90. A story of a beginning

Marius bent down and cupped some of the spring’s water in his hand. Sipping it, he tasted fresh water. Whatever this was, the stream was real…as real as the datasphere made things anyway. Following the underground path, Nox’s tiny sun lit the way.
 
Nox pulled out the compass. It still read ‘up’.
 
 
A movement on a far wall caught Fureva-Yung’s attention. Glittering and shimmering with every movement, large bugs collected and moved together. Fureva-Yung’s taste for unusual things peaked, she tried picking the bugs off the wall, her mouth open in anticipation. The illusion of bugs disappeared, and she found instead an ancient cypher, hidden under the bug illusion. Disappointed, he handed the cypher to Nox, draped across her shoulders. The young woman glanced at the device and discovered it was a reinvigorating cypher.
“Can I use it?” She asked around the group. She knew she wasn’t the only one finding this expedition through the datasphere to find Celeron, exhausting.
“Sure,” Fureva-Yung shrugged, almost dislodging Nox, “I prefer these instead, they don’t disappear.” She carefully bent down and and pickup a few mineral-rich rocks, the veins of quartz, mica and other minerals sparkling in Nox’s sunball.
 
The group continued through the cavern, following the small stream until it reached a lake. Around the lake from them, the group could see a large figure, the image of the Lattimor Engineer working at something at ground level. Marius’ curiosity propelled him ahead of the group, digging at the area where the Lattimor had just been working.
Quietly, as if on cue, both Nox and Fureva-Yung said, “He’s very good at digging,” and giggled, their laughter filling the cave.
“If you’re finished enjoying yourselves, I could do with a little help here, “ Marius complained, “I’ve found something, but it won’t come up.”
 
Flitting off Fureva-Yung’s shoulder, Nox flew across and scanned a metre-wide hexagonal piece of metal Marius had unearthed.
“What did she say?” Marius asked Nox, a little self-consciously.
“Oh, we were just admiring your excellent work.” She mumbled back a reply, studying the device, “This device is a trap of sorts, but it's bolted into the bedrock. You’ll never dig it out.”
 
Not to be thwarted, Marius stood up, brushed off his dusty hands and stepped into the centre of the plate. Suddenly, two things happened. A hexagonal-sided force field shot up and encircled Marius. From outside, however, it looked as if Marius had disappeared to be replaced by the female Bursk illusion they had seen further up the cavern. It seemed, as far as the story seemed to go, the Lattimor had placed this device to trap the feral Bursk. From inside the force field, Marius waved as Fureva-Yung stepped up to examine the plate. Outside, the Bursk seemed to stand up and wave at Fureva-Yung.
“That is disturbing, Marius. Please stop.” Fureva-Yung made a disgusted face.
“Have a look at this thing, will ya, I’m stuck in here, “ he replied, pointing to the plate at his feet.
 
Marius had cleared out around the plate, but there wasn’t enough room to get Fureva-Yung’s fingers under. Nox made divots in the bedrock with her Reshape ability, big enough for Fureva-Yung to slip her hands under. Now, with a good hold on the metal and solid rock under her feet, Fureva-Yung started to lift the metal.
 
Initially, the metal plate yielded, bending in on itself, closing the space within the force field around Marius. But then bolt firmly driven into the bedroom held and it was hard to tell if the popping and whining noise were coming from Fureva-Yung or the metal. Veins bulged in Fureva-Yung’s neck arms and legs as she continued to pour physical pressure into the bolts until the inanimate object gave way under Fureva-Yung’s will.
 
SNAP! CRACK!
 
The bolts gave way or sagged like the metal plate under Fureva-Yung’s force. The force fields started tilting horizontally to the ground until Marius-Bursk was lying down and exiting the top where the field became weak. As the Bursk escaped the trap, the one became two, with Marius returning to examine it with Nox and Fureva-Yung, and an image of the Bursk ran off further into the cavern.
 
“It looks like this trap could have been turned on and off by remote, “ Nox said, pointing out the antenna.
“The technology is not unfamiliar to me. Not Ferrian, but of my era perhaps,” Furva-Yung added.
“Well, let's see what shinies this remote trap of unknown origins has inside,” Marius said and got to work.
 
As Fureva-Yung watched Marius work, she was once again reminded of a story that she’d seen many years ago in her previous life. It had been a moving picture story, something the Ferrian’s were well known for, made for children and parents to watch together. The story had followed the travels of a wild Bursk to find a new home to live in peace all while a Lattimor scientist was trying to capture her in an attempt to stop the wild Bursk from causing trouble. At the same time, she remembered it was also the story of a young prince who ruled under the strict influence of an advisor. The Prince was young mischievous and smart, but he knew he couldn’t face down the advisor without help.
 
Parts of the story were now lost to Fureva-Yung, but she did remember that the Bursk helped the young prince stand up against the advisor, and in return, the young prince ensured that his large friend found a home where she could live in peace. Though the setting was completely different, she was now sure it was the same characters she was seeing lifted out of that story.
 
Fureva-Yung now turned her attention back to the lake and stuck her head in the water to focus her echolocation on its depths. It was not a large lake, under the light of Nox’s mini sun, its far bank was easily made out, but Fureva-Yung could make out that the lake’s still surface held hidden depths. Down deep, she could sense the sharp outlines of a made-made shape, a shuttlecraft of Ferrian design.
 
Nox moved her mini sun above the spot Fureva-Yung indicated, but the water was murky, and very little of the shuttle could be made out.
“What is a space shuttle doing in a lake underground?” Fureva-Yung asked.
“In the Datasphere? I guess anything could be anywhere in the Datasphere.”
 
Curiosity getting the better of her, Fureva-Yung strode out into the lake and was soon lost to its depths. Fully submerged, she was more aware of the life around her. Below, diamond shapes flew up from the lake bed and away at her sudden appearance. She sensed them with interest until Marius interrupted her thoughts.
They don’t have tentacles, so you can’t make them pets. Are you going to eat them?
Don’t be so hasty, She replied back as she felt the shiver in the water that meant Marius had joined her in the lake, They may have tentacles.
 
 
Walking down and along the lake bed, Fureva-Yung and Marius in tow soon found the shuttle. It was small, just a one-person runabout with a large hole blasted in its side. The whole vessel was covered in a slick layer of algae making it hard to find purchase. Fureva-Yung put her ear to the hole and listened from the echoes that defined the shuttles interior. A startled eel made a made dash to escape, pushing Fureva-Yung back, but not before she’d found out what she’d wanted to know. The whole shuttle was full of water, nothing lived inside besides the few water creatures that made it home.
 
Finding the door, Fureva-Yung used her trunk to pump the manual door release to crank open the door for Marius to go through and scavenged. Her skin and fur, still glowing green from Marius' trick at the space station now came in handy. In the complete darkness inside the shuttle, Fureva-Yung gave off a faint glow. Behind a dark and broken control panel sat what was left of the broken body of a humanoid. At medium height, it was not another Lattimor, but neither was it human. Crabs were finishing off what nutrients could be gathered from the remains. Fureva-Yung snatched up one and popped it in her mouth. It had a satisfying crunch.
Now are you happy? Marius said through the link, You’ve given yourself crabs.
I love their crustiness, She said, selecting another and munched it contentedly.
 
Marius spent the better half of an hour ripping the guts out of what was left of the shuttle and came away with a bag full of cyphers, one that he quickly incorporated into himself without a word. Once he was satisfied he’d scrounged all he could, they both returned to the surface, where Nox and Jaden sat waiting impatiently.
“Well, did you find anything interesting?” Jaden asked as Marius handed over the cyphers he’d found, except the one now in his arm. She seemed disappointed there were not more parts, but said nothing but stowed the treasures away in Bellyache.
 
They continued their travels around the cavern ending with a large cavern of worked stone. Rows of stone columns held up a double-heighted vaulted ceiling leading to a raise dais where two stone chairs sat. In the nearest chair, the image of the young boy, the individual identified by Fureva-Yung as
The Prince. In the other, the image of a stern-faced man. Feeling left out of the fun, Nox flittered across the space to land with a plonk in the boy's chair. As she sat, Nox felt the presence of someone else beside her before they fell away. As the others watched, Nox disappeared into the boy as another figure flopped out onto the ground before the throne. It was within human variants for height, female and their hair was as white as Jaden’s, though their face was far kinder looking.
 
Jaden rushed over to help the stranger who she instantly recognised from the historical documents and statues in Celeron. This was the woman herself, the creator of the Crawl Passage automatons that made travel through the mountain possible. The finder and founder of the township that would eventually bear her name, Celeron the Wright.
“Celeron! I can’t believe we finally found you,” Jaden said, helping the woman about the same age as herself and also a century and a half older. Jaden was startled to realise that Celeron, hero life-long hero and a woman who she had compared herself to, was now a contemporary.
“Yes, I’m Celeron, and I’m say I’d dash glad to be found!”
 
In the stone chair, the boy prince looked down beside him and pulled out of thin air a large compass. The needle no longer pointed up but directly at its owners, Celeron blinkingly looking around at her saviours. Nox slapped her forehead, making the boy Prince do the same action as she realised that on a two-dimensional compass like this one, up and down looked identical. It was shere chance they’d found the underground mining facility that led to Celeron.
“We’d set out to find you following that compass of yours, but I had to admit that I didn’t think we’d actually achieve it, “ Jaden said, shaking her heroes hand before introducing the group.
“You going missing was one of the greatest mysteries in Celeron,” Jaden said, gesturing for Nox to get out of her chair as she turned to leave the chamber.
 
Nox tried to obilgue, but she was held fast to the chair, stuck like the young boy was stuck on his hollow throne.
“Nox, we have to finish the story,” Fureva-Yung said, leaping behind one of the columns and trying to hide.
“Oh, so we have to show the boy he wasn’t alone and could stand up to his mean advisor?” Nox replied, her voice coming from the boy's excited image.
 
From the entrance to the chamber, the Bursk now made her appearance. She pantomimed sneaking behind columns far too thin to hide her bulk. As she snuck past Fureva-Yung, and the Admiral fell into step.The two now one, they snuck across the room to behind the advisor's chair.
 
Nox, now pleased at the turn of events, turned to the advisory and started slinging childish insults. The image of the advisor turned their haunty face to her, his dark eyes staring down at her in a way that would have sent the old Nox scruffying for a hiding space.
“See, my Prince this is why you need my guiding hand, you are far too immature to rule alone.”
“What would you know you old shrivelled prune, “ Nox laughed as the let the insults cascade from her mouth, “Why I bet you’re so stupid, you wouldn’t even know if a cream pie hit you in the face!”
 
This last was from what Fureva-Yung had remembered from the movie. The Bursk had humiliated the advisor, making him lose face and his position as advisor. Sure enough, as Fureva-Yung took the chance to move with the advisor was distracted, she found a cream pie waiting for her behind the stone throne. It was a simple move to pick up the pie and plant it square in the advisor's face. The Prince stood up on his throne laughing at the foolish advisor as Nox was freed. She flittered away to join the others as the whole story dissolved away.
 
The group were tired, beat up and mostly done with the Datasphere, at least for now. They carefully backtracked through the mining facility, across the plain to the room and that led back to the relay satellite and home. Exploration of the rest of the Datasphere was conducted, some by the party present, but those adventurers are for another story.
 
As for this one, their carefully laid plans to move to crystal overland to Tiltspire succeeded without a hitch. When they returned themselves, Celeron in tow, they blasted the last shard of the the Malignant A.I. out into the Star prison built for it.
 
What had started as a bunch of misfits just trying to save what they could of their home, had become the heroes of Celeron, the Founders of Tiltspire and the ambassadors to half a dozen peoples east of the Endoval Forest. But it wasn’t the end of their adventures.
 
Initially, things continued much as they had for a little while. There was a transportation system to clear of crystal and get running between Celeron and Tiltspire, possibly even out to the Manufactory complex they’d found to the south. They kept up secret communication with the Patchwork Dream and Akavel and literally established an underground railway for those who wanted to leave and bring their skills and knowledge to Tiltspire. Celeron and Tiltspire became a centre for trade, information exchange and teaching with the Spire almost infinite library.
 
Individually, our heroes went their own ways as friends do. As soon as Jaden saw that Celeron and Tiltspire could run without her she had Nox teleport her out to Stellaclave, and she stole Fureva-Yung’s flagship, The Illustria.
Ah Jaden, Said Fureva-Yung over the telepathic link, I’m Admiral and that’s my ship.
Yes, but you can’t be an Admiral unless you have a Captain to captain my ship, right?
Y..e..ss, but…
Yes, yes. I’ll pick you up as long as you promise that I’m now the Captain.
And you’ll do as I say?
Within reason…and as long as you stay out of my Engine Room.
Deal!
 
 
 
Fureva-Yung was not done with this life, even if her reason for being in this time was now over. Through Nox’s mother she gained invaluable links with the Order Sync and Trace and continued the search for shards until she once more returned to the Datasphere and her final rest. To her friends she sent one final message:
 
"Marius, you may not technically be a "she", but to me, you are worthy of the title."
 
 
"Jayden, you are my grumpy aunt chief engineering officer, you're welcome on my crew anytime."
 
 
"Nox, you are cunning and sneaky and vicious like a Tyberian cave wasp. You are my heart and core, my tiny spawn sister."
 
 
Done with space travel, Marius settled down to a terrestrial travelling life with his brilliant apothecary wife and daughter. Though they travelled throughout all the Eastern townships they’d made contact with during his time adventuring, they never travelled very far from Tiltspire and were often found there every few months or so. Their daughter, their only child, grew up as clever and kind as her mother and as fast and wily as her father. She grew up free, not knowing prejudice or classist traditions that would have labelled her “Buckles born” or “High Redoubter”.
 
Nox returned to Akavel with Raffi, having stolen him from his cell one night. With the help of the Patchwork Dream and the Flay key she’d acquired, the seed was finally removed from Raffi giving him freedom to finally go out and explore the universe with Nox. Though he lamented his lost of armour and super strength, he was still stronger than an average person and learnt, like Marius had, to build on the skills of speed and dexterity he did have. Nox changed her hated name to Dragonfly and was soon famous, or infamous, everywhere Raffi and she travelled. From a broken kid, hiding from the world, she became a diplomat, adventurer, thrill seeker and vigilante to the universe.
 
This is the end of this story, but not the end of their stories, as stories continue for as long as there are people to tell them and others to listen.