When the propranolol dissociation passed, I flicked my HUD settings and found a recently used channel number. I had a mission to annoy a very specific machine, and I’m very good at what I do.

“Are you sure you want to go this route, deary?” Cathida asked. “Machines can’t be trusted. They’re servants of evil, silver tongued devils, the lot of them.”

“Atius and the knights are already coming up with any plan I could, I’m picking options that only I’d know about. Now, switch over to the last band he used, short range, wide spectrum with the same encryption he used.”

She gave an exasperated sigh. “Fine. But don’t come crying to me when he leads you into a trap.” Journey complied, connecting all the comms settings to the correct values. “You’re live. Knock yourself out.”

“So, mysterious voice. Think Wrath and I could use some of that mysterious wisdom of yours right about now.”

No response came.

Cathida huffed. “The toaster split, knew he was a coward like the rest of his ilk. I could smell it.”

“You can’t smell. You're a digital engram.” I reminded Cathida, again. Then switched back to the wideband, trying to bait out the wraith again. “If you don’t, we might end up having to storm the temple the traditional way. To’Sefit’s probably got good eyes. She’ll spot me running with a sack behind, and laser me first. Best I could do is slap a sign on my sack saying ‘Spare parts, don’t worry about it.’ I give it maybe between zero to zero percent chance of working.”

Still no answer.

“What are you going to tell your mite friends when Wrath’s not available to do her job because she’s been blown to bits? Better yet, without me, who’s going to recover that artifact I buried upstairs? The one with all the traps that you don’t want to deal with?”

There was a click, followed by static. A signal was being sent back. “You. Are. Insufferable.” A robotic voice responded on the comms.

Got him.

Cathida groaned. “Why do you always have to work with goddess damned machines of all things? Every time I blink there’s a new goddess forsaken one you’ve picked up somehow. Are you cursed or something?”

“Enemy of my enemy is probably my friend.” I said, then went back to hunting for the wraith hiding somewhere in the forest. “You know, mysterious voice filled with static is a bit of a mouthful, got a nickname?”

There was a hiss of static.

“Quit being shy, we’ll be stuck with each other for some time going forward, you might as well give me something to work with here. I’ll come up with a really great name if you don’t.”

“Abraxas.” The voice answered, as if being dragged through broken glass. Probably not too far from the truth.

“That… sounds like an oddly normal name.” I said.

“For a toaster.” Cathida added.

“I pick name. Meaning is mine. Not for you.” Abraxas answered back, sounding upset.

“Shall I start to triangulate his position?” Cathida asked privately and nearly gave me a heart attack.

I made sure to shut down all of that through the HUD as soon as it popped up. “You just want to spook him to go away with that. No tracing. Get the feeling he’s the paranoid type.”

“An invisible machine hiding away from all the other machines, the paranoid type?” Cathida drooled. “You don’t say.”

“All right then, Abraxas. Are you familiar with this temple?” Better move on before Cathida could sabotage me more openly. There was a strong temptation to mute her, but we were in combat right now even if it was a lull. I’d need her intuition and skills at any moment, and there was still a chance she had something useful to say about this. A low chance.

“Am familiar.” Abraxas said. “Passed through twice. Hostile environment both times.”

There was hope in this plan after all. “Can you guide us into this temple, preferably without that Feather shooting us?”

He stayed quiet. I considered asking again, and was interrupted right as I opened my mouth. “... Can say. But. Must remain hidden. From Feather in sack. And from allies behind you. Deal cannot be broken.”

“Going to be a little tough to explain to everyone here that I know something I shouldn’t know, and don’t want to tell them why or how.”

“Your problem. Not mine.” Abraxas said. “Do we have deal?”

“Fine you little scamp. Keep lurking around, I’ll make sure only my armor and I know you’re here.” Not like I had much choice on that. Abraxas knew a way in, and I needed to get in, before the rest of the machines arrived. Simple addition here.

I could still sneak his existence to the clan knights over private encrypted comms, however I had a strong feeling I’d be working with Abraxas in the future. He was supposed to guide Wrath somewhere, and I don’t think this temple was the original job description he’d signed up for. If I broke his agreements this early, he’d understandably be a little more hesitant to help me out again.

“... Temple mirrored.” The machine said after I’d solemnly sworn secrecy. “Not horizontally. Vertically. Matches as above. Roof of strata under. Upside down temple.”

“That’s an interesting bit of trivia.” If it was mirrored on the roof of the strata under us, it’s probably for a reason. Otherwise I’d have seen more mite pseudo-cities crawl up the walls and hang upside down before. “Serves as some kind of gateway to the next level down?”

I guessed right. “Yes. Gravity different, under temple. Float down. One way. No return back up.” Abraxas confirmed. “Not used often. Better, more open routes to lower strata exist. Ways that work back and back.”

And according to Undersider maps Zaang had graciously given, under us was some kind of desert with storm events happening low to the ground.

I reviewed the video logs of our brief and painful combat encounter. The temple sat squat ahead of the group, stupidly large but also a little on the flat side. “I can see it doesn’t get many tourists, sure.” I said, zooming in further on the recording to a bell tower. Seemed to be the highest place. Exactly as expected, there was a fuzzy figure perched on top. A few flashes of blue and then Father’s call to jump came right after.

Look at the devil, and we heard her voice. Magnified across the distance, loud enough to reach even the forest we were hiding in. The clan knights all froze in place, keeping still as if she could hear us.“It seems I missed.” She said, sounding vexed. “Would you all kindly do me the service of returning here so I can fix that mistake?”

“She think we’re going to answer her?” Windrunner asked, sounding amused. “None of us are that stupid.”

I pointedly did not notice Kidra turning her helmet to stare in my direction.

“All Feathers enjoy boasting.” Lord Atius said. “Leave her to speak and focus on our current objective. Don't mute her, the devil could spill something we might use.”

To’Sefit’s initial barrage had been massive, racking across our entire group. If Father hadn’t called out, she’d have flat out erased us out of existence before we even knew the fight started. Straight ruthless. Good thing we could cheat with Father’s Death perception. She must be a bit miffed about that.

The attack did show the difference between To’Aacar and To’Sefit. The old toaster would have waited for us to get to the stairs where he’d be able to have the most dramatic monologue before trying to cut us up in the most flashy way possible.

To’Sefit had not given even so much as a warning. She wanted us dead and she’d opened fire with her strongest hitters right out the gate. Wrath said she’d fired three beams with each volley. Here, she’d opened fire with seventeen and then constantly continued the barrage afterwards.

Had to wonder what the other feathers on her team were like if she was like this. There were two others, though it wasn't guaranteed they were waiting inside the temple.

“Come now humans, don’t be so coy.” To’Sefit’s voice echoed. “It’s poor manners to leave a lady waiting. Besides, you’ll all have to come scurrying out at some point. More lessers will arrive here soon enough. They’ll swarm the forest from outside in, and then what will you do, I wonder?”

Atius hummed. “She’s attempting to pressure us into action faster. Curious.”

The other clan knights said nothing, the four scout teams returning with reports and terrain data. They’d done a full sweep, all around the temple. There was that stretch of empty water at every angle, though some places had a smaller distance to cover. No machines had been discovered, and neither had any left from the temple grounds.

“She has limited forces to work with.” Atius concluded from their report. “Sending out waves of Screamers after us would reveal our location once we engaged and eliminated them, however we’d move too fast in relocating elsewhere for her to capitalize.”

His logic made some twisted kind of sense. If To’Sefit had unlimited machines to throw away, she’d have done so and shot wherever the casualty reports returned, on the off chance of hitting us. Low chances, but there’s always a chance she’ll blindly hit close enough. If she hadn’t done that, it meant she couldn’t afford the cost. Or she’d been ordered to conserve forces.

Best plan they were coming up with was to divide in several groups, surround the temple, and attempt to distract To’Sefit long enough for a force to reach the parameter of the temple. A few knights with longer ranged ordinance would open fire on her plates, with hope that they weren’t shielded. To’Sefit would have to not only track multiple evading targets rushing from every direction, she’d need to do it while moving her plates out of the way of the covering fire.

“How deep is the ground here before we hit the roof of the next strata down?” I asked Abraxas while the clan plotted the best way to dodge hits.

“Thirty feet.” The old robot said. “Then, other side is reached.”

“And if the temple is mirrored and made for people to walk down to the next strata, then there’s a midsection squashed between.”

“You catch on.” Abraxas said. “Layer underground. Like roots of tree. Passage.”

General Zaang couldn’t have found the passage. In effect, neither had Ordritz clearly. The winding maze like temple with hundreds of grand roofless rooms and plazas had been too large for him and his team to explore all of it before the machines started getting upset at the visitors. Mite forges tended to have vast amounts of machines lurking around. Only reason the temple wasn't overrun with machines was due to there being no human cities within reach at that point.

Once humans settle in, machines start to make sure the nearby mite forges aren't ever available.

Ordritz found the mite forge at the center of the temple, documented a few different spots with pictures and waypoints on their exploration, and then had to beat it back home. Future expeditions to get things from the mite forge opened up more discoveries, but machines were always constant and only grew once the city started to grow.

Telling the clan I’d found out there was some kind of underground passage was a little less awkward than expected. They’d trusted I had sources of some kind, and also understood when I said I couldn’t divulge where I’d gotten them. To clan knights, if someone said their information was need-to-know only, they shrugged metaphorical shoulders and asked no further questions, trusting their superior to have their reasons.

Lord Atius could have ordered me to give the info, however he hadn't. I think he understood implicitly when I said I couldn’t break some bridges right now.

With Abraxas’s knowledge, the clan’s plan shifted. We’d keep a smaller team among the trees that would open fire on To’Sefit and keep her entertained. The larger team would sneak through the roots of the temple and breach from there.

The moment we ran into machines, we’d be alerting To’Sefit that we’d gotten in, so it was important to keep hidden as long as we could and let her think we were still lurking around in the trees. Ideally, we’d get to the mite forge, have it fix just Wrath's head, and then sneak back without the Feather knowing.

“Is this one of the openings?” I asked Abraxas, with the clan knights following behind.

Ahead was a larger tree and it matched the signs the machine had told me to look for. Specifically a radiating pattern of the leaves outwards. It would be hard to spot unless standing under it.

“This is one opening.” Abraxas answered. “Throw rock at tree trunk.”

I had questions, but we had a time limit hovering on our heads. Without complaint, I reached down, yanked a loose rock from underwater, and lobbed it at the tree. It hit, bounced up and off. Nothing else happened.

Atius turned his attention at that, an eyebrow raising up, as if he recognized something more meaningful in throwing rocks at a tree.

“Aim higher.” The machine said.

I’d gotten practice throwing rocks at Fido before, so this felt nostalgic in a way. The next rock sailed forward and didn’t hit the tree at all. Instead it just sunk right through, as if passing through air. The tree surface rippled for a moment, as if a reflection of water, before it popped like a bubble of soap. Behind it was a large tree hollow, with enough space for two knights to wiggle into.

Everyone except for Atius seemed outright caught off guard. He just nodded along, as if recognizing this blizzard thing. “A mite illusion.” We'd all turned to silently ask what the hell, so he'd answered. “I’ve seen this in the lower levels, though never this far up. Odd of them to do something like this.”

“Mites can make illusions?” I asked, while other clan knights got closer to the tree, poking it from different directions to see if more parts of it could pop.

“Aye, they can. They’re bastards about it too. Often making the obvious ways long and difficult, while hiding a faster and cleaner route. Any physical disturbance will break the illusion for an hour or so before it regenerates. Some Deathless grow so paranoid of this, they flare out the occult periodically, trying to tap every wall and flat surface at least once. Just to see if there’s some kind of hidden room.”

A pair of knights were dispatched to begin scouting the tree hollow. There wasn’t any kind of ladder inside, though the wooden handholds that dotted the inside of the tree were far from natural. “Hollow leads to an underground tunnel of some kind. No light, no hostiles detected. Slight current of water by our feet, flowing one direction.” The report came back.

“There. Way in.” Abraxas said. “Do not call again. Fix Feather, leave. Do not take long.”

“Love you too buddy.” I said as the comms connection closed.

We had a way into the temple and we had our distraction team setup and ready to harass To’Sefit. No idea what waited us inside the temple, or where the other two reported Feathers were. Best odds we could come up with on short notice.

It’ll have to do.

Next chapter - Sneak level 100