Pumping her arms and legs as hard as she can, Mari tries to spot a clear path through the molten slag in front of them.
Molten slag drops in fiery globs along your path, sending you dodging back and forth in order to avoid it. Ordyt, Bel and Mari each try to anticipate a clear path through the heat and pain, but ultimately its Flint's driving voice that pushes you forward through the final few hundred feet.
You rush under a shimmering violet curtain of force and moments after you do the temperature turns blessedly cool. It takes another full minute before the violet veil drops fully behind you. Its shimmering, transparent surface lets you view the action within the sector you just left. The bubble overhead fully parts, allowing the sun's plasma to fill the sector. The vast lattices of impure polyfluid, along with all the machinery, robots and other structures within the sector are quickly reduced to a pool of iridescent fluid that sloshes and flows. Black, brittle-looking rods rise up from the molten pool and fire out, up into the air and out of the bubble.
The polyfluid that remains glimmers more brightly in the solar glare, which, as you watch, begins to dim as the bubble reestablishes itself above the sector. As the plasma jets vanish, the now-pure polyfluid drains through unseen holes within the sector's base level. The violet veil lifts, and what remains of the lattice-filled sector is nothing but an empty plane.
Breathing deeply as his armor is finally able to regulate the temperature and filter the ambient radiation, Flint recovers and apologizes, "Sorry for that--sometimes a little fear can give us just the edge we need."
When they are all recovered, he asks the drone, "Was the inferno of death hex we just left closer or farther away from the core?"
"This place," Mari wheezes, still catching her breath, "is completely out of compliance with Pact World workplace safety standards. I mean really, an enormous open air smelter, without so much as a warning sign?"
"Is that what it was doing?! Removing impurities from the polyfluid?!" Ordyt stares at the area where the force-dome had been, agog. "There's got to be better ways to doing that..."
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As they reach safety, Belmarniss crudely drops SOL-653 pauses to catch her breath, but then straightens up with a look of panic on her face.
"Oh gods, SOL-653, I'm sorry! Are you okay? Is your data intact?" Then her panic increases and she rushes over to Sunspy. "OH GODS! PLEASEPLEASEPLEASEDON'TLETANYTHINGHAVEHAPPENEDTOTHEFOOTAGE!"
She frantically checks Sunspy over and scrolls through the control pad to make sure the exposure didn't damage Sunspy's chassis and more importantly what they'd recorded of Noma thus far.
SOL-653, unperturbed by the brush with death and largely unblemished (beyond a few additional scorches on its chassis), rolls back and forth for a moment before answering Flint's question "The previous Sector was equidistant from the Core versus the previous measurement. In this Sector , Speaker is closer to the Core."
It boops for a moment before responding to Bel's concerns "Checking... Checksum validation indicates that data core is undamaged. Life data intact." Its corresponding beep sounds a little pleased, though it might also just be your imagination.
Sunspy on the other hand is completely unharmed thanks to its specialty construction. It whirrs in place recording your recovery from the run. Its data storage disk - held in a radiation resistant interior casing - is similarly undamaged.
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Once you've caught your collective breaths, you start to explore the new sector. Tall spikes of shimmering metal rise like skyscrapers from the floor of this sector, light reflecting from one to the next. As you head through it, you come across a large plaza similar to the one you saw when you first touched down. Rather than a pillar at the center of this plaza, you find an abstract sculpture that appears to function as a fountain. Silvery polyfluid jets up from its tip and then hangs in the air in globular patterns for a few seconds before dropping into a basin. A thin grey haze hangs in the air near the fountain.
All around the fountain, you see a number of destroyed Speaker robots. Each bears similar damage to those you encountered upon arriving in Noma. Just inside the fountain's basin is a collapsed medium humanoid wearing armor and with a rifle loosely held in hand. While the style of the armor isn't anything you're familiar with, you can tell that it doesn't match the tech in Noma.
Flint will move over towards the body and check to see if it is alive.
If it is dead, he will check for identifying papers or examine its equipment.
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Belmarniss breathes a sigh of relief when she sees their data intact.
"Thank Heaven! OH THANK HEAVEN!" she exclaims, before taking a few deep breaths and regaining her composure. "Let's press on."
She watches the "fountain" as they approach.
"After that sector, this place feels a lot more peaceful," she comments.
Sammad quirks an eyebrow at Bel's remark. "Peaceful? There's a body in that fountain...we should stay on guard, this place has a knack for housing hidden dangers." As he says this, he unholsters his pistol, but doesn't fully draw it.
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"Stop!" Mari shouts as Flint moves toward the fountain. "That's not smoke in the air, it's a cloud of nanobots. I don't know what their purpose is, but based on the dead guy I doubt it's anything good."
Flint stops in his tracks, then slowly backs away.
The grey haze around the fountain starts to extend slightly toward Flint as he gets close, but returns to its original position after he backs away. There's no response from the body in the fountain. As you watch, the fountain ejects another spray of polyfluid droplets that hang in positions within the haze for a few moments before dropping down into the pool at the base of the fountain.
Pulling out his grappler with its 90 feet of Titanium cable, Flint says, "Do you think this will disturb the nanites, Mari? I could hook the body and drag it out of the cloud so we can take a look at it."
Ordyt keeps his distance from the fountain after Mari's warning, but still admires the polyfluid fountain. "Do you think it serves a scientific purpose or is it just a nice aesthetic? Sol-653, would you happen to know?"
When Flint proposes hooking the body to drag it over, Ordyt draws his grenade launcher, figuring that the explosion might be more effective against a cloud of nanites.
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"Oh $#!&, good catch Mari!"
She watches as they shift and swirl.
"They seem to be leaving the fountain and the body itself alone, hypothetically the grappler shouldn't disturb them, either. But we'll have to actually test the hypothesis to know for sure."
At Ordyt's question, she shrugs.
"I obviously can't speak for Noma myself, but I strongly suspect that given the city's drive towards continual self-improvement and experimentation to achieve it, any aesthetic value is likely purely coincidental on their part, producing experiments that we organics just happen to be projecting our own aesthetic preconceptions on to."
”Good enough for me, Belmarniss,” Flint responds, turning to Ordyt and nodding approvingly at his choice of weapons, ”Okay, cover me.”
Flint moves up to within 20 feet of the cloud (and possibly 30-40 feet from the body) and tries to hook it with his grapnel.
SOL-653 is as puzzled as you are regarding the purpose of the fountain and its nanite guardian. Although Ordyt draws his grenade launcher, he doesn't get closer, so the nanite cloud doesn't react. From his position well beyond the nanite cloud's reach, Flint is able to line up a shot with the grappler.
One solid thunk later and the grappler's tip catches on the body. The nanite cloud doesn't even twitch, so Flint starts to reel the body back in. What he finds is that the body is incredibly heavy for its size. It takes not only his own strength, but that of Ordyt and Bel to drag the body back to the party.
Once the body is out of the nanite cloud's zone of interest, you're able to examine it in more detail. You turn the body over to see into the helmet's faceplate. The face within is silvery, a robotic facsimile of an ifrit's facial features. A bright orange jewel is embedded in its forehead. Its equipment appears new and fully functional. However, not long after you start this inspection, the robotic ifrit's body twitches and its eyes snap open.
It begins to scream in a very convincing, but slightly tinny voice.
"AAAAAAAAAAH!!! Wha, where, augh!? AHHH!!!"
The few scraps of intelligible speech you hear are in Ignan. It surges to its feet and begins thrashing wildly as it backs up from the group of you.
As the robotic ifrit starts to back up towards the nanobots, Flint looks at it and calmly but firmly says in his most authoritative voice (in Ignan), "Stop right there or you will back into the nanite cloud!"
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Frowning disapprovingly at Flint, Ordyt stows his grenade launcher and holds his hands out to the stranger in a nonthreatening manner. "Hey, easy, easy. You had a run-in with a nanite cloud and I'm sure that was terrifying, take a deep breath. We're not here to hurt you."
He glances back at Atra and her people. "Probably a long shot, but do any of you know this person?"
"Absolutely fascinating..." Mari whispers, watching as their rescuee flails around.
Atra and her two crewmates look positively stunned by this strange ifrit-like robot. All three shake their heads in response to Ordyt's question.
Although the robotic ifrit barely notices Ordyt, Flint's firmness gets the fellow to stop backing up. The fellow shakes in place, still dangerously confused but no longer outright panicking. "Who? Where..." It turns its head from side to side. "AUUGHHHHHH..." A low, tinny moan escapes it. "Who. Who are you?"
The robotic ifrit seems calm enough to answer questions as well.
Although Bel isn't quite sure what's going on, Mari gets the sense that this individual's behavior doesn't reflect the kind of centralized programming visible in other robots in Noma. However, she does know for sure that this is a fully robotic creature - not just an ifrit that has been partially roboticized. Its not clear just from this early limited observation how those two premises can be reconciled.
"Sorry to bark at you like that, but you were backing into a dangerous area, and we didn't have time for niceties," says Flint by way of apology.
"You see before you the crew of the Breath of Embers, come to explore this wondrous place called Noma. I a Flint Conners, captain of the ship. What might you be called?" Flint responds, trying to strike a more conversational tone now that the robot does not seem to be backing into the nanite cloud.
The robotic ifrit shakes and clutches a hand to its helmet. "I- I don't know. I was... here... with Sulphrax... and then..."
The tinny groan that escapes the ifrit seems to be filled with pain. "I... was torn... apart..."
"Sulphrax? Who is--was that your commander?" Ordyt gives Sammad and Flint a beleagured look, hoping for a rescue. At least the ifrit was calmer, if still pained.
Mari's face somehow manages to turn a shade paler as she realizes just what happened to their new acquaintance. Still, she pressed forward with some diagnostic questions. "Can you tell us your name? What day is it?"
"Sulphrax, commander... yes... commander. We came and..." It trails off, obviously confused. When Marisol once again prompts it for its name, it shudders and staggers about for a moment "I don't- Why don't I know...!?" It turns toward the north. "Today. My... This is the seventh cycle of... I don't recall. We came. It was supposed to be simple. But then..." It trails off, swaying on its feet.
In a quiet, buzzing voice it mumbles "Glory... to the Malikah. The origin... is... one. one. one." before taking and unsteady, swaying step away from the fountain and toward the north.
Sammad's expression grows concerned as the figure expresses its obvious confusion over its current state. As it tries to head north, he falls into step with it and discreetly stows his pistol. "What are you trying to reach, then? Perhaps we are seeking the same destination, and could accompany you?"
The robotic ifrit's mumblings become unintelligible as it moves slowly northward. Sammad's questions are only answered with "Origin... one. one. one..." and it seems like its almost forgotten that you're there with it. Every so often it stops and shudders with pain or confusion before continuing its journey.
It doesn't protest when you try to accompany it.
You follow the robotic ifrit northward, entering another strange sector. Here, dozens of inverted fractal ziggurats seem to float in the air, connected and organically twisting branches of superstrong polyfluid. The sector seems devoid of robotic life, but every so often you get the sense that the massive ziggurats themselves are offering echoing murmurs in response to the robotic ifrit.
Nothing untoward emerges within this sector, but midway through, the robotic ifrit shuffles to a stop. It hangs its head. "No... which... way? Sulphrax? Or..."
"SOL-653, are we closer or further away from the core in this sector?" asks Flint. "If our robotic ifrit friend is giving us coordinates, we are nearly to hex 1,1." he adds while waiting for the drone to respond.
SOL-653 wheels back and forth for a moment before beeping "Speaker is now closer to the Core."
Shrugging, Flint responds, "Well, northeast would take us to hex 1,1. Let's go that way and see if there is anything to the ifrit's murmuring."
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Following along behind SOL-653 and the strange, roboticized ifrit, Ordyt gives the others a concerned look. "I don't mean to alarm anyone, but I don't think that person is an ifrit. I think the nanites made a...copy? Of whomever they killed. I don't know how they gave the robot partial memories of the Brass Dragon they took apart but Noma is starting to creep me out."
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"I suspect you're right, Ordyt," Belmarniss telepathically says sadly. "And you're right to feel wary. As cute and sweet as SOL-653 is, they're part of a machine intelligence that has evolved very differently to how our intelligences had. A moral compass isn't necessarily something it's had to take into consideration for however long Noma's been building itself up. Even Apostae's culture had SOME sense of moral direction, even if it was heinously out-of-sync with the rest of Pact Worlds society."
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Mari nods her head emphatically at Ordyt's suggestion. "I agree completely. It's like somebody disassembled a machine and tried putting it back together without really understanding how it worked. What makes us who we are isn't just the neurons in our brains and how they're positioned, but also the paths through our brain that a signal might take. Humans are a good example. There are a million times more potential neural connections in their brains than there are stars in the galaxy. No computer, no matter how good, could reassemble that in just the right way."
You lead the way north-east, discussing the possible mechanics behind the robotic ifrit's fate. The ifrit shuffles after you, head down, moving rather sluggishly. Their ongoing murmurs grow ever more crackly.
This sector is built up even more than previous ones, with intricate towers reaching up toward the 'ceiling' of the bubble. Literally reaching up for some of them, as the towers have an uncanny resemblance to humanoid arms and hands. In the center of the sector you find a staggeringly huge frame, rising at least a hundred floors. Within the frame, hanging from struts and scaffolds, is a half-constructed robotic colossus, so large that it alone dwarfs many of Noma's other structures.
Those of you trained in Engineering or Physical Science note the telltale shimmer of shielding around it. The particular polarization of the shimmering shield reminds you of the appearance of the active shields on the Breath of Embers. The colossus does not appear to carry any weapons.
The colossus stands abandoned. What little robotic life can be found around the sector pays no attention to construction project. It's difficult to tell how long it might've been since the project was put on pause, but its pristine condition suggests it might have been recently.
The robotic ifrit collapses as you reach the colossus and does not stir. SOL-653 boops, almost cheerily, and announces "The Speaker is closer to the Core."
"SOL-653," Mari asks, quickly moving to the robotic ifrit's side, "do you have any data on that large structure?" She points to the half-constructed frame, before turning her full attention to the fallen robot.
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"Goddess, that's a big robot...do you think Noma started building it to fight of the Brass Dragons? If the attackers withdrew the robots may have retasked those resources."
SOL-653 beeps for a few moments before answering Mari's question "This speaker has no data on the experiments conducted within this sector. Conjecture: Inadequate data for conjecture." It boops with what sounds like a hint of sadness.
When Mari investigates the robotic ifrit, she finds its body to lack any signs of life or power. Thanks to her fantastic engineering skills, she can tell that it hasn't suffered any kind of damage - it has either been shut down somehow or is lacking the power to continue moving.
Sunspy zips up and takes picture after picture of the colossus at Bel's command, surveying the massive project. As far as Bel can tell, the colossus is fairly new - certainly not old enough to have experienced any weathering - but its difficult to tell for sure given the mutable nature of Noma.
Atra speaks up at Ordyt's comment "Hey, I don't know what you're imagining, but the Brass Dragons have never been here before." She shrugs "I guess, at least as far as I know. We're big, but we're just a Burning Archipelago operation."
"Mari, can you do anything for our robotic ifrit companion? Does he need a recharge?" asks Flint, sympathetic to the confused and weakened creature's plight.
Moving slowly towards the shield around the colossus, Flint turns to Bel and asks, "Can you or Sunspy see any way to get past or deactivate its shielding so we can take a closer look, Belmarniss?"
"I don't know," Mari says helplessly. "They could have been turned off remotely, or maybe triggered some shutdown protocol, run out of juice, or a thousand other things. To really know, I'd probably have to take them apart and see how they work. And until I see something proving otherwise, I'm going to treat them like a person, so no vivisections."
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Belmarniss shakes her head.
"I don't think there'd really be a way get it moving, if that's what you're thinking, Flint. Clearly Noma didn't see it as a useful deterrent, which is why it's sitting here instead of hunting down Brass Dragons to smash. And I can see why. Something this big'd be useful on, say, Daimalko, out in Near Space, where they've got those giant monsters, but here it's kind of overkill. It probably takes too many resources to build and run, and would make too much damage to repair and clean up afterwards."
She shrugs at Atra's response.
"I think Ordyt was just wondering if the construct was built on the fly to deal with your former colleagues or if it was already here when they showed up. While I can see few signs of wear-and-tear on it, that could just be because it's never been used and not necessarily that it's brand-new. It's impressive, but I think I can understand why it just seems to be just sitting here."