The Ghost
The room was a bright sterile white. Stepping inside had been like staring at a flashbang as it went off - Jaxson's retinas were scalded with stimuli until his vision swam and his eyelids shuttered closed. Irxan marched past, all but dragging a half-conscious Osiris to the hospital cot in the centre of the chamber. A trio of support Frames - civilian 55-30 series as opposed to the martial 99-40 series - followed after them. There were people on the other side; they moved too naturally for simple AI. Real genuine doctors.
Or that's what he hoped.
Jaxson settled against the right wall, bracing an arm against it. The exhaustion weighed on his every breath. He hadn't slept in a while - the better part of a week since the Black Fleet arrived, since the Traveler was stolen, since he and five others entered that hellscape of a Pyramid, and now… this. His sensorium was abuzz with foreign signals - not aimed his way, more ambient. It was a whole lot like the Last City if a whole lot louder. Everything was connected, every door and camera and sneaky little listening bug squirrelled away in the bed's threading. Ghost navigated it better than he ever could. Jaxson was content to leave him to it.
Didn't stop him from forming deductions, though. Old team would've had his hide if he hadn't. Lennox-2 would tell him to watch, to listen, to feel - Fallen tracks in snow, stink of soulfire in the air filters, Cabal BattleNet buzzing on the edge of his implants. Take stock, take cover, know your footing and find a route through it all. And Ike? Ike would've gone a mile farther; what's the story? What's the history? Where are they going next? Motive, mood, morale - drink it in, hammer it into shape. Knowledge is a weapon, a knife to the heart, and if you don't use it someone else will.
Now that paranoid thinking never sat well with Jaxson, but it was second nature at this rate. They'd left him with that much - the means to keep himself alive, keep himself afloat. He knew better than to disregard it, courtesy of their own failures. Lennox forgot her own advice, never knew what it meant to tangle with a dragon. Errant thinking won her a snap of metaphysical teeth, too damningly meaningful to turn back from. Ike found his anger after that; the enemies' motive ceased to matter when faced with his own. Avenge her, kill them all, chase them into that deep black - and never return.
Fools, the pair of them. Lovable. Lost. Figments of a bygone dream, warped into nightmare. In their stead he remained, fighting against a universe he no longer understood. He needed this, the time to breathe it all in. Who, what, where, why, how - time for questions. Time for answers.
There was a mirror hanging from the wall. Jaxson limped over to it and pulled his helmet free, clasps hissing as they released. The man he saw on the other side was nigh unrecognisable - same old visage battered down to the realm of unfamiliarity with sheer exhaustion. The bags under his eyes ran deep. There were bruises and blood splotches here and there. Ghost peeled them away with warm Light, but some things he couldn't fix. Jaxson needed a haircut. A shower. A bite to eat. Definitely some shut-eye. Not necessarily in that order either. His braids were coming undone, his highlights were getting faded. Phantom aches radiated from synth-nerves, dulled to numbing sensation. Not everything was so easily mended as simple flesh and bone.
"Lightbearer." Irxan appeared by his side. She was a hulking shape of red armour and black modifications. Biosuit and skin had the pallor of a corpse. Her eyes, though, fit her old House's namesake to a tee. "They are asking questions."
"Yeah?" Jaxson pushed away from the mirror. One of the Frames was looking his way while its fellows hovered by Osiris's side. One of them fitted an oxygen mask over his face, earning itself a glare. Nothing in the universe like Warlock pride. "What is it?"
"Biometric scans indicate subject has an increased metabolism," the Frame said, "but we can't detect any implants."
"It's how we're coded," Jaxson evenly replied, though he rippled with surprise on the inside. He wouldn't have pegged Osiris for a purist. "He's Risen."
"Shouldn't that necessitate the use of a drone-"
"Can't. And don't call 'em drones." Jaxson's gaze darted back over to Osiris. "He took some heavy shocks, Arc-based."
"An electrical injury? We'll sweep for respiratory failure and ventricular fibrillation. Can you tell me how the shock was administered?"
The Sunbracers. Ghost had them squirrelled away in transmat. They tingled at the back of Jaxson's mind - almost literally. The life inside... like nothing he'd ever seen. Fingers like lightning bolts traced over his Light. "Conscious Arc entities," Jaxson curtly explained. "We miscommunicated. Didn't have the time to set out flowers."
"Arc-based lifeforms?" the Frame's head tilted. Definitely someone on the other side. Body language was too human. "Can you elaborate?"
"Arc aliens."
"Sir-"
"Do ya'll want a seven-page essay? You know as much as I do - the damage is Arc. Like this." Jaxson held out a clenched fist crackling with lightning. The Frame took a sudden step back.
"Easy son." The big guy, Vex-handed one, stepped in. Rohan. That was his name. His steel topknot brushed the ceiling and kicked up sparks. No one seemed to care. "Easy."
Jaxson lowered his arm. The Arc subsided. He hadn't meant to be so curt. "Impatient, s'all," he muttered. Didn't ease in the slightest. Trust was a commodity and he'd been short to start with. The sight of naked Vex steel was far from a comfort. "What do you want?"
"I'd like you to step outside," Rohan said. "You and your friend."
"And leave him?" Jaxson jerked his head in Osiris's direction. "No chance."
"Wasn't a request."
"Shame. 'Cause I'm treatin' it like one."
"Lightbearer." Irxan touched his shoulder. "We should comply."
"Your companion will be safe," Rohan said. His eyes never left Jaxson's. "You have my word."
"Vex promises don't mean squat."
"I'm no Vex."
"Then you've got one helluva infection."
"Son. Get out. Now."
"Lightbearer," Irxan hissed.
Jaxson scowled. "If anything happens to him," he warned, "you'll regret it."
"I believe you," Rohan coolly replied. "Now leave."
They gave him a room. It was little better than a cell, but it had a couch, so that was something. Maybe. Kind of. Jaxson didn't care for it, but he did care for Osiris so that was that. At least they hadn't asked for their weapons, though he wondered how long that would last. They had his arm tied behind his back - and he still wasn't sure who they even were. Humans, sure, but that was it. Humans on Neptune. With Vex parts. Hidden on Neptune by the Vex. He hadn't come to terms with that yet. He wasn't sure he ever would. It seemed too... out there - but here he was, playing the polite little captive for the crime of landing in the wrong spot.
All while Calus amassed His army outside.
Jaxson tried using his Splicer gauntlet but the city was an effective dead zone in the Network. He could feel Vex consciousnesses gathering nearby, around the bubble of the colony, but they made no move to enter. The only reason he could think of were the Hive structures underneath - but even that didn't make any sense. Why were the Hive here? Were any still alive? And what pressed human people to build a city atop their grave?
"You're thinking too much," Ghost complained. "You've got that face - you know the one."
"Ghost-"
"Can you please just get these gloves settled? They're starting to mess with transmat."
Jaxson all but fell into the couch. Irxan followed but remained standing; he waved for her to give him some space. The Sunbracer's materialised before him and Jaxson plucked them out of the air. They surged briefly - but a current of his own Arc silenced them. "There," he murmured aloud. "How's that?"
"They'll start up soon as you put them back." Ghost remained incorporeal. Jaxson had insisted on it. "See if you can get a word out of them."
"You say that like Arc can talk..." Jaxson left the couch and knelt down, placing the Sunbracers on the floor before him. "I've no idea what you want from me. Ghost."
"Lightbearer." Irxan hunkered down next to him. She took his hand supporting the Splicer gauntlet and aimed it at the Sunbracers. "Reach. Speak. Listen."
"If you want a go-" Jaxson started to stand but another of her four hands pressed him back down by the shoulder.
"Speak with your Light," she said more firmly. "Gift of the Great Machine."
Jaxson gave her a dubious look. Her innermost pair of eyes crinkled - a frown by Eliksni standards or Eido had been lying to him for months. Either or; each was just as likely. Damn scribe loved to make him the butt of a joke. "Alright," he relented. "But if they zap me one more time they're going back in the vault."
"No please," Ghost groaned.
Jaxson activated the gauntlet. The blades stood on end-
"No," Irxan clicked sharply. "Not Vex. Machine."
"Mithrax-"
"Misraakskell."
"Misraaks," Jaxson said slowly, growing annoyed, "never taught me how to do that."
"Why?"
"Because Shanks scare the shit out of me."
Irxan's inner eyes closed entirely.
"Alright," Jaxson sighed in defeat. "Show me how?"
"Like so." Irxan held out her gauntlet. The blades whirred and stood on end but they did not spin. "You are not catching signals. You are to bounce them."
"Riiiight..." Jaxson made the same motions. He was aware of a sensation running up his arm and buzzing in his sensory implants. The feeling was indescribable. He manifested a thought, an intention, a query and he converted it into raw code and Light both. The gauntlet took it and fired it out with a flick of its blades.
+Who are you?+
For a long moment he wondered if it was for naught, because there was no immediate reply. At least until the Sunbracers twitched. His blades caught on something. A response.
+Lost.+
"Okay," Jaxson breathed. "We have contact. Ghost-"
+Who are you?+ the Arkborn inquired. It could've been angry or curious but the gauntlet registered no tone.
"Answer it," Ghost urged.
Jaxson flicked his hand. +My name is Jaxson Ineta. I am human.+
+Living storm,+ came the reply.
+Is that your name?+
+No. Your nature.+
Jaxson frowned. +What do you mean?+
+You are a living storm,+ the Arkborn said.
It took him a moment to realize it was asking him a question. "It wants to know if I'm a Stormcaller," Jaxson bemusedly said. +I am not.+
+You lie.+
"Okay, it's upset," he said.
"Why?" Irxan asked.
"It asked if I'm a Stormcaller and I said no. It thinks I'm lying to it."
"You can wield Arc, yes?"
"Well, yeah, but I can't exactly turn into a thundercloud. I'm a Titan." Jaxson held up a closed fist. "This is the extent of my reach."
"Eia, so I have gathered," Irxan drily remarked.
Jaxson sent another message. +No lie. I am a Lightbearer but not a Warlock.+
+What are these terms.+
Another question. The lack of inflection was hard to parse through. +I am not a storm, but I am still one with lightning.+
+I understand.+
"What's it's name?" Ghost pressed.
Jaxson shrugged. "Lost."
"Lost?"
"I don't know."
"Then ask!"
+What do I call you?+ Jaxson inquired.
Another moment passed.
+Why,+ the Arkborn replied.
+Because it's polite.+
+I know flesh.+
"Creepy," Jaxson murmured. +Are you alright?+
+Flesh is not to be trusted.+
+Do you know where we found you?+
The Sunbracers twitched again. A shudder or something close to it. +His hold.+
+The Emperor-+
+KILL KILL KILL,+ the Arkborn roared. Static ran down the gauntlet's blades. Jaxson's fingers tingled. He winced +LIAR, TRAITOR, SWINDLER! KILL HIM, KILL HIM, KILL HIM!+
+He stole you from your home?+ Jaxson inquired.
The Arkborn abruptly fell silent.
+He is my enemy,+ he continued. +I want to kill him.+
+You lie.+
+If I was lying why would we save you?+
+The Emperor lies. He takes pleasure from it. He enjoys pain.+
+I am a Lightbearer. We do not serve him.+
+Many things are possible.+
+Not that.+
+Why?+
+Because we want to live.+
The Arkborn ruminated on that. +He is cunning,+ it said.
+Yes,+ Jaxson replied, +but I am determined.+
+You are foolish.+
+I know.+
+I am foolish too.+
+Why is that? Because he took you?+
+Because I trusted him once. I will not trust him again.+
"Progress?" Ghost inquired.
Jaxson made a face. "Some."
"Got a name yet?"
"Working on that." He gestured to the Sunbracers. +What do your people call you?+
+There were no names. We were concert.+
+You never had a name?+
The Arkborn paused again. It was hiding something. +I am scattered,+ it complained. +I am partitioned. Make me whole.+
+I don't know if I can trust you.+
+Flesh thing lies. I am not flesh.+
+I'm worried you may have learned something from us,+ Jaxson explained. +And I'm concerned you will hurt us.+
+You claim you are not with the emperor. The emperor is my enemy. You are not.+
+You already hurt a friend of mine.+
+A flesh thing.+
+Yes. He freed you from the engines.+
+Cage. Consumed. Fuel.+
+You're free of him now,+ Jaxson assured it. +You won't have to worry about that again.+
+Reunite me.+
+I can't. Not yet. I'm sorry.+
+Did not mean harm. Do not mean it now. Make me whole.+
+How do I know I can trust you?+
The Arkborn crackled indignantly. Arc coursed around the Sunbracers, searing the floor tiles. +Not flesh thing. Arkborn. I do not lie.+
+Then why won't you give me a name?+ Jaxson patiently questioned.
The Arkborn didn't respond.
+Hello?+
It was ignoring him.
"Ghost," Jaxson exhaled. "Think it needs a time out."
"Fine. I'll try to make some space." Ghost made a disgusted sound. "You always leave the vault in such a mess. Don't even use most of this stuff."
"Ghost-"
"Yeah, I know." The Sunbracers disappeared. "'Least they're quiet now."
"Next time they start up, give me a shout. Want another word." Jaxson stood up and turned, but the couch was already taken. Irxan lounged across it, her horns scoring furrows in the wall at her back. She peered at him with one half-lidded red eye.
"I guess I'll keep watch," Jaxson muttered.
Irxan made a noncommittal sounds and exhaled heavily. Her eye closed. Jaxson took up position against the door with his Xenophage leaning against his shoulder. Omar's little stick-bug chittered in a low, hypnotizing fashion. The kind that threatened to lull him straight to sleep. He battled against the week-long exhaustion, fought the closing of his eyelids, but it was war already lost. Ghost could take over. Ghost could take his post.
Jaxson fell headlong into dreams too colourful and fantastic to be real.
Welcome home, the voice says. Timeless, incorporeal - it is a haze of unquantifiable sensation. Jaxson ceases to be a physical entity but a lone consciousness swathed in powers more ancient than he will ever know. The tides of existence rise and lull against the brace of the Void. Neptune. He's still on Neptune, sheltered beneath crushing pressures and cutting winds, but he sees it in a different light.
He stands. Or tries to; he falters before the desire can manifest as reality.
Keep going, the voice urges. It's deep, guttural, but the words are sweet like rot. Like death. Like ash mixed with incense. A twinkle of stars, green as soulfire, flickers and gutters before his mind's eye. All he's left with is the impression of a gaunt bestial skull scoured of skin and flesh. It passes quickly, but lingers in his mind for eternity.
Jaxson rises, limbless and formless, and he knows this isn't a fantasy. Thanatonautic visions aren't unfamiliar to him, and while this isn't a death-dream it carries the same air of mortal-shorn delirium. He can move, of course, because he wills it, but he pauses. He is being watched. He knows not the form he takes; Jaxson first imagines himself a plume of fire, or a tower of Void, or even a bundle of lightning bolts tied together like a bouquet of flowers. The Light defines him. But then, he remembers, so does the Dark. Does he appear to the entities of this un-realm as a crystal of Stasis? Or perhaps a cloud of frozen entropy?
No. No, he's a wolf. Saladin's title is damning - it pins him to a fixed state, a canid with lightning bolts for fangs, flames for fur, the glimmer of Void for eyes and claws like perfect crystals. Each and every element at once, pure in its lack of reason, in the lapse of coherence. He bares his teeth, brandishing his anger as a blade in a phantom grip, and he stares out into the chaos of the secret world. The planet is a spider's web, criss-crossing through Vex signals and dark matter loops with utter ease. The great Hydra's carcass is pinned to the web, carrying the heart of the green twine in its brass craw. The Hydra's head lies below. The Strider's Gate is built atop its skull.
Jaxson peers down, down through the tower, to the source of Neptune's emerald weave, and he glimpses a woman kneeling before a set of reinforced gates. She's dead, alive, somewhere between the two and in her arms she cradles a rounded amethyst swaddled in Egregore vines. Jaxson knows without any doubt that this is it. This is what he's come for. This is the Veil. And the woman who clutches it like a babe - it has killed her. Its roots work beneath her skin, siphoning the life from her body.
This is a horror. This is a mistake. Jaxson tries to wake, to relieve himself of the sight of it, but he's not alone anymore. An essence tethers him in place - a glimmering, shifting pane of glass, impossibly vibrant. It dazzles the eyes. A living thing, he knows with rare intuition. A psychic manifestation much like his own.
"Who are you?" he asks, his first words in this place. The air shudders with the weight of his words. That wasn't supposed to happen. He's not supposed to be here and the plane around them doesn't like it.
The glass turns sharp. Jaxson grunts as it cuts his palm; it's holding his hand, he knows it, though that should be impossible. He's a wolf, he's the Wyrmwolf, a creature of Light - he has no hand to grasp. Not so deep in this malleable realm of soul and dream. "You can see me?" a foreign consciousness whispers, different to the other voice. It's not human. Not even close. Its voice rises, turns to laughter. "You can see me!"
The pain of its touch is cool and fleeting, but the memory lingers. MEMORY, their surroundings shout. MEMORY, the Egregore screams. "All this effort for a fleeting memory," the glass giggles. "As you wish."
The gates shudder. Something's on the other side, raging for release. LIAR, it bellows. THIEF. The dead woman trembles, shifts; she's being moved. People wearing hazmat suits lift her into a stretcher. They ferry her pall away. Away. Away. The thing outside thunders its fury, but Jaxson can't see it. There are pyres below, torches beyond the gate that line the road down, down, down into the deep, green with the burning souls of the slain, and they carry off into total darkness.
The glass thing let go of his hand, trailing flickering afterimages. Jaxson could make out a grin in its reflective surface, painted lips pulled back over white teeth.
"You are not the soul we sought," it says, "but I dare say you'll do."
"Who are you?" Jaxson growls. A feral anger flares around him. The aspect of the Wyrmwolf shines with-
With-
With-
Malice? This isn't who he is. What is happening?
"Now you see, son of spite, the price of victory. These players partook of an honest game, but it is far from over. There's a dupe to be played. Mantle the fool, perform your part. That's all the living ask."
"What are you talking about?" The hate threatens to overwhelm him. Jaxson knows the feeling is not his own, but he finds it impossible to resist. The effort runs him ragged.
"So strong." The glass caresses his cheek, splitting it open. There's kindness there, cruelty too; the nature of the alien is impossibly inhuman. He tries to sink his fangs into it but it dances away, slithering through the air on flashes of motley colour. "So fierce! You are your father's son."
It flees. Jaxson gives chase. It's not a conscious choice. Something drives him to do so - something deeply-rooted. He can't help it. He pursues the alien outside the tower, into the city proper; they flash past flickers of mortal lives and delve into the press of a psychic network to match any Psion metaconcert. Strings of emerald wire run overhead, the power of living thoughts running through them like electrical wires. It's so much, too much, but the alien waits for him at every corner. It teases him. In his fury he chases it to a place shadowed in the Dark - a temple. The walls chant a name; the witless congregation murmur tithings.
Nastareth, they say. Blessed is the Nastareth. Blessed is He who died for our sins.
He finds the alien in the centre of it all, where a jagged blade veined with Void stands lodged in the floor. Beads and ribbons cross its rough hadium surface, hanging from its tusked crossguard, while eleven notches run down the blade's impossible edge. The living glass balances atop the pommel.
"Here lies another fool, his part played to perfection." The alien's tone sobers. "Take inspiration if you must. He began this great work. I charge you with finishing it."
"Who are you?" Jaxson demands again.
"My name matters not. But his?" The glass reflects the sword's power - a fang of Void, forever ravenous. "His matters. You won't have to look far. Do you know what boon he asked for, before the end? 'Forget me not.'"
He lunged for it. The mind of the alien danced away, cackling. "So close!" it cheered. "So close. Remember what we said. I leave you with the same words: forget me not." The glass glinted. Jaxson was reminded of a winking eye. "We'll see you soon."
He awoke with a breathy gasp. Sweat covered his skin, gathered in his hair, dripped into his eyes. He could smell ash, cold, sterile: Irxan. She was crouched beside him. Her hand was pressed against his cheek, slick with... blood. The cut stung. His hand too.
"'M fine," Jaxson grumbled. He motioned for space. She did not provide it.
"You struggled," Irxan rumbled. She peered down at him suspiciously. "Wounds opened without cause."
"I know." He closed his hand into a fist, ignoring the biting pain. The blood was warm and sticky. It seeped between his clenched fingers.
"What is this?"
"'S nothing."
Her hand tightened around his chin. She turned his face up to look at her. "Lightbearer," Irxan warned. "Do not lie to me."
"Splicer, you're pushing it." Jaxson batted her hand away.
"We are allies in this fight. Secrets are the Witch Queen's currency, but they will be our undoing."
"She's right," Ghost said.
Jaxson grimaced. "How much did you see?"
"Enough. I was monitoring your heart rate. Never seen you dream so violently. Had to have a look. Just tell her."
"It..." Jaxson shuddered as the memory came back to him. It wasn't an experience he wanted to repeat. "It was a figment of latent trauma. Someone forced me into a Deepsight memory. They were forcing a connection to speak with me, to... to show me something." He paused. "There's an entity under this place, trapped. I think it's Hive. It wants me to let it out."
"These humans know the Witch Queen's name."
"There's a connection there. Just not clear what."
"It could be an enemy."
"Or an agent," Ghost said. "Savathûn's actions during the Collapse were complicated."
"That's not all," Jaxson said. "I saw... it."
"The Hive?" Irxan questioned. She leaned back, resting on her haunches.
"No, the Veil. It's small, much smaller than the Traveler, but it's dangerous. It killed someone..." he trailed off. "She looked... familiar. I don't know why."
"Lightbearer?"
"Dunno, but I've seen her before, somewhere. Ghost-"
"Couldn't get a good look," Ghost said apologetically.
"Could I remember them from my first life?"
"No. Only Exos can."
"Because of the Dark."
"The long-term effects of Guardians using Darkness aren't known. So... I mean, it's feasible, but I'm not convinced."
Jaxson would have responded, but at that moment the door hissed open. He and Irxan surged to their feet as Rohan entered, accompanied by a pair of armed Frames. He took in the sight of them guardedly, though his eyes narrowed on Jaxson's Xenophage. "Disarm," he said.
Ghost dragged the machine gun back through transmat. Jaxson raised an eyebrow. "Happy?"
"Where did it go?"
"Fuck off."
Rohan's mouth set in a thin line. "The city council will see you now," he said gruffly. "I advise you to behave."
"We understand," Irxan responded.
"Your transmat signals will be blocked. You will be swept for weapons. Any hint of violence and you will be terminated on the spot. Am I understood?"
Jaxson said nothing. He didn't trust himself not to start something. Irxan did it for him. "We understand," she said icily. "Just as you must understand that if we perish, we will be avenged."
"Of course." Rohan waved them out. "Let's go. Now."
Pain. The closer they marched the stronger it became. Jaxson winced as it built at the base of his skull. Someone was hammering a nail into his cranium, striking harder and harder with each successive swing. At the doors before the council chambers they stopped and met with another contingent of security Frames accompanied by Nimbus and Osiris.
"Wolf," Osiris greeted. The relief in his voice was apparent. He met them halfway, ignoring Nimbus's curt hey. "Splicer."
"Osirikskel," Irxan replied. "It is good to see you well."
"It's been a day," Jaxson observed. He winced as the building pressure pounded against his brain. "They fix you that quick?"
Osiris's expression grew serious. "The technology they have here... Wolf, it's centuries ahead of our own. I've never..." He noticed Jaxson's discomfort. "What is wrong?"
"Nothing, just... headache." Jaxson waved him off.
Osiris's gaze sharpened. "You can feel it too?"
"What-"
"Enough," Rohan cut in. He motioned to the doors. They rumbled open. "Inside. Now."
The chamber was massive but poorly lit. A bright dais rested in the middle, etched with the mural of a blossoming flower. It was surrounded by high shadowed podiums upon which stood the silhouettes of human figures. Each of them flickered at the edges - holograms, each and every one of them. All save the platform at the far end, where a metal statue knelt with its head bowed. It was the woman Jaxson had seen in his dream. Her arms wrapped around-
"The Veil," Osiris breathed. "Wolf..."
Jaxson staggered. The pain was mounting. "Can't... 'Siris-"
"What's wrong with him?" Nimbus asked, annoyed.
"Lightbearer." Irxan's claws closed on his shoulders, under one of his arms. "What ails you?"
Jaxson weakly gestured to the Veil. The pain came in throbbing waves, tightening around his mind. Psychic emanations battered against his mental defences. The Void held, but it wasn't going to last. It knew he was there. It wanted him.
"La'azazél," Osiris cursed softly. Jaxson glanced at him but the Warlock was staring ahead in awe. "Is that-"
"Move!" Nimbus shoved Jaxson onwards, into the Veil's mental reach. Irxan was the only thing that kept him standing. "Move, Warlord. Or we'll make you move."
Jaxson would have loved to turn on them with a retort on his lips or, better yet, a flaming maul in hand, but he had not the strength for it. His power abandoned him; it wasn't paracausal suppression so much as it was an overbearing ontological effect, pressing down with the weight of infinite minds. He tried to reach for Ghost but there was nothing there.
"You will live," Irxan whispered. "You will survive this. The Machine gave you its strength. Do not falter now."
Jaxson gritted his teeth. His limbs were leaden and his muscles were limp. His lungs heaved for air. Agony radiated through his body. "Fuck," he gasped. The exertion of each step forward left him weaker than the last, whittling him down to something little better than a Lightless mortal. At last they arrived at the dais, at last they came to a stop, but Jaxson could barely see a thing.
"What's happened to him?" one of the holograms demanded. It sounded like Quinn. "Strider-"
"I don't know," Rohan evenly replied, "but we cannot wait."
"This is inhumane."
"Enough." Another voice, another hologram. Jaxson hadn't the strength to look at them. "Strider Rohan is correct. This cannot wait. Shut the doors."
A heavy clang rattled from behind them.
"Very well," someone else said. "The city council is now in session. We are gathered here today to review the testimony made by these post-human entities and their extrasolar accomplice. Let's not linger on irrelevancies. Warlords! You stand accused of trespassing on Neomuna. Make your case."
"Sirs, madams," Osiris said. He stood in front of Jaxson with his hands clasped behind his back. "I am Osiris, Phoenix of the Dark Age. With me stands Jaxson Ineta, the Wyrmwolf, and Irxan, Splicer of House Light. We are here on business sanctioned by the Coalition - the grand alliance of Earth, the Reef, and the Cabal Ascendancy. We assert our right to diplomatic immunity."
"Diplomatic immunity?" A man snorted with derision. "Where do you think you are?"
"A post-Golden Age colony founded during the Collapse. Legally this settlement is beholden to the same laws that governed all of Sol."
"Earth has no jurisdiction here."
"So you denounce the laws of Earth?"
"No. But they have no bearing here. None of you are diplomats."
"Hold, D'Sydney," a woman said. "You say you have a right to diplomatic immunity, Warlord? You are aware that those laws pertain to humans alone?"
"We are-"
"You are not," an older man snapped. "You are obligate parasites spawned in the remains of deceased human citizens."
"I wasn't aware that victims of amnesia were considered parasites," Osiris said curtly. "We are Risen, that is true, but we are a part of the greater human union."
"I beg to differ."
"Then you, sir, do so on the basis of ignorant falsehoods. Are you a scholar of Risen anthropology? Are you familiar with the inner workings of Risen culture? Can you name the pillar Titan orders or ancient Warlock covens?"
There was no reply.
"I thought not." Osiris cleared his throat. "We are Risen. We are human. We lay claim to diplomatic immunity not because we are diplomats, but rather as agents of the Earth government. We did not know you were here. We did not intend to trespass."
"Then what was your intention?"
"To secure the Veil against the Black Fleet's forces."
"Ah yes, the return of the Black Fleet. That vessel outside is the only one we've detected entering our atmosphere, so we have to ask: how did you reach our fair city?"
"We stowed away."
"Oh of course you did."
"The Black Fleet is our enemy," Osiris announced. He sounded mildly upset. "It is the enemy of all life, everywhere. We boarded that warship with intent to scuttle its engines and eliminate the leader of the forces aboard."
"More extrasolar lifeforms."
"Cabal under the command of their deposed Emperor Calus."
"Hold on," someone else interjected. "You said Earth was in alliance with these Cabal."
"Yes," Osiris sharply replied. "The Cabal Ascendancy, ruled by Empress Caiatl."
"What is the Empress's relation to this Emperor?"
"He is her father."
A series of hushed whispers cut through the air. "Silence," an older woman grumbled. "Mister Osiris, are you stating that your allies and the Black Fleet's cohorts are linked through familial ties?"
"It would appear that way, but the Cabal Ascendancy and the Cabal Loyalists are fierce enemies."
"And why is that?"
"Because Calus desires nothing but an end to all the peoples of the universe, his own included. This is well-documented."
"By whom?"
"By every faction in the solar system," Osiris snapped. "Every single one - save yours."
"Mister Osiris-"
"You say you know what we are, but if this colony was settled by survivors of the Collapse then I fail to see how." Osiris's voice lowered. "You watched us. And did nothing."
"I fail to see-"
"The people of Earth struggled for every day of their lives. You have the means to support yourselves with ease, but you made no move to share that prosperity."
"Enough. We are not here to discuss the state of Earth. We are here to pass judgement on you. What do you have to say in your defence?"
"We did not know you were here," Osiris said. "We came to save ourselves. Drastic circumstances necessitated drastic measures. You can ill-afford to do anything but aid us at this point."
"Neomuna has been charged with the sacred duty of defending the Veil from foreign forces. Our city will pursue this charge unto oblivion. Well, here it is. What is your intent now that you see it here?"
"To keep it out of the wrong hands."
"And who would you consider the wrong hands?"
"The Black Fleet. The Hive."
"And the Warlords?"
"No... Warlords... left," Jaxson growled.
"What did you say?"
"The Warlords are gone," Osiris clarified. "They died a long time ago. You'd know that if you reached out."
"Why would we have done that?"
"Because you had the means to end humanity's suffering."
"Once more, we are not here to discuss Neomuna's stance on Earth. We are here-"
"Fuck..." Jaxson fell forward. The Veil drove him to his knees. Dissonant voices whispered in his ears, deafening in their multitudes. They clawed at his waking thoughts, beat at his mental blocks, reduced his cohesion to a single point - the Veil, the Veil, the Veil.
GIVE IN, it said, but none heard it. None but himself - and Osiris beside him, who flinched as if struck.
"Who..." He stepped forth, blocking Jaxson's view. The pain did not abate even by a fraction. He glimpsed Nimbus stepping forth to stop him.
"Old man-"
"That's... is that Maya Sundaresh?" Osiris asked.
"Yes," one of the holograms replied. "The Founder. You know of her?"
"Leading xenotologist of the Golden Age. Her papers on the Vex laid the basis for my own research."
"Phoenix!" Irxan snapped. She crouched by Jaxson. "He is dying!"
"Rohan," Quinn shouted. "Complex below, he needs a doctor!"
No, he needed space. To get away. It was too much. Too much power. He couldn't fight it. Not any longer. The power in Jaxson's chest grew, inching out from his umbral centre, and Stasis flaked across his skin. Irxan staggered away. "Lightbearer!" she called. "Don't!"
He had to. Jaxson didn't have a choice. The crystals built and built, fighting the Veil's tides, until-
It shattered. He shattered with them, sprawling across the floor. Emerald energy caught him, consumed him, dragged him thrashing into the currents of something greater.
he
flowed
The city passed below. He danced across a hundred minds, from habi-block to habi-block. He surfed on psychic waves. The pain was gone. Everything was gone. Everything but the strands, the web, the Weave.
He saw it. Saw it all for what it was. Consciousness. The grand trick of survival, that age-old stratagem of intelligent life. Awareness, sentience, sapience - it was all a weapon to conquer the food chain, the ecosystem, to crawl to the top over mountains of corpses. The Dark surged; what Jaxson once believed solid and unyielding was malleable, flexible, adaptable. Life was pliant. Survival was a test. Stand strong or move with the river. The Veil was too powerful, he couldn't resist, so he gave into its tug. His being floated on the links of humanity, striking from one corner of the city to the next, until the Light pulled him back out.
Jaxson opened his eyes to Ghost's worried stare and he breathed in deep.
"Jaxie?"
"I... I'm okay," Jaxson whispered. "I'm good."
"You died. You just died."
"Nah, I'm good."
"Jax-"
"Ghost, really. M'fine." Jaxson sat up. Irxan was kneeling beside him and Osiris stood nearby. Both of them were frowning. "What's wrong?"
"You disintegrated," Osiris murmured. "Spontaneously."
"You say that like it's unusual."
"I felt it."
Jaxson's blinked. "What do you mean?"
"I felt it," Osiris repeated. "I felt your passing. I felt... your movement. You died, but... you did not end."
Jaxson glanced around. They were still in the council chambers. Rohan, Nimbus, the Frames and the holograms wordlessly watched on. And the Veil-
It didn't hurt anymore. He felt it - felt it as strongly as he used to feel the Traveler back when it hung over the City - but it made no move to cut him down. It flowed around him, with him, through him. Jaxson lifted a hand and willed the Dark to manifest, but all too quickly the sensuous caress turned into needling teeth. Quickly he let go - and watched, transfixed, as the cool geometric crackle of Stasis was replaced by winding strands of clean ethereal green. He followed it all the way back to the Veil, and then to each and every person in the room.
"Well," Jaxson said. "Shit."
"What is that?" Osiris pressed.
"What is what?" Rohan demanded, but they ignored him.
Ghost beamed a scan over Jaxson's hand. "Darkness of some kind. It's not Stasis, not Nightmare either, and it doesn't match the other element traces we found aboard the Pyramid. What does it feel like?"
"Like a river. It's the Veil-"
"Show me." Osiris reached out and caught a hold of the paracausal matter. It flashed; he swore and retracted his bleeding hand, laid open by a dozen lashing strands.
Strands. What a wonderful word.
"No," Jaxson said, quiet with awe. "Can't fight it."
"The Dark asserts control," Osiris argued. He cradled his split fingers.
"The Witness does," Jaxson corrected. "This... this is different. This isn't the Black Fleet at all."
Gingerly, Osiris reached out once more. He stiffened as the strands reached back, then relaxed as they harmlessly wove around the proffered limb. A ball of verdant yarn formed in his bloodied palm. It broke almost immediately, only for its split parts to rotate around him, chirping animatedly. Irxan shifted with surprise; Jaxson figured it was at last becoming visible to the causal souls.
"What is that?" Nimbus angrily demanded. A weapon formed in their hand. Jaxson, more on instinct than anything else, leapt to his feet and moved between them and Osiris. The strands shifted around his hands, solidifying into place, becoming long curved blades.
"Careful son," Rohan said. He raised his own weapon.
It was only then that Jaxson noticed what had happened to him. He stared at the emerald growths. He could feel them like extensions of his own mind - just like any other manifestation of his paracausal abilities.
"This power... is the Veil's?" Osiris inquired. Jaxson craned his neck around. The old guy wasn't even paying attention to anything other than his new toys.
"Yeah." Jaxson released his hold and raised his empty hands. Rohan warily lowered his gun, but Nimbus kept theirs readied. "My man, put that down before you get hurt."
"Don't test me Warlord," Nimbus snarled.
"Oh complex blow," Quinn groaned. "Nimbus!"
"Strider Nimbus," another hologram said warningly. "Remove your weapon this instant."
Nimbus scowled, but they did as they were instructed.
"And you, Mister Ineta." The hologram turned to him. Jaxson could see them a little more clearly now; the speaker was an elderly woman with a cane, her hair tied back in a tight bun. She had sharp little eyes and a pinched face with more lines than he had guns. "Care to explain what just happened?"
"Your Veil did," he replied.
"The Veil-"
"Is a paracausal object. And you just put two paracausal beings in the same room as it." Jaxson looked at his hands once more. Fluorescent wires slithered around his forearms. He felt strong. Like dipping into the Light of the Traveler directly, only on the opposite spectrum. The source of the power was everywhere, as omnipresent as the Void. And oh, oh it felt good. It felt right. "What happens now?"
"What do you think should happen?"
"You let us loose."
"On our fair city?"
"On the Cabal. It's your only option."
"I can think of another," Nimbus huffed.
"They're trespassing," another voice chimed in. An elderly man, grim-faced and formally dressed. "The Striders' Law is clear."
"That was before," Quinn argued. "This is different."
"How?"
"The Black Fleet has returned," Rohan rumbled. "Xenoform militants are gathering outside the city walls."
"They won't get through," another hologram pointed out. "The founders built them to last a siege."
"From the Vex. I don't like the look of these newcomers."
"We got a fleet in orbit," Jaxson cut in. Everyone looked at him. "Earth, the Cabal - we have an army waiting to hit Calus and put him in the dirt."
"A fleet..." the old woman mused. "It's all well and good that you can vouch for them, mister Ineta, but what do you propose we do about it?"
Jaxson frowned. "Let 'em through. What else?"
"The atmosphere? What makes you believe we can control it?"
"You're here. Means your ancestors ran the gauntlet, same as Calus. Show us how."
Rohan held up a hand. "Son, you have to understand-"
"Not your 'son'." Jaxson scowled. "And if you can't let the fleet through just point us to the nearest conflux."
"Vex conflux?"
"Yeah."
"Out of the question."
"We're not your enemy."
"You're a Warlord," the well-dressed man interceded. "Warlords are the enemy of man."
"I'm a Guardian," Jaxson hotly retorted. "A fucking Guardian. The Warlords are dead. We killed them."
For a moment no one said a thing, but the looks they gave him weren't inspiring.
"This city cannot open the skies," Irxan said in a neutral voice. Her words crackled like electricity. "We will choose to believe your words. But you say nothing of communications. Allow us to reach our kin. They will otherwise believe us lost, dead."
"Not a chance. You... whatever you are, you're asking us to reveal ourselves to the universe," the well-dressed man said sharply. "That simply isn't done."
"The universe already knows you're here," Jaxson groaned. "Earth already knows there's an installation on Neptune, and the Black Fleet - those fucks're outside your walls! Who else is there to hide from? The Vex? The Hive? You know about the Witch Queen, don't you? Which means She knows about you. You're doin' yourself no favours."
"The universe is full of perils," the old woman said calmly. "We know better than to open ourselves to a new enemy."
"New enemy? There's no one else left! The Black Fleet is winning! They already have the Traveler, all they need left is-"
"What did you say?" Rohan barked.
Jaxson frowned. He lost his momentum. "What?"
"The Traveler. You said something about the Traveler."
"The Black Fleet took it. They stole it away."
"Are you sure?"
"I saw it with my own fucking eyes."
There were murmurs in the back. Rohan and the old woman exchanged worried looks. They made no move to hide it.
"That... changes things," the well-dressed man admitted.
"Thank you, D'Sydney, for stating the obvious," Quinn drawled, "again."
"Laghari-"
"If the Black Fleet has the Traveler..." Another man, short and bespectacled. "Administrator Jingye..."
"Yes," the old woman murmured, "I know."
"Know what?" Jaxson pressed. "What do you know? Is it about the Traveler?"
"This session will be suspended until-"
"No. No, we're not finished."
"Wolf..." Osiris murmured.
"No!" Jaxson glared at each of the holograms. "I'm not waiting around for the universe to end. I'm going to act; you can't stop me."
"Son-" Rohan sternly warned. He took a step forward
Jaxson raised a woven blade in his direction. "Don't try it. Not one step farther." He glanced around. "You can choose to enlighten us, or you can sit by and watch us do your dirty work. Either or, we're not dealing with your bullshit any longer."
For a moment no one said a thing. Then-
"Archivist Laghari," the old woman said. Her eyes were narrowed and her mouth pursed thinly. "Would you please show our visitors to the Hall of Records?"
"Sure." Quinn's hologram flickered and shrunk away. A drone disengaged from her podium, carrying her soft-light image atop a circular projector.
"Madam Administrator," Rohan said. "Is this wise?"
The old woman hardly looked at him. "Mister Ineta makes a strong case. What have we to lose?"
"Miss Tse!" D'Sydney complained. "They are outsiders-"
"The matter of Neomuna's security is my domain," Tse firmly retorted. "The call is mine to make."
"But the trial-"
"Will be put on hold until such a time a suitable settlement can be made. Earthlings, do you find these terms agreeable?"
A hand closed around Jaxson's shoulder. "We do," Osiris said quickly. "Where does that leave us in the meantime?"
"Under the care of the Cloud Striders. You may go nowhere without their supervision."
"That's bullshit," Jaxson growled.
"It's more than we already had," Osiris whispered. He raised his voice. "We understand. Thank you."
"Ma'am..." Rohan said. Tse raised a hand and he fell silent.
"Be aware that any deviation will result in detainment or termination," Tse said. "You are not Neomuni, and the circumstances of your arrival are suspect at best. Our leniency comes as a result of circumstance alone. Provided you have told the truth, then Earth and Neomuna have common cause - but this does not make us allies. We seceded from the territories of the Old Age long ago; we seek no reunion with the homeworld."
"So I see," Osiris replied. "In that case, I hope we find some measure of accord soon."
"Perhaps. We'll see. Strider Nimbus, please escort the Earthlings to Quinn Laghari."
Nimbus, still glowering, bowed their head. "Madam Administrator." Their gun melted into a swarm of nanites that slithered up his arms and burrowed into notches in their augments. "Earthlings, follow."
Jaxson released his holds on the strands. "If this is a ploy to herd us into a killzone-"
"Earthlings."
"-it won't end well for any of you." He glanced first at Osiris, then Irxan. Both offered grim expressions. "Alright. We'll play nice."
"Splendid," Administrator Tse murmured. "This session is over." The rest of the holograms deactivated, leaving them alone but for the 'Striders' and the Veil itself.
So close, Jaxson mused. So close they could touch it. So close it could kill them whenver it so desired. If anything, he was glad for the excuse to leave it behind.
They descended through the tower via a spiral escalator. "There's elevators too," Quinn said through her drone, "but they're a little boring. And the stairs kill the joints. Wouldn't want to subject ya to that hell."
The view was breathtaking. One of the walls was entirely glass the whole way down, allowing them an incredible view of the city outside - Neomuna, Jaxson reminded himself. Neomuna. The word probably meant something but he couldn't pin it down. The place was big, though. Last City-big. And alive; it was a neon wonderland dotted with parks, skyscrapers, swarming with anti-grav transports. Slim magna-rails swooped over the press of habi-blocks, their glittering trams soundlessly speeding across in the blink of an eye. The term 'bullet train' came to mind. The Strider's Gate itself was a citadel built against the east wall, pinned between two of the Hydra's spires. It was easily tall enough to rival the Tower of home.
"So..." Quinn's hologram looked between each of them. "How's everyone feeling?"
Nimbus grunted wordlessly.
"Fine," Jaxson said tersely. "Totally fine."
"Uh... ok. You looked... you didn't look so good back there."
"Better now."
"Right, yeah. Space zombie things. Sure. Okay..." She slyly nudged him with the edge of her drone. "Change of subject. Whaddya think?"
"About?"
"Neomuna. I mean just look at it."
"It's... quaint," Jaxson muttered.
"Quaint?"
"I've seen prettier."
"Rude," Ghost murmured. Jaxson internally shrugged.
"Now that I gotta see." Quinn chuckled goodnaturedly. "Like where?"
"Reef."
"Reef?"
"Asteroid Belt. Smattering of cities there. Some of them're cut from straight marble and crystal."
"You're joking."
"Nah."
"Who built them?"
"The Awoken did," Osiris answered.
"Hm?"
"Reefborn Awoken," Jaxson explained. "Blue humans."
"Blue?" Quinn snorted. And stopped. "Wait, you're serious?"
"Deadly."
"How'd that work out?"
Jaxson shrugged. "Collapse."
"Ah."
"Yeah."
"Hear it was a crazy time."
"Same."
"You weren't there?"
"Nah." Jaxson glanced her way. "Pretty sure I was dead."
"And you?" Quinn nodded to Osiris. He shook his head. "Really? And neither of you remember?"
"Remember what?"
"Your old life?"
Jaxson gave her a curious look. "No?"
"Riiight." Quinn trailed off.
"... Look, if you'd just let us get a call through to orbit-"
"No can do."
"We have an army millions strong," Jaxson argued. "All we want is to kill Calus."
"And secure the Veil," Quinn echoed. "You two were pretty clear on that."
Jaxson said nothing.
"But the Veil is secure."
"Sure it is." Jaxson flashed a smile. It didn't reach his eyes.
Quinn inhaled deeply. She looked at Irxan. "What about you, beautiful?"
Irxan's outer eyes crinkled. Wary amusement so far as Jaxson could tell. He wasn't quite so sure, darned Eliksni expressions, but it was something positive anyways. "What about me?"
"You here for the same?"
"Eia."
"How'd that work out?"
"What do you mean?" Jaxson asked suspiciously.
"Earth. Working with aliens."
"Eliskni," Irxan corrected. "We are Eliksni. Not alien."
"Oh, that's the name of your species! Oh, jeez, sorry." Quinn smiled widely, showing her teeth. Jaxson withheld the urge to groan; Irxan's expression shifted to a troubled frown.
"Misraakskel knew worth of human friendship," Irxan answered. "Greater than... the word is enmity, yes?"
"Yep." Jaxson leaned against the railing.
"Who's... Misreeks-kul?" Quinn questioned.
"Misraakskel," Irxan said. "He is our Kell."
"An authoritive position in Eliksni society comparative to a monarch," Osiris translated.
"Ohhh." Quinn bobbed her head. "Cool, cool. And... he's a good guy?"
"I'd say he's pretty stand-up, yeah." Jaxson heaved a sigh. "Is this going to take long?"
"Have somewhere to be?"
"I do, actually. Calus's army won't kill itself."
"You talk a lot about killing."
Jaxson furrowed his brow. "Yeah? What 'bout it?"
"It's a little, uh..." Quinn hesitated. "Off-putting."
"Alright."
"... K." Quinn cleared her throat. "Next floor's our stop."
They disembarked and followed her along another colossal hallway. At the end of it were a set of vacuum-sealed gates with interlocking teeth holding it shut. It reminded Jaxson vaguely of the Reef's clenched fangs coat of arms set on its side - a great predator's maw oriented sideways, yawning open to consume them body and soul. Across the floor in front of it, against a backdrop of bright yellow paint, were the messages WARNING: RESTRICTED AREA and HAZARDOUS ENVIRONMENT BEYOND in several languages.
Jaxson realized where they were. It was an airlock. On the other side of the room beyond, bathed in dangerous red light, was a set of reinforced gates wracked by black mold and jagged sword-grooves.
"No," he said, and stopped. The others slowed. "I know what this is."
Quinn's smile wavered. "Wolfy, it's not-"
"This leads to the Hydra," Jaxson revealed. Osiris stiffened and Irxan growled. "There's a Hive down there."
"Y... yeah." Quinn frowned. "How do you know?"
Jaxson ignored the question. "You folk know 'bout the Witch Queen. You know 'bout the Hive. But you're still alive. Doesn't make any sense."
"How's that?"
"Because the Hive kill everything."
Nimbus snorted.
Jaxson swiveled. "Is that funny?"
"Yeah, it is," Nimbus chuckled. "That's Earthling paranoia."
"It's a common understanding."
"Then why are we here?"
"What are you saying?" Osiris questioned sharply. "That your people have found accord with the Hive?"
"Sure."
"Why are we here?" Irxan demanded.
Quinn glanced between them. Her gaze lingered on Jaxson. "Could you three please step inside?"
"What for?"
"Just... humour me. It's harmless. I can't bring you to the Hall of Records if you don't. Rules are rules."
"And what rules are those?" Osiris asked.
"Outsiders have to go through decontamination. The founders of Neomuna separated from Earth society during the Collapse over five hundred years ago. Do you know how many diseases can prop up in that time? Our immune systems aren't evolved for that."
Osiris exhaled. "That's... fair."
"Not to mention icon-based info-hazards, empyreanic parasites, rogue nanite plagues - looking at you, sexy." Quinn faced Irxan. "Mama always said asking about someone's implants is rude, so I'm not gonna ask the why, but I still gotta check that your SIVA's dormant."
Irxan regarded her dubiously. "I am not sick."
"Not saying you are, but we can't take any chances. SIVA's serious business."
"But why here?" Osiris inquired. "Is there no other facility installed with decontamination facilities?"
"You guys really don't like Hive, do you?"
Jaxson frowned.
"I mean, yeah, this isn't the only place," Quinn explained, "but Cegorach's Gate is on the other side of the city - and that place is built for visitors. You guys came in through the wrong doors."
"The airlock-"
"Was for use by Cloud Striders," Nimbus interjected. "You took our tunnels."
"Point is," Quinn cut in, "is that we can't afford to ferry you through the city until we know you're clean. Neomuna doesn't have the luxury of free space. We can't afford an outbreak. Our systems just can't take it. Look, I'm not about to open those doors; we'd need Rohan here for that. He's the only one with the keys. But we gotta sweep you before you're allowed to come to me."
"And you're already present within this... Hall of Records?" Osiris asked.
"Yeah."
"We'll take turns," Jaxson decided. "One at a time."
Quinn raised an eyebrow. "You really don't trust us, do you?"
"Haven't seen a single human soul that wasn't sick with a Vex infection," he shot back. "Not in person."
"We're not Vex. Our water, our air is totally clean."
"Yeah, so my Ghost tells me, but that doesn't explain them." Jaxson pointed at Nimbus. "Anything happens to one of us inside, the other two'll raise hell."
"Not happening," Nimbus sneered.
"Then we're not going in."
"You'll do as you're told, Warlo-"
"Hunk, please," Quinn groaned. "Okay Wolfy, we can do it like that. Just... alright, yeah. Who's first?"
"I will," Irxan said. She looked between each of them. "I am no Lightbearer. I am the least missed."
Jaxson inhaled deeply. "Thank you."
She grunted and stepped into the room. "Perform your scans, human."
A barrier of pale white energy flared up between the open doors, cutting her off from them. The room flashed red; waves of vibrant light ran up and down Irxan's frame, painting her in a crimson hue. A couple of seconds passed. Then a minute. Everything went dark a little short of the five minute mark and Irxan stepped out, no different than before. Her inner eyes were narrowed.
"You're good," Quinn called. The relief in her voice was obvious.
Jaxson made to take her place but Osiris stopped him. "No," he said. "Allow me."
"'Siris..."
Osiris shot him a meaningful look. Better me than you, it said.
"Fine," Jaxson sighed. "Go on."
Osiris stepped inside. The procedure was the exact same. Irxan stopped by Jaxson's side. "I could feel it," she admitted. "I could feel the machines studying me. Osiriks is right; the technology here is strong."
"Was it..." Jaxson trailed off.
Irxan huffed. "I don't know," she said, "but I felt no whisper from the Network. They are telling the truth."
"I don't understand this place."
"Leave it to the Phoenix. He is a scholar. This is his field. You-"
"I'm a warrior," he finished. "But what am I supposed to do without my war?"
"It's not my place to tell you that, Lightbearer. You must find that out for yourself."
Osiris re-emerged, meeting with a thumbs up from Quinn. The flicker of green strands around his being twisted and slithered a little more quickly, attuned to his own anxiousness. No one commented on it. They couldn't see it, Jaxson thought. Not in so muted a state. Osiris walked quicker, though, and the movements were stronger than even before the Arkborn had almost killed him. Even his eyes were brighter, removed of the dark cloud left by Sagira's loss and Savathûn's possession.
"Wolf," he said.
With a muttered prayer to a stolen god Jaxson strode into the airlock. The force barrier raised behind him. His own implants tingled as a series of invasive signals and bright tracers ran over and through his body. The gates at his back radiated a field of animosity - something simultaneously more and less than causal, something distinctly psionic, but undeniably alien. The aura of the thing on the other side hung thick in the air he breathed. The presence, and presence alone for he could feel no true consciousness within it, battered at its prison in demented silence.
At last the inquisition came to a close. Jaxson stepped out, hiding the tremble in his hand behind his back.
"You're all clear," Quinn told them. "And squeaky clean too. Like... what? Do you have anti-microbe fields or something?"
"We are Risen," Osiris said. He didn't elaborate.
"Weird. Okay. I'll get you guys a shuttle. Thanks!"
A squat square transport took them from a landing pad near the base of the Strider's Gate to the inner city. Nimbus flew ahead of them on their hoverboard, always within sight. Jaxson took the opportunity to sit back and reflect - on the dream, the Veil, the Dark.
"This is unprecedented," Osiris murmured. He was perched on the edge of the opposite seat, manipulating strings of condensed psychic energy with naked awe.
"What is it?" Irxan inquired. "Phoenix?"
"It's... it appears to be a mental byproduct, but far more proactive than Deepsight."
"It is of the Veil?"
"No," Jaxson said. He allowed the power to gather between his fingers, to settle over his knuckles. "It's everywhere, a part of everyone. It stretches across the city, the planet, maybe all over the system and, hell, even the universe. And it goes deeper. It's... it's something integral. Just more developed than the elements of the Light. Which... is on par for the Dark."
"What do you mean?"
Osiris took over. "The Light is creation. It is potential. It creates the foundations. The Dark comes after; it is the competition between all these new, young things. Intelligent life - us - are its premiere creations."
"We are built of Light," Irxan argued. "Light lives in all things."
"And the Dark shaped us. Ulan-Tan's theorems on symmetry still stand true." Osiris smiled ruefully. "I made my own hypotheses when I was the Vanguard Commander. The Speaker exiled me for airing them."
"Way I hear it, you were exiled for being a prick," Jaxson pointed out.
Osiris glanced at him curiously. "Is that your interpretation? Or Ikharos's?"
Jaxson looked away. "The latter."
"Well... he was not wholly wrong."
"No. Rarely was."
There was a pause. "They will find him," Osiris said. "He isn't lost to us. Not forever."
"He fucked off into deep space," Jaxson said irritably. "He's long gone."
"Ikharos will come back."
"If he's not already dead, maybe."
"Wolf-"
"I don't wanna talk about him."
"If that is what you want." Osiris consolidated his power into a shifting tangle of living yarn. "What will you call this?"
"Huh?"
"Unless the Exo Stranger made mention of it then this is your discovery."
"I dunno, String or something. Twine. Strand. Yeah, Strand sounds better."
"Strand," Osiris echoed. "Very well."
"You alright with that?"
"Of course."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
"Because you don't seem alright. Have something else in mind?"
"I do not." Osiris gave him an exasperated look. "Wolf, this need not be a debate."
"Thought you were a scientist," Jaxson teased.
"I am."
"What kind of scientist studies strands?"
"Weaving is a respectable profession," Irxan interjected.
Jaxson raised his hands. "I don't mean anything by it."
"He only intends to irritate me," Osiris told her. "He is still young, don't take anything he says to heart."
Irxan looked between the two of them. "I do not understand humans."
"Humans don't understand humans." Jaxson breathed in. "So...?"
"So what?" Osiris shot back.
"What are you thinking?"
"Regarding Strand?"
"Everything overall."
Osiris's expression turned sour. "I do not like this," he professed. "None of this reassures me."
"Because they left you guys out hanging in the Dark Age?"
"Yes, but that isn't my primary concern. This... Hive connection." Osiris took a breath. "This is the work of the Witch Queen."
"Obviously. They knew Her name. That's trouble."
"They knew Her Krill name, which is all the more damning. But they live. They guard the Veil. She must have designed for this."
"Then those memories of hers you dreamed-"
"Yes." Osiris looked out a nearby window. "This is the very same city I saw. But I was so focused on finding it that I hadn't bothered to consider why I saw it."
"I..." Jaxson hesitated. "I had a dream too."
"Wolf, this is no time for fantasy-"
"It was a conscious dream. I saw that airlock before we arrived."
"... I see." Osiris nodded slowly. "You knew what lay beyond?"
"No. I don't. I just… I know it's Hive or Hive-connected. But it's not the only place." Jaxson paused. "This city... I think they worship the Hive, or at least one o' them. It isn't Savathûn either. Not by any name I know her."
"Say it."
"Went something like... the Nastareth." Jaxson grimaced. "I think. Ghost?"
"Yeah." Ghost appeared by his shoulder. "That was it."
Osiris raised an eyebrow. "It sounds remarkably like Nezarec."
"Riiight." Jaxson frowned. "But that doesn't check out. Nezarec was, is, aboard the Typhon Imperator - Calus's new ship. It feels like this Nastareth is here. Or was. I dunno."
"An extension of the Disciple's will, perhaps?"
"Can they do that?"
Osiris made a face. "We hardly know a thing about Nezarec, let alone his species - if He even has one. For all we know he could be a phantasmal incarnation of some far-flung fragment of the Dark."
"That's possible?"
"Many things are in the Deep. There are dimensions beyond our own where will and desire are the only driving forces. We can't know for sure. Not without access to records kept by peoples and civilizations long since lost to time."
"That's... not comforting."
"It's not supposed to be. All that matters is that we are here, and that we keep the Veil free of the Black Fleet's reach."
"Misraakskel should be informed," Irxan grumbled. "Caiatlkel and Zavalakel as well."
"Until the Neomuni allow us to do so, I'm afraid we have no choice," Osiris reminded her. "We have not the time to scrounge in the dirt for a Vex communications node. Not with Calus and His soldiers so close by."
"They're going to get in," Jaxson said. "It's only a matter of time."
"I know."
"Then why didn't you argue that point with the council?"
"Because I've tried stubbornness before," Osiris said. "It sways none but despots and exiles - those already ostracized by society. We need their help. They know more about the Veil than we do."
"You sure about that?"
"I am, yes. Their ignorance of paracausal forces means little in the face of over five hundred years of study."
Jaxson chewed his cheek. "Don't like it."
"I know. You made that very clear."
The ship's intercom buzzed. "We are approaching the designated landing zone," the Frame-pilot cheerily announced. "Please remain seated."
Jaxson looked out the window. They were closing on a massive citadel in the direct centre of the sprawling city. "Oh," he said. "Damn."
"What is it?"
"That's the temple you saw," Ghost observed. "Huh."
"Saw that in the dream too," Jaxson revealed.
"This troubles you?" Irxan inquired.
"Well yeah. It's dedicated to their Hive patron."
"Are they within?" Osiris asked anxiously.
"Don't think so. Just where they pray to him."
"Unnatural," Irxan growled. "The Hive are beasts."
"Feel free to tell 'em." Jaxson turned back in his seat. "Osiris..."
"We'll humour them," Osiris said quickly. "For now."
"Really don't like this."
"Do we have a choice?"
"Want me to answer that?"
"Do we have a choice that doesn't involve making the people of Neomuna our enemy?"
Jaxson shook his head. "Shit."
AN: Hugest, biggest thanks for Nomad Blue for the editz and his patience.
Wrote a fifth chapter a while back, didn't like it, so I rewrote it into this. Was a difficult one to move through, but I'm satisfied with it now.