It looked a bit like the Carroway 118 and the Makron 53," Giger said. "Look at the runes here. Some kind of control spell, I think, regulating the flow of energy."
"That control failed, obviously," Mordekai replied. "And now we don't even have that."
"You said we were going to proceed cautiously," Giger said. "What did you have in mind?"
"I was thinking we could give her a light stimulus to test her reaction."
"This is supposed to be the thing that damn near destroyed the world," Giger said, "and you want to give it a 'light stimulus'?"
"We have to start somewhere."
Listening to all this at a distance, Gally asked, "Is this going to be alright?"
"It will be fine, Galatea," Mordekai said. "Just... be ready."
That was not terribly comforting. Gally was not that confident in her running ability, but she thought it might be good to do some stretches to get limbered up first. Giger looked at her like she was crazy but did not comment on it.
Mordekai took out his pocketknife and cut his thumb, then began to draw on the pod with his blood.
"Shouldn't you be using a more neutral medium?" Giger asked. "If this thing is really alive..."
"That is precisely what I mean to test," Mordekai replied. "We will get results faster this way."
"In what world does 'faster' and 'cautiously' go together?" Giger asked critically.
"I don't remember you always being so timid, Giger," Mordekai said.
"Oh, I don't know. Maybe it's just the fact that we're risking a second Cataclysm that I'm not trundling ahead at full gallop."
"You're worrying too much," Mordekai said heedlessly. "We're going to take it nice and easy, one step at a time. Like so."
Mordekai placed his hand on the circle of blood and held it there. At first, nothing happened, but just when Gally was going to ask about it, there was a stirring. It started with a faint rumbling, like the foreshock before an earthquake. It steadily became stronger, enough to rattle the loose panels and bits of debris scattered about. And the shaking only became stronger still.
"What happened to a 'light stimulus'!?" Giger demanded.
"It would seem she's more sensitive than I thought," Mordekai replied, showing rather unnerving calm given the circumstances.
The shaking was even stronger now, at least a solid magnitude 2.
"Are you going to stop or what!?" Giger shouted.
"I'd like to very much," Mordekai said, "but she's not letting go."
Giger took hold of Mordekai's arm and tried pulling it away from the pod, but it would not move, like it was glued in place. All the while, the shaking was ramping up and would easily be a 3 before long. And if that was not enough, the inside of the pod started to glow and light began seeping out the cracks in bright beams.
Still not raising his voice, Mordekai said, "Galatea, you should probably be running now."
Giger was responding a little more appropriately to the situation, yelling, "Gally! Get out of here!"
There was nothing Gally could do. If anything, her getting out of the way would let them focus on what they needed to do. She ran back the way they came, but she did not get far. Before she could get to the corridor with the blown-out door, the way was blocked with rubble. She realized the three Cerberus mages that followed them in were gone. They must have expected trouble and sealed the three of them in. Maybe that was the plan from the start. Instead of an unmarked grave on the outskirts of the city, they were going to be buried five hundred meters underground with the Heart of Disaster.
There was not much else she could do, so she went back to Giger and Mordekai. At the very least, she did not want to die alone.
When she came back to the Star Seed's chamber, the situation had not changed much from when she left. Mordekai's hand was still stuck to the pod and Giger was trying to get him free. All the while, the place was shaking more and more and the light flooding out of the pod was getting brighter.
Giger saw her come back out of the corner of his eye and shouted, "You idiot! What're you doing back here!?"
"They closed off the way out!"
"Those bastards..."
"Giger..." Mordekai said. "It's time."
"Dammit!"
Giger ran over to Gally, hastily scrawled a magic circle on the floor and activated it. A black hole wreathed in what looked like electricity appeared in the air. Giger reached in and pulled out a cloak, wrapping Gally up in it.
"Get down!" he shouted, pushing her to the floor.
"Giger!"
He wrapped his arm around her and put his free hand on her head to keep her covered. She could not see what was happening, but the shaking was joined by this ear-piercing screech. This was it.
And then...
Silence...
Stillness...
Giger let her go. Slowly, and more than a little fearfully, Gally pulled away the cloak. The chamber was flooded with light, forcing Gally to cover her eyes, but that light steadily began to fade.
Once they could see, the Star Seed's pod was empty. Mordekai's clothes were lying in a heap, but there was no sign of him anywhere. On the ground was a young woman with long black hair. She sat up slowly, holding up her hands and looking at them. She then reached over to the pile of Mordekai's clothes, took his glasses and perched them on her nose, then looked again at her hands, then down at her chest.
"Well, this wasn't what I was expecting."