“None of this is usable, I’m afraid,” Apati said as Leon stood up, the emerald the dead technician now inhabited in hand.

“Why not?” Leon asked as he glanced around at the small handful of control consoles scattered around the room.  “They still have power, don’t they?”

“They would’ve helped early into the outbreak,” Apati explained.  “This is a secondary maintenance and security section, controlling things like ventilation and security barriers for this wing of the facility.  What we need right now is to get to the main control center.  From there, we can get the entire facility well in-hand.”

Leon frowned lightly, but began making his way out of the control room.  “You’re very lucky, you know.  How did you manage to get that signal out?”

“It wasn’t easy.  My main priority was ensuring that that cerebral root didn’t get out of hand and kill me.”

“Is that what they’re called?  ‘Cerebral roots’?”

“Yes.  A rather apt name, if I do say so myself.  Anyway, I was able to alter some of the enchantments to flare up in a repeating pattern, which was made much more noticeable with the rest of the facility now offline.”

“Not a lot of magic in the air above ground, either,” Leon remarked.

“All the better,” Apati responded.  “I have to say, I’m glad that someone finally came, I’ve quite lost count of the days.  Could you tell me how long it’s been?”

Leon frowned a moment, wondering how to answer.  Depending on the man’s life experience, it had been a monumentally long time, and he was quietly impressed that he hadn’t gone completely insane in the time since.  However, in the end, he decided to be honest.

“Eighty-thousand years,” he said.

Apati was quiet for a long moment, clearly processing what Leon had just said.  After that moment, he simply said, “Oh.”

For the next few minutes, Apati spoke only to guide Leon through the branching facility toward the central control room.  It was a surprisingly complicated thing, though, as many parts of the facility had collapsed or flooded.

After a while, the inevitable happened, and Apati guided Leon into an atrium filled with cerebral roots and their skulls.

As soon as the door opened, the roots flexed and began swinging wildly at Leon, who sprang into action.  Lightning coursed through him, and shortly after, out of him.  Six large cerebral roots were rendered into ash in a moment, and then after another moment, the remaining half dozen were likewise destroyed.

“Well done,” Apati exclaimed once it was all over.  He’d spent the exchange in Leon’s hand, but it seemed that it had been enough to pull him out of his quiet fugue.

Leon hummed in acknowledgment, then strode into the room.  The cerebral roots had been destroyed, but the twelve skeletons that they’d taken root within were still there, surrounded by several columns and bathed in the light of the ceiling enchantments.

As he crouched down next to the closest skull, Leon asked, “Can you tell me more about what happened here after the Clan started to pull out?”

“I’ll fill in any gaps I can,” Apati helpfully replied.  “When the order was given to evacuate after the deaths of Jason Keraunos and his children, the researchers were the first to leave.  They took just about everything they could, abandoning the security detachments who remained and the staff of slaves who lived here.”

“How many were there in each group?”

“About two hundred security personnel and maybe ten times that many slaves.”

“So many?”

“There was a lot of sensitive labor that a place like this needed, and not enough technical golems to take care of it all.”

“So these slaves were trained and educated people?”

“Yes, mostly pulled from the local ‘elites’ that lived here before they were brought under the aegis of the Clan.  They could read and were intelligent enough to follow orders.  Some were even trusted enough to run experiments on their master’s behalf.”

[Heh,] Nestor scoffed.  [Idiot thing.  No slave should ever be brought so close to such sensitive material.]

It seemed the dead men were in agreement as Apati felt the need to add, “A foolish notion; I made sure the slaves were put into their proper places as soon as I could.”

“Uh huh,” Leon grunted.

“You don’t approve?  I assure you, it was necessary.  Slaves tend to get ambitious if they realize they outnumber you.  Discipline is always of great importance, especially in the times we were facing.  It will never do to allow insubordination to fester.

“Unfortunately, it seems I wasn’t harsh enough in my methods, for this outbreak was the fault of an overeager slave.”

“How did that happen?”

“As educated and trained as they might’ve been, it seems that some of the enslaved assistants weren’t able to follow containment procedures—though, what can you really expect from such backwards provincials?  They had no consideration for proper procedures, and after trying to make sure they were all corralled properly during the evacuation, I can’t say that their deaths were any great loss.  I honestly don’t know the details about the initial outbreak, though, I was hardly even aware that there was much of a problem until people started falling over dead and having cerebral roots spring from their skulls.”

Leon bit back on some choice words he had for Apati and kept himself focused on more relevant questions.  “When they did, you tried locking this place down?”

“I did, but I clearly failed.”

“Were there other specimens and experiments that got loose here?”

“I’m sure there were, but by then, my physical body had died and I was trapped within that maintenance station.”

“That’s unfortunate,” Leon whispered as he straightened up.  “I was hoping for good salvage.”

“If anything’s been saved, it would be in the control room,” Apati assured him.  “Most sensitive information that wasn’t taken by the researchers upon their evacuation would’ve been held there.  If there’s anything at all that survived, that’s where it’ll be.”

Leon was about to respond when Nestor said, [Why would that be the case, and not the main security station?”

Leon repeated the question, and Apati explained, “The security station was lost during the outbreak.”

Doubt started creeping into Leon’s mind and his gaze narrowed.  It seemed he wasn’t the only one feeling that way as Nestor grunted, [What?]

Speaking for them both, Leon inquired, “How would that work?  I’m a little confused on the timeline of events, here.”

“It was standard procedure,” Apati claimed.  “As I was trying to contain the outbreak of cerebral roots and keep the rest of the specimens being experimented on here from being released, sensitive materials were moved to the most secure location we had: the control room.”

[Why not just pack it all into someone’s soul realm and have them book it?] Nestor wondered.

Before Leon could start asking more detailed questions, Apati asked him, “Leon, I have a favor that I was wondering if you would entertain?”

Leon didn’t immediately reply, busy as he was saying to Nestor, [These people sound incompetent.  Can we be sure that this guy is who he says he is?]

[He… does sound a little familiar, but it’s been so long it’s hard to tell,] Nestor said.  [At the very least, the top-ranking people would’ve left, so if this guy was left in charge, then he would’ve been in charge of the dregs of the facility’s staff.  Incompetence, as jarring as it is to hear, wouldn’t be unexpected.]

Leon scowled and finally replied to Apati, “What sort of favor?”

“This is incredibly embarrassing for me to admit, but there is something that I was hoping you could check in on.  When this place was fully staffed, there was a lab whose security I was supposed to guarantee.  Do you know what tree sprites are?”

“I’m familiar with them, yes.”

“Good, then I don’t have to explain too much.  Well, we found a particularly dangerous and powerful one in this forest.  It’s quite possibly the biggest reason we built this place here—still only one reason among many, but the biggest.”

“Most powerful tree sprite, huh?” Leon said.  “I can’t see how power alone would make a tree sprite particularly worthy of study, was there something about this one in particular that made it stand out, aside from its power?”

“I can’t say that, my Lord.  All I can say is that it was powerful, and the researchers studying it could barely contain their glee at the thought of how it would revolutionize nature magic as we know it.  I’m afraid that it might’ve gotten loose.  Could you check in on its containment lab?”

“Is it on the way?”

“Yes.”

“Then I suppose I can stick my head in there and see what’s what.”

“I’m thankful.  Honestly, I always found this thing to be quite off-putting.  It was violent and lashed out constantly.  The effort I had to expend to ensure that its containment was never breached always left me quite exhausted…”

“I have a question, Apati.”

“I’ll answer what I can, my Lord.”

“Were there teleportation enchantments included in the defensive wards of this facility?  On approach, I lost my team to an unexpected teleportation…”

“That’s terrible… and very concerning; there were a few teleportation enchantments included in this facility’s suite of enchantments, but they were decommissioned before the facility fell.  You don’t know where they went?”

“The forest is completely enshrouded in powerful illusions that fool even my magic senses.  Locating them is my top priority, but that’s proven to be difficult so far.  I was hoping that this place might have something that could help.”

“There are sensor and alarm enchantments that might still be functional…” Apati said.  “It’s not guaranteed, but using this facility’s enchantments, we should be able to find your team!  I might even be able to reactivate some measure of teleportation functionality!”

Leon smiled and doubled his efforts to get them to the control room, setting aside any remaining questions he had, for the time being.

Thusly motivated, he sped down the halls, and considered himself fortunate that one winding route Apati had him take was free of debris and collapsed ceilings.  Along the way, he stopped to check on an important-looking door behind which once lay the lab that contained the powerful tree sprite, but upon opening it, Leon found the entire room collapsed.  Nothing but stone and earth lay on the other side, so Apati, somewhat disturbed, proceeded to guide Leon onward toward the control room, though not before reiterating just how dangerous he thought the tree sprite to be.  Apati guided him to a magic lift that unfortunately didn’t work, but Leon was able to use his fire scalpel to cut a hole through it and fly down the shaft all the way to the lowest floor.

“There are a few defensive enchantments on the door, but with your blood, they shouldn’t be a problem,” Apati said as Leon found himself in front of a massive trapezoidal door.

His words proved accurate as Leon went over to the door’s control runes and they shocked him with a tiny lightning bolt, much as the defensive wards in his family’s archives back in Teira had done.  He sensed some shift in the flow of magic around him, but the door didn’t open.

“It’s not opening?” he said in mild confusion, his impatience growing as he started pacing in front of the runic circle.  The central control room shouldn’t be too far within, and if it was the key to him finding his people, then he needed to get through.

“It takes a bit more,” Apati said in a conciliatory tone.  “It should open with a maintenance code, though…”

Apati guided Leon through a quick code, tapping the runes within the runic circle in proper sequence which, combined with his Thunderbird blood, should get the door open.

And, a moment later, the door slowly slid down into the floor.

Leon didn’t waste a moment, leaping right over it rather than waiting for it to open completely.  What he found on the other side wasn’t that shocking: a long hallway in typical trapezoidal shape, with tall columns holding up the enchanted ceiling.  There weren’t any projected murals on the wall, but there were several more doors branching off to the side.

The door he most wanted was the one at the very end of the hallway, though.

Leon ran for that door, and much like the one at the bottom of the lift shaft, it read his bloodline with a tiny bolt of lightning, and Leon was able to get it open with the proper code from Apati.

What awaited him on the other side was quite familiar: a massive spherical room, the inner surface covered in millions of shifting runes glowing in the dark like stars.  However, unlike the other control rooms that Leon had seen like this, large sections of the runic array were frozen, flickering, or outright dark.  By his estimation, almost half of the tremendously complex runecraft covering the surface was either dead or malfunctioning.

The door let out near the top of the sphere, with a long curving staircase descending to a platform in the very center of the sphere, lined with several dozen enchantment control consoles, and with a crystal at least the size of one of Leon’s portable villa’s modules glowing bright yellow in the center.  By that color, Leon could tell that the facility still had plenty of power remaining, likely helped out more than a little by the sheer desiccation of its enchantment scheme reducing power requirements.

“Looks like it’s still up and running,” Apati observed as Leon leaped right down to the central platform rather than descending the stairs.

“Where are the sensing enchantments?” Leon demanded to both Apati and Nestor.

“I believe the ones on the far side of the platform,” Apati replied.

[Or the ones on your right,] Nestor countered.

Leon froze, unsure of who to believe.  However, when he took a closer look at the control consoles, it seemed that Nestor was the one who telling the truth.

“It’s not these ones?” Leon asked Apati suspiciously as he stalked over to the consoles that Nestor had pointed out.

“Oh, of course!” Apati responded.  “Pardon me, I was mistaken.  This isn’t really my field of expertise, I have to admit…”

[Those enchantments he directed you towards control the facility’s defense systems,] Nestor whispered.  [Weapons, golems, barriers, all the defenses, both active and inactive, that could be controlled in this way could be controlled from that group of consoles,] Nestor explained.

Leon frowned, his need to find his people momentarily set aside as he stood staring at those consoles.

“Why were you directing me there, Apati?” Leon asked.

“I was—” Apati began before suddenly going silent.  Leon was almost concerned until it became clear a few seconds later that the dead man had just been thinking something over.  “Look, my Lord, this place was my responsibility.  Its destruction is on my shoulders.  I was… hoping that you would reactive the defenses here and clean up this infestation.  I can’t let this place go without at least trying to make up for my failure to keep it secure.”

“A noble goal, I suppose,” Leon said, though not sounding at all convinced.  “Quite a few people died here, though, but however much of that is your fault is debatable.”

“The lives of slaves are hardly worth much,” Apati dismissively replied.  “My failure to secure this facility during its decommissioning is a stain on my honor that cannot be understated.  I must rectify this mistake, please!  I beg you, my Lord, allow me to cleanse this facility of the fruits of my failure!”

Leon’s frown deepened several times during Apati’s spiel, but he had to admit, if there were any defenses remaining in this facility, then he wouldn’t mind seeing if they still functioned.  The forest outside was dangerous, and securing this facility for a more in-depth study had great value.

Adding even more temptation, Apati said, “If there’re any remaining research notes or materials, then I can ensure they are found and delivered to you, my Lord.  I just need to see if certain security features of this facility still remain active.”

[He’s talking about maintenance golems,] Nestor guessed with a tone of certainty.  [They’d be about on par with the Librarian in power and utility, or at best, those labor golems you found.  There might not be any left, though golems built for low-level maintenance are hardly worth enough for evacuating researchers to bother taking them with—especially if they were in a hurry.]

“Let’s see what we can see, first,” Leon said as he turned back to the sensor console.  There was something off about Apati, the man’s lie hadn’t exactly endeared him to Leon even if Leon could respect his motives.  His stated motives, at least.  Still, if what he was saying was true, it was something that Leon couldn’t afford to turn his back on, not when his people were still missing.

As his thoughts turned back to his retinue, Leon started activating the sensor enchantments as Nestor called them out.

A series of screens materialized over the consoles as light projections, and with the control consoles, Leon could control what the screens displayed.  Each one was like having an eye out in the forest, but these eyes weren’t in fixed positions, and Leon was able to get just about everywhere within the forest scanned with enchantments that, as far as he could tell, somewhat mimicked magic senses.

He would’ve been far more fascinated and asked many more questions about these enchantments had his missing retainers not weighed so heavily on his mind.  For now, he was just thankful that they seemed to be working.

However, they didn’t seem to be finding much.  The expedition’s camp was still in good order, with the escort squad, Elise, and Talal all remaining back there, but there was neither hide nor hair that he could see of his missing people, Cassandra, or the other Evergolden squad.

There were a few holes in the enchantment’s range, though—most notably, the goat man village built around the massive trees in the center of the inner warded zone.  No matter how he tried to manipulate the enchantments, Leon simply couldn’t get a good angle on any of those trees.

And as these implications entered his mind, his blood began to run cold.

‘They were teleported into that village…’ he thought.

Finally, after long minutes of scanning, the console returned with an alert: at least a few humans had been found.  When he beheld the images called up on the screens, his blood ran cold.  His people were still alive, but if he didn’t get moving soon, then that could change very soon.  Already, several members of the escort squad were dead, and most of his retinue were bleeding from deadly injuries.

All thoughts about the exploring the facility were driven from his mind.  He’d found his people within the grove of massive trees, and he needed to get to them now.

—-

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