Yes. I'm alive. It's been more than 20 days since last chapter.

I've been busy wasting time.

More details later.

February 9, 2023

Chapter 6

Mondstadt

One of their recently built outpost

The one around James

Huffman handed over the telescope to Jean as she took a closer look at the automatons. There was now six of them doing their own thing. While intrigued by their sleepless efficiency, she worried about the damage to nature.

She frowned at the sight of tens of trees turned to stumps.

"What time did he wake up?" Jean asked the knight as she watches the armored figure eating a meal on a table. In the early morning where the sun is rising, the palisades are slowly projecting their shadows. A maid was preparing tea over a campfire as others bring and prepared wild ingredients over the table.

"Umm... He never slept, ma'am." Huffman resisted the urge to yawn. "Though he's only been seen taking a break once in a while. Nothing more."

"... Great job. We'll take over."

"Yes ma'am."

Huffman walked on his way to the city.

The morning sun shone down, and Jean felt grateful for the peaceful sleep she had managed to get. With everything that had happened the day before, she was pleasantly surprised that her brain had been able to switch off and let her rest.

It was a new day and she knew that dwelling on the past or worrying about the future would get her nowhere. She needed to accept the reality of the situation and figure out how to move forward.

What should she talk to him about? His motives? His plans? His citizenship status? Jean wondered where to start the conversation. Perhaps it made the most sense to start with his status. Technically, he was no different from a shipwrecked sailor, which made him a refugee.

The thought was amusing. When one thinks of a refugee, you'd think of some helpless victim. Not someone who could bring down a well-armed military organization, let alone its top dogs.

That said, last night's debate made her felt foolish - to send a letter to Varka and to gather the entirety of the Favonius to gang against one shipwrecked refugee who simply defended himself? That wouldn't make the Favonius different from a bully.

Still.

James was taking down their trees like it was his.

"Noelle. Prepare us some Sweet Madames."

"Of course, ma'am. Sweet Madames coming up."

Noelle summoned her sword and aimed at the flock of swans about to fly overheard. She swung up and threw as the sword spun and beheaded a few birds. She caught all the ingredients and her sword with one hand.

As Noelle went to prepare breakfast, Jean's thoughts returned to James. She couldn't help but be cautious of him, especially after the battle yesterday. However, she also couldn't ignore the fact that he hold valuables from the outside world.

He himself, too, being an exotic being.

She needed to approach with caution. It was a delicate balance, but she was confident that Lisa could handle it. She just needed to keep an open mind.

As the aroma of the Sweet Madames filled the air, Jean's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of footsteps. She turned to see Lisa stretching and yawning. She find help but see how adorable she looks in her pajamas and her fluffy witch hat - her droopy eyes and sleepy exterior added to the charm.

"Good morning, Lisa. Breakfast is almost ready."

"Good morning, Jean." Lisa rubbed her eyes and leaned on Jean. "I can smell breakfast from here."

"Yes, Noelle is almost done preparing them." Jean didn't mind the gesture. "We need to fuel ourselves first before we start the day."

As they sat down to enjoy their meal, Jean couldn't help but feel excited for the day ahead. Today was just the beginning of a journey into the unknown, but she was ready for it.

Still in Mondstadt...

Well, somewhere outside

James... camp? Crash site? Yeah. That.

No matter what planet you're in, there was just something about the sunrise.

The rising sun signified a new day, a new beginning.

James sat on a wooden stool in front of a wooden table, helmet off to his side, while eating a yellow-packaged survival meal with disposable cutlery. He pondered on the possibilities of finding a new home in this planet.

Having spent more than half of his life in space, centuries out there in the stars, he learned that home was not a place, but a feeling.

His heart have settled long ago back in his colony, and it's a hard fact he must adapt to yet another new life. He couldn't shake off the idea of settling down in a place where he could live peacefully and anonymously.

He thought of finding a mountain and establishing an underground base, or perhaps find an island for his own...

... And make an underground base.

An underground base in some remote island sounded romantic and villainous, like of those secret bases of some comic book villains or in spy movies. Coolness factor aside, he needed a place no one can reach. He recalled his fight yesterday and thought, what if there's more of those kind of people?

That fight was nothing comparable to a mechanoid raid with a war queen in the mix, or an army of cannibals with a motley of rusted guns, or raiders with power armor found somewhere. Inferior as their armament was, he fought people that came from a functioning nation with a proper military, not some hodgepodge of space survivors tattling their guns around.

What needs to be acknowledged was that he is not in some rimworld anymore. There are actual civilizations out there, and life for him wouldn't be as simple as showing off his guns to whatever idiot out there who thinks they can steal his shit. Not anymore. No, if they can't outfight him or outperform his toys, people out there will find a way to screw him one way or another. That's an eventuality.

He needed a scout. Preferably an eye in the sky to map out everything. Assuming Mondstadt wasn't landlocked, maybe he could launch one of the droids via launch pods, hope it lands on some empty ocean, and make it swim to find an island before its battery drains to shutdown…?

Yeah. No...

Wait...

No.

Yeah.

Why sacrifice a droid when he could just rig a wireless camera to a pod and then launch it somewhere? It should work. The ship had cameras all around for spatial awareness. It's only a matter of checking which ones works and had wireless functionality.

(AN: I just find it weird that in the base game, you already get to see the whole map of the planet, assuming yours is at 100 percent map coverage. So I figured to write this.)

"D-one. Buddy." One of the droid smelting steel chunks turned to him. He eyed all the salvaged parts that was piled in one place. "Find me all camera modules and put it just there. After that, go back to your job."

He walked to one of the launch pods and thought the optimal spot.

"Hmm… I could have the droids splice it on this part..." He walked around the pods. In the corner of his vision, his archotech eye implant outlined and highlighted silhouettes of people. He faced them. His eye zoomed in to see familiar and new faces.

"Oh… Visitors... D-one. Belay that order. D-one to D-six!" The other nearby droids stopped what they were doing and turned to their master. "Construct eight stools around that table, then go back to your previous tasks."

He gestured his unfinished meal.

D-two stopped hauling steel chunks. D-three paused in constructing more launch pods. D-four and D-five stopped refining chemfuel. D-six stopped chopping trees.

All went straight to the wood piles that they hauled to the designated spot.

"They finally decided to say hi."

Hopefully, they're not too pissed with how much trees cut down. He underestimated how much launch pods needed for everything… and in extension how much fuel needed for it all.

"Hello!" Lisa waved her arms. "James. Morning!"

This is going to be awkward isn't? He surmised, recalling the events yesterday, waving an arm in reply. At least she's in a better mood.

"Hello… Uh…"

Fuck. What should I say? He thought.

"Uh…" If he still had his biological heart, he would have felt his chest beating like a drum.

Though this was inevitable, he'd rather do anything else than this.

Killing people?

Yes.

Talking to people?

No.

Lisa, with a warm smile, led the group of seven being on the front where others seemed hesitant to approach. The time they were some steps away, the group seemed to be entranced with the droids working as they stand silent, half impressed and half curious.

He took a deep breath and walked towards the group of visitors, a smile on his face. He needed to make a good impression and hopefully, they wouldn't mind the trees that had been cut down. He approached the group, unknown what sort of he should make. Different cultures have different traditions, so who knows that a handshake would have a different meaning to theirs.

"Hi! Lisa. And… Others… Welcome. Uh just give them a minute, please."

Lisa was eyeing the droids. Unlike others where they stare like children first time seeing a dog, she was analyzing them. The droids used their integrated power tools in their forearms to turn raw wood into parts, which they used to assemble the stools and table.

A droid was violently yet precisely punching nails to a stool surface to its legs. The end result wasn't a masterpiece, but its still a functional chair. The droids arranged the stools around the table, then left to their previous tasks.

The audience were impressed with wide eyes. They we're muttering to themselves in a hushed discussion.

"You think they're like the ruin guards?" "Ever seen a ruin guard make a chair?" "A ruin machine making a chair. Ha. Now that's something I'll pay a fortune to see."

"Their forearms… transformed into strange tools. Made some odd buzzing noises." "Like wasps flying near your ears."

"You think he came from Khaenri'ah?" "Look at his armor. I don't think so." "He's got some weird scars in his face." "Yeah… too organized. Looks intended. Scarification traditions perhaps?"

Kaeya squatted to inspect one of the stool. Jean rubbed the surface of the stool with her gauntleted hand. Everyone had their attention split and changing.

Yes. A stool. A surface with four legs. Very revolutionary. Can I impress you one with a backrest? James patted the furniture. Hopefully, they don't mind the unfinished survival meal left on the table. But it would be more unseemly if he just throws it in some random place. Their place.

"Please. Sit."

"We shall… but… we shall introduce ourselves first."

"… Introduction of everyone?"

"This time, formally. Our first meeting was… lacking and improper." Lisa put her palm on her chest. "We came as representatives of our nation and as the ones who oversees our home."

Lisa half turned to everyone behind and coughed. Everyone stood attentively.

"We are The Knights Of Favonius. Welcome to Mondstadt, strange yet respectable guest!"

Everyone saluted - they stood straight, feet brought close together, left arm folded behind, right arm leveled to their chest.

"Please… tell me what you need." James cringed internally.

"Err… to start with, our leader, Jean Gunnhildr-" Lisa gestured the blonde Acting Grand Master who gave a slight bow. Lisa pointed the farthest droid chopping a tree. The droid stepped back when the tree started to fall. "-is concerned with… that."

"Oh." As long as they don't consider taking him prisoner, or take him as some experimental subject, then there's nothing else to worry about. Less things to worry about. "Okay. So, before we move on, you're not planning to kick me out, right?"

They didn't come with an army, so that was a good sign.

Lisa took a sit. Few followed. Some stood guard. Whether they just didn't want to be around him, he wouldn't know.

Jean crossed her arms, giving an unkind and anticipating look at James. One of his droid is still chopping down trees, but she was patient as she let Lisa talk him through.

"Mondstadt is a nation of freedom. Travelers and merchants alike are welcomed, no matter how… strange. We understand your circumstances, so as long you follow our rules, as long as you do not cause harm, you are free to enter our city and explore our lands. But… do understand we have reasons to monitor you."

"Alright…" Well, that was one less thing to worry on. "So… what about the people I killed?"

"Fatui. They are called Fatui…"

"And… considering no one here is angry with me that much, am I to assume right they're not with you?"

"… They are not "with us". Far from it."

"Well... I supposed it's not simple then. I guess we should start with your concerns."

"It's complicated. Very complicated. Factually, you will not hear this in the open, for my people commend you in your defense. But I digress. We are to discuss about you. Only you."

Lisa pointed two droids manning biofuel refineries.

"What are they making with wood?"

"They turn wood into fuel for all my devices."

"You turn wood into… something that your machines use?" Lisa thought hard. She's not here to ask behind the technicalities of his technology. Now's not the time. She came here to bridge an understanding between him and the Favonius, to establish agreements and connections.

"Yup. From wood to some kind of burning liquid."

"… You mean oil? Like lamp oil?"

"Something like that." He shrugged, taking a sit on the opposite side of the table. He noticed this one eye patch guy was looking at him a bit too hard with interest. Not in a threatening way, just purely interested.

Sorry. You look fabulous, but I'm straight. He should have worn his EVA helmet, but that'd be rude.

"… I'm not going to ask why your things needs flammables." She didn't want to steer this meeting into topics unrelated to Jean's concerns and in the Favonius Order's interests. "But does it have to be wood, exclusively? You are free in our land, but the land and its trees… they're not yours."

"That…. I figure. I'm sorry." He meekly laughed in feeling embarrassed. "I can't just turn the things I made back to trees, but I'm sure I can compensate you in some form."

James turned to one of the droid farthest to the group, the one with the axe.

"D… wait… which one are you again? D-five?"

A droid processing chemfuel turned to him.

"No never mind. Ignore me. D-six?"

The droid with an axe was about to strike a tree, but paused as it was called, turning to him with a slight tilt.

"Stop that task. Go… I don't know… Just go haul around stuff."

And the droid did just that, hauling the rest of the harvested wood to the designated area along the raw resources.

"There." James turned to Lisa, and to their leader, Jean, whose mood turned less irritated.

Jean sighed in relief, then looked at the piles of logs. "Well... that's settled. Can you ask him of his exorbitant need for wood?"

"He already told me. He transmutes wood into some special oil to power his machines."

"… Oil?" Jean perked up in that mention. "Like lamp oil?"

"Yes. He's even willing to offer us compensation for the damages he's caused."

"Compensation…" Jean muttered. She wasn't expecting James to be that cooperative, much less amicable. She supposed it was her misjudgment to associate him, one with great power, to those with abusive and arrogant personality… like the Fatui. She saw him in a new light, but it would be naïve of her to think of him as a saint. Still. she expected a bit of resistance.

She was expecting the worst. Whatever that was, she's not completely sure, nor was she enthusiastic to explore.

"Oil… isn't cheap. And yet… he could turn wood into such. From wood…" She looked at the red containers with wide eyed interest.

"Oil… all of those are oil containers, then?" Kaeya shared Jean's impression, and whistled in disbelief. All of those procured within hours. Being one of the captains, he helps with documentations regarding monthly expenditures, and recalled the expenses for the city's nightly lighting. "Do you know how expensive oil is for every barrel?"

"Considering the labor and manpower needed to collect and process materials…" Lisa being the scholar wasn't unfamiliar of the sources. "It's no wonder why it wouldn't be so. I heard Liyue banned marine fishing on certain species because of overhunting."

"Hunting? What?" Jean chimed in. "I thought… we get oil from seeds."

"Yes. But you can also get oil from marine life, like whales. And considering there's a competition in the sea with all the sea monsters…"

"Hoh~. That explains the price hikes." Kaeya muttered.

Jean coughed.

Everyone else in the Favonius knew where this was going.

"Can you ask him more about this… oil?" Jean was a knight, a protector of Mondstadt, but she needed to be more than someone who can wield a weapon to keep her nation afloat. She needed to be well verse with finance and business too, one who sees and takes opportunities.

James couldn't understand them all, but he knew they were getting excited whatever their trees is being turned into.

"James..." Lisa took a pause to combine the right words. "Tell me-"

"Chemfuel." James did not bother hiding his smug smirk. "It's called chemfuel."

They respect him enough. Maybe he could steer this into his favor.

"Before what I tell you more about chemfuel, would you care telling me more about this place?"

Mondstadt

Goth Grand Hotel

It's been an unknown amount of time since the famed inn in the city has been reserved. With the whole place occupied with no one but the Fatui, one might say it's been taken whole by them.

Reservations?

Ha.

More like transfer of ownership.

Only the owner knows how long would this so called "reservation" be, because nothing tells in how many months if not years in how long they rented it. Goth, the old manager and owner of not just the hotel but many of Mondstadt's accommodation, would have no less than a small fortune in his retirement funds.

Might as well say it's the Fatui's forward base of operations, considering no one else but its members and servants and the owner have access inside.

An agent of darkness walks through the hallway, as servants and butlers gave way not daring to make eye contact as they move to the side with sweat on their faces.

A Fatui Pyro Agent glances as he passes many rooms. The ones who survived the onslaught rest in silence on their beds.

That wasn't his concern.

He is to report to his master of the latest events regarding this… Descender.

End

Edit (march 4, 2023) - small rewrites.

Edit (May 5, 2023) - small rewrites. Yes, I'm sure that some of you may find odd that despite months since release, I'm still doing bits of rewrites here and there.

Well, you what they say. Art is never finished, only abandoned.

Sigh.

The author sits on his chair, typing, wondering what's the point of it all.

"So." He starts. "Hi. I'm the author behind this piece... And... I'm quite lost."

He recalls the time, months ago, during which he is building the foundational concepts of this fictional work. And how far it came to be, how far it deviated from the original concepts.

"In the original concept, James didn't lose his consciousness, that he fought the knights in their first meeting, and escaped his ship with the bare necessities... it all made the difference. And I seriously don't know why I didn't stick with it..."

"See, in the original concept, the mechanoids that followed him would appear somewhere in Mondstadt a few chapters later, were then James would be willing to fight alongside with the knights so long they return his belongings... and... agh! Then in the last minute as I post another chapter, that's where the changes came in. In the first place, really? Mechanoids? In Tevyat? Yeah... that'll make things complicated to me. It was exciting... but it would be a hustle later on. A marathon."

"Meaning... I have to do it all over again, work with what I have, what I made... and I felt lost."

A sigh.

"I thought... hey! Maybe I should just... do a rewrite. Fix some stuff... but that didn't feel right... Unexpectedly... something saved me... AI."

He laughs for a bit to himself.

"You know what I've been doing lately? See how AI could affect my writing... You know what I did? I roleplayed as my character in CharacterAI with characters relevant to this story, and I had actual, genuine fun!"

A pause...

A significant pause...

"I had... fun adventures I never thought I'd experience. So I thought, why not go with that? There are stories based on DnD gameplays. I don't do DnD, but I suppose I could use my roleplays as an inspiration!"

He recalls how he roleplayed as a merchant of death securing weapons contract with Ningguang secret to the public.

He recalls how he roleplayed as a businessman who partnered with Diluc as he offered surveillance drones for a share in his business.

He recalls how he roleplayed as a secret captain of the Favonius where he gave their Acting Grand Master technological edge.

"So no. No rewrite. No mechanoid invasion. No turning back on what I decided to start. I started this, I will end this. One way or another."

He checks his ko fi account.

"By the way. Special shout out to Oof dot com for supporting me in Ko Fi! Because of you, I had funds to replace my broken keyboard!"

And if anyone wants to give me a tip, just find my ko fi page! You don't know just how much even a single dollar can help me.

Ko (hyphen) Fi.c o m (slash) hattycat