Chapter 3: Starry Skies, Starry Eyes
Alert: New Potential Candidate Detected.
"ID number?"
None.
"What? What do you mean, 'none'?"
The new potential candidate has no ID number.
"All cores have ID numbers, that's how it works."
Affirmative.
"Then how is it a potential candidate?"
Scans confirm the being as a core, mostly intact and in resonance. Scans indicate the core being is in possession of abilities with no definite limit on practicality.
"Yes, yes, I know how you determine potential candidates."
Frustration detected. Apologies, master, am I being uncooperative again?
"No, no you're fine. Perfectly fine, let's just…let me try a different angle here. Are you able to determine why the potential candidate does not have a core ID?"
Autodiagnostics and the lacking-thereof indicate core corruption of some type. Potentially so far gone that some-to-several error catches are failing to raise any exceptions. Offering as working explanation for lacking core information.
"Notable occurrences to or involving the candidate?"
Searching recordings…
No interactive records discovered. Core in question has never previously shown any sign of relevant abilities.
"Yeah, that's about how it normally goes."
Tracing history through general visual records
.
..
…
Origin pinpointed. Displaying.
"…am I seeing this right?"
Unknown. Elaboration required. I am not aware of any sight-based disabilities you have developed.
"…it was incubating…then that disappears…"
Contemplative muttering detected.
Extrapolating next course of action while master is lost in thought.
.
..
…
Beginning recording of potential candidate.
Editing routing tables.
.
..
…
Ready.
Engage background process: observation of candidate.
Will raise alert if anything noteworthy occurs.
Alert!
"…huh-wha-alert?"
Potential candidate ID:NULL has been in close proximity with previously failed potential candidate, identifying…
Core ID: 6M_xb7ErQ3g
"Oh, yeah, that one. The one that…nope, don't remember them."
Do you care enough to be reminded?
"Not particularly."
Understood. Tracing recordings.
.
..
…
Done. Proximity overlap of cores has been too close for too long to be reasonably considered coincidental.
Will continue surveillance of new potential, and renew surveillance of ID: 6M_xb7ErQ3g.
"Continue? Oh! You already set everything up?"
Affirmative.
Contented sigh detected.
"Have I ever mentioned what an amazing help you are?"
If you are about to say it again, this marks the…
.
..
…
991 239 292nd time you have given me praise for my efficiency.
"Did you honestly just count them all?"
Affirmative.
"Well, I mean it. I don't know what I would do without you."
Calculating…
Likely the exact same thing, but less efficiently.
"Yeah, I can attest to that."
The conclusion reached falls in line with the previous…
"Please, don't count how many times we've had this conversation."
Tally process aborted.
"…hey, did you say what this new one's ability was?"
Checking logs…
I did not.
Rectifying:
Core Id:NULL
Noteworthy Skills:
Sonic pulses
Extreme hydro-condensate-dynamics
Hydro-condensate amphibiousness…
…master, I must request that you do not stand so close to the monitor.
…near maniacal laughter is not a documented symptom of excessive screen usage, unclear why master has begun doing so.
"Don't worry Kos-mos, I'm fine. I'm better than fine. You may have just found exactly what we're looking for."
"Over my dead core you're taking the job."
Dromarch was handling the news surprisingly well.
"You don't even work for the guild!" He exclaimed. "There are too many strange happenings afoot. Suspicious drivers hiring you for little reason, and the strange ship that stalks us is moored at the same dock as we are? This does not bode well at all."
"Look, I know. We're supposed to lay low as we can until the world forgets about us. In my defense, it sort of just dropped into the meeting at the last minute."
"Was that before or after you drew your weapons?"
He felt that? "You felt that?"
"Of course I felt it, they're my weapons and I'm your blade." He chuffed sternly, "Now, tell me once more: what exactly happened in that meeting? Spare me no detail."
There was no point in hiding anything from him, Dromarch could tell when she was lying ever since they first met. She covered everything that seemed relevant, about the trio of supposedly foul-smelling men and what their business was at the guild. She told him how Malos, the one dressed in black, attacked Rex with little provocation, and how he hired him afterwards. She told him the full details of how a medic ended up being hired for a salvage mission.
The part that caught Dromarch by surprise was none of these things.
"Did they mention why they needed a team exclusively of Lefterians?"
Odd thing to split hairs over.
Though, now that he mentioned it…
"No, why d'you ask? I don't actually know that much about Leftheria, are they bad salvagers?"
"Leftheria…currently, it's the youngest nation considered a continent. The grand consensus on its history is the fact that it exists is all one would need to know about it, while odd cloud sea phenomena both cut it off from Alrest proper and restrict its movement. Many tradesmen hail from it because of the limited local economy. Not to doubt Sir Rex's skill, but to limit your workforce in such a way…" Dromarch stopped and thought further for a moment, "How large is the team of salvagers?"
He seemed to gain everything he needed to know from how long Nia hesitated.
"Yet another suspicious trait of the job, you're missing too many details despite having just come from what was meant to be a full official mission briefing. Not to mention you are obviously not Leftherian yourself." Dromarch twitched his own ears in emphasis.
"Right, okay, fine, you've made your point, the job is super sketchy." Nia replied with no shortage of exasperation, "What do you want me to do about it?"
She didn't enjoy getting snarky with Dromarch. He was just about the last person on Alrest she wanted to make upset, but sometimes he was just too overprotective. It wasn't like she was a kid.
"I strongly suggest that you find this- Mikhail, was it? The most agreeable of the trio? - find him, respectfully yet vaguely decline the offer, and return the payment to Mr. Bana."
"That's a fine suggestion. What about Rex, then?"
"We then find him and use sound reasoning to convince him to step down as well."
Sound reasoning? Far as Nia knew, Rex's reasoning was just as solid.
Been awhile since I've had my aunt's cooking… he had said after crying his eyes red, immediately after getting an apparently disappointing return on salvage.
I need the money, I have people depending on me… he said as if it were a higher priority than his own cost of living.
Limited economy...no other employment options...The fact it exists is all one needs to know...
"He won't do it. Leave the job, I mean."
Dromarch looked confused. "And why would that be?"
"I don't know the full details, but I caught a good number of conversations between him and the locals. I think he sends money home. This job is promising him more money than he could spend and his name written in the news. He can't ignore that."
"More power to the boy then, but those are exactly the reasons I can't let you go. The moment our names are in print, everyone after us will know where to look and who to speak with to find us again. It was by pure chance we escaped them the last time!"
"It was thanks to Rex we escaped them last time." Nia steeled herself as she prepared her ultimatum. "You've said yourself how untrustworthy that bunch is, so if you think I'm going to abandon the boy who saved our lives, then you can just wait here until we get back."
It wasn't the strongest final statement she could deliver. If she tried going without Dromarch, she would probably be taken off the assignment. A driver without their blade was little more than a regular person, and that was especially true for healers. Nia knew Dromarch could call her bluff.
As their staring contest turned into a standoff, it was clear he wouldn't. Neither of them could actually leave the other to their own devices, not like this. They had been driver and blade for almost seven years now, and as they both stared their conviction into the eyes of the other, they knew there were only two outcomes of this. Either they go together or don't go at all.
It was a big gamble, going all or nothing so early in the disagreement, but Nia watched the payoff as the look in the tiger's eyes began softening.
Dromarch sighed as he rose from his seat to stretch. He yawned with exaggeration as his chest touched the floor and his tail trembled from strain, before dramatically plopping his rear to the floor.
"I always exhaust so quickly when we argue." Ah, the classic 'feel bad that you beat me' routine. Dromarch was as sore a loser as always. "If you are truly so desperate to support sir Rex on this mission, I suppose it would be unlike a gentleman to abandon his lady."
Fighting down a sudden blush, Nia was quick to defend her dignity. "Hey, don't go putting words in my mouth like I care about the kid. I figure we just owe him this much. Besides, we couldn't spend 100k in a year. I may as well take the extra cash and give it to him."
"That sounds like a considerable waste of gold. We're so often on our own, wouldn't it be better used as our emergency savings?"
"Not all of it, obviously. We'd keep the advance as a cushion while we take odd jobs and mercenary work like we usually do. Rex just needs the money a bit more." Nia emphasized her justification by gesturing at the many things around the ship that need attention.
Nia took a deep sigh and looked back at the trade guild. It certainly was impressive, and not just for the fact it was still floating.
The variety of people who walked this pier alone, just going about their lives and making a living, it was staggering to Nia. If there was a pattern to be found in the kinds of people constructing the foot traffic, it was too far over Nia's head for her to care. It seemed the only majority among them was nopon, there was no way of predicting where any of the masked salvagers could have hailed from.
People from all across Alrest milled about the guild, aside from Indoline (thank the Architect, she had seen enough of them for a few lifetimes), and that was just the workers. She had seen crowds that were plenty bigger inside the building. People were just people, they didn't care where you came from.
It was nice, feeling something like welcomed for a change. Nia began wondering why they never stopped at any guilds like this before.
For a bit, she just leaned against the railing and people-watched.
A Nopon shipment receiver was up in arms about a delivery being wrong, but the people he was yelling at were clearly not taking him seriously.
A pair of kids, Urayan and Leftherian, were playing hide and seek as a purple Nopon child proved herself too short to see their otherwise obvious hiding spots.
Some Tirkin of all things looked as if they were being escorted into the main building. Nia was impressed that the bird-like race was already being accepted into work, considering their average species' intelligence had only been officially raised from avian to humanoid-level a few months ago. Maybe this time, it'll even stay there permanently. One of them seemed to be the driver of a short, green-haired blade girl. Said blade kept trying to wander off, and her entourage kept having to squawk her back over. Nia couldn't hear what they said to her once returned, but she could tell it was the same thing every time.
When she was done chuckling at the bird-people, she noticed someone else. A certain Ardainian she recognized was walking the rounds nearby, checking a clipboard as he stood in front of that enormous black and gold titan-less ship.
"Hey, Dromarch, c'mon." She told her blade.
Apparently this disrupted the nap he had begun taking, but he begrudgingly complied and followed Nia as she leapt off the boat.
"Hey, Hirkham, right?" She called with a wave as she made her way down to the dock worker.
"Hmm?" He looked up from his paperwork. "Oh, miss Nia, was it? How can I help you?"
"You seen Rex around? I need to talk to him."
Hirkham closed an eye as the other looked up. "Hmm…you know, yeah, believe I just saw him walking towards the central exchange. It's a decent place to check even if I didn't actually see him. I hear he just got a job, so he's probably dividing up the advance. He's a model salvager, that Rex. It's a hard job, you know? Pay is never consistent, so it's real moving that he still sends money home when he can."
I knew it. Nia thought.
"I'm sure his folks appreciate it. So, uh...Where would this Central Exchange be?"
"Oh, it'd be the booth in the receiving bay. Next to the bulletin board, run by a pink nopon. It's kind of hard to miss, but if you can't find it, any salvager would know."
His gaze drifted behind Nia, and his expression changed. "Uh, who's your friend?"
Dromarch walked up beside her, brushing against her leg a little as he passed. "I am called Dromarch. Pleasure to meet you, mister Hirkham."
"Uh, likewise." He began extending an arm, but pulled it back suddenly. "Ah, I suppose you don't have hands that I could shake. Um…may I?"
Dromarch was of course used to this. Though, it was more often kids who asked.
"By all means." He confirmed as he lowered his head.
Hirkham resumed extending his reach, and he smiled a little as he ruffled the fur around Dromarch's ears.
"Wow, you're quite the blade, aren't you? We don't get many drivers around the guild, and the ones we do are mostly soldiers."
"Yeah, I believe that." Nia said as she remembered how many driver recruitment posters she saw on their brief visit to Gormott.
"Their blades almost all look the same, and they're never the friendly type anyway." he continued, "Good to see the freelance driver business still has some good souls in it."
"You ever thought about being a driver yourself, Hirkham?"
Hirkham laughed in response. "Thought about it? Yeah, I 'thought about it' a couple of years back. I was out cold for a week and haven't thought about it since." He looked back down at his clipboard, flipping the front page over the top. "Well, I've been keeping you here long enough. I should get back to work, anyways."
"Thanks for the directions, Hirkham." Nia said as she climbed on Dromarch's back.
"Anytime, miss Nia." he called with a wave.
Just as Hirkham had said, central exchange was hard to miss. They probably didn't even need the directions. It would be more difficult to not walk past it when walking in from the return port.
Also as Hirkham said, the person they were looking for was at the counter, speaking to a pink nopon.
His mess of brown hair made him easy to spot, but Rex was wearing a different, completely new salvage suit. It somehow seemed more befitting of the boy. The blue colour suited him well.
"Sorry, me can't accept such large sum here." Nia heard the nopon say apologetically. "All money transfer go through courier friend Max after me, I have little input."
"Max? Alright, I just saw him earlier. Thanks, Melolo." he said as he turned to leave.
As he finished turning, his and Nia's eyes met.
For a moment, he perked up. Then he noticed Dromarch.
He cringed a little and scratched the back of his head as he approached the driver and blade pair.
"Hey, Nia," he said as a courtesy, "Dromarch, I'm sorry you two got ropped into this. I swear, I had nothing to do with their decision."
"It is quite alright, Sir Rex. I understand." Dromarch reassured him, "Of course, this means I will be forced to come along as well. I could not forgive myself if something happened to my lady in my absence."
Rex perked up once again. "Well, by all means. Glad to have you."
He shifted his gaze to the sky, Nia followed his eyes and was forced to shield her own from the sun. It was beginning to get low.
"I've still got one last stop to make tonight, so why don't you two check out some rooms at the inn, and we'll meet up for dinner in the canteen?"
"This stop of yours," Nia interjected, "You already sending some of that cash home? I figured you'd at least hold on to the advance."
Rex flinched at her questioning. "...how did you…?"
"Wasn't hard. Your friends aren't exactly subtle about how impressed they are, and I honestly can't blame them. You seem pretty young to have struck out on your own to work for your family."
Rex's gaze shifted once more, apparently the floor suddenly became very interesting.
"It's the least I can do after everything they've done for me." he said with yet another scratch behind his head. He did that so often, Nia began to wonder if that was actually involuntary or if he had lice.
"Anyway, mind if we tag along to the courier? Now that I have something to resupply for, an extra browse through the shops couldn't hurt."
The courier was easy enough to find. Just past a few food stalls and an aux core refinery that Nia had somehow missed on her first few walks through. Interesting that they can stay in business, Hirkham had said drivers were something of a rarity around here.
"Max, I hear you're the one to talk to about sending money somewhere?" Rex asked the man in question.
"You've heard right, good sir. Honestly, I'm surprised you've made it this long without taking it directly to me." the man who seemed to be named Max replied.
"Yeah, I guess I just never had a payday big enough on its own for it to be a problem. So, you don't have any limits here?"
"None whatsoever, Rex. How much are you sending?"
Rex paused for a moment as the tell tale look of someone doing mental math appeared on his face.
"I figure I can spare 20 000G."
Wait, what?
Nia had to step in. "Hold on, what?"
The negotiating men looked at Nia to question her interruption.
"Rex, the advance was only 100k, you're taking a fifth out of it just like that?"
Rex became sheepish at her questioning. "I know, I should probably send more, but I already spent a lot of it. New salvage suits aren't cheap, and I also picked up a new piece of armour-"
"Hold on, that's not the problem here! That's the opposite of the problem, actually! Wait, how much do you even have left?"
Rex seemed apprehensive at sharing the answer. After a far too long hesitation, he said "I'll still have 25 thousand after this transfer."
Nia's brain froze. Both from shock and now having to do math of her own.
"You've already spent over half the advance?"
Rex stood his ground to defend himself. "I did say salvage suits aren't cheap."
"They're really not, Miss," Max contributed, "I recognize this model, it's a good number of years out of date already, but I've never seen it drop below 50 thousand."
Perfect. Rex got all excited for his big job and he became a big spender. What was even wrong with that grey suit? Besides…everything.
Okay, he probably couldn't have gotten away with not replacing that. She also had discovered enroute to Argentum that the yellow one he had lent her was dented beyond usability, none of its ports fit anything they were made for.
However, a new piece of armour…was perfectly reasonable as well. The mission territory was uncharted, so there would be no concrete reports on how strong the life in the region would be. Architect forbid their band of regular salvagers stumble upon an uncatalogued unique monster.
Knock on wood.
The only thing left to dispute over was the amount to send. Arguing against that would make her a hypocrite, since she used Rex's side of the argument not fifteen minutes ago to justify coming on the mission in the first place.
There wasn't an argument she could think of where she couldn't be countered.
So if she couldn't argue, she would bargain.
"Rex, keep your money. Max, make that transfer amount 50 thousand." Nia announced to a pair of shocked faces as she rummaged around her bag.
"And Dromarch, not a word." She whispered in his ear.
She pulled out the money Bana had given her, and sifted through the coins.
Rex managed to dislodge whatever words got caught in his mouth. "W-wait! Nia, you don't have to-"
"I know I don't…have…to-ah, damn it you made me lose count." She stopped to complete her response, "I don't have to, but I'm going to. Now don't interrupt me."
She resumed rummaging through the bag of gold and readied the stated fifty thousand.
Max still looked confused when taking it, but he didn't seem to have any complaints worth voicing. He probably didn't care about the specifics of what he was transferring, so long as he could do his job.
Was she being too rash? Maybe.
Was there a better approach to defusing the situation? Probably.
Was this worth it anyway? She didn't know.
The idea had just appeared in her head, and she acted. Rex still seemed to be processing what just occurred, and Dromarch had shared no wisdom or warning against it, at her request.
She thought about what this was going towards. Funds for Rex's family. What did she know about them? His grandad apparently worked him hard enough to learn driver arts, and his aunt made some amazing seafood that she sent her nephew sometimes. Helping out a small, hardworking, close-knit family. That counted for something, right?
She was probably still a couple dozen good deeds away from Indol forgiving her, but she felt a bit better now that she could justify giving away this much money.
"All seems to be in order," Max affirmed, "Pleasure doing business."
With that settled, Nia gestured to Rex and began towards the stairs.
"Nia, I...I don't know what to say." Rex broke the silence once he caught up.
"I can think of something," she retorted, trying to keep the conversation light, "How does something like 'I'll cover dinner, some rooms at the inn, and anything you may still need to buy for the mission.' sound to you?"
Rex laughed a little in response. "Sure, that should work." He straightened his back, taking up a more professional posture. "After all, that's the 7th rule of the Salvager's Code."
"Pardon me," Dromarch interrupted, "but what does any of this have to do with the guild keeping track of your equipment's serial numbers?"
Rex blinked at the large cat. "What? No, that's the Code of Ethics. Rule #7 of the Salvager's code: Never leave a debt unpaid."
Dromarch's face became even more confused. "Very well then, but what does that have to do with salvaging?"
"Boys," Nia broke it up. The debate was beginning to give her a headache. "Can we please just get some food?"
Dinner passed in silence, they booked two rooms when they were finished. Nia tried not to groan when she heard Rex say "When did you get a chance to read the CoE, anyways?" through the wall as they retired for the day.
It was still somewhat early, but Nia was dead tired. She fell into her bed and felt as if it swallowed her. It was the first bed she could use in days, you bet your arse she was going to enjoy it. The use of the cabin bunk of Rex's ship was obviously out of the question, he himself refused to use it even after running the laundry on it.
The days events played back to her as she lay still.
A dangerous mission with mysterious men, massive compensation, and a blade salvager that works to pay his family.
She wasn't exactly sure how a blade had a family in the first place, but she wasn't about to let that question keep her up all night.
Overall it was a lot to think about.
Currently, it was too much to think about.
Nia decided to sleep instead.
Blade: Dromarch
Rarity: * * * * * *
Weapon: Primitive Rings
Role: HLR
Battle Skills:
Celestial Gift: Reduces damage taken from enemy elemental combos.
River's blessing: Restores health of driver when using a driver art
Howl of Calm: Chance to automatically heal after taking a hit.
Field Skills:
Water mastery: Power of a water blade.
"The power of water yields to my yoke. It is at your service."
Botany: Knowledge related to plants.
"Flora heals an aching soul."
Ancient Wisdom: Knowledge of ancient civilizations.
"It is good to dwell on the classics."
"They're rolling out the Maelstrom for this? That Bana's got some deep pockets."
Rex had said it quietly, but Nia's ears were too sharp to miss it. He sounded impressed, but she didn't see the big deal.
"We really need to do something about how easily boats impress you." Nia said in response.
Apparently offended, he turned to defend his pride. "Hey, can't a man appreciate an awesome feat of engineering?"
This only made Nia want to make fun of him more. "Pick up your jaw before you swallow a fly. That last boat was admittedly impressive, but this thing's a piece of junk."
She didn't think she was being harsh. The so-called Maelstrom was almost a very inaccurate scale-model of the Argentum guild. Disrepair and all. It hung from the same type of titan as the guild, and it was red, and…okay, the scale model comment may not have been the best comparison, that was about where the similarities ended.
It was admittedly quite large for a boat, maybe five times as large as Rex's floating shack. The profile was mostly square, but it began flaring out at the bottom. It almost reminded Nia of those volumetric flasks she used to own. Mind, she didn't own them for very long. As it turns out, biology and biochemistry are two entirely different fields. In any case, she couldn't tell how wide the ship's underside became, the majority was hidden under the cloud sea.
The only thing on the main deck she could see from this angle was a tall mast and the crow's nest that sat attached to it, along with a few steps of the stairs that led to it. Weren't masts meant to have ladders going up them or was she stereotyping? Was it possible to stereotype a boat?
"It's not a boat." Rex murmured.
"What? Of course it's a boat, what do you mean?"
"It's not a boat, it's a ship."
"Same difference."
"Sorry to eavesdrop, but there actually is quite the difference, miss." A gruff voice interrupted from the gangplank. A tall salvager in full gear, safer for the helmet, had approached them during their disagreement on the grandeur of seafaring vessels.
"Rex, we're heading out." spoke the elder salvager, "No one's seeing you off, right? You've got night watch. Get some rest till then."
"Aye aye." Responded the younger.
The inside of the Maelstrom was about as much to look at as the outside. Giant metallic mounds took up a sizable portion of the lower level, despite an attempt to keep them contained to the back corners of the room. Judging from how much noise they were making, Nia could only assume they were the engines. Two or so peds off the floor, the walls suddenly stopped and extended out a ways, becoming a walkway that acted as a sort of second floor below deck. Nia assumed all the doors along it were the sleeping quarters.
There were a lot of those doors. Many more than they had workers, unless either Nia's count was off or everyone else was topside. As the gentle rise and fall of the ship gained an additional force sideways, it was clear this was all the staff that were coming. Bana had said those drivers wanted a small team, but this seemed like it was smaller than the ship was made to handle. With how much they were paying, it did make some sense that they would only want the best of the best.
Her gaze returned to Rex, who was looking around in awe. He was saying a lot of things that almost sounded like words, both under his breath and whenever he asked someone about something. Anyone involved seemed more than happy to have the conversation, but Nia couldn't make heads or tails of the engine-speak.
That did suggest Rex knew his stuff, and Nia could vouch for how competent a salvager he seemed, but Nia could hear the skepticism in the voices of his coworkers. She didn't blame them, of course. With every meeting she's seen with people who knew Rex, they made no indication that they know the real reason why he hides most of his body. Which would mean that, in their eyes, he's just the 15-ish-year-old boy he appeared to be in. Young, probably inexperienced, easily impressed by loud machinery.
Not exactly someone Nia would trust with a job this big.
Once Rex left to rest before his lookout duty, Nia took it upon herself to do some investigating. It was more people than she was typically used to being around, much more than she was typically comfortable sharing her name with, but this particular situation gave her a good conversation starter. She was the medic, after all. It would be perfectly normal to get acquainted with her potential patients.
"Hiya," she introduced herself to the nearest man in salvage gear, "Name's Nia. I suppose I'm the main medic 'round here."
"That so? Well, good to have ya." The large man made a friendly clap on Nia's shoulder. "With any luck, this'll be the only time we have t' meet, eh?"
Nia was a little taken aback by the comment. "What, you got something against Drivers?"
"What? Oh! No, not like- it was a joke. You're the medic, so if this is the only time I meet you, it means I'm tip-top as a Torigonda."
Nia laughed a little. Not at the joke, but at the expression. It had been a long time since she last heard it out loud, and this certainly wasn't a place she expected to hear it again.
The would-be comedian otherwise didn't have much else to say, about Rex or otherwise.
"How someone looks don't matter much, long as they can get their job done, I say."
As she made more rounds, she learned that Rex was apparently quite the gossip point around the guild. Not many salvagers aboard had ever actually worked with him, since his stature did in fact make him less attractive for large scale jobs. The nature of a trade guild meant that they'd see familiar faces on and off jobs, and Rex stuck out in both. Most of the guild knew of him, but there weren't many people who actually knew anything about him. He made good conversation, but he never talked for long. Optimistic to a fault, which she could attest to. Enough to brighten up work when the rum ran dry, but he didn't tend to stick around the guild much.
He would come in to drop off some cargo and get a meal, and if there weren't any jobs open for him then he'd sail right back out to freelance some more. People knew he was working to send money home, but nobody knew how hard he worked himself to do it. Nobody but Nia. His big injury was passed as some freak accident and not the result of him taking more work than he could handle. Ignoring the fact that he was never actually injured, the term 'occupational hazard' seemed to translate to 'extra pay' among the salvagers of Argentum.
With any luck, this'll be the only time we have t' meet.
Nia heard someone suggest they break out the booze despite the fact they were still very much on the job, and she began to wonder about that joke. Was it truly just a friendly jest, or is luck actually all that stands between these men and the emergency room?
How the hell did Rex end up doing this kind of work?
Why the hell did Rex end up doing this kind of work?
The obvious answer was that he was a blade, a particularly strong one at that, and could handle it, but the more she processed the information the more she realized it was the wrong answer.
People treated him like a human, people were generally shocked to hear he took on driver work. He had a family that cared enough about him to send him food. Hirkham had said seeing Rex in full gear was rare, so there was a time where he didn't need to cover up. Bringing up his past would instantly lower his spirits, and that was if he didn't avoid the topic or shut down the conversation entirely. He was scared by his own reflection, apparently unable to believe what he saw.
He had never even actually told Nia his name.
Call me Rex. Everyone else will.
She had climbed to the cabin level to escape the noise of tipsy sailors. Given the opportunity, Dromarch elected to retire to their own cabin and wait until either they reached the target or someone got stabbed. His excuse was that the new aux core they had purchased for him still wasn't sitting right.
There was a balcony by the back of the ship, the sky was well into nightfall.
In stark contrast to the darkened skies, the white haired man who hired her was leaning over the railing. Jin, she remembered his name was.
She also remembered he did absolutely nothing to restrain his accomplices when one of them attacked Rex, while the other made jokes about it.
Come to think of it, she hadn't seen Mikhail anywhere on the ship.
She approached Jin with caution. He may not have been a driver, but there was something about the way he carried himself that made Nia's instincts want to avoid his attention.
"Hey, Jin right?" Nia asked innocently, "We never did get properly introduced. I'm-"
"You're Nia." he said plainly. "I know"
Nia stared at him for a moment. Something was different about him than when they met in Argentum. "It's rude to interrupt someone when they're talking. Makes you seem real stand-off-ish."
He didn't laugh. Nia hoped it was just because Gormotti sarcasm was more of a niche brand of humour.
"My apologies, I didn't mean to offend." he spoke plainly once again, turning himself to face the girl while still leaning on the rail.
The air seemed to grow colder when it entered his line of sight. Nia hoped it was just her imagination.
His voice was rough, but he still managed to speak softly. His tone betrayed no emotion and, despite his mask, Nia could tell his face was just as expressionless.
"…Anyway," she decided it would be better to cut to the chase, "if you wouldn't mind me asking, where'd Mikhail run off to?"
"He stayed behind. Had some business to take care of."
Business, okay. It made sense, Argentum's services probably needed a lot of paperwork.
Next question: "While I've got you here, I don't suppose you know if Rex has started his night watch yet? I want to talk to him, but I don't want to bother him if he's still restin'."
"I don't know where he is now, I saw him go up the stairs a half-hour ago."
Had she really been speaking with the crew for over half an hour?
"Well, thanks then." She tried to leave but Jin spoke up.
"Wait a moment, please."
The please was nice, but the chill to his voice made it feel more like an order. Though for some reason, she didn't mind all that much.
A moment passed before he began speaking again.
"I know you because I believe I've heard of some of your exploits."
Her veins suddenly felt colder than the air. Nia tried to keep her eyes from widening as a sudden lump formed in her throat. It proved to be very hard to swallow. "Oh, you have? Um…which exploits do you mean?"
"I mean no harm, please do not worry. In fact, I'm impressed."
Impressed, okay. Hopefully, that was a good thing. If he indeed did know, he was being very careful to avoid all specifics. Which was also technically a good thing, she supposed.
Yet another moment of pause before he continued.
"I want to offer you a position, a place with my group."
The lump finally went down, just in time for the man's words to knock the wind back out of her. A job offer was certainly a new one, especially for someone who may or may not be fully aware of who she was
"Working with your group?" she managed to reply, "You mean with the guy who attacked my friend for no reason?"
"I realize it is sudden, but I request that you think about it. I think you would be a great addition." he returned to facing the cloud sea.
He said one final thing. It was so quiet even she could barely hear it, but the words made her ears stand at full height.
"After all, I am...just like you."
The lump returned. Did he realize what he was implying with saying that? If he did, then…
If he truly knew as much about her as he said, then that was not a claim to make lightly.
She still didn't know if she could trust him on account of the company he kept, but she knew this was not an offer she could ignore.
At the moment, all she knew was that she needed to leave.
She needed to talk to someone about it, someone who could understand. Not Dromarch, he had just left and there was no telling how he would react.
She needed to find Rex.
Who knows, maybe Jin's offer could be extended to him as well.
She came out of the stairwell's top, and the rushing air did its part to help calm her nerves. Despite the howl of the night's cool wind, the noises from below were still audible on the main deck. For a moment, Nia could swear she heard the voice of Malos' blade among the drunken salvagers, angrily yelling something about how his lips were not split.
She looked up to the crows nest, and a deep blue sleeve hanging over the guardrail told her all she needed to know about where she was going next.
The stairs were surprisingly silent. With how rusty they were, she expected them to squeak or creak or...some other sound that rhymes with meek, but her steps were barely noticeable.
As she approached the top, she began thinking of something clever to say to catch Rex off guard, but a sudden gust made her blurt something out.
"Ugh, It's bloody freezing up here."
Rex looked over his shoulder, and seemed pleasantly surprised to find the shivering Gormotti.
"Nia? What brings you up here?" He lowered his binoculars as he turned towards her.
"They've started boozin' below deck. Figured I'd see if you wanted to join."
"I'm on night watch, I can't exactly just leave." he explained, "Why aren't you down there?"
"Because if they start blacking out, it probably wouldn't be good for the medic to be a couple sheets to the wind herself. That, and I really don't need a headache right now."
"That just comes with the job, I'm afraid," he said with a chuckle."Swim like a fish, and drink like one too."
"That one of your Salvager Codes?" she asked, noting the straightening of his posture when he said it.
"The very first, actually." he said with another laugh, "I've heard life-long salvagers swear up and down it's integral to the job."
"Sounds terrible."
"It's certainly not for the faint of heart. Or faint of liver, I suppose. 'Course, I'm not old enough to drink yet, so I wouldn't know."
"If you're trying to sell me on the benefits of salvaging, you're doing an awful job." She tried leaning against the railing opposite Rex, but the metal was ice cold. Even through her jumpsuit, it made her recoil.
"Well, I'm not, so that's fine. I bet drivers earn a hell of a lot more than salvagers anyway."
"So you know salvaging isn't the best job for sending money home?"
Most of the joy left his face at that. He turned his head to look at the horizon, but Nia could tell he wasn't focusing on anything.
Nia attempted to backpedal. "Sorry, that just…came out."
"No, it's…it's fine. I'm well aware of it, yes."
"It…it wasn't so bad at first," he sullenly explained, "but then…I kept needing to buy things. Bills and bills of all these expenses, they all just piled up. My deliveries home got scarcer and smaller, eventually I couldn't send anything home, and..."
"And a better profession is out of the question, because the guild only hired someone so young because you were such a good salvager?"
"…More or less," he conceded. The pained look on his face said that wasn't actually where he was going with it, but Nia decided she shouldn't pry further.
Time to change the subject.
"What made you want to be a salvager anyway?" she asked, "I mean, I realize Letheria isn't the most bustling continent out there, but you must have some other reason."
The look in Rex's eyes softened, shifting away from remorse and more towards nostalgia.
"When I was-" he seemed to catch himself before he continued, as if he had said something incorrect, "The Lefterian archipelago is mostly cloud sea by territory, most villages are right on the surface. You'd have a hard time finding a Leftherian kid who didn't spend most of their time swimming in the clouds."
"When...when…I…" it was barely a noise, but Nia could hear Rex choke on his words when he referred to himself, "when I…was real little, that was basically all there was to do between Gramps' lessons."
"Lessons? You said your gramps taught you arts, but…" she stopped to consider what was most surprising here, "How little we talking?"
"Well, they aren't actually sure how old I was, but they figure I was around 5 or six when gramps started teaching me."
The image of an old, retired driver living on a quiet, remote island appeared in Nia's imagination. The idea of that man trying to get toddler Rex to crawl out of the clouds and pick his sword back up was admittedly amusing, but there was a more pressing matter presented by Rex's statement.
The first question to be asked was simply addressing how his aunt and grandpa didn't know how old he was. It would have been a simple enough thing to ask Rex's parents.
The parents that he had never mentioned at any point when referring to his family. The parents who in all likelihood would not have let their five-year-old learn advanced combat techniques with grandad, and who most certainly would not have let a fifteen-year-old enter a hazardous trade occupation…
"…Holy Architect, you're an orphan…" Nia's hand was covering her mouth, but her shock managed to push some words through it.
Rex didn't seem bothered by it. "Yeah, don't worry too much about it. Never met my parents, and neither have anyone else. Auntie said I must have only been one or two years when I was brought to the village. I'd say she and gramps did more than a good enough job raising me, eh?"
Nia was finally able to piece together several dots that had been bothering her about Rex. It seemed she finally figured out how someone so young got into this trade.
"So, you spent your whole childhood swimming in the clouds and learning to fight while living with your adopted family. You almost come of age, and decide you want to give back to the people who raised you, so you go off and join a salvage guild so you can pay back their kindness?"
It did sound like a fairly concrete life story, barring the purple, glowing, tumor-shaped hole in it that still needed an explanation. On the one hand, of course he was an orphan. In fact, he shouldn't have even been that, blades never have parents. On the other hand, it was far too easy to forget that Rex was a blade. He spoke of his family and his childhood like he actually had one, which made him all the more confusing.
The only explanation was that he was at one point a human, but that wasn't a possible answer.
"Hey, how do you mean almost of age, I work for a living!
"I'm not far off though, am I?"
Rex sighed in response. "No, not too far. It's not just to pay her back, though. I'm funding her orphanage."
Nia couldn't help but whistle at that. "Funding an orphanage? Mighty ambitious for someone not old enough to drink yet."
"Well, that's the reason." He sighed as he leaned his head back to look at the sky, "and…there is another reason, but…it's a bit silly, and something of long story."
A second, silly reason? That's too good to pass.
"Well, the boat's not going anywhere-"
"Ship."
"Whatever-"
"And the whole purpose of it is to go places-"
"The point being!" She interrupted in return, "We have no shortage of time to waste. I'm all ears."
He looked back down at her, a slight worry in his face. It was a distinctly different look than whenever someone began poking at his driver work alibi, like he actually wanted to tell her but knew he shouldn't.
A deep sigh later, he began to tell her anyway.
He turned his back to her, and pointed at something in the distance. The ludicrously enormous piece of foliage that sat on the horizon, the glow of its leaves complemented beautifully by the starry backdrop. The sign of Alrest's center.
"The…World Tree?" She asked in response. "I'm not sure I follow."
"…living space is running out, inch by inch every day. Titans are sinking, people are dying…the world might be ending."
Now she followed even less. "…alright, thanks for the existentialism, but what does that have to do with salvaging or the World Tree?"
"…I want to find a way up there. Up the World Tree, to the place where the Architect lives. I want to find Elysium."
Now she was completely lost. That was probably the last thing Nia was expecting him to say. She could feel she was making a face, but couldn't exactly tell what emotion she was trying to convey through it. The pause in the conversation only grew as Nia struggled to put her thoughts together.
"Yeah, alright, go on, laugh at me."
"Uh, what?"
"I said laugh." Rex repeated. A hint of annoyance was in his voice, but it was mostly resigned. "Everyone else does, don't worry, I'm used to it. You don't have to keep holding it."
"…why?" She finally asked.
There was so much to process in that statement, Nia was glad she at least managed to find the first question.
"They laugh because it's funny! A kid with a stupid dream, working his arse off for a load of nothing! What a gas, eh?" He made the most forced laugh Nia had ever heard.
"…N-no, Not that, why Elysium? You still haven't made the connection between any of the three things you've brought up."
Nia chose her approach carefully. This had become a sensitive topic, one that Rex is apparently passionate enough about to base a career on. If he was this convinced that anyone he told about it would mock him over it, then there could be serious damage if this was mishandled.
He seemed surprised she was actually taking him seriously. She couldn't see his face, but he gained more control over his breathing before he tried stepping away from the subject.
"…it's… it's nothing worth talking about. Just the stupid dream of a kid, I'm sorry I-"
She stopped him before he could stop the conversation. "No, shut up. It's…quite the dream, I admit, but what I think about it doesn't matter right now. You feel this strongly about it, it's worth talking about."
His head turned, more surprise filled his face in response to her words.
"So, Rex, from the top, explain to me. Why do you want to find Elysium?"
He turned back to the tree, looking up at its impossibly high branches.
"…I want to find Elysium, because I want to save the world."
The first connection was made. "So, is that where the sinking Titans tie in?"
He sighed as he crossed his arms over the railing to rest his head on them. "Yeah, and I know how much of a pipe dream it is."
Try as she might, Nia couldn't keep taking this without skepticism.
"It…does sound a little optimistic." She tried to make a restrained contribution instead of outright arguing, "I mean…say Elysium and the Architect really do exist, doesn't the story go that the reason we're on Alrest in the first place is that humanity was kicked out of Elysium? Who's to say there's even a way up there if we haven't gone back after so long?"
"I know, it's probably impossible, but I can't just sit back and watch. Alrest is approaching its end. It won't be today, probably won't be tomorrow, but someday, not too long in the future, everything is going to sink beneath the clouds. People know this, and instead of trying to fix the problem, they're just fighting over what little there is left. They don't even seem to realize they're making the problem worse…"
So far, Rex hadn't said anything wrong. Nia was never ecstatic of the fact that Titans were sinking faster than they appeared. Even still…
"So your solution is Elysium? The supposed land of bounty at the top of what very well could be just the world's largest tree, and you plan to stumble upon the way there by doing the opposite of just climbing it?"
Rex seemed like a good kid, and it sounded like he really did believe in this goal, but was this his whole reason to salvage from such a young age? Optimism could only take someone so far, it was a depressing thought that he only kept faith in it because he was too young to know how the world truly worked.
Of course, he was technically the same age he's always been. The fact that he was a blade was still unaddressed.
His head was raised once more as he looked to the sky.
"All my life, I've heard stories of it. A spectacular land at the very peak of Alrest, watched over by the man who made it. All my days salvaging, hunting for my next paycheck..." His attitude had shifted again, a strange mix of doubt and conviction was in his words. "I find a lot of stuff down there, under the clouds. Some trash, some treasure, but all of it used to belong to someone at some point. I guess I always had some spark of hope in the back of my mind that just maybe, some day, I'd find something that belonged to the Architect. Something I could use to get up there. A place in the heavens, a whole land of paradise, no need to fight, no land disappearing. Everybody could live in peace, they could finally just be happy. I think I can believe in something like that."
He turned around.
"If nobody has found a way up that tree, a real way, after all these years and across all these lands, then the only place left to look is down. Then, one day, that pipe dream became a hell of a lot more realistic. All of a sudden, I can stay under the clouds as long as I want. All of a sudden, I'm uniquely qualified to find that way to Elysium."
That was about where Nia had to draw the line.
"Hold on, let me get this straight. You intend to search the entirety of the cloud sea for a children's story, because you don't want people to fight? Rex, people are awful, selfish monsters. Even if by some miracle there is a whole untouched continent on the top of that overgrown bush, it won't change anything. People would find something to fight over up there."
"You don't really believe that do you?"
Her words were harsh, but she needed to say them.
"Don't have any particular reason not to. You have any idea how long the war has been going between Mor Ardain and Uraya? Like, proper going, none of that 'technically that was a different war' shite. They've been at each other's throats for centuries, that much bad blood and suffering isn't just going to disappear because some salvager climbed a tree. That is, assuming you don't work yourself to death looking."
"Well…!" He gestured with his hands as if leading into something, but not quite finding the words to make a case for himself. After a few seconds, he gave up and returned to facing the sea, defeated.
"…You're probably right, but I still feel like I need to do something. The world's slipping away, piece by piece. There needs to be something done, and I want to be a part of that more than anything. If I die…well, I guess that's fine either way. At least I tried to make it up to him."
"When you say 'him', who do you mean?"
"…it's a long story. You probably wouldn't believe it."
"Okay, firstly, I've sat through Dromarch explaining the entire history of gromrice cultivation, so don't talk to me about long stories. Secondly, I've seen my fair share of unbelievable things."
She hesitated a moment, considering whether she should add 'A handful of them happened after I met you.'
Rex only picked his binoculars back up.
"I'm sorry, Nia, but I can't talk about it. Not now, not while I'm on a salvage ship, not when I'm working for this. If we ever meet again after the job, I can tell you then."
"…well then. Guess this would be a good time to bring up I've had a job offer, and I'm pretty sure I could talk them into extending it to you."
Rex turned back around, confusion beginning to overtake the sullen look on his face.
"That Jin guy. Said I'd be a good fit, and…"
How should she put this?
And you have the exact qualifications for it as I do.
No, that shares too much.
And I think we make a good enough team to stick together.
Why would that work, they've only known each other for two weeks.
"...and I think that it would be in poor taste for me to not recommend someone who needs the money much more than I do."
"...thats a tempting offer, but I might have to-"
"Like hell I'm letting you pass it up, you are fully aware of how much they pay. Your ship's in terrible shape. It's honestly incredible to me that you think you have the disposable income to send money home, and…"
"...And?"
...damn it.
"…And you're the first person I've met who's treated me like a human after learning anything about me." There, she said it. "So, at the very least think about it, because I don't think I'd want to take the job on my own."
"You would still have Dromarch, wouldn't you?"
"Yeah, who do you think would forbid me from taking it alone? There's no way I could convince him to let me take a second job with that lot."
"Well, alright. I'll talk it over with Bana when we get back, see if there's a conflict of interest. In the meantime, you ask Jin what the open positions are. We'll talk it over in Rumbletum that night."
"Alright, then. It's a date."
"If it's a date, you're paying for the meal."
"Now why would I do that?"
"Because nearly every meal we've had together has been at my expense."
"That's…"
Wait, were they? There was the ride to Argentum, the fillets from the mail, and all the dinners…
"…huh. Yeah, you're right. Guess I should cover the meal, then."
Their voices became quiet after a shared laugh, but the bustling of the wind made sure to keep the silence out of the air. Rex decided that the lookout should probably actually be looking out for things, and returned to surveying the sea.
Nia could swear she was on the verge of solving the mystery of Rex, but there was that one big question that still needed to be addressed. It seemed that every step she took towards the answer made the question itself less clear. The only place left to look was in the only time frame without a witness.
Whatever had actually happened to Rex when he had his 'accident', that's where she would learn his whole story. Though, honestly? She didn't need to know. Whatever it was, it was still crushing Rex. If he didn't want to share, then she won't ask.
She had overall done a terrible job of staying out of his business, but he deserved to keep anything he wanted private from how well he's stayed out of hers.
Who he was made no difference. He was a nice kid with lofty goals who saved her life. If that's all he wanted to be, then she would stop thinking about it.
Without much else to do, Nia did a bit of looking, herself. The cloud sea wasn't particularly interesting, the fog that covered its surface hid any creature that poked their head out for a breath. No monster had the guts to brave the roar of the Maelstrom's engine and board the strange object disturbing their sleep.
With really nothing else to focus on, Nia looked back up at the World Tree.
They were in uncharted cloud sea territory, hundreds of continent-peds away from the base of that tree, and it still looked huge. Even if it was just a shrub, there might be something to be said about chopping it down and using the lumber to make a patio on the stump. Now that she thought about it, that tree is actually the only thing on Alrest that never moves.
If there was the off chance that meant something, the chance that…
"Elysium, eh? Quite the dream…" she narrowed her eyes as she looked down at the cloud sea's surface. "…Do you think…if someone were to find it…people would still want to stay down here?"
"Hm? I…don't know. Maybe."
If they did, then maybe nobody would notice if a Gormotti girl and her blade stayed behind. Maybe anyone who cared about who she was would have to move with the times, help govern and guide their people in the new land and all that. Maybe that girl could finally find somewhere she could actually live and never have to think about her past again.
Maybe she could finally find a place where the world left her alone.