Ch. 12 Shattered Body

With urgency, Kessa's alarmed voice pierced the comms, "Prepper's down!" Reacting swiftly, she dashed over to Niroth's fallen form, immediately deploying four small drones from her suit's wrist. The drones swiftly arranged themselves into a rectangular shape, forming a protective barrier around Niroth. Emitting beams of yellow light, they connected to one another, creating a three-dimensional cube that completely enclosed him.

In a blur of motion, Kessa worked rapidly, her hands darting into the cube that enveloped Niroth. With deftness born of experience, she retrieved a wire tether, similar to Pathfinder's breacher but designed to interface with Niroth's suit. Connecting the tether to Niroth's suit, Kessa focused on stabilizing the situation, her actions speaking louder than words.

Amid the urgency, Joran's voice crackled over the comms, his concern palpable. "What's happening up there? Did something get through the stasis emitter?" Kessa was too engrossed in her task to respond immediately; her concentration was solely on Niroth and the intricacies of his cybernetics.

Albana's voice joined the conversation, relaying the situation to Joran: "Niroth was exploring the ruins, and suddenly sparks shot out from him. Kessa's attending to him now—possibly an implant malfunction?"

Kessa swiftly issued an order to the medical drone, instructing it to return upstairs. Focusing all her attention on Niroth, she initiated a comprehensive diagnostic check on his cybernetic systems. Her visor flooded with alerts, indicating multiple instances of errors and breaches. His S.W.I.F.T. A.I. relayed alarming messages: "Systems compromised." "Unknown external force detected."

Thinking on her feet, Kessa attempted to gain admin access to Niroth's suit, a verification prompt demanding her input. She rapidly entered the squad's EVA passcode, "STARSHATTER," successfully unlocking the suit's controls and his implants' access. With an urgent determination, she brought Niroth's implants under her control, forcing the seizing cybernetics to cooperate. In a bold move, she initiated a complete memory dump for each implant, determined to sever any potential connections or intrusions before they could get their hooks in deeper. The process was tense, mere seconds feeling like an eternity, but the diagnostic eventually reported "all clear" as the cybernetics rebooted with a clean slate.

Now, Kessa's primary concern shifted to Niroth's physical well-being. The shock from the malfunctioning implants was not to be underestimated, and she knew the potential toll it could take on his body.

Upon receiving the news from Kessa about Niroth's situation, Joran's already tense demeanor would likely tighten further. He paused for a moment, his mind processing the gravity of the situation.

His voice, while strained, remained controlled as he responded, "Keep us updated, Kessa. Is Niroth stable now?" She quickly reported, "I have him in the Paravelen Field now; I will know more when the Medi Sentry gets back up to me."

Pathfinder's voice cut through the air, contemplative as she gestured towards the enigmatic sphere: "You think this thing just tried on Niroth's life?" Joran's response carried uncertainty, his words carrying a sense of skepticism: "Doubtful. I'd say it's highly unlikely to possess that kind of capability."

In a moment that pierced the tension, the symbols on the sphere's display once again ignited, spelling out the enigmatic message, "I DID NOT HARM YOUR ALLY." The abruptness of the response left the three thrashers momentarily stunned, their expressions hidden by their helmets.

Demo's voice chimed in with a mixture of incredulity and surprise: "Wait, this thing can understand us?" Pathfinder's thought process flowed seamlessly, her words punctuated with speculation: "I'm not convinced it can truly understand us. More likely, it has access to some kind of external feed; maybe it saw that Niroth went down and is attempting to preemptively clear its name."

With measured determination, Joran strode forward, bridging the distance between himself and the enigmatic object. His inquiry was simple, the words carrying the weight of the cavern's mysteries: "Can you understand us?" The silence that followed was palpable, as the thrashers collectively held their breath, awaiting any response from the inscrutable metal sphere.

Once more, the display ignited with the mysterious symbols, each iteration of translation coming quicker than the last. The words formed on the display, revealing the sphere's unexpected ability: "YES, WITH SOME DIFFICULTY." The next revelation tumbled forth, its message sent across the screen: "YOUR ALLY WAS ATTACKED IN THE EXCAVATION SITE." The thrashers' shock reverberated in the tense air, their collective wonderment tangling with the perplexity of how this alien entity had decoded their language in a matter of hours.

Amid the astonishment, Joran's strategic mind honed in on potential threats. He questioned, his words charged with caution, "What attacked him?" The pause that followed was heavy, the silence giving way to a response that carried profound implications: "ARCHAEOLOGIST DAVID BANNER HAS BEEN INFLUENCED BY THE MONUMENT." As the display shifted, showing an image of the onyx-black structure within the ruins, the weight of their situation only deepened. In a sequence of luminous flashes, the words reappeared, the sphere's plea stark and urgent: "THE MONUMENT INFLICTS A SICKNESS OF THE MIND. FREE ME FROM IT, UNTETHER ME FROM THE MONUMENT, AND KILL ARCHEOLOGIST DAVID BANNER."

Stunned silence enveloped the thrashers, their collective astonishment tangible as they grappled with the sphere's astonishing request. Joran, seeking clarity, voiced a question that resonated with the others: "A sickness of the mind?" The display responded in its enigmatic manner, "DO NOT OBSERVE THE MONUMENT," casting a shroud of mystery over its nature.

Joran's thoughts raced, trying to decipher the situation. He pondered aloud, "Okay, so don't look at the monument and kill this archaeologist. But I have questions first: What are you, and who is archaeologist David Banner?" The pause that followed was longer than all previous pauses, and then the response came, "FREE ME, AND I WILL SHARE ALL. IT TAKES ALL OF ME TO DO THIS MUCH." With those words, an eerie event unfolded—the lights in the metal building flickered, plunging the room into momentary darkness. When the light returned, the display was blank.

Joran's voice cut through the tension, "Alright, let's do what it says for now. Having something we can communicate with is invaluable to the Empire. Form up." The thrashers quickly organized themselves, adopting a formation as they exited the metal building and stepped back into the ethereal glow of the glacial cave. With their objective clear, they followed the thick cables that snaked deeper into the mysterious stone ruins, determined to locate the rogue archaeologist David Banner.

Meanwhile, back on the surface, Kessa's medical sentry had finally returned to her. Her attention was solely on Niroth's well-being, unaware of the commotion that had unfolded among the historians when the sphere revealed its ability to understand the Aelorian language, Aeros. She commanded the medi sentry to conduct a comprehensive scan of Niroth's condition, her focus intent on assessing the extent of his injuries. The scan revealed burns that covered approximately 54% of his body, remnants of the sparks' explosion under his suit. Some of his feathers were charred to a blackened crisp. While he wasn't bleeding or in immediate danger, the burns demanded attention.

Engaging the Paravelen Field, Kessa initiated a meticulous process of repairing the damaged cells of Niroth's body. It was a slow, deliberate process, aimed at thorough restoration. Despite his unconscious state, Kessa remained vigilant, tending to his injuries with utmost care. However, her task was far from over. An alert on her visor drew her attention to a chemical imbalance in Niroth's brain. With concern and determination, Kessa accessed the alert to gather more information.

As Kessa delved into the details of Niroth's medical scan, she was met with a concerning revelation. The visual readout displayed dangerously elevated levels of neurotransmitters, including glutamate, epinephrine, dopamine, and serotonin, coursing through his brain. The abnormal surge of these chemicals was a red flag, indicating an imbalance that could potentially lead to various complications.

Baffled by this unexpected development, Kessa attempted to engage the S.W.I.F.T. A.I. in his suit to intervene and regulate the excessive neurotransmitter levels. However, her efforts were met with a stark warning in the form of an error message: "Further forced alterations will cause permanent brain damage." This response from the A.I. halted Kessa's actions, underscoring the gravity of the situation.

Gazing at the readout before her, Kessa came to a disheartening realization. The delicate balance of chemicals in Niroth's brain had been disrupted, and any hasty intervention could exacerbate the issue rather than alleviate it. With a heavy sigh, she concluded that her best course of action was to wait for his system to stabilize naturally, allowing his body to restore the equilibrium of neurotransmitters over time.

Kessa's focus shifted from active intervention to repairing the burns on his body.

Describing Elara as nervous would be a gross understatement—her anxiety was practically tangible. As she observed the unfolding events, a cascade of thoughts surged through her mind. The complexity of the mission had escalated to a point where the meticulous parsing of data and analysis would occupy her for months to come. The enigmatic sphere that lay below had to be an artificial intelligence; its ability to decipher spoken Aeros in such a short span of time was nothing short of remarkable. Elara's mind was racing, considering the implications of having access to an entity that could potentially provide direct insight into the history of the fallen species.

The weight of this revelation was monumental. Throughout the history of Aelorian study, no other extinct civilization had left behind a functional artificial intelligence that persisted beyond its creators' extinction. The prospect of being able to engage with an entity that could shed light on the secrets of a bygone civilization was a historic miracle in its own right.

Elara's mind was not solely occupied with the technological marvel before them; she was equally intrigued by the enigmatic "monument" and the cryptic "sickness" it imposed. Her thoughts lingered on these questions, her gaze involuntarily drifting toward the figure of Niroth, who lay motionless. Contemplating the possible mysteries of the monument and the origin of the ailment it inflicted, Elara was positively flummoxed.