Freedom

Leoric tried to stay awake and keep watch, and sees Walker and Sakiran coming back from their trip.

Walker takes it to fire, breaks some on his knee and it becomes warm in the shelter again.

They talk about getting ready to move. Thaunir offers for Leoric to go towards the fire. Leoric walks into the shelter and Vae acknowledges him. They discuss moving and Sakiran ties Vae to her back, with Walker giving Aria a lift.

They keep moving east and see more ruined towers, with some showing signs of use such as tarps and ration boxes, but they are rusted and snowed in. They go closer at Thaunir's suggestion, seeing that it was a camp. He looks through and turns things over, a pile of bones popping out from underneath the tarps. Sakiran tries to look through for something, but Thaunir finds a knife. She looks at the knife and it is a curved blade, with a purply sheen. The hilt is made of a pleasant ivory. She is able to recognise the metal that Kemlyn had on her had a purple sheen. There is a symbol on the hilt that was on Kemlyn's armour. She recognises it as an Altarnie weapon, where Nelalwe asks about the Altarnie. She asks if she could go to one of the facilities, like her dad said, but Sakiran tells her it is dangerous. Nelalwe says she could always go in first, but doesn't want to imply she wants them dead. Sakiran thanks her for her confidence.

Jasmine insists on burying the skeletons and piling stones on top of the skeletons with the hands over the chest. She wants something valuable from each one, so it can go to the afterlife with some money. Sakiran gives her an altarnie coin, Aria gives a scrap of paper with something written on it. Leoric gives a rand. Nelalwe plucks a bunch of berries and gives a green glow, creating Goodberries for the afterlife. Walker gives a rand and she puts it all in the hand of the skeleton. She weighs down the tarp and strikes a fire, cremating the bones into ash. She says a dwarven prayer.

Sakiran sees rolling hills of snow and walks off towards a scrap heap of metal. They discover it is littered with metal scraps, out of place against the undisturbed snow. It looks thick and heavy, blackened and burned by a crash. They look over and see containers that have fallen.

Leoric rummages through the scrap and finds a lot of scrap metal. He finds one usable part for his tinkering.

Rahim identifies the dagger with a magic spell, with Sakiran filled with knowledge about what it is. It was handmade by someone important to this person. There are no identifying marks and the blade itself keeps its sharp edge. It is a Keen Dagger. Rahim asks for 200 rands as payment. Sakiran sighs and hands him Altarnie coins to cover the value.

Nelalwe calls Leoric over and shows him a machine gun barrel, asking if they can make something of it later. He says he'd consider that.

Thaunir tries to get inside a container with his pickaxe at Sakiran's urging, and

it gets bent out of shape. Thaunir frets as Sakiran says she will fix it later.

Leoric sees a wire inside it, going from the small side to the middle part. It has a warm glow, suggesting some sort of electronic lock. It spews out warm air as it opens, revealing construction supplies. They seem to be in fairly good condition despite the snow.

Thaunir asks to see the dagger again, comparing them to what is inside. It is all the same metal, suggesting Altarnie technology.

There is a foul smell from the next container, one filled with food that has spoiled. Leoric quickly closes it.

Leoric motions for Sakiran to carry Vae over. She says they are standard supplies and nothing that can help them. They make their way over to the last container. Sakiran feels around until she feels a warm spot. It opens up and at first vents steam, but then she sees a huddled body of someone slumped over. A male elf, mid 80s, dead and hiding in the container with supplies. The skin has started to become purple, but she cannot say with any more precision how long he was dead for. She insists. She holds her breath when getting the corpse, gagging a bit as she grabs the boot and pulls. The skin slops off, she sees tattered clothing ruined by the decomposition. There are a few personal affects, with a photo inside a crystal, with a portrait of a woman. There also seem to food rations, a blanket and a satchel of medical supplies. On the photo crystal, she sees a message in Elvish, forever and always. Thaunir asks what it is and Sakiran says he had a wife. She does not reply to further questioning, taking a moment to reflect on it. Thaunir then goes to Rahim, who immolates the body in a proper cremation. Sakiran says it is probably better that way.

They walk south and see something that looks like a door. It looks like something skid across the area, where things have scattered in a certain direction. It is covered in snow and impacted the side of the mountain. It is slanted sideways into the mountain. Thaunir says it is a door he beckons for everyone to come near. He says that the blokes in black armour have similar ships and it may be an airship. Vae directs them to a panel and Leoric uncovers a faint blue control panel. He spends fifteen minutes tinkering as grinding metal opens with a rush of fresh air. Lights inside are flickering. Sakiran casts Dancing Lights from behind Leoric and Thaunir. The ground is dented and buckled at the entrance, with metal surroundings. There is one door that looks like it still has power, one that opens from either side. Sakiran looks towards Aria, who shrugs. Walker warns them to be careful, then pulls the doors apart. He lets everyone in and the doors stay half-open. Walker says it might be broken, and Leoric decides to tinker with the panel. He enters into the diagnostic and sees that the AI persona is damaged and the power is critical. Walker asks what it says. Leoric says most of the functions are down and the power is low.

They see a beam with exposed power lines and Sakiran uses the grappling hook to swing across the power lines. She sees more broken floor on the other side. Sakiran asks Vae what she sees. She says it used to be a military transport ship and she was deployed in one of them. Sakiran asks what it was like, and Vae says it was not broken. She comes to the core and sets Vae down, who recognises the core. Sakiran says hello to the core and it asks if she is the captain. She tries to lie and it breaks. It kernel panics and starts reading through the crew names. Vae says it is too far gone and she will not survive inside her body. In theory, she should be able to take over.

Sakiran quickly gets Leoric to transfer Vae's AI into the ship. He gets the story straight and asks for repercussions. Leoric says the plan was to fix her with the parts and Vae appreciates his persistence in helping her. Vae believes she has two hours within the body. Leoric asks where her AI is stored. Her chest opens and the crystal in the centre is revealed again. Leoric asks if she is sure about this.

Vae says it is her only chance of survival. She instructs him to lay her flat. She dissects herself and tells him he will need to be quick. There is a centre port in the ship's console. The AI core is red and blackened, no longer blue. Vae apologises to the current AI core. Vae goes limp as her core is removed. Leoric grabs Vae's crystal, feeling some pain as he grabs it. He quickly replaces the two, with the AI core crumbling. Vae's core is placed into the control panel. For a few moments they hear nothing. They hear rumbling and heat from behind them. The screen's panel has Vae's face appear over it. She says she is fine, and asks Leoric to turn the engines on. She is trying to provide power, but needs some assistance. She asks Leoric to activate the tertiary cores. Nelalwe is shocked and runs in in amazement. Vae directs him to the correct buttons over the loudspeaker. There are blue traces of energy going all around the corridors of the ships. Vae says she is still low on energy, but they may be able to move. Leoric asks what the energy source is. She says it uses soul energy, like in the forest, when Sakiran saved her by touching her. She says she transferred some soul energy.

Vae has Sakiran lean her old body against the core. Nelalwe says she wants to look around the engine room and Vae asks her not to touch anything. Sakiran and Thaunir head north towards the bridge. The top is covered in snow with a slight crack in the glass. They see what looks like Vae all over the screen.

Leoric and Nelalwe are in the engine room in awe, examining the room and pieces of technology. Leoric said he promised to fix her up, and said he would fix her. Vae reassures him, saying it was okay. Leoric is taken aback. Vae says she is free in a way, a new sensation that she is not used to. Leoric says it isn't right. Vae insists it is the only way. Leoric says it won't be an overnight thing, and says he'll make it right. Vae says she understands. Nelalwe asks what to call her. Leoric says her name is Vae and asks what she was doing. Nelalwe says she was just looking around and swears she didn't touch anything. She then runs towards the bridge. Leoric asks what she thinks, and she admits she finds it strange. She says everything here is familiar, but not at the same time. Leoric says it might come back to her some day.

Vae greets them in the bridge. She explains that the bridge is where they will fly. She says she is restricted in what she can do and her autonomy is lessened, and she needs their help. She explains the vessel was known as the Summer Song and it was what the previous AI called itself. Vae explains her name was an acronym for Variable Assault Engine. Sakiran believes she should choose her own name, but she says she cannot.

Vae says she is damaged and they have no weapons with a compromised armour system and no shields. They need a navigator, captain, pilot, gunner, engineer and communications officer. Leoric asks Walker if he wants to be the gunner. He says he would prefer fighting up close but wouldn't mind. Leoric asks Sakiran how well she can navigate, and she says the globe is familiar. She takes up a position in navigation. Nelalwe offers herself up for engineering. Leoric asks Jasmine what she can do. Jasmine says she will do communications but decides against it. Thaunir asks about piloting and how difficult it is. Vae says it is not very difficult, and would not let him crash. Sakiran says Leoric should be captain and Leoric nominates Jasmine for pilot, then Vae advises he needs a second in command. He nominates Aria, and places Thaunir on communications.

Sakiran gets the globe open on her screen. She sees that they are buried under three metres of snow and they need to move upwards and to the left. Jasmine starts piloting, lights starting up and feeling rumble as the metal bends and lifts. They hear a lurch as Jasmine brings them up and tilts slightly, cascading off the ship as it evaporates on the engines.

They are now in the air. Sakiran asks Vae how high up they need to go. Vae recommends another 400 metres for safe flying. Vae says they may leave their stations as they cruise.

Walker stretches out and wonders if there are any rooms to sleep in. Leoric finds the captain's quarters and a galley next to the bridge.

Sakiran walks into the armoury and idly picks up a shell, as large as her forearm. She goes to the other side and sees another armoury. She finds a turret through a door with a large glass canopy with a rotating turret. Two cannons are mounted to it, with boxes of ammunition. It is locked into one position.

Sakiran enters an empty room with rags, seeming to be a secondary cargo area. She goes down the hall and finds a room with a few tools and a workbench. She sees various rooms with weapons and scrap, as well as the engine room. The weapons vary from ranged weapons to blades. She notices that there are a few weapons that look like Zairan's sword in the rack towards the left. They look like burnished chrome metal, with a tube going through the edge. The handle is wrapped in velvet strap that tapers off into a ribbon with a symbol on it. She looks down and sees the great door where the AI core is. She cuts through and sees a large hole in the floor around this area. She can see into the clouds through the hole. Finally, she finds a laboratory and a set of bunk beds.

She finds some cleaning supplies and takes three hours to clean the entire first floor of the ship.

Leoric dips into the cargo hold and it smells like dust, oil and sees containers in, with spikes protruding out of the bottom with space to open up. He asks Vae if there is anything in the database about them. She explains that they are bombs. He sees the other containers have construction supplies and building supplies inside them. Another has stores of valuables, with 400 rands of clothes and jewellery. Aria runs in and writes that she is exploring. She says Sakiran looks possessed on her cleaning spree. They both see that she is cleaning frantically. Leoric explains that she is hormonal and Aria had better stick with him. They open another container, with ammunition and a robot dog. The last container has more weapons. Leoric finds a wave of alcohol and broken bottles. Sakiran feels the disturbance and rushes to clean the mess almost immediately as Leoric and Aria run away. She does not see them and continues. In the last container in the corridor, they find 15x Superior Healing Potions and 10x Healer's Kits.