Chương 215: LOG-206.

It didn't take long for the shape to reveal itself beneath the light of the lobby, leaving my eyes narrowing slightly at the angular armour plates and pseudo crystalline musculature embedded beneath them. Standing tall, the details of the white and silver artificial frame I had briefly attempted to bring into working order were far easier to make out.

Nine feet tall with a torso that could almost be described as aerodynamic, it stood upon distinctly digitigrade legs, which emitted near silent whirring sounds with every minute shift, small exhaust vents emitting blue light and cyan vapour that evaporated after less than a second in the air. The arms in comparison were more gemoid in design, though somewhat strange in that the shoulders and wrists appeared especially bulky in comparison to the thinner bicep and forearm sections.

My working theory upon briefly prying them open had been that the mechanisms within served some kind of purpose in regards to drawing power from the central core embedded in the torso, possibly as weapons, though I couldn't be sure. Last but not least was the head, almost reminiscent of a Moissanite with her hair swept back, the hundreds of strands in actuality existing as cables that ran somewhere beneath the spine.

Why they were exposed, or if they were even supposed to be, I didn't know, and as two blazing cerulean optics stared into my eyes, I found that there were rather more important things to consider, at least for the moment.

"Get behind me, both of you." The command was quiet, but Patina and Violet nonetheless responded by summoning their own weapons instead of heeding it. A little irritating, but not unexpected. The other Pearls were also moving, the smaller ones inching away to allow their larger counterparts to confront the potential threat.

Faintly, I noticed Shell awkwardly peeking from behind an upturned statue of some indistinct Gem, even as the facial plates composing the mechanoid construct's visage shifted slightly, a voice emitting from it in spite of its complete and utter lack of a mouth.

"Lower your weapons, please be still. I have come in peace, and mean you no ill." Resisting the urge to blink at the unexpected rhyme, I gestured to the machine with a talon, letting a note of suspicion enter my voice. A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

"You came online several times during my attempts to perform maintenance on you, but didn't speak at all. Are you some form of AI? A previously inert Gem? Why are you actively communicating now?" A mechanical hand shifted away from the mecha's side, and I felt myself tensing as it rose upwards, only for its fingers to tap at the exoframe's chest with several clicks.

"You restored what had no life, a shell of crystal and wire. Yet also saved me, a Gem broken by the Burning's Fire." Well, that was fairly obvious. I'd been wondering why the previous feeling of being watched through the surveillance visors had gone away during some of our final preparations. …Though how Atoll had managed to somehow gain influence over Epsilon's little pet project was still a mystery, at least for now. The only possible point of connection could have been when I…set its reactor to charge. Hm.

"... Alright, why exactly are you speaking in rhymes?"

"My mind is fractured, it is a trial to think. This old game helps me find my link." Some kind of pseudo cognitive anchoring technique to get her thoughts in order, then. Still, that didn't explain why she was here. As thoughts and calculations whirled around through my mind at a breakneck pace, my extra eyes allowed me to take in the faces of everyone else present.

Though my own Pearls were still at the ready, the local Batch's brief little combat formation had visibly fallen apart as they processed just who we were apparently speaking with. Which meant avoiding a fight would be preferable. Fine. Focusing back on Atoll's borrowed optics, I tilted my head, gesturing towards the exit with a quick flick of my talons.

"Let's make things as clear as possible then. I am leaving to confront the source of the Burning in the hopes of neutralising it so I and my Pearls can leave this planet. Members of Batch Two have pledged to assist me in this endeavour, despite the very real risks involved." The same hand those talons belonged to swerved back around, one claw extending outwards to point at the Gem controlled machine.

"Why are you here, and what do you want?" For the first time, Atoll shifted noticeably, her alloy covered head tilting in a mirror to my own motion, before those paradoxically bulky yet spindly arms spread outwards.

"I once let my Batch go alone, and they were lost to me. I am weary of hiding, trying and failing to flee." One step brought the mechanoid forward, before she dropped, one knee hitting the ground with an unsubtle clang before she bowed forward, arms returning to twist in front of her torso. My lips wanted to twitch ever so slightly downwards as Atoll flashed the Diamond salute at me, but I reigned that desire in. Considering how no doubt engrained the motion was into her mindset, it could be forgiven.

Especially after her next statement.

"I will stand beside you, to bring the Burning low. For what she did to my Pearls, I will hunt her, wherever she might go." An experimental mech suit, controlled by a ghostly Pearl clinging to the material world for both vengeance and her remaining creations?

"... Sure, why not. The more the merrier."

"Then may the merriment come, until your will has been done." Lovely. Though I'd need to figure out just how exactly she was controlling the automaton in the first place, if only to make sure she could be relied upon in an actual fight. Transdimensional signalling, maybe? Tricking her programming into considering the metallocrystal shell as some kind of lightform? Was her gemstone even in there, or was she piloting the thing remotely? … Whatever, just more questions for the road.

I still had a schedule to keep, after all.