Chp.9: Long distance communication

The idea of ​​using a cloth to block out the sunlight proved successful. As Haku had foreseen, since there was no water in the desert that could conserve heat, it was enough to create a shadow to cool the air almost immediately to bearable levels. Just as at night the heat seemed to vanish as soon as the sun went down, everything covered by the cloth became cool almost immediately, with the exception of the sand which kept the heat in a bit longer. And as Haku had predicted, no matter how strong the desert wind was, the sand sharks' powerful 'wings' (or fins) could exert enough force to counter it; if we added to them the fact that the dragons had modified the bodies of the sand sharks by increasing the muscles and also adding fortification runes, it was practically impossible to move them from the position they wanted to stay.

The only regret Haku had in that whole situation was that the beastmen had baptized the cloth 'sun shield'. If he had known he was going to come up with such a ridiculous name, he would have chosen something himself and declared it publicly when he showed the towel, before anyone could come up with silly nicknames! Seriously, what kind of name was 'sun shield'!? When Haku repeated it in his head, a shield made with the sun's rays came to his mind, not a cloth made to block said rays! At best that was a 'no-sun shield', not a 'sun shield'! The newcomers really sucked at naming things.

Leaving aside that little detail, otherwise the presence of the 'sun shield' (damn, he hated that name so much!) had made the journey much easier and, above all, faster. Even with the protections they previously had, in fact, the beastmen had to move more slowly than normal, since otherwise they would have risked suffering from heatstroke or losing too much sweat with consequent dehydration. But now that the sunlight was blocked and the air was fresh again, the beastmen no longer had reason to fear these dangers. The march had almost doubled in speed and water consumption had also decreased, since there was now less risk of dehydration. Even though they were still going slowly (at least from a dragon's point of view), Haku felt that such speed was acceptable. After all, it was far beyond his most optimistic forecasts, so he couldn't call himself dissatisfied.

Haku appreciated the turn events were taking. He had expected the desert to be a rough place where it would be difficult to establish a community, but instead it seemed to hold many surprises that if used in the right way could make the journey much easier. In the Yuthia Desert there was water, food and even ways to shelter from the scorching sun; all that needed to be done was to discover and exploit them. Haku had always been an opportunist, so he had no qualms about using whatever he found to improve the situation for his allies and consequently for himself and his family. He hoped that by continuing at that pace he would also find ways to facilitate the establishment of a community and above all a stable and lasting food source.

There was only one way to verify this, and it was the one Haku had always used: explore, discover and experiment. And about three days after the 'sun shield' was put into place for the first time, Isaac presented Haku with something he actually needed to experiment.

"This would be… a communication device?"

Haku looked at the object he was holding, rather skeptical. It was a ball no more than the tip of an inch wide, but to which several objects were connected which, taken together, made it large enough to fit in the hand of a human being.

"I know it's big and unwieldy. In the next few days, if it works, I'll reduce its size. But I didn't feel like working on that before I've even figured out if that thing can really allow us to communicate remotely" Isaac replied, then he pointed the little ball. "This is the organ that I believe allows sand sharks to stay connected to each other. It was located directly in the prefrontal cortex of the brain, where the main thinking should be. Now, clearly this organ is currently dead, but using a some mana can give it back the energy it needs to function again. So I've created an artificial source of mana here" and he pointed to a cylinder-like object connected to the central ball by wires. "Basically, once you put the mana inside, it will flow it into this organ feeding it and allowing it to function again. It will be more or less like the circulatory system is working again. Now, I could just insert the enough mana in the cylinder over the course of several days, like any magical device... but if you'll permit me, I think we'd do it sooner if you'd give me some of your blood"

The dragon's blood was full of mana, so using that would be much faster than spending days filling the cylinder with the necessary mana. Haku didn't care much, so he cut his finger and dripped a few drops of his blood into the cylinder. After a few seconds, the ball to which it was connected seemed to quiver, as if energy were passing through it. "Good. Does it work now?"

"On its own, it could never work. To test it I need you to put some blood in this one too" Isaac replied showing a device identical to the first one. "It's made with the connecting organ of another sand shark. When both are turned on, these two balls will connect to each other and thus create a communication channel. Well, that's how it should work"

Haku nodded. It made sense: A communication device couldn't function unless someone else could receive that communication. He also put a few drops in the other device, and this time the ball, as well as sizzling, lit up blue, and so did the ball of the device in which he had previously put his blood. "Uh... is that normal?"

"I have no idea. It's the first time I've turned them on. Maybe it means the link has re-established" Isaac answered without any convection in his voice. "Well, let's assume that now the two devices are connected. That would be a victory in itself, but if we just connected the two balls, then we would not get anything. In fact, these connecting organs had to receive signals from the brain, which then they transmitted to others. We obviously don't have a brain, so I used another strategy". He pointed to a sort of telescope that was placed underneath the device. "This tool is based on the same magic that allows you to record images... it's like the one Gerard used, you know? Through it we can record sounds and images, which then thanks to these" and he pointed to the tubes that connected the ball and telescope, "are transmitted into the ball, through which they are then shared among all connected devices. They simulate the nervous system that connected the brain and connecting organ, so the signal should be good enough. To turn it on and off, just do like this" and he twisted one side of the scope slightly, causing it to click. "This way you will be able to connect with others only when you want to. By doing this" and he moved a small lever, "you will record only the sounds, while with this" and he pulled another lever, "you will record the images and they will be transmitted in front of you, allowing you to see what other people who have the device can see"

Haku nodded, making sure he memorized everything. "To test if it works we just have to take them away from each other and turn it on, right?"

"Exactly. I will stay here with this one, while you will have to take this other one away" Isaac said handing him one of the devices, then pointing to the last thing that he hadn't explained yet, which looked like a sort of radula: "To facilitate the transport, I created this. It is made up of suction cups that will stick firmly to your body and can be activated with simple adhesion magic. You will need to attach it to your ear, so your voice will also be more easily picked up and the images you will record they will be as close as possible to your actual view, without the need to adjust the position. When I'll answer you, my voice will be transmitted to this small device which will reproduce it directly inside your ears" and he pointed to a small object similar to a cone placed in the center of the radula.

"To my ear? Like this?" Haku asked bringing it close to his right ear. Dragons did not have pinnae, but holes similar to those of reptiles. As soon as it got close enough, the radula attached to the device stuck to his head. "Mh. Actually this way it's more comfortable than running with this thing in my hand"

"Yeah. That's why I called you to test it: I couldn't ask a beastmen since it's too big for normal ears. If it works, I'll make it smaller" Isaac said. "Besides, you can move much faster than any of us. Thanks to you, checking how far we can go before breaking the link will be quick"

In fact, dragons could run much faster than any newcomer, so it was only natural that Isaac would want Halu's help since otherwise he would have had to wait hours to establish how well the device worked, while with the dragon's help it would have taken only a few minutes.

Haku came out of the mage's tent and ran away, very quickly moving away from the camp, and positioned himself on a small dune. It wasn't night yet, but the sun was starting to set and there was about half an hour of daylight left, so the beastmen had already stopped and pitched their tents long ago. Haku then activated the device's sound recording function. "Okay, let's try. Do you hear me?"

There was a moment of silence, then the answer came: "Loud and clear! It works perfectly! Now try image sharing too!"

Haku tried to stay calm, but inside he was triumphant: if the other devices didn't work too, only the sound sharing would be a total victory! He activated image sharing, and a small light emerged from the small telescope and condensed in front of him, forming what was inside Isaac's tent. Incidentally, it was aimed at the ceiling. "But what... how are you holding it!?"

"Well I can't stick it to my ear! I'm holding it with the radula facing me so I can hear you!" Isaac replied. "Anyway it doesn't matter, you're the one doing the test, not me. And image sharing works great, I can clearly see the desert as if I'm inside your eyes… or shifted a little further to the right, obviously!"

Haku remained silent. Isaac made an embarrassed noise: "It was supposed to be a joke..."

"I'll avoid commenting on your sense of humor because I'm in a good mood" Haku grumbled. "Anyway, this thing works. I guess now I just need to step away to see how far away I can hear you?"

"Exactly" the mage replied trying to ignore the dragon's sarcastic comment. "Go as far as possible while keeping both links active. When they start malfunctioning, then we'll know we've reached the limit"

Haku didn't have to repeat it and started running towards the setting sun, at not an incredible speed but still at a pretty fast one. He continued for nearly ten minutes, then he noticed that the images she was receiving from Isaac were becoming duller and often seemed to fade. "I think I've reached my limit"

The voice he received from Isaac was much more scratchy than before: "Yes, I think so too. How far did you get?"

"Five kilometers, more or less" Haku replied. He was a little disappointed: he hoped he could continue a little longer. But after all, that communication device was only a prototype. "Okay. Now I'll go back and..."

Suddenly his body tensed; he had clearly sensed movement. He could hear a faint sound in the distance, like something rubbing against the sand at great speed. "Um... Haku?" Isaac muttered, not understanding her sudden muteness.

In response, Haku turned off image sharing. "There's something here. I'll contact you later" he said, then he turned off the sound sharing too. He didn't know what she was getting into, so she wanted to avoid giving him a chance to notice it in any way. Then he activated a rune of invisibility and walked towards the point where he was hearing the sound.

He climbed a dune and could clearly see that a gust of sand was rising from the ground, as if something were throwing it into the air. And that something was clearly shifting in the sand. 'Could it be another shark?' Haku thought, but it seemed too big to be one of those fish; he tried to get closer, but as soon as he did that strange thing immediately changed direction and started moving away from him.

Haku was surprised. Had it seen him? How was this possible? Perhaps that creature had some method of seeing through the invisibility rune, just like dragons. Determined to see clearly, he accelerated and ran towards the cloud of sand that kept receding. The creature also seemed to speed up, but suddenly it stopped; then, the surface of the sand exploded with such violence that Haku was almost thrown backwards. A huge serpentine shape emerged from the ground, making a screeching sound.

Haku gasped. "Is this... a giant worm!?"