39 - Chuckles

“Well, shit,” Maya said as silence reigned within the Cage.

“At least… at least all of the flying rogue AIs have left the area… and well, pretty much every rogue AI in a ten kilometer radius,” Yosi said softly.

“Can it force its way through the door?” Bell asked.

“I rightly do not know. I would assume a Tier 3 creature would be stronger than a Tier 2 system tech wall, even if we’re technically in a different dimension than the RSH.”

“We are dead,” cackled Badblood. The woman looked at her gathered people and gave a sharp toothed grin. “Death is our constant companion, let no one say otherwise. The Tarvana way is the path of death.”

“Jesus, shut up would ya? I’m trying to think here.” Maya looked at the viewscreen and saw the dragon, for it really was a dragon, look right at her.

-I wish to parley, little SIL- a voice boomed throughout the Cage.

“Did ya’ll hear that?”

-Come out and face me, show me your bravery.-

“Yeah, pal. Not gonna happen.”

“I don’t think it can hear you,” Bell said. “It’s projecting its thoughts… into us.”

“The dimensional lock still holding us?” Maya asked.

“Yes.”

She sighed and checked her rifle.

“What are you doing?” Bell asked.

“Gonna see what shiny wants. See if he really wants to parley or just kill us. We’re not going to hold out against this beastie and we can’t open up the door to any additional place in the RSH, maybe into the multiverse at large, but not here. So we talk, see what he wants, if it’s our doom, then we battle it out.” Maya squared her shoulders and marched to the door. A moment later Bell followed, but everyone else was frozen in place at the sight of the creature.

“I’ve dealt with Tier 3 before,” Bell said. “Our House matriarch is Tier 3.”

“I need you to get Rolling Thunder ready,” Maya said. “If the big guy out there turns out to be hostile, maybe a last ditch desperate gambit will save the day.”

“Unlikely,” Bell said but then nodded. “I’ll get it ready.”

“Thanks, pal.” Maya took a breath and let it out slowly. “Here goes everything.”

***

A wind was blowing and that caused Maya to stop. All the months she had been in the rainbow sky hellscape, the wind never blew. It was a constant still air, never moving, never gusting. She shivered in her armor and looked toward the glowing lake of mana.

-You are brave, little SIL.- the voice boomed, not out loud, but in Maya’s head.

“Yeah, yeah, butter me up,” Maya replied, her voice tight and high. She stepped away from the door and slowly moved to the head of the great beast. It towered over her, a massive visage of polished metal that reflected her own image back at her. A small figure clad in scorched and beaten black armor, limply carrying a rifle. Maya cleared her throat. “What’s up?”

A chuckle formed from the dragon as he looked down upon her.

-You have roused my curiosity, your small battle at the shores of this mana pond. It is not often that you see SIL using dimensional portals.-

“Thanks, I guess.”

The great head leered down at her and the wind picked up, kicking up loose dirt around them.

-I sense the System has touched you.- the dragon turned his head and peered at her. -I sense that you are the cause of the changes happening in this plane. That the absence of mana, the concentration of it here, all is to be laid at your feet.-

“Yeah, I’m the System’s Trojan Horse for this plane. He can’t get his grubby mitts in here until someone volunteers to become his Point of Contact.” Maya paused and frowned. When had she decided to spill the beans.

-What is the System’s goal, little SIL?-

“Maintenance. We are standing on his bloated body, this entire plane, and occasionally the System needs to do a little manscaping.” Maya stopped again. “How are you doing this? Making me talk without holding anything back?”

-It is a Skill, child. It would not do to try and lie to me.-

“Trust is a two way street,” Maya said.

-If I wished you harm, you would be harmed. Your dimensional box would be destroyed and nothing you could do would stop me.-

“Another overpowered asshole proclaiming how strong they are. Great,” Maya said and stopped herself.

The dragon chuckled. -Very much so, child. This plane is about power and strength. You have grown very powerful indeed, it is not often your kind survives and thrives in this place.-

“Thanks, I’ve got friends.”

-Those with great power always stand alone, child. Such is the burden of greatness.-

“I don’t mean to be a dick, but is there a reason you wanted to talk to me? Interrogation? Just a friendly chat? Because we were in the middle of something.”

-I require the usage of your dimensional box.-

“Uh… I can’t let you do that.”

-I was not asking, child.-

Maya sighed. “Jesus, what’s with this dimensional plane and all the assholes that live here?”

-I shall rephrase. I would like to use your dimensional box to leave this plane. I have lived through one of these ‘maintenance’ eras and I found it dreary. The mana is inconsistent and the others of my kind only seek war and destruction during that time. I shall spend this maintenance in the multiverse at large, until it is done.-

“I can control the size of the Cage, but you’re a bit on the chonky side, buddy. Maybe a hundred meters too long.”

-I am Allosavaro, I have existed for hundreds of millions of years. Do you think I do not know the extent of your control of this dimensional box? I shall fix it for you.-

“Then why not make your own box?”

-Because there is one right here currently and I require its usage.-

With that the dragon lifted his head and the massive body marched to the lake. Maya stared as the creature splashed into the liquid and then take massive gulps of the liquid. Her mouth dropped open when she saw the mana lake level visibly drop.

“Holy shit,” Maya muttered as the liquid mana began to recede; the mana netting balls and the ends of the hoses were exposed and the level kept dropping.

Maya could feel the ambient mana shifting around her, the wind picked up and she noticed the mana bloom that had lit up the area was fading. The dragon stood in the center of the lake, his wings outstretched as it seemed the liquid mana was pouring into him. Where it was all going, Maya didn’t know, but she knew that there was no way she was gonna say no to the dragon.

Maya walked to where the black goo balls were lying on the gray dirt. She crouched down and looked at the ground that had once been covered in liquid mana. It didn’t appear muddy or anything, but as she brushed away a layer of dirt she saw light coming from beneath it.

She brushed away more and saw that the ground was covered in mana stones, underneath a thin layer of dirt was an entire sheet of mana stone that had been formed from being in contact with the liquid mana.

Maya wasn’t one to waste an opportunity. She inventoried the black goo nets and then worked quickly to load as much mana stones into her inventory as she could.

“What are you doing?” Yosi asked.

“Taking advantage while the taking is still good.”

“Need help?” Bell asked.

“I-“

Their conversation was cut as the dragon returned. He watched her as she inventoried the mana stones and chuckled. Maya felt self conscious and stood back up, facing the creature. After draining an entire mana lake, the dragon didn’t seem different or changed.

“Thirsty?” Maya asked.

The dragon chuckled again. -There are ponds like these all over the plane,- he said, his wings settling down across his back.

“How long will this maintenance take?” Maya asked. “Will the mana be absent through out it?”

-No, child. The maintenance lasts only several standard days. When the System deems it, they purge the mana and fixes this place. Then the mana is restored and all is returned to as it was. Until it happens again and again and again, until it is finally done.-

“I’m sensing that it’s not going to be a happy time,” Maya said.

The dragon chuckled again. -It will be an interesting time,- he said. -It is a time when the rogue AIs are culled, when the weak are destroyed, and the strong triumph. A time of war and great battles.-

“And you’re just gonna skip out on it?” Maya asked.

-It is dreary fighting weak creatures.-

“So how are we gonna do this then? I can’t make the Cage any bigger.”

-Do not worry, child.-

Allosavaro opened his mouth and Maya backed up as it seemed like the dragon was about to start puking. The great creature convulsed and shook; then from his mouth began pouring out light and shapes. Maya blinked at the eruption, then she watched as it began to cling to the exposed wall that was the Cage.

As she watched the wall began to expand and stretch; Maya could feel the Cage changing and her dimensional awareness told her that space was being warped around them.

“What are you doing?” Maya asked.

-A gift or payment, child. Tier 2 system tech is simple in its design, but real power is in shaping the universe around you,- the dragon stated.

“You’re talking about shaping essence mana, right? You’re not Tier 3 at all.”

-Indeed.- was all Allosavaro said as the door before them changed and expanded. Maya frowned and watched, she could almost feel and see what he was doing, but the knowledge slipped away before she could fully understand it. -Eventually you will gain the power to harness essence mana. I can see the channels have been etched into you, though the turn of events that have lead to that appear to be a story in itself.-

“Yeah, surviving the dimensional instability and at the same time being pumped full of essence mana when my universe was being Integrated.” Maya frowned again as she said the words without meaning to. The dragon was pulling information out of her and she didn’t know how to resist it.

-Yes, that has happened to many a species. The System’s methods are heavy handed and to many appear brutal, but such is the way of the strong.-

“No, that’s bullshit. The System is a mass murdering dickhole. The ends don’t justify the means, not when it throws an entire universe into chaos, where untold billions die. I don’t care if it’s to protect reality from the essence mana that threatens to destroy it.”

The dragon chuckled again. -You have much to learn, child.- The wal had changed now, towering over the two, large enough to let the dragon step into the space. Maya could feel the vast chasm that had been created, the Cage’s interior expanded far more than she ever could. She felt the Cage’s connection and there was no pressure or sense that she was pushing it too far, instead it was as if the Cage’s system tech components had been added to.

“You created more Tier 2 system tech components?” Maya asked, amazed.

-Yes, a simple process.-

“Why are you helping us?” Maya demanded. “You’re powerful enough to create all of this yourself and yet you’ve dropped on by to give us a hand?”

-The fact that the System has chosen to work through you to maintain this plane is far more than enough reason to lend you a hand.- the dragon stated. -If you die, then it will be some thousands of years before another can take your place and then the process must start all over again.- Maya heard a sigh fill her mind, the dragon’s boredom with the events the maintenance caused. -Although, unbidden, I shall offer you a bit of assistance, for you are in mortal danger, little SIL.-

“How’s that?” Maya asked, a sense of dread began to creep into her. She realized she was standing in near complete darkness as the mana bloom was dying off and the glowing lake had all but disappeared. There was minor light coming off of the mana stones that had been the lakebed, but that didn’t illuminate everything.

-Look, above and behind you.-

Maya turned and looked, seeing the empty lakebed and nothing else.

The dragon roared, causing Maya to nearly jump out of her armor. She could see a pulse of light screech from his mouth and expand in the sky, kilometers out she could still see the blue light crossing the vast black of the sky.

Then it struck something, the light rebounded, refracted, and then crackled across something vast and stationary in the sky. Maya stared as the blue light revealed a vast machine hovering in the sky. She felt menace and rage coming off the machine, but caution as it saw the dragon.

“What is that?” Maya stammered.

“A hiveship,” Yosi’s hoarse whisper returned.

-Indeed. I believe you have met its minions, small drones that are sent out to fight for it and secure resources. There was a veritable field of headless corpses not too far from here.-

Maya gulped. “That’s the swarm that was attacking us? What is it doing just hovering there?” she asked.

-The same as you were doing, child. Pulling in as much liquid mana as it can, to hold onto it as this maintenance continues. To be able to fight and secure more resources as the competition becomes more fiercer and deadlier.-

Maya realized the wind that she had been feeling wasn’t natural at all. Instead it was being caused by the great engines that were keeping the vast machine aloft, scores of great turbines spun and churned; Maya could only imagine the amount of power they were using.

“The mana’s gone now, why is it still here?” she asked, but she knew the answer.

-You are its target now. Once I cross over and you return to your ship, then it will strike and take what is yours. It will try to capture your Cage and your liquid mana. Out of revenge or perhaps simple greed, it cannot let you continue to live.-

“We’re fucked.”

The dragon chuckled.

***

“Catch you later, Chuckles,” Maya muttered as she watched as Allosavaro vanished through the door and entered the multiverse.

He had given her a location to drop him off, a strange star system of dust and monsters, terrible creatures that moved through the soupy mess of shattered planets and ground comets. The momentary flashes of the great creatures were nightmares made flesh and Maya was all too happy to cut the connection.

The Tarvana had been quiet and out of sight as the dragon entered the Cage. A few had passed out from the sheer terror of the beast, but all had hid, even Badblood. Yosi and Bell had stood their ground, acknowledging the great and powerful creature.

Maya stopped time within the Cage, or relative to the RSH. The same trick she had used when fighting Shen all those weeks ago. She created a chair, smiling for the first time as the sheer amount of Tier 2 components now available to her. Allosavaro had casually quadrupled the amount of components she had and Maya was already planning on what to do with the extras.

“We’ve got a problem,” Maya said.

“We know,” Badblood spoke. “We shall take our portion of tesseracts and be dropped off back at our warren.”

“I agree. This ain’t your fight.” Maya said, feeling annoyed with Badblood. “But it didn’t seem you listen to our deal. The deal was for a fifth of the liquid mana, nothing was said about the tesseracts.”

Badblood hissed, her claws extending. Maya had begun to notice the woman had gotten larger since awakening. Nan’s words about the Tarvana being able to change their appearance along with their healing ability made her pause.

“You try to cheat us! Many of my people have died for this mana.”

“You killed them. You didn’t follow orders,” Maya said. “You can take your one fifth share and I’ll even toss in the cans to hold them, but once you’re out of this Cage and back into null mana, those cans are going to pop.”

Badblood hissed once more. “What do you want?”

“You earned that mana, I am not taking it away from you. But you also have to realize to make the tesseracts you will have to use some of that mana, to make the crystal and then to charge the crystals.”

“Yes.”

“Then there is the black goo that was not apart of our agreement at all. I shall sell you enough black goo in return for some service.”

“What service?” Badblood glared at her.

“I am going to have to fight a giant hovering spaceship/swarm colony and I need to make a few things before I do that.”