The scanner was exactly as ruined as Jed thought it would be. The controls were in perfect condition, but the entire scanner array was missing.
Well, there was a single channel of steel where it had been mounted, along with what looked like the insulating coating for a wire. But otherwise, all gone.
So, instead of getting Gwen scanned, the three of them talked about where they would go, once they left Vaskerville.
“I’ve always wanted to visit Seven Falls,” Gwen said, gesturing ringwards. “A town of waterfalls right at the barrier peaks, where the Infinite winds through to the next hex.”
“The Infinite? Don’t think I’ve heard of that,” Jed said.
“Maybe you know it by another name? The Ring River? The Eternal Flow? It’s the infinite river that connects the entire ring?”
“I probably should’ve guessed that from context,” Jed said, chuckling. “So… we could just follow the river, moving from ring to ring, always seeing new places?”
“Some people do that,” Gwen confirmed. “Live their whole lives on the Infinite, only visiting a place once before moving on.”
“Is that something you’d be interested in?” Jed asked, hoping she said yes. More than he would’ve expected, he wanted her to join them.
“Always been the dream. It’s half the reason I wanted to be a hunter,” Gwen admitted. “Think I might’ve mentioned that, though might have left off the part about the river. Guess I assumed everyone just knew that part.”
“Yeah, might have a few gaps in my knowledge, seeing as I’m not from around here,” Jed said, elbowing her playfully.
“Yeah, not quite a local,” Gwen agreed, elbowing him back.
“I must admit, I am not certain I will enjoy moving about as much,” Mythlyn said from where she was standing by the window, wings pulled tight against her back. “Perhaps that is partially because so many of my best memories are from the last few years when I could not.”
“That’s rough,” Gwen said, pushing to her feet and going over to Mythlyn. She reached out as if to put a hand on Mythlyn’s shoulder, hesitating for a second before going through with the gesture.
It rested there, and Mythlyn reached up and patted Gwen’s hand. “Thank you. I did not mean to elicit sympathy, but it is appreciated nonetheless. I think there are few who would feel sympathy for the archangel of death.”
“How about for a friend?” Gwen asked.
“I suppose… that makes a good deal more sense,” Mythlyn replied, smiling, though Jed could see the sadness lurking beneath it. He suspected he’d need to ask her about that later, when it was just them.
Their conversation was interrupted by the return of Metsa and Sotas, whose arrival could be heard even through the sealed walls of the control room.
“This place would never have let that much sound through if it was in good shape,” Jed said even as he waited at the teleport door, hand held out for Gwen.
“Then it is fortunate it is not in good shape,” Mythlyn said before phasing through the wall.
“Does love the last word, doesn’t she?” Gwen asked as she took Jed’s hand.
“I think it’s fun. Gives a bit of flair to things,” Jed said, grinning as he timed the touch of his hand to the teleport with the end of his sentence.
“Ha, fucking ha,” Gwen said, thwapping his arm lightly as they appeared on the other side, shaking her head.
Jed just chuckled as they made their way down to the street. Sotas was unloading several heavy looking objects from the back of the buggy when they arrived. Not only was the buggy packed, they even had a trailer.
“Uh… what’s all this?” Jed asked as Sotas hefted one of the rolls onto his shoulders and marched past.
“If this district is going to be liveable again, that means scavengers. Can’t have them tugging all the important bits free,” Metsa said as she moved to the trailer, climbing up the side and peering inside. “Which means we need to seal up the pylon. Might not be able to do fancy repairs to the warp repulsion field or whatever it is, but we can patch the walls and make it so people have to use the door to get inside.”
“I should probably make sure the door works then,” Jed said, eying the heavy rolls of material.
“That’d be good, aye,” Metsa said, pausing. “You know where it is?”
“Pretty sure it’s under that marked section… and I’ll just go check.”
“You do that,” Metsa grumbled, eyes narrowing as her gaze shifted to Gwen. “Well girl, you just gonna stand there, or you gonna help?”
Gwen’s eyes widened for a second before nodding. “I’ll help.”
“Then get up here already,” Metsa said, gesturing her over. “I swear, some people’s grandchildren.”
Jed chuckled as he turned away, moving towards the entrance with Mythlyn at his side. “So… you feeling okay?”
“It is strange to see you making friends so easily,” Mythlyn admitted after a few seconds of silence. “And I must admit, it hurts more than I expected to realize you felt for me in a way I cannot return.”
“That’s the distant past,” Jed said, reaching over and squeezing her hand. “Friends don’t expect things from friends they can’t deliver.”
“I must say then, that I have been a terrible friend,” Mythlyn said as they made their way towards the door.
“Oh? And why is that?” Jed asked as he trailed his hand about the edges of the doorway, searching for the invisible panel.
Right as he found it, the warp about to whisk him away, Mythlyn said, “Because I expected you to bring me the Empress’ head.”
…Isekai-eh…
“You did that on purpose,” Jed said, reappearing beside Mythlyn when she didn’t follow him through the door leading inside the pylon.
“Of course I did,” Mythlyn said with a smile, though it faded quickly. “It was true though. That was the only reason I did not attempt to kill you, in those early years. I thought you were the key to killing the Empress.”
“In the early… years?” Jed asked, eyebrow raised. “And pretty sure you led me into more than one ‘accident’.”
Mythlyn blushed, turning to the side. “I regret it now. But at the time… well, I was conflicted.”
“Oh trust me, I figured that out,” Jed said with a wry chuckle. “Now come inside, door might work, but I need to clear out a bunch of junk.”
Mythlyn followed him into what could charitably be called a mess.
Jed was thinking clusterfuck was a more appropriate term. If he wanted to be scientific.
While other sections of the pylon were mostly empty or intact, the area just opposite the door was so covered in junk he could barely see the central chamber where the warp-coils lay.
So he set about fixing that one piece of awkward debris at a time. None of it was sized neatly, and a lot of it seemed to be from other buildings or just garbage some random animal had tracked in. That there were signs of animals at all intrigued him.
He’d been under the impression the shadow districts were empty, but apparently something had figured out how to survive within.
Made sense. He’d seen the grass on the sides of the roads, he just hadn’t put two and two together. A good reminder that no matter how much math he learned, there were some equations he’d miss.
It took him an hour to clear a path from the door to the center of the chamber, during which time the others had sealed over most of the holes in the side of the building other than the giant rent they’d originally crawled through.
“Ah, you emerge victorious from your battle with girder and garbage,” Sotas said, raising a hand in greeting.
“Most glorious battle I’ve fought all week, I assure you,” Jed replied, noticing that Gwen and Metsa were both fifteen feet above the ground, suspended by cables. There was a ladder laying on the ground not three feet away.
“‘Bout time you finished,” Metsa said, pushing off the wall and sliding a few feet down, using a brush to apply something to the wall. Gwen was doing the same on the other side. “Good timing. We were just about to apply the last seal, but wanted to make sure the door was working first.”
“Door seems fine, though maybe we ought to test if I can carry people through,” Jed said, scanning the wall and seeing several more patches of slightly discolored surface. “Are you… gluing them in place. That seems a little weak.”
“It is special glue,” Sotas said, smacking his hands together.
“He’s right. This stuff reacts with the wall coating. Need to keep it clamped in place for five minutes or it’ll come free. But after that you’d have an easier time ripping a new hole in the wall,” Metsa explained, rubbing her hands together as she reached the ground.
“You… sound excited,” Jed said, somewhat worried by that excitement.
“Stuff isn’t worth using for most places,” Metsa said, taking her cable and attaching it to the end of the roll Sotas had carried in when they first arrived. “Too expensive. Had it made a few years ago for… another project.”
Jed caught how her voice hitched but he politely ignored it, moving closer to inspect the new ‘wall’. “So, old renovation supplies being put to good use. Always nice when that happens.”
“It is nice, yes,” Metsa said, nodding her agreement. “Anyway, you and Gwen can probably lift this into place yourself. Go see if you can take her through that door, we’ll get things set, and if so, we’re pretty much ready to kick the tires and light the fires.”
“That… is remarkably similar to an expression from back home,” Jed said, smiling nostalgically.
“Hear that Sotas, his home’s as cool as mine was.”
“A hundred years behind the times, it does not surprise,” Sotas said, nodding as he accepted Gwen’s line from her and tied it into place.
“Hey, who you calling old?”
“You, my love,” Sotas said, eyes twinkling with amusement.
“You see what I have to live with?” Metsa asked a bemused Gwen even as she stomped past.
“Come on,” Jed said, waving Gwen after him towards the entrance.
She fell into place behind him with a shake of her head, weaving through the narrow path to where he’d left Mythlyn.
The warp angel was lounging there with her back against the outer wall, gaze distant. She’d been like that since their talk earlier, and Jed hadn’t been able to draw her out of it.
“Ready?” Jed asked, holding his hand out to Gwen.
“Ready, partner,” Gwen confirmed immediately, taking his hand.
Jed thought he caught Mythlyn lifting her head at that, eyes narrowing, but he was gone before he could be sure.
“Whew, that was bumpier than the other one,” Gwen said, putting her hand against the pylon and leaning over.
“You okay there?” Jed asked, moving to support her.
“Yeah, just… tossed me about a bit, I think. Not pleasant, but I’ve had worse,” Gwen said, standing up and wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. “Not a trip I want to make more than I have to though.”
“Honestly, it’s worrying that you felt anything. I never have,” Jed said, staring at the wall.
“I have told you before that your stability is anomalous,” Mythlyn said, emerging from the wall. “Also, you were correct about these walls. They barely block sound.”
“So you’re saying the ride’s been rough and I just didn’t notice?”
“More that… you smooth out the ride. I imagine that were your partner capable of making the trip on her own, she would find it even more turbulent,” Mythlyn said, a twinge of something Jed couldn’t place in her voice when she said, ‘your partner’.
“Right. Maybe we shouldn’t risk you-”
“Partners, remember,” Gwen cut him off. “Besides, if it’s like the sensitivity, then it’s something I can train, right?”
Mythlyn stared at Gwen for a second, before nodding, a warm smile spreading across her face. “Yes, you are correct. It can be trained, though I would not expect it to be a quick process. Nor a pleasant one. I would understand if you are unable to endure it.”
“Just more work. Like everything worth doing, right?” Gwen asked, reaching her hand out to Jed.
“I mean, there are some things worth doing that are easy,” Jed said, chuckling as the teleport activated and carried them inside. “Like timing that. Very easy, very worth.”
Gwen raised two fingers in his face even as she leaned against him, the two fingers a sign Jed was pretty sure was the local equivalent of a middle finger. Or maybe only Gwen’s equivalent, since he hadn’t seen anyone else use it.
“Okay, we need to get this wall thing fixed but afterwards, we’ll do that until I can at least keep my gun steady,” Gwen said, drawing in a deep breath.
“If Metsa and Sotas don’t ship us straight out of the city after,” Jed said, following behind her as they wove through the junk pile.
“Metsa was saying she wants to pick us up first thing in the morning, then hightail it while everyone’s distracted by the barrier,” Gwen informed him.
“Shouldn’t we wait until the morning to turn it on then?”
“Well, you can turn it on and off, right?”
“Sure.”
“Right. So, she wants to test it now, then activate it proper come morning,” Gwen explained as they emerged into the main chamber.
It was lacking both Metsa and Sotas, though Sotas’ feet were visible through the giant rent in the wall.
“That… yeah, that makes sense,” Jed said, kneeling down at the rent and looking through. “You guys ready for us to haul this into place.”
Metsa grinned down at him, holding her fist in front of her.
“I… have no idea what that means,” Jed said, glancing over his shoulder at a smirking Gwen.
“It means we’re ready. Pull the ropes already,” Metsa said, Jed able to almost feel her rolling her eyes as he stood.
“On it. See you after the barrier goes up,” Jed said, moving back to where the cables were tied off.
Then he and Gwen undid their cables, lifted the mats into place… and waited.
“Don’t we need to smooth it out or anything?” Jed asked, looking at the way the material was sort of rippling against the wall, not even fulling against it.
“No clue,” Gwen said with a shrug. “She probably would’ve mentioned that, though?”
While he caught Gwen’s questioning tone, he agreed with the sentiment. “Guess we wait.”
And for a few minutes, they did exactly that before Gwen spoke up. “Oh. I should show you my pictcorder. Metsa brought it for me.”
That was apparently the five minute mark because the wall suddenly made a sort of ‘shwick’ sound. When Jed looked up, the grey material had smoothed itself out. So much so that if not for the discoloration he wouldn’t have been able to tell where the patch and the original wall met.
“Huh. Would you look at that,” Jed said, moved forward and inspecting the patch.
“It is even impervious to the warp,” Mythlyn said, emerging from the wall beside the patch. “More so than even you. A most interesting material.”
“Weird that it insulates against the warp and the rest of the pylon doesn’t,” Jed said. “I mean, I get why the upper pylon needs to ‘breathe’, so to speak, but at ground level it could’ve been fortified.”
“Probably figured the barrier would handle everything,” Gwen said. “If it works how you say it should, won’t be a warp entity for miles.”
Jed met Mythlyn’s gaze.
“Right. One warp entity,” Gwen corrected, coughing. “Still not sure how that works, but then, what I don’t know about the warp would fill the Infinite.”
“Even between the two of us, sometimes I feel that remains true,” Mythlyn said. “Shall we activate this barrier, see what your efforts have wrought?”
“Let’s,” Jed agreed, jogging towards the stairs leading up.
He’d already adjusted all the controls in the main room, so all he had to do was throw one of the manual switches in the jury rigged section.
It had a nice hefty feel to it that he appreciated, which is why he’d chosen it to be the one to finish things off. Pulling it down, everything remained silent for a second. Then there was a shudder that shook the room, something that definitely shouldn’t have happened. It was followed by a soft ‘thwoom’ accompanied by a faint tingling on his skin which quickly faded.
“Oh,” Mythlyn said, looking down at her arms.
Jed followed her gaze, picking out little flecks of warp lightning in the air over her skin. They were only there for a few seconds before they settled, disappearing. About the same time, the faint tingling went away.
“Did it work?” Gwen asked, apparently not having noticed the same effect.
“I think so, yeah,” Jed said, leading them up to the control room.
“Wow, that left my teeth buzzing,” Gwen said as they appeared within the control room. “Not anything like what happened downstairs, but it didn’t do that before.”
Jed nodded, but his eyes were on the window.
And more importantly the shadow district beyond it. There was one little setting he’d adjusted that he’d forgotten about.
The shadow district was no longer cloaked in shadow.