AC: : To answer the question of what Agitos found weird, it's just that when a human is coded, his body disappeared into thin air. It is not something that happens naturally in their world. That is one of the things that made them believe they came from the Cothica.
Milla'iin mission was a success. He decided to accomplish it on his own. Right now, he had trouble fully trusting some of his own tribes. Many creatures were protesting the way of their previous ruler Aa'une. Despite being an Oligarchy, Aa'une had the most influence one of their tribe, just like his mother before.
He went in Chaor's castle and stole a scanner. He knew he had one. Luck was on his side and found two in the same room.
Just in case things went wrong, the M'arrillian hid it just outside of the city. If he lost one, he might be able to pick the other one at peace. That scenario happened with his battle against Rothar.
Even in defeat, the creature was victorious.
Chapter 21: What Lies Inside The Scanners
Milla'iin returned in the Deep Mine with a scanner. The yellow scanned in his tendril was intact. Once he was safe, he studied it. It looked like the one he obtained from MajorTom, before he escaped somehow. The only thing different was the color.
He was excited from the progress they made to reach the Cothica. Still, they needed a human for the next phase. One of the three boys would be fine.
"You are back," a guard of his tribe said.
His big eye went to the other M'arrillian and nodded, "Yes. The mission is a success," he then called Bahrakatan with his mind. He needed to meet him and showed him the scanner. They needed to see what it contained.
He got a positive answer and went where the Coralsmith lived. He quickly reached the large residence of the Kha'rall and went inside.
The creature was currently checking his instruments. He needed them to be fully functional, "So you came back from your foolish attempt to get a scanner," he commented calmly as he put his hammer down. He turned around and saw that the Chieftain had one, "And you just lose a part of your limbs."
Milla'iin grunted, "The price means little compare to what this will bring us Bahrakatan. This little battlegear of those humans will be the key to our final victory."
"As long as you don't hurt one of them," the purple creature warned the other one. He clapped his pincer loudly as a warning, "They come from the Cothica."
"They are against us," the yellow M'arrillian replied. He gave the scanner, "I want to see what lies inside of this battlegear. With it, we can make a Telebracer."
They knew how to make it. During the war, they managed to obtain the plan thanks to their spy during the war, within the walls of Kiru City. They didn't want any nasty surprise.
Bahrakatan delicately put the scanner on his table and observed it for a while. He touched it and nothing happened. His claw softly pressed on the screen. It remained black. He pressed on the switches and on the symbol of Chaotic. Nothing happened, as expected.
"What are you doing?" the chieftain asked with impatience.
"Some observations. After I opened it, it might not be possible to put it back together," he replied with some annoyance.
"Hurry up."
"No," the Kha'rall replied, "Careful study is the best approach. That's why I made the best battlegears Milla'iin," he turned his head towards the other creature and added, "Even Aa'une knew he shouldn't rush me."
The chieftain admitted defeat and sighed. He crossed his tendrils and waited. His big eye went to his wound. It would eventually regenerate.
"While you were gone, the arsenal had been attacked," Bahrakatan commented as he finished the initial inspection.
"Those traitors. Did they steal anything?"
"A few battlegears. Most of them were those I made. They picked the high quality," he replied.
"Dammit! Those traitors are bringing shame to our late Oligarch!" he furiously grunted as he wanted to smash anything. The pincer near his tendril made him change his mind, "I'll ask if they found anything about them."
"They escaped. I fear that everything will go out of control soon. The guards cannot stop them or control them."
"We will crush them soon enough. With the Cothica, they will learn their grave mistake."
"Anyway," he picked a coral shard and began searching for a way to open the scanner, "I finished my inspections. There is little… Expect a message on the back, written in their language."
"No one knows what it meant."
"I believe it isn't something important. There is no symbol on it," he replied. He gazed at it.
It was simply the logo and the name of the company that made the scanners.
Bahrakatan declared, "And I got it," he forced the scanner to reveal its inside. He took away the lid thing to the inside of the scanners. Once his eyes settled on the inward of the scanners, he dropped his tool. He saw the little square things in the inside of the scanners. The little things that meant nothing. However, he believed those things contained great powers. He saw the white thing on the blue surface that connected those squares together. The Coralsmith didn't want to lay a finger on the inside. It was just marvelous. None of this made sense in his mind, but it was the wonders of the Cothica.
The creature wondered how such a complex thing could do so many things, the humans are genius. I don't see any source of energy and… none of this feels like it's natural, he thought of everything he made. It always came from something originally. He and the other tribes could construct something unique, but never looking this complex and small.
The other creature didn't understand what was so fascinating about it. It was just some mysterious thing that made it work. It was true that it was something otherworldly, but to be that fascinated by it.
He grabbed something and slowly pulled it up. It was more oval thing that stood out from the others. He wondered why it had that form.
"What is that?" Milla'iin asked when he touched the object. Since his tendrils were naturally humid, touching it had a different effect that the other creature. He felt like a shock and pulled his tendril away. He grunted, "What is this accursed thing?"
"This must be the source of energy for the scanner. Very small, but extremely powerful."
"Still… this is not what would make a Telebracer work," the chieftain grumbled.
The Kha'rall continued his observation of a relic made in the Cothica. Just seeing it confirmed that they really came from there. No words were needed. Such an everyday object for the humans was fascinating. He feared to imagine what a weapon made by them would look like. He opened the inside of the scanner and saw something standing out from the rest. He carefully looked at it.
The other M'arrillian also gazed, "Yes! That is the thing that allowed those Telebracers to work!"
The Coralsmith it out. It was a special object that looked like the square things. It was a little bigger, but it was pure black compared to the silver one's. Just looking a it and he could feel some mysterious energy coming out of it, "This is what allowed the scanners to travel between locations. This little square thing is…" he couldn't find a word to describe it.
He gently put it besides the scanner and observed it more. There was nothing else about to analyse. It was only fascination, how could they made something that small and be so powerful. It can remember precise location that has been scanned and bring back the human at the same place. A Flux Bubble couldn't even do that. And Telebracers are somewhat limited without the rest of the scanner. They only need to obtain the location in the scanner. To be there once.
"Extremely powerful," Milla'iin said after a long moment of silence. He approached it and chuckled, "Do you imagine the power of anything they made, but bigger? Such power will allow us to crush the other tribes. This is the true power of the Cothica."
"What the humans can do," Bahrakatan sighed as he crossed his arms. After seeing it, everything was possible.
"And those traitors will learn to respect and fear us. They will crawl back and beg for mercy once we reached the Cothica and assume control of the human's world."
"How? We can't control their mind anymore," the other one replied.
With Aa'une demise, their ability to control the mind of the other creatures were greatly diminished. They lacked raw power to do so and one could eventually control the mind of one creature. How was their previous Oligarch so powerful to control every creatures mind? It was a mystery they couldn't solve.
"That is the detail that we Chieftains shall work out. It is time to make that Telebracer anyway," he went away. There was nothing else to see.
The smith was left alone. The creature sighed and continued studying the scanner. How great humans are, he thought with admiration. He lightly chuckled as he thought back. Before Aa'une fall, he never did wonder about those Chaotic Players. He knew of the Messenger Of The Cothica. He held little interest. Now, he regretted it. They were fascinating. The Chaotic Players had no power on their own. They couldn't control the elements with their body.
"Yet. You can create such marvelous battlegear. We couldn't even see the deepest part of your mind because of those. You have the power of the Cothica," he thought about the Chieftain and his desire to use their war battlegears and claimed their mind, such disrespect for the Cothica.
They were many things he didn't tell Milla'iin. Bahrakatan thought of those who stole his battlegears. He did report it, but never spill any names. He was the only witness of those traitors. He spoke none of what he saw. He shared nothing. He let them get away with it. Their identity preserved.
There was one little thing the traitor said that shut his mouth.
"Glory to the messenger!" that echoed in his mind.
The Coralsmith knew that those echoed the desires of the messenger long ago. Most where the descendant of those who heard the last words of the first traitor during the first war. Without Aa'une, nothing held them back from fighting back.
As of now, there was no civil war yet. The traitors were simply preparing their coup.
The other thing he knew was that some Chieftains had joined the traitors. With them around, the group was better organised with more successful operations to get geared up for the civil war.
It only needed a spark to begin.
As for himself, he didn't pick a side. He didn't act against any of them yet.
"Maelstrom. Did you know you would cause this when your execution came?"
That question would never be answered.
For now, he shall do what told and desired. He would study the scanner and its secrets to forge a Telebracer.
AC: This is the end of this chapter. I hope you enjoy it. If I'm not clear after I rewrote this, they knew how to make one because they read the plan with their spies before the battle of Kiru City.
As for the M'arrillians controlled the minds of other creatures, I don't know. This is only my guess I went along with.
Next Chapter: Return Of The Messenger.
Alexandre, the mysterious Messenger Of The Cothica finally returns to Perim after so many solans and years.
The end of his mysteries shall come and with him, the beginning of the end of this arc. 5 more chapters before the finale of this Arc. (If I stick up to the plan.)