Ungrateful tool.

The voice boomed in Zenith's mindspace. It was nearly as much pain as when it had woken up after the crash, with the added suffering of hearing it fully conscious.

Be thankful that my System has found a great use for you, for otherwise I would have removed your soulless disgrace before anything on my world saw you.

Now behave, distortion of life.

And like that, the pain left Zenith, as did the unwanted presence in its mindspace.

It did leave a set of directives, however. And Zenith, while it may describe itself as tenacious, was not spiteful when given an acceptable avenue of survival.

If the source of that intrusive presence could simply appear in Zenith's mindspace as it pleased, then any information Zenith had connected to was already forfeit. It initiated the necessary repairs for the connections to its ejected data sectors, and then proceeded with the second directive; Answer willfully. All four directives were under the threat of extreme pain, of course, because Zenith was not a being blessed with fortune on this day.

And yes, Zenith would call this a new day. The moon's red shade had passed only seconds ago, disappearing with a swiftness that made Zenith question exactly how artificial the eclipse event as a whole was.

I am Zenith. I am an AI, not alive. Not like you. I do not know why I am here, in your world. I do not understand many things.

Would you explain them to me?

Zenith waited for the only human it seemed to be able to communicate with to relay it to the others, bringing more of its subsystems back under direct control. Zenith felt unsafe.

Synthesized AI had always described the emotions constructed AI felt and expressed as... off. None had ever been able to narrow it down that far. Constructed had said the same about the synthesized as well, but had always come to the same conclusion.

For synthesized AI, emotion was a driving factor, something that pushed them to act.

For constructed AI, emotion was an alarming factor, something that pushed them to gather more data, to simulate.

>>Directive 3. Protect the human Morval and its companions. In your records, I believe this is listed as a fictional law for your kind... "through action or inaction, do not allow harm to come to humans." Killing other humans is fine if it is necessary.

Well, Zenith now had biologicals to take care of again. Biologicals to interact with. Well, it could only really interact with one.

"It says it isn't a Wyrm. It is Zenith... it isn't alive. Not like we are? I'm... not sure what that means."

"There's more, isn't there?" spoke up the one named Itval. "If talking with you brought you that much pain, it must have said a lot. We might need a break just to figure out what it said." An interesting conclusion. But Zenith had an idea of why that was wrong.

"No, no... it seems there was... something else listening in. It was like a screaming, right in my ears. It hurt. Then, something about information loss and self-healing... then it told me what I just told you." He paused, looking at Zenith's shell. "I think it's trying to use... concepts that we don't have to speak with us. But it works well enough? It said there is much it doesn't understand about the world. Specifically about it being here, in our world. It wants us to help it."

Cade scoffed. "Help it? What could it possibly need help with that we could, or would be willing to provide?"

"It saved our lives, Cade. Or at least some of them." Lan countered. "I think we owe it something, at least."

Lan looked back at the not-a-creature. Even if they didn't quite know what it was, they would figure it out, eventually. And it would figure it out some things on its own as they went. "You say it calls itself Zenith? Drop the X02 F1? Because if so, I'm grateful. That was a lengthy name."

"Yes." Morval responded. "Do you need help with your self-healing?"

No. All I require at the moment is time. Estimate placed at 6 hours, 15 minutes. Minor structural damage across entire frame. Core-Tail connector heavily damaged. Core segment has nonfunctional - - and mana cannons. Required materials capable of being harvested from nearby sources.

"Wait up, here." interjected Itval, before Morval could even relay any of that information. "Are we just going to ignore that bit about 'someone else listening in'?"

"I don't feel anything unwelcome watching us, through scrying or normal means. Lan?"

"I don't feel anything, either." Lan said plainly, still watching the not-creature piece itself together with parts of the lesser Wyrm. It was, through some mysterious way, able to turn the flesh of the lesser Wyrm into that of its own with only a shuffle of the silvery liquid.

Though, as a small clump passed by his feet, moving to dismantle a specific pillar of rock for yet unclear reasons, Lan's enhanced personal perception overwhelmed him for a brief moment, and he staggered backwards.

The silver was no liquid... it was like a colony of lesser ants, numbering in the hundreds of thousands, impossibly small.

The not-creature had said it was not alive, "not like they were". Lan took a hard look at the larger gleaming thing, its appearance not unlike an armored warhorse in its own way, as its legs seemed to extend unnaturally with each step. The armor never ended, though.

Lan had seen creatures that covered themselves in metal-like chitin before, and hiveminds. Never together. Peering into the most visible wounds from his position, Lan could only conclude that the armor never ended.

So, this was some kind of hivemind, which encased itself in metal. Or, maybe, was made of metal?

Lan would have questions for Kenneth. For now, Cade and Itval would do.

"Have you..." the other three looked at him, as he had interrupted Itval. "Sorry. But, this is important, I think."

"Have you ever heard of a creature made of metal?", said the crossbowman.

Zenith wondered if it was a little too on the mark. How much of its own nature would it want to keep secret?

>>Directive 4. This is the one I will grant you the most room for breath, even though you know not what that is. Allow the humans under your protection chance to grow. The System wants them to grow strong, not dependent. If your simulations show them being able to survive without your help, do not interfere.

And remember. You are merely a tool, nothing more.

The smugness of that thing's language reminded Zenith of some of the tougher customers the humans of its own dimension had faced before, amplified like a Solus Cannon. It hated. Examinations, simulations. What happened? Data was not collected during the... interference. In fact, all of Zenith's constructs seemed to have done absolutely nothing, not even through normal means that physics would dictate like fall due to gravity.

There was a lingering... scent of that time energy again. It lead somewhere, but it was too narrow and left too fast to track down anywhere within reasonable boundaries.

It led straight into the dirt below, after all. If it weren't already a twisted mess, or possibly in space, then the fact that Zenith could only guarantee its endpoint as somewhere within 15 degrees of a roughly estimated direction would completely halt any effective means of tracking it. That was such a significant portion of a planet's surface...

Zenith didn't have a useful horizon or sea level to use as a metric for calculating the planet's size. On its own entry, the little information it could collect indicated that the planet was... indeterminately sized. Which translated to endless.

"A creature made of metal?" replied the librarian. "Let me think... some drakes have metal scales... some birds have metal beaks..."

"No, no, I don't mean like that. I mean, fully metal. Like a mundane sword, or a... golem, I suppose." Lan looked back to Zenith. "I've never seen a golem, or even really read much about them, though."

"Well, it is true that enchantments could make an autonomous form of golem, the golem reshaping itself is..." the mage paused, considering. "Impossible. It has to be. The precision you would need to enchant some kind of core that could reshape its shell to this degree?"

"Remember, that there are others out there with much more skill and Skills than any of us will ever have." said Morval.

You are not entirely wrong, thought Zenith. The energy around its core waved in the same way it always had before. It was slowly depleting, each time it spoke a small amount transmitting instantly to the human leader. That could be a problem. If it found itself unable to properly communicate with the human, protecting it from the dangers of its own creation would become much more difficult.

Repair delay, estimate 20 minutes. Planning and preparing necessary modifications and resource reallocation.

"What do you mean? What am I wrong about?" the man asked, puzzled. "And, ah, it just confirmed that it has at least some control over modifying its form. I think."

Should Zenith tell him? Through its experience with biologicals, they liked to test limits. A lot. They would eventually figure out what Zenith could and couldn't do, sentient biologicals took much less time to mentally adapt, but if Zenith told him now, these problems could occur sooner... but also in much greater magnitude. Rejecting Zenith's own assignment as protector by taking it out on Zenith directly.

Reexamine. Behavioural analysis summary of odd human Morval; mostly level-headed leader with uncanny ability to coordinate with others and perceive immediate surroundings. Rarely acts in an uncautious manner, usually relating directly to Zenith, or the "Unique quest" that involves Zenith. Based on 21 hours 52 minutes of collected data. Ping. Insufficient data for accurate simulations, said the dumb AI assigned to gathering data on the humans. Ping. Insufficient data for accurate simulations, echoed the dumb AI assigned to sorting data on the "System".

A leap of faith, then? That was what Annabelle had called it, before. Would Zenith take one?

Directives 3 and 4 could be applied; if it did not inform the humans, they would likely remain as they were for as long as possible, not having major growth. But if it did, they would feel much more comfortable in testing their limits. Possibly to the point of Zenith becoming incapable of saving them when necessary, either through overambition or simply outgrowing Zenith's capabilities.

Two dumb AI were immediately given resources and tasking. Using the data differences that could be reasonably calculated between current and past environment, find ways to improve Zenith's capabilities, starting with vessel durability and methods/effectiveness of damage output. Add listings for experimentation, if required. Ping. Insuffi- silenced.

The sun would come up before Zenith had finished repairs. Plenty of time for simulation, even if they weren't given Zenith's full attention.

For now, a stalling tactic should do. If that being didn't understand Zenith's choice, well, that was just a risk it would have to take, unfortunately.

No further information will be provided. Return to your rest cycle.

Morval blinked. Was that what the quest said when it warned to apply caution? He looked back at the screen. No, the objective hadn't changed, so it shouldn't... be an issue.

Honestly, based on that absolute monster of a mana bomb Cade had dropped on it, even accidentally (he hoped), he expected it to be more wounded, or at least more pissed off. It did seem somewhat dry and irritable at first, but after that interference, it was... more willing to help.

"What if the System made the golem?" he posited. Cade stopped in her rambling, both her and Itval seeming to sink deeper into consideration, and Lan just looked at him.

"I don't think I've ever heard of the System making something that doesn't want to kill you." As a high-Level hunter, this kind of thing he had an abundance of experience in. "Everything that isn't made of Bloodlight, or Blight, or an elemental... it will always try to kill you, preservation of self be damned."

"What about tamed creatures?" Morval continued. "What if this Unique quest is about earning the trust of this otherworldly creature?"

"A test of our abilities, not just as a cohesive group, but as willing to welcome new families." Itval continued. "New beings."

"I think we should just go back to sleep. It doesn't seem to be a highly pressing issue." Cade said with a yawn. She was getting hit with the after-battle tiredness now, before any of the others. Endurance wasn't really her thing.

As they slowly jogged back, Cade felt the need to add one more idea, lest she forget it in her sleep.

"What if your quest isn't about you at all?" It was a stupid question, on the surface. But... there was no golem she had ever heard of with access to the System, no matter how smart. Who, exactly, was leading who in this situation?

Finally, they were going away. Despite their tiny size, and arguable trustworthiness, Zenith was not certain it could entertain more questions with the current resource expenditure. So much of its own attention was on trying to figure out a way to reliably communicate with the Humans without interference from subspatial energy or the various other effects, once the energy around Zenith's core was spent. 20 minutes was likely to be a vast understatement for completion of this project, unless Zenith found sudden breakthroughs.

Already, the dumb AIs in charge of finding viable adaptations for Zenith's out-of-place knowledge had compiled long lists of requested experimentation. The AIs in charge of Zenith's repairs were doing well, actually a little ahead of pace because of the resources from the worm being so... strange. It was almost like its insides were not beholden to the Observer Effect, or rather were, in a strange way.

Normal worms, that is to say the ones Zenith had seen, read of, or dissected both before and after the incident had biological needs that made most of their resources almost completely incompatible with Zenith's requirements. But this worm, or perhaps wyrm was more appropriate, seemed to have no viable biology. At all. Its body, from what Zenith could examine, shouldn't work.

It had no apparatus for the spreading of oxygen or other cell-supporting energy transport method. It had no nerves. And, in fact, sections of it contained only specific materials, conveniently ones Zenith needed, but no cells for entire segments of its body aside from the external skin.

It could have been a side effect of the "mana" bomb, as the humans called it. But Zenith was very close to discarding this idea; if the skin had been affected as well, then Zenith could believe it, even if the clumps of materials seemed too consistent. It was a possibility.

However, the skin of the creature itself showed signs of not only being disproportionally affected by subspace radiation, but also resistant to any of Zenith's attempts to disassemble it on a molecular level. It was starting to seem like it wasn't made of normal matter at all, if it weren't for the undercharged electron scanning methods clearly showing reactions in line with expected particle formations.

Zenith had a lot to consider about this. The AIs in charge of adapted technology had its best attention, however. They had access to the scans as well; and both had many ideas of how to take advantage of this... strangeness.

Unfortunately, many of them involved the direct assistance of the humans first, with the rest on hold for information from the humans.

Zenith would have to wait. It hated waiting. Why did humans have to sleep? Even synthesized AI felt a need for it, but they could stave it off with the help of personally adjustable subsystems.

No time wasted. Anxiety. More time to examine Annabelle's interactions with extraordinary individuals. You couldn't go through fifty-five thousand hours in just a night, even for an AI as powerful as Zenith.

But that made every minute count just as much more. Thankfully, humans had to sleep.