[The Jeweled Forests of Forma]
[3590585543-00001-07]
[1]
[Scrio]
[Network Archon Striga-600 AI-Neuralet]
[D2-45 Eren]
[Ezekiel Ratakana]
[FTL 3862|06|(3)25|10-00-00]
[Ariana Station| Echoes’ Edge]
[Unidentifiable Energy Residue-Integrity Uncompromised]
‘I don’t know,’ chimes Rena with a light hum, ‘I can’t quite explain it; it was like a buzz in the back of my mind.’
‘So, right as we fell out of Riftspeed, you felt something,’ I ping, ‘and it stopped as soon as I turned on the blocker?’
‘Right,’ Rena says.
‘Alright,’ I say, ‘I’m going to turn it off. Tell me if you feel it again.’ I reach down to my belt and press my thumb to a small device clipped onto it. In a gentle flash, a film that had been adhering to the shape of my body appears then crumbles and dissolves.
‘There it is again!’ Rena says immediately.
I press my thumb to the device and the film reforms around me before fading away.
‘Now it’s gone again. What is that?’ Rena suddenly gasps. ‘Is something wrong with me!?’
I can’t help but chuckle.
‘Don’t laugh, Izy! I’m scared!’ And, sure enough, fear washes over me in a wave.
‘You shouldn’t be,’ I say, ‘This is good -amazing, really. You can sense the presence of Mana.’
‘I can? Why? Why is it a good thing?’
‘Lots of reasons really,’ I pause, trying to think of a quick way to calm her down. ‘Mana is extremely important; central to the function of many things and also one of the most dangerous known substances in the universe. It is valuable as a resource and spending too much time around it can have devastating effects on most forms of life.’
Rena thinks in silence for a moment. Her fear gradually dissolves as she does until she chimes, ‘Most?’
‘That’s right,’ I say, ‘‘The rest have grown a natural defense against it; the Mana System, a fascinating bit of evolution. Most Protorg species can grow one of some kind.’
‘What about the rest? Do you have one?’
‘Oh no,’ I say, reflexively covering my regret with a laugh that I hope sounds less forced than it is, ‘I never formed one.’
‘Why not?’ Rena asks. I guess my acting isn’t too shabby.
‘It happens sometimes.’ I say with a bit of reluctance. ‘About twenty percent of System capables simply fail. No one knows why, yet.’
‘Wait! Does that mean we’re in danger!?’ she almost shouts, her fear returning.
‘No!’ I say, ‘No danger! Mana is completely harmless to Intangents and Soulborn. You’re fine.’
‘But what about you?’
‘I have this baby,’ I say, proudly indicating the device. ‘They come complimentary to all Shuttle passengers. This is a Mana blocker. It creates a shield around my body that rebuffs Mana. That’s why you can’t feel Mana while it’s active.’ To my gratitude, her fear subsides again as I speak. Once I finish, I wait for her follow-up questions but she seems to be too lost in thought to ask them.
‘EZ,’ Eren chimes, appearing in my ARRC, ‘this is a point in favor of our theory.’
‘You’re right,’ I say, ‘It seems more likely by the cycle. Sensing Mana is an uncommon ability, and one found mostly in Soulborn.’
‘But why would Brefalac make a Soulborn like Rena?’ Eren asks. ‘She diverges greatly from his usual style, and her purpose isn’t exactly clear.’
‘It is quite the mystery,’ I say, ‘And definitive answers will be hard won. We can’t return to Gremle any time soon and we don’t know of any other workshops that would answer this question. We could search the Web, but separating the truth from fiction would take even longer than finding anything at all that we don’t already know.’
‘We could consult the Archive,’ Eren says, ‘We are already on the way there.’
‘I agree. It seems to be our best bet.’
‘Wait, wait!’ Rena chimes, bouncing into my ARRC with a frantic wave, ‘I have more questions. Why is the station full of Mana if it’s poisonous? The technology exists to block it so why not do that for the whole structure? Where does Mana even come from?’
Eren crosses her arms and then says, ‘She does seem to ask a lot of questions.’
‘Is that a problem?’ Rena snaps, puffing up in anger.
‘Not really,’ says Eren, ‘I only mean that most of what you’re asking has been common knowledge for a long time. Brefalac could have given it to you with your Ghost to save you the trouble.’
Rena deflates immediately, ‘Would that make it better, if I already knew everything?’ she asks quietly, ‘It’s fun to see all of these new places and learn all of these new things about them. It wouldn’t have the same feeling if I already knew, would it?’
Eren is silent. I remember feelings from long ago when we first found each other. The world was so new and we knew so little back then. The discovery was at least half the point of the journey.
‘You’re right,’ Eren says. ‘Mana is poisonous to every known Protorg. The Mana System is a shared evolutionary defense against that, a Prime Evolution, as they are called. but defending the body from Mana is only the System’s base function. With practice, it can also use Mana as fuel to produce fantastic things many can only describe as magic. The Soulborn are one of those things; life born of Mana using the Mana System. The station has Mana in it to accommodate those with the capability.’
‘The whole thing? Do they need that much?’
‘No, the map shows that only some sections have free Mana within them. The others have it contained in small refill rooms. The Circle provides complimentary Mana and Mana blockers at stations like this to keep from excluding any guests.’
‘Okay,’ Rena says slowly, not sure what to ask about next, I suspect. ‘So why did Brefalac give me this ability? It seems to run counter to my design.’
‘He didn’t,’ Eren answers simply. ‘Assuming our speculations are correct, and you are a Souborn, he would have had no control over that. Mana Sensing is an ability produced completely at random as far as anyone can tell. No correlation at all has been formed as to what causes it aside from its higher commonality in Soulborn compared to other organisms.’
‘So that means,’ Rena muses, ‘that means I’m super special!’ I am hit by a sudden wave of excitement. ‘This has to increase my Tier, right?’
‘It can,’ I say with a smile.
‘Are there any other super secret powers I might have?’
‘Plenty,’ I say, diving head-first into the wave. ‘Every Soulborn has a unique set, as you know, but Mana Sensing falls into a group of collective abilities that many different organisms associated with Mana can have. Space Weaving is a particularly rare one; one of my favorites. The mechanics are completely mysterious and absolutely baffling. It allows its users to close openings in space, like wormholes, Rifts, and Space Tears, and almost no one can do it and all of them are Soulborn!’
‘Wow,’ says Rena with big glowing eyes, ‘that must be a super strong ability.’
‘It is,’ I say, now a bit too excited. ‘Space openings have a huge effect on everything around them and keeping them under control is difficult, and expensive, and in the hands of a single person can give them enormous leverage. FTL flight tech uses special wormholes called Quantum Tunnels. Space Tears devastate the landscape anywhere they appear, and closing a Rifter’s Rifts will often undermine their entire skillset. Being able to Space Weave alone elevates a Soulborn two entire Tier ranks!’
‘OH~ they must all be super famous! Do you think I can do that too? How do we find out?’
‘It’s possible. We could-’
Anything we try would be far too dangerous or expensive,’ Eren cuts me off, crossing her arms. ‘And the chances are extremely low. Only a handful of Soulborn across the entire galaxy can do it, and very few more than a thousand across history, and all of them at the top ranks. There are more people on this station right now than there are Soulborn alive that can Space Weave.’ This manages to deflate both of us.
‘Oh,’ Rena says.
‘But you can sense Mana,’ Eren says quickly, ‘and that itself is much more than most. That itself will elevate your Tier rank -if you care about such things.’
Rena immediately lights up. ‘That means I’m a Chronicle, right? That’s what Izy said!’
I swear I see Eren’s eyes flash as she glances toward me. ‘Did he? When did he say that?’
‘We talked about it while you were down-shifting,’ I say.
‘What else did you talk about?’
To my horror, Rena says without hesitation, ‘We talked about why you’ve been so cranky lately!’
This time Eren’s eyes, without a doubt, flash, pinning me, ‘Is that so?’ she says.
‘Yeah!’ Rena continues, oblivious. ‘He doesn’t like it when you’re mean to him!’
‘EZ,’ Eren purs, she is in quite the vicious mood indeed now, ‘is that true?’
I cannot take my attention away from that glare. Eren’s been cross with me before, but the new avatar makes it much worse. I stammer out a few incoherent noises before a smooth voice pings, ‘Mr. Ratakana your Shuttle is ready to launch. Please return to your seat.’ The girls hear it too and their avatars dissolve, Eren’s with a distinct huff. Saved by the bell.
[2]
[Scrio]
[Network Archon Striga-600 AI-Neuralet]
[D2-45 Eren]
[Ezekiel Ratakana]
[FTL 3862|06|(3)26|12-00-00]
[Elderin | Forma]
[Unidentifiable Energy Residue-Integrity Uncompromised]
‘Welcome to Elderin, Mr. Ratakana,’ the voice pings, ‘Crown Jewel of Forma. Your Shuttle will depart in two Standard Cycles. If you would like to extend your stay or depart sooner, please contact us to schedule another transfer. The Circle offers living arrangements for guests wishing to reside on-planet that you can reach them from the home page of the local Web. Please enjoy your stay.’
I barely even register the words as she speaks, or that she stops, glued to the OmniGlass as I am.
‘Oh~,’ Rena chimes. ‘Wow.’
Just on the other side of the glass stands a tree, reaching high into the blue sky, its radiance beyond words. Beneath its crystalline, translucent bark and shining red leaves, I can see each vein and every vessel, a blue trail running from root to branch. The Stars shine their light through it bathing the surrounding tunnels in a red and blue dance as the tree sways in the wind.
‘The Jeweled Forests,’ chimes Eren. ‘Stunning.’
‘Can we touch it!?’ Rena cries suddenly.
‘Afraid not,’ Eren says, awe broken. ‘Leaving the tunnels is strictly prohibited.’
Rena lets out a huff. Her disappointment almost threatens to suffocate me. That will not do, so I lean away from the glass and ping. ‘C’mon. Let’s go see the King.’
‘King?!’ Rena asks. ‘Why does this place have a king? Who is it?’
‘You’ll see,’ I say with a grin.
‘What?!’ Rena’s avatar appears on-ARRC, ‘No fair!’
But my smile quickly fades as I glance left and see a… lounge chair? It sits next to the omniglass looking painfully out of place. In it sits Eren, clothes casual, hair down.
‘What’s all this?’ I say. ‘And when did you start interacting with P-space?’
‘It’s vacation time,’ she answers simply without even turning around. Instead she raises her hand and, with a flick, points up where a nav trail appears in the top left of my ARRC. ‘And I started just now. I finished the mapping and plugged it into the ARRC laStan[last Stan].’
‘You upgraded your avatar without me!?’ Rena cries. Only now do I realize how cartoonish she looks without a physical anchor. ‘Why?’
‘I’m sorry,’ Eren says with a frown after turning in her seat. ‘I wanted to try my hand at it solo. She waves a hand casually at Rena. ‘Here, I just sent you the program. You’ll have to customize it to your specs and plug it in yourself.’
Rena’s eyes light up. ‘Oh~!’ she says and dissolves.
‘That’s surprisingly out of character, Eren,’ I say. ‘Is now really the best time?’
‘Relax,’ Eren says, ‘I’ll still work when needed. You have a plan, right? Everything will be fine.’ She pauses to stretch herself out on the chair and adopts a slightly slurring drawl. ‘Besides, we’re on Forma, the planet of jeweled forests. We just must soak in the beauty while we’re here!’
‘You can’t even see it without connecting to a visual feed. Or does this new program work around that?’
‘No, actually, it doesn’t.’ she says abandoning the drawl just as Rena reappears next to her. The girl giggles and presses her face into the OmniGlass hard enough to squish it. ‘But that reminds me. Do us a favor and look outside at the forest as much as you can while we’re here, will ya, EZ?’
‘What?’ A bad idea and she knows it. ‘Why are you doing this, Eren? What’s wrong?’
‘Nothing’s wrong, EZ,’ her voice now deliberately innocent, ‘Like I said, we’re on vacation right?’
‘No,’ I say, ‘we aren’t. Nothing has changed just because we landed on Forma.’
‘NOT on vacation,’ she says, turning in the chair to look at me. ‘Then why are you acting like we are?’
‘I’m not,’ I say. ‘I’m taking our situation seriously, much more than you it seems.’
Eren scoffs, ‘Are you really that stupid?’ She gets up from the chair to face me fully. I can feel a storm of wrath in the movement, even without our connection. ‘Why are we still here, EZ, running around on this tourist planet gawking at some pretty plants? We don’t have to wait for our Shuttle. Just get on the next one leaving and get us out of Circle space before they catch us!’
‘Now isn’t the time to rush, Eren,’ I say, trying my best to keep a level head under her wave of anger. ‘We’ve been acting like tourists since entering Circle space and changing that now would look suspicious. Shuttleton was full of people. Anyone of them could have been the culprit and we can’t be certain we were recorded at the scene. If we shake things up too much it might cause the very chase we’re running from.’
‘Or it might get us out of their reach with time to spare,’ Eren fumes, stepping closer. The sound of her sandals clapping on the floor makes it feel as if she is actually in the tunnel bearing down on me instead of doing it inside my head. I’m not sure which is worse. ‘If we strut around it might strand us right in the palm of their hand once they decide to close the fist. Billions of people use the Shuttles every cycle. Itinerary changes are extremely common. We went to Shuttleton for a bit of business and now we need to move on quickly to our final destination. It happens all the time.’
We stand in silence for a moment. Having Eren here, in the room, physically staring her daggers up at me, is quite disorienting. It makes me want to balk like never before. ‘Very well,’ I say shortly, ‘Transfer us to the next departing Shuttle.’
‘But I want to see the Mana King,’ Rena whines, jerking away from the Omniglass.
Eren sighs, almost seeming to deflate. ‘We can’t, Rena,’ she says, ‘We’re in danger, remember?’
‘But we don’t have to leave right now,’ Rena says. She runs over to stand at our feet staring up at us with imploring determination. ‘We just made a transfer at Ariana Station. If we wanted to skip past Forma, we would have gotten on a different Shuttle, right? Wouldn’t leaving right as we arrive look suspicious no matter what? Even if we’re able to explain it, it would still draw attention.’
We could take one that’s departing in a few Subs or a Block[6 hours],’ I say. ‘That would give us time to look like we had business here and get us on our way quickly.’
Eren is silent, arms crossed, foot tapping. After a long while she sighs again. ‘Fine, I’ll transfer us to something departing at the top of the Block.’
Rena beams, ‘Yay!’
‘Thank you, Eren,’ I say. ‘Invaluable as always.’
Eren turns with a final huff and falls into her chair. ‘Yeah, yeah. Don’t we have a Mana King to see or something?’
We travel in silence after that, soaking in the beauty of the forest. It is beyond compare. Every tree and every plant on the floor seems to be made of glass or crystal from root to leaf, each with a unique array of colors. A kingdom of Protorg fauna clamber about covered in crystal growths. I stop at one point to admire a small Grek as he climbs down the tunnel wall, his crystals forming a tall green mantle around his slimy white shoulders.
The entire city of Elderin exists inside a network of tunnels intended to allow residents and guests alike to exist alongside the forest without disturbing it. The shell of every tunnel is constructed of at least four layers -two ZKMs, a layer of Omniglass, and a layer of Glasma- that perfectly separate the inner and outer environments. Nothing gets through except light, yet it is so well constructed that I can’t even see it. The Grek might as well be climbing down empty air.
For its part, the forest has come to treat the tunnels like the roots of a giant tree, simply growing around them and disturbing them very little. Entire sections have been forced underground as the forest grew over them. After coming through an especially long and dark stretch we notice a major shift: everything is much smaller, even glowing less vibrantly. It almost doesn’t seem to be the same forest though we were only blind to it for ten Minis.
‘What happened?’ asks Rena in wonder as I gaze out at a family of Jackens skirting through a web of green roots. She appears next to me, leaning into the tunnel wall, staring. ‘Aren’t those Jackens? The one we saw before was at least three times that size with a crystal fin on its back. They almost aren’t even the same species.’ Then she jerks her head toward me, pointing frantically. ‘And the trees! They aren’t made of glass anymore!’
‘We’ve entered the King’s domain,’ says Eren. ‘A barrier that blocks Mana from entering the space, and with less Mana, there is less Divinity in the air.’
‘Wait,’ Rena says, ‘there’s Mana here, too? Why haven’t I felt any? And what’s Divinity?’
‘It is not in the tunnels.’ Eren responds as she appears a step away from the wall, arms crossed. ‘They are designed to prevent it from entering. Divinity as well. It is a special gas that forms on this planet in response to the energies of star creation. Like Mana, it has a profound effect on any living creature that contacts it.’
‘So this planet has two special materials,’ Rena mutters to herself, ‘but they’ve been removed from public access.’ Then to us, ‘Aren’t they important? The Circle gives Mana freely on Ariana Station. Why hoard it here?’
‘That’s exactly why,’ says Eren. ‘The Circle at its heart is a guild of merchants. They survive and thrive on transactions. Every citizen, guest, employee, every single Human, Gromle, and Trillon they come into contact with is a potential customer. By giving these customers a small taste of these resources, and then cutting off access, the Circle can more easily convince them to purchase more once it has been harvested from places like this.’
‘That doesn’t seem very nice of them,’ Rena says.
‘No,’ says Eren, ‘it doesn’t. It removes a great deal of depth from social interactions. But it is not all bad either. This topic is far too complicated for a time like this, but meritocratic systems encourage people to provide where they otherwise would be inclined only to take from others. Difficult balancing acts that can work or fail with spectacular results. You should look into ancient Terran Capitalism if this sort of thing interests you.’
‘But why restrict them so heavily?’
‘Risk of theft, mostly. Not only is it likely but it can be catastrophic when dealing with both Mana and Divinity. Ariana Station is small, much easier to secure than an entire planet, and not only is Divinity easier to harvest, it is even more dangerous than Mana in many ways. It can only be used safely -and legally- when mixed with another gas called Invigo, but it is so addictive that people use it raw anyway.’
Rena is silent; a rare moment, we’ve learned, when the information she’s received overwhelms her ability to process it at the normal speed. She furrows her brow, crosses her arms, and stares at her foot as she rubs the ground with it.
‘I don’t understand,’ she says finally.
‘Not surprising,’ Eren says with a smile, ‘You appear to lack any economic knowledge at all, and it remains one of the most complex spheres of understanding still today. You are a smart girl, Rena. Look into it on the Web and you’ll get it soon enough.’
‘I will,’ Rena says as she dissolves, ‘thank you so much, Eren!’
I feel a surprising and sudden wave of satisfaction from Eren. Just as suddenly, she levels a glare at me.
‘Are you writing that?’ she demands.
‘Uh, no,’ I stammer in a panic.
‘Yes, you are! Look here, EZ. Just because you have a little privacy curtain now, doesn’t mean you get to say whatever you want.’
‘Uh, I’m sorry,’ I stammer again, ‘It was heartwarming and I wanted the audience to know about it and-’
‘Whatever. Let’s go.’ with that she dissolves. ‘And hurry up or we’ll miss the Shuttle.’
[3]
[Scrio]
[Network Archon Striga-600 AI-Neuralet]
[D2-45 Eren]
[Ezekiel Ratakana]
[FTL 3862|06|(3)26|13-00-00]
[Elderin | Forma]
[Unidentifiable Energy Residue-Integrity Uncompromised]
‘Oh my,’ Rena chimes, ‘It’s so big~’ Looking through my ARRC she sees Rafon, the Mana King of Elderin. A glass tree hundreds of stories tall towering overhead. Its branches spread as far as I can see creating a ceiling of leaves between the sky above and us below on the ground. As the star light shines down it breaks into thousands of different colors from each uniquely shaded leaf. ‘How did we not see this on the way down to the planet?’
‘Surprisingly,’ I ping, ‘it looks quite the same as the rest of the forest from above,’
‘But none of the plants around it are glass like that,’ Rena says. ‘At least not from what we’ve seen.’
‘That’s true,’ I say, ’but Rafon’s canopy extends to the end of his Expulsion Field, where the glass trees begin again, so the normal plants are all directly beneath him and can’t be seen from above.’
‘Wait,’ Rena says, ‘This tree has a Mana System?’
‘That’s right,’ I say, ‘Most of the glass trees do. The Mana System evolution, oddly enough, is not confined… well, much at all. Almost any Biorg has the potential to grow one. That’s why it’s called a Prime Evolution.’
Rena is silent for a moment. Then she says, ‘Is Mana the reason Rafon is so big?’
‘That’s it exactly,’ I say with a smile, ‘Mana causes most plants to grow larger when it cycles through their System. The longer it does, the larger they grow. Rafon is the oldest plant in Elderin, thus the largest.’
‘And is Rafon why all the plants around him are so much smaller than him, and not made of glass?’
‘Two for two, Rena,’ I say smiling wider, ‘Good job. Once Rafon reached a certain size he, like all Mana-plants, began to push on the Expulsion Field of his System and extended it away from his body. All the plants and animals beneath his canopy are within his Field, called his domain, where he protects them from encroaching Mana.’
‘Isn’t he just monopolizing the Mana for himself?’ Rena says. ‘Like the Circle?’
‘Well, yes,’ I say, ‘technically. But that kind of thing doesn’t matter to plants, or even to most animals. Thinking like that; begrudging the power you could have gained were things different. That’s for those of us above the Braviton Split; the organisms with the intelligence to understand such concepts like you, me, and Eren. Everything else; those below the split, are just, for the most part, following their programming so they can survive. They’re grateful for the protection -when they even have the capacity.’
Rena falls silent again, thinking as she does. I go back to observing Rafon in his absolute majesty. The myriad of colors produced by his leaves is mind-boggling. Even among Mana Kings he and his two brothers are unique in that, owing to the Divinity. As I watch, something catches my attention: a single leaf of deep red, fallen from its perch on his branches. It drifts down toward us, riding the air like a grav-surfer.
It lands on top of the tunnel, directly above us, turning the whole world crimson for a brief moment.
Right as it does, Eren chimes, ‘EZ, we have a problem. Three Neural signatures are approaching us, each from different directions.’ after a short pause her breath catches. ‘It’s- It’s the Seakers! They’re trying to box us in!’
