Chapter 8

  Starborn Mountains, Continent of Kauvis

  Unknown Mining Complex, Surface Access

  Sapphiria almost came to a halt as the group finally rounded a corner, and she saw light. Actual, true sunlight.

  Not much of it, especially given the rain outside, but still.

  "Great. That storm Malry predicted came to pass." Said Kalia as she watched the opening. The healer, who until then had been failing miserably at covertly starting at Sapphiria in awe and probably more than a touch of envy when she wasn't looking, stopped like she'd hit a brick wall, and went through a full body shiver, which Kalia noted as well. "It's alright, we'll be under the capony quickly." The mage-magistrate gave the AI an apologetic look. "You know how elves are. If they can see the open sky...but she'll make it. She's the best medic we have, and the bravest. Has a way with bones...kind of a necessity for her people, since they're so brittle and all."

  Sapphiria blinked. Elves? The person was perfectly human. She didn't have pointy ears at all! She was just fragile looking and very tall but-

  Now that she looked at her...she seemed very pale too. Moreso than one could expect of just liking indoor environment. She also moved as if it was a burden.

  Abnormally tall. Brittle bones. Crippling agoraphobia. Difficulty moving under normal gravity fields. Very pale.

  That woman was a belter. One of the people genetically engineered to survive and thrive in space back when humanity was still stupid enough to tinker with its own genome. Or rather, when her fellow AIs had been lenient enough to let them.

  There weren't many nowadays. Medical technology had evolved past the point where the basic package for space adaptation was necessary, and with AIs to supplement there was no real need for any of the other 'advantages' they came with. Plus, the downsides were debilitating. The agoraphobia wasn't intentional but getting rid of it had proven more or less impossible. There was still some debate on whether it was genetic or just a consequence of their high propensity for skin cancer and other sunlight exposure diseases, as well as the fact that seeing an 'open' area for them usually meant cold vaccuum, and with modern technology you only got out into the dark if the shit had well and truly hit the fan. After all outside of some very specific phenomenons, you could just remotely pilot a drone to do what needed to be done. And, in almost every circumstance, the drone was a lot safer and cheaper than putting someone in a space suit, belter or no.

  "Right, of course." Said Sapphiria, before deciding she might as well try a little bit of sounding. "Do you have any supplements? I could make some if you wish. I do know elves have a tendency to lack in some nutrients."

  The healer smiled.

  "It's fine lad- miss Sapphiria. I have some faen leaves and a few tinctures. But I thank you for your sollicitude."

  Sapphiria bowed slightly. Definitely belter. Most of humanity's genemods had various vitamin deficiencies. Part of the reason why all genetic engineering -on humans at least- was shut down was because the researchers usually broke as much stuff as they improved. That could go from the tolerable to the outright horrific. The 'Eternals', meant to give immortality to humanity without the then costly and fickle rejunevation treatments, and enable someone to heal from any injury, had resulted in people more or less permanently riddled with tumors and cancers. Even the most diehard had accepted genetherapy back into normal humans or digitalization into AI before she was even born.

  "It's my pleasure." Sapphiria looked at the entrance, and shivered. "I must admit, I am a bit...apprehensive as well."

  "I assume you haven't been outside for some time?" Diplomatically said Kalia, and the AI nodded.

  "It feels like I have never gazed upon the sky to begin with." Which was true, since she'd never seen that planet's sky.

  "It's a shame it'll be raining then."

  "Or a blessing." Sapphiria smiled at Kalia's confusion. "One step at a time and all that."

  "Right." The mage-magistrate checked her weapon, before pressing a small button, causing it to shine briefly. She noticed Sapphiria's sudden interest and smiled. "Nothing compared to your own artifices Sapphiria, but I wouldn't want my gun to rust, or the powder to get wet. Alchemical reagents are so sensitive."

  "Of course. Did you make it yourself?"

  "Heavens no! Our little camp's artificer did, Ramina." Kalia shrugged. "I'm a mage. I use mana directly. Using it to enchant artifacts is beyond me."

  Mages and mana. Sapphiria had to hold back a bout of semi-hysterical laughter. So it was magic! Great. Wonderful even. She'd need to check if she wasn't hallucinating.

  At least it explained the walking skeletons.

  "You didn't seem to use a spell during the fight." Hazarded the AI, and the mage-magistrate nodded.

  "No, I didn't. We..." Her face closed. "We're running out of mana rather quickly. I can wield a rifle, it'll do for me. Others need it more than I do."

  Sapphiria stopped briefly, right before they went out into the light.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  Her tone...

  The situation of her and her people was probably a lot more dire than she'd let on. And what she had talked about already had direness in spades.

  She stepped out, and briefly forgot as she finally gazed at the sky. She realized she still hadn't put her helmet back on when she felt the rain impact her face, yet she simply stood there, taking it in for what felt like an eternity, but her chronometer insisted was only a few minutes.

  It was rainy, gray, and miserable, but she could see rays of sunlight trying to punch through, and the distant flashes of lightning, briefly showing the peaks of mountains through the clouds.

  She'd never...appreciated planets all that much lately. She spent almost all of her time in orbit and going planetside almost always meant some terribly dull event where she'd have to pretend to listen to backwater politicians whose policies sometimes made her wish she was authorized to just invade the planet. Even the benign ones were still filled with their own imagined importance and one could attend only so many formal receptions before getting jaded. Besides which...

  Well, their balls and other events were nice, but she'd done some on Earth. Their best couldn't hold a candle to even backstreet stuff on the center of human power in the galaxy. And she had attended the annual Federation festivities with her mother numerous times. Plus, as a family member and not a formal attendee and representative of the Federation she could shamelessly shrug everybody off, palming them off to her mom as she raided the buffet, descending upon it like a battlecruiser on a Theocracy convoy, instead of having to circulate and be the center of attention.

  "Sorry, I..." Sapphiria realized her voice was cracking a bit, and cleared her throat. "It's been a while." She finished, while the rest of the group simply smiled.

  "It's alright, we understand." Kalia looked up at the sky, and clicked her tongue. "We're later than I thought. We're probably going to have to make camp and wait for sunrise. Wading through the forest at night is no picnic, and in a storm? No way."

  Sapphiria nodded.

  Well...at least her little emotional malfunction had helped sell her story. That was something.

  "You're the expert." Said the AI, before putting on her helmet, its internal systems immediately beginning to dry her up. "Anything we should be worried about out here?"

  "We know from the archives there's a ley line node somewhere beyond the mountains, but many of the records were lost. It was never exploited anyway, this entire area used to be under a feet of snow year round, as I'm sure you've experienced."

  Sapphiria shrugged.

  "Climates change. They always do, if you take long enough to observe." Which was very much true. Unless you were willing to start controlling your planet's energy input by its home star with mirror arrays it was more or less inevitable. If nothing else, the star's output would be constantly fluctuating and that wasn't even considering other problems like sea currents and, say, atmospheric pollution or enemy action.

  "Right. But anyway, the node certainly is there somewhere, as we've been getting monster attacks. Nothing serious, and they've actually taken care of a few undead shambling in our rear. Which is part of the reason why I speculated we could use tunnels to bypass the main blockade." Kalia shot her an hopeful look, and Sapphiria shrugged.

  "I cannot help you with that, as I said, the layout has...changed quite a bit."

  "Of course. We have a few hours of sunlight left, let's make the most of it." Kalia gestured, and the group set off into what looked like a normal temperate forest on any terraformed planet in the galaxy. The rain gave it this ominous air, but her sensors could penetrate most of it, though Sapphiria would be lying if she said it wasn't having an effect anyway.

  They moved in silence, and Sapphiria grabbed a few samples as they went. She didn't even bother being discrete, no one commented on the eccentric mountain hermit packing a tuff of grass or handful of leaves like they were diamonds.

  "So...how did you live down there?" Asked one of the shield bearers, before being elbowed by her comrades.

  "Shut it Tari." Hissed the other soldier.

  "What, it's a good question? We all gotta eat."

  Sapphiria just smiled mysteriously, before realizing they couldn't see through her helmet.

  "There are ways of growing food even without sunlight." She said. "Besides which, I have different ways of sustaining my humble vessel."

  Namely, thermonuclear fusion and supraconductor batteries. Every AI's balanced breakfast.

  "Well, we have some rations." Cut in Kalia. "I hope you'll join us."

  "Of course." Her android could eat after all. Even use some of the materials extracted from the food. It could even be a power source, if you were crazy enough to use the chemical fuel cells. "It would be quite a nice change of pace."

  "I can imagine." The mage-magistrate grimaced. "Shame about the rain though. Getting a fire going in these conditions."

  Sapphiria laughed, loudly enough it reverberated in the forest, and as everyone turned to gaze at her, she simply shook her head and patted her plasma gun.

  "Believe me, miss Kalia, starting the fire is going to be the least of our problems. I wouldn't worry about that if I were you."

  "...Fair enough."

  As they continued their march, Sapphiria stepped away a bit from her body, leaving it mostly on autopilot, as she pinged Cia for a status update. Both appeared in her home simulation, standing in the middle of the living room, before the fireplace. Right now, she could use the warmth, given the conditions her android was trudging through.

  "All systems nominal." Said the simulacrum, with a definite edge in her voice. "We have continued production and mining expansion apace. The experimental laser turret has also been mounted and activated."

  "Thank you Cia." The simulacrum blinked.

  "Ma'am?" Said the not-quite-AI, reverting back to emotionlessness, and Sapphiria had to remind herself that although the simulacrum wasn't sapient it didn't mean it wasn't sentient.

  "Thanks, for keeping everything running while I was off gallivanting."

  "Just...complying with directives, ma'am."

  Sapphiria nodded.

  "Of course." She flicked a tendril of her attention at her android. "I wish I could stay for longer, but given how they're talking and looking, they'll probably set up camp soon, and that will need my full attention."

  "I will keep things in check for your return."

  "Thanks. Oh, and Cia?"

  "Yes?"

  "Send me the result of the scans on the bones as soon as they're done. Maximum priority."

  "Yes ma'am."

  Sapphiria nodded, and hopped out.

  "-but you're right, this is as good as it's gonna get. What do you think, miss Sapphiria?" Said Kalia, and Sapphiria blinked as she quickly rewinded through the conversation.

  Oh, they'd been talking about stopping for the night, and nto finding a better campsite than the small elevated hill they'd stumbled upon.

  "I think this is as good a place as any."

  "Excellent! Let's make camp then. We've all earned ourselves some rest."

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