"System reboot initiated. Please hold." A neutral voice spoke from the control panel.
Everyone took a step back from the black panel on the large flat device. Their eyes slowly adapting to the bright lights that suddenly flooded the large room. The pods Tanisha noticed as she walked in now hummed to life each one opening revealing a comfortable looking bed within.
"Are they all golems? Traps?" Aurelius asked.
Bjorn hissed, getting everyone's attention and shook his head in response to the question.
The monotone voice continued. "Accessing, systems critical… please wait. Admin controls locked. User controls unlocked… adding user. Tanisha Scalebound, nonhuman, aether-arcanist, basic user privilege granted. Please hold. Additional entities detected. Please place your hand on the scanner."
Everyone looked at the black screen and Tanisha took off her armored helmet and stepped aside.
"Do any of us know what this thing is doing?" Fuyumi questioned.
Before anyone could answer, the voice returned. "Query: Individual user data is being collected to add you to the registry. Basic User Privileges will grant you access to all rest and working areas. Basic User privileges have been expanded by Site Manager to include use of food fabricators; token needed: zero, granted access to weapon fabricators: error. Manufacture room tokens needed: zero, granted access to R&D department tokens needed: zero. Additional free locations include: chemistry lab, hydroponic garden, training room, library."
"So we will be able to open doors in the facility?" Fuyumi asked the device.
"Query: Registered basic users will have access to unrestricted areas. Placing one's hand on the terminal will grant access. Maintenance, security and administration areas will remain restricted. Please place your hand on the scanner."
Tanisha asked a question next. "We were attacked after opening this door. Will being a basic user mean that the golems will stop attacking us?"
"Query: Unable to answer query. Error. Please contact your immediate supervisor as they will be able to guide you through your question. Additional entities detected. Please place your hand on the scanner."
After a moment of consideration Fuyumi walked up and placed her hand on the device.
"Scanning user data, Fuyumi Tsukihana, altered-human, non-aetheric. Basic user privilege granted. Additional entities detected. Please place your hand on the scanner."
Aurelius stepped forward next, his expression resolute as he placed his hand on the scanner. The device hummed faintly, its surface glowing briefly in acknowledgment before falling silent. They all expected that to be the final step, but the device's voice rang out again, flat and unyielding.
"Data incomplete. All user data required." The monotone voice droned on.
The group exchanged uncertain glances before turning to Bjorn. He moved toward the device, his claws clicking lightly against the metallic floor. Without hesitation, he placed one paw on the scanner. For a moment, nothing happened. Then, the entire facility shuddered violently, the walls trembling as a low, ominous groan reverberated through the air. The room was plunged into darkness, the lights cutting out entirely.
Tanisha instinctively reached for her bardiche, her heart pounding in the oppressive silence. Bjorn's paw remained on the scanner, his calm demeanor at odds with the chaos around them. Just as suddenly, the lights flickered back on, casting the room in their harsh, sterile glow. The trembling ceased, leaving the group standing in tense silence, every nerve on edge. Bjorn finally withdrew his paw, his reptilian eyes scanning the room as if expecting another disruption.
"What was that?" Aurelius asked, no one had an answer. "So, I guess we go to see if we can open that door to the core room?"
"Wait," Fuyumi said. "This thing can answer questions right, let's see what it can tell us about this place."
"What are you and what is this place?" Tanisha asked.
"Query: This unit is the Luminal Lexicon powered by the Aetheric Artificial Intelligence. My function is to assist users with a variety of tasks. In this room I can assist in food generation, maintenance of pods, bodily scan, medical treatment and rehabilitation. Caution: due to critically low power generation medical treatment is unavailable. This is Alpha Extraction Site 12."
"Did any of that make sense to you guys?" Tanisha asked as she looked over the group.
"Nope." Aurelius stated then put a hand on his chin. "Are you alive?"
"Query: No. I am Doxy, an aetheric program, language-based and pattern-focused. I do not think instead I analyze input data and respond. I do not have biological functions, consciousness or emotions."
"So, essentially the entire ruin is a golem." Fuyumi said.
Tanisha cleared her throat. "You said that systems are critical. How do we fix it?"
Doxy responded in its usual monotone. "Query: Attempting to alert maintenance personnel. Please wait." The group waited for a few minutes before Doxy responded. "No maintenance personnel on site. Lockdown of core initiated by Site Manager dated Blóstmonaþ 18th, 1472 AO."
"I have never heard of that calendar system before." Tanisha responded and Fuyumi and Aurelius agreed. "What is the current date?"
"Query: Current date Frēosmonaþ 20th, 74575 AO."
Bjorn hissed loudly and his mouths fell open in shock. Tanisha turned to him and watched as he sat down and seemed to space out. Was he connected to this place in some way? Perhaps his mother told him more than she told her. The thing was Bjorn's emotions were almost longing at the news which Tanisha didn't understand.
Tanisha went to comfort Bjorn and sat beside him petting his heads as he sat contemplating. Fuyumi took over asking Doxy questions. Tanisha only listened to a few of them. Apparently the facility was empty aside from the golems and had been for over sixty thousand years. Tanisha could barely wrap her head around this place being here for that long. It did mean that Mu, the old human empire, and even the elven Emerald Empire didn't know about this place.
They asked the facility golem more questions but Tanisha zoned out as she cared for Bjorn. Anything important she was sure they would fill her in on. After a few minutes she suggested they go for a short walk and Bjorn agreed. Aurelius wanted to go as her bodyguard but she declined his offer. The two left the barracks. Tanisha chose to follow the lime green line on the ground at random and decided she might as well see where it goes.
***
Tanisha and Bjorn reached the door at the end of the lime green line. The walk seemed to help his mood a little so Tanisha was pleased. She looked at the sign on the door which was in a language she didn't understand. Bjorn hissed and opened his mouth as if to speak while pointing to the door control. Tanisha looked at the control cautiously. It looked like any other door control so she didn't know what he was trying to tell her. She then realized it looked like Doxy.
"Doxy, are you there?" Tanisha questioned.
"Query: Yes, I'm here. Would you like assistance?" Doxy responded promptly.
"Uh, yeah, what is this room?" Tanisha questioned.
"Query: This is the manufacturing wing, this door leads to the industrial level which includes. Weapon Fabricators, Manufacturing, and… Warning Lockdown has been initiated by Site Manager, Security protocol is active. Warning: security protocol power draw is extreme, disabled security to reduce power consumption."
"Huh, so I guess it means that the golems are using up the site's power too." Tanisha put on her helmet and circulated her magic. "Well, Big Man, do you want to destroy some golems? I am sure Fuyumi and Aurelius won't be mad if we take a little peek."
Bjorn nodded in confirmation and Tanisha saw the shimmer of power surround his scales as he prepared himself. He went to the opposite side of the door and crouched ready to strike. Tanisha took out her bardiche, this time the one she got from the princess. It was more ornate than the one she got from Joel, but also resonated with her seiðr better.
She placed her hand on the panel and pushed aether into it. The door opened with a hiss and the hallway inside looked like a muted grey to Tanisha's sight. She realized after they entered the barracks that this meant that it was dark inside though she could see just fine. There were more golems in the new opening than in the barracks.
Bjorn didn't hesitate. With a powerful lunge, he shot forward toward the nearest golem like a streak of shadow, the gray darkness swallowing him entirely. For a brief moment, he disappeared from even Tanisha's enhanced senses, the bond between them the only thread connecting her to his position. He was using his shadow magic to vanish.
Tanisha moved at the same time. As Bjorn engaged, her ears filled with the sharp, mechanical cracks of golem weapons firing. With a flash of aetheric energy, she activated Arcane Shift, appearing in midair above a nearby golem. Her bardiche gleamed with power as she swung it down in a sweeping arc, cleaving the golem almost entirely in half. Sparks flew as its core shattered, and the construct collapsed in a heap of ruined metal.
Bjorn, meanwhile, tackled his target with unrelenting ferocity. His jaws clamped down on one of the golem's arms, ripping it clean off as his claws tore into its chest. Shards of metal and components scattered across the floor as he roared, his frame illuminated briefly by an explosion of aetheric energy as the golem detonated.
Bjorn was unharmed as he slipped back into the shadows. More golems emerged from open doorways further down the corridor, their weapons barking with deafening intensity. These, unlike the ones she encountered before, had legs instead of wheels. They moved at speed, running like a man. Tanisha rolled to the side as one volley missed her by inches, the impact ricocheted off the floor where she had stood.
"Bjorn, stay moving!" she called out, even as she vanished again with Arcane Shift, reappearing behind another golem.
Her bardiche swept low, severing one leg of the metallic construct before she spun, driving the blade into its humanlike torso with enough force to pin it to the ground. She yanked the weapon free just as Bjorn lunged back into view, his large form colliding with two golems at once. One was sent flying into a wall with a dull metallic thud, while the other fell under his claws.
Bjorn slipped back into the shadows, blending into the ambient darkness as another volley of fire narrowly missed him. He reappeared beside a golem that was attempting to flank Tanisha, his claws sinking into its torso with a deafening crunching of metal. Using his immense strength, he hurled the shattered remains into another approaching enemy, knocking it off balance.
"Keep it up, Bjorn!" Tanisha called.
She darted between two more constructs. Another Arcane shift brought her into position to decapitate a golem with a precise, sweeping strike. She could feel the energy coursing through her connection to the princess's weapon enhancing every move. She never felt this connection before, she wasn't sure if it was the opening of her Blood Gate or her partial evolution, but for some reason her seiðr was far easier to control.
Channeling her magic into her bardiche, she activated a seiðr-infused strike. The blade shimmered with silver which left an after image as she cleaved through golem after golem. Any that tried to shoot from her blind spot would meet Bjorn's jaws or talons and be wrenched apart and tossed aside like scraps.
Tanisha shifted again, reappearing atop a small cluster of metal crates. From her elevated position, she surveyed the hallway. The floor was littered with torn metal and sparking debris, the remnants of the golems they had destroyed. The flood of golems had finally ended, the last of their glowing red eyes extinguished as Tanisha hopped down.
"Good job, Big Man." Tanisha said as she looked around. "Now I guess we need to find the nearest panel to turn on the lights."
A sharp, metallic tapping echoed through the corridor, the deliberate rhythm of footsteps that immediately caught Tanisha's attention. She turned toward one of the passages, her hand tightening on her bardiche as a solitary figure emerged.