James summoned an AR projection of his suit’s interface and activated the repair module. A tiny compartment in his collar piece opened and revealed five slots for lucidium batteries. Only three glowing capsules remained. James plucked the drained capsule from the suit’s core on his chest and replaced it with a new one.
Liam took note of how many capsules remained. The quantity determined how many times their suits could make full, instantaneous repairs. In a pinch, the battery capsules could mean the difference between unleashing a powerful aetherbreak attack or succumbing to an enemy’s deathblows. Liam had only two batteries left.
Manipulating metal into specific elements in large enough quantities for alkali bombs took a significant portion out of Liam’s lucidium reserve. It was easy enough for him to burn through all five backup batteries without even using an aetherbreak as most exalts would.
There was a “method to the madness” Jove had once said of Liam’s combat style. Liam preferred to believe that. It was an easier pill to swallow than the simple fact that he was a far less capable exalt than he ever let on. Aetherbreaks had never been his strong suit.
Maybe, somehow, he would be forgiven by Jove’s bereaved children.
Jove… he should have been here with us to see this sky, Liam thought. He should have been here to scale this massive, crystalline tower and to get the glory. Who are we without the big damn hero, anyway?
Liam squinted through the fiery light of the sunset reflected on the spire’s glass panes. All they needed to do was reach the entrance to that tower. If they were denied entry, they would know that their battle with Laurent was not over.
* * *
03 | Exalt Data System
ACCESSING EXALT DATA SYSTEM...> PARTY STATUS> INVENTORY> FILES> CORRESPONDENCE > (3) UNREAD MESSAGES> NYM'S NOTES
An AR display of menus and windows lit up within Liam’s visor. The operating system behind it all chimed to life as a pixie-like representation of the A.I. called Nym hovered at the edge of his view.
“You lookin’ for somethin’, Mister?” Nym asked in a playful tone.
“No… not at the moment, thanks.”
Liam mulled over going over the files saved in his suit’s system. He had a tome’s worth of notes he’d taken months ago after watching previous broadcasts of Julian Laurent’s fights. Perhaps there was something there that could indicate Laurent’s strategy if this calm were merely a ruse.
Then again, there were no documents or files about the Eighth Pillar or even the Chevalier that Liam hadn’t pored over already. Everything in their journey through Exaltation had prepared both Liam and James for these battles with their final opponents.
He had spent most of his life studying. Now, it felt as if very little of that studying had truly prepared him for the last stretch of Exaltation.
That silver glint in the sanctuary came to mind again.
There had been something strange about it. As if seeing it had caused that disorienting sensation of having lived that moment before.
“Nym,” Liam said, “…back in the cathedral, did you detect any unusual lucidium sources?”
“Unusual?”
“Yeah… any lucidium in the vicinity that wasn’t sourced from a sentisuit or an identified spawn point.”
“Hm… I can check archived data. Why? Something specific on your mind?”
“Just thought I saw something weird.”
The little A.I. gave a soft chuckle. “Weird?”
“Might have just been my imagination.”
Liam heard his brother scoff up ahead. Thus far, the brothers had walked in silence across that long bridge between the cathedral and the tower. Silence was unusual coming from James. Liam elected to ignore it for the time being.
Focus on repairs. Get your bearings back.
On the display in Liam’s visor, he was given the options to check the Party Status, Inventory Data, Files, and Correspondence.
For the last three days, an alert icon blinked for Liam’s attention.
“(3) UNREAD MESSAGES” it said.
Liam continued to ignore it.
A heavy sensation pulled at him when he thought about the names he’d see in those messages.
Just below the correspondence was a section that could only come with Nym as his suit’s operating system.
> NYM'S NOTES > Aetherbreak > Chevalier > Chrysid > Eighth Pillar > Exalt > LCR & SAI > Lucidium > Sentisuit > [view Archive...]
The little A.I. had collected her own summarized data on the world around her. Liam did not need that small horde of notes in his system, but Nym had made them of her own will. Nym had decided that these points were important enough to make note of in her own words.
Liam kept that extra data out of curiosity.
Nym’s programming was a heavily-modified programming mess born of drunken all-nighters from the few vacation & rest periods Exaltation permitted them. Liam hardly remembered half of the messy code he’d tinkered with when he first ventured to simply modify the original AI’s dull, sleep-inducing voice.
Attempts to sort through Nym’s trainwreck of modified scripts and string-salad code had all been futile. Nym’s code had only grown exponentially as she adapted to the world around her—memories.
At least, he liked to imagine that was the case.
Memories were a more pleasant, albeit romanticized term to use than junk data.
A new entry in her list of notes piqued his interest: Eighth Pillar.
Liam ventured into the file.
An associated file opened in a sub-window: Pillars.
PILLARS
Eight champion exalts called the Pillars determine the progression of exalt rank. The First Pillar determines promotion from Rank 0 to Rank 1 and the Second Pillar determines promotion from Rank 1 to Rank 2 and so forth. This goes on until the final, Eighth Pillar, who must be defeated in a deathmatch-clause battle to attain Rank 8 and the right to challenge Libelle’s most powerful exalt, the Chevalier.
EIGHTH PILLAR
Julian Laurent
OFC: 47, OLC: 01, OKC:
