Steamforged Sorcery - B2 Ch10 (Patreon)

Lilian pushed on the double doors. It was almost unnoticeable, but a faint rumble ran through the cavern. Angel caught a flicker of white energy darting through lines of Old World Magic on the ceiling, but it vanished as quickly as it had appeared.

The doors swung open, revealing a huge cavern. At its center was a console with a keyboard the size of a small bed before it. Seven tall chairs sat abandoned before the console. One was right before it, while the others made a semicircle behind it.

Along the walls of the cavern were eight doors. Seven of them one had no apparent way to open it aside from a small hole in the metal at their sides. The eight was directly across from them, and it was open. It led into a long hallway that curved off. As they walked inside, Angel felt the floor give way ever so slightly under his feet.

He knelt, examining it. The metal had an almost springy texture to it when he pushed hard enough. “Strange. It’s just like the Buried God.”

“Makes sense,” Lilian said. “It must be some Old World Magic building material.”

“Evidently.” Angel stood up, surveying the room once more. The walls were smooth, and he didn’t see any signs of Magitech. Even the monitor just seemed to be… sitting there, suspended from the ceiling by a long metal bar. “But where are they getting the power? I don’t see anything at all.”

“There’s probably a storage room somewhere,” Lilian guessed. “Maybe they figured out a way to keep all of it out of sight so they could keep the main room clean.”

“Good idea,” Angel said as he walked over to the monitor. The chairs were of fine make and, despite being metal, almost looked comfortable. The one at the forefront had some extra designs on it and stood several inches taller than the rest.

“Should we look for the storage?” Lilian asked.

“I bet it’s through that open door,” Angel said, nodding at it. “The other seven – those are probably the personal quarters of the Reawakening. If we’re lucky, they just deactivated the power before they ran. There might be a switch or some sort.”

“I’ll check,” Lilian said, heading down the hallway at what was nearly a light jog. Guilt ate at Angel’s chest as he watched her leave, but he repressed it until her back disappeared down the hall.

Angel pulled the system artifact orb out of his travel pack. It hummed at his touch.

“Wake up,” Angel said, his tone low. “I need information.”

The artifact twisted open, revealing the metal core. “Greetings, user. Please state your information.”

“I’m Wonderful,” Angel said, fighting the urge to roll his eyes.

“User recognized. Greetings, Wonderful. Initial user setup has not yet been completed. Would you like to–”

“Not right now. You should have received information about a woman by the name of Lilian several days ago.”

“This is correct. There is information related to an entity called Lilian that has recently been added to my database.”

“Give it to me,” Angel said. He swallowed. At this point, the data was just the final nail in the coffin. His suspicions had been building up for a long time, but there was little doubt in his mind now. Even still, he wanted to see it with his own eyes.”

“Transferring requested data profile to your visual aid.”

The eyepiece at his ear flipped down of its own accord and words flashed across the screen.

SYSTEM-AIDED DOCUMENT

Race: Augmented Human

Name(s): Lilian – Cowl -- Mask

Level 98

Status: Degrading [10% Core Power Remaining]

Information accuracy: 100%

Strength: 82

Intelligence: 28

Nimbleness: 50

Toughness: 36

Comparative Rating: Significant Threat

Weak point(s): Heart, Neck, Arteries… (100/100)

Element(s): Flesh

“Buried Gods,” Angel muttered, but there wasn’t a single note of surprise in his voice. His hands tightened at his sides. Lilian was part of the group that was slaughtering thousands of people across the Barren.

More than that – she was one of the seven main members. The Mask. Angel ran back over what he’d learned about the Reawakening, but there was almost nothing about their individual powers.

He let out a heavy sigh. Of course, there wasn’t much Lilian could do now. She – or was it he – hadn’t been lying about dying. He could see the energy store weakening within her every day, and the System had confirmed that.

A hum ran through the room. Flood lights blinked on around the edges, illuminating it in bright yellow light. The monitor before him hummed to life, runes forming across it. Angel let out a chuckle. Lilian had found the power source all right. It only made sense. One didn’t have to look hard for a switch when it was in their own house.

The device he’d been working on for the past several days felt heavy in his travel pack. Lilian’s replacement heart. He pulled it out. It was roughly spherical and covered with thin lines of Old World Magic that strongly resembled the ones in Lilian’s body.

They weren’t nearly at the same level of quality, but Angel was almost certain it was fully functional. The new markings and miniscule scale had thrown him for a loop, but he’d managed to pick them up after spotting enough similar runes to decode the rest of them.

Part of him wanted to crush the sphere under his boot. He didn’t want to think about how many people Lilian had killed or what acts she’d done. His fingers tightened around the device.

“I found the power!” Lilian called, walking out from the hallway. Angel flicked his eyepiece back and gave her a nod as she walked up to stand beside him.

“Good job,” Angel said.

“It wasn’t too hidden,” Lilian replied. She glanced down at the orb in his hand. “What’s that?”

“A problem,” Angel replied. He pressed his lips together, then handed the orb to her. “Give me that blimp canister you’ve been carrying around.”

Lilian’s eyes widened. She pulled the large canister out of her bag and unwrapped it, spilling luminescent blue light across the cavern. Angel had her set it on the ground. He sat down, holding it in place with his legs as he twisted a tab on the top.

A sharp hiss escaped the canister as blue liquid started to spill out the top. It turned to a fluorescent gas moments after escaping, floating up in a cloud around them. Angel shoved the small orb into the gap, twisting it.

There was a click as it locked in place. Some gas still escaped around it, but the lines on the orb started to light up one by one. After a minute, Angel removed his project and twisted the tab back shut, stopping the flow of energy.

“Here,” Angel said, handing Lilian the small device. “This isn’t permanent, but it’ll keep you running for a bit more.”

Lilian swallowed, taking it from him like it was about to explode. She turned it over in her hands, then pulled her shirt up and flipped the hatch open. The device was barely small enough to fit through the hole, but it rolled into place.

A harmonious whine emerged from within her chest. Blue light flared up within her and the latch pulled itself shut, runes lighting up on its outside. Lilian drew in a sharp breath. The lights faded and she experimentally flexed a hand.

“You did it,” she muttered. “I’m charging again. But how? You didn’t even see any of the artifacts here yet!”

“I was going to die from guilt,” Angel said, cracking his neck and standing up. “Tell me something. Why did you save me?”

“What do you mean? You saved me,” Lilian said, blinking.

“I wasn’t asking Lilian,” Angel replied. “I was asking Cowl.”

Lilian’s face froze into a mask. Her head cocked to the side and her lips pressed thin. “How long did you know?”

“I’ve had my suspicions ever since we escaped the Buried God,” Angel said. “Nothing to act on, and you were playing nice. However, they were pretty much confirmed when you brought me here.”

“Why? There was a map–”

“No there wasn’t,” Angel said, a grin pulling at his lips. “No mention of a Reawakening base anywhere, actually.”

A bitter laugh burst out of Lilian’s mouth. “You played me.”

“Like an instrument,” Angel agreed. He flexed his metal arm as a canister clicked into place. “Now answer the question. Your relic is missing because you gave it up to save us, didn’t you? Along with your sword, presumably. Why did you do it?”

“Because I saw another path,” Lilian replied. “One that didn’t involve the Reawakening.”

“Well, you might want to start talking,” Angel said, light emitting from his arm as it hummed to life. “And it better be convincing. Because, if it isn’t, only one of us is going to be walking out of this room.”