Exocraft Technician

{{ I -- I demand a place on your throneworld, interloper! Acceptance will grant you the glory of an Exocraft and a Vy'keen Mech-Priest to administer its mass.

Refusal - refusal will result in my inevitable extermination. Be quick! }}-

The technician sought work, claiming they would be able to build and upgrade Exocraft for my travels.

-{{ You are weak and unworthy of my skills, but I have no choice. I will flee to your vile world. I will -- I will become an interloper. }}-

-{{ Interloper! I will do as I promised. }}-

The Vy'keen had calmed since I last saw them, though I still felt a sense of dread within their eyes, of the paranoia that had sustained them across the stars.

-{{ Build a Geobay from this schematic and my Exocraft shall be yours, unworthy though you may be.

Now excuse me. I must ensure this location is defensible, should my people try to find me. }}-

-{{ Interloper! We must scan this world, we must find its signals, its secrets!

Here is a blueprint for an Exocraft Radar. This augmentation will allow you to discover buildings and signals from afar. But interloper, know that it disgusts me that you lack so much knowledge. }}-

I did not know how I felt about this warrior. I did not know whether I had made a mistake. But there was nothing to be done. The Vy'keen had honoured their word; I would honour mine.

-{{ Once we have the Exocraft Radar, we can map this planet. Are you ready for what happens next?

In your absence, I have made a grave discovery. There are Sentinel depots on this world! Grah!

They are everywhere, even in this last refuge. Track one down, Traveller; destroy the depot and bring me its precious contents for use in my work. }}-

-{{ Divine elements, forged from the Sentinels themselves! They will shield us from their sight. I shall use it to forge Exocraft Boosters for future expeditions.

None of us lives life alone, Traveller. All of us form attachments, and I must shed the last vestiges of mine.

I left my consort and spawn behind on my homeworld. My crimes were my own, but they... I must know what has happened to them.

They have sent me an encrypted transmission. You will use the Exocraft Boosters to reach it before my brethren inevitably delete it.

Be vigilant, be quick. I require this message. I must know what happened to those I left behind! }}-

-{{ LOADING TRANSMISSION... DECRYPTING SUBSPACE FREQUENCY... ERROR. INTERCEPTION.

Witness the price of your heresy, fugitive of the Vy’keen.

Know that there is no sky in which we cannot find you, no system to which you might flee unscathed. Hide, then, in the depths of this galaxy. For we are patient.

Know that your spawn wept like mewling Gek as we cut them down. That we killed your consort as they fled, leaving the others behind to suffer. Where shall you ever find peace, knowing these things? }}-

The message was not what I had expected. The technician had told me to retrieve a transmission from their family, but this... I had to return and decide what to do.

-{{ My preparations are almost complete. Soon I will purge myself of my old life, of my old attachments, to commit fully to what I must become...

But, even if I will remember nothing, I must know... I must know, Traveller! Have you retrieved the transmission? }}-

The technician had been expecting to intercept a message from their consort and spawn, but instead... instead I had discovered that their family had been killed, murdered by other Vy'keen in retaliation for their heresy.

As they stood before me - expectant, nervous - I hesitated before deciding whether to tell the truth.

They were grateful to have closure.

-{{ Thank you, friend. When we next speak I will be reborn. }}-

-{{ I am -- I am reborn without attachment. I can focus now, focus on what I must do.

Grah! You will require a Mining Beam in the days to come. Construct one, and I will craft you a Nomad Exocraft befitting an acolyte of Nal! }}-

Their face was different, beneath the eyes, beneath the soul. They had changed irrevocably. Where once they would insult me with meaningless threats, now they spoke only of a singular purpose.

Where once they would be capable of happiness or grief, now they only cared about their cult.

-{{ The world will change. It must. It has to, Traveller. Or else all of this, everything we have done... it will have been for nothing at all. }}-

-{{ I hope you enjoy working with Vy'keen technology. Nothing refines the design of a machine like using it in combat. Even if that combat is against the earth.

Your Exocraft Mining Laser should be powerful enough to extract even Magnetised Ferrite from this planet. Witness the art of the Mech-Priest, that I can create such marvels! Grah!

This universe is a mystery, Traveller. Lives are spent in solving it. We shall do our part. }}-

I gave the technician the ferrite they had requested. As they worked with it, I examined their station. It was barren now, lacking the flaws, the personality of their previous equipment.

I could not help but miss the way they were before, for all this new-found efficiency and focus. The flaw of their individuality, forever gone, drowned within their great purpose.

-{{ Take this Signal Booster. Upgrade it. When it is constructed, I have something else for you... compensation for your work.

I have been analysing your Exocraft telemetry, you see. It seems that my previous incarnation did not even provide you with the most basic in Exocraft Weapon Upgrades.

Grah! Forgive the Vy'keen that I was, acolyte! It is not polite to withhold firepower. }}-

The technician gave me blueprints for weapon upgrades. But as they passed them to me, an alert began to sound on their terminal.

-{{ That you chose this world, of all worlds, to make your home, out of infinite possibilities...

I did not think it possible, but my scans have uncovered the truth: Nal themself visited this place. We shall uncover their final words. }}-

I wondered what the future might hold, what secrets might echo out through the hub of creation.

-{{ Use your upgraded Exocraft Radar to locate this planet's abandoned structures. Bring me the Nanite Clusters contained within, and I will use them to forge a new Acceleration Module for the trials ahead. }}-

The technician took the Nanite Clusters. As they held them, they appeared to enter some strange trance. After a moment, it was done.

There was a strange look behind their eyes. The Vy'keen informed me that they had taken communion with their ancestors. They knew what they needed to do.

-{{ Traveller, my work is complete. I have overridden the leylines, charged their holy data; they have revealed to me a Monolith, a tomb for the final prophecy!

If you go there before the leylines close off, you and you alone will uncover the truth behind my species - the mystery for which Nal died! }}-

The technician had served their holy purpose, driven to obliterate their own personality in pursuit of this very day, this very moment. I did not know if their sacrifice would be in vain.

I approached the monolith. I was engulfed in its terrible truth. I saw its words in the text of a thousand tongues, in the ephemera of countless stars.

I heard the voice of Nal.

-{{ Know that I heard the word of the Atlas where Hirk had heard nothing. }}-

I witnessed events that occurred millennia before my awakening...

I saw two Vy'keen standing before a red glow, asking it of the universe.

-{{ In their rage, in their impotent jealousy, Hirk struck me from the mountain and I saw the truth of what the Monolith had said.

That my end would be an awakening. That in this dream, nothing should perish... }}-

I saw a Gek and a Korvax, waiting side by side before me. And before the vision ended, I saw a vision of something I had not seen before. Of something that did not belong in this or any place. Of hatred, grief, despair.

Of something that was yet to come...

-{{ Or so it would be until the coming of the last Traveller. So it would be until the destruction of realities. Know this, the final testament of Nal... }}-

I saw the end of time, the end of all things. And in that crimson light, there was a figure, its hand held out before eternity...

I saw all this, and then it was over. The monolith had nothing more to show me.

As I left, shaken by my experience, I felt something right behind me, breathing, watching...

When I turned it was gone.

-{{ I envy you, Traveller! To see the words of Nal themself! Grah! }}-

The Vy'keen people believed their ancestor Hirk had received wisdom from a Great Monolith, initiating a war against the Sentinels and slaying Nal the Objector.

The Monolith I had discovered proved that this history was a lie. Nal had been honoured with a vision whilst Hirk had been met with only silence, and in their jealousy Hirk murdered Nal.

-{{ With this discovery you have vindicated the actions of a thousand martyrs, Traveller. }}-

Yet I was left with questions. I was left thinking of the creature I felt watching me. I was left with dread.

-{{ I have transmitted Nal's testament to my brethren, Traveller. What you have learned this day will spread amongst the Vy'keen; it will change our people for the better. Grah!

And if violence is required for change, so be it...

As for you, you are not as pathetic as I once believed. You are no longer interloper. You are one of us, now until the end of time itself, enthroned in the glory of the Colossus. }}-

The technician waited anxiously to see my Colossus Exocraft in its full glory.

-{{ I have almost exhausted the limits of my work, but soon you shall have mastery of this planet's signals and the speed with which to reach any threat.

I require only sufficient Nanite Clusters to build the final blueprints. Grah! This employment has been one of glory! }}-

But something was wrong. Some time ago I had seen the Vy'keen with an image of their family, before they had performed the ritual to erase such attachments from their mind. As I approached now, I saw that same image.

The technician stared at it, blinking for a few moments with an empty expression. When they noticed me, they removed the photograph from the display.

We did not speak of it again. I did not wish to awaken their pain.

The technician's hands shook. I noticed the promised blueprint was already waiting on the technician's terminal...

They required these Nanite Clusters for some alternative purpose. They took them greedily, turning to imbibe them. Whatever effect this matter had upon the alien, it appeared to calm their movements considerably.

Sated, they offered me the blueprints.

-{{ The Nanite Clusters... their purpose is commonly misunderstood. They form the backbone of much technology, but they are not just machines.

They can alter hearts... alter minds... even allow us to forget that which we cannot bear. }}-

The technician had a final reward: an upgrade for my Nomad Exocraft.

-{{ Let me know when the Nomad Geobay is built. Grah! I cannot wait to witness its glory... }}-

-{{ Our work is almost concluded, but every end is a beginning...

I am too weak to travel as I once did, too tired to continue my pilgrimage. With your leave I shall remain here to stand by your side against your enemies. Grah! Woe betide those who would transgress against us!

It has been a pleasure working with you, Traveller. }}-

The technician had one last proposition: a lucrative and repeatable venture. They had hacked a terminal to siphon its units; if I got to the location fast enough, I would be able to transfer the units to my account.

They spent their days doing this now, tending to the Exocraft and drawing data from interplanetary networks. Sometimes I saw them walking out into the planet itself to explore, but such times were rare.

The technician was content with this retirement, engaging in fugitive activity for the pleasure of the chase, no longer for the necessity of survival. It was a game we could repeat, one last heist after one last heist.