Tea for Bears
1 – Unwelcome Guests
Someone was in my house.
That realization came as a bit of a shock. At first, I thought there was a problem with the sky mantis grid, but then I realized that the persistent static was coming from one of the surveillance drones in my courtyard.
If I could have jumped to my feet, I would have. I had been trapped in my manse for days, possibly weeks. None of the clocks were working, so I didn't know how much time had passed. It felt like an eternity.
I was certain that I would have died from dehydration if I hadn't attuned myself to an experimental device, a project of my Mate, Desmond. I'd taken it from him solely because he'd been playing with it at the dinner table like a child. It was final night of Calibration, and since I had no interest in going to the usual festivities, I'd decided to send a very public message to Merela so that all of the gossip-mongers in Meru could see that I wasn't summoning a Demon of the Third Circle or doing anything else unforgivably foolish.
Then, for no reason at all, a dozen Dragonbloods barged into my manse, shouting all kinds of nonsense. They weren't even servants of mine, but the personal retinue of my nearest neighbor. They attacked me unprovoked, and as I was about to teach them a lesson, I stumbled into a crystalline preservation casket.
When I finally came to my senses, the Dragonbloods were gone. I called for Desmond until I grew hoarse, but he didn't answer, and the lid of the casket proved far too heavy for me to lift. In any case, Desmond's toy worked much better than I'd expected it to. Desmond seldom tested anything he crafted, and most of his inventions were far less efficient than they could be. Still, apart from being trapped, I felt remarkably well. I'd have to extend my congratulations to my Mate. He'd finally crafted something I considered worthwhile, and that was no easy feat.
Of course, first I was going to berate him for not coming to rescue me sooner.
The condition of my manse was absolutely infuriating. The Dragonbloods must have broken everything they could on their way in, because half of the systems were either unresponsive or completely out of commission. All of my Clockwork Servitors were making tea, because it was the last instruction I'd been able to give them. The tea-making was especially irritating, as they'd set numerous cups on top of my casket where I couldn't reach them.
Worse still, my perception had been limited to the interior of my laboratory until that moment. I stared at that tiny spot of flickering static, the first heartbeat of the outside world that I'd been able to sense.
"Help!" I shouted. "Can you here me?"
There was no response.
"I am Altessa, Weaver of the Wyld, Chosen of the Unconquered Sun and Exalted of the Twilight Caste! I am trapped in the basement in a godsforsaken box! Get me out of here and I will give you anything you want!" I'd promise the intruders all the tea in the South if that was what it took. All I cared about was my freedom.
Again, nothing.
"Release me or you will rue the day you were born!"
I seethed. It was no use. If there was an intruder, they obviously could not hear me.
"I AM, courtyard! Main display!" I ordered.
The image expanded on the large screen. I tried to crane my neck to see it more clearly, but there was only so far I could go. It's not easy to get a good view from inside of a casket, even one with a glass lid.
The main display sputtered. For a moment I feared that it was broken, like virtually everything else.
"Sun in Glory, work, damn you!" Some might think it foolish to snap at thing with no mind of its own, but being Twilight Caste, I do have a certain... effect on anything technological.
The screen flared to life and I smiled slightly at the sun. I couldn't feel its warmth in my casket, but I could imagine it. I did not see any intruders. The azaleas were overgrown, and blocking the lens of my drone, which seemed to be immobile, probably stuck in a tree again.
"I AM, have a Clockwork Efficacy Gardener retrieve that drone."
Years ago, I'd upgraded all of my surveillance drones with motion sensors. It made them very efficient, but it also made them prone to shutting off if they saw no reason to remain active. I personally dislike anything that wastes an inordinate amount of Essence.
As Mother always said, just because one has power, does not mean that one ought to squander it.
The drone that had flared to life so briefly went dead again. The sound of static was back.
"I AM, show me where that infernal noise is coming from!" I demanded.
The drone in question was lying on the steps, a few feet from my front door. It was pointed at the wall, and wobbled uselessly when I tried to turn it with my mind.
All I saw was a broken teacup, and three pairs of feet. The first, a big pair in clunky leather boots, belonged to a man who looked like a soldier. Some distance behind him was another man wearing monk shoes, and finally, a small pair of bare feet, obviously belonging to a woman. They all looked woefully pedestrian. It wasn't Desmond or any of my Circle who had come to find me, but a party of strangers.
From what little I could see of their clothing, I suspected they were mortals... which left me at a loss to guess how they'd gotten past my guardian demons. I couldn't help but wonder what had become of the woman's shoes.
"Is this the entrance?" The big man asked. He had an unusual accent.
"You see any other giant orichalcum doors?" The tiny woman sighed, bending down to examine the pieces of my shattered teacup. As she approached my broken drone, I got a better look at her. She was very pretty with long black hair, and her round face made her look young, although there was something in her eyes that made me wonder how old she really was. She had an accent too, although not quite as pronounced as the big man's. I wondered where the three hailed from.
It seemed like an eternity since I'd last had company. Desmond didn't count. He was always whoring around, or meddling with my experiments and making a general nuisance of himself. He was clever enough for a Lunar, but there were a great many things that he simply had no interest in.
Still, at that moment I would have gladly suffered his presence, or even that of horrible, prattling Verdant Coral. I'd gladly invite even mortals to tea. My stupid Servitors had already made enough of it for me to give a cup to every God and Goddess in Yu-Shan.
But I wasn't only angry.
I was also very afraid that Desmond's toy would fail, and I would waste away in my cold tomb, with only my failing constructs for company.
"Can you get us in, Recluse?" The big man asked.
The monk stepped forward. He put his hand on the door and considered it for a moment. I could only see his back, but he had a shock of red hair that looked very un-monklike and reminded me distinctly of a friend of mine I hadn't seen in decades.
"I AM, can you open the door?" I asked.
No response. There was no point in asking questions. If I gave an order the Artificial Intelligence could process, it would do as I asked. Otherwise, it was useless. I hesitated for a moment. I'd almost forgotten that the three were strangers trying to break into my manse, probably intending to rob me blind.
There was also a chance that the strangers were allies of the Dragonbloods... and if they were, they would certainly take advantage of my vulnerable state. Even if they couldn't hope to defeat me in a fair fight, they could certainly cut the power flowing to my casket, which would also deactivate Desmond's device... the only thing keeping me alive.
It didn't matter. I had nothing left to lose.
"Open the door," I announced.
The system was slow in responding. I could see that there was something wrong with the lock, but just as I was about to start running a diagnostic, the doors blew right off their hinges. They hid the floor with a resounding clang, scuffing up the marble for ten feet. I didn't see who had done the damage, but parts of the metal were also melting.
I stared in shock. I could feel the vibrations of whatever the three had done through the ceiling above my head. "Barbarians!" I cursed. "What did you do that for!"
I'd been about to let three mortals into my manse, share my tea with them, and possibly even instruct the kitchen to fix them something indescribably lovely to eat... and they hadn't even given me enough time to unlock the door I'd spent two centuries constructing!
They were worse than barbarians, they were animals!
"You stupid, stupid... bears!" I cursed, not knowing what possessed me to use that unusual insult. It was one I typically saved for Desmond. Being a Lunar, he didn't think it was rude at all, but I felt that it encompassed heavy-handed and slow rather well. "You're not getting any tea!"
"Tea?" The woman blinked in surprise. "Who said anything about tea?
I nearly forgave all of the fools for the damage they'd done.
"Can you hear me?" I shouted. "Oh, for the love of all that's holy, please..."
"Is someone there?" The big man called out.
"Yes! Yes I'm here! I'm trapped downstairs. Please, please get me out of here!"
"How do we reach you?" The woman asked.
"I'm talking to you right now through a drone. Find it... it's somewhere over to your left," I finished.
"Loren, watch your step!" The monk warned. "It's right behind you!"
That warning came too late. There was a loud crunch, and the screen went dark.
I twitched. I was too exhausted to stay furious. It was time for me to do what I did best.
I needed to be clever.