He felt his thoughts expand as he went to take a break after the hours of work he’d just gone through, straining his minds and skills in ways he didn’t think possible. It didn’t leave him with an extra mind, but helped to ease the burden of trying to repair the being he’d come to know as the talos Inux.

Having done the best he could for the time being, he went out to the living room where everyone was waiting. When he’d realised that what he found was more than a little unusual they’d returned to Thera’s family with him in tow, hoping to get Lux’s help in healing him to figure out just what to do. That was when they discovered the problem, learning more as they spoke in his few minutes of consciousness. While whether he was alive or not was a debate Ben didn’t care about, it was clear that healing spells didn’t work. The reason being that his body had been entirely artificially constructed by a god and designed to be a weapon, something to fight and defend the people of his homeworld before it was lost like so many others.

“Were you up all night?” Thera asked in concern, leaving him to give her an awkward smile.

“Even now I shouldn’t be leaving his side. The enchantments that seem to keep him alive… well it's bad. If what he said was true then the god that made him is dead, and even if it wasn’t they probably wouldn’t be able to do anything so he’s been falling into a state of decay for centuries. I don’t suppose you’ve had any luck finding Falk?”

Ben knew he wasn’t good enough to deal with this. The enchantments were like nothing he’d ever seen before, while they had the familiar weaving structure that Anailia seemed to use as well, that didn’t mean he knew what they were supposed to do. Worse was the fact that the complexity was so extreme that even his upkeep was barely doing anything, the only reason he’d been able to do the little he could was thanks to the buffs to his mana and regeneration that Lux had applied to him.

It seemed that Inux had come there specifically because of the same rumours Mercy had believed, that there was a master enchanter around who might be able to help him, but unlike the vampire, he had a completely different problem, one that couldn’t be solved with the right knowledge and clever application of skills. It needed a level of expertise and technique that he simply didn’t possess, leaving him only one person he could think to turn to.

Unfortunately for everyone, Pelenia shook her head. “I’ve sent people to try to locate him anywhere I think likely, as well as sent some to monitor the gate and head to Stonewall in case he’d gotten back early, but it may be a while and he never did like to share much about his clients. We may not find him any time soon.”

He grit his teeth. From the hours he’d spent watching him, he knew that the talos didn’t have much time. His body was breaking down, there was nothing he could do to stop it, only slow it down. Even trying to get Falk was grasping at straws he knew, from what he could tell the enchantments that made up his body pulled from all affinities as well as non-affinity magic, no matter how much Falk was keeping from him about his status, he wouldn’t be able to use everything.

Still, maybe if we work together we could manage. I just need to keep the guy alive until then and we can at least try something.

“Alright, then I need to get back to it in the meantime. Sorry Thera but I don’t think I can move him again so I’ll have to stay here a while.”

“Don’t worry about it, there’s no real rush to get back to Stonewall anyway so I can just practice more with dad.”

“Cool, and Lux, I’m sorry I know you have a baby to deal with and all but do you think you could buff me occasionally?”

“The ones I apply should last for an entire day, I’ll make sure to stop by when I can to help.” The light affinity buffs of a great spirit were nothing to scoff at, providing a massive boost to both his mana pool and regeneration rate while they were applied. While he would normally never use something like that no matter how useful it might seem on account of the fact that it would inhibit his own growth rates in those areas while applied, he couldn’t be picky about it now.

“Thank you,” He told the spirit, giving them all a nod before running back to work on the ancient automaton.

Standing over its unconscious form, he wanted to think of it as asleep but knew that wasn’t quite right. Asleep implied it was resting, but it was more like it had been powered off. At least he was pretty sure it wasn’t dreaming, but he didn’t have a firm enough understanding of just what the enchantments in it were supposed to do to be confident of that.

Who am I kidding, I can’t be confident about any of this. At best I can keep fixing things before they break, but I can’t put back together what’s already broken, at least not the way it originally was. Maybe I can make some other enchantments to fill the gaps without affecting what’s already there, but at the same time there’s no way anything I make wouldn’t just be pulled apart by the decay of the rest of it so what’s even the point?

That doesn’t mean I shouldn’t try though, I can’t just let someone die in front of me.

I felt a mind and skills when I connected with him Myriad, besides, he came here to ask for help, that’s alive enough for my books.

The god said with a sigh.

Funny, with everything I’ve heard about the invaders I’d say the same thing of this world, but that hasn’t stopped you guys from trying. I want to do what I can, if nothing comes of it then oh well, but for now just give me some help. We know he has a soul and we can assume it functions the same as any living beings but it’s bound to an artificial body. You’re basically the same thing at a much larger scale, do you have any ideas that might help?

Fantastic. He thought dryly. In that case, at least bounce some ideas around with me. I can only glean a bit from his internal structure from the enchantments, but it looks like everything flows back and forth from a central core at his heart. What do you think? Maybe a power source? I could see using a large rainbow mana crystal to keep everything running, but something about that idea just doesn’t seem right.

He did his best to hold back a sigh. He thought he’d be well on his way home by now, not holding someone's life in his hands in a situation where he was all but certain to not be able to help. Still, being discouraged would do nothing for him, instead he focused on multitasking, discussing things with Myriad while at the same time trying to maintain the failing enchantments while he unraveled just what each was for in the hope he could make the repairs he needed.

He didn’t know how many hours of work passed, but he only stopped as Inux opened his eyes.

“So I’m still alive it seems,” The talos said with a chuckle. “I’m grateful that there’s someone to be by my side till the end. I didn’t want it to be the meliae, it would hurt them too much, but to perish alone is a sad thought.”

“Don’t be such a downer,” Ben told him, trying to sound positive. “Even if I’m not a master enchanter, when we find my teacher we might be able to do something, just be patient.”

“Child, even coming here was a slim hope at the behest of the race I serve, I’ve seen enough specialists and enchanters over the years to know there’s nothing to be done.”

“That doesn’t mean you should give up.”

“I’m not giving up, I’m giving in. Time comes for everyone, in all of the millennia I’ve seen I’ve gotten to know that fact better than anyone. I appreciate that you’re trying, but all I really need is some company for my final days. I know it may be a bit much to ask as we’ve just met, but if you’d fill that role I’d be grateful.”

“...Well either way I’ll be sticking around so don’t worry. At the very least I’m not going to let you die without trying anything, but if you do I’ll be here.”

“Thank you,” He said as he closed his eyes, making Ben think he was asleep again until he spoke up. “But you really don’t need to waste your energy. If your mana sense is good enough to see the enchantments that make up my form you can focus on studying them while some are still whole instead. It would be a better use of your time.”

“I have a lot of mind skills, I can do both easily enough.”

“Then you still shouldn’t waste your energy,” He gently argued. “Though the meliae would never admit it, I and my brothers were failures. We couldn’t protect our world, nor fight off the invaders, all we could do was run, sacrificing ourselves one by one to keep them safe. Even now, so close to our dream of revenge it’s clear that my presence would make no difference. I wouldn’t be able to help this world in a meaningful way, I have no value.”

Ben fell silent, leaving Inux to believe he was thinking it over, at least until he spoke up.

“Who cares?” He said quietly.

“What?”

“I said who cares? Why does it matter if you can fight or not? Why do you only have value if you can throw yourself into the war? Isn’t it okay just to exist? To continue on just because you want to? I’m sure your meliae would agree.”

“Ah, I see I’ve upset you child, I apologize.”

“It’s fine.,” He said as he calmed himself down. “You’re right that I probably won’t be able to do anything, but at least let me try.”

“Alright, I suppose at the end it does me no harm. Since it seems like I may be up for a while, why not tell me your story?” He asked Ben, gently changing the subject.

“There’s not much to tell.”

“I’ll be the judge of that.”

“Alright, so long as you tell me yours. I bet it will be a fair bit longer than what I have though,” The talos agreed, seeming to try to smile as Ben began. “Well, I guess my story begins on a little world called earth…”