Chapter 35

Mek-Tek’s coughs echoed within the alcove as he touched his chest.

“We—” Mek-Tek spoke before grunting and coughing again. “Big one...eh’em—”

“You...need a drink?” Haledon asked.

“I have one around.” He squeaked between another cough. Pointing across the room, he asked. “Is that my water?”

Haledon followed the direction of Mek-Tek’s hand and spotted a miniature seat with an almond-sized cup resting on top of it.

“I’m going to say yes,” Haledon chuckled to himself and reached out with a quick hand motion. A vine extended from around his wrist to the distant drink, ensnaring it. “Here you go.”

The vine carefully pulled the almond to Haledon’s hand, where, with a gentle grip, he extended it out to Mek-Tek. The Druid eagerly grabbed and gulped down the drink.

“Thanks,” Mek-Tek said as he released a relieved exhale.

Reaching into the nearby wall, Mek-Tek carefully withdrew a vine. Gingerly holding onto one of the leaves, he muttered in Druidic and adjusted his almond below the leaf’s tip. Haledon watched as water droplets began to form along the midrib and slowly dripped down into the cup. The Druid didn’t hesitate, quickly drinking from the cup before refilling it. Adding the final drops of liquid, he released the vine into the wall and returned to Haledon.

“Mmm,” Mek-Tek said happily. “Water. Delicious water.”

“Good?” Haledon laughed, amused by the ordeal.

“Astra water tastes different. Something about the filtration...a little bit sweet.”

“It’s a supplement,” Birchbark announced, her body emerging from the central tree. “You lack trace nutrients, and I have been supplementing them for you.”

“So the water isn’t sweeter?”

“It is when I need my Druids more attracted to the nutrient mixture.”

“Fascinating, you can lead the horse to water and make it drink. How do you—”

“Umm, Mek-Tek,” Haledon interrupted. “The Mechanite, what’s your idea?”

“Right—I think I might be able to block the Mecharrion’s signal.”

“What does that mean?”

“You know how I said the Mecharrion sensed me and killed the Mechanite? Well, it was more like it cut off communication and sent it into a shutdown—or death? I guess it’s not dead, just forced into a permanent dormancy.”

Haledon looked at the insect uncomfortably. He found a strange beauty in the plants growing from the metal carapace.

“How does it work?”

“Well, I can’t speculate yet because I haven’t designed it,” Mek-Tek responded and began to pace, speaking to himself. “But I do have an idea, and the Astra will require a bit of genetic modification to do it.”

“I can help,” Birchbark replied with a nod. “What do you need?”

“Can you help both Mek-Tek and Gazeas simultaneously?” Haledon asked.

“Yes, I can. But I will not have to, as Gazeas has left.” Birchbark turned to face Haledon. “I was coming to tell you.”

“I thought she was going to look for the Mecharrion?”

“She said there were more important things to be done in the biodegradation pod.”

Haledon’s mind began to race with thoughts. “The composter? Was it—did the Mecharrion kill someone?”

“No—” Birchbark replied quickly. “Primeval Druid Carien has rejoined me at the end of their expected lifespan.”

“If only we could all be so lucky to make it to the end of our expected lifespans.” The familiar voice of Sparrow chirped from the corner of the room.

“Sparrow!” Haledon shouted out. His energy suddenly returned to him as he saw his Primeval standing there.

He rushed over to her in a moment of adrenaline, only to be stopped at arm’s length, where she held up a hand.

“Calm yourself, Seral.” Sparrow lectured. “Life ebbs and flows. You should have accepted my feedback and gotten to work on the Mecharrion issue without me.”

“Things changed when we discovered the other Mecharrion—the wolf.”

“Hmm, yes, your wolf.” She hummed to herself. “I was made aware, and it is peculiar enough to make me question whether that beast was Mecharrion at all.”

“I connected with it,” Mek-Tek cut in. “It’s Mecharrion, alright.”

“You did what?” She chirped, her head swivelling and locking onto the squirrel.

“I connected with the Mechanite and could process its E.M. signals for a moment.”

“What did you learn?”

“I can, maybe, disrupt its signal long enough to trick the disassembled Mechanites into shutting down.”

“Well, that would be advantageous.”

“What’s the fastest room I could modify?” Mek-Tek asked.

“Umm,” Haledon looked around the Hypogeal Nexus. “Right here? You can adjust nutrient flows as needed, instantly.”

“Well, that’s the first problem solved. Next, I need something to fake the Mecharrion signal.”

“You have the Mechanite. Wouldn’t that work?” Haledon asked.

“No, it’s powered down. I need activated Mecharrion tech that I can poke and prod.”

“If we had a Mecharrion ship—that would be plenty right there.” Sparrow looked at Mek-Tek and Birchbark. “But Nature only knows where Mesa hid that.”

“I know—” Haledon injected, turning the heads of Sparrow and Mek-Tek in his direction.

“You...know?” Sparrow cocked an eyebrow, staring into his eyes. “And how would you know?”

“I stumbled over it like a root in the forest when I was saving you.” Haledon hissed back at Sparrow. She shook her head in disbelief at his response before hardening her stare.

“So, where is it?” She asked, her eyes focused on his as she awaited an answer.

“Towards the end of the Megacolides, in a long room.”

“The tuber—of course,” Sparrow muttered as she paced away.

“What’s the tuber?” Haledon quickly asked.

“It’s just a storage section of the Megacolides, an unused stomach that can be utilized to hold resources.”

“Like Mecharrion technology?”

“Like Mecharrion technology.” Sparrow turned to face Haledon. “We need that Broadhead.”

“I can go. I know the way.” Haledon jumped forward eagerly. But the adrenaline had left his muscles, and his body quickly faltered as the vines prevented him from collapsing.

“You look like you can barely walk,” Sparrow remarked, training her sight on Mek-Tek. “You and Witch-Hazel will go. Retrieve the Broadhead and bring it to my lab.”

Mek-Tek nodded as he reached behind him and removed the pack from his shoulders. He began to pull out various nuts, seeds and herbs before moving to a collection of small spheres filled with mysterious goo and twigs bent in odd angles. And with each item he exposed to the world, he methodically aligned them along the alcove wall.

“Sparrow, I’m fine.” Haledon insisted. “I want to go as well.”

“Why?” She replied, locking onto his eyes and inspecting them intently. “Tell me, why do you wish to return to the wolf’s den—for lack of a better term?”

“Because you would have—even when you were rooted. Which, by the way, how did you look so bad before but, now, so...vigorous?”

“When I lost my connection with Nature, I guess—” She paused in an unusual moment of reflection. “I suppose I learned that I had let my muscles atrophy.”

“What does that mean?”

“I had relied so heavily on Nature’s support for the first two hundred years of this season that the piece of me that is Human was weak. I felt like my muscles could barely lift themselves and that my body was too frail to function. Did you know that non-Druid Humans may live to be one hundred and twenty or thirty? And that a Druid’s connection to Nature gives us a longer life.”

“So, what? Mesa would have let you waste away and die?” Haledon yelled back. “And you were okay with that?”

“Yes,” She replied. “But enough of that—doing something because I want is not a reason and is distracting from the topic. You must be your own Druid and detail your design from the patterns you observe.”

Haledon thought momentarily to the sound of Mek-Tek's mumbled calculations behind him.

“Because we have a wolf on the Astra,” Haledon replied again. “And because there is something else back there that I need to understand.”

“What’s back there?” She asked calmly, though her stare suddenly grew hungrier for answers.

“I saw something unusual—a crystal or something similar, like a fractal cauliflower.”

Sparrow looked away from Haledon to Mek-Tek. Haledon followed her gaze, locking onto the Druid as he stared back with an equally curious look.

“Like a Roman Cauliflower?” Mek-Tek asked carefully. “And it was stagnant?”

“A what? And, no, it was twisting and turning.”

“I was afraid you would say that.” He began to mumble faster to himself as he shoved the Mechanite into his pack before attempting to jam everything else into place.

“Why? What is it?” Haledon asked.

“Listen. It doesn’t matter what it is. You don’t have to worry about it. Let us explore this Nucleus you were talking about, and we can—”

“No, I’m going.” He insisted, stepping before Sparrow’s path and forcing her attention. “Whatever it is, it’s obviously dangerous and probably Mecharrion. And, as we recently observed, I can touch Mecharrion tech without dying. So I would be an obvious choice for this bioremediation. We were all chosen for this Guild, Sparrow. Don’t shade my growth.”

Haledon watched as a smirk curled Sparrow’s lips, and her gaze tightened on him. He saw a spark of joy in her eyes as she opened her mouth to speak.

“It seems you have indeed grown into your Seral stage of development.” She chuckled to herself. “Very well, but you will need something first.”

Sparrow reached her hands behind her neck and fiddled with a knot of roots. Freeing the cord, she revealed a small wooden core beneath her SOIL. She wrapped her hands behind Haledon’s neck, knotting the roots and allowing the thin vine to rest against the Druid’s chest.

“What’s this?” Haledon asked as he plucked at the cord.

“It’s a necklace that I crafted,” Sparrow informed him. “Specifically, a piece of me so I can follow you.”

“Follow me?” Haledon inspected the necklace that resembled a small triangular core cut from a tree.

“Well, last I heard, you had been blocked from returning the Megacolides—”

“Vastum, you’re right.” He interrupted and looked up, loosely remembering what Mesa had said as they were leaving. “Oh no—how will we get back over there?”

“Heh—” Mek-Tek chuckled from the other side of the room.

“What?” Haledon asked, looking between Mek-Tek and Sparrow. “What am I missing?”

“Haledon, there will be only one way to reach that Broadhead. You will need to walk along the outside of both ships.”

Haledon felt his heart race as he thought of his last adventure in space.

“Okay...” He said with a panicked gulp. “Sure, I can do that, but will someone answer me? What is the crystal thing?”

“A Mecharrion bomb,” Mek-Tek grumbled as he finished with his backpack, slinging it over his shoulders. “Activated and capable of detonation at any point.”

“A bomb? Like what happened to the other Astras?” Haledon asked.

“Sure, like that,” Mek-Tek continued as he leapt from the alcove, crossing the floor to Haledon and climbing to his shoulder. “So we should probably get going.”

“Okay,” Haledon replied as he stepped carefully forward. With a wave of his hand, the roots recoiled back into his SOIL, and he stabilized himself.

“I’ve got this,” Haledon reassured himself. “Mek-Tek, you’re ready?”

“Yeah,” He said before pointing to Birchbark. “Hey, the nucleic acid sequence I used to bypass the Mecharrion E.M. cryptography is cached in the alcove.”

“Already analyzing and adapting.” Birchbark waved a hand to the ceiling as foliage slowly died back, and newer, glossier leaves replaced them. “Your nearest cosmophyllon thicket is within the Hilum. I have taken the opportunity to inform Witch-Hazel, and they are on their way.”

“Thank you, Birchbark,” Haledon nodded and turned to Sparrow. “What will you do?”

“What I always do,” She replied with a grin. “Make preparations for the inevitable.”

“Inevitable?”

“The fleet of Mecharrion is on its way.”

“Right,” Haledon said, forgetting that a tsunami approached beyond their current single Mecharrion wave. “Consider utilizing the Nucleus; it may help.”

She nodded, walking to the tree and disappearing through the bark.

“Alright, let’s get Witch-Hazel and go for a walk,” Mek-Tek said from Haledon’s shoulder. “Forward!”