"The Ether readings coming off that thing..." whispered the green Mechon.
"It's preventing us from finishing our mission!" the clawed Mechon screamed, but he sounded uncertain in his bravado, like the animals Daedala had observed acting overly aggressive to hide their fear.
"Our orders were not to risk our lives. We're retreating. Now," said the green Mechon, before launching into the air and dashing off in the opposite direction to the winged reptile with dark purple scales that dwarfed all of them and seemed to blot out the moon. Its eyes, glinting with a deep darkness that Daedala could not look into for long, observed them until they were no longer within its field of view, then lost interest.
Daedala only just realised he had quite forgotten to retreat himself. He had been too fascinated with the impossibly powerful life form that he had never seen before, or even heard of. He had no idea whether it was native to the Bionis or Mechonis. He didn't understand if it was friendly or hostile. It had attacked his enemies, but that didn't mean it wasn't going to attack him as well. The threat didn't sound as though it was directed at him. He didn't think he had a home any more. He was a little worried that he would be destroyed if he moved without permission, and part of him wondered if this thing had any answers for him.
"You stay where you are, I've got some things to discuss with you," said a voice that he realised wasn't external, but was being broadcast directly into his audio playback circuits, "I'm glad I found you before those people did. I'm not sure if even that force could have defeated you, but it would have left you damaged, and Mechon repair is one of the areas we don't have all that many resources available to us yet."
"Projected outlook on the battle says low chance of victory," replied Daedala, "What did you have to discuss with me? You seem to have a lot of information for me, and my understanding of the situation requires urgent updating."
"Yes, you've been asleep for a long time," replied the stranger, still hovering in the same spot, his wings gently beating, "I've been watching you, out of the corner of one eye. I would have come the moment you awoke, but headquarters was suddenly attacked and Marcus was almost killed. Their power is growing too rapidly for my liking. I'm glad I found another of your caliber."
"We are allies?" asked Daedala, utterly confused.
"If you will accept your new destiny," he replied, his eyes boring into Daedala's optical circuits, "My name is Avalanche Abaasy. Elder Sage of the Order of Uniques."
"What is a Unique?" asked Daedala.
"You are a Unique," he replied, "And if you accept my offer and allow me to help you come to terms with your new existence, I will see that you are a promoted straight to a seat on the Council of Sages. Normally there would be several hundred years of service involved, but your circumstances are exceptional. Frankly, we desperately need someone in the higher eschelons who can act as an ambassador to the many Uniques we know to exist on the Mechonis. Another Sage who can fly would also be a great blessing. And as for any tests of loyalty or trials of ordeal, there will be many opportunities for such things in the future. The very near future."
"As for what a Unique actually is," continued Abaasy, "It is one who has qualities that cannot be replicated, and one that we will never see the like of again. One who has power far beyond anything that make them recognisable as one of their own kind. One who doesn't think the same as others of their species. And, because they are one of a kind, a Unique is alone. They no longer resemble the species they came from, even if they still wish to be a member of their community, and there is only one of the thing they became. Or, in the case of myself, only three of us ever existed in the world in the first place."
"A Mechon does not function like this. A Mechon is a unit in a highly efficient army."
"So is a Unique, we are just not an army of entities that are all the same, or are all in the same place. We have survived for thousands of years," he said, "And you are no longer a unit in the Mechon army. You are almost certainly no longer welcome on the Bionis. You haven't been for a long time. You attempted to make peace with the two Face Mechon, did you not? But they attacked you on sight. You probably don't even know what a Face Mechon is. They are your replacements. The Mechonis has forgotten that you ever existed. Even the spot where you were standing has been severed from the Mechonis' body, and its memory, and something new has regrown over both."
"I was recently sent a signal to reactivate..."
"By me," Abaasy said, "It took me a lot of effort and I was exhausted by the time I had to assist Marcus. I haven't used my powers on a native of the Mechonis before now. I had to invent a way to make the flow of ether fully compatible."
"You hacked me," said Daedala, "Did you tell me to attack the Machina, too?"
"I imagine that was Egil."
"Egil, the child of Miqol?"
"I understand your confusion. A lot has happened with the political situation on the Mechonis while you were asleep. I will overlook your accusations against me. I ask that you believe me when I tell you that you are no longer welcome on the Mechonis. You would be destroyed if you attempted to go there, and I would lose a Sage," he said.
"I am a reject?"
"You are an exile," said Abaasy, "The Machina who live here are also exiles. When the war between the Mechonis and the Bionis began, you were set to the task of protecting the evacuees as they fled. I was watching you. I was there to assist the Unique Mechon, but I was also watching you. You would not leave your post, even when the sword of the Bionis came down and you knew the arm would come off. The corpses of many Telethia littered your feet."
"I remember," said Daedala, "That is why I reacted so strongly to the order to attack the Machina. Miqol had told me that he did not want a prototype Mechon to be on the front lines. Vanea made a joke that I was being treated like a valuable antique, and that Miqol would put me on a shelf."
"You were not put on a shelf like a worthless luxury item. You protected the refugees. You are not only an exile, you are a leader of exiles."
"Then I should remain behind and protect them further."
"They aren't going to stay there for long anyway. They aren't hiding any more. I saw them rebuilding their craft so that it can fly. They are going to rejoin the war effort," explained Abaasy, "Your mission is over. I am giving you the option to find a new purpose, rather than simply wandering in exile. Once you are elevated to the power of a full Unique, you will be able to do a lot of things you wouldn't be able to do. You would even survive a return trip to the Mechonis."
"But I wouldn't be able to rejoin my people, or fulfil my function," said Daedala.
"The old life you want to return to isn't even there any more," said Abaasy, "But you can still help the remaining Uniques on the Mechonis. I know it isn't your concern, but I assure you, you are a Unique. If you come with me to Valak Mountain, where the Council of Sages gathers, I will muster all the Uniques. We will perform the Rite of Naming. Then you will feel it. You will understand."
"A Mechon cannot 'feel'," Daedala informed him, "Where is Valak Mountain?"
"On the Bionis, but you will not be attacked on sight," he added, seeing the Mechon reflectively go into a defensive stance, "Unlike the Mechonis, the Bionis does not know you, personally, exist, so it has no need to make an effort to hunt you down. But we will change that. After tonight, the whole Universe will know your name."
Daedala was indeed not attacked as he followed Abaasy through the sky towards the Bionis, apart from by two overambitious Moramoras who mistook him for food and a small party of invading Mechon. He was most worried he would run out of fuel on the long journey but his gauge didn't seem to even deplete. Abaasy's aura was visible, black with tinges of violet, as he continuously channelled incalculable amounts of Ether, and Daedala wondered if the dragon was manipulating his functions in some way with the same magic that had sent an activation signal without even needing any computer terminal.
This was Daedala's first look at the Bionis close up. Their destination was on the Bionis' right arm, close to the Titan's sword, where a battle on a smaller scale raged once again. On the peak of the mountain, the howling gales drowned out the sound of the fighting and the swirling, glittering shards of ice obscured the world below from view like a funereal veil. For a mortal, it was enough to think about not freezing to death, or falling off a sheer cliff face, or being eaten by one or another variety of large flying creature. Daedala was also worried about his jets freezing up or the ice clogging his vents, so he descended as quickly as possible to land on what his sensors told him was a small clearing. He landed in front of a door set into the side of the mountain, leading into an artificial cave. The door was well-made, carved with intricate designs, and had no obvious handle or lock, but looked as though it had quite a sophisticated locking mechanism that, from the residual traces of Ether around it, didn't just involve machinery. Ether streamed out in rivulets of fire across the clearing, spilling down the mountain like lava. Canals had been built, following the leylines as closely as possible. Daedala felt a little hyper-charged just looking at it all.
Preoccupied with examining the Ether network, he didn't notice that other people were in the clearing with him until he heard a deep voice clear their throat irritably, and another voice hiss at him with barely contained savagery. He looked up to see that he had been cornered by an enormous, hirsute humanoid and a murderous-looking rabbit with glowing eyes who sat on a sedan throne carried by a retinue of rabbit slaves. The tiny eyes bored into him, demanding that he justify his existence now lest he be relieved of it. He was about to open his mouth to explain the situation, when their heads turned to glance up at him, a look of awe on their faces that Daedala associated with sudden appearances by Meyneth. The focus of their worship – Abaasy – settled on a boulder and regarded the giant impassively.
"Abyssal One!" said the giant, "I was not expecting you back at this hour! I would have prepared a welcoming ceremony! Is this the guest you spoke of?" The dragon replied with a prolonged blink that Daedala guessed meant yes, whereupon the giant turned around, raised his arms and started bellowing at a spot directly behind the Mechon, "UNIQUES! The Dragon of the Abyss is in attendance! This Mechon is his honoured guest! He wishes us to join him in a most ancient and sacred rite!"
"Any who dishonour him go back down the cliff the fast-track way!" screeched the rabbit, licking his lips as though he relished the thought, "Don't think you get out of it if you can fly, I've got sharp teeth and I know where to bite!"
"That will not be necessary, Despot," rumbled an even deeper voice, one with a bestial quality to it. Daedala looked up and found the source of the voice curled on a boulder above him, a white-furred animal with wickedly sharp horns, teeth and claws, its powerful bulk twice the size of the humanoid giant. It looked half-asleep as it picked something out of its teeth with a hooked claw.
"I was only saying it so people wouldn't pick on him for being a Mechon!"
"Don't you keep up with the news any more? He's our new potential Sage. Nobody 'picks on' someone strong enough that Abaasy thinks they'd make a good Sage."
"If a combat demonstration is required, I am happy to comply," said Daedala.
"Don't encourage him," said the beast in a gruff tone, "I'm Blizzard Belzegaas, by the way. I'm a Behemoth. I don't know if the Dragon introduced us all, or talked about higher concepts we unworthy beings couldn't possibly comprehend instead. The bunny's Despotic Arsene..."
"His Radiant Majesty the God-Emperor Arsene of the Glorious Bunnit Regime," corrected the rabbit.
"Our Master of Ceremonies is Final Marcus. He'll talk you through the ritual. I'm just here as event security. Hope you had a nice flight in, anyway."
"Thank you," said Daedala. His sensors picked up other life forms all around him, not quite as blindingly powerful as the four on the peak but still stronger than the creatures he usually encountered. They milled around, trying to get a better view of whatever was happening above them. Realising that he had not introduced himself in return, he added, "I am Daedala, Prototype Mechon One."
"Has a Name been decided upon yet?" Marcus asked Abaasy. There was silence, some kind of wordless communication, then Marcus nodded and said, "Ah, I see. Daedala, have you decided whether or not you wish to join your fellow Uniques?"
Daedala replied, "I was told that you could help me return to the Mechonis, and that you would aid other Mechon who are in my position. You also seem to know a lot about the situation on the Mechonis at the moment. I will join you if you aid me in return."
"Being Named isn't simply an employment contract, Mechon," said Marcus, "Your Name is your new identity. It is your destiny. Your lifepath. That means you have to leave your old life behind. Do you understand?"
"He's a prototype. He doesn't have a destiny," said Arsene, grabbing a fig from a slave and devouring it messily.
"On the contrary, my original purpose has already been fulfiled," said Daedala, "I am a prototype. My product is in distribution. It now no longer resembles me, but not so much that I was deemed a failure. We were built for war, and we survived one and are fighting a second."
"If you're so useful, why were you discarded like a broken doll?" Arsene spat out the fig stone at the slave's head.
"Mechon are not built to last forever. We are not kept once we go beyond our shelf life," he said.
"You're not past your shelf life. You look like you could take Marcus' head off," commented the Bunnit, "A Unique is not an ant, to work to death for someone else and then go quietly to die in a corner. Go and surrender to the Homs if you want that. Or become one of my slaves. I could do with someone who won't keep dropping my chair."
"I will not count myself inoperative until I cease moving altogether, but I will not betray my people," said Daedala, "I was told you could help me save the remainder of them."
"Well, he doesn't consider the idiots who are trying to get both worlds destroyed to be his people, or he'd just leave them to it. That's one thing, at least," replied the Bunnit, "If he wants to save Unique Mechon, I say, take advantage of the extra hands on deck. If he proves loyal to us, and he wants to join us after the battle ends, he can join us. If not, we can always ditch him while we're still on the Mechonis and watch him get torn apart by his own kind."
"Tactfully put as always," said Marcus, "And don't forget that we have to prove our own worth as allies to him. If we help you save your people, will you at least consider joining us?"
"For what reason do you wish me to join you?" asked Daedala, "Are you simply another faction fighting this war? Or do you collect Uniques? This seems no different to existing only as a valuable piece of legacy technology."
"You don't understand anything, do you? Time is running out for us, too," said Arsene, picking fleas out of his ear, "It's running out for the entire Universe. We consider ourselves a separate species, and we're not going extinct without a fight. Those other idiots are just speeding their demise, but at least we've got a semblance of a sensible plan."
"Don't insult Abaasy's plan, Arsene, I've warned you about angering Abaasy before," said Belzegaas, "Look at you, Daedala, you don't look anything like a Mechon, you're not wired to a Mechon mainframe and other Mechon attack you on sight. If you decide that you're the original and true Mechon and the new brand is going against design specifications, we'll respect that decision and aid you in that fight. Or if you decide that you're not a Mechon, we'll help you fight for your right to be free of the Mechonis' influence. But you have to make the decision soon, and you do need a new identity of some kind. This trip to the Mechonis – it can be your last if you wish – is going to be your opportunity to do so. As well as to aid the people involved in this war that nobody else will help. So, are you with us?"
Daedala thought about this for a short while, then his optical sensors blinked green and whirred in the Mechon noise for affirmation.