Disclaimer: I do not own the Elder Scrolls series, only my OC.
18th of Sun's Dusk
Cogitum Centralis, Clockwork City
"I am sorry. I am under orders to keep the door sealed until I receive new instructions from someone with proper authorization."
"Damnit AIOS! I am the Chancellor of the Congress and I am ordering you to open this door at once!" The dark elf woman in leather armor with brass plating shouted at the holographic humanoid automaton. A crowd of men and women of several races, all dressed in armor and robes with the same designs gathered behind her, every one of them looking anxious.
"Again, I am sorry Chanellor Varuni. Master Sil's contingency plan for this scenario requires that I disengage Strongbox Protocols and seal the Throne room once all hostiles are dead. Only certain individuals are permitted to access the Throne Aligned now." Automata Inacarnum Overseer System, or AIOS for short, calmly replied. The system had no physical body, but it could project the image of a factotum, a humanoid construct, to facilitate user interface needs.
Varuni just sighed explosively and ran a metal hand through her graying hair, dealing with this was working her last nerve in an already horrible situation. First the alarms sound two days ago, alerting them to an intruder in the Cogitum Centralis, Lord Sotha Sil's private workshop. Then when they tried to enter, they found all entrances sealed. While they were trying to open the doors the next day, the alarm went off again, signaling another intruder behind the doors. By the time the doors were finally open, they found nothing but corridors filled with destroyed defense constructs, and the door to the Throne Aligned, Sotha Sil's throne room, still sealed tight.
"That does it!" Varuni declared as she turned to the crowd of men and women behind her. "Gather the congress! We'll combine our skills and blast this door down if we have to!"
"That won't be necessary Varuni..."
The crowd parted and looked to the person who said this, allowing him to step forward and walk up to Varuni and AIOS's projector. He wore white robes over light metal armor, bearing the same mechanical arm and leg replacements as the rest of the men and women in the tunnel. His light-gray skin and fuchsia eyes were complimented by his shoulder-length graying-brown hair and goatee. He also had a long metal staff with a globe at the end strapped to his back.
"Soval Morvayn." Varuni crossed her arms as the younger man (compared to her) walked up. "Do you have a way to unlock this door?"
"I have one idea, let me speak to AIOS." Before Varuni could say anything, Soval moved over to the projector.
"By the Word of Seht, I am bound. Welcome, Honored Assistant Soval Morvayn. How may I assist you today."
"AIOS, I need you to open this door. We need to ensure Master Sil is safe." Soval spoke evenly.
"I am sorry, I cannot do that. This contingency plan forbids me from opening this door."
Soval raised his hand over his head, causing a magic ward to surround himself and the projection terminal, preventing any sound from being heard by those outside. "System override, execute last request."
"System override requested. Please say your pass phrase to authorize."
Soval smiled bitterly for a moment. "My mother Taliana, my father Sadri, my little brother Velar, and my little sister Araava."
"Dreaming... seashore... campfire... Pass phrase accepted, override engaged, unsealing throne room door. Warning: no life signs detected."
Soval simply frowned and lowered the ward. The door unsealed and Varuni practically ran inside the minute it was high enough.
"Lord Seht! Are you alright! Are you- no!" Varuni's voice turned from worry to outright anguish as the others filed in and saw the cause.
Sotha Sil's body hung from an arch in the center of the room, suspended by cables attached to his mechanical arms. His head was slack, his unique helmet fallen to the floor and his long white hair dangling around his neck. His robe had a massive stab wound in his torso, likely from a sword rather then a dagger. Varuni was kneeling in front of his body and crying, joined soon by other devout apostles as they walked in.
Soval on the other hand was drawn to a second body near the wall. It was a sparsely dressed woman with pale yellow skin, bright red hair, and a vicious green mask hiding her features. She had a massive stab wound in her stomach, cauterized as if the wound was exposed to extreme heat while she was stabbed... or she was stabbed with a fire-enchanted blade.
Varuni looked up from her tears and turned to see what Soval was doing. She widened her eyes like saucers when she saw the body.
"Almalexia? How did she get in here? Did she... did she murder Lord Sotha Sil?" her voice was fragile, likely from shock. The rest of the present apostles looked to the dead goddess and started talking amongst themselves.
"How did she get into the Cogitum?"
"Did she trigger the alarm?"
"Could she have murdered Lord Seht?"
Soval ignored the growing discussion and walked over to the AIOS terminal inside the door. "AIOS, how did Almalexia get in here? Did Sotha Sil invite her here?"
AIOS's hologram popped into existence over the projector. "He did not, Almalexia was not authorized to be here. When she arrived, I engaged Strongbox Protocols. This did not stop her though, she fought her way through to the Throne Aligned. She briefly spoke to Master Sil, and when he did not respond, she killed him. She then took a number of fabricants and sent them through a portal to an unknown location."
Soval widened his eyes at that. "She entered the Cogitum through a portal? That shouldn't be possible... unless..."
"The energy signature from the portal was matched to records of experiments performed by Honored Assistant Barilzar."
"The Mazed Band." Soval ground out as he frowned deeply. "She dug up Barilzar's grave after everything he did to seal himself and that ring away... That's one alarm, what happened next."
"A day later, another portal opened and a dunmer dressed in Ordinator armor entered the Cogitum. Strongbox Protocol was reengaged, but like Almalexia, he fought his way through with a combination of sword and magic. When he reached the throne, he examined Master Sil's body and seemed shocked he was dead. Another portal opened, Almalexia entered the throne room and attacked him. He killed her in self defense and took her blade and Honored Assistant Barilzar's Mazed Band, then opened a portal and left."
Soval simply sighed while the rest of the apostles filling the throne room stared at AIOS. A few of them started moving to Almalexia's body, raising weapons as if to take out their anger on the corpse.
"Stop. Nothing we do now will change what happened." Soval raised his arm and spoke firmly. "Take both their bodies to the surface, we will inter them at the Elegiac Replication. Then we will sort out what must be done next."
The angry apostles sheathed their weapons, seeing the logic in Soval's statements. Sotha Sil's body was removed from the arch and gently carried by four apostles, while Almalexia was haphazardly thrown over a Nord apostle's shoulder. While the bodies were carried out, Varuni walked up to Soval while holding Sotha Sil's helmet in her hands, carrying it like a mother would carry a child.
"I can't believe he's really gone..." Varuni choked out while tears streamed down her wrinkled face.
Soval sighed deeply. "He's not gone, he lives on in his creations. We must take steps to ensure the Clockwork City's future."
"I agree completely..." She held out the helmet for Soval to take. "The city will need a master to guide it, to lead the Clockwork Apostles. You are his last living apprentice, if anyone is worthy of taking his place, it's you."
Soval's face betrayed no emotion as he took the helmet and looked it over, turning it one way and another in his hands. "I cannot." He returned the helmet to Varuni's hands.
"What do you mean?" She was more confused then shocked now.
"Change is coming to the City, and I can do more as I am now then trying to take his place. The congress can govern the city effectively."
"But..." Whatever Varuni was going to say was cut off by Soval shaking his head.
The male apostle cast a spell, opening a portal. "I will ensure the survival of Sotha Sil's people, but not by trying to take his place." He pulled a white hood over his head and stepped through the portal, leaving Varuni with their god's helmet in a dark throne room.