AN: Yes, yes. Excuses, excuses. Hmm... Nothing really to add to this bit. Enjoy the story. It has influenced some bits of a very special project I'm working on.
Accursed Ascension: Downfall
Heading through the archway, both Shera and Zeifer noticed that the turquoise haze rapidly dissipated and now was confined in a very small radius around conduits. However a pale glow came from somewhere deeper within the structure. Shera noticed a darkened doorway, off to the side, and had a worrying chill ran down her spine, as she perceived silent mechanical buzzing, not unlike that of Corpus surgical equipment.
"Ah! Children of the Dragon. Do come in. It is my delight to see you... unharmed." A voice similar to that of the Phaeron called out from somewhere farther ahead. Both Tenno noticed how eerily uplifted the words were, which proved to be in stark contrast to their reception.
They both passed a handful of dark and silent doorways, before reaching a ramp downwards. With a hesitant glance, and a mutually shared sense of trepidation the duo headed down. After a short descent they reached a hall filled with screens, and, at first glance, teeming with life. Aside from a plethora of Scarabs scurrying around, there were six or so red-robed figures each inspecting a portion of the screens, that, on closer inspection were simply slabs of a metallic stone projecting a hologram.
Their attention, however, was swiftly pulled to the slightly shambling figure, that approached them. While all the other figures had held an air of mechanical indomitability, this one resembled a frail old man. Paired with it's singular, staring, unblinking 'eye', peering at them from underneath a metallic hood of sorts, with a cold gaze, the sight rang more than one uncanny alarm bells for Shera and Zeifer. Neither of them bought into the frailty of the figure before the pair.
"Ahh, yes. Two of the four enigmatic children of the Dragon… or should I say - Lotus?" the Cryptek's correction made the Loki shift slightly.
"She...ra… Zei...fer…" Szarethot addressed each of them, breaking their names down to eerily spaced out syllabiles. "Your language is so peculiar…"
"I- uhh… how… how do you know our names?" Shera asked, suspecting the answer already.
"It's quite simple really. I monitor each and every snippet of data transmitted in these halls." The Cryptek stated it as if it was something everyone should automatically understand. "You are notably chattier than any other groups who've come before you. I had quite the pleasure to log your conversations, and analyse them. But it comes nowhere close to meeting you."
While talking, the Cryptek observed them in a very obsessive manner, and neither of them were comfortable with it. Zeifer spoke up about it: "I don't know how it is over here, but where we come from, it is quite impolite to stare so… posessively… at people that you have just met…"
The words sounded weird out loud, but it was the best way he could describe the situation. Despite having the same expressionless death mask, as all other inhabitants of this place, the Cryptek betrayed his emotions through his motions, intentional or not.
Szaretoth looked up at the Loki, and pulled back a bit. He looked to the side and seemed to pondered something while uttering:"I suppose not.."
Then he turned back, and addressed the Tenno in a more business-like manner:"Ozrahkan says you inquired about our technology, as well as bringing over one of our Gauss Flayers..." the construct looked at Shera, who, after a moment, nodded and pulled the weapon from the mag-lock on her spine.
"Would you mind explaining it's principles, though? It would be a significant breakthrough in the energetics field to understand the mechanisms." Shera handed it over, and the Cryptek took it and handed it to a swarm of scarabs, that had appeared seemingly out of nowhere.
"I could, but you will not benefit from it." he responded and waved her off. "And you were interested in our Scarabs, right?" the question was aimed at Zeifer.
Shera was about to raise a counterargument, but an explanation on the Scarabs would also prove beneficial, so she decided to ask about the rifle afterwards.
As the Cryptek began his explanation, that seemed a bit drawn out, Shera caught the red robed figures break away from the screens they monitored and disappear somewhere out of her peripheral vision. Judging by their movement, they went off somewhere behind the stairway.
"... naturally, there are more variants than just scavenger and construction Scarabs." The Mesa turned her attention back to the Cryptek, casting a glance at Zeifer, who had pulled up a projection of the Scarab on his palm, and had made a few notes already.
"...act as sort of a defense mechanism. Like that of a biological body." she had zoned out again. Something in the back of her mind was gnawing at her, as her paranoia spiked. She grasped one of her Regulator barrel, as a reassurance.
"And then there are the rarely employed variants. Like the Mindshackle Scarab. This little wonder lets me control somebody from vast distances, as well as monitor their thought process. You'd be surprised what you can learn with a few of these scattered throughout the galaxy."
Zeifer broke from his note-taking and looked at the Cryptek. This was an oddly weird bit to just divulge to strangers.
"Here. I'll let your friend demonstrate." Szaretoth said, and the Loki heard a click, as Shera's Regulator pressed against his helmet.
After a moment of hesitation, Vaan and Dala followed the Phaeron carefully through the archway, and wound up in a large spherical room, with a circular table in the middle, that housed a detailed model of a mountain range. The walls were inscribed with what seemed like star charts, on first glance, though none of the lined-out constellations were familiar to the Tenno. The Phaeron meanwhile inspected the map on the table, shifting the image with a flick of his hand. The landscape moved as the mountain range collapsed on the edge of the table and a flatland formed where it had been.
A few glowing dots appeared and the Phaeron droned in his monotone voice: "Indeed." Then he broke his gaze, and turned his attention to the two warframes, who were observing the walls of the monolithic sphere. While they were occupied, Ozrahkan cleared the map, leaving a flat, featureless table of black stone. He then traced some lines on it, and the star map on the walls lit up, as a projection of it emerged, and filled the room, creating a veritable star-field in the room. Both Tenno reeled in surprise, the familiarity of the spheres and obvious descriptions of them, albeit in the alien script, acting as a eerie call-back to where they came from.
"Huh… this is… I don't recognize any star clusters." Dala stated, moving through the realistic representation of the stars, inspecting any yellow star she came upon, which actually was not that much, oddly enough.
The Phaeron entertained her a bit, letting the pyromancer slide through the starfield, while Vaan came up to the table. The Frost noted the change of the table, and the traced lines of text. Then Ozrahkan took note of Vaan, and traced a new column of symbols, and the star map swiftly shifted, placing a singular star atop the table. It was a simple yellow star, with 8 planets, and quite amazingly, the hologram also seemed to have rudimentary ship traffic between the orbiting planets.
"This should be the same star system, as this is the only one correlating with both sets of information I possess." The Vexhi ruler stated, tracing another line of symbols, that Vaan carefully examined, as Dala came up next to him. She peered at the tiny ships jumping between the planets, as well as noting that some of the planets were clearly much different that they would be on her ship's projection.
For instance, Earth seemed to be quite the opposite to the expansive tangle of woods, and unchecked plantlife.
Ozrahkan held off on finishing the script he was tracing, his eyes on Vaan. The cryomancer noticed this pause and looked up. Then the Phaeron finished the line, and the red planet of Mars replaced the Sol system, in the center of the table.
"This planet. It among the others in this star system seem to have two completely separate descriptions associated with it. Which is anomalous compared to the rest of the galaxy. Now, tell me what you know about it!" The Phaeron demanded.
As Vaan was about to answer, a gasp of surprise from Dala drew his attention to the red sphere. Right before their eyes the projection was fading in additional details, as the ships changed form, the surface sprouted visible layers of dense cities and a massive ring station locked itself around the planet.
"I assume this is what you meant by the data discrepancy. However this representation is an extremely faulty one. It's as if someone let Corpus unchecked and unmolested for several millennia, and, by Lotus, that is never going to happen." Dala voiced her thoughts.
"Go on." Ozrahkan had locked his gaze on the pyromancer. His piercing, unmoving stare was just as unnerving as before, though Data thought she could discern something more in the aquamarine shine of the dead metal face. She had the impression of a malicious interest, though it was an odd form of malice she perceived. The Ember couldn't have described in words even if she tried.
"Well…" Dala stammered, organizing her words. "Mars is currently a highly contested planet, as assaults between the Grineer and the Corpus are basically a daily occurrence. The surface is that of gale-blasted dunes, crumbling structures of a lost civilization and half-rusted Grineer machinery. There are no solid cities, as the ruins are at least a couple thousand years old, though I suspect there might be ancient megaliths and half-buried caverns to find underneath the sand."
The Phaeron simply nodded, as the holographic image of Mars shifted once more, now reverting back to a look more akin to that found in the Tenno's star charts. The surface shed the layer of construction, and the ring vanished from it's orbit, being replaced by the scattered multitude of ships, almost all of which were of the very familiar Corpus and Grineer kind.
"Your version seems to coincide with the one extracted from the previous… guests…" Ozrahkan stated, with a hint of displeased hesitancy in his monotone voice.
"Were the truth so simple, Child of the Dragon." The Phaeron stated, his monotone projected in a heavier fashion. "You speak the truth and lie at the same time, and not of your volition. Regrettably I am led to give credence to your feigned ignorance… but ultimately it changes nothing." the Phaeron finished by striking the floor with the butt of his scythe, seemingly for emphasis. However, the entrance to the domed room started to close soon after.
