| The demi-fox chuckles and shakes his shaggy head, tail swishing in
amusement at Malachi's worries.
"You've got to remember who we're dealing with here!" the little demi-fox
chuckles. "These are golems! They aren't alive, and don't have souls!"
"And when you tried the Crystal trap on a golem you not only neutralized
it from operating," Malachi recalled. "You also were able to garner from
the Crystal all it's knowledge….what little it had."
"Wait," Carradene objected. "What if these 'golems' are nothing of the
sort? What it they are alive?"
"If they were alive then the Trap would entrap their conscious in the gem," Malachi explained to the old wolf, who was more like the Carradene of old than the one that had ordered her and Fred's death back on the Isle of Dragon Moreau. "But they aren't alive…..they aren't human and they were metal underneath that human looking skin….as Fred told us. They are constructs, and must be magical constructs…..I mean, it isn't like it's that silly 'science' everybody seemed to be turning to nowaday back where I came from!"
Inside a shuttle craft in what would have been called the Brazilian
rain forest….
Inquirer sighed as she looked down at her uniform, rents and tears evident all over it. It went a long way at keeping her from being naked…..though there'd be nothing to see since she wasn't….anatomically correct. At least I was able to freshen up a bit, the AI chuckles to herself. At least her syntho-skin, a qausi-living thing that mimicked human skin
(but was MUCH tougher), had been patchable by the portable patch kit she
carried. If it hadn't been repaired, the "skin" would have gone into the
process of biodegrading….and thus reek like so much rotten meat.
It wouldn't do for her charge to awaken and mistake her rescuer for
one of the undead….after being rescued from them!
The AI checked her charge, and tisked at the gym outfit that had replace the lovely outfit of woven camel hair and silk her charge had been wearing. The old outfit had been torn beyond hope of salvage by the undead goons who had apparently savaged her, and the spare workout outfit that Inquirer had dug up had been (through a bit of tailoring by the AI) serviceable. At least I was able to get the outfit to actually fit her correctly,
sighs Inquirer as she looked at the 4'11" lady on the biobed.
The AI nodded at the stronger vital signs her dark skinned charge, and
was about to go about repairing HER clothing when somebody paged her.
<Uniut unit 371, please report outside with secure laser communication
gear for further communication, out.> a cool male voice said.
"The Phantoms." sneered the AI as she gathered the communication gear
from the supply locker in the rear of the shuttle. The descendant of various
secret service agencies from various Alliance worlds had NEVER accepted
the idea of Inquirer's type as people. The secret service goon had always
treated them like machine, and seemed surprised whenever the Intel units
treated them like dirt.
Respect was a two way street, and so far neither side had shown any
such thing to the other….and probably never would beyond cold, professional
courtesy needed for accomplishing assignments.
Still, it wouldn't pay to keep the goons squad waiting….and perhaps
they'd even have some type of news about what to do with the corpse and
the young woman inside this tin can of a ship!
Leaving door open, on the theory whatever the secret service men had
to say wouldn't take to terribly long, the AI positioned her Avatar unit
outside the ship and plugged into the communication equipment through a
computer terminal chord located from a housing compartment in her left
wrist.
A beam of light, naked to only Inquirer's optics, lanced the receiver
of the unit.
Now…..laser communication is very tight beamed, so presented little
chance of being intercepted, shot of actually intercepting the beam itself
(and blocking it from it's intended target). This procedure guaranteed
totally secure, communication….perfect for those messages you DON'T want
others to overhear. Well, the AI got the message……
Inquirer screamed in agony as the electronic codes that only official Alliance forces know courses its way into her circuitry….and causing her entire being….and Avatar puppet on the surface of the planet below…..to lock up in a rigid….painful tangle.
"What in the name of Tiamat's name was that?" whispers Rosepaw up to
her companions, who had come with her on a quest for knowledge. "It sounded
like a woman's scream!
"It was," Fred (in human guise) whispered back. "Look, I need you to
do some spying for us, little vixen. Though your species isn't exactly
numerous in this part of the world….you still have a low profile…..and
have that….gift of being hard to spot…..lovely though you are"
Rosepaw grinned a vulpine grin at the flattery.
"Flattery will get thee everywhere, young dragon." The vixen chuckles
before scampering off to scout out the situation from their target.
"I still don't like this," Fred muttered to Malachi, who squeezed Fred's
hand in understanding. "It doesn't seem right to put that little fox in
harms way….while Sigin is back in the Lair."
"You know that she INSISTED in coming," the dragoness sighed, shaking
her head. "And she pointed out, rightly, that she was BORN sneaky and would
be perfect for this mission. She still has her instincts for stealth and
is now blessed with a sharp wit….and a powerful array of magical spells
from becoming a Familiar."
"And with Carradene and Sigin back at the Lair ready to pull us and
whatever else we get on this little shopping trip with their Crystallics…..should
make this a breeze." Fred murmurs. "Though….I've become a big believer
in the philosopher known as Murphy."
"Avoid the curse," chided Malachi. "Think positive! But….be prepared
for something to go wrong all the same, okay?"
"Okay," Fred smiles and hugs his mate and then waits with her for the vixen's report.
Jade green eyes stare out from beneath a cluster of fern into the small
clearing. The scene was pretty much as Carradene had shown her through
the salvaged cystal ball from the defunct dragons of this world's Malachi's
Dragon Circle, but unlike that small image, this one had a human looking
body thrashing around the ground like it was having a seizure!
Stealthfully sneaking around, scenting the air for any signs of ambush,
the little vulpine finally was satisfied that she wouldn't be ambushed….at
least from the surrounding forest!
Softly chanting the verses of a cantrip, the ruby color, a loving gift
from her mate and husband, faded from view (as well as her mystical runes),
leaving her to look more like an ordinary fox (albeit much more beautiful
and graceful….the slightly vain vixen thought to herself). Now she's ready
to enter into the light. Hopefully, any would be attacker would mistake
her for a mere beast…and not a spy.
Tail swishing and ears twitching for any sign of danger, the little
vixen creeps into the clearing. And scampers over to the body that is still
jerking about. One whiff tells the little vixen that this "person" who
looks like a woman….is really not human. Mystical senses inform the little
fox that this "woman" isn't even alive, though she appears to be in great
pain by her facial expression.
So this is a Golem? the fox thinks to herself. If I hadn't
heard it from my love and the others, I'd think that she was actually feeling
pain. Hmmm, perhaps even golems can feel pain …. So ….
Leaving that thought for latter, the fox then scampers inside the ship,
and finds an unconscious woman on some type of bed….and something that
looks vaguely like a coffin. Mystical scans show that nothing threatening
is within the metallic box (just a female corpse….that is somehow being
preserved by extremely cold temperatures within the box).
"This is odd!" the vixen says to herself, abandoning stealth. "No Golems
within this eldritch craft….a human being cared for….by the looks of the
bandages on her body….and a golem outside that's not going anywhere?"
The vixen makes a quick decision. Before calling her report in (via
magic), she's going to put the pitiful creature outside out of it's misery!
It was the decent, kind thing to do!
Inquirer's Avatar twitched again and again as waves of mind shearing
torture coursed throughout her being, but through the haze of it all, a
distant part of her mind wondered why a small fox….who should not be in
the forest of Brazil (wrong species…wrong climate), is looking at her with….pity?…in
her eyes….and why is that blue gem floating towards her?
ZAP!!
The world fades to a purple haze, and the AI feels a sucking….falling
sensation.
The good news is that she's no longer in pain. The bad news is….she
has no idea where she is and can't seem to break out of this….strange fog…..none
of her senses were working.
|
