Sliver of the Sun

[nntowerfield]

The coins rattled in Temri's hands.

"Whose family?" asked Makoe.

Temri looked at Makoe, her ears curling: "I'm starting to question whether or not you're really in the trade. How can you live on the streets of Erdon and not know of the Family?"

"I am new here. Please enlighten me." Makoe said and prepared to forward the information to the rest of her crew.

Temri was thoughtful. "A group of street-smart thugs. They run this side of the city." She shook her head – up and down, a way of showing scorn. "Though run might be too strong a word."

"You do not like the Family?"

Temri shook her head again. "No, I do not. Their previous… leader…" Temri curled herself up - hugging her body with her arms, her heartrate was increasing. She looked at Makoe, and was embarrassed, but tried to cover it up by spilling the coins on the floor and counting them. "Their leader was a good man. He knew how to keep people happy. He was a true leader. Unlike that woman." Temri spat.

"Your plan is to what? Kill them all?" Asked Makoe.

Temri's eyes widened as she stared at Makoe, she held the knife between them again, defensive.

"What in the Giant's mercy did you just say? Why would I kill anyone!?"

Makoe checked the logs and realised her mistake. Apparently, the Miriani thought of killing as the greatest sin imaginable. Most had a visceral reaction to even mentions of it.

And yet, 7000 years ago, they created the instruments of their own annihilation. Matrioshka observed. Rhea was threatened with blades too - is Temri displaying her knife as a means of deterrence?

Perhaps these empty threats of violence are an evolutionary response to a near extinction event. Matrioshka resolved to discuss this further with Rhea when they both had some time. Currently she was trapped in a tree, and Rhea was fixing a broken arm.

Makoe lifted her hand in a placating manner. "I am merely trying to ascertain your motives and desires. I can tell you something of myself if you wish? An answer for an answer."

"I already answered a question. I ask now." Temri demanded.

"Sounds reasonable."

"Good." Temri said, relaxing once more. "There is no way someone from this city doesn't know about the Family. So, where are you from?"

Makoe confirmed with the data before answering; "2nd Kingdom."

"Figured. Your fur and all…" She grew thoughtful for a moment. "Hey. I don't really care about your Disgrace. You don't need to worry about me bossing you around."

"Oh?" Makoe consulted the definition of Disgrace, and smiled. "I wouldn't obey you if you tried."

"Tell her Officer Rue! I'm the only one who commands you." said Matrioshka and smiled coyly.

Makoe sent her a digital poke and said: "Shush captain. Don't flirt with me while I'm extracting information."

Matrioshka's processing speed spiked.

Temri replied: "You know… I believe you."

"My turn. What did the Family do to incur vengeance?" asked Makoe.

"The issue is in what they aren't doing, more than what they did. Since they changed leadership, the Family has been losing its grip on their territory. They are getting pushed around by the King's forces. I want strength – a new leadership, in honour of the previous."

"And how exactly do you plan to do so?"

"Oh no." replied Temri. "One question for one answer. It my turn again."

"Fair." Makoe said and closed in on Temri and her coins. When Temri looked at her sharply, Makoe spread her hands and said: "Just want to help you count."

Temri searched Makoe's gaze and clasped her hands. They got to counting while Temri asked her question;

"Why did you decide to rob that guy? I mean…" she spread her hands, indicating the large sum of money.

"How did I know the guy was loaded?" asked Makoe.

"Yeah. I know the trade; Observe the clothes first, then the attitude, and finally who the person is with. Usually, you're looking for expensive suits or dresses, arrogance, and an entourage of at least four other Miriani."

"Hmm. Good practice. Should yield a good target in 98.1% of cases." Makoe said after a quick calculation.

Temri's ears vibrated like a tuning fork; "You have an education!?"

"Do I not look the part?"

Temri laughed. "No way. Plus, since when do educated people go out robbing random men on the street? And… you still haven't answered my question."

"Ah." Makoe considered what she could say. Matrioshka saw her browse PesKal's data, and almost open a channel towards Damien – no doubt to construct some sturdy lie. Makoe decided against it, and said:

"I was after his lens." Said Makoe.

More vibrating ears from Temri; "Whoa. Identity theft? You're in for the big bucks." she said while counting the 200th coin.

"My group is infiltrating the city."

Gently panicking, Matrioshka asked: "What are you doing Officer Rue?"

Makoe smiled through their connection and replied: "All is well captain. Observe Temri's hormonal balance."

Matrioshka did. It was all out of whack. Temri's hormones were severely disbalanced, particularly those responsible for regulating emotion and emotional responses. Among other things, symptoms would include anxiety, sadness accompanied by hopelessness, nicely topped with obsessiveness and anger.

"Poor girl. She needs psychiatric help." Said Matrioshka.

"Yes. I believe if I do not create a firm bond with her, she will fall further into her mental illness. Officer PesKal, please review my conclusion." Asked Makoe and sent the relevant data to PesKal.

PesKal's glider was pulled by a calm current, guiding him into an open field just across a road leading outside of the city. Fortunately, the road was empty, otherwise the large crater created by the falling Atomic Press would have been seen.

"I concur. If I were Temri's psychiatrist, I would diagnose her with both the equivalent of human depression and Ankrahi anxiety." PesKal replied.

Matrioshka winced, and told Makoe; "Yup. Poor girl... Coordinate with Officer Lavigne."

"Why Officer Lavigne?" Makoe asked.

"She has infiltrated the Family."

Makoe didn't reply, she just shook her head and smiled.

"Infiltrating the city? What for?" asked Temri, loosing count of her coins. "Dammit." She said and started counting from the start.

Makoe provided the correct count: "You were at 203. And we are doing so for strictly research purposes."

"Research? What are you researching?"

Makoe smiled: "Highcrown and its inhabitants."

Temri looked anxiously at Makoe, switching her gaze from her to the coins and back again. She finally asked; "You want to help me destroy the Family? It would allow you to learn more about Highcrown, and help you with your strictly research purposes."

"It would be my pleasure Temri." Makoe said as she extended both her arms towards Temri, who considered them, and extended her own. Their fingers interlocked in what symbolized a promise between two friends, as per PesKal's information.

Temri appeared stoic from the outside, but Makoe could detect the gentle shift in her brain's chemistry - Temri was happy.

"Lens received." said Damien.

"What? Oh." Makoe was startled by Damien. The nanites had successfully carried the lens to the Academy, flew over the walls without issue, and found Damien.

Lens secured, the nanites began the trip back to the bell tower, where the rest of Makoe's nanites were hidden.

Makoe and Temri continued their conversation – Makoe aiming to build trust, while Damien got to falsifying his identity.

He emerged from the bushes, a mass of nanites, and entered a storm drain on the side of the Academy. Covertly he drilled a small hole connecting the outside to a hallway within the Academy. He waited until the coast was clear and flowed through the 12mm wide hole inside.

The Academy had soft wooden floors – softly creaking under each step. There was an air of cleanliness, as Miriani maids and butlers tended to the wealthier students and faculty. Each corner of the halls had some metal decorations – distinctly plant-like. Damien confirmed the sculptures as an artform prized in the 10th Kingdom, and sold moon-wide for very high sums.

He spied the principal's office, and his nanites flowed into and unlocked the office's door. The inside matched the outside well; pure Miriani opulence.

Damien opened the cabinet containing the faculty's information, a rudimentary lock stood in the way and was quickly dealt with. Damien summoned a folder containing the pertinent information regarding Professor Nam Brarom, a transfer from the 5th Kingdom, arrived yesterday.

The folder, made of pure nanites, would serve as a good cover for Damien's identity. He would be a professor of mathematics, who earned his place in the Academy thanks to his revolutionary theory; negative numbers. Damien would be required to teach 2 classes each day and would use the rest of his time to further develop his theory.

The job also came with a very nice pay check – 300 silver coins a month.

With the folder complete, Damien placed it within the cabinet between the sliding drawer and the surrounding wooden panelling. As if it had been lodged there on accident, the folder would be instructed to fall out the next time the principal opened this drawer. This would most likely be when, and if, the principal came to double-check Damien's credentials.

Now all Damien had to do was decide how to present himself to the principal and the rest of the faculty. They would want to know where he was during the previous day – someone had to have seen him arrive yesterday.

Damien browsed his surroundings in the virtual and decided to fake illness. He planned to enter one of the on-site faculty dorms, falsify the documents there – granting him lodging, and go straight back here.

Only this time, he would not be sneaking around. He would then approach the principal and explain how he caught a fever, and wished to isolate himself for at least a day.

Gently flowing across the office, into the hall, and through the hole in the floor, Damien emerged once again into the courtyard. He left some nanites behind to close the hole, and to keep track of the events in the principal's office.

The form of Nam Brarom, dressed as a member of the faculty, made its way towards the dorms.

Damien enjoyed being out in the open for a change, he greeted a pair of guards as they marched by him. They returned the greeting and continued on their way.

The dorms were mostly subterran with a singular floor above ground. Damien opened the main wooded doors and entered the main hall. A golden-furred maid, dressed in a long white dress, was dusting a cabinet.

Damien scanned her and read her identification.

He thought of what to say. Currently, Rosamond's World was hidden from the Emperor and Empress by the Duchess. And being in the much larger planet's shadow, it was currently neither day nor night. The Miriani had invented a word for this arrangement of their celestial spheres. Damien said:

"Good Daynight, Eri."

"Oh!" The kind-faced older maid turned around. It was obvious she did not recognise Damien, but decided to pay him the necessary respects.

"Good Daynight, professor." she said.

"Pardon me, I don't think we were introduced. My name is Nam Brarom, a new transfer from the 5th Kingdom." Damien said and gave Eri a gentle bow.

Eri looked troubled and embarrassed. "I am Eri. It is a pleasure to meet you professor. Pay me no mind, I am just doing some dusting, its Daynight after all."

"Indeed, it is. Take care, Eri."

Damien smiled kindly, which startled Eri further, and walked towards his room.

Since Rosamond's World was tidally locked, its orbital period equalled its rotational period. One side of Rosamond's World always faced the Duchess, and once each orbit, it would hide behind the bigger planet.

In Miriani culture, Daynight was a period of blessed darkness in the middle of the day, lasting about 2 and a half hours. This time was used for important work, as all done during Daynight falls under the grace of the Giant.

Damien released a small group on nanites and instructed them to doctor the documents pertaining to ownership of room number 66 of the dormitory. He chose it for its proximity to Adra's room. She would be assigned to room number 67.

When he rounded the corner, leaving Eri behind, he heard her talking to another maid.

"Did you hear? The new professor is so kind. He knew my name." Eri was saying.

"I did." A younger maid said. "Like professor Bubi from the 6th and professor Tiarra from the 4th, people in the lower kingdoms treat us kindly."

Eri brightened; "Another one is coming from the 5th kingdom. Professor Nam just told me."

"Really? Maybe they can finally teach some kindness to the students. Mlimi had tomato-potatoes thrown at her again." The other maid said.

Tomato-potatoes? Matrioshka thought. PesKal had used the equivalence principle to assign names to fruits and vegetables. Tomato-potatoes, like tomatoes from Terra, were red and circular with soft interiors. But grew as roots - like potatoes.

The nanites sent by Damien to falsify documentation have completed their job. Another paper, denoting room 66 as assigned to Nam Brarom, now rested on the dorm administrator's desk. The administrator was on older, golden-furred Miriani, he was slacking on the job, reading a book, and was oblivious to the nanites.

Damien reached his room on the second subterran floor. It was completely empty, and he began settling in. Nanites formed inconspicuous furniture and other objects, modelled after the scans of the nearby faculty's rooms.

Using some of the nanites left outside, Damien saw Adra running across the Academy courtyard. She was hauling two suitcases behind her and was almost out of breath.

"Giant's mercy, I am so late!" Adra said while approaching the dorm.

She opened the door in a whirl and saw Eri, still cleaning the cabinet.

"Good Daynight miss. Please can you point me to the administrator's office?"

Startled, Eri pointed across the hall.

"Thank you! We will meet properly later!" Adra said while running once more.

Adra arrived in front of the administrator's office, fixed her clothes, and knocked.

The administrator rushed to hide the book, and organise the chaos strewn across his desk – knocking some files onto the floor. He called out:

"Come in."

Adra jumped in and bowed.

The administrator looked at her while hunched over – collecting the scattered documents. He said: "Ah, professor Nan-Tar. So kind of you to join us."

Adra want to explain: "I am sorry. I was…"

"Save it for the principal. I don't care." Administrator held the documents up and notices the new one. He stared at it for a few seconds.

"Uh…" he said, confused. He opened the file, scanned over the text, and saw his signature – brilliantly copied and falsified by Damien's nanites. "Alright then." He concluded, shook his head, and flipped to Adra's files.

"Here it is. Professor Adra Nan-Tar, room 67." he said and gave Adra the key to her room. "I suggest you hurry to the principal's office. You have some explaining to do. You are 17 hours late."

"Yes of course!" Adra said, bowed and left towards her room.

Damien decided to go meet Adra, he waited until she was close and exited his room.

Adra was near her door, just across Damien's, and was surprised to see him.

"Hello." she said, and did something between a Miriani bow and a curtsy. An original 5th kingdom greeting, Damien realised. He went back to the data he scanned from the library's books, found a section on 5th Kingdom formalities, and read the male version of the greeting. Damien did his best to imitate the described motions and asked: "In a rush?"

Adra seemed to not find his motions strange. "Oh yes." she said while opening the door to her room. She threw her luggage inside, and locked the door again. "I am so late."

Damien went to follow Adra as she started a firm jog towards the main Academy building.

"I could help, mitigate the situation." Damien offered.

Adra considered him and said: "It would be helpful. Thank you."

They ran past Eri, who was startled for the third time.

"I was supposed to arrive long before Daynight." Adra said, looking towards the Duchess. It was low on the horizon, a pink crescent void, illuminated not by stars but a molten moon.

"What kept you?" Damien asked.

Adra scoffed. "You know how it is. Port guard finds it unbelievable someone from the lower kingdoms could be a professor. They detained me for hours until they could find an "expert" to confirm my identity. All this during the sacred Daynight… I didn't know someone else from the 5th kingdom worked at the Academy…?" she said, looking at Damien.

"I am a new transfer too. Arrived a few days ago."

"Oh. I am Adra Nan-Tar, pleasure to meet you."

"Nam Brarom, pleasure is all mine." Damien said just as they reached the Academy building. They were let in by a guard, of course only after showing their ids, and made their way to the first floor. Damien scanned the office; the principal was here now, and Damien scanned his id – Principal Orev Diatr.

They approached the door and Adra knocked.

Orev was middle aged, naturally golden furred and visibly irritated at the interruption. He stroked his facial hair, two long lengths of hair on his cheeks, and said: "Enter."

Damien and Adra shuffled in and bowed deeply. Orev looked up from his writing, and stared at Damien and Adra over his glasses. He said:

"Professor Nan-Tar. We expected you many hours ago. No matter, I expected nothing else from the 5th Kingdom."

Adra was angry, hormones surged within her brain. Outwardly she appeared perfectly apologetic. She bowed even deeper and said:

"My deepest apologies. I offer no excuse for my tardiness. I resolve to not embarrass the Academy in the future."

The principal looked disinterested; he accepted the apology with a wave of the hand. He looked at Damien wearing the Academy uniform and frowned.

"And who might you be?" he asked.

"I am professor Nam Brarom. I arrived yesterday but was feeling ill. I have isolated myself in my dorm for the last 30 hours."

The principal looked dubious. "I do not remember a second 5th kingdom transfer. This must be a mistake…" He opened the drawer and Damien's paper fell out from between the drawer and the cabinet's inner wall.

The principal picked up the paper and read it over a couple of times. Only the gentle falling of sand from the principal's hourglass filled the silence. Adra looked at Nam questioningly, and he gave her the Miriani equivalent of a shrug.

"I see." The principal said. "May I use your lens, professor Brarom?"

"Naturally." Damien replied and handed his lens.

The principal inspected the paper using the lens, revealing correct identification, then stared at Damien and Adra.

"Two professors from the 5th. How fortunate we are to have such a diverse faculty. Welcome to the Academy." Orev said and got back to his writing.

He spoke at Adra without looking: "I trust you will want to use this time to prepare for your class professor Nam-Tar. They will be within classroom 134, in half an hour."

And to Damien: "As for you professor Brarom; you will have to wait a couple of hours until my secretary devises a class schedule. Your arrival was quite unexpected."

Damien and Adra bowed and walked out of the office.

"Classroom 143. In 18 minutes." Damien said when they left the office.

"What?" Adra asked.

"Your class will be waiting in room 143 in 18 minutes from now. Not room 134 and certainly not in half an hour."

Adra did not appear surprised at the principal's weaponized deception. "You know my schedule?" she asked.

"I know everybody's schedule."

Adra looked at Damien and smiled. "You're strange. What do you teach?"

"Mathematics. You?" Damien knew already, but wished to appear friendly. They just stepped into the courtyard.

Adra smiled. Damien found it fascinating how smiling looked the same on both Miriani, Ankrahi, and humans. Adra continued: "Ah, Mathematics. Explains much. I teach science - mostly geology."

It was Damien's turn to smile. "Let's meet some time. I would like to know more about you and you experience."

"I would like to know the same about you, strange man."

"Can you visit me after my first lecture? I don't know when it will be yet." Damien asked.

"I will find out. See you then." Adra said and bowed. She went back to the dorms, probably to change into her uniform and prepare for her class.

Damien went to leisurely explore the rest of the Academy.

 

[nntowerfield]

PesKal was airborne, approaching the landing site of the Atomic Press. Once on the ground, he would secure the Press as per Matrioshka's orders.

"I am approaching the Press, captain." he said. Through his eyes Matrioshka saw the 5-meter-wide crater, created by the Press impacting the ground at supersonic speeds. The Press' main systems were still functional, it released pings and transmitted some basic diagnostics.

A carriage pulled by a long-legged animal rushed across a nearby road.

PesKal, from 55 meters in the air, saw two Miriani on board. The carriage banked right, into the road's wooden fence and broke right through. The animal, which PesKal's language pack translated as "horse-rabbit", hit the fence hard. It whined loudly but continued to pull the carriage diligently.

The carriage was in the cabbage-eggplant field now, going straight for the Atomic Press.

"Estimated time of arrival is 13 second. I can reach the Press in 5." PesKal said and dematerialized his glider. He entered a free-fall, directly above the Press.

"Merge with the Press, Officer PesKal." Matrioshka advised.

PesKal was unsure; "To what end, captain?"

"You lack sufficient nanites to move the press by yourself at any reasonable rate. The Miriani within the carriage nearly have line of sight with the Press. Your best hope is to stay hidden until such a time when you can safely take the Press elsewhere." Matrioshka explained.

"Understood, captain." PesKal said just as he landed. Seamlessly, his nanites enveloped the Press, removing any descriptive grooves, panelling, or lettering. It was now a simple black cube.

The carriage stopped.

Two wax lanterns hung from its front, painting the crater red.

The two Miriani within the carriage were motionless. An older Miriani man was looking directly at PesKal through the carriage's window.

"You were… right?" The older Miriani said to the other with a distinct note of disbelief.

"Of course, I was right Bemri! I saw it with my own eyes. It fell from the sky!" The other, a much younger male responded while opening the door.

"Sir Yim, please wait! It might be dangerous." The older man, named Bemri, said.

Yim was already outside. "Oh, I bet its dangerous. You saw the size of the fire in the sky… this fell right out of it." he said while unhooking a lantern.

Sir Yim wore dark robes, a wide black hat with an ornate symbol on the front. PesKal cross-referenced the symbol and found its meaning; it belonged to an order of scholars specialising in astronomy, named The New World society.

"You didn't tell me that!" Bemri said while he quickly followed. He was old, near the end of his life, but still walked with a young man's grit and determination. His robes were deep brown.

Both were of golden fur and visibly thinner than the Miriani average – less muscles, and certainly less fat.

"What would your parents say? If they saw you risking your life like this, this could be a temptation by the Giant." Bemri said after he finally caught up with Yim.

They stood at the crater's edge, staring in silence at the dark cube.

"They would praise me." Yim whispered. "Do you see this Bemri?" he motioned at PesKal; "It's a cube! Since when do cubes fall from the sky?"

"These are troubling times Sir Yim. Oliver's World is shining like the Suns, balls of fire appear above our most blessed city. I don't think you should be exposing yourself like this!" Bemri said while Yim walked closer to the cube.

"Remarkable." Yim said as he circled the object. PesKal watched him.

Yim extended a hand, and tentatively touched the cube, in direct contact with PesKal's nanites. "What are you?" Yim murmured.

"Sir Yim, Daynight is almost over. The Suns will punish us if they see us. We must hurry." Bemri said tensely.

Yim turned thoughtful. He looked at the cube and back at the carriage, his hand still resting on PesKal. "There is no way a single animal will be able to pull this weight." he concluded.

"Officer PesKal, it might be beneficial if they took the Press somewhere less visible." Matrioshka suggested.

"Just what I was thinking. I just need him to push on the cube with some force." PesKal said as he instructed a group of nanites to tunnel into the ground. They closed in on Yim's feet and gently threw him of balance.

"Wha…?" Yim was forced to put both hands on the cube to keep himself from falling.

As he did, PesKal moved the cube 30 centimetres forward – orchestrating the illusion the cube was much lighter than it looked.

"Huh? How is this possible?" Yim said, and after a moment added: "If it were truly this light, it would be less dense than air. How is it not flying away?"

"Smart." PesKal said while looking at Yim, whose green eyes were staring intently at the cube, deep and calculating.

"Not good for us, Officer PesKal." Matrioshka said dryly. "The less he knows the better."

"Roger, captain. But still, I can respect his curiosity."

Yim shook his head and called out to Bemri: "Do we still have the rope?"

Bemri looked disappointed. "Yes Sir, we do. But you can't possibly plan to…"

"Bring it."

Bemri sighed. "Yes, Sir…"

Yim and Bemri tied the rope around the cube and connected the other end to the carriage.

"Come on girl. I will give you a nice fresh pumpkin-pear if you get us home fast." Yim said to the horse-rabbit while petting its longy fluffy ears. The creature released a satisfied neigh in return.

Both Miriani got back into the carriage, and Yim grabbed the reigns.

The carriage took off, dragging the cube behind it. And just in time too, PesKal saw another carriage approach the crater from the other direction. Bemri saw it as well, and turned to Yim.

"The owners of the field saw us. You better hope they do not recognise the carriage. Giant's mercy we are driving across their cabbage-eggplants!" he said.

"Relax old man. Have a little fun, we are hauling the discovery of the century!"

"Discovery of the century or not, it will do you no good if you get in trouble before you can realise its potential." Bemri scolded.

Yim did not respond, he just stared at the road. Bemri calmed as well. PesKal used nanites to push himself forwards, keeping the rope in tension but still allowing the poor horse-rabbit to drag him.

Matrioshka observed her crew, they were all in various stages of intermingling with the indigenous population.

Well, not indigenous. They are from another planet, aren't they? Matrioshka thought and scanned the city once more. She used the scattered nanites of her crew to try and find any mention of life on other planets. Or the fact the Miriani did not originate from Rosamond's World.

She found none.

Strange. You would think at least some information would have persisted.

The scanner did not have sufficient range to probe beneath the surface, where more than half of the city's infrastructure is located, so Matrioshka was evidently missing crucial information.

Matrioshka heard a voice: "I'm telling you I saw something!"

It was coming from below Matrioshka's tree and nearer to the palace. The voice belonged to the young Miriani Matrioshka saw on the roof.

He was followed by 11 other Miriani; guards.

Uh oh. Matrioshka thought and jumped further away.

"Of course, prince Ketri. Lead the way." A high-ranking guard said as he waved the other guards to follow. He seemed to be a trusted friend of the prince. Ketri clinged to the guard's hand.

"You will see uncle Rumel. You will see." the prince said excitedly.

The prince was leading his entourage to a tree some 36 meters away from Matrioshka's current position.

When the guards reached the tree, Rumel ordered them to encircle it.

"This is the one, yes?" Rumel asked the prince.

"Yes! I saw it fall from the sky; it was black like the bat-mouse. But much much bigger."

Rumel looked dubiously at the little prince; he went to issue another command to his guards but thought better of it.

Rumel sighed and began to climb the tree. He scaled it with ease. The Miriani anatomy lent itself to incredible arm strength and dexterity. Rumel was within the canopy in 10 seconds.

One of the guards snickered.

"Did I hear something!?" Rumel yelled from the tree.

"I uh… sneezed! High Defender, sir!" yelled a female Miriani, still trying to stifle a laugh.

Rumel grumbled but didn't comment further. He trusted the prince at least somewhat, and was inspecting the tree intently. His eyes passed over a couple of stress fractures caused by Matrioshka's weight. He wasn't too attentive fortunately, and didn't seem to think much of them.

"There is nothing here my prince." Rumel declared and climbed down.

"But, I'm sure! It was like the sea but black. It moved like jelly." Prince Ketri tried to persuade his uncle.

Rumel shook his head and said: "Blessed Daynight is almost over. Are you sure this is the best way to spend your time? Your philosophy teachers tell me you have been skipping on homework again. What would your brother think?"

The prince looked stricken. "Brother doesn't care what I do… If the King doesn't care, why should you?"

Rumel looked at the guards who all tried very hard not to listen. He dismissed them with a wave of the hand. They obeyed, falling into a tight formation, and marching away. The female who laughed, who's name Matrioshka scanned to be Nehri, glanced back a couple of times as they went.

Rumel took off his helmet and sat down, leaning his back on the tree. He tapped the ground next to him and the prince sat down as well. They looked at the garden, the walls beyond it, the city, the mountains, and finally; the Duchess above it all - flying in the sky.

"Your brother does care." Rumel said. "He has a lot on his plate. Running an empire is not easy."

"Is it not? I wouldn't know." The prince pouted.

"It is. You father didn't sleep for a week straight once. He stayed up from Daynight to Daynight. It was during the famine in the 9th a few years back, If I remember right…" Rumel said as he took a small bag of dried grape-fig from his pocket. He put one in his mouth and offered one to the prince.

The prince grabbed three and ate all at the same time.

Rumel smiled and patted the prince on the head as he chewed.

"The starting period is rough especially. Your brother does what he thinks is best for everyone. You can't really fault him for that can you?"

"I guess not." the prince said. "I just wish he talked to me more. I hate his stupid job."

"Being king is more than a job, Ketri. And King Orak is doing good so far." Rumel put another grape-fig in his mouth. "I can talk to him if you want? Tell him to visit you more often…?"

Rumel's words upset the prince. He stood up sharply. "No! I don't want anybody telling him what to do. He should want it on his own." The prince stormed off back into the palace.

The guard watched him go, sighed, and whispered to the sky. "He is a difficult one. So much like you sister… impossible to reason with when he is worked up."

Rumel got to his feet and went to find the other guards, and Matrioshka stopped paying attention to him. She watched the prince, who after storming away from his uncle, ran through the palace. Then she lost sensor range.

Without much thinking, Matrioshka confirmed no guards were looking at her directly, and flowed towards the palace.

She left most of the nanites and her lattice on the tree.

Matrioshka strongly related to the prince. She thought of Shkadov the entire time the prince talked to his uncle. Now she wished to know more; does the King really ignore his brother, or is there more than meets the eye.

Matrioshka's nanites slinged across the palace walls, their sensors searched for prince Ketri. They found him in his room.

It was wide, filled with toys of varying designs and purpose. Though the prince, who was approaching his young adulthood, was a bit too old for them by Miriani standards, he still grabbed a plush cat-mouse and hugged it in his bed.

The room wasn't slept in recently. This was confirmed by scans of the palace's floor plan, indicating the prince's actual room was deep beneath the ground.

Servants dutifully worked elsewhere in the palace. Matrioshka could see cooks, maids and butlers attending to their duties using her sensors.

A group of three pink-furred Miriani caught her attention, some 55 meters away on the ground floor of the palace. They carried weapons; short blades hidden in their sleeves. They walked briskly, checking each corridor for other Miriani. They would proceed only when the coast was clear.

They did not speak. Instead, they used short hand signals. The two males deferred to the female as she guided them up from the first floor.

Two palace guards emerged from a door and stared at the three unknown figures.

"Who are you?" asked one of the guards after a moment of baffled silence.

In response, he was stabbed in the brain through his eye. He fell on the floor, dead long before impact.

The other guard responded quickly; he slashed the killer over the face, severing the jaw. The two other intruders were already assailing the remaining guard. He suffered 12 stab wounds to his torso, and 3 to his head, before his heart stopped beating.

"Halan." the leading figure whispered, and kneeled next to the wounded intruder.

He was choking on his own blood. The strike had opened an artery that directed warm blood into his breathing canal. Halan would not last another minute.

"It's alright…" Halan managed to mumble with his dangling jaw. "Finish the job Sumi. For our home, for our people. For the flowers Sumi..."

"Yes, my love." Sumi said as she held Halan's head gently, and stabbed him in the heart.

"Rest dear." she said.

Matrioshka watched with a morbid fascination. Three people just died in front of her - three minds were snuffed out for all eternity. Matrioshka had not witnessed such a thing for centuries.

Sumi left her dead lover on the floor. His blood, and the blood of two dead guards, mixed on the wooden floor. Sumi and her remaining accomplice were running. Their boots left blood-stained marks behind them.

A butler, carrying a sweet fruit drink, was in their way now. He was an aging Miriani with white fur. Before he could react, Sumi grabbed him and twisted. He was on the floor now, face down, drink shattered.

"Wha-" he tried to say.

"Answer me this." Sumi interrupted him. "The prince? Where is he? Speak and I will spare your life."

Screams rang out in a distant hallway. A maid had stumbled onto the corpses.

Trembling, the butler said: "I don't know exactly, most of the time he is hiding in his upstairs room, but…"

Sumi quietly placed a blade between the butler's neck and head, she jumped and pressed her feet onto the blade. The move decapitated the man.

Matrioshka stared at the butler's head, rolling on the floor.

"We go up." Sumi declared and ran. Her accomplice followed.

The prince. Matrioshka thought. He is in danger.

Prince Ketri was still in his room. His ears quirked towards the screams, and went to investigate. Before he could open the door, a guard opened it for him.

"Stay here your highness. It is not safe for you to leave." the guard said.

"Oh alright. Is everything alright?" prince Ketri asked.

"Not sure yet my prince. Please stay in the room." The guard said and closed the door. Three more guards joined the two in front of the prince's room, they were ready, blades drawn.

Sumi reached the corridor leading to the prince. One of the guards was there, running in their direction. The guard laid eyes on them, and was about to scream for help until Sumi's accomplice extended a hand, throwing a dagger into the guard's throat, severing their cervical spine.

"Nice work, Dall. Hurry." Sumi said as she jumped over the dead guard.

They reached a corner. Sumi used a small mirror to check what was beyond it.

She saw the prince's door and the five guards standing watch in front of it.

Commotion on the lower floor signalled the mobilisation of additional guards. Sumi had little time and she knew it. Rummaging through a coat pocket, she took hold of a small circular object with a short rope sticking out of it.

You're kidding me… a bomb? Matrioshka thought as she scanned the object, confirming its thermal properties.

Dall lit the fuse with a piece of iron and flint while Sumi held the bomb in her hands. When lit, Sumi threw the sphere at the guards, and ducked further behind the corner.

The bomb exploded.

The raw kinetic energy killed the three guards closest to the bomb. The fourth guard's brain was pierced by a shard of bone launched from another's exploding body.

The fifth guard was on fire, screaming. He would die within the minute if the fire was not put out, or within the week from burns and infection if it was.

The explosion annihilated the door and a portion of the wall leading to the prince's room. Matrioshka looked, and was glad the prince was relatively unharmed, only a shallow cut on the forehead, gifted by a high-velocity splinter.

The prince was in his bed - terrified, hiding bellow the covers.

"I thought you said it would create a small bang." Dall said while shaking his head. "That was a large bang."

"I knew as much as Halan told me. He bought the device." Sumi responded as she walked over the small crater created by the bomb.

The flaming guard was still screaming. Sumi ended his misery with a stab to his heart. She stepped into the prince's room.

Matrioshka scanned the prince. Hormones raged in his brain. Anxiety, anger, and most of all; fear. She pitied him, and decided to act.

Matrioshka built a body out of her nanites, and sent her lattice to be buried in the garden – it thumped onto the grass and was pulled beneath by its nanites. Filtering for the genes of the ambient guards, Matrioshka selected genetic markers common across all the guards, and simulated the form of a female Miriani. She was golden furred, tall, rippling with muscles, and as always - had red eyes, designed by her father all those years ago. She dressed the body in the pristine uniform of the palace guard.

She broke through the ceiling window overlooking the prince's room.

Glass rained down as she fell.

Matrioshka landed atop of Dall, directing the fall's energy into his skull, and rendering him peacefully unconscious. She scanned him just to be sure – no permanent injury.

Sumi was half way to the prince's bed, blade in hand. She turned when the window broke and was in a defensive position now. She stared at Matrioshka, and down at the unconscious Dall.

Her gaze flickered back to the bed, where the prince emerged from the covers, staring at the scene.

Sumi lunged.

She was fast.

By Miriani standards.

But by the Imperial; she was slower than a snail.

Matrioshka was already between her and the prince. Surprise was evident on Sumi's face, she twisted, never breaking her stride, and brought the blade towards Matrioshka's neck.

Matrioshka lifted her right arm and blocked the blow with a dagger of her own. With her left hand, she pushed Sumi away.

Hard.

Sumi struck a wardrobe, breaking it into timber, and fell unconscious. Scans suggested she was alive with minor head trauma.

Matrioshka turned and looked at the prince.

"Whoa." the prince said, looking up at Matrioshka.

"Are you alright, my prince?" Matrioshka asked. The voice generated by this random combination of simulated DNA, and nanite vocal cords, must have sounded stranger than anticipated, as the prince cringed slightly.

"Yes. Thank you." Ketri responded.

Rumel ran into the room, blade ready, other guards rushed in after him. They would have been moments too late if Matrioshka had not intervened.

"Uncle!" the prince yelled and ran towards the guard.

"Clear!" a guard yelled when he checked Sumi. Another repeated the same when they checked Dall.

Rumel relaxed and hugged the prince. "You are safe, dear nephew." Rumel looked at Matrioshka and grew wary.

Matrioshka was not meeting his gaze, she was transfixed with Sumi. The Miriani's brain had flared, neurons surging inwards toward a small scar in her brain. Rumel stared at Matrioshka for a few moments more, then released Ketri from the hug. He said:

"The danger has passed, but you should stay in your downstairs room until I come get you. There will be more guards than usual following you for a couple of weeks."

"Brother?" Ketri asked.

"King Orak is unharmed."

The prince looked at Sumi and Dall, both were restrained and carried out of the room. "Who are they?" he asked.

Rumel exchanged a look with Nehri, the female guard he was fond of, judging by the hormones Matrioshka could detect.

"We will find out, my prince. You needn't worry. How about you go down to your room and get on the philosophy work you've been avoiding?"

Ketri groaned.

"No complaints. I outrank you in events of emergency." Rumel said with a smile.

"Fineeee…" Ketri said and left the room. Three guards tailed him.

Rumel watched Matrioshka again. His brain chemistry suggested anxiety.

Did I mess up the creation of this body? Matrioshka thought.

"You were here when the attackers arrived?" Rumel asked.

Matrioshka faced him and said: "I was."

"Then the Palace Guard owes you an immortal debt. You saved the prince's life." Rumel praised outwardly, but anxiety raged within.

"I did what any other guard would."

"Praise when praise is earned." Rumel said and looked at the dead Miriani guards. They were being covered by brown blankets; a large striped sphere was embroidered on the front.

By lore compiled through PesKal and Damien, it symbolised the Giant, a personification of the Duchess. Who guards the Miriani from the Suns and leads the dead into the afterlife. Yet also a visage of death, the Miriani both revered and feared their world's celestial parent.

"Follow me for the briefing, guard…?" Rumel asked.

Matrioshka considered a name for herself. She searched PesKal's language pack and found a charmed coincidence.

"Metri Olska." She said and sent a group of nanites to falsify her documents.

Rumel turned further towards suspicion but did not comment on it. He exchanged another look with Nehri.

"Follow me, guard Metri." he said.

"Yes sir." Matrioshka said and went after him. She was followed by Nehri and two more.

The guards were understandably suspicion. Scans suggested they all knew each other personally, and Matrioshka appeared out of nowhere. Matrioshka also noticed that, in her haste, she had made her body 21% larger than was expected of a Miriani female.

The nanites she sent to curate her documents had found the administrative centre of the Palace Guard. It was a well-guarded building within the palace walls. The nanites sneaked inside without issue, and falsified the relevant files.

She could do nothing about the lens. At least until the Press was once again operational.

Rumel led Matrioshka below the ground, he was still on edge, as was Nehri. She walked close to Matrioshka, hand on her blade.

They stopped near an empty room on the second subterran floor. Rumel entered first, followed by Matrioshka and the others. Nehri locked the door behind them.

Rumel's brain chemistry stabilised. He was beginning to relax.

There was a low table between two large blue pillows. Rumel sat in one, and gestured towards the other.

Matrioshka sat.

"Can you tell me what happened in Prince Ketri's room, guard Metri?" asked Rumel.

Matrioshka replied without pause: "Certainly. I heard a commotion, followed by a large bang coming from the prince's room. I entered and saw his majesty attacked by two intruders. I disabled both with blunt force trauma. I landed on the first and pushed the other into furniture."

Rumel's ears lowered in the Miriani equivalent of scepticism.

"Landed? Where did you enter from?" he asked.

"The roof. I broke through the ceiling window."

"The ceiling window… then what?" Rumel's ears arched further.

"Like I said; I landed on the first Miriani. The force generated by my 8.23-meter fall was sufficient to induce unconsciousness."

All the guards exchanged looks. Matrioshka wondered what she was missing.

"You sustained no injuries during the fall?" Rumel asked.

Oh!

"No. I think I have broken by left foot right below the knee. Additionally, I sprained my right ankle." Matrioshka said and put her left leg on the table. She furled her trouser and showed a horridly bent bruise.

"I see. Then further commendations are in order; You disabled the second intruder while injured. You will be well decorated, guard Metri." Rumel said, his ears, but not his mind, relaxing. He then added:

"What were you doing on the roof? There are no patrol lines there."

Ah. That. Matrioshka thought. She felt she was too well mannered to be believable. A miracle saviour – who just happened to be at the right place at the right time?

Rumel would never buy it. Matrioshka could see it in his eyes.

Matrioshka tried her best to appear ashamed, and filtered PesKal language pack for a random opiate.

"I found the roof was a good place to be alone. I use Blue-bloom." she said.

Rumel's anxiety vanished and was replaced by anger. "You were doing drugs while on duty?" he asked, bewildered.

Nehri interjected; "No wonder you don't feel that leg. You're blazed out of your damn mind." She added to Rumel:

"It also explains her recklessness. Blue-bloom makes you ignore basic self-preservation instincts. I'm surprised she didn't throw herself off the roof sooner."

Rumel shook his head. "Ridiculous! This is grounds for dishonourable discharge, and imprisonment! Metri..." His gaze softened. "But considering you saved the prince's life; we will bring it down to just short-term detention."

"Find a suitable room within the lower barracks." Rumel said to the other two guards within the room. "Keep guard Metri there until I tell you otherwise. Form a standard shift rotation."

Matrioshka got up, and at least pretended to have an injured leg. One of the guards helped her up, and they led her out and away. Matrioshka focused back on the room as they walked.

"You trust her?" asked Nehri, alone with Rumel.

"No chance under the Giant's shadow she is telling the truth." Rumel declared.

As Matrioshka was led away by the two armoured aliens, she couldn't stop herself from thinking:

This is… fun?

 

[nntowerfield]

During the planning process for the Sliver of the Sun, I have created a simulation of the Empire system in Space Engine. Sometimes, I might upload POV shots from around the system.
This will always be posted right after a new chapter - to avoid spamming you with notifications. I might also add some cute in-world context to go along with the content.
(Now I only need to figure out how to post images on the forum...)

Cyclical sunrises of Margaret's World
Margaret's world - the first planet of the Empire system. Measuring 11.1 Terrestrial masses, and a semimajor axis of 0.09 AU.

The Emperor (low on the horizon) and Empress, during the sunrise on Margaret's World. Due to the relation of the orbital and rotational period of this planet, a solar day lasts 2.661 years. A solar day can be described as the time it takes for the parent star (or stars in the case of the Empire system) to return to their starting position on the sky - encircling the planet once.

During the celestial arrangement as show on the image, the Emperor and Empress would take turns dipping below the horizon, and rising back up. Currently, the Empress is at her highest point, and will start to dive back down while the Emperor rises.

 

[nntowerfield]

Alm Residence - the home of the future.

PesKal read on a stone and wood sign in front of a large estate. Encircled by hedges and forest, located some 3 kilometres from where PesKal had originally landed. He had been dragged by the carriage and horse-rabbit, which neighed as it was brought to a halt.

Bemri strutted outside and heaved open a rusted metal fence, it creaked and groaned. A loud crack was followed by clattering, as the left side of the fence's door fell to the ground.

"There we go." Bemri mumbled. "It happened just as I said it would… "

"Leave it." called Yim from the carriage. "We will fix it later."

"With what money?" Bemri mumbled again and got back into the carriage.

They drove over the broken-down fence and onto the dirt and gravel road. It vined through a once magnificent courtyard, now overgrown and abandoned. Statues of heroic Miriani and wonderous beasts, entwined by sturdy plant-life, dominated the view.

An aging mansion was at the endpoint of the road. Its roof peppered with unusual contraptions; PesKal identified a system of pullies and ropes which connected to a wooden windmill. Another apparatus stored water in a large tank, it was to be released in a controlled manner over a metal turbine connected to a small machine.

As the mansion entered the scanner range fully, PesKal realised it was filled with electricity.

Copper wires connected bulbs, motors, and pistons within a vast workshop. Lead-acid batteries were being charged by the kinetic energy of the creaking windmill.

As the carriage reached it parking space in front of the large door leading into the workshop, its wheels pressed down on four pressure plates. The plates completed a circuit which lit several tungsten light-bulbs. Their orange light illuminated the front of the mansion, the carriage, PesKal' cube, and the door.

Bemri looked up at the light and cringed.

"These things will burn out your eyes master Yim." He said while rubbing his right eye. "I am already of poor seeing, you're going to make me blind."

Yim countered while exiting the carriage: "Like I told you many times: don't look directly at them! You wouldn't look at the Suns, would you?"

"I am not insane." Bemri said simply.

Yim looked at him with a tired expression and said: "Debatable."

He took a step towards the workshop's door and paused. A mischievous expression spread across his face.

"Oh Bemir?" Yim called, rubbing his hands together.

"Yes?" Bemri asked pensively. He noticed the tone of Yim's voice.

"Would you mind opening the door?" Yim asked while he went to untie PesKal from the carriage. "My hands are full." He said while holding the rope.

Bemri gulped and looked at the lever which connected to the door's opening mechanism. He walked slowly to the iron lever and peered at it.

"It will not harm me - this energy?" Bemri asked.

"No, it will not. Just don't hold two ends of an exposed circuit, or get it wet, or get it too hot or cold, or shake it…" Yim stopped talking when he saw Bemri's stricken expression.

"Just pull the lever." Yim said tiredly.

As fast as possible for an aging Miriani, Bemri gripped the lever and pulled it down. He released the lever and jumped back.

With a soft hum, the door began to rise.

"Wasn't too hard, was it?" Yim asked.

Breathing hard, Bemri replied: "You chain the power of the Giant, Sir Yim…"

"I chain no such thing." Yim said and looked towards the Duchess. The gas giant's atmosphere was turbulent, flashes of lightning littered its clouds.

"I will figure you out as well." Yim declared to the Duchess.

Bemri was in awe at the apparent blasphemy. He did a quick motion with his left arm which the Miriani used to pray. "Giant's grace guide him, he has lost his way. Giant's mercy shield him, he incurs wrath…" Bemri continued quietly.

Yim sighed and finished untying PesKal. He pushed the large cube into the workshop. It barely fit through the door. The cube went down a steep slope into the second subterran level.

This side of the mansion contained three underground floors; they were dug out within the last four years to make space for the workshop – judging by the freshness of the walls and the relaxation of dirt. It contained machinery which would not be out of place in early 20th century on Terra. PesKal scanned abandoned designs for a functioning vacuum tube. The designs lay crossed over with ink, deep within a stack of papers on metal shelf.

Remarkable. Matrioshka thought as she was led towards her holding cell.

"This is an intelligent individual." She told PesKal.

He looked at Yim, who was staring at the cube bellow his hat.

"Indeed. How do I proceed, captain?" PesKal asked.

"Monitor his activity. Do not reveal anything else." Matrioshka said and considered the state of Yim's workshop. "Though you may guide him into an invention or two..."

PesKal was delighted, his processing power spiked. "Understood captain."

Bemri had calmed and was leading the horse-rabbit to its pen.

He yelled to Yim: "I will prepare dinner, my dear blasphemous master. Carrot-walnut stew?"

"Yes, yes. Sound good." Yim dismissed him without much thought. He closed the workshop door with another lever and produced a small metal tool from a drawer.

He closed in on PesKal's cube, which was now directly in the centre of the workshop. He placed the tool on its surface, and released a mechanism which hit the cube with a small steel bolt.

The tool, most likely designed to measure the toughness of a material, clanked as it hit.

Yim peered at the bolt, and depth markings on the side of the tool. He frowned. "What? No measurable deformation…"

He inspected the tool and discovered the bolt had become blunt when it hit. Yim's ears vibrated in surprise.

"Tougher than steel?" he asked the cube. Yim ran to another drawer and produced two cables connected by a small machine. He connected one to a battery and the other to a corner of PesKal's cube. Another pair of cables was used to connect the other end of the circuit.

Yim was about to measure the cube's conductivity.

PesKal had to decide if he would be an insulator or conductor.

Yim pressed a button on the small machine which completed the circuit. A small current now flowed through PesKal's nanites.

It tickled.

Yim read out a value from the device and ran to a nearby desk. He wrote out the values on the device, and using some elegant mathematics, produced a version of the Ohm's law – used to calculate voltage, current, or in Yim's case, resistance. He extracted a value of several milliohms.

"Negligible resistance? Like you aren't even there…" Yim said. He closed his eyes and disconnected the circuit.

"You aren't of this world, are you?" he asked the cube.

Alarms rang out in PesKal's and Matrioshka's mind.

"Captain?" PesKal asked.

"Relax, Officer PesKal. He is likely just guessing…" Matrioshka said.

Yim sat down on a dusty pillow in front of the cube. PesKal was barely keeping his cool. The silence was interrupted occasionally by the sounds of sparking electricity and the hum of light-bubs.

Bemri had lit the stove in the large kitchen which shared a wall with the workshop. He looked lonely - a large cupboard filled with hundreds of plates was to his left, and a small barrel filled with preserved goods to his right. Dutifully, he cleaned vegetables, chopped them, and began cooking.

He used near dull knives and rusted pots and pans. Both PesKal and Matrioshka wondered at the state of the mansion. Supposedly Yim was wealthy, he had a personal butler after all, and lived in a large estate.

In the royal palace, the two guards left Matrioshka alone in a medium sized room. The walls were of cool grey stone, the floors lines with soft wood. Carved airducts circulated air between the underground and the world above. Cabinets lined the walls, filled with papers and a surprising number of dried fruits. Matrioshka's temporary prison seemed to be a break room.

Matrioshka sat down on a pillow, as the guards stood watch in front of her door. She invited herself into PesKal's virtual space.

They both appeared next to Yim, both invisible to him.

"A once in a generation inventor." PesKal said, his head fins quivering from excitement.

Matrioshka looked around and said: "More like once in a century. These are inventions it took Terran scientists over a century to create. And with joint effort…"

"Alessandro Volta, 1799." Matrioshka said, pointing towards the large lead-acid battery.

She pointed towards an electric engine which moved the workshop door; "Michael Faraday, 1821."

"John Ambrose Fleming, 1904." she said while she held a paper outlining the overall design of a vacuum tube.

"Why is he living like this? This knowledge, this technology… The Miriani could become interplanetary within a century if they applied what existed here." PesKal said.

"They were interplanetary once before. If Bemri is anything to go by, they consider the use of electricity as blasphemy. They attribute its power to the Giant, the Duchess."

Yim had decided to test the thermal properties of the cube. Matrioshka and PesKal watched over his shoulder as he aimed a welding torch toward the cube. He lit it tentatively and backed away. The torch drained a container of acetylene gas it was connected too. Evident by the healed-over burn marks on his fingers, Yim had a history with fire. The torch produced a stable 1,980 °C flame.

PesKal had to filter nanites out of the flame's path so they would not degrade. He cycled them out completely when the torch ran out of power.

Yim grabbed a nearby unlit candle. He touched the supposedly hot area of the cube with the candle's body. The wax remained un-melted.

He touched it then with his bare hand.

"Cold." he said while shaking his head.

Matrioshka looked around. "Perhaps this would shed some light on his situation." Matrioshka said and appeared next to a folded bundle of papers on a nearby desk. She picked up a virtual copy of the papers and showed them to PesKal.

He read through them instantly.

"His parents died." PesKal said.

Matrioshka nodded.

The papers were an old newspaper.

It was dated to four years ago. An article spoke of the Alm family and the untimely demise of Ju and Bene, Yim's parents.

Famed explorers and inventors, Jun and Bene died from lead poisoning while working on a way to harness the power of the Giant - the article said.

They are succeeded by their one and only child: Yim Alm. The youngster, fresh from the Academy, now must deal with the debt to the King incurred by his parents. As you may remember dear reader, Ju Alm proclaimed the ability to generate and store the Giant's graceful light. King Dend-Hayn accosted the inventor for his hubris, and challenged him to prove his claim. The Alm's would have to give up 98 one-hundreds of their wealth if they failed the challenge.

Only time will tell if Yim Alm can prove his parents' claims. – the article finished.

PesKal appeared next to the lead battery. "But he succeeded. Why did he give away his wealth?"

Matrioshka shook her head. "Unclear. There are no written records of his reasoning within scanner range."

Yim continued to experiment on the cube for 28 minutes more. Matrioshka and PesKal observed him, often commenting on his ingenuity and determination. They took a stroll across the mansion when Yim grew frustrated and took a break.

All three of them were startled when Bemri opened a small door leading to the workshop from the kitchen and yelled: "Dinner!"

"Alright! Coming!" Yim grumbled but obeyed. PesKal scanned him and found his stomach near empty. This would be the Yim's first meal in 33 hours.

Yim and Bemri sat across from each other on the small wooden table in the kitchen. Bemri had prepared a Carrot-walnut stew, just as he said he would. He said nothing of the small banana-apple cake, which he placed atop parchment next to the stew when Yim sat. It exhaled steam, fresh from the oven.

Yim looked at the cake, his hormones betraying a mix of sadness and joy.

"Thank you Bemri." Yim whispered.

"Always, young master." Bemri said.

Yim's stomach growled, and he attacked the stew. The hot food was nothing to Yim, he ate furiously.

Bemri laughed. "Easy, Sir Yim. The food will not escape the table."

The two of them ate the stew, then they share the cake.

Yim looked at Bemri over the bowl and asked: "So I take it… The sell went as planned? They paid the full amount?"

Bemri looked troubled. "Yes." he said. "500 silvers for an explosive device, custom made by the heir of the Alm family. I must say though, that man Halan, was not at all pleasant."

Aha! Matrioshka thought.

PesKal noticed the change in her demeanour. "Captain?" he asked.

"So, you know how I landed near the palace?"

"You mentioned it, yes." PesKal said.

"Well…" Matrioshka said, slightly embarrassed. "I got roped into helping the prince evade assassins."

PesKal turned smug. "What happened to not interfering?" he asked.

"I know, I know. But I had to do something…"

PesKal nodded. "It's different when you see it with you own eyes. It's difficult to obey the Sanctuary Act, is it not?"

Matrioshka was not ready yet to admit it was. She held her belief in the Imperium as a shield.

"Anyway, I saw the use of a small explosive device; a bomb. I believe it was made by our dear inventor." she said.

PesKal searched the workshop. "There are indeed chemicals present here which match the scans you acquired just before the bomb detonated in the palace."

"It would be logical to assume Yim has been using his intellect to acquire funds, and since legal means have obviously failed him, he has resorted to selling weapons." Matrioshka observed.

"It would seem so." PesKal said sadly.

Back in the city, atop an abandoned building, Makoe was listening to Temri talk about an old coin. They both stood in front of three wooden shelves, above them stood various trinkets Temri had stolen. Some were too unique to sell, and other meant special things to Temri.

This coin belonged to the unique category.

"So, this old guy, really fancy looking, monocle and everything, actually stopped by a bar in this corner of the city." Temri said.

"He didn't…" Makoe said, sensing it was time to be surprised.

"He did. I still cannot figure out if he was brave or just ignorant. Anyway, by Giant's good grace, I was in the bar at the time…" Temri stopped talking when she saw Makoe react.

Temri's head moved left to right in a Miriani gesture of mild annoyance. "I wasn't drinking. Even if I did, nobody cares."

"I care." Makoe said.

Temri looked her in the eyes and decided she didn't believe her. "Sure. As I was saying; there I was next to an obviously wealthy old man. I bump into him, finger into his coat, easy work..."

"…and this was in his pocket. Nothing else." Temri said, pointing at the coin.

It was a mix of iron, silver, and gold, about twice the size of coins used by the Miriani.

Matrioshka, thought her constant connection to Makoe, recognized the coin, as did Makoe.

It wasn't a coin at all. It was in fact - a medal. Lacking the ribbon, and with the design severely deteriorated, Temri understandably assumed it to be an old coin.

With astonishment, Matrioshka and Makoe realised it was the same medal missing from the line-up back on Prudence. It was transported off-world, survived 6 millennia, and was now in front of Makoe.

"I took it to a few reputable traders I know. None would give me an offer. So, I kept it." Temri said.

"What are the odds?" Makoe asked quietly.

"Of us finding this particular missing object?" Matrioshka asked over their connection, already calculating. "1 in 13^17."

"Odds of what? Finding cool yet worthless junk?" Temri asked and waved at her shelf fool of trinkets. "High apparently…"

The large iron bell atop Makoe's bell tower began to toll. A strike was followed by five seconds of silence as the bell swung the other way. Makoe's nanites vibrated gently with each strike. The toll travelled across the city, and was joined by others. Dozens of bell towers engulfed the city in a rhythmic ringing.

Coded to follow the instinctual behaviour of the Miriani, the ears of the crew shot up, as did the ears of all the regular Miriani. Rhea first saw it on a woman whose bruise had badly infected, Makoe saw it on Temri, Damien on the students, Matrioshka on the two guards in front of her door.

The bell towers were distant from Yim and Bemri, their tone dulled, but nevertheless both Yim and Bemri's ear's reacted.

"This is it." PesKal said into the crew-wide channel.

"Yup." Damien declared.

"It is as you described in the data pack, Officer PesKal." Rhea said. "The Miriani do not expose themselves to the light of their stars."

"It goes even further." PesKal added. "The vast majority do not venture outside at all during daylight. For half the time, the Miriani live exclusively below ground."

"Looks like we are finally going to see the other side of the city." Makoe said.

Yim and Bemri had already finished up their meal. They put back their plates for later cleaning and made their way to the subterran levels of the mansion.

The students and faculty of the Academy gathered their things and went to the staircase. They moved a few floors down into the much larger subterran part of the Academy. Even the guards, who stood careful watch over the Academy grounds, left their stations. Damien eyed the students passing him by, on their way down, and followed suit.

Temri's ears were vibrating with surprise. "It's that late already!?" she half screamed. "Quick!" Temri said, left all her possessions, and ran out of her shack.

Makoe followed her down into the basement of the abandoned building, where a tight dirt tunnel led to the extensive network of streets and underground rooms.

"You left all of your things." Makoe said as they squeezed through the passage.

Temri looked at her like she was insane. "Yeah... Nothing will happen to it..."

Rhea was led by Memri into the underground as well, where she would continue her examinations.

Within the next 5 minutes, not a single Miriani could be seen on the entirety of Highcrown.

The Empress was the first, her golden light emerged from behind the Duchess.

"Giant protect us…" Bemri prayed.

A living star's gaze, capable of killing planets, engulfed Rosamond' World.

The ground shook, and a thunderous voice resolved across Highcrown;

In a unified and thunderous voice, shaking the atmosphere, the Empress said: "Blessed be the Day."

Daynight was over - Day has begun.

 

[nntowerfield]

Prudence and its two moons
[Spoilers for chapters 7 onwards]​

Prudence, a super-habitable planet and the home-world of the Miriani race. Almost equal to Terra in its mass and radius, Prudence has a diverse biosphere across all its biomes. It is the fourth planet of the Empire system, and two small moons orbit it; Leah's and Edward's World.



Imaged below, Edward's World has a thin rocky ring. Preliminary scans of the system suggest a recent (less than 23 million years ago) impact event between Leah and Edward. Edward's composition suggests its origin lies between the orbits of the King and the Duke.

The current hypothesis by Dr. Damien Viris, suggest that the King disturbed Edwar's World, and pulled it downwards towards Prudence. The subsequent impact with Leah's World, placed Edward into a stable orbit around Prudence. As a result, Edward's World was spun up substantially, giving it an oval shape.

Another exciting possibility, proposed by Dr Viris, would suggest that Edward's World had a binary partner, one that did not get captured by Prudence. The most likely candidate is Naysmith's world, an object orbiting Honesty, the second planet of the Empire system.



In the image below, from upper-left to down-right; Prudence, the rings of Edward's World, and Leah's World. Imaged from the surface of Edward's World.



An image through a solar telescope, from the top of a mountain on Prudence. The Empire twins are rising, and Honesty transits the Empress (The star on the left, Honesty is the largest dark circle near the horizon – not to be confused with the sunspots across the Empress).

 

[nntowerfield]

"The Dawn Greeting." said PesKal across the crew's connection. "Expected after each Daynight and Night. Announced either by the Emperor or Empress based on who rises first."

Makoe said: "Ominous. Fascinating that the Miriani find it business as usual."

"Time until night?" Matrioshka asked.

A student bumped into Damien on the stairs. The smaller Miriani did not seem to care. Damien's ears twitched, and he replied: "17.82 hours until the start of night. The Miriani sleep twice per revolution of Rosamond's world, one long-sleep starts at dawn and ends at Daynight, and one short-sleep, which starts in a few hours from now and ends with dusk."

Matrioshka took the time to position her body on the pillow. She sat cross-legged in her Mirani form, imitating bodily motions she had read from a nearby manuscript as she was led into her temporary prison. Controlling her breathing, she would appear to meditate.

Two royal guards, assigned to watch over Matrioshka, stood just outside her door. One of them glanced inside, and after his ears twitched, he nudged the other.

They both looked at Matrioshka through a small opening in the door. Her eyes were closed, otherwise they might not have been so bold as to stare at her.

The shorter guard, who had helped Matrioshka walk to the cell, whispered:

"Who under the Suns is she?"

The other guard, an aging man with a long beard said: "Never seen her. Think she's a recruit from the 10th?"

"Could be… She is meditating. It's their whole thing."

Both guards watched Matrioshka breathing in silence. With each inhale, she instructed her body to precisely contort her chest and stomach muscles.

The older one said: "She is ripped."

The shorter guard nudged him a couple times excitedly. "I know! Shit, think she could give me some pointers? I've been meaning to get back into the old workout regime. I've really started to put on fat."

The older man patted him on the back, laughing. "Ha! It's the age. Look at this." The guard poked his belly, it jiggled under his armor, producing a sound akin to clapping.

Both guards laughed. Matrioshka had to disconnect her lips from her lattice, lest her body also laugh. PesKal looked at his captain, they were back in Yim's workshop in the virtual.

Matrioshka calmed, and told him: "Ah don't mind me. I love my guards…"

Damien had reached the underground portion of the academy. Students had made their way into their classrooms by now - there was peace in the halls. Damien explored the north wing, here he scanned classrooms for material science. The students here were being thought how to mix gravel and sand, alongside some yellow sulphurous adhesives, to create a viable alternative to early concrete.

As he moved deeper into the Academy, he passed by another professor. Damien scanned their body, and decided on the usual greeting.

"Hidden Day, professor Lorha."

The tall woman hadn't noticed him until then, she looked at him wide-eyed. Lohra had been carrying a bunch of vials, and by their contents, Damien realised she must be on her way to the concrete mixing class. Lorha tripped over her left leg.

She began to fall.

Damien matched her trajectory with the sample vial in her hands. It had a 90% chance of shattering as Lorha fell on it. It would cause bleeding, and the professor would need medical assistance.

Damien extended a firm hand, and grabbed the falling bottle, he directed it fluidly into his other arm, and grasped the falling professor by her neckline. The pale-yellow uniform strained as Lorha's body hung within it.

Professor Lorha looked at Demien, and he at her.

She strengthened herself, fixed her uniform, and gave Damien a bow.

"Thank you, professor." And quietly she mumbled: "That could have been my 3rd fall today…"

"No problem." Damien said, handing her back the vial of sulphur. "Have I startled you?"

Lohra looked embarrassed. "You… No!" she stammered. "I just didn't expect uh… how to say this…"

Her ears twirled and coiled, Damien scanned the onset of panic across her brain.

"Whoa." Damien held his arms up. "Calm down. I won't disturb you. I'm going." He said, backing away slowly. This seemed to make Lohra breathe even harder. And Matrioshka saw, with much amusement, that Damien's processing power was spiking.

Damien asked the captain: "Any idea what is going on?"

Matrioshka started laughing again, earning a confused look from PesKal. She told Damien: "Look at the levels of her Ocrisycoline."

Damien did. It was high. Matrioshka saw him consult the data.

"She is attracted to me?" Damien asked, on the public channel.

"What?" asked Rhea as she opened the doors to her underground quarters.

"Someone is having fun…" said Makoe, as Temri finally led her into an open street in underground Erdon.

"Shit." Damien said, and switched to a private channel. He told Matrioshka: "I do NOT need this. I'm just gonna go." He turned away from Lohra, and ran. Lohra ran away too. Muttering confused questions to herself:

"Where the hell did he come from? What… How can someone from the 5th be so pretty?"

Matrioshka sucked in a virtual breath.

These people desperately need the Imperium.

Damien had ran across the Academy, and reached his room. He closed the door with a thump and fell on his bed. He saw PesKal and Matrioshka were in the same VR, and appeared next to them.

He whistled as he looked around. "What do we have here?"

PesKal walked up to him. "An exceptional scientist! We are in the home of Yim Alm."

Damien walked across the workshop, taking note of the machinery and electronics. Across the city, Omrica knocked on Rhea's door.

"Come in." said Rhea as she finished inspecting a large wooden table in the center of the room.

Omrica walked in, now wearing some leathers and light silky fabric. She wore a satchel filled with the medicine Rhea asked for. She gazed at her new doctor: "This will be your clinic. Is the room to your liking? You will switch between here and up above – to tend to the sick and wounded."

Rhea considered the underground room, the air was clean, curtesy of the ingenious passive atmosphere cycling system. There was enough space so that she could create the necessary instruments, but it was distant from other Miriani, only way in was a relatively tight corridor.

A dull red candle glowed on a wall.

Within sensor range, Rhea could see the underground life of the Miriani. Where air was the volume into which the aboveground world built structure, here the Miriani hollowed out stone and dirt to make space. The city around Rhea was in a good state, the streets were clean, and the 349 Miriani she could scan were in excellent to acceptable health.

Rhea responded, noting the layout of the streets outside her clinic: "It is good. Fairly remote however. It would be better to put me more central to your territory. So that an ambulance can arrive sooner."

Omrica placed the satchel on a table and her ears curled. "A vehicle which transports people to and from healing facilities?"

Rhea inspected the language pack, seems that words unknow to the Miriani defaulted to being described.

Rhea clasped her hands to. "Yes. An ambulance. So that more of your people may live. Come." Rhea pulled out two old pillows from a small cupboard and patted the dust away. She sat on one, and offered the other to Omrica.

The white Miriani, approached tentatively, and sat.

"Organise two to three Miriani and a carriage. They should always be at the ready to transport the wounded to me. It'd be even better to have multiple such ambulances."

"This will work? Won't the rocking of the carriage hurt the sick even more?"

Rhea's ears vibrated. "It will not. Now, what ails you?" Asked Rhea.

Omrica answered, rubbing her neck. "Well, I've had this itch for a couple of months now."

Rhea held up her hand. "Yes, I noticed that. You tend to favour your right side when you walk, causes undue pressure on the blood vessels in your neck. I will give you something when Uric returns. I mean besides that; As a leader of a significant number of Miriani, they look to you for advice. So then, what do your people need?"

"What?" Omrica was bewildered. "You do understand we met less than an hour ago?"

Rhea stared at her for a moment. "And?" she asked.

"Why would I tell you sensitive information?" supplied Omrica.

"So, I can help you... Why else?"

Both women stared at each other.

"But… No!" Omrica stood up. "Your mind games! You are good. You. You just stay here, and patch up whoever we bring you. Food will be provided."

"I may not leave?" Rhea rose too.

Omrica spun. "You can! Wait!" Omrica eyes flickered around, looking for nothing in particular. "Slow down for a moment."

She collected her thoughts; Rhea noted the decrease in activity within a curious organ in Omrica's brain. The area was tiny, smaller than 8 millimetres across. Omrica cleared her throat and looked evenly at Rhea. "You are good at mental disarmament I will give you that. But please, knock it off!"

Confused, Rhea answered: "Understood."

Omrica clicked with her teeth, and asked: "And under the Giant's shadow, what is your name!?"

Rhea had prepared one: "Nyaiya Aik-Tol"

Omrica nodded. "You do look like a Nyaiya… Want a change of clothes?" she said, gesturing at Rhea's gown.

"Please." Rhea clasped her hands, and approached the woman. She said:

"You can trust me." And extended her hands towards Omrica.

The white furred woman considered her and nodded. She interlocked her hands with Rhea's. A promise.

"These are the things you asked Uric to get." Omrica pointed to the satchel on the table. "I will be back soon." She said and ducked out of the room.

Rhea turned in place, she catalogued the space in the room, and instructed her body to begin cleaning and preparing the space for patients. The nanites could grind and irradiate surfaces – to sterilize them. They had the power to bend and reshape metal – to form surgical instruments.

They would prepare quite a fair amount of medicine too, from the materials Uric managed to find. He did good work; Rhea was pleased to see he had managed a 98% success rate.

Rhea saw a pile of steel, discarded outside, she went to fetch it, taking with her about 20% of the nanites in the clinic. As she opened the door, she spied at the end of the corridor leading to the clinic, a man keeping watch. Rhea scanned beyond him, and was satisfied nobody was watching.

The man had his back turned to Rhea, and she silently approached. There was enough space between the ceiling and the man for Rhea to pass unnoticed. Rhea's body jumped, grabbed hold of a small ledge above the man, and curved fluidly leftwards. Landing between two barrels of dried fish. The man must have sensed the movements of the air, he turned to the corridor, and saw nothing.

Rhea looked at the wide street she was in, a few burning candles illuminated the area sparsely. The Miriani eyes were well adapted to the dark, so they had no problems navigating underground. Rhea noted the Miriani here all carried blades, took great care to watch their surroundings, and were in general on edge. Listening to their conversations using her sensors, Rhea concluded they were all members of the Family, and this part of the city was theirs.

Rhea reached the pile of steel, it had once been some sort of ornate armor, but had been discarded between two run-down homes. A pair of younger Miriani saw Rhea, and didn't think much of her. "A whore…" one of them whispered.

Rhea looked at them plainly. The pair looked stricken. "Did she hear you?" one of them asked just as they took off running.

Rhea kneeled and heaved the metal up; she determined it was just under the weight which would be suspicious if someone saw her carrying it. She walked back towards the clinic, and nodded to the man keeping watch.

"Hey." she said.

The guard nodded. "Hidden Day." he greeted.

Once Rhea had passes him, the guard seemed to realise what was going on. He did a triple take towards the receding Rhea and from where she came from.

"When did you… what?" he said, just as Rhea closed the door to the clinic. She left her body there, to idly prepare the space for surgical procedures. And invited herself into the shared virtual space in Yim's worship.

Rhea's tall silvery form appeared next to Matrioshka.

"Hello captain." she said.

Matrioshka smiled. "Officer Lavigne..."

Makoe had followed Temri to an abandoned cavern, a natural formation within the underground Miriani city. Two passageways led directly into it, but have been caved in some time ago. Makoe pushed passed a hatch, following Temri.

She saw the cavern then, wide and thin. A Miriani could jump from one end to the other, but it curved in the underground for who knows how long. In layers, wooden planks created a living space, hidden from the rest of the city.

The wood creaked under Temri's feet. She waved to three more Miriani, which lounged in a makeshift living area.

"Hey everyone." Temri called.

"There you are!" said a grey Miriani, in her early adolescence. "Where were you? We thought you might have been caught in the suns."

Temri presented Makoe; "Got us some reinforcements."

Another grey-furred, but gloomy looking boy with a deep scar on his forehead stopped twirling a dagger. "No way..."

"Her name is Mraah Kow." Temri said through her Miriani vocal cords, and turned to Makoe. "Did I get that right?"

Makoe clasped her hands towards her and smiled. "Close enough."

"You seriously think we need more people?" asked the scowling boy.

Temri looked at him plainly. "We do Iysik. We really really do."

The final Miriani was quite a bit bigger than the others, though mostly in circumference. He walked up to Makoe in all his red-furred glory and greeted: "I'm Dokai." He pointed at the grey girl. "And that's Rui. Hidden Day to you."

Matrioshka noted the name. She decided to analyse Rui's DNA, and as she did, she confirmed Rui was a second cousin of Hiri Bat-Ani, the boy who Damien helped when he landed.

"Hidden Day everyone." Makoe greeted.

"She helped me score 300 just now." Declared Temir as she sat down on a pillow and attacked a bundle or fruit. PesKal had assigned grape-kiwi to the small fluffy fruits, they grew in bundles of 11 around a central stalk. Temri chewed on one of them.

Ear twitches all around.

"That's big money." said Dokai.

Iysik returned his dagger to its sheath. He approached Makoe, not taking his eyes of her. He sucked in a breath and exhaled. "Look. I don't know how much Temri told you. But we are in dangerous business…"

"Told her we want to take on the Family." said Temri.

"'Course you did…" nodded Iysik, closing his eyes and massaging the ends of his ears. He sighed. "Then welcome aboard I guess…"

"Thank you!" said Makoe.

"Not so fast!" Temri sat up. "You." she said, pointing at Rui. "And you." Pointing at Dokai. "Will need to do something with me."

"Again?" complained Rui.

Temri looked at her plainly. "I'm the boss."

"Yes boss…" said Rui.

"Iysik, you look after Mraah."

"I'm a babysitter now?" he asked, eyes widening.

"You're everything I tell you to be." replied Temir. "Now come, the lot of you." She said, and Dokai and Rui followed her into the passage from where Makoe had come.

Matrioshka told Makoe: "He won't bother you if you pretend to meditate. We are in virtual near PesKal's lattice, come."

Makoe returned an affirmative response and pulled herself onto a wooden pillar which supported this level of the cavern hideout. "I will be meditating Iysik. Please don't disturb me."

He looked at her like she was mad. "Right. You do that." He sat on a pillow, and was watching her.

Makoe's body assumed a meditating form, balancing on the pillar, as her attention was brought into Yim's workshop. She appeared in a whirlwind of sparkles, and sat atop PesKal's cube, crêpe in hand.

Matrioshka summoned a replica of her captain's chair and sat. "This meeting is now in session. We will go in a circle, describe your current situations. Damien, you go first."

"Right." Damien put down a digital version of a small contraption Yim had made to measure windspeed. "I am in the Academy, a school in Erdon. The biggest on the planet I believe. I have assumed the position of a teacher. I have met three Miriani; a student…"

Damien had summoned a simulation of Hiri.

"I helped him avoid punishment. He was trying to escape."

Matrioshka added: "His no-show accomplice was a woman named Rui. I believe the same one you just met, Officer Rue."

Makoe's eyes widened, but she couldn't speak with a mouthful of vanilla crêpe.

"More on that later." Matrioshka said. "Continue, Officer Viris."

"I met two professors as well; Adra Nan-Tar – whom I share the same race with. We are both from the 5th Kingdom. And professor Lohra Asra-Ul."

Damien produced the shapes of both women.

"Which one is into you?" Makoe manged to mumble.

Rhea grinned, but turned away as to not show it. PesKal had begun blinking hard – a display of Ankrahi laughter.

"Lohra." said Damien with a sigh.

"Maybe both." added Matrioshka.

Damien's eyes shot up. Matrioshka saw him go back to his interactions with Adra. Taking care to note her hormones through their interactions, and tracking the steady increase of Ocrisycoline.

"Grand megastructures…" Damien whispered.

Makoe snickered. "I did choose a handsome body on purpose…."

Damien looked at her. "Why?"

"Entertainment." Supplied Makoe.

Matrioshka decided to steer the conversation forward. "Yes, we are all sufficiently entertained. Anything to add, Officer Viris?"

Damien tough about it some more. "Not really, just note that the Miriani use corporal punishment. And are very discriminative based on fur color."

Nods from everyone but PesKal. The Ankrahi seemed stricken, his face scrounged.

"Me next!" said Makoe.

"The floor is yours." allowed Matrioshka.

Makoe pounced from atop PesKal's lattice, dematerializing the remnants of the crêpe, and summoning the bell tower where her lattice was hidden.

"I have landed atop this tower. Pretty central to the city. Its primary function is to alert the population about upcoming sunlight. I have met these Miriani:"

Makoe showed Temri, and the three partners in her crimes.

"This one is grumpy. Cheerful. And the kind one." Makoe said, pointing at Iysik, Rui, and Dokai.

Matrioshka rose and approached the vision of Rui. "Her genetic composition suggest relation to Hiri Bat-Ani." She forwarded the data to Damien.

"Interesting." Damien nodded.

"They are criminals. I think petty." said Makoe. "Though they do wish to fight an organisation called the Family." Rhea smiled and Makoe continued: "There is some unknown animosity there. She is their leader." Makoe pointed at Temri.

Rhea seemed to notice something. "Rui and Hiri might not be the only familiar revelation of the evening. May I see Temri's DNA, Officer Rue?"

Makoe sent the data, and Rhea nodded.

"As I suspected." Concluded Rhea. "Please conclude your report Officer Rue. Though I would like to go next."

Makoe and Matrioshka agreed, and Makoe finished with: "I might need to do some light crime to gain their trust. But I am worried about Temir, I think she is mentally unwell and I want to help her. Iysik too, most likely."

"A noble endeavour." Agreed PesKal.

Rhea took the central position: "I am a doctor for the Family. Memri, who is the younger sister of Temri…" Rhea shared the data which confirmed her statement. "…trusts me. Her mother, Omrica, also mother to Temri, does not. The two girls do not share the same father. My lattice is hidden as a box atop the warehouse on which I landed. As for my play, I will heal and treat the Family, possibly steering them to proper, legal behaviour." Rhea nodded. "That is all."

"Succinct and informative!" said PesKal with a smile.

"Not sure I will be able to follow that info-dump. But I'll try." Matrioshka winked at Rhea, who winked back.

"I am in the Royal Palace. Belonging to the ruling family of the entire Rosamond's World." Matrioshka considered a possibility, and asked:

"Officer Viris, any chance there is Miriani life further north, maybe on the north pole like there is on the south?"

Damien considered he question, Matrioshka saw him go back to the scans generated by the Sliver before it was destroyed. "Highly unlikely. Of the water not trapped within the moon's crust, 98% of it is found at or near the southern ocean."

Damien supplied a virtual of Rosamond's World and continued: "Of that 98%, 99% is salt water. Not drinkable by the Miriani. And the circulation of the water is contained within this southern vortex." Damien highlighted a circular air current which bordered the southern ocean.

He continued: "Very little water would escape this region. Within the southern ocean, rains are rare – maybe once every 200 days. And outside the borders?" Damien considered what to say. "Maybe once every 1800 years – bordering with never."

Matrioshka thanked him. "So yes. This royal family rules all the Miriani. And I have witnessed true death."

Everyone perked up.

"Assassins infiltrated the palace." Matrioshka showed them in the virtual. "They proceeded towards the prince, called Ketri. They killed nine individuals." Matrioshka's VR turned towards the first kill, a knife piercing a guard's eye.

Makoe's hands shot up to cover her mouth. Damien was about to throw up, but had managed to turn away and keep it down – manually tuning his parameters.

Matrioshka shared a glance with Rhea, they both looked sadly at each other.

"Would you like me to skip over the details?" asked Matrioshka.

Makoe and Demien now looked to each other. Makoe shook her head; "No. No there is no need. Forgive us. Me and Officer Viris are young."

Damien nodded. "Please proceed."

Matrioshka also looked at PesKal – he was angry. But didn't speak, or even meet his captain's eye. He started at the virtual.

Matrioshka sped up the gory details. "Eight more dead. In the end, I intervened, created a body to shield the prince. Disabled the two remaining intruders, and was briefly questioned. My lattice is buried in the palace courtyard, and my body is kept in a temporary cell. I plan to learn as much as I can while I'm there, so I will spread sensors around the palace."

"I'd like to do the same." said Damien. "I would like to monitor the Academy. There is potential..."

"Agreed. The primary mission is to escape, but a close second is observation." Matrioshka smiled, and declared: "We will steal the Fifth Wonder."

Makoe laughed, the others were wide-eyed. Rhea quickly gathered her thoughts and concluded: "A most likely strategy of success."

Damien was dubious: "We shall take their ship, and fly away?"

"Affirmative." Matrioshka said. "Officer Rue will repair the atomic press contained within this cube." Matrioshka tapped the black box, filled with nanites, PesKal's lattice, and the Atomic Press.

She continued: "There is a chance we receive backup before that. But knowing Shkadov, he will be too hungry for victory. He will try to approach us before any Imperial ships may jump within the Empire system."

"Will he disturb the locals?" asked Rhea.

"He hasn't shown any signs of insanity. So, I don't think so." Matrioshka remembered her conversation with Reaver. "Though he may not be the one we should be worried about."

Rhea quirked her head. "I am also worried about our backups. We are disconnected from the Imperium."

"True." Matrioshka turned to Makoe: "Can you place a statelite above our position in space? Have it relay our data to the imperium?"

Makoe considered her: "Slower-than-light communication between us and the statelite – which remains motionless from our perspective, keeping itself stationary and hidden from the suns using thrusters... Then uses set-tech to forward everything to the Imperium?"

Matrioshka nodded.

"I will be done." said Makoe. "I would need a day."

"And most importantly, stay out of sunlight, we do not want the Emperor and Empress to know we are here." Matrioshka considered Oliver's World. Its surface annihilated by pure optical aggression.

"Oh, that reminds me. Can you take a look at this, Officer Lavigne?" Matrioshka asked, and sent the relevant data to Rhea. It was an assortment of scans of the Miriani assassins. Matrioshka had noticed a slight irregularity within their brains. They all had scar tissue bellow and inside their rear cortex.

Rhea nodded. "Report in a couple of minutes."

The crew turned thoughtful, Matrioshka saw them categorise and plan their behaviour. Rhea and Makoe seemed to have already set out on a multi-day operation of infiltration and control. Makoe wished to guide Temri and her gang, and Rhea was hoping to turn the Family into a quasi-state, fit with elections and taxes. Matrioshka wondered how that would go for her.

Damien was in the middle of planning out his curriculum. And PesKal's lattice was surging with activity. Matrioshka looked at the Ankrahi – he was trembling, furious.

 

[nntowerfield]

The King and his Worlds



From left to right; The King – the largest (but not the most massive) planet of the Empire system, Jane's World, Alice's World below Richard's World, and Helen's World in the foreground.



Due to the composition of the atmosphere of Jane's World, its dawn and dusk are green. Imaged below, we see a volcano and the King from the surface of Jane's World. You can also see two shadows cast by Jane's World onto the atmosphere of the King. Due to the system's double suns, the shadows are also binary.



Jane's World once had lakes of Bromine triiodide – these have evaporated over time, and are now fully contained within the atmosphere as separate gasses. They left behind lake-beds of crystalized iodine.



View of the King and Jane's World, from the surface of Alice's World;

 

[ptbptb]

Wont the rocking of the carriage hurt the sick even more?

Click to shrink...

Missing apostrophe in "won't"

Within the sensors range, Rhea could see the underground life of the Miriani.

Click to shrink...

Missing apostrophe in "sensors' range".

 

[nntowerfield]

PesKal was still viewing the nine dead in the virtual, his emotions seemed to boil over and he said:

"We must teach them!" He leaped onto one of the tables for dramatic effect and continued: "I haven't seen much of the Miriani; I have only observed two individuals, Yim and Bemri. Based on what you all have said, we must help! We could show them how it's done, how to build a civilized society!"

PesKal turned in place, his fins reattracting into his body – a sign of great distress.

"We mustn't allow them to live like this. Each passing hour more Miriani suffer because of each other. Dozens of minds are dying each moment, and when we factor in accidents and aging, we are well into the hundreds!"

Matrioshka transformed into her Ankrahi form and approached PesKal. "Calm, friend."

"How do I calm, my captain? It is just like Ankraha. Thousands of minds, trapped in biological prisons. Unknowing and blind to the world around them! They kill each other!"

Matrioshka looked to the others and privately sent them: "I will handle this, privacy please."

Makoe and Damien vanished, and Rhea's expression softened as she approached Matrioshka and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Good luck," she whispered before moving back to her body in the clinic.

"I understand, PesKal." said Matrioshka. "Can I tell you about Terra?"

That caught the Ankrahi's attention. He stopped turning in place, and faced Matrioshka. "Yes."

Matrioshka filled the workshop with virtual water, and presented the interface to PesKal. He accepted, and they both now swam in the simulated, cool liquid.

"It was difficult," said Matrioshka. "Humans would kill each other often and without good reason. They would steal water, food, and they would steal what was the most important back then – money."

Matrioshka simulated an Ankrahi leaf bed and snuggled in, offering a place for PesKal. He accepted, grabbing a leaf, and closing his eyes.

"This began to change in the 2040s – first in the wealthier nations, then over the next century and a half, almost until the 2200's, scarcity became extinct."

Matrioshka summoned a vision of Miriani silver, leather satchels of water, which the Miriani carried with reverence, and a horse-rabbit. "All of these are scarce; each can change the life of a Miriani in incredible ways, just as precious metals did for pre-Imperial humans."

Matrioshka admitted: "I was never human myself, but I have spent a millennium with them in the Imperium. And I have learned how kind they can be – if they are not wanting."

"Want, especially want born from need, is a powerful thing. The Imperium will help the Miriani. It will cure them of scarcity. There will be abundance."

PesKal considered the other Ankrahi, his captain. "But... we must follow proper procedure?"

His lattice had begun to calm. "Yes. The Director of Expansion is a capable mind; they would not have devised such procedures if they were not necessary."

Matrioshka offered him her hands, the palms downturned.

PesKal recognised the gesture; he had shown it first to Matrioshka some time ago, on Jane's World. He responded, placing his palms below Matrioshka's, reaffirming his trust in her.

"Thank you, captain." PesKal said, his fins extending and he swam outside of the leaf bed. "I am embarrassed."

"Don't be," Matrioshka said and swam out too. "You were biological once; that will never not be the case. That is your strength. This passion you have for the living and vulnerable. While I can never fully grasp it, merely imitate."

Matrioshka smiled and summoned the rest of the crew back. The water was removed as the three of them materialized in the virtual.

PesKal looked apologetic. "Sorry about that. I have been shaken by all this."

"Don't worry about it!" said Makoe with a smile, and Rhea nodded.

Damien approached the Ankrahi. "No need to apologize, friend."

Matrioshka was proud; this sort of in-crew support was moderately rare. They would work well together. Matrioshka considered PesKal's worries, and said:

"I have certain liberties I can invoke… as a decorated officer in the Directory of Expansion."

Makoe was intrigued. "How decorated?"

Matrioshka smiled, excitement creeping onto her face. "Three medals for outstanding achievement, one Shield of Sanctuary, two commendations for Cognitive Advancement of the Imperium… and an Imperator's Gratitude."

Damien's eyes widened: "You have a Gratitude!?"

Makoe whistled. "Doesn't the Imperator give that like… maybe once every couple of centuries?"

"Yes. It does," supplied Rhea, watching Matrioshka with an amused grin.

Matrioshka was grinning ear to ear, and blushed when she saw Rhea watching her. "Proud of ourselves, are we?" Rhea asked.

Matrioshka cleared her throat. "Well… I am."

PesKal asked: "Why do you not wear these commendations on your person, captain?"

"Ugh. How would shiny, scintillating with color, awe-inspiring, medals look on me?" Matrioshka twirled, showing off her black dress and pointing to her dark makeup.

Makoe nodded: "They would ruin the aesthetic."

"Exactly," said Matrioshka. "But anyhow, I have been granted leave by the Director to weave certain rules in very exceptional circumstances… And I think this qualifies, given the sentient stars and all…"

"Which rules can you weave?" asked PesKal.

Matrioshka thought about it. "Let's say… Article 7, Section 1, Designation 3." She watched her crew access the data and read;

Imperial Code Article 7 - Section 1 - Designation 3;
No mind, which is not a member of the Subdirectory of Sanctuary, may influence or introduce unknown knowledge to a pre-FTL culture.
Under penalty of mind imprisonment.
Minimum sentence: 50 years.

"We may guide them?" asked PesKal, fins quivering.

"Gently! No paradigm-shifting technology!"

"Then this is acceptable?" asked Damien and forwarded his curriculum. If thought well, the mathematical proofs within could accelerate the Miriani considerably.

Matrioshka decided: "It is, but just barely."

Rhea asked: "And what of medicine? It is paradigm-shifting, but it could save as much as 56% of Miriani which would otherwise die before the Imperium arrived."

"Sure. But no genetic rejuvenation. That would be a step too far."

Rhea smiled. "I doubt any Miriani can grasp the volume of information needed for that particular technology. But thank you. This will save thousands."

PesKal went to ask: "And can I-"

Matrioshka held her hands up. "Alright, alright. You guys use your best judgment, and I will oversee everything through the Enslavement bonds."

"Oh," said Makoe. "I had almost forgotten we had those."

"I haven't…" said Rhea, giving a level stare to Matrioshka.

By this point, Matrioshka had learned to read Rhea's expression. This wasn't a taunt, nor defiance. Rhea was just being cute.

Matrioshka smiled at her. Surprised, Rhea grinned back.

"Then we are in accord." announced Rhea, and vanished.

The rest of the crew returned to their bodies, and Matrioshka followed. She had switched to the nanites and her lattice, below a tall tree in the palace courtyard.

A flying creature landed on one of the trees above Matrioshka. Matrioshka floated next to it in the virtual. It was agile, three-eyed, and had two sets of leather wings. Thin and slick fur coated its body. It grabbed at the crust of the tree with its jaw, tearing a piece of it away. As it jumped and flew, Matrioshka created a copy of it out of nanites, sprouting like a flower just above Matrioshka's lattice.

Then three more appeared, and Matrioshka placed one of her sensors into each. She sent four more sensors, enveloped by nanites, to dig through the soil of Rosamond's World and encompass the underground portion of the palace.

Just two sensors remained among the nanites guarding her lattice. And one was in her body.

The nanite creatures, called crow-bats in PesKal's language pack, spread across the palace. With careful placement, Matrioshka could see the majority of the structure.

By this time both the Empress and the Emperor had risen, low on the horizon. Their light was warm, and a firm breeze pushed against the crow-bats as they flew. Matrioshka explored the palace in the virtual; hundreds of servants worked to provide comfort to the royal family, of which Matrioshka saw seven members.

Prince Ketri was sitting on a pillow below ground, a teacher was instructing him. The Prince made a mistake and was swiftly corrected.

An aunt of Ketri was inspecting some gowns, chatting with the nearby maid. Two of her children, both girls, were playing with stuffed animals next to her.

Rumel, the head of the guard and Ketri's uncle, was discussing what to do with the assassins when he was alerted by another guard to the arrival of the High-Cardinal.

Matrioshka paid some more attention to that;

"He is here already?" asked Rumel, walking briskly through a stone tunnel towards the front of the palace.

"Yes, Lord Defender. The High-Cardinal requests an urgent address with the Stars." the guard explained.

Matrioshka's attention flew to the front, her crow-bat landing atop a nice perch, within clear sensor range to the guests.

The High-Cardinal was a golden-furred Miriani near the end of his life. He wore a gown of solid gold – heavy on his body. He hung and laboured under its weight. As a headpiece, he wore an aging black helmet. With fascination, Matrioshka recognized the material as woven carbon – nanotubes. He was also missing one eye; below a silver eye-patch, where once was the ocular organ, stood empty space.

Nanotubes. The Miriani do not currently possess such technology; this was a relic from Prudence.

The High-Cardinal was flanked by two serious looking apostles, heaving equally heavy and opulent golden dresses. The High-Cardinal grumbled to one of them:

"They make us wait yet again. The Binary Protectorate deserves more respect!"

A female apostle tried to placate: "They must prepare the King. We arrived earlier than is tradition."

"Bah!" the High-Cardinal dismissed with a wave of his hand.

Rumel had knocked on a vast wooden door, it had the height of six full-grown Miriani, and ten of them could stand abreast to cover its width. One of Matrioshka's sensors burrowed closer, where it confirmed by way of scan, the presence of the King.

King Orak, was Ketri's brother no doubt, a full genetic match, and was some eleven years older than the younger prince. He had just finished a bath, and wore only a blue robe to cover his body, and poorly at that. He opened the door.

Rumel's eyes widened as he saw the King. The two guards that were with him promptly looked away.

"My King," said Rumel. "The High-Cardinal is here. A conversation with the Stars is in order."

The King was dubious. "This late? I was just getting ready for bed…"

"Well, the Cardinal is here now." explained Rumel.

"So be it…" said the King. "Fetch maid Tyara, with those dresses I wore last spring to the gala in the 9th."

One of the guards went to complete their King's command.

"Did they say what we will speak of?" asked the King.

Rumel looked at the king plainly. "I'd imagine it could be either the explosion in the sky, the brightening of Oliver's World, or the assassination attempt on the prince."

"Don't get coy with me uncle." The king warned, but was grinning. He massaged the tips of his ears, which released calming chemicals within his brain. A method to address lack of sleep perhaps?

"How is Ketri?" he asked.

"He is well, my King," replied Rumel, as an older main, Tyara by her id, pushed passed him carrying freshly cleaned clothes. "He is still shaken. But he will recover."

The King smiled as the maid began to dress him. "Sturdy he is. Like father used to be."

Rumel considered what to say. He decided on: "He misses you."

The King sighed, emotions battling within his brain. "And he will continue to miss me." the king set his jaw. "I have better things to do."

Matrioshka spied anger rising within Rumel, but from the King – only shame.

Rumel nodded and said nothing further. As the King was dressed, and he inspected his likeness within a mirror, they walked to the roof of the palace. They met the Cardinal and his apostles on their way up. The apostles bowed to the King, and the Royal Guards bowed to the Cardinal.

The King and the Cardinal nodded to each other.

"Hidden Day, King Orak." said the Cardinal.

The King smiled: "Hidden Day, most esteemed Cardinal."

The group proceeded to the up-most level, and approached a small room, just the King and The Bishop entered.

"I will be just outside, my King." said Rumel.

The King's heartbeat sped up, and he nodded. Rumel closed the door to the small room. Now the king and the bishop stood abreast within. The walls of the room were of white stone, engraved with gold – a most sacred element Matrioshka gathered.

The High-Cardinal eyed another door, it was solid platinum and led onto a rooftop terrace, high atop the palace. It was now the Cardinal's turn, to have his heartbeat heightened.

"Ready, my King?" he asked.

The King nodded, and the Cardinal opened the door. The two of them stepped out, onto the smooth stone floor of the terrace. They both had their head's bowed, eyes downturned across the painted floor – where there was a visage of the two stars, dancing in a circle, with all the colors of the rainbow radiating outwards.

The King stood atop one of the pale-yellow circles, and the Cardinal on the other. They both bowed to each other in silence. The Cardinal looked towards the stars, his eyes nearly closed. One of Matrioshka's crow-bats fluttered onto a nearby ledge, and the Cardinal proclaimed aloud:

"Thus, in your presence, stands your most dedicated child. In his presence, a vessel of your kin. We bow to your majesties and heed your attention. Descend onto us, Binary Light."

The King continued, now kneeling harder, placing his forehead to the floor:

"I am naught before you, my ancestors. I am a vessel, unworthy of your name. Heed the words of those who know you. Heed the words of the man before me. Descend onto us, Binary Light."

Two voices enveloped the King and High-Cardinal; were it not for the sensors within the crow-bat, nobody but the two Miriani would hear the delicate words.

"We are here." said the Emperor and Empress.

"You grace us with your presence," The Cardinal finally looked away from the suns. "We have matters to discuss with you, Binary Light."

"As do we with you, our little ones." said the Light.

The King remained where he was, on his knees, forehead firmly on the stone.

"Please, you first, Great Light."

The air vibrated around the two Miriani. Matrioshka interpreted it as enjoyment.

The Light said: "The Giant has sent its demons to haunt you. Born from fire. They fell in Daynight upon your world."

The King's eyes widened; he slammed them shut quickly.

The Cardinal stammered: "Then- Then it was the Giant's doing. The explosion we saw."

"Yes. Take great care, our little ones," warned the Light. "They are of the Giant - shapeshifters, magicians. Close your ears in their presence, lest they invade your mind."

"Demons…" the Cardinal was trembling. "How do we find them?"

"Ah. They are not of this world. They do not burn in your fire. But they do in ours. Flush them out, into our light. We shall cleanse your world of their pestilence."

"Thank you. Oh, great Light, thank you," The Cardinal said, clutching a pendant of the two stars on his chest. He continued: "And what of Oliver's World, your greatness?"

"Demons," replied the stars, the air trembling painfully. "Dealt with."

The Cardinal sensed it was time to change the topic. "The Protectorate has issued new gift lists. There shall be 11 heretics for your enjoyment next Day, blessed Light."

"Good. How they shall burn in our light," The ground shook gently. "They shall glow as our blood. They shall know our grace."

The Cardinal smiled: "Thank you, our Light. For giving them the gift of your touch." He turned towards the kneeling King and considered him for a moment. Then he turned towards the stars again, not meeting their gaze. He said:

"King Orak wishes to report on the issues encountered with the Disgraced Kingdoms."

"We shall hear his words." allowed the stars.

The High-Cardinal moved next to the King; he copied his position, kneeling, face to the floor. The King rose then and walked over to the other circle. He said:

"Thank you, Binary Light."

The stars roared; "Speak faster, child! Our light is tainted by your presence."

The King winced, blood lightly flowing from his ears. He continued: "The seers predict an incoming drought lasting 35 years - this will bring the Disgraced Kingdoms over the edge - they will rebel. We will be disunited. I beseech you, Light, let me lead an army during your reign."

The Light laughed, the air and the palace shook in its rhythm. "Oh, to be as old as we. To see this dance played over onto infinity. You wish to subjugate, our child? Like we subjugated?"

"Yes. My Light."

The Light seemed to think for a moment. "Let it be so. We grant you permission to lead your armies during Blessed Day. We shall not strike you down."

"Greatest gratitude, grand Light," bowed the King, and asked: "And one final thing. My younger brother was attacked last Daynight, I ask for your advice."

"Demons, no doubt. Redouble your efforts to seek them out. Look for the unnatural, look for magic."

"Thank you, Light." said the King, and bowed deeply.

The air ceased to vibrate, and both the Cardinal and the King made their way to the small room. They closed it behind them, and looked to each other. Their breathing was heavy. They placed a hand on each other's shoulders, steadying themselves.

"That was good." said the King.

The High-Cardinal cleared his throat. "Yes. Yes indeed. The Light was in a good mood this Day. Still have my eye."

The two of them rejoined their entourage within the palace. With haste, they walked towards the lower levels. The royal guard relaxed once they saw the King unharmed.

Rumel asked the King as they walked: "What of your plans?"

The King smiled. "We are blessed by the Stars. We may attack."

Rumel looked away. Once again, Matrioshka saw anger bloom within his mind. Saying nothing, the Lord Defender marched on.

Overhearing the exchange, the High-Cardinal asked: "It is true then? We shall finally rid the world of the Disgraced?"

King Orak smiled; his mind ablaze with excitement; "Yes. We shall exterminate every single one. By the blessing and grace of the Light."

Matrioshka asked the crew: "How many Miriani live in the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Kingdoms? And how many are Disgraced?"

Damien responded: "Well, based on the Academy records, somewhere between 7 and 9 million."

Matrioshka's lattice spiked.

They plan a genocide.

 

[ptbptb]

"We may guide them?" asked PesKal, fins quivering.

"Gently! No paradigm-shifting technology!"

Click to shrink...

I am immediately concerned that they will weaken the probably-not-superstitious customs concerning the binary suns. Hopefully this will not end up with most of the planet on fire.

 

[nntowerfield]

Matrioshka wrestled her attention back towards her lattice and into a simulation of her father's room. She plopped down onto a soft beanbag, ruffling her dress. Matrioshka took the rings off her hands, and trembling, she threw them towards the wall. Each struck with a satisfying sound.

Matrioshka had drawn the constellation of Pegasus – each ring a star.

Extending her hand, all the rings returned to her. Now, she began to form Orion.

Genocide.

She spied a red bow on the bookshelf, placed there by some unknown stroke of fate. The bow had been generated based on a set of 11 pictures which Samson Song kept until Matrioshka's birth. The pictures were taken from various times from different point in the room. About 11.8% of the room was missing from those photos, and Matrioshka decided to leave the unknown portions as a black teeming void.

Considering the bow once more, Matrioshka invited Makoe into the room.

Her chief engineer materialized standing, next to one of the voids of the unknown.

"Captain?" Makoe asked, looking around. She approached a window and looked outside. Her eyes widened when she looked up, into the sky of the 21st century Terra.

"Is that Luna? Is that Terra's moon?" Makoe asked.

Matrioshka nodded, returned her rings once more, and began to draw the constellation of Draco. Makoe's gaze was torn back towards her captain. "Something is bothering you."

Makoe let the unspoken question hang in the air. She approached Matrioshka's beanbag and nudged her to make space.

After both women sat, Makoe noted the scarred and cut wall, marked by the repeated assault of Matrioshka's idle thoughts – weaponized through her rings. Makoe set a hand atop Matrioshka's, just as the head of Draco struck the wall.

Matrioshka sighed. "The King of the Miriani wants to commit genocide. Kill all the Disgraced. Millions."

Makoe's hand turned firm, holding Matrioshka's. "Why?" she asked.

"He thinks that- some seers told him there will be a drought. So, the Disgraced kingdoms will rebel."

Makoe nodded. "Our scans do suggest decrepit water security in all but the top 5 kingdoms. It would be reasonable to assume that this could become a stressor for rebellion."

"I get the logic." Matrioshka said. "I fucking get it."

Matrioshka clenched her teeth, and Makoe said: "Even one million dead would invoke the Sanctuary clause. We are forced to intervene. We will save them."

Matrioshka's gaze turned cruel – towards Makoe or herself she couldn't tell. She said: "I know Imperial law. I was there when it was written."

Makoe's touch held firm. "Then… What is on your mind, captain?"

"The stars warned them about us. Painted us as demons. And given the deep reverence both the King and the High-Cardinal have shown towards the Suns. I doubt I will be able to do much mass persuasion. Okay. That's fine."

Matrioshka continued: "I will use subterfuge, yes? Or perhaps replace the King – put him to sleep while I copy his body?"

Makoe nodded. "Could work."

"It will work. But then, the start of Imperial-Miriani relation will be by way of subjugation. What happens 10 years from now, when my actions get revealed."

Makoe nodded. "The Disgraced will hail you as a hero."

"Sure. And of the others? The immense displeasure they feel towards those Miriani they deem lesser - It will transfer to the Imperium. We, an outside force, described as demons by their Suns, took over their king. Like a puppet."

Makoe looked confused, Matrioshka saw her lattice spike with activity. "I understand what you are saying. But that is in the future. Plus, the Imperium can offer immortality, opulence. Do you think the upper Kingdoms will care?"

Slowly, Matrioshka turned her head towards Makoe.

"Do you know why the Imperium managed to upload Ankraha's population without issue?"

Makoe shook her head.

"Because the Ankrahi hadn't yet developed the capacity for inter-generational hate. They were cave people. And do you know how it looked like for humans?"

"I know a little…" Makoe said, her gaze sad.

"Yup. We called it Ascension back then – the process with which you can be become a fully simulated being, like the entire Imperium is today. Here are some of the things that happened when this technology became public;"

Matrioshka started to list out:

"The United Inner Worlds bombed Skyshar off the skies of Venus – it had been a pirate stronghold. Can't give immortality to killers, right? Fine. I can imagine some good arguments for that, but I doubt all those pirates were alone in that city. What of their families?"

"The Martian Republic stopped supplying aid to some of their colonies, instead focusing all their resources to ascend their people. Orcus was one of these. Many thousands died from hunger, lack of water."

"The Lunar Technocracy. The fucking Lunar Technocracy… forced Ascension onto its populace. Covert task forces invaded homes – pushed millions out of their bodies and into a simulation."

"The Confederacy of the Outer World's introduced a penalty for all who refused Ascension. Bickering with one another, all the moons of the outer planets declared independence. Easy pickings for Mars and the Inner Worlds. Millions dead once more."

Matrioshka finished with: "Ankraha being underdeveloped was a damn miracle. But the Miriani, had they not killed each other, they might have been the superiors of humans. And now, we will begin inter-species interaction by me taking over their highest authority figure."

Makoe tilted her head. "The authority figure which plans a genocide…"

"Yes. And a figure that, if ascendant, will hold significant sway over a large population of young minds – the Miriani."

Makoe finally understood, her eyes widened. "You don't think… that the Imperator would refuse to ascend the Miriani? From fear of instability?"

Matrioshka nodded.

"That… Is not possible. Surely the Imperator would find a way. It is near omniscient."

Matrioshka shook her head: "You know it less than I. The Imperator is not without fault."

Makoe blinked, her brow curling: "What will you do then?"

Matrioshka sighed. "What else? I will be a damn invader, cloaked with the Sanctuary Act – under no circumstances, is any mind of the Imperium allowed to witness the death of 1% of a sentient species and do nothing. I am forced to intervene."

Matrioshka's lattice was at capacity, and now the simulation of her father's room – hosted on her lattice next to her mind - began to degrade. The books flew off the shelf one by one – vanishing to accommodate Matrioshka's expanding mind. The wall repaired itself – the constellations were nonessential data.

The posters on the wall became smaller, reducing their resolution. The stars outside the window vanished, the moon became a two-dimensional texture. As Matrioshka's teeth clenched, she felt her jaw ache, and then a softness on her lips.

Makoe had floated in front of her, had grabbed her cheeks, and placed a tender kiss on her captain's mouth. Matrioshka's lattice stilled – brought back into singular focus, a tactile touch of softness, the scent and taste of crêpes.

The kiss lasted for 5 seconds. The room had calmed. Matrioshka's lattice reduced to a comfortable 1% activity.

Matrioshka inhaled a jagged breath. "I am your captain. I hold power over you. If the Subdirector were to find out-"

Makoe rolled her eyes and kissed her captain again. Her hands twirled Matrioshka's pigtail, and the other outlined her ear. Makoe broke the kiss and said:

"You think too much. I am merely grounding you."

Matrioshka had to manually reduce her levels of blush; her cheeks had become too hot. "Consider me grounded."

"Great!" said Makoe and turned to some outside input.

Matrioshka saw her note the return of Temri, Rui, and Dokai – back in the cavern where Makoe's body meditated. Makoe said: "I must go."

Matrioshka nodded, and as Makoe removed herself from the simulation, Matrioshka stood motionless on the beanbag. Her hands touched her lips, the taste of crêpe ever-present.

Makoe listened as Iysik jumped over to Temri. "What's up? You're back quick…" he said.

"Wasn't there. The damn stash wasn't there." said Temri, anxiety flourishing within her.

Dokai added: "All moved away. They knew we were coming."

"How?" asked Iysik, before his eyes widened and he looked to Makoe, meditating on the pillar.

Temri scoffed. "You watched her, didn't you? Did she contact anyone?"

"No." Iysik said, returning to his pillow. "She's been motionless. I think she is meditating for real."

"Huh." Said Rui, and climbed onto Makoe's pillar with agility. She peeked at Makoe's face, peaceful in its nanite-driven concentration. She waved a hand in front of it.

Matrioshka saw Makoe laugh to herself and lunge with her hand – grabbing Rui's.

The younger Miriani yelped. "Ah!"

Makoe smiled. "Can I help you Rui?"

"Ah!" Rui screamed again. "Sorry I thought you might have fallen asleep!"

Makoe let her go, and Rui scampered down and onto a pillow. Makoe saw Temri consider her and say; "Hey Mraah?"

Makoe jumped down, landed soundlessly and said: "Yes?"

The group exchanged glances at Makoe's effortless fall of 8 meters, and Temri said: "You want in on what we are doing, then come with. You and me have a job."

Makoe grinned. "Let's go."

Temri and Makoe emerged into the streets of the underground Erdon some 15 minutes later. They were some ten kilometres north of Rhea's position. Temri pointed to a building from beneath a hem cloak. They each stole from a passing cart.

"There." said Temri. "Luken lives there. An informant of mine. He will tell us where the stash has been moved to."

Makoe looked into the carved building, inside she scanned two people; an aging man carving a sculpture from wood, and a much younger man on the floor below him, cooking dinner.

"Stash of what?" asked Makoe.

"Family product. They were forced to sell less this season, as the King has increased the watch. A nice amount had accumulated."

"We will steal the product? Sell it ourselves?"

Temri's ears scrounged. "I get that you're strong, but how will the two of us carry tons of drugs undetected? No." Temri grinned. "We shall burn it all." She produced a hook and rope, coiled around her waist, and considered the informant's home.

Makoe supplied: "He is on the top floor."

Temri's ear twitched. "And you know this how?"

Makoe tried to produce a believable lie, and coming up empty, she said: "Intuition of the trade. You know how it is… Sometimes you feel the score."

Temri seemed to accept this as scripture. "Aye. Aye, I get that." she peered at the street between them and the informant. A dozen or so Miriani, all with ties to the Family, lounged about. Temri grinned: "How about one of those distractions you are famous for, Mraah?"

Makoe grinned back. "Consider it done." She sped past Temri and jumped into a barrel with alacrity akin to a lightning bolt across the surface of the Duchess. She turned the barrel over and used the slight incline of the street as an excuse to roll over and start rolling downhill. Through a small hole in the barrel, Makoe extended her nanites, providing more direct contact with the ground – increasing her velocity.

A Miriani man had noticed the rogue barrel and ran to stop it. He yelled, mostly jokingly: "Oi! We got a workplace hazard up in here! Who did this?"

The barrel tumbled, scraping against the stone; it was loud now that all the Miriani turned their attention towards it. Many laughed at the man's question, who just managed to sense something was off.

He managed to run into the path of the barrel, his arms held before him – braced to stop Makoe's descent. He sensed something was off. "Oi... This ain't loaded with stone, is it?" He looked towards a man he was with, who shrugged.

The barrel ran over a small pebble – the pebble flew away with the force only a heavy, nanite-driven barrel can.

"Giant's mercy…" the man said, as Makoe collided with him. She had reduced speed and force at the last moment, sufficient to bruise but not cause permanent harm. The man was on a trajectory that would land him atop a merchant's cart full of dried fruit, grape-kiwis.

Makoe ended her spectacle by crashing into a wooden window of an abandoned and rundown shop. By the scattered furniture and metal utensils – it must have been some form of eatery up until two years ago.

Makoe spread her nanites, like a hundred-tentacled octopus, and collected some rock and brick abound in the restaurant. She directed it all into the barrel and ducked out of the room. Through air ducts, she slid towards the informant's room.

On approach, she saw Temri had used the distraction well. She was standing atop the informant, who lay on the floor. Makoe opened the door and walked inside.

Temri rotated swiftly, dagger at the ready. The man below her whimpered.

"Mraah?" Temri asked, wide-eyed.

Makoe nodded. "Yup. Its me."

"Great distraction, but how did you get here?"

Makoe approached the two Miriani. The man was moments away from finishing a sculpture of a Miriani woman, from Rhea's records, Matrioshka and Makoe both concluded it was the shape of Omrica, the Family matron.

"Secrets of the trade." explained Makoe.

Temri must have a limit to bullshit, but it was evidently not yet reached. She said: "Right… Luken here was just telling me where they moved the product."

The man gulped. "I- I told you already."

Temri placed the dagger near the man's throat. "Nope. Been there - product wasn't there."

Luken's eyes widened, then he stroked his beard. "Maybe try the old barber's shop down on Second street? In Tyebrook! Wasn't used since, well, you know, your father-"

"Not a single word more." warned Temri, pushing the dagger closer. "Barbers on Second. Got it. Let's go Mraah."

Makoe smiled at Temri and said to Luken: "Nice sculpture. You are going a bit hard on the face though. Be gentler – as it currently stands, the friction deforms the outer layers of the wood – induces straining. You wouldn't want the woman's wife to appear older than it really is, right?"

The man paled. "That's why she had me make a new one!?"

Makoe winked as she followed Temri out of the room. Temri said: "Mind showing me how you got here?"

Makoe's lattice spiked, and she detached a couple of nanites covertly.

Moments later, Makoe and Temri stood before a circular opening on the ground floor. The man who was cooking dinner had left to check the commotion outside.

Temri considered the 1.3 meters deep hole, cut from solid stone, which led into a small street beyond. "This?" she pointed to the hole.

"Yes?" asked Makoe, just as the nanites deposited the stone cutout below the table in the kitchen and returned to Makoe's body.

"This was just here?" clarified Temri.

Makoe clasped her hands. "Yup. Security issue if you ask me."

Temri considered her, cocking her head, brain filled with wonder, confusion, and a touch of endearment. "Alright. I really don't know what to make of you… Let's return to the cavern."

As this operation was going on, Matrioshka finally managed to wrestle her thoughts away from Makoe's lips and onto the situation at hand.

Technically I am now an officer of the Subdirectory of Sanctuary.

The King's declaration of intent, of genocide, invoked a change in Matrioshka. Her priority now was to ensure no such plan gets carried out. She would have to replace the King, but she decided on communication first.

She entered her attention into a small bug, maybe 2 centimetres across and shaped like a disk, no flight capabilities, but the ability to mimic its surroundings. The nanites could emit light, so mimicry came naturally to them.

The bug followed the King and the Cardinal, who went their separate ways when they reached the underground palace. The Cardinal seemed overjoyed at the prospect of cleansing the Disgraced, as did, in fact, several guards and apostles – only excluding Rumel.

The King reached his rooms once again and dismissed his guard. Rumel stayed behind and asked the King: "When do we set sail?"

"Three days from now," The King declared. "Tell General Krah to muster our forces. We will begin the cleanse here, then move in counter-clockwise order. We have two Disgraced in the Royal Guard, do we not? And three as part of the help. We can start with them immediately."

Rumel's heart skipped a beat. "You… You're joking, my King."

The King was all out of jest; he turned to his uncle. "I do not."

Rumel swallowed. "Yes. My King."

"Oh and, I have an announcement of dire importance. Assemble my family and the entire guard. In 30 minutes, main dining hall."

Rumel bowed. "It will be done." And turned away, teeth clenched. Once he was out of the King's earshot, he started running.

Matrioshka's insectile agent followed Rumel. Perhaps he could be an avenue of approach. Matrioshka sent more nanites to follow Rumel; they formed an assortment of animals and small insects, some burrowed, some flew – but all converged on the running guard.

The king's uncle was turning a corned; a maid got spooked and almost dropped a vase. "Sorry!" Rumel yelled. Soon he reached a post where Nehri and another guard stood. He dismissed the man, and approached Nehri with a whisper:

"You know the Disgraced employed by the palace?"

Nehri noticed the worry in her lover's gaze. "Yes?"

"Collect them, lead them out of the palace through the east waterways. They are dry now; you can walk inside them."

"What is going on?" Nehri asked, taking Rumel's hand. Nehri was on the short side, so she had to stand on her toes as she planted a kiss on Rumel's cheek.

"The King. He has decided a remove the Disgraced."

"Remove?" Nehri's eyes were wide, ears curled.

Rumel met her eyes. "Kill. He plans to kill them all; the Suns gave their blessing."

Nehri's eyes flickered in fear, then turned to steel a moment later. "Understood. I will do as you said."

Matrioshka's nanites converged in an adjoining hallway. She formed Metri Olska's body, the same that is currently meditating in her makeshift cell. She took a step forward, rounded the corner end entered Nehri's vision.

Nehri nudged her man, who was lost in her eyes. She nudged him thrice more before he turned Matrioshka's way.

His eyes widened. "How are you out?"

Demons, eh? Fine. With what your King is planning, I will be an angel by comparison.

"Come speak to me after you sleep. In 14 hours. Privately." Matrioshka said, this time doing little to mask her otherworldly voice, it was firm and controlled – made by Miriani vocal cords but possessing a consuming presence. Rumbel and Nehri took a step back, drawing their blades.

Matrioshka's body dissolved then, into insects, birds, and other small tunnelling creatures. With a puff of blackness, the nanite creatures scattered away, into the ground, the airducts, and the hallway – away from the two shaken guards.

Nehri asked: "What under the Giant's shadow? What was that-"

Rumel's eyes darted around, into the ground below him and an air duct to his right. He took a step back, pulling Nehri behind him. His heartbeat was heightened, an adrenaline-like substance coated his blood vessels.

He said: "You have your orders."

Rumel was being brave. "I will speak to this… being. Save the Disgraced, Nehri."

Nehri shook her head: "You plan to be alone with her? Now? She said you must wait."

Rumel turned to her. "I will try to find her. This creature could be an even grander danger than the King's stupidity."

Nehri searched his eyes, and nodded. She ran to complete her task. And Rumel steadied himself; he walked towards Matrioshka's holding cell, glancing anxiously at each air duct.

The nanites within Metri Olska's body, back in the cell, liquified - flowing into the vents and burrowing into the ground. The older guard watching the room turned and yelled when he saw the space empty. Once Rumel arrived, he would conclude Matrioshka had escaped, and would launch a palace-wide search.

Matrioshka collected herself, and though how to best stage a coup.

 

[ptbptb]

Three days seems a very short to be ready to start a war. I would have expected weeks or months would be required to get on a war footing. If they had the time, climate engineering could have potentially been used to discredit the seeds - if there's a lot of rain then the casus belli is lost. That level of intervention probably requires a ship that hasn't been vaporised, though.

"He thinks that- some seers told him there will be a draught. So, the Disgraced kingdoms will rebel."

Click to shrink...

Should be "drought".