The moment the speaker finished its sentence, the ancient machines activated, and my instincts screamed for us to escape.
Unfortunately, we were in an ancient city encircled by giants who didn’t look any friendlier than the Iron Wraith, so running suddenly became a bad idea.
"Vexa," I said, staring at the machines ready to attack, "please tell me those things aren’t hostile."
She peered out the cockpit window.
"I have no idea."
"That isn’t an answer I want to hear."
"I know."
Nyx leveled a revolver at the machines.
"Shall I shoot?"
"None of that," said Cyra.
Her voice was oddly calm.
"They aren’t attacking."
One of the machines stepped forward.
It was nearly three meters tall and had six legs attached to its armored torso.
Its head had the design of a faceless knight except with a single blue Aether crystal where its eyes should be.
The machine lowered itself to its knees, and then the next one did the same.
Then the next.
After a few moments, the street was littered with kneeling machines.
"Alright," I said, lowering my weapon, "this is the weirdest thing I’ve seen since I got here."
Vexa turned to Cyra.
"They’re acknowledging her."
Cyra swallowed.
"I don’t know why."
The System appeared
[Ancient Aether Network synchronization detected.]
[Target: Cyra Valt.]
[Recognition level: 17%.]
[Network memory inaccessible.]
I frowned at the message
"Can you access their memories?"
[Insufficient synchronization.]
"Of course."
I was starting to dislike that answer.
Cyra approached the cockpit window, and the nearest machine raised its head.
A voice came from its chest.
"Designation: Sovereign."
Cyra stiffened
"I don’t remember you."
"Memory corruption detected."
Cyra’s jaw tightened
"What happened to me?"
The machine did not answer. Instead, the whole city abruptly came to life.
Ancient lights flickered on overhead, and one by one, the windows of the surrounding towers lit up in brilliant blue lights.
The machinery buried within the road began to turn, and deep within the earth, something began to beat like a heart.
Boom
Boom
Boom
The Iron Wraith bounced with each pulse.
"It seems something beneath us just turned on." Vexa stated, looking at her instruments.
Nyx turned to Cyra
"Is that normal?"
"No," she admitted
Boom
Another pulse, stronger this time, sent dust raining down the walls.
I turned to the system.
[Massive energy source detected beneath current location.]
[Estimated output: Extreme.]
[Energy signature correlation: 97%.]
I blinked at the last phrase
"That’s it." I said
Vexa turned to me
"What is?"
"The Core we need."
She turned to stare at me in shock
"You think there’s an Aether Core beneath this city?"
"I know there is." The system had never been this specific before.
Whatever was down there, it was powerful enough to fix Cyra’s Core, and if that wasn’t enough, it might explain what happened to her.
Vexa groaned
"Then we’re going down there."
"Finally." Nyx said
I turned to face her
"What’s with the grin?"
"Because it’s boring waiting to die."
Understandable.
We descended into the depths of the earth under the watchful eyes of the machines guarding the city, or at least that’s what Vexa claimed.
In truth, I wasn’t sure if they were protecting us or waiting for Cyra to do something interesting.
Dead City was the most bizarre place I’d ever seen.
Whereas Aetheria was loud and busy, this city was silent.
Not peaceful, either. It was the kind of stillness that came before a predator pounced on its prey.
The buildings all seemed to conceal something, and every broken machine was a potential threat.
Even the air smelled foreign, like metal mixed with something sweet.
"You’re tense," Cyra said as we walked.
"I prefer prepared."
"You’re tense."
"Fine," I sighed, looking at her, "I’m really tense."
She smiled
"Good."
"Why?"
"Because you should be."
We reached a set of giant underground doors. Embedded in the center of the two-story metal door was an insignia with no visible way to open it.
"You’ve seen this before," I said
She nodded
"In my memory."
Cyra pressed her hand to the mark, and the door immediately responded, the blue lines tracing around it coming to life.
I looked at her in surprise
"You didn’t have to do anything."
"I touched it."
"Exactly."
The doors opened to reveal a flight of stairs heading downward into the earth.
Nyx looked back at the entrance.
"How far down does this go?"
Vexa pulled out a small lantern, inspecting the wall.
"Too far."
"Wonderful."
The deeper we walked, the more the air heated. Old pipes lined the walls, some containing the flowing blue Aether and others long since dead.
Strange markings littered the stone, and I found myself studying them.
Most I couldn’t decipher, but a few looked oddly familiar.
Not from this world, either, but from somewhere else entirely.
My stomach twisted.
I placed a hand on one of the markings, and the System appeared.
[Unknown language detected.]
[Translation unavailable.]
Then, another message appeared
[Similarity detected: System interface architecture.]
I stared in horror at the words
"That’s impossible."
Cyra looked at me
"What?"
I withdrew my hand
"Nothing."
Nothing was fine.
The words were fine.
The System was fine
I just didn’t like seeing it in places it shouldn’t be.
It had appeared when I came to this world, but now something in this world had made something similar.
Unless...
Unless the System wasn’t something new.
Unless it wasn’t a gift from the stars, but something from this world that had been lost to time.
We reached the bottom of the stairs, and an expansive chamber opened before us.
Suspended in the center of the room was an enormous crystal.
Unlike anything I’d seen before, its color was pure white.
Aether swirled around it in an ethereal mist, and great chains ran from the floating structure to machines lining the walls of the chamber.
The System appeared instantly
[Ancient Aether Core detected.]
[Classification: Sovereign Core.]
[Energy output: Extreme.]
[Compatibility with Cyra Valen: 99.8%.]
My heart pounded in my chest
"This is it."
Cyra stepped forward, and the moment she did, the chamber suddenly grew brighter.
The chains binding the Core snapped one by one, and Vexa took a step back
"That’s not good."
"Why not?" I asked
"Because I don’t think we’re supposed to be breaking it free."
The last of the links shattered, and the crystal began to descend.
Cyra’s eyes widened
"Riven."
"I know." My voice was tight with emotion.
The Core floated down toward her, stopping just inches from her head
"Welcome home, Cyra," said a voice.
Cyra stiffened
"Who are you?"
The crystal pulsed, and the voice answered
"I am the one who created your Core."
Cyra took a step back
"That isn’t possible."
The voice laughed
"Of course it isn’t."
The crystal opened, revealing the figure of a woman with silver hair, blue eyes, and a mechanical body.
She looked just like Cyra, only older.
I turned to stare at the woman in disbelief.
Cyra couldn’t move.
"You have grown," said the woman inside the Core
Then she turned to me
"And you brought the System."
I felt my skin crawl as the System abruptly vanished from my vision.
For the first time since discovering it, it was gone
The woman smiled
"Interesting."
I tensed, gripping my revolver
"Who the hell are you?"
The woman looked at me, then back at Cyra
"Cyra Valen." She said with a smile
Then the chamber shook as the eyes of the woman within the Core suddenly opened.