Sifra Vault
All power lines to this room had been cut as a precaution, leaving it in darkness. The only light comes from the open door and the three glowing crystal artifacts within. The slowly flickering, multi-colored light flowing beneath the molten-crystalline surfaces gives a sense of being underwater. There are several storage cabinets around the room, and a thick cable of glowing glass wires emerges from a hole in the forward bulkhead. The wires split apart and connect to points on the transparent coverings of the artifacts.

"So, those little glowing wires need to be pulled out?" Aaron asks the wheelchair-bound Dr. Zerachiel. The Karnor nods, and says, "Once we know it is safe. You will need to gather some of the equipment stored in those cabinets first."

"Pulled? Hmm. What if they do not come free easily, can they be bitten?" Layth asks as he heads towards the cabinets and tries to open them.

"I… wouldn't recommend biting them, no," Zerachiel says. The cabinets open smoothly, their hinges not affected by sixty centuries of disuse. Inside are several compartments, most of them containing drawers. "The Matrix Meters are in… uh… I think the lower drawer," the wolf says, sounding a little uncertain.

"Can you describe it? I have no idea what a matrix meter is," the buck admits as he opens the lower drawer and peers inside. "And why did you hook these things up to your portable machine brain?"

"No other technologies can be safely connected to the crystals," Zerachiel explains. "The Silent-Ones' computer uses visible light, however. I thought that it would be able to monitor the artifacts for any changes as we moved through the Sifran Probability Matrix. Oh, look for the devices that are shaped like spatulas."

Aaron finds one first, and it looks… cobbled together. Some sort of clear film held between metal tines and connected to a plastic handle.

So, that's exactly what Layth looks for. "These tools are needed for its removal, then?" he asks as he looks for another device similar to Aaron's. "Did the ship crash soon after you attached it to the things, then?"

"Oh no, we attached them when MOTHER was installed, along with the other alien technology we adapted to the Fenris," the wolf says. "The Meters are to determine if the Matrix emanating from the artifacts has changed. Hold the flat part near the cases."

After finding one, Layth holds it out towards the one shaped like a giant cheese. "And was your portable brain able to detect changes in them?" he asks curiously as he keeps an eye on the goofy device. "I honestly do not understand your logic of connecting dangerous things to the mind that controlled your ship. That seems … foolish."

"MOTHER didn't control anything, it was just to monitor our systems for signs of Matrix-induced errors." Even as the wolf explains things, the device in Layth's hand begins to react: the center of the clear space turns cloudy yellow, slowly spreading out until almost half of the area is obscured. "Mine is turning opaque," Aaron reports from the next Artifact down, the melted-looking statuette.

"Mine looks like a slice of cheese. Fitting," Layth observes. "And for not controlling anything, it seems to be now. Is it possible that these artifacts themselves were brains and they took over?"

"Well, that's one of the things we… wait, how much of the panel is turning cloudy?" the wolf asks, leaning forward in his wheelchair.

"Starting at the center and moving outward … about half. Is the amount significant?" Layth inquires in his disturbingly calm voice.

"Mine is closer to three-quarters, and star-shaped," Aaron adds.

"That's… a lot more than I remember!" Zerachiel says, sounding nervous. "It indicates an expansion of the field. They could even be connecting to one another! Quickly, test the fiber-optic cable where it enters the bulkhead!"

Layth moves closer to the weird glass cables (his guess at what a fiber optic cable is) and holds the sheet over it. "Well, would that not make sense? Isn't think their home? Would they not be stronger here?" he asks.

The panel goes white where it overlaps the cable. "Well, yes, but we hadn't expected to encounter a Matrix surge this high up," the ancient scholar notes.

"Why not? When children are close to their mother, they cry out loudly to summon them. Maybe the crystals called out to their 'mother'," Layth comments as he watches the sheet change. "It is white where it covers the cable, now, by the way."

"That… there are no electrical or mechanical connections… it shouldn't be able to… " the wolf sputters, then takes a deep breath and says, "The Artifacts are somehow interacting directly with MOTHER. We didn't think it could happen, since MOTHER's analog optical processors are immune to quantum signal variations. I… we have to disconnect them!"

Aaron looks at Layth, then at the wolf, and asks, "Err, how?"

Layth glances over his shoulder calmly. "Calm yourself. Raging as a flame will not help matters. We do not know how to unhook these and you will have to explain it step by step," he says gently.

The doctor seems on the verge of passing out, from the way he hyper-ventilates. "Sorry… I… Hibernation is hard on the body and mind. I dreamt of… I dreamt, you see. I dreamt of waking up so many times, I have trouble… uh… never mind. Middle drawer. Magnetic spanners. They look like… handles with a disk at one end."

"When you panic, clear your mind and imagine a small spot of light, like a candle flame. Just focus on the flame and your heart will calm," Layth advises as he looks in the middle drawer. It's not long before he finds one of the devices. At least he thinks it is one of the devices.

Aaron picks up one as well… and then a second one, just in case. "Now what? Do we break the glass?" he asks. The smaller Lapi is looking a bit on edge now himself.

"No, there are indentations in the base of the holding cases that the disks will fit into," Zerachiel explains, seeming calmer now. "Press them in, and turn the handles clockwise… you know what direction that is, don't you?" he asks uncertainly.

"We know what clocks are," Aaron says, and then outlines a curved path with his finger just to be certain Layth does as well.

"Yes," Layth answers with a nod to Aaron as he slips the device into the slot in the cheese-case. True enough, he actually does try to turn it clockwise.

There's a feeling of resistance, even though there doesn't appear to be anything actually connected to the tool. But something does go 'click' behind the indentation after four complete rotations. Aaron starts using the tool on the 'starfish' case next.

"That's it! We'll just lift the cases right off instead of severing the connections," the wolf explains. "Under each base is a removable case for transporting the artifacts."

Before he lifts the case off, Layth asks, "This crystal will not turn me into a monster, will it?"

"What?" Zerachiel asks at that notion. "Does that… does that happen on the surface?"

"Monsters exist, yes," Layth notes a bit dryly. Still, he does try to lift the case off now.

"I wish you hadn't brought that up," Aaron notes, working the cover off of his own case. "I've heard stories."

"You are both too jumpy," Layth comments as he sets the case cover to the side. Now he goes about trying to locate the travel case.

"There are heavy tongs in the cabinet!" the Karnor all but barks. "Use those to manipulate the crystals, just to be safe."

At the near barking, Layth just starts muttering a bit loudly in Khattan about how too many people let things get to them. So … abandoning his search for the travel case for now, he looks for the tongs.

The cabinet has a familiar looking set of three-foot-long tongs, with padded grips. Outside, there's a yelled warning of "Run! 'Syne, pick up Akkers an' run! MOTHER has gone mad, and she's goin' to try and kill us!"

Layth grabs the tongs and looks to the Karnor. "Should we try to take these or just run?" he asks, sounding disturbingly too calm about everything.

Zerachiel looks frozen, and doesn't even seem to notice the Amazonian Warrior running past behind him with his captain over her shoulder. "Uh… we can't leave them," he finally says.

Layth nods firmly, then goes to lift the 'cheese' off its platform. "Aaron, grab the travel case and open it. I will insert this," he says as if the world wasn't about to end on them.

"Right!" Aaron yelps, getting the case opened at the base of the artifact's platform. "Okay, ready," he says.

In goes the big cheese. "Close that. I will lift the other one," he says as he's now walking towards the one Aaron unlocked earlier.

Following behind 'Syne in the hall is Tasha, who's holding a black suitcase-like object in one hand. She skids to a stop at the doorway, and yells, "MOTHER is goin' to try an' kill us. Remove all those crystals now, even if you 'ave to knock 'em out wit' a sword!" Hurrying in, the Vartan looks around quickly, to see if any crystals remain in place.

Aaron closes up the case and slides to towards the door, which causes Zerachiel to nearly jump in his wheelchair. He then goes to the final case, the one with the sorta-statue in it and starts working on it with the spanner.

"How can MOTHER kill us?" Zerachiel asks in near panic. "It's not connected to the life support or other critical sys-" he starts to say, only to stop when the floor, walls and ceiling begin to vibrate.

"Ah, Tasha, good. There is a travel case at the base of this one. Open it and I'll drop this one in. Aaron is opening the remaining one now," Layth tells the Vartan. "And what exactly happened? How did you offend the brain?"

Dropping to a knee, Tasha opens up the case as she explains in Standard. "MOTHER's no' under Terran control, no' really! She killed Nora over Directive Zero. She's drawin' power off the crysals an' no longer needs ship's power. She used Nora's stored memories to integrate 'erself in to the ship's systems! She's sendin' somethin' called a Dragon to kill us. 'Urry wit' the artifacts!"

Looking over her should, Tasha asks quickly while she awaits the artifact, "Zach! Wha' is that? Why is the ship shakin'?"

In goes the next crystal into Tasha's bag. "What is Directive Zero?" he asks as he heads over to Aaron now to lift out the final crystal.

"We don't have anything called a 'dragon' on the Fenris though!" Zerachiel says, his fur standing on end. "This is another nightmare! It can't be happening! There aren't any giant rabbits! The Themis-Skoll is not powering up its engines!"

"To study an' make contact with Sifran artifacts at all costs! Nora tried to remove them – an' tha's why MOTHER killed 'er," answers the Vartan.

"It's real enough!" Aaron says, as he wrenches the case off of the third artifact and drops it to one side. "The magic spatulas told us that the Sifras crystals were doing something to MOTHER."

"All of you, calm down. We will make mistakes and take even longer if you panic. This is the last one. We put it in its bag and we leave," Layth says, again with that disturbingly calm tone. Once the case is off, Layth lifts the last artifact from its holder.

Aaron scrambles to extract and open the carry case for it.

"THE THEMIS-SKOLL IS POWERING UP ITS ENGINES," Tasha cries, eyes wide. She jumps to her feet, turning towards the door. "Zach!" She glances at the Karnor. "Can it actually launch 'ere? Is it goin' to flood the halls with fire from the launch jets?" She bites her lip, then asks, "MOTHER can still draw power from the atomic batteries, if I get there in time, can I shut 'em both down?"

"And in goes the last crystal once its case is open. "Good," the amazonian buck says and tosses the tongs aside. "Each of you grab a case. I will carry the Karnor." At that, he heads right towards Zerachiel.

The Karnor's eyes are wide and white now. "Shut them down?" he asks over the growing roar. "Fire… FIRE! We have to get out of here or we'll be incinerated!" He grabs ineffectually at the rails of his chair's wheels, trying to get his arms to both work together and failing.

Tasha turns around and snatches up the case next to her, now carrying two cases, one in each hand. "Aaron, get the res'! No time for shuttin' anythin' down, RUN FOR THE EXIT!" And with that, Tasha bolts for te door!

Aaron grabs up the last two cases. "Running I understand," he says. "Let's do that!"

"Hold still," Layth practically growls at Zerachiel as he reaches down, then lifts the Karnor up and out of the chair. If this is a dream, then yes there are giant, string rabbits in it because his grip is almost like a vice. Once he's certain of his grip on the Karnor, he dashes after Aaron.

The end of the corridor seems a long way off, and a hot wind is blowing down the passage from the upper deck at their backs. It soon becomes clear that Euphrosyne is at the door to the lower hangar, holding it open by jamming her sword down into the track.

"The Themis-Skoll is powering its launch engines," Tasha explains as she runs, the clip-clopping of her hooves against the hard floor almost drowned out by the roar behind them. "It will flood the ship with fire! Tha's her Dragon!" Spotting Euphrosyne, Tasha wags as she runs. "'Syne!"

The Warrior steps aside to let everyone past into the hangar, then yanks out her sword just as a roaring wall of flame pours into the corridor beyond. The door doesn't close quickly, but does shut before the inferno reaches them.

Layth's lop ears are draped over his back as he half runs, half leaps, down the passageway with a panicked Karnor in his arms. "I told them there would be a trap," he mutters to himself as he dashes through the door moments before it starts to close.

Everything is still shaking, and the roof itself is deforming and glowing in places. "I can't believe it got into the Titan," Akkers says from where he leans against the door to the lower airlock. That one is held open by a piece of metal jammed into place.

"We should not linger. As long as we remain inside her, we are in danger," Layth comments. To the Karnor in his arms, he asks, "Are you all right?"

Tasha hurries through the door, waiting for the other two to pass before she follows them through. A smell of burnt dog hair lingers beyond the door, her tail and blonde hair curled and singed from the heat. "Oi, you!" A string of expletives pours forth from the Vartan the likes of which neither Layth, nor Aaron, have ever heard from her before, as if she drew upon every vile insult she had ever heard on an airship and strung them together against MOTHER. When she finally finishes, she wheezes, and points towards the exit. "Le's go! I don't trust 'er no' to send somethin' else!"

"I love you magic bunny," Zerachiel mutters in a daze.

"I'm not your type," Layth deadpans back, though his ears actually twitch in mind amusement.

At the mention of not trusting MOTHER, part of the ceiling collapses and a huge, armored hand presses down and crushes the walking machine Tasha had climbed into when they first discovered the Fenris.

"Run Run Run!" Aaron yells as he dashes past Akkers and down the ramp to the lower airlock.

"C'mon magic bun, let's get ou-" Tasha's words die in her throat as the hand reaches through the ceiling! "'Oly 'ell! Go, go!" She hurries forward, pushing Layth and Aaron ahead of her!

Layth's brow goes up and so do his feet. He's heading towards the exit after Aaron, Karnor still in his arms.

Eurphosyne scoops up Akkers in passing, as the group runs out of the Fenris and into the mine tunnels. More flames roar at their backs, which at least provides some light to see by as they rush along through the maze by memory. When they finally burst out into daylight, they're surrounded by the Vykarin and the rest of the Warriors while the tunnels begin collapsing behind them.

Layth's breathing is labored by the time they reach the surface and he can't help but drop down to one knee heavily. Careful as he can manage, he lays the Karnor down on the ground while saying, "I am sorry for the rough journey. I hope you are unharmed." And there he lets his eyes close for a few moments as he just breathes and tries to recover.

"Sunlight," is all Zerachiel can manage. Doreen and Eidothea rush forward with weapons drawn, in case anything should follow out of the mine. Aaron simply falls forward flat on his face. Only Euphrosyne seems to be unaffected by the panicked flight through the mines.

Bursting out of the tunnel, Tasha stumbles a few steps in to the light, then whirls around and stares in to the tunnel with a mix of defiance and terror. Her ears are flattened, and slightly smoking, while her tail is high and her eyes are narrow. "Come on, then! Is tha' … all … you got?" With a whimper, she falls to one knee, too tired to stay standing, the containers falling to her side. She braces her hands on the ground, and wheezes.

On top of that, the Vykarin are all howling as the mountain continues to shake.

After another deep breath, Layth pushes himself back to his feet and goes to join Euphrosyne. "Are you unharmed?" he asks her, then looks to the shaking mountain. Just because she's showing no signs of injury doesn't mean there aren't any, as well he knows.

"Some singed fur on my butt," Euphrosyne admits. "My sword will need to be repaired as well; the tip has bent."

Tasha pushes herself up, but only ends up falling on her rear. She grabs the case she brought from MOTHER, pulling it in to her lap and hugging on to it as if it were dear indeed. There, she continues to stare up at the shaking mountain. Watching, waiting, hoping.

The mountain stops shaking, but the Vykarin keep on howling.

Layth leans to the side to examine her behind. "I will apply salve to your butt later, then," he says. Again, hard to tell if he's trying to tease the woman or is completely serious. "Would you care to borrow the old sword Tasha got for me until yours is repaired?" he asks after a moment.

"There's at least four-hundred feet of rock on top of it," Aaron says to Tasha once he's rolled over onto his back.

"I'll stick with mine, it doesn't effect the slice," the old Warrior says, and then frowns at the howling mounts.

"As you wish," Layth notes and pats her arm lightly. He leaves the doe and heads towards Aaron and Tasha. Nodding towards the case in her arms, he asks, "Something of this … Nora?"

"Then … then it's dead. It's all dead," Tasha breathes. Her muscles, which had remained tensed and ready, relax as if her own power had been cut. She falls on to her back, wings splayed, and closes her eyes. "Wha' an' evil thing. I never knew a machine coul' 'ave such a monstrous 'eart." She folds her hands atop the case resting on her belly, then calls out, "Cap'n Akkers?"

"I'm alive," the Karnor reports. Dr. Caravelli is checking him over, having been carried over by Gyes. "Just Gabe now. Not a Captain without a ship."

One of Tasha's eyes open to squint at Layth. "Aye," she answers him, patting the case. "It's their memories. Nora's, an' all the res', and their mission data." She then smiles at Akkers's response. "Gabe. I'll be lookin' after you, from now on. I jus' wan'ed you to know tha'." Then, she closes her eye again.

"And do not let that scare you too much. She has only sold a few men into slavery so far," Layth comments to Akkers. "And broken Master Lightfoot only twice."

"Will you stop that howling, Konstancja!" Euphrosyne chides at her Vykarin, who does stop. But the shell-wolves are still all staring at the mountain.

"Wait… twice?" Aaron asks.

"You were asleep the second time." Layth notes.

"'E's lying," Tasha insists, but she laughs after anyway. Lifting a hand, she calls, "Eadwig! Why are you all 'owlin'? Can you 'ear it dyin'?"

"True, I do lie. It was three times," Layth says with a small smile, "But I was sparing Master Lightfoot's feelings."

The younger, more rambunctious Vykarin comes by to give Tasha a big slurp, then sits down and goes back to staring at the top of the mountain.

"A likely story," Aaron says. "I hope we have some time to visit the hot springs before heading back to Dianus," he comments.

Tasha reaches up and ruffles up the chestfur of her mount, then scoots over to him until she's laying her head on his paws. "We do," the Vartan tells Aaron. "I 'ave some last rites to perform, an' I need to report to the village leader. Oi. Wha' a mess."

"Well, at least you don't have to worry about the locals looting the wreck anymore," Aaron notes with a grin.

"It could have been worse," Layth notes to Tasha's comment about a mess. "We are alive, and so are they. I would call this successful, would you not?" He can't help but glance to the Karnors, who are out of time and place in these lands.

Like the Vykarin, the Karnors seem to be looking up. But not at the mountain; at the sky. "It's like Terra's sky," Akkers notes.

"I secured mos' of it anyway. I was goin' to make it a shrine, bu' I think I'll settle for it bein' MOTHER's tomb," Tasha agrees. In Standard, she then explains, "The short 'o it is tha' MOTHER was never un'er Terran control completely. It got even more crazy after connectin' to the artifacts, an' I doubt it even listened to its orders anymore. It jus' wan'ed those crystals, it wan'ed to evolve an' study them. It didn't care if it killed anyone who got in its way." Tasha then sits up, collecting both cases and walking to Akkers. As she passes Layth and Aaron, she stops to give them both a hug and a kiss.

Layth gives Tasha a hug back willingly as she passes. He then looks to Akkers and then to the sky. "Do you miss your home?" he asks.

And just then, mid-kiss, the top of the mountain explodes. Rising up on a pillar of steam and fire is the Themis-Skoll. Both arms are missing, and one wing failed to extend fully, causing the Titan to spiral as it rises. And rises and rises, until it vanishes beyond the clouds. It takes a bit longer for the rumble of its passage to subside though.

The Karnors don't seem shocked by the flight of their Titan. Akkers just smiles to Layth, and says, "Not really. I buried that part of my life when I joined the Expedition. I came to see a new world."

The Vykarins finally lose interest in the sky, and start making their "Let's go eat now" noises.

Tasha reflexively ducks when the machine bursts through the mountain, twisting to watch it rise with her ears shooting up and tail tucked! As it ascends, she straightens, watching its fire flight the clouds, and then with a little smile, she offers a salute. "I guess you're free now, too," she tells the ancient machine. "Tell Nora I'm goin' to keep that promise," she adds, in a whisper.

"Ah, good. I have enough trouble with Tasha and her difficulty in seeing the world from many views. I am glad I will not also have to council you. Having you around will be good for her; she might actually listen to you," The buck tells Akkers with a bit of a mischievous smile.

Tasha stares at Layth a long moment, then just laughs. "I love my friends," she declares to the heavens, and then she's walking off towards the Harriot Hall.