Sunlight faded from the horizon as dusk brought the end of another long day. For people under another sun, this might be taken as an invitation to bring the day to a close, but most of the people under this sun simply understood this to be the peak of the day.

Lyunhtaeviyqia glanced at a nearby pane, one of the most useful windows to the world outside that showed Yhndae setting in the sky, taking note of the passage of time in one of the most natural ways. Of course, this late in the solar phase, she couldn’t even see Taeqhyx in the sky at all, their other sun, it was several solar cycles too soon for that. Ruixse would also have its two moons out there somewhere too, Izheelq and Hyxeelq, but Lyun was far too busy to waste further time with the sky to spot them. Carefully picking up another ebony crystal from her dwindling stock, she carefully brought it back to her desk to set it into her latest project. It wasn’t as if she was doing anything revolutionary, mechanical actuators for moving heavy equipment were almost considered ancient by modern standards, but such niche instruments still did have their own selective uses. Being so niche simply meant that there were so few places willing to have them produced at all, leaving it to people like her to fill in her own efforts. She herself was an instrumentation engineer, making complicated instruments work was simply her thing. This was no small thing either, not in the current age. Instrumentation was one of the most important fields of progress in the world, the foundation of civilization’s advancement. Knowing this, she took great pride in all of her instrumentation projects, devoting herself to discovering prosperity and success.

Of course, neither prosperity nor success was something that graced the Iezhysevyeihr household, not as things stood at least. Her workshop was still rather small, very independent, and really didn’t mean much in the day’s society. Meanwhile, her scarce stock of Kyuemu shards were a clear indication of how prosperity retained its distance. The stock of shards she had weren’t even the best of quality, the impurity of each slightly discoloring the ebony in any close inspection. Kyuemu shards were the foundation of the entire instrumentation industry, practically everything depended upon them serving as a fuel source for any instrument, a composition of elements in absolute purity. After the elemental era revolutionized everything for society about eight centuries ago, the idea of using kyuemu shards in instrumentation became the new standard. Apparently, in the past, people had to personally keep things going using their own stamina.. but burning shards was not only less demanding of people, it was also far more autonomous. This was great and all except for one slight problem, this then required having a decent stock of Kyuemu shards.

This in turn brought Lyun back to her current project, something she was honestly hoping to sell for enough Qeld to buy many more shards with. That was not to say she had secured a sale yet, even if she had a few good ideas to try in that regard. If none of her ideas worked, that certainly wouldn’t be a first either, the mess of crates on the other side of the workshop filled with some of her unsold projects was a clear sign that sometimes this was only inevitable. Depression and despair were things she would set aside for now, her slumber devoted enough time in her dreams with such worries as is. It wasn’t as if she had any other solution to such grief either, so there wasn’t any point in dwelling on the subject, instead she felt it to be far more productive to keep trying, to keep reaching for success. Driven to such ends, she cautiously and carefully suspended the Kyuemu shard into the actuator unit, securing it in its cage within. There, once activated, it would react to the elemental capacitor in a heat reaction, the classical approach to bringing energy to any modern instrument. In the modern world, Ruixse was empowered by the intensity of the flame it could harness, and from there things could happen.

“Hells, do you ever know how to take a break?” “Ah! Oh, Yhzia.. it’s just you.” “Just you.. nice to see you too, by the way. It’s been a while, if you haven’t noticed. You probably haven’t. Are you at least getting enough rest?” “I made sure to get some proper sleep both in the full light and full dark of the past day, I would have you know. I’m not stupid, you know. Anyway, I’m still busy, if you’re done ranting, I would like to get back to work, please.” The intensity of flames were visibly apparent in the passion Yhzia held every time she walked into Lyun’s workshop, Lyun was actually surprised to have not heard the door slam. Oh right, that was because she had finished repairing the door’s alternator earlier today, so the door was able to open and close itself without Yhzia’s forceful intent. Having been so preoccupied by the current project, Lyun had totally forgotten about that.

“What are you working on right now, anyway?” “Just a mechanical actuator.” “A what?” “An instrument that is like a powerful arm, especially good for carrying heavy stuff.” “Oh, nice. Got a buyer this time?” “I have a few options that...” “So no, fair enough. You going to try to sell this to the Wardens then? I’m pretty sure something like this would be great for outfitting one of their Ersatz with, so they…” “No, no way. I know Ersatz are just artificial people, but they are still made with some very authentic elemental parts. Something this mechanical would just be too hard for their use, almost like replacing your own arm.” Yhzia just wasn’t compensating for the problem, but Lyun knew better. Lyun knew that Ersatz stuff wasn't something in her field at all, even if such beings were powered by their own Kyuemu shard. Dawning from the start of the elemental era, around when the star colony had first left the distant world of Celese to reach this world, Ersatz had been a form of people that had sprung up among all of the elves and humans since. Ersatz weren’t born, they were made, but they were created from raw elemental fragments in a way that was close to how real people existed, they even looked so organic. She didn’t understand them much more than that though, only that Ersatz couldn’t be considered just an instrument, so such wonders just weren’t compatible with such mechanical parts. Lyun then simply put her latest creation into another box, ready for whenever she might find a buyer.

“Okay, fine, but I still think the Wardens are your best bet. They have the most complicated stuff to work with, and I’m pretty sure you could work with a certain guy there and secure a really good deal. Don’t you two have some chemistry going on, or something?” “There is no way I would put such weight on Zxyd, I would hate for it to affect his reputation.” “Meanwhile, your own reputation goes nowhere. Honestly, you just don’t put yourself out there enough, you really need to get out more. I know, I know, you think your work here is too important, you’re, like, mindlessly driven to push yourself like that. Even considering that though, you need to get out more. Think of it this way, stuck in here.. your work won’t get completely done. You can’t find a buyer for anything here. Even on top of that, wouldn’t getting out help you find new inspiration, discover a new project that someone really honestly needs, right that moment? You could actually find a new project and secure a buyer even before you began. Wouldn’t that be much more.. practical?” Yhzia this time had a point that Lyun was finding difficult to refute. Yhzia’s own lifestyle was much more outdoors than her own, a facet of her childhood friend that was often the hardest to work with, but it was that change of perspective that held such integral value. Maybe it really was time to step away from her projects, to make progress in her work in.. other ways. It wasn’t exactly a break, it was more an alternate task of the same goal. Something like that certainly would be fine, right?

Later, Lyun would look back at this moment and wonder how much she could have saved.. if only she had not given into such logic.

“Okay, fine, instead of starting something new, let’s go somewhere or something. Got any ideas?” “Well, our dusk outside is still fresh, we could go anywhere. How about we go exploring, go somewhere new, a place neither of us have visited before. It would be the perfect way to discover new opportunities. Oh, and I know just the place! We could travel to the Obsidian Halls, that relates a lot to everything Kyuemu, right? So much opportunity!” “Oh, I should have guessed, you just wanted to go on another architectural expedition.” “I see no problem with that, exploring the world is good for you. There is always so much to see, both stuff we’ve built and places we’ve yet to touch. It’s a huge world, and we’ve only been a part of it for 473 years.” “I am certainly not walking to the Obsidian Halls.” “Of course not, we’ll just go fly there. The place gets plenty of shuttles, my sister even lives not far away, so I’m pretty familiar with the route. Just get packing, get whatever you need for a day trip, we can even stop by my sister’s place on the way back for some rest.” Lyun could tell at this point that Yhzia had this whole thing planned out a while ago, having even made accommodations for the trip. More than likely, this implied that Yhzia’s sister had implied to her a reason for Yhzia to actually come visit. Lyun got heavily into her work in her workshop frequently, but Yhzia wasn’t that much better. Instead she would go for days without returning to her home, always off exploring somewhere, typically with one of her books. The girl was an absolute fan of stories involving something called the Terran Mythos, all clear and blatant fantasy about some kind of world called Earth that had been passing around Celese for centuries now.

“Which book did your sister want you to bring back this time?” “Hey, I’m not that irresponsible! Besides, there really is nothing better than relaxing to another fable about shock walkers and stormeyes.” “I don’t get your infatuation on the whole thing, it isn’t even practical. Lightning and metal aren’t even the smartest of combinations, how your fabled heroes in oversized lightning-powered metal armor would be capable of dealing with a floating monstrosity that somehow is made out of pure refined lightning and yet is completely physical for some reason.. it’s a serious stretch of the imagination.” “Hey, I would have you know, stormeyes are cool! Roaring like a blast of thunder that can level mountains before unleashing a barrage of stars that obliterates even dust. I bet you’re just complaining because you don’t want to go visit sis again. Don’t worry, I heard her pet died, it won’t be there to jump-scare you anymore.” Lyun was honestly feeling better knowing that the slimy terror wasn’t around anymore, but she wasn’t about to expose such feelings to Yhzia. Lyun just didn’t like the concept that such a form of loss would solve anything, having close companions just die off like that would be painful to anyone.

“Sis won’t even be home, she actually left to go take that cosmology class. However, it seems that her course books got shipped to the house instead of her dorms, so I’m supposed to get them sent off properly. She said she sent some delivery labels to the house too, so it’s really going to be as easy as slapping on the new labels and sending them off again.” “If that’s the case, how did she convince you to stop by?” “Because she sent the labels over with a new story she found at the academy, of course. Said I could even borrow it for a while if I wanted, she wouldn’t even need it back until her first vacation break.” Of course, such an offer would be exceptionally valuable to Yhzia, even if it wasn’t the most compelling terms for Lyun. Unfortunately, Lyun had already agreed to said terms, so there was no point disputing things now. She would just have to find a way to make the most of the opportunity, and maybe have Yhzia owe her back for it later. Technically, Lyun had asked Yhzia for more than a few favours during her last visit, having Yhzia pick up a bunch of supplies she had been running low on. Helping with a delivery problem of her own in the process, that would be only fair then.

Lyun shrugged at the situation and prepared for the short trip, which mostly required making sure everything was securely put away in her absence. However, even travelling to the shuttle would mean leaving the sheltered dome her workshop rested within. Beyond the shelter was an ashen wasteland, a field of endless pale white. There, the elements were suffering the weakness of the current solar phase, and that included sapping anything elemental exposed to such conditions. That was concerning, because people themselves are even elemental. They were safe within the communities of each shelter, but it simply wasn’t healthy to be outside for very long, especially without protective wear. She pondered bringing one of her instruments designed specifically for such a purpose, but then decided against it due to her current Kyuemu stocks. The large heavy coat was annoying, but it did work and it would be enough. Yhzia herself was already wearing her own ashen coat, the entirety of the coat making her look more like a blob than a person. Lyun herself could hardly see what she was doing in such a state, but she still managed to properly secure her workshop before finding whichever path led her forward.

The two of them set off, bundled tightly to endure the harsh weather before them. As they began their trek through the barren white wilds, the black of night took its stark contrast across the sky above.