Chapter 651: Overbearing Truth (1/2)
“We might have an advantage, but there are a lot of variables at play. There’s something odd going on with his place,” Kenzie said, and there was hesitation on her face. “There are items meant to deal with spatial anomalies in the labs, and this isolation chamber has somehow followed into this world. It's like we're missing something.”
Zac nodded in agreement. There were some things that they hadn’t figured out yet. Why was an item like the Spatial Drill built inside a Bloodline Research Base? Why had the energies of the base merged with the spatial anomalies, to the point that they seamlessly entered end exited from the barriers?
“Is that computer bastard trying to take the treasure for itself?” Ogras ventured, echoing Zac’s thoughts. “We can’t compete with the base itself. Those weapons it uses…”
“I don’t think it should have any desires like that,” Zac said. “It’s a machine, not a cultivator. The goals of the base Administrator should simply be to maintain operations and protect against threats. I don’t see what would make it try to absorb the treasure. It’s more likely that it realized how dangerous the item was, and tried to seal it up to protect the base.”
In fact, Zac knew from his talk with Jaol back on the Technocrat ship that there were AI that had intellects advanced enough that they essentially could be considered living. However, these types of high-tiered AI still couldn’t cultivate, and they were pretty rare since they needed extremely expensive components to work.
Also, these types of living AI were a lot like Tool Spirits, meaning they could degrade mentally.
There was no way that even a rich Technocrat family would put an AI like that in charge of routine maintenance on some Research Base. It was not only a huge waste of resources, but it might actually result in a worse outcome compared to using a normal AI that ran more like a computer. Just imagine, what if an AI who slowly went insane like Brazla took charge of this place?
Nothing they had seen indicated it was that kind of AI though. If it was, it wouldn’t have been possible for the Tsarun Clan to gain access, and especially impossible for the native Datamancers to trick it. The AI would instantly have realized the research subjects were manipulating its programs and taken action.
“In either case, what do we do?” Ogras asked, and both he and the Anointed turned to Zac. “Our Illusion Array-Disks aren’t perfect. We’ll be spotted sooner or later if we just loiter around here.”
Zac hesitated a few seconds as he looked down at the building. The enormous construction actually did have a few gates, but could they really just waltz into the place like this? He was a bit hesitant about asking his sister to use Jeeves here, in case it would cause a reaction. However, it also seemed extremely dangerous to sneak inside through the wriggling scars covering the dome’s surface.
“How about we observe for a while, and if nothing changes just walk right in?” Zac eventually said, unable to come up with a better idea.
“That’s your plan?” the demon said with a scrunched-up face.
“Do you have any better ideas?” Zac muttered. “We don’t know where the Dominators are, and we don’t know how long this place will last. We can lay a trap out here in hopes Adcarkas will appear, but if we do that we might miss our opportunity. If I was him, I would already have headed inside.”
“Agreed,” Rhubat nodded. “Adcarkas has nigh-perfect energy masking abilities and they are capable of teleportation. It is unlikely we would spot them in the mountains even if we stay outside. Besides, with our frames, we’re likely to be spotted before we spot them.”
“Fine,” Ogras said with a roll of his eyes, but Zac could hear him mutter ‘bunch of meatheads’ beneath his voice.
They didn’t immediately rush toward the containment dome though, but instead inched closer until they reached a spot with better vantage a few kilometers away. The group kept a lookout for any activity while they made their final preparations, but there was nothing at all happening.
Suddenly the runes on the building lit up with a blue shimmering radiance as it started emitting an extremely odd aura. It was like the whole dome was shifting out of reality, like it was both there and somewhere else. The odd phenomenon subsided after a minute though, but the nine towers lit up at that moment.
The very same tendrils they had seen from the other side of the mountain radiated out from their peaks, and a ball of condensed energy was quickly forming right above the dome. It only lasted for a second before it destabilized and exploded, and the group felt the ripple pass through them a second later.
“It’s like reverse lightning-rods,” Kenzie muttered. “Discharging excess energy into the surroundings.”
“At least it doesn’t seem to get dangerous even at close proximity,” Zac muttered. “Alright, this should be the best opportunity to head inside. We have a while before the next ripple hits, just in case.”
The Anointed nodded and the group immediately set out. There was no way to cover their approach, so they could only rely on speed and hope that no one was keeping watch. The group rushed toward the closest gate, keeping a wide berth of the kilometer-tall pillar that still radiated some left-over energies after the initial outburst.
There were thankfully no automated defenses in place, and Zac breathed out in relief when the large gate completely ignored them. There was a console on this structure as well and Zac and his sister walked over. He was obviously not there to deal with the security protocols, but rather to block any attack in case something went wrong.
Kenzie connected her tablet, but she stopped tapping on it after just a few seconds.
“Is something wrong?” Zac asked. “Isn’t your clearance enough?”
“This place is different,” Kenzie muttered, but Zac felt she almost looked a bit excited.
He looked on with confusion as she put her hand against the console. The door slid open a few seconds later, making Zac a bit confused about what was so exciting. It looked like any other time one used those consoles to open a gate.
“What’s going on?” Zac finally asked as he saw his sister look down at her hand with a small smile.
“Genetic lock,” Kenzie whispered. “Really strong one. I don’t think the Datamancers can hack their way through these restrictions. Apart from the two of us, the rest would have to enter through the cracks.”
Zac finally understood why his sister looked so happy. They had been in this realm for weeks now, and this was the first time found any tangible proof of their connection to their mother’s clan. He knew that his sister had hoped to find out more about their technocrat ancestors in this place, but they hadn’t found anything at all. This gate at least confirmed her bloodline.
Part of Zac wanted to reach out and touch the console as well just to make sure, but fear and doubt kept him back. There were some theories hidden in the back of his mind, theories he wasn’t ready to confront just yet. He didn’t want to do anything that might rock the status quo right now.
Instead, he just moved [Love’s Bond] to block his front as he advanced through the gate. The rest quickly followed in tow, their eyes darting back and forth in search of any threats. However, the insides were pretty austere, with no dangers in sight.
Zac had somewhat expected to enter a corridor similar to the ones in the research base, but it wasn’t anything like that. Instead, it looked like the outer wall was just the first of multiple shells, with the next one starting roughly a hundred meters further inside. The space they stood in was sectioned off though, with Memorysteel walls making it impossible to walk in a circle around the whole building.