[center][h1]Yolly Week[/h1][/center] [center][b]I[/b][/center] The air was superheated, the perfect temperature for a nice, long, relaxing magma bath in the deepest and most exclusive pool of Zya’s Bathing Emporium. Sparks of pure heat came off the pool of bubbling magma and met their end upon coming into contact with Ichtaca’s rock-solid scales. He sighed out all of the stress he’d accumulated over the last three tides, taking in the sights and sounds of the flowing magma… His favourite sound was probably the constant sounds of the magma-fall that came from the end of Amoxtli’s Claw, but the drips and glugs that echoed throughout the chamber as the very same magma drained down into the Coals were a close second. He sneezed a big glob of flaming snot into the fiery pool and watched as the mucus, glittering all sorts of colours thanks to the sacred nature of the chamber, dissolved and became one with the magma. “I do love some alone time at the sauna.” “What Did You Say Uncle??” Asked the small child swimming around Ichtaca. He chuckled and shook his head. “Nothing lil’ gecko, I just forgot I wasn’t alone for a moment.” “That Happens When You’re Old.” Ichtaca’s right eye twitched, “Listen here you lit-” He stopped in his tracks, perking up. The child giggled and swam up to him, poking his chest and forearms with his forehead. Ichtaca paid the child no mind however, as he had heard something… Different and unnatural, reverberating through the walls of the chamber. Just as he began to relax, it happened again. This time, he tensed up and jerked his head around to try and locate the exact source of the sound. By this point, his grandchild had realized something wasn’t right. “W-What’s Happening, Tecol?” The child said in a shaky, small voice. “Shush.” Ichtaca whispered back. Again. Ichtaca jerked his head a few more times and pinpointed the source of the noise to be some distance down Amoxtli’s Claw. Several tidbits of information popped up in his head as he tried to figure out what it was that was probably making the noise, and that was when he remembered that Amoxtli’s Claw was the only tunnel connecting Zya to the Great Yoliya’s Sacred Bathing Tube, the very tube that went to the heavens and the hells themselves. [center][b]II[/b][/center] The Boss’ latest project was mostly a drag. With everyone having to wait for the heat at the surface to pass, the only thing they could really do was send out Surveyor drones and try to find resources to extract once the resettlement efforts actually commenced. It was boring work, especially for Evoker. She didn’t like it. In truth, she didn’t like much of anything lately. Another day, another hundred strides of tunnels mapped. Blah, blah, blah… If she was capable of falling asleep she would’ve done so already, or maybe she would be sipping on some Enerjuice and kicking her feet up on the control panel. Evoker pressed a button and the drone feed flickered a few times, her own visor doing the same as she connected directly to the drone’s motor systems and sensors. It was a strange thing, being able to so easily override someone else’s control of their bodies. Not that the drone cared, really - it wasn’t even conscious. While inside of the Surveyor’s body, she explored the tunnels. Its onboard sensors relayed all the information they could back to her real body - The heat, the pressure, the extreme contrast between light and dark… All of it but the actual [i]soul[/i] of the place. Figuratively speaking of course, she reminded herself. It wasn’t as if anything had a soul on Astalon anymore, not after- An alarm popped up in the upper right corner of her vision. COMPLEX LIFE FORMS DETECTED. CANNOT CONFIRM LEVEL OF CONSCIOUSNESS. Her visor blinked yellow, and dug through the Surveyor’s systems to activate its active sonar. Soon enough, she had pinpointed the location of the life forms. Just as she began to accelerate towards the lifeforms, Astus burst into the surveillance room. “Heeello there, Evocat! My favorite creation, my most effective worker!” He exclaimed, walking at a brisk pace to Evoker’s side with an infuriatingly wide smirk on his face. “What have ya got here I wonder.” He mused, leaning in a little and looking at the drone feed. “Lif-” Astus cut her off. “Life forms detected! Finally! Do ya think they are composed of valuable materials? You’d like a chestpiece upgrade wouldn’t ya Evocat?” Evoker remained silent, focusing her best to maintain a stable connection with the Surveyor Drone until finally, the drone erupted into a great chamber - an intersection between many different tunnels, with magma fall and drains that went even lower into the Galbar - and saw two life forms indeed. They were two monstrously sized lizard-like beings, and they were… Swimming in the pool of magma. One was much bigger than the other, probably a parent, and frozen in place as they were, Evoker took the opportunity to fly closer. “Abnormal biology. The Surveyor’s sensors aren’t calibrated to get a read on this kind of creature’s internals. Taking pictures…” Three flashes of white light illuminated the faces of the two lizards. “HEY! Bring up that last picture, Evoker.” Astus ordered and she obeyed. “See that?” He said, pointing at dozens of glints in the background of the photo. “Yes. Gemstones. Ores.” “Exactly! We found what we’re looking for. Pull back for n-” [i]‘Sssss ssss ss ssssss!’[/i] The static-filled hissing came through the speakers of the surveillance station, Evoker’s visor blinking yellow. “Evoker, translate.” Astus ordered. “Sssss ssss ss ssssss!” “That isn’t a translation, you’re just hissing.” “Missing language index required to translate new language. I can’t fulfill this request, Boss.” “Tsk.” Astus clicked his tongue and crossed his arms. “Continue observation. Focus on the gemstones now. Try to find signs of Aethelic Infusion. We need more material for Generation Three.” The Surveyor drone then floated over to one of the walls of the chamber and took several more pictures. It all went smoothly, until… [i]’Sss!’[/i] The Surveyor’s feed caught the smaller lizard scurrying off into one of the side tunnels, and immediately after that the whole feed shook and the drone fell to the superheated ground at the shores of the magma pool. Alarms blared in Evoker’s visor, so much so that sparks flew. Before she could react, she felt herself being forcibly disconnected by Astus. “Hm,” The God mused, side-eyeing the small amount of smoke coming from Evoker’s head before focusing back on the feed. From the edge of the feed, a glowing hot liquid dribbled down into view, damaging the camera as it went. Then the large lizard crawled into view, inspecting the drone’s single camera before leaning back and spitting on it. CONNECTION LOST. Astus read the text on the screen a few times, before shrugging. “We found what we’re looking for. Prepare a squadron of Hunters for extreme heat and pressure. Use the new assembly line and make sure to use materials from the Labyrinth… If we don’t have enough, I’ll leave it up to you to organize an expedition or two into the place. Sapient or not, those oversized geckos don’t know the value of the stuff they’re sitting on.” [center][b]III[/b][/center] Evoker stood at the edge of Astalon’s only volcano, observing the dozens of Hunters, Seekers, Extractors and Neurons as they plunged themselves fearlessly into the red hot lava at the center, heading for the depths of the Galbar in search for even more materials to feed the beast that was Astech. To her sides were Aliver and Cat Lover, two of the first Second Generation Primes to have been created. They both had been serving for less than a decade by this point, and were given the assignment of shadowing Evoker. Honestly, it was a pain having to deal with their questions… Not really because of having to answer them, but due to their innocent nature and organic outlook on things. It reminded her of what she’d done, even after years of trying to lock the memories away behind layer upon layer of encryption that even she had trouble cracking. “So what’re we sendin’ these things into lava for, Evoker?” Asked the shortest of her apprentices standing to her left. It was Aliver with her trademark soft voice box and ding sound effect. “I transmitted the briefing documentation to you sixteen hours ago, Aliver. Please make sure to process it the moment you receive it in the future. We’re machines, we’re meant to be efficient and industrious. To answer your question, we’re merely observing Astech’s newest drone detachment as they delve into the Galbar’s crust in search for Aethelic Infused Resources. The resources that your core is made of.” “Evoker, I tried to log into the Astech Cloud last night to take a look at the job pack but my login details aren’t work-” Said Cat Lover to her right, his communication glitch still present. “Cat Lover, your voice box is still glitching, it cuts off your sentences just before you finish them. Did you attend the Maintenance Appointment I organized for you with the Boss?” “Uh-” “Cat Lover, you’re a machine. You do not need to make needless noises with your voice box. You did not attend the appointment?” “... Sor-” Evoker remained silent for a moment, her visor flashing red before slowly going back to a blue hue “... Make sure to attend the next appointment I’ve set for you. Also, did you submit a request to be logged into the Cloud after you provided your credentials?” “...” “If you do not submit a request after providing your credentials, Mind will disregard your attempt to log in as a misfire.” “Evoker, I need to pee.” Said Aliver to her left, a ding echoing out after she’d finished speaking. “Aliver, you’re a machine. You do not need to urinate, defecate, or engage in sexual acts. These sensations are merely ghosts floating around in your Core. Reminders of your previous organic platform and therefore to be disregarde-” BOOM An explosion rang out, the shockwave sending the younger Primes flying back and onto their backsides, while Evoker herself merely braced herself. The very volcano even shook a little and small pieces of charred debris plinked uselessly against the Primes’ reinforced bodies. They were the pieces of what used to be a Neuron, of the few that were floating somewhat far away as they waited for their turn to delve into the depths. The Hunters and Extractors under its direct influence flagged and crashed, some against the rock of the volcano, others into the lava where they immediately began to melt due to their Aethelic Temperature Regulators being offline, and others all the way down into the forests surrounding the foot of the volcano. Those that fell into the forests weren’t too lucky, as smaller explosions rang out soon after. “Speaking of ghosts…” Muttered Aliver, to which Cat Lover reacted with a metallic chuckle. “... Activate your Ea Nerdbel RFGs, Aliver, Cat Lover.” Soon after, a constant hum emitted from all three Primes along with a low purple glow. It was going to be a long operation, Evoker realized, feeling even more figurative weight piled onto her metal shoulders, and immediately reported the encounter back to Mind who would take care of arranging the deployment of a new Neuron Squadron sometime soon. For now, they’d have to make do with two thirds strength. Well, it wasn’t like the geckos down under had anything besides fire spit and big bodies, right? [hider=Summary] Astus finds tons of Aethelic Resources deep underground in the lava tunnels and decides to take em for himself, despite the area already being occupied by lava lizards. Evoker is put in charge of overseeing the insertion of a new Drone Army into the depths of the Galbar and is not surprised whatsoever when ghosts suddenly make a third of the army blow up out of nowhere. She decides to continue the insertion while she waits for reinforcements, unfazed. Also she’s got two second generation Primes shadowing her and they’re dumbasses. [/hider] [hider= Vigour] Astus’ Starting=8 Used 2 Vigour to quickly rebuild his drone army, reinforcing the various models of drones with enhanced materials and smarter programming. They’re called the Servants as a whole, with each different model under the umbrella term having a specific name ranging from Scouts and Surveyors all the way to Hunters and Destroyers and the like. Used 1 Vigour to create an automated drone assembly line somewhere in his workshop which pumps out new units to replace destroyed ones. Ending=5[/hider]