A few days after Adrien returned, Selene seeks out both Adrien and Siúsan while they're practicing their own magics near each other. As she kneels down in front of Adrien, she can feel that Siúsan's magic is completely internal now. That means that she's probably close to finding her inner world.
Softly Selene says, "Adrien."
Adrien's eyes flick open, entirely unsurprised by her presence, "Goddess, how may I help you?"
Selene snorts, "Please call me Selene. If you were being formal it would be Selene, goddess of the moon. Anyway, I've finished all the trade samples that I'm going to gift your commander. Would you be able to introduce me to him tomorrow?"
Adrien's mandibles drop in surprise, and he can't help glancing at Siúsan, "I can, if you're sure that is."
Selene nods, "I am, it's not like they can hurt me, and I'd really prefer to sell stuff than blow it up. It's much harder to build than it is to destroy after all."
Adrien shakes his head in human fashion, "It depends on how prepared your enemy is. You can rail against the mountain for as long as you want, but it will still be standing long after you've gone."
Selene laughs, "Not for me, it only matters how strong they are. I've destroyed mountains before. I could destroy a planet if I had to. Your bonded, Siúsan only has one weakness that mortals cold exploit, but once she finds her magic the human way, we can work on eliminating that weakness. Tell me, do you know why sidhe only use melee weapons?"
Adrien settles back down, "I've thought about it, but I can't think of a good reason."
Selene picks up a stone and hangs it in the air, where it stays, "It's because ranged weapons are pretty much useless against them. The only thing that's effective against magic is pure iron. That's because you have to be exceedingly strong to even be able to affect it. As in Titania level or above." The pebble turns into a floating shield, "But what do you do when they can just conjure a barrier in front of it." A small plinth rises out of the ground for the shield to sit on, "Or just pull up a section of the ground."
Adrien's head whips to one side as the shield abruptly disappears and reappears to his side, "Then there's the magical sense they have, the same one you learnt recently. If you're honest, can you imagine anybody sneaking up on you now?"
Adrien looks back at Selene, and deliberately shakes his head, "Apart from you and Lyasa, no. I don't believe they could."
Selene nods, "All of what I said is true, but it only applies to a tiny fraction of the people in the Systems Alliance. Sidhe, the few humans that learn magic with Sidhe, and any magi you might meet. That's it. Almost every other magical you're likely to meet, they couldn't even stop a bullet, let alone something going far faster."
Selene looks out into the distance as Adrien listens attentively, "I think that once the relay generates enough eezo to come out of standby, you'll find out yourself just how small mortals are. Until then, I'll make sure that you get as much training here as you can."
Adrien inclines his head, "Thank you goddess."
Speaking as though it's an after thought, Selene asks, "Would you like to take my mark? If you do, you'll become my eyes, ears, and hands in the galaxy. In return, I'll be able to teach you the same things I'm teaching Siúsan."
Adrien doesn't even stop to think once he hears Siúsan's name. He scrambles to his feet and drops into the submissive position he's use in front of a Nest Lord, or a Primarch, "I would be honoured goddess."
Smoothly standing up, Selene shakes her head with a smile as she looks down at Adrien. Then she reaches down and touches his headplate just above his brow ridges.
For several seconds, Adrien feels like a fledgling that has just come face to face with a Thresher Maw, armed with only a wooden sword. Then it gently reaches out and pulls him into a caring embrace before letting him go with a tiny fraction of itself, while it takes an equal amount him with it.
As Selene pulls her finger back, Adrien falls to the floor gasping in fear, awe, ecstasy, he's not sure what human or turian term would be appropriate.
As she settles down next to him, Selene says, "Most humans would call it a religious experience. And no, I'm not reading your mind, you've just had the same reaction as many of my priestesses did when I still roamed the Earth, nearly 3,000 years ago in Ancient Greece."
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The next morning, Adrian is waiting beside the equipment that the goddess made for his flight leader.
As he's gazing off into the distance, Oriana carries her own equipment over to stand beside him, "Patrol leader."
Adrian inclines his head, "Patrol leader Oriana. How have you been finding your lessons here?"
Oriana shakes her head in the human fashion, "It has been, different. I don't think I'm a good turian anymore. Having magic… It's hard doing things the sidhe way, as there's nobody that has a superior view to your own. Only those with more experience than your own. I feel like I'm becoming like one of the asari mates, who see the world differently to everyone else. Spirits, a couple of the younger hunters have been whispering about joining the clan."
Adrien puts his hand on her arm, "As a patrol leader, we see more than our wing leaders, and their hunters, simply because we are above them. What we are learning here is teaching us to see more than we did before. Do Nest Lords or Primarchs see more than each other? Or are they all on different peaks?"
Oriana nods thoughtfully, "I see. Thank you, I hadn't considered it like that. You're right, we're simply climbing a different mountain, and so we're seeing more from a different view point. The sidhe, they're all taught to climb the same mountain, and they help each other reach the top. But from their mountain the view is the same."
Adrien shakes his head, "Do not mistake learning to climb for the number of peaks. For the sidhe, there are as many peaks as there are sidhe."
Oriana gives a display of amusement, "And you show yet again that you see more than I. The private lessons are paying off. Though I'm surprised that your mentor is not here."
Adrien looks back in Siúsan's direction, "My bon… Siúsan is receiving personal instruction from Titania Lyasa while we are accompanying the goddess."
Oriana playfully taps Adrien on the arm, "Should I be contracting your nest mother to change your betrothal."
Adrien's crest flares out in embarrassment, "I… I'm not a very good turian anymore either."
Oriana looks at him sympathetically, "When was your betrothal due, before we were brought here?"
Adrien looks up at Oriana, "Two years, I was to do my duty to the fleet and then return to the nest."
"Adrien, they say that just over three years passes here for every day in realm:2. How long have we been missing?"
Adrien shakes his head, "It was three days when I reported in."
"So at least 10 years. Our traditions say that if a betrothal has gone more than 5 years without answer, we are to treat our betrothed as if they died."
Adrien freezes for a moment at that view of the female traditions.
Before he can give a response, Selene steps out of nowhere to stand beside them, and cheerfully says, "Great, you've both got your gear. Well, let's be off."
As Selene finishes speaking, the worlds start to flick past in smooth succession.
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Before the two turians are fully aware of what's going on, they pass through two cities and stop on a hill.
As soon as he realises where he is, Adrien asks, "Shouldn't we have pulled our magic in before arriving?"
Selene laughs and waves her hand negligently, "Don't worry about it, you're both still learning how to keep it out, so it's better to just let the local eezo evaporate rather than damage your progress." She shrugs, "Besides, you can only cover a few hundred yards, so it's not like you can damage any of the deposits that the scientists are looking for. Oh, there it is, one moment."
Without warning, it seems like the tents and temporary buildings of a turian encampment have just appeared around them. Seconds after they arrive, a cry of alarm comes from one of the guards.
As soon as they hear it, Adrien and Oriana both duck down for cover as the sound of automatic weapons fire fills the air. After several seconds of not dying, Adrien and Oriana both look up in wonder. Surrounding them in a circle is a cloud of needle like slivers of metal just hanging in the air. With the sun overhead, the needles glitter like a constellation of stars.
As the surrounding guards watch, Selene daintily picks one of the slivers of metal from the air and turns it around in her fingers. "How interesting, I wonder how they make their bullets so small."
A few seconds late, the turians on their rest period have finished rearming themselves and start pouring out of the barracks into the parade ground. At the same time Desolas runs out of his office, gun in hand, and stumbles to a halt.
Desolas looks at the cloud of metal and calls out, "
What in spirits name is going on here?"
Both Adrien and Oriana stand and bow to Desolas. Speaking in unison they say, "
Flight Leader."
Desolas' eyes first look at them, and then down at the equipment by their feet, "
Take a seat Patrol Leaders, and tell me what's happening."
Adrien and Oriana both exchange a glance, before standing up. Adrien takes a step towards Desolas, "
In the time since I last saw you, Goddess Selene", Adrien indicates Selene, "
and Titania Lyasa
both arrived on planet. At our training ground, Oriana was able to control her magic
enough to come here. The goddess
finished making examples of trade items," Here, he waves his hand over the cabinet and assorted items, "
to be delivered here during her talks."
Getting bored of not being able to understand people without cheating, Selene points her finger at Desolas and a spark of light fires out and hits him squarely in the chest.
As she does, all of the guards in the area open fire on the three of them until their thermal clips overheat, and their weapons shut down to allow for cooling. Adrien and Oriana have both cowered back, but managed not to duck down this time.
Conjuring a small table, Selene starts to gather the floating slivers of metal as she uses them to build a scale model of the camp while Desolas regains his wits.
Once he starts to look angry, Selene smiles at him, "I trust you can understand me now?"
Desolas stares at Selene, occasionally glancing down at the growing model of the camp. Including the inside layouts of the buildings. "What did you do to me witch?"
Selene puts a hand on her chest in mock offence, "Goddess, please. And it was a simple translation spell. Any trained human magical would be able to do the same thing. Unfortunately, there's the slight problem that they'd also fall ill with Prothean Syndrome, and die a few days later. So that means you get to negotiate with me instead of someone closer to your level; lucky you."
Desolas chitters in irritation, "What do you mean negotiate?"
"It's simple, you agree to a peace and trade treaty, or I wipe you all out." Guilelessly she turns to Adrien and Oriana, "That's the way you like to do things, isn't it? Big stick and small carrot?"
Adrien and Oriana both just stare at Selene, while Desolas blusters back, "You can't do this, you're only one person and we have space superiority."
Selene nods in understanding, "Oh, I see, you're not the one in charge. Right, where are you?"
As Selene looks to the sky, so do Desolas, Adrien, and Oriana, after a few seconds Selene continues, "They're on a dreadnaught, so that would be the biggest ship… Right, found it."
Selene conjures three plush armchairs with built in massage controls and drinks holders, "Your admiral… no you call them Hunt Leaders don't you. Your Hunt Leader is just coming, so let's all have a seat and wait until his ship gets here."
As Selene flops into the chair, seemingly without a care in the world, Adrien and Oriana share a glance before following her lead. Desolas is too busy staring at the chairs to comment on the blatant break in the chain of command.
After a few seconds, Selene looks up towards the dreadnaught and frowns, "No, really? Ok, this is going to take too long, and they'll just burn their engines out. Adrien, Oriana, hold down the fort, I'm just going to get that ship."
As Selene
steps to the dreadnaught, the remaining bullets fall to the floor like a tinkle of rain.
With the human gone, Desolas brings up his side arm and points it at Adrien and Oriana. The eezo warning light briefly catching his attention. "
Patro Leader, what's going on?"
Adrien and Oriana both share a glance before Adrien again speaks first, "
I have no idea Flight Leader. I've never seen this level of magic
done before. I do know they can read minds, so it may be that she knows more about our culture than we realised. I remember she also said that she prefers to build than destroy."
As if the end of the sentence was her cue, a giant rent in the air appears above the camp, eliciting a cry of alarm from the watch. As it grows into a circle of darkness, with stars twinkling in the background, discipline amongst the troops breaks, and they all let their weapons drop, to point at the floor, as one by one they're all affected by the sounds of alarm coming from those who have already looked up.
In less than a minute, the rent has formed a perfect circle nearly 500m in diameter. That's when Selene comes through, closely followed by the hollow tip of a ship. As turians are descended from birds, all of them are able to clearly focus on the tiny figure in the sky.
As they all watch, the crack and boom of a spinal mounted mass driver being fired echoes across the grasslands. Several seconds later, the mass driver round lands in the parade ground with a loud thump.
Softly, Adrien nudges Oriana and, speaking sidhe, says, "When humans use the term overkill, I think this is what they mean."
Oriana can only nod as she stares at the spectacle above them.
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After nearly half an hour, then entirety of the Soaring Cross has been pulled through the hole to space, and deposited gently onto a custom raised bed of packed earth. It's 1.5km length dwarfing the camp. The cradle itself reaches up to just below the main airlock.
The silence of the parade ground is shattered by the sound of Desolas' omni tool blaring an alarm. For a moment Desolas considers not answering, and then that human goddess appears out of nowhere.
The witch has the gall to say, "Is that your boss? Tell them to come out, as I want to talk to both of you. If they don't, I'll come in and get them myself."
Desolas looks down at the omni-tool before stabbing the holographic icon for the incoming call.
"By the spirits, what is going on out there?"
"Hunt Leader, the Kuman ambassador brought your ship to the surface in order to sue for peace."
Selene rolls her eyes before turning around and conjuring a long oval board room table with a plush leather chair at one point, and two similar chairs on the long sides, though suited for turian physiology rather than human.
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When an elderly turian starts to walk to the parade ground, surrounded by turian elite soldiers. Both Adrien and Oriana look at their movements and then frown.
Oriana takes the opportunity to whisper, "Is it me, or do they seem to be ungainly and uncoordinated?"
Selene leans down between the two of them, "It's you. You are the one who has changed, not them. As Adrien can attest to, the katas that you are learning are the bare minimum needed to survive in the worlds of that level of the dream. It's one of the last few where physical skill makes any difference whatsoever. Once you reach the balance point with 50:50 magic saturation, magical prowess is always the deciding factor in survival. No matter how good you are."
Oriana can scarcely believe her, and something must have shown in her expression, as Selene adds, "That doesn't mean skill doesn't matter. Just that it doesn't matter as much as magical ability. Specifically the sort of things that I've displayed today. The ability to shift realms with nary a thought, the instinctive ability to stop fast moving objects from hitting you, and controlling all of the magic in a space. To survive there, those have to be so natural to you that you have to actively stop yourself from doing them. Adrien, I'm going to be teaching you those skills as part of our bargain."
Selene pats Oriana on the shoulder, "Oriana, I'm sure one of the others will be along, as it's rare that we find two promising students at once, and I don't want to be accused of being greedy again. Once was more than enough. Anyway, enough chatting, they're just about here."
Standing up Selene walks to the sole seat at the head of the table, and sits down regally.
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As the elderly turian nears the table, Selene sends a translation spell towards him, and then sighs as his guards try to shoot her while getting in the way of the spell. A simple thought has them standing naked next to their armour, their weapons placed in a neat pile on the other side of the parade ground. The second translation spell isn't intercepted.
Smiling sweetly, Selene indicates the chair closest to her on the left, "Please, take a seat." Indicating the chairs on the right hand side, she calls over to Adrien and Oriana, "Adrien, Oriana, you should take a seat here too, as this wouldn't be possible without you."
Confused, the two of them stand up from their chairs and make their way over to the table. As they sit down, the Hunt Leader sits down too.
Selene looks sternly at Desolas, "Desolas, that means you too."
Desolas looks over from where he was trying hard to look as though he wasn't part of this, now that a superior was here. When he doesn't move, he finds himself dragged to beside the seat.
"Sit!"
At the barked command, Desolas reluctantly takes the last seat.
Selene leans forward and crosses her hands on the table as she looks at the two leaders, "Well gentlemen, I've looked at who you are. Quite frankly, if we hadn't had the examples of your patrol leaders, and their hunters, I'd have written you off as a species. You've taken your natural position as group predators and perverted it out of all proportion. Your culture and natural inclinations claim that those above them see more than they do. But what it doesn't talk about are the private histories kept by the original families that made up the Hierarchy."
Selene looks directly at the Hunt Leader, "Does it Kandros?"
Hunt Leader Kandros' crest expression flickers briefly towards being caught out, before it expresses indignation and false accusation.
Selene turns to Adrien and Oriana, "Where you both believe that those above you see more because they have a better view point. Kandros' family believes that those above you have a better view point because they don't allow you to see more. They receive extensive training in controlling their reactions to accusations and revelations."
Selene returns to a more neutral position as she continues, "Isn't that right Kandros? Weren't your family one of the silent members of the Hierarchy during the unification wars? The ones that sat on the sidelines and waited until the clans had exhausted themselves? Oh, but let's not forget the rumours and slander that your ancestors spread in order to persuade one clan that another was xenophobic and were refusing to trade with anyone, when in fact they were just refusing to trade with the Hierarchy. Or how about the fact that they swept in like carrion feeders, and removed the clan leaders of even those who sided with them, once they were all licking their wounds."
Kandros indicates a negative, "I can not be held accountable for the actions of my ancestors. We have moved on since then, and have only the best intentions for our people."
Selene nods, "I see, and that explains why Malpia Gratdas's patrol ship was attacked by Batarian slavers. Or Pabus Octatis was sent to deal with a krogan war band, and his backup was half a day late. Or how Velio Octatis was sent under cover to infiltrate the Blue Suns with no training. All promising Patrol Leaders that failed the loyalty tests the Hierarchy administers to potential Flight Leaders before their promotion. All turians who you personally sent to die or be enslaved because they had a taste of the truth."
Selene looks directly at Desolas, "I haven't forgotten about you either. Whatever was on that science vessel, you know that it wasn't a prothean artifact. You have also been spreading rumours that Adrien and Oriana have been tortured and subverted to our cause."
Adrien mumbles, "Some of the training was pretty torturous, especially being dropped almost naked in a forest for a week."
Selene continues without acknowledging the mumbled comment, "I also see five, no, eight turians, and 15 other species who you've manipulated into leaving the forces under your command in disgrace, all because they showed some natural level of curiosity, and willingness to follow through. Be glad that we are having this conversation in English rather than Hierarchy Turian."
From a pouch at her side, Selene pulls a long scroll of parchment out and places it on the table. "That's my rant over. I am now going to dictate terms of peace and you are going to agree to them. After that, we can see what we want to trade with each other."
Selene unrolls the parchment and points at a section written in Hierarchy Turian. "The first article in the treaty states that the Systems Alliance will forgo any grand displays of magic on populated worlds in your territory that don't have a lifeshield. This is a given, and is only because we value all life, not just ours.
"The second article states that you will respect our borders. We are claiming the hub system that the relay you call 314 sits in. We also claim any system accessible from that hub system that contains at least one additional relay. Additionally all the space within 200 light years of those systems is part of our territory too.
"The third article states that you will recognise us as an independent, and equal, galactic power to the Citadel Council. Once we've sorted out the Prothean Syndrome problem, we'll send our own ambassador to the Citadel to negotiate a treaty with them directly.
"The fourth article states that you will allow our citizens to emigrate to your territory and work for citizenship. You will also allow your own citizens to emigrate to Systems Alliance territory, and seek citizenship here.
"The fifth article states that you will not attempt to acquire any of our technology that we are not willing to sell you. It also states that you will not attempt to impound or destroy any of our aether ships, as they use magical intelligences that would fall foul of your laws on artificial intelligence. You don't need to worry about us selling those, though we may occasionally lease them out to individuals.
"The sixth and final article states that the Systems Alliance will forgive this declaration of war that you've made by attempting to subjugate this world, and force us into a client role to your own species."
Sitting back down, Selene leans back in her chair as a black feathered quill appears on the table below the treaty.
"I'll give you time to read the actual terms of the treaty. If you agree to those terms, then you will both need to sign your names on the bottom of the parchment and take it to your council to sign their own names."
As a reluctant Hunt and Flight leader both read through the treaty that is written in both Human English and Hierarchy Turian, Selene turns to Adrien and Oriana and raises a privacy spell.
Selene looks down at the table with a sigh, "I'm sorry for doing this to your leaders, but this is exactly the same thing that they did to the clans, and then the volus. So, yes your leadership sees more. But a lot of that is because they conceal stuff from everyone else, than because they have an actually better vantage point."
Oriana chirps quietly before asking, "But won't they just try to deal with us the same way they did those you listed?"
Gently, Selene asks, "Oriana, with what you've already learnt, do you think there is anyone here that is a real threat to you? Excluding myself of course."
Oriana is forced to shake her head after even cursory reflection, "Not if I was aware of them."
Selene nods, "I have no doubt that both of you will quickly rise in your government from here on out. When you do reach the higher levels, remember the lessons that you'll be learning over the next couple of weeks Shaanxi:2 time. Especially that it is important to teach your children how to climb the peaks themselves. And that a view from a different peak doesn't make you wrong."
Selene drops the privacy charm as Kandros chirps politely, "I will have to take this to the Hierarchy, as I don't have the authority to make these decisions."
Selene gives a wide, predatory, smile, "That's perfectly fine, I have a relay capable aether ship. It will only take us a couple of days to get to the nearest relay. Then you can direct us to Palaven. That way I can talk to the council directly."
Kandros snaps up the quill and scratches his name on the bottom of the parchment.
Selene give Kandros a scathing look, "That's what I thought."
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Like a switch, Selene goes from being the baddest person in the room, into a ditzy saleswoman, "Now on to trade, if you'll follow me through this door, I'll show you our most popular product."
Standing up from her chair, she skips over to the cabinet that looks barely deep enough to hang a coat, let alone walk into.
Opening the door, Selene walks in. Absolutely every turian stares at the other side of the cabinet waiting for her to come out the other side. A moment later Selene pops her he'd back out the door, "Well, are you coming?"
Adrien looks around before shrugging and throwing respect to the wind by standing up before the superior leaders do. He's not even half way to the door before Oriana follows suit.
As the two of them walk through the door, they leave behind a scene where the two leaders of the flight appear to have lost the high ground.
Inside the cabinet, Aiden stops abruptly, only to be shoved forward as Oriana walks into his back. Absently, he steps to one side to allow her space and continues to look around.
Oriana, then stops in turn, but is quicker to overcome her confusion and amazement enough to ask, "How?"
Selene smiles, "Space expansion runes. You'd need years of study to even understand them, so I'll leave it at that."
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Eventually Kandros and Desolas both walk in and stop at a massive cavern, easily big enough to house a nest requiring a lord. The lighting seems to be coming from everywhere and nowhere, though it is light enough to see the entirety of the cavern without additional aid. Desolas lifts his omni-tool and starts some sort of program, which promptly crashes due to logical errors. Starting up another program results in the interface winking out.
Selene taps Desolas on the shoulder, "You may want to turn that off if it's still working." She waves a hand towards Adrien and Oriana, "These two don't yet know how to lower the level of magic they're using, so anything that relies on microelectronics is going to go futzz eventually."
Desolas and Kandros look at her in alarm, so she smiles as she adds, "Don't worry, I'll make sure they know how to control their output by the time the Mass Relay starts up again."
Walking a few paces forward, she looks back, "If you'll follow me gentlemen, I have a display of additional products set up in the centre of the cabinet." Walking deeper into the cavern, she starts to talk as she walks, "This cabinet is at the top end for the amount of space a civilian expanded cabinet can provide, it would also be priced accordingly. Our craftsmen can provide anything from a farm to a lavish mansion with every possible amenity that you could desire. Additionally, civilian versions come with a guaranteed minimum lifespan of 50,000 years, linear time. When that time is approaching, the power source can be replaced for a small fee to give you an additional x number of years. For an additional cost, we can also increase the lifespan of the power to 100,000 years linear time. Anything beyond that will only be available to citizens of the Systems Alliance with special permission.
Selene stops at a table that has been setup behind a boulder that blended into the background from the doorway. "Gentlemen, Oriana, if you look behind you, this boulder marks the exact centre of the cavern, giving you around 110 yards between here and the entrance. That's about 100m if you want to use SI units. On the table here is an instruction booklet that includes technical specifications, including what the smallest feature size can be used on electronics in this space. Smaller feature sets will result in unexplained errors as quantum uncertainty and tunnelling become problems. Of course, the smaller the expanded space, the less effect it will have on electronics. Personally, I would recommend that most people stick to a 20 yard radius or smaller for their personal cabinets. That should allow them to have a nice house and a small garden to relax in, without adversely affecting any electronics they're likely to use. They can also be fitted into ships and escape pods to provide additional storage space and guaranteed protection from interstellar radiation. Ship rated cabinets are rated against impacts by metallic space debris such as a metallic asteroid no larger than 0.2m in diameter travelling at a maximum of 44km/s. Of course, smaller or less dense objects could be travelling faster, and larger or denser objects slower, and the rating would be the same."
Walking around to the other side of the table, she picks up a pair of glasses, "Moving on. These glasses are a big seller amongst our law enforcement agencies. If you put them on, you'll see that they allow you to see levels of magic in the area. Even with the isolation runes inscribed into the back of a cabinet like this one. It's still going to show as higher than the average level for Realm:2. For non-magicals, you can expect these glasses to last around six months before they need to be recharged. For magicals like Adrien and Oriana over there, the glasses should last for as long as they're not broken."
Putting the glasses down, she picks up a pouch around the size of a double fist, "We also sell expanded pouches such as this one. As with the glasses they have a limited life for non-magicals. However, these should last around 10 years and will hold around one cubic metre of stuff."
Putting the pouch back down on the table, she moves over to the last three items, "Finally, in the portable goods segment of this demonstration, we have one of the most popular entertainment and law enforcement items. This cap is a memory recorder, and will work for both magical and non-magical volunteers. This model cannot be used to write memories into someone's brain, and it also cannot be used to forcibly remove memories. This is a memory crystal, you would place it in the slot that can be found on both the cap and the playback device. Finally, this is the playback device. I currently have the entire memory of the encounter where your ships fired on ours without any attempt to respond the messages our ship was sending out."
She presses a button on the pyramid shaped device, and a holographic view of the interior of one of their ships appears floating above the crystal stood at the peak of the pyramid, and begins to replay the whole process from the point where the turian ships were detected, to the point where the emergency dive was initiated.
As it's playing Selene looks up at it thoughtfully, "As you can see, it's great for getting an unbiased look at a situation. If you can get enough memories, you can even piece together what everyone was doing and why. Though, if you want to combine them into a single History, as the sidhe would call it, you'd have to hire an expert. Anyway, if you'd please follow me, I have a show home built into the back wall so that you can see some of the amenities that we can provide."
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Selene, Adrien, and Oriana are almost at the other side of the cavern when Desolas and Kandros both leave the playing memory, and hurry to catch up.
Cleverly hidden behind another boulder is a simple wooden door with a push plate, that Selene pushes open into a wood panelled room. On one side of the room is a roaring fireplace, with a few chairs surrounding it. Dotted around the room are a variety of different light sources, ranging from candles to gas lamps, and some source-less light in a glass bulb. Opposite the entrance is another simple wooden door, and the last door is opposite the fireplace.
Selene turns around in the centre of the room, "In this room you can see examples of the possible lighting fixtures. The actual design of each feature can be customised, however the actual source of light is more or less fixed. This includes the fireplace, that can either provide real fire, or just light. There are also a few examples of furniture for sitting on, with their associated comfort charms. If you'll follow me to the right, we'll examine the bedroom and bathroom."
Leading the group through the door, Selene again stops in the centre of the room, straddling the divide between carpeted and tiled floor. "Normally, the bedrooms and the bathrooms would be in their own rooms. However, as this is a show home, I felt that it would be better to just provide the display. As you can see, there are a variety of bed sizes, as well as standard furniture items like book cases, wardrobes, and drawers. Though none of those items can be expanded. Please see the brochure on the coffee table in the other room for the full details on what expanded spaces are contraindicated inside different expanded spaces."
Walking fully into the tiled area she continues, "In here, we have examples of the different forms of plumbing, from flushing toilets to showers and baths. The bath also includes a bubble bath tap, while the sink has a soap and toothpaste dispenser. As with the kitchen, the water used in these utilities is conjured and completely safe to drink. The same is true of the air in this space. If you'll follow me to the kitchen."
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Like a string of ducklings, the turians follow Selene into the kitchen, and then stop abruptly as the clear glass window to the garden becomes visible. Outside the window is rocky, sunblasted, landscape with the deep red glow of the Palaven sun casting deep shadows. As they watch, something scurries across the ground from one shadow to another.
As the two leaders continue to stare, Selene walks over to Adrien and Oriana to speak softly, "I will confess, I took a few of the smaller slaugh from the forest and mimicked a darkness to ensure that they were adapted to the sunlight in here."
Oriana shakes her head, "I confess, I'm having trouble believing my eyes despite having lived amongst the sidhe for over 10 years."
Selene smiles, "The sidhe don't use these, as they don't last long enough. If you ever have the opportunity to spend six months living with them, you'll fully adapt to their way of life. That's when you'll realise just how quickly things like this degrade outside controlled environments."
Selene stares back the way they came, "That being said, the clan does have a cabinet in Sanctuary for use during the light and dark. It's an experimental thing because there are no courts they can retreat to if something goes wrong."
Oriana shakes her head again, "I still don't understand what a court is."
Adrien looks back, "It's like a Nest Lord or Primarch in the old sense. If you remember, they used to look after multiple families and sometimes multiple clans. But the unification wars changed that. The same is true of a Titania or Oberon. The main difference between the two is that the sidhe equivalent actually has the individual power to back them up, as they have to travel to the edge of reality."
Selene shakes her head, "We call it the shore of the sea of magic. As you can still find isolated pockets of matter out there. But it's the furthest out where you can find anything as permanent or large as a planet. It's also the first area that you can start finding solid magic. As it starts evaporating in lower magic environments. One day you may even see it yourself. If you ever reach that part of the dream, then you'll also become truly immortal, though there are still beings that could kill you, You won't find anything on this side of the sea of magic that can kill you permanently."
Oriana shakes her head, "I can't imagine that. Why would anyone want to live forever?"
Selene puts her hand on Oriana's shoulder, "You are an absolute treasure. There are many people who wouldn't agree with you, and none of them would be as suitable for it as you would be. For sidhe, the position of Oberon or Titania is one of duty as well as power. They are personally powerful enough to hold the wards that protect the clans that have sworn allegiance to them. On earth the courts have been around long enough to build cities with stone walls deep enough to hold the same wards that the Titania or Oberon would hold, and allowing them to venture to other areas of the world outside the light and dark. Anyway, I think the leaders have overcome their own surprise so I should get on with the demonstration."
Walking to the centre of the kitchen, Selene turns around, "Gentlemen, this is a showcase of the food storage and preparation facilities that can be added to any of these cabinets. I think we should start with the cooker as that is usually the most important part of the kitchen. While, like everything else inside a cabinet, they can't be expanded, they can be made as large as you want. That includes the number and quantity of hobs. For smaller cabinets designed for ship board R & R we also have a variety of self heating pots and pans." Selene opens a cupboard to remove a number of copper pots and pans, "These will run off of the ambient magic inside the cabinets. Inside this drawer is a variety of cooking implements, including self stirring spoons. If you'll follow me over here we have a stasis cupboard that I have stocked with ice for demonstration purposes. The cupboard itself will keep whatever non-living things you place inside it, in the same state it was when it was put in. Moving on, we have a cleaning and sterilisation cupboard, it will remove any organic debris on glass, ceramic, or metal crockery and cutlery. Lastly, we have a washing machine as well as a drying machine for fabric items. Guaranteed gentle on any cloth items."
As Selene falls silent, she walks over to the kitchen door and pulls it open to demonstrate that it can be opened and closed.
A few minutes pass before the leaders start to poke around. As they get absorbed in the room, Selene says, "Obviously, the cabinet and it's contents are yours to keep, there is an instruction manual for everything in the chest of drawers in the bedroom display. I will leave you both to your investigations as I take Adrien and Oriana back to the clan for additional training."
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Over the next few months, the treaty and the cabinet gets passed around the military arm of the Hierarchy, and each one of the Flight and Hunt leaders sign the treaty after reading the reports, and watching the holo of Selene bringing the dreadnought out of space to the planet. Additionally, each and every one of them votes to classify the expanded cabinets and keep them for military use only.
Once the treaty reaches the council of Primarchs and Nest Lords, there is absolutely no mention of the cabinets and the items found within.
Much to the chagrin of the Hunt Leader that is giving the report, Selene appears during the Holo of the forced landing of the dreadnought carrying a new cabinet.
"Don't mind me, I'm just installing a gift for the council. This cabinet contains a large manor with associated grounds. There is also an entertainment centre with a fixed Memory player, and a variety of crystals, including first contact. As this is a council chamber, we have also provided four interview rooms with built in memory recorders and 2,000 blank memory crystals. There is a pile of brochures in the entertainment centre. Along with suggested prices."
Once she finishes installing the cabinet just behind the speakers podium, she turns to the council, "Please accept this gift from the Systems Alliance. Our ambassador should be approaching the Citadel Council in around a month's time to negotiate a treaty and install a cabinet just for their use."
