Lilith's uncle had never been a talkative man at the best of times, but even by his standards, the carriage ride felt-- Well, she wouldn't have said solemn, not back then. But she was at least able to recognize that things were abnormal. He did not question her about her feelings and daily life as he did normally in whatever free moments they had together, or even - as she vaguely recalled happening during more extensive periods together, such as when he was visiting her house - talk about his work or her father. Instead, all he did was stare out the window, his eyes unfocused.
She was vaguely aware that people tended to find her uncle's appearance unsettling, though truthfully it never bothered her. If anything the opposite was true; most people were always warbling their voices and twisting their bodies to-and-fro in ways that she found perplexing and exhausting, but his face was still and simple, even his eyes rarely wandering. It was the closest being around another human came to reading a book or using a logic engine.
Still, there was a level of stiltedness even she found uncanny. Sitting as he was now, not only willfully motionless but without even a recognizable ascent and descent to his great metal chest, he looked like a sculpture. He blinked just infrequently enough that every time he did it felt discordant, her mind unable to build a proper picture of him.
Despite saying this was going to be on their way home, Lilith could also not help but notice that they seemed to be going in the exact opposite direction, heading deep into a section of the city she'd never even seen before, away from the massive structures that dominated the center to neighborhoods instead filled with winding, single-story structures wrought of large sandy bricks. Later in life, she would learn this to be the remnants of the old industrial district of Anuem, abandoned manufactories converted into housing and office space for the less privileged groups of the city - originally farmers fleeing the countryside in the wake of replication arcana leaving their profession redundant, and more recently the overflowing young with nothing to do. (Years down the line, it would be declared state territory, while the downtown area band of countryside she called home would split off into freeholds.)
She did not particularly like new places, so it was this combination which led her, despite her usual reticence, to say: "Goi-- Where are. We going."
Her uncle's arm flinched slightly at the words, as if he'd forgotten she was even here. His eyes flicked towards her, and he paused for a while before actually speaking. "...the home of a friend of mine," he said. "I left what we're going to pick up with him. It shouldn't be too far now. Ten more minutes... In that realm."
It took Lilith a while to parse why this answer did not satisfy her, but she eventually managed it. "What is it."
"What?"
"Getting. Had to... leave it." She fidgeted uncomfortably.
Hamilcar of Kane was once again momentarily at a loss for words. His questioning of his niece was usually rather one-sided; perhaps he wasn't used to the shoe being put on the other foot. He eventually looked down to his staff, presently held in his lap. "Something like this," he said, holding it aloft. "You've seen many of your teachers and some of the other adults using the Power with their scepters, I'm sure. You'll be able to do the same."
This answer also irritated Lilith, who despite the conceptions of most people she seemed to meet, was not actually stupid. "That isn't. You need training to, use the Power. And..." She trailed off, unable to yet convey the point she had in mind. "No one-- My age," she said instead.
Her uncle watched her closely. "I'm simplifying a little," he said slowly. "You'll learn slowly. But it's not unheard of to have an early start."
"...class," Lilith mumbled.
"I'm sorry?"
"In class, we. Only after..."
His eyes barely moved, but somehow, she got the sense that he understood her meaning. A stirring sound came from his chest, perhaps something in the breathing mechanism. The wheels of the carriage rattled unpleasantly against a road that was more gravel than stone.
"It's... I'm not sure what the right word is. Not frustrating, exactly," he said. His tone had changed slightly, and his eyes were averted again. "You've misunderstood, and yet... Lilith, if you had lost something, or rather, if someone you knew had lost something... And yet they'd forgotten that they had lost it, wouldn't you feel obligated to give it back to them?"
Lilith had no idea what this meant, so she simply stared at him blankly.
"No, I suppose that isn't honest," her uncle conceded, as if conversation had actually taken place. "Perhaps for you alone, but... even then, it's a stretch, isn't it?"
She continued to be confused. She vaguely expected him to say more, but instead, after about 30 seconds had passed, he changed the topic entirely.
"Lilith, at either of your schools, have you read the Epic of Gilgamesh?"
The answer was no, but the name did stir something in her memory. "Watched."
He frowned softly. "You saw an adaption?"
"A-Animation," she clarified.
"I see." Her uncle made a slightly disappointed sound, then continued: "Did it include the final story? After the death of Enkidu?"
Lilith had no idea who this was. She vaguely recalled a scene where two half-naked men were fighting trees, and several others focused around a woman with extremely large breasts. She'd watched it at home, so she hadn't been paying particularly close attention.
Still, for some reason, her uncle interpreted her countenance as understanding. (Or maybe he just didn't care and was too focused on his point.) "After Gilgamesh fails in his quest for immortality, he returns home to the city he rules," he recounted. "And he realizes that, even though he might one day die, that which he had created will endure long after he is gone. The fact that we still tell his story, however distorted, speaks to the truth of that sentiment. Legacy, in other words."
She did not understand why this was being said.
"But Gilgamesh was a king," he continued. "A legacy of that nature isn't a luxury that most of us have. We have to content ourselves with small things... Our children, mostly. Though there are those of us who cannot even have that, such as myself."
"Because of you. Your."
The skin around her uncles eyes crinkled. "Yes, my body is one reason. But there are losses which are greater, still, than even that." His gaze fell towards the carriage floor. "You've obviously been paying attention in your lessons. You know that we are a people who have lost everything. Our homes, our loved ones, our... well, everyone has their own sad story. I'm sure you've heard at least snippets of a few here and there." He inclined his head slightly forward. "For us, there is no legacy, either of our past, or that we may leave upon this world. What you see is the rarest of exceptions, not the rule. In the past, and still now in many cases where we lack the right resources, we must hide the truth from our families. Our only kinship is with one another." He shook his head just a little. "Forgive me. I ramble."
Lilith continued staring.
"You won't understand this until you're older, but there's a viral... No, I suppose I should say a memetic quality, in lacking something," he continued. "When you feel pain - whether that's the pain of want, or more direct suffering- for long enough, it begins to colonize your psychology. You become it, somewhat. Even if you still hate it and wish to be rid of it, you also find yourself tracing its pattern. That doesn't mean inflicting it on others - not always, at the very least - but you think in ways that assume its presence, and feel as if those who haven't felt it are... foreign. Being around them provokes loneliness. And, to tolerate it, you find yourself thinking often of the few good things to come of it, and how they seem to shine in a way nothing else does."
Lilith, to what extent she understood, felt this was a very strange thing to say. When something hurt her, she simply avoided it going forward. Her mother always said that, and it was one of the few practices she promoted that seemed like it had a reliably good result.
"The story they tell you... at the best of times, when it's all managed properly, it's far from wholly untrue," he said. "It's as if there really were two halves fated to come together and make up yourself. When I was very young, before, well..." He placed a hand against his chest. "I was happy, for a time. In both of the lives I'd lived, I'd felt incomplete. In that world, an outcast. In this world, a failure and embarrassment to my family. Seeing it from both sides brought a certain sense of perspective. And fulfilled desire, I suppose."
The feeling that Lilith had been experiencing back in the classroom was sharpening to a point. She now felt like she had a vague sense of what was actually going on. It was not pleasant.
She muttered. "You said, I, I'm."
"Yes, Lilith. You're different from them," he said, looking at her again in earnest. "You've known that for a long time now, I think."
She tensed slightly, digging her fingers into the cushions.
"But yes.... Legacy," her uncle continued. "When people lose something they believed could never be taken from them, even if they reclaim it, it no longer reassures them as it once did. If your home is invaded and destroyed, you'll never feel comfortable in another with a mere lock on the door. If water from a certain source poisons you, you will never again drink it. There is an escalatory character to the world, in that way, one that begins in utter freedom and ends in utter stasis."
"Es-ca-latory," she mouthed to herself.
"Yes," Hamilcar replied. "This is the sentiment at the end of the story, but escalated." He paused for a moment. "A legacy is something you have from the moment you are born. But it is also something you inherit, when you are old enough to hold it in your hands. I had hoped it would not need to be so soon, but today, you will be given your inheritance."
Lilith understood enough.
"I don't want it," she said.
"You must receive it," he said, his voice soft behind his eternal mask. "If you wish to reject it after that, then I cannot stop you, and we need go no further. But I cannot leave it to press against you from within and rot."
"No."
Because she was a little frightened of him, she'd never pushed back so firmly before, but nevertheless, her uncle's eyes were unmoved. "I'm sorry, but there is no alternative."
Lilith was not particularly brave, but she was decisive, especially when it came to situations she did not wish to be in. She knew from watching her mother do it that if you opened the door of an automatic carriage while it was driving, it would pull over automatically to the side of the road. She attempted to do this, but unlike in those cases, the door seemed to be locked.
"Please do not make this difficult," her uncle said. "Nothing painful is going to happen to you--"
She began to scream, which she was also quite good at, and banged at the carriage window. The area they were in was getting quieter - more individual homes than larger buildings of any sort - but there were still a few people around to hear. She kicked her legs against the door and pounded her hands against the glass.
She didn't even see her uncle raise his staff.
𒊹
11:55 PM | The Ninsirsir, Deck 3 | December 31st | 1608 COVENANT
The party at the top of the steps, flanked by two crescent-shaped flower gardens on the left and right, was - for self-evident reasons - far more haphazard than it had been in a ballroom. Instead of being seated comfortably at large tables in a style of a formal dinner, the atmosphere here was closer to an open day at a private school. Lines of haphazard chairs, clearly obtained from multiple different sources, were assembled in neat rows at the front and around the few pieces of permanent furniture already present at the rear. A stone edifice clearly intended as the base for a pond or small pool had been hastily covered with wood and cloth to become a makeshift table, and a few tall benches were being used as buffet tables. Many people had nowhere to sit at all, simply milling around with drinks in their hands. (There was a lot of alcohol available for such short notice, actually - Lamu wondered if this was part of their plan.)
Instead of a stage, the ceremony seemed to have become centered around the large gazebo at the center, the one the guidebook had alleged offered incredible views. Part of the band had reassembled there, alongside a few recognizable figures, such as the hostess - who seemed to be struggling with some technical issue at a hastily erected podium - and a few of the VIPs who had performed earlier in the night. Notably, no one actually important seemed to be present, although a few of the security staff remained.
The shuttle - visible only in part, but seeming to be of rather impractical design, with curved crystalline wings intended to evoke either an angel or else a giant insect - was in the other direction, cut off from the rest of the deck by a heavy metal airlock. Two men in civilian clothes stood nearby, trying not to look like they were on guard.
"What do we do," Lamu said impatiently.
Nhi surveyed the crowd, then spoke frustratingly casually considering the situation. "Weeeeell, I can see two ways we could do it. Number one, we get up to that pergola in the middle and I get the word out on the down-low before we make a big announcement, though the devil might end up being in the details there. I recognize a few of our core security team left, and judging by how they treated the ones outside my door, it's a safe-ish bet they'll let me through - but, well, tonight's been full of surprises. And it'll be tough to get through that crowd either way, especially if anybody notices what we're trying to do."
"Gazebo," Lamu couldn't help correcting her, despite everything.
Nhi blinked. "Eh?"
"Pergolas are flat with an open roof. Gazebos are angular with a closed roof."
She glanced at the central area again. "Oh yeah," she said, as if Lamu had offered some deep insight. "I forgot that was how it worked." She looked back. "Anyway, option two is you just fly in the air and use the Power to amplify your voice to tell everybody what's going on. Fast, but it might cause a panic. Also they might freak out and shoot you."
"Can't let Lamu get shot. I'll do it," Gudrun volunteered. "I fear no man. Put me in the fuckin' air. I'll wreck this shit."
"Let's go through the crowd," Lamu decided instantly. "If everything here becomes too-- Too chaotic, it might end up cutting us off from escape, or making them change their plans. We won't be able to move fast enough." And also she didn't want to get shot. And also any idea that Gudrun was excited about felt at least 50% less credible.
"Cool, cool." Nhi tapped her logic engine. "Just north of four minutes-- Let's go."
They moved in, staying close together as they weaved through the partygoers. Despite the band playing some bombastic new years hymn that she'd heard a million times but couldn't recall the name of in the background, she managed to catch snippets of conversation. The guests that were not so drunk as to be borderline non-lucid were still anxious and distressed about what had happened down below, or were complaining about the level of service at the event more generally. Some were paranoid (correctly, she supposed) that there was still a threat, and had only followed everyone else in the belief there was safety in numbers.
No one, however, seemed to be worried about an actual conspiracy, which meant the attackers were doing a shockingly good job of covering their tracks. But if Gudrun was the only person who'd noticed anything suspicious, why wasn't there a bigger response? Why weren't the halls crawling with people by the time they left the Obsidian Lounge, Nhi or no Nhi?
Really, she hadn't had much time to dwell on it, but it was remarkable no one found the party continuing at all strange. Did these people have no survival instincts?
Getting towards the gazebo became harder as they approached the lines of chairs. Both sides were blocked by small crowds - wait, was that Fang? No time to confirm it - who'd evidently been waiting for seats; rather than pushing to the side, Nhi beckoned her and Gudrun to take a slightly wider way around, right up by the flowerbeds. Gudrun tried to say something - judging by her face, possibly another declaration that she was about to vomit - but Lamu couldn't hear her over the music.
What she could hear, though, was her logic engine, which inexplicably started going off just as they managed to squeeze past the greater part of the group. She jumped and almost dismissed the call on the spot, but then hesitated and answered.
It was Theodoros. "Lilith, I know it's close to midnight, but I need to update you on what we talked about. Connecting with the others, I mean."
She flinched. "This is not a good time."
"It's about Seth," he said. "I managed to-- To work up the courage to contact him, after we got back to our room. I told him about you, and the threat on my life, and what you said about Utsushikome, and-- Well, the broad strokes of everything we talked about, more or less."
Someone bumped into the side of her arm, and she had to grab at Gudrun's wrist not to get left behind. Lamu felt like a balloon that was about to burst.
"Please get to the point," she said patiently. "Did you share information?"
"Yes," Theodoros replied. "The conversation got a bit personal, so we didn't have time to discuss it deeply... But he seemed to also be afraid that something sinister might be afoot on the ship, even if we weren't aware that our class was all here." There was a pause. "We, uh, ended up discussing personal matters primarily, so he told me that he couldn't go into detail, but that a dangerous group could be operating on board the ship."
"You don't say."
"He told me that I ought to stay in my room until I heard from him again, that it would be for the best to stay away from the top deck, especially during the new years countdown. You should do that too, if you're not already."
Lamu sucked in and bit her lip sharply. Based on that, it sounded as though Seth was working with the Silent Order too, like much of the security staff. That shouldn't have been a complete surprise for a number of reasons. But saying he didn't know about Utsushikome being here-- Was that just a lie? Or was her relationship to whatever they were doing more complex than straightforward cooperation?
She took a breath. It would be a waste of energy to try to convince him to leave and do the opposite of what he'd just been told right now, but as things stood, he and the others who had returned to their chambers could easily end up as hostages-of-last-record if the attackers were left cornered on the Ninsirsir. "You should hide somewhere in the room you're in. Don't barricade the door. You want to give the impression you're inside at a glance. Silence your logic engine and stay attuned; I'll contact you again in a few minutes."
"What?" He sounded alarmed.
"There's no time, I'm sorry. I need to focus."
She cut the connection. After doing so, an unpleasant thought struck her: After what she'd seen happen down in the lounge, she wasn't sure she'd ever be able to touch a logic bridge without a sting of paranoia again.
Nevertheless, they'd finally made it close to the gazebo, where the remnants of the security team were blocking the approach to the stairs. Nhi turned.
"JUST KEEP A LOOK OUT FOR ANYTHING STRANGE, OKAY?" She shouted over the music. "I'LL HANDLE THIS!"
"WHAT?" Gudrun replied.
Nhi turned and approached the nearest man, whose eyes widened at the sight of her. She held out a logic bridge for him; he touched it.
Since Gudrun seemed to be at another crashout point in her rapid oscillation of awareness - she was currently fumbling for something in her pockets - it fell to Lamu to scan the crowd diligently for any sign that the enemy realized what was happening. There was still no one in uniform, but a few people towards the back seemed to be antsy about something over to the left. She craned her neck--
...
No.
That's not possible.
He was there. In the gardens, among the trees. The unmistakable form of her uncle, towering at nearly 7 feet, long robe draped over his darkly-armored body, bare skull rising from a platform of metal. It hadn't been a mistake earlier. He really was here, looking right at her--
Without even meaning to, she found herself falling back. She slammed arm-first into Gudrun, almost sending them both to the ground before the brunette managed to catch herself on the wall of the gazebo, leaving Lamu half sprawled out over her right side.
"WOAH," she shouted. "BRO, NOT THE TIME."
Lamu was in panic. She cried out: "THERE'S-- OVER THERE, THERE'S--"
But when she turned and pointed, the figure had completely vanished, replaced by only what looked like a section of tall fencing; a fata morgana fading as one approached the horizon. But no, that was no fucking mistake! She'd seen him, right there, bereft of ambiguity! Either she had gone completely mad (which seemed unlikely considering all the better chances there had already been for that to have happened), or this was some kind of attempt to psychologically intimidate her. Which meant they had to know she was on this deck already. Her eyes went wild scanning for threats; if it was an illusion, the perpetrator had to be somewhere close by.
"IT'S OKAY, LAMU!" Gudrun screamed soothingly, putting a hand on her back. "CALM DOWN! IT'S ALL GONNA BE--" She coughed, a little mucus spittle getting in Lamu's hair. "IT'S GONNA BE OKAY!"
Or maybe the imposter was physical. They could have built a golem to resemble him; it wouldn't even be that difficult, considering. But that didn't fit the modus operandi of the assimilation failure alliance at all; it had to be Utsushikome. But how could she possibly have the resources? Something was wrong. Very, very wrong.
Nhi was still talking to the men at the base of the gazebo - one ran off to the side for the some reason, and she turned briefly to give her and Gudrun a wink and a thumbs up - but the music was finally coming to a stop, the hostess woman, Marta or something, seeming to have finally resolved whatever technical issue she'd been suffering. She clapped for the band as she began speaking. "That was once again Anca, performing For Worse and Better Days! Let's give them a big round of applause for all they've done to step up tonight!"
The crowd applauded, which felt somehow even more violent to Lamu's ears than the music had.
"Now it's time to say farewell to the year 1608 - or 10772, for our friends from the Triumvirate - and ring in the new year! We're cut off from most of our equipment down here, so I'm afraid we're going to have to do this the old-fashioned way! On the upside, we'll have an even better view of the fireworks up here." She gestured towards the glass windows. "Anyone who wants to join in, please take out your logic engines and turn your eyes towards the Mimikos!"
Some people did so, but a surprising number seemed to barely take notice, not even pausing their conversations. Lamu didn't either, still trying to take in every detail while Gudrun continued to pat her soothingly and blabber platitudes.
Fireworks. Right, yes. Someone had mentioned they were going to be launching them from the lower decks to silhouette the Mimikos on the horizon as the ship turned back towards it at the approach to midnight. It did seem like they were moving at an angle, now that she took note of it.
"40! 39! 38!" Close to a hundred people seemed to be chanting. "37! 36! 35!"
Actually, it was probably pointless to even be looking for whoever conjured the illusion, thinking logically. They could just as easily be on a lower deck. She needed to keep her thoughts on more tangible threats, especially now that she was higher up, in such a visible position. That made her very anxious, now that she thought about it.
"Gudrun," she said quietly.
"34! 33! 32! 31!"
"Yeah?"
"Can you... focus on the crowd? I don't want them to see my face."
"Why not? Oh, right, 'cause of the whole - yeah, yeah, I got you." She slapped herself on the cheek, narrowing her eyes.
"30! 29! 28! 27! 26!"
Lamu turned her face firmly in the direction of the gazebo, hoping she wouldn't be recognized by hair alone. As if they wouldn't have noticed her already if anyone was looking. She was rattled and acting irrationally; she knew that.
Nhi's plan seemed to be firmly in motion. One of the agents was stepping up to the 'stage', while two others were moving away with intent. The hostess glanced in their direction nervously.
"25! 24! 23! 22!"
Lamu's eyes wandered towards the glass and the section of the gardens still visible, unable to calm down. It already felt like she was going to have a heart attack, and in a minute there would be a mad dash to the shuttle, and likely, violence. Her teeth felt glued shut, and her body was so still it was cold and hot at the same time.
Try focusing on the things in front of you, a therapist had once told her, a single entry in an endless procession of advice that barely worked. Consider each object individually.
Tree. Road. Glass. Mimikos.
"21! 20! 19! 18..." The hostess stopped counting as the agent approached and hurriedly whispered in her ear. Her face paled.
She could see one of the adjacent warships there, too, surprisingly far away. It was much larger than the Ninsirsir, though longer than was wide; a floating skyscraper, like all the remotely modern ones. Bronze and titanium, sleek and angular, the weapon batteries only visible as subtle indents.
...wait.
"Um, everyone, please try to remain calm," Marta(?) said. "I'm afraid there's been an incident. Please listen closely and follow my instructions."
Theo had told her, back during the dinner, that Seth had been on board the Royal Penitence, one of the two escort ships.
"We have reason to believe that a larger group of hostile individuals may be a-aboard the ship," she said, her voice shaking. Very few people were still counting now, a few people starting to shout in panic. "We're going to proceed toward the shuttle and temporarily evacuate until the extent of the danger is clear."
No, not just on one. In command there, over the soldiers.
That meant...
And if they were going to do it-- Then they'd--
"Please take note of the security staff on your left and right, and move in an orderly fashion towards the rear of the deck--"
"B-BARRIERS!" Lilith screamed, as she herself began frantically tracing the Energy-Nullifying Arcana. Gudrun, who had still been holding her, leapt back a little in confusion. "IF YOU CAN CAST, PUT UP A BARRIER!"
Nhi's eyes widened, and she seemed to instantly understand, but the hostess looked confused. "Um, what? Uh, everyone, please--"
Midnight arrived. A line of fireworks rose from below the ship, bursting in a circle around the Mimikos's silhouette, a perfect rainbow.
One ruined, swiftly, as the space beyond turned red and - a moment later - everything was on fire.