Elmyra spun around in her heels, but she only saw the outreached hands of Zero. He gave her a gentle push in her chest, and the horizontal momentum is already enough to carry her backwards as she fell down the slopes into the bottom of the sphere. She felt a single sweep of a buzzing sensation as she entered the spherical space and grunted loudly as her body made contact with the bottom of the pillar.
The pillar behaved as if its a living creature and shifted as Elmyra made contact. She yelled out and jumped onto her feet think she might have disturbed the millennial slumber of a earth worm of sort, but instead the pillar moved more like a mechanism than a living creature.
She swung her fists angrily at Zero back near the entrance and saw he mouthing something. However she couldn't actually hear anything. The ear muffs popped out of her ear as she rolled down the slopes, and it appeared Zero is talking directly to her through a personal channel, or he is ordering his soldiers to leave her for dead after she sees whatever this thing that he claims is the cause of all of her recent pain.
Picking the ear muffs back up and pinning it to the side of her head, she heard Zero talking.
'The item on the pillar is undoubtedly a thing we call an artifact. YES!' Zero pointed his finger towards the pin like item on top of the pillar, 'each of them is capable of altering reality in a variety of ways. Part of the reasons that Infinity is created and revealed itself is to prepare the galaxy for the day when all of this is revealed. However, you stood at the forefront of history, Elmyra!'
'Why the fuck did you push me?' Elmyra seems to pay no mind to the words that Zero is saying, and her abrupt response seemed to stop Zero dead in his tracks and almost making him choke, 'I thought you wanted me to join you? Do you expect me to trust you anymore after that scumbag move?' Elmyra yelled out, and Zero actually took a slight step back. He certainly wasn't expecting this kind of anger coming from his captive. However, for his vision to play out, she has to be the one to take the artifact!
'If you are angry, why don't you take the artifact and use it?' Zero bit into his lips and finally figured out the right words to say. Perhaps that would prompt Elmyra to make contact with the artifact and activate it. But instead, she simply crossed both arms in her chest and refused to move.
'Do you take me as an idiot?' Elmyra shouted back, 'of course I am not going to touch it! You just said that this single thing is what caused the entire 'Tragedy of Nox 5' to occur, and you want me to physically touch it?'
Damn it, Zero cursed to himself. He is simply way too excited to witness another artifact in action, and he wouldn't really mind that Elmyra is the person activating the artifact, as it is not about who activates the artifacts, but who is around to keep it.
Now if you haven't caught on just yet, this Zero is the same Zero that is the master mind behind Absolute Being that Rydel has already met. The main cover for the operation of Absolute Being in the settled regions of space is the single biggest technology company, Infinity. With brand new research done by Lady Lily and the Absolute Academy and the prototypes and experiments being ran by the near unlimited funding at Infinity, it is only reasonable that they are so much further ahead of everyone else in the galaxy.
However, all of this is simply to prepare Zero for the inevitable future that is about to befall onto the galaxy. One small aspects of his artifacts are what it enables him to see and know, once he has had some time with it, and he did not like what he saw.
Those horrific visions are what drove him every single step of the way. However, the story of Zero is for another time.
Right now, he is simply waiting for Elmyra to make a move. All of the other beings around him are those that he brought along to ensure the survival of the two. All of them carried the pseudo-artifacts of Lock Down, an artifact that are now in the possession of Valerie after the events of Absolute Academy, though Lady Lily has made enough progress on this item before hand that a feasible pseudo-artifact is made and the technology is pushed to its extreme in the testing rooms of Infinity before being used in this very occasion.
The thing is that he brought no back up down into the crust with him. Everyone else is focused on keeping the earth above from collapsing down, though they are firmly in control, they aren't exactly in condition to try to deal with an artifact activation.
It would just have to be Zero and Elmyra in this extremely awkward situation.
And from the looks of the soldiers around, it seemed like Zero will have to be the one to fix this situation.
He jumped off the edge and into the spherical space next to Elmyra. He took of his helmet and the ear muffs as Elmyra does the same. Elmyra never had time to notice his appearance before, but he actually had quite an attractive face, with a tall nose and thick but not bushy eyebrows. His eyes are of dark brown and she could tell from experience that it is the eyes of someone that has been through a lot. There is passion on his face, but it seems like clam waters deep inside.
Zero is certainly welcoming of another artifact being activated, particularly one that is already accounted for by Absolute Being, though he is not even half way towards his intended goal. There is still a long way to go.
'If this thing is so valuable, why don't you have it?' Elmyra asked as Zero walked even closer to her. There is no aggression in his footsteps, and he did not desire to force her onto the artifacts. This is not how it is supposed to be.
Or perhaps Elmyra isn't supposed to be the one to activate it.
Regardless, Zero has seen Elmyra's files, and she would make a fine candidate for an artifact user. He could either foster here in the settled regions or leave her to Lady Lily at the Absolute Academy, or worst case scenario, perhaps Lady Lily could...retrain her perspectives with a little tinkering.
'I have told you about the existence of such reality altering items that are called artifacts.' Zero explained, raising a hand to his side right underneath the ray of light shining from a soldier that's standing near the edge of the opening, as his very own light fizzled out the moment he entered the sphere, 'you see these tattoo-like tracks? These are the paths in which the artifacts have merged with us. When you saw me shining like a lightbulb on the surface was simply me utilizing my artifact's powers.'
'And what are your powers?' Elmyra asked sarcastically, 'apart from doing the job of an LED?'
'My powers allow me to read the nature f reality.' Zero said, his eyes glowing the same color as his silvery tattoos. Now, they are of the color purple and it looked rather eerie in the dark backdrop of the underground, 'this is how I charted the pathway down there.'
'Ok, but that didn't answer my question.' Elmyra said, leaning onto the pillar and tilting her head.
'No, I didn't.' Zero said, 'the powers of the artifacts are cast and near unlimited, only rivaled by other artifacts. There is no known effects for any beings to possess two artifacts at a time.'
He reaches out his hand towards the pillar and connected a single finger with it. The tattoos on his right arm shined a bright yellow for an instant before he pulls it back.
'I am already at a mastery stage for my artifact, so an introduction of another could have unintended consequences.'
'Me touching it would have unintended consequences too.' Elmyra said, looking over at the tiny silver pin, 'you have just used your power, so what did you...read?'
'Nothing more than what I already know.' Zero said, shaking his head, 'you cannot overcome the power of an artifact, but you can work around it. However, we have had many many people activate the artifacts and perform the trials that comes with it with no problem. Those people come from all walks of life, and they are all incredible individuals, like you.'
'Huh.' Elmyra said, looking at the Pin once more, though unlike many before in this story, she has no intention of touching it, 'sorry, Zero, but doesn't look like it's going to happen for me. Why don't you just pack everything and take it with you?'
There was dead silence in this cave right after, as nobody expected this to happen. Though this isn't entirely Elmyra's fault. Even if Zero is telling the truth, Elmyra is really the book-worm type, preferring to work behind the scenes on machines, systems and designs rather than being the protagonist of a space adventure. She knew everything would change if something this powerful is to fall into her hands, and Zero will probably have full control of her and her powers. She does not know what Zero is going to do, what his intentions are, and if he is just using her as a physical vessel for this artifact. It certainly sounded that way.
Zero looked back at the soldiers, who are standing like statues to their credit, and shook his head.
'Hey, I will give you a bonus.' Elmyra said, 'you said I was talented, so I will use all the knowledge I have to help you pack this up and take it away, since you are a little short on numbers. In exchange, you will me go?'
'Fine.' Zero lets out a long sigh, 'fine, but I cannot let you go. You know how this is. However, to entice you, I will let offer you all the things that you will need to live happily and freely in the wild regions, everything paid for and settled, and you can even get a job if you so wish. Does that work?'
Knowing that is about as good a deal as she can get, and realizing that there is really nothing left for her in the settled regions, Elmyra agreed to the deal. And with Zero's powers, they started breaking down the components of the supporting structures of the artifacts. These have accompanied us throughout our stories, and each time the artifact is activated, a trial always follows suit immediately. Those that failed the trials are forgotten in history as everything resets, but those that passed it gained immense power and went on to change the destiny of the galaxy.
From all of the stories Zero has heard about before as told by the Black Wolf and the original owners of the Pen of Rearrangement and the Mass Projector as well as his own personal experience, there are always a sort of trials that needed to be completed as part of the activation criteria for artifacts. Each trial is different and specific to the powers and 'requirements' of the artifact, so it would really be of no use to prepare for such things.
All of those that came before were put on the spot and have to figure things out on the fly, or they would simply be killed on the spot. However, this seems to change, and there is no answer as to whether any attempts at moving the pillar will cause the trials to activate, or even lead to any defensive mechanism being triggered.
The power of his artifact cannot grant him knowledge of what the Pin is, but he did indeed get a good systems view of the pillar, and with the help of Elmyra, they quickly formulated a plan to take the pillar out.
They disassembled the drill and slowly but surely chipped away at the base around the pillar. There seemed to be a sort of soft material engineering going on and the pillar itself, though looking like the surrounding rocks, is actually fundamentally drastically different. So the way to avoid triggering any trouble would be to move the rocks around the pillar and the artifact.
As they disassembled the drill and started working their way down to the base of the pillar and beyond, the entire thing began to wobble slightly, and Zero caught it before it almost toppled over. By putting the pillar on in place of the drills, the entourage started making their way back slowly.
'An artifact cannot be overcome, but it can be worked around...Elmyra Zin, as stupid as that sounded, it does seem to work.' Zero wiped away sweats on his forehead and looked over towards Elmyra who is equally sweaty, 'I really wish I can return you to the life you once had, but...these artifacts exist on a higher plane of existence, and its influence on our lives are impossible to predict.'
Letting out a sigh, Zero continued as they made progress towards the surface, 'I know that the takeover might have made it seem that Infinity were behind all of this.'
'And the fact that the first batch of equipment sent to contain the situation are from you.' Elmyra cut Zero off coldly.
'That too, it were the first iteration of the machines you see my soldiers carry around. They are lumpy and heavy, but they do their jobs well, usually at least.' Zero said, 'the order were to get some gear to contain the energy pulses, and we only realized that it may have been an artifact here when those machines failed without a hint of resistance.'
'And how do you suppose we contain this artifact?'
'This time, I will get them to control this using the latest iteration here.' Zero explained. The pseudo-artifacts of Lock Down here are some of Lady Lily's best work, and perhaps all of those combined will be able to contain this artifact. The artifacts really are in their most stable state when possessed by a being, but that's all they can do now.
Losing Lock Down to the Bearers are a huge loss for them in terms of power, but Zero isn't particularly worried, as a bunch of powerful individuals running around and not doing really that much isn't going to pose a real threat to his plans as the galaxy is simply big enough.
They reached the surface without much hiccups, though that took a good two hours of grinding through rocks and rubble, gracefully, Zero gave everyone that went down some time off, including Elmyra. Now that she has helped him secure the artifact, he simply tagged a tracker on her and left her to her own devices. They offered her a room, a warm bath and some food and left her alone.
Knowing that despite her conversational dynamics with Zero, she is still their prisoner. Trying to get all the rest she can, she enjoyed the bath and fell asleep.
Nox 5 has returned to the night when Elmyra woke up. The capsule room she was in lights up in response with her waking physiology, and she got up, stretching her tight and sore shoulders as she walked. It didn't seem like Zero took any time off, instead, he was standing in the middle of the Infinity settlement with another batch of soldiers working on a cube-shaped machine that Elmyra guessed to be the containment unit of the artifact. All were still wearing the white armor and they were working diligently to connect up the wires and tubes.
From the outlines of the various machines, Elmyra could tell that the cube was made out of eight of the heavy machinery that they have brought down into the crusts that could somehow hold the crushing rocks in place. Each of the pseudo-artifacts occupy a corner of the cube and kept the pillar and the artifact suspended in mid air. Things appeared to have been in a steady state, and finally Zero gave the signal.
Half of the Infinity's forces are left on this planet to deal with whatever remains like a normal company that has taken the place over, while the other half including Elmyra boarded a cruiser ship named Infinity 1, and started their journey out of the Nox System. They are going towards the Infinity headquarters in the central area to drop Zero off before turning and heading back out towards the wild regions and Elmyra's future, however, Elmyra knew that this won't be her end.
'Please treat her nicely, but let her know her place if she steps out of line.' Zero gave his final orders before dropping into the headquarters, 'give her a chance to join the academy if she wishes. I will alert Lady Lily of the arrangements.'
As the doors shut and the ships moved off again, it was only Elmyra and the ship full of soldiers. So far, she has never made contact or talked to any of them, as they seemed to enjoy their own little circle while remaining as far away from Elmyra as possible. She did enjoy the silence, as she was actually expecting some sort of harassment coming from them since Zero is now off the ship. But instead, they simply ignored her.
Which suits her, and that allowed her to start formulating the plans to escape. As the ship made its adjustment in its flight trajectory towards the Grey Wolf's region in the Wild regions, they dove into the old solar system and used its gravity well as a means of acceleration. This would be first of many systems that they would come across, and it would be one of the many opportunities for Elmyra to escape, the thing is, she couldn't figure out how to.
Some of the methods she thought of but abandoned eventually are: sabotaging the ship's engine, trying to steal a suit and armor, trying to sneak onto the escape pods, and finally the line that she does not wish to cross: sabotaging the containment unit for the artifacts.
From what she has been hearing, the artifacts has been acting up recently after a few days of journey in the stars. The activation of the artifacts seemed to be chaotically periodic with pulses of energy being unleashed at certain intervals with some degree of variation in between each pulse.
Though the general patterns are controllable, and all they have to do is to match the outputs of the containment unit with the pulses of the artifact, and everything should be fine.
Despite the uncertainty Elmyra now felt towards the containment unit, messing with it is simply a one way ticket to hell, and it is something that Elmyra will never do. However, fate deemed otherwise. As the ship cruises past old Venus, in the middle of the night will Elmyra is asleep, an outburst of energy from the artifacts shattered the containment unit, and the pin morphed its shape into something smaller and thicker.
Elmyra was lying in her bed a moment ago, then she felt a weightlessness sensation as she suddenly hovers in the air with nothing underneath her. She opened her eyes out wide as her body slammed into the floor.
'God damn!' She cursed as pain shot through her entire back. She looked around the room and found herself no longer in her very own bedroom. Instead, she is in the containment room where the containment units are supposed be holding the artifact back. However, from the looks of the burnt up machines around her, it was no use. The containment is broken, and she strangely found herself standing next to the pillar, with the artifact now shaped like a tiny dagger resting atop the pillar.
The alarms sounded as footsteps echoed in the room. But there won't be enough time. The dagger is pulsing out bursts of light, and its frequency and intensity are both increasing by the second. Elmyra knew something bad is about to happen, perhaps it is going to be a pulse that will wipe everything out? Would it break the ship apart? She looked at the cracks already forming in the room around her and knew the answer.
Another pulses of energy exploded from the dagger and pushed Elmyra backwards, though she held her ground.
It is now or never, and the dagger is giving her no other option. She knew what she had to do, as Zero did casually drop that an artifact is at its most stable when possessed by a being.
Is this what all this is about? She suddenly finding her next to it when she should be deep sleeping and recovering her body? Is this what is supposed to happen?
'God damn it.' Elmyra bit down hard and slammed her hand onto the dagger. As the dagger cut open her middle finger on her right hand and slipped into her body like a fish through the muddy water, an entire squad of soldiers appeared from behind the doors fully armed and ready to fire.
'What have you done?' The leader froze in place as she tried to make sense of what happened, then, all of the soldiers raised their guns towards Elmyra before pulling the trigger.