Chapter 453: Clearance
Where is the Shard stored? Zac asked after having made his decision.
It is in a restricted holding bay, with multipleyers of defenses around it, Jaol said, his eyes widening upon the realization that Zac wasn''t deterred by the presence of the captain. "The captain wille the moment he hears his cargo is being targeted. He is part-owner of the whole vessel, and it has taken a lot of damage from this mission. If the mission fails he will face disastrous consequences, but if he seeds he will gain centuries'' worth of resources."
How would I gain ess? Zac pushed, ignoring the warnings.
You can''t, Jaol said without hesitation. "I have no idea how to get inside!"
Think harder, Zac growled as a ck mist started to steam out of his mouth, adding an acrid smell to the cabin.
I-I You would need to have special authorization. But it is impossible for you! You have no neural imnts, and even if you get inside there are extremely strong autonomous ss-2 Guardians inside, Jaol eximed.
Dont you have ess-cards or something? Zac said with a frown.
Cards? Like a medieval key? Jaol said with iprehension. Why would we have such a tant security risk as keys that can be stolen?
I guess that means youll have to take me there, Zac smiled.
Are you crazy?! You will be spotted in ten seconds after leaving this ce. There''s no one on this ship that has eye-augmentations that even slightly look like yours," them''s officer staunchly refused. "We''ll both be dead within a minute."
Zac snorted as he activated his Transformation skill, and the neverending ck in his eyes quickly gave way to white sclera and irises. His deathly paleplexion gained life, and he was once again a normal human, at least outwardly indistinguishable from a technocrat human.
Wha- Jaol sputtered as he looked up and down at Zac incredulously. How is such a perfect transition possible? Not even the chimeral Transcenders are able to do something like this before reaching ss-3.
Whats with these sses youre talking about? Zac muttered. "Isn''t it just ranks?"
We refuse to use the ssifications of the Cursed Heavens, Jaol said haughtily before remembering he was a hostage at the moment. Uh, no offense.
So youre just being obstinate? Each ss represents a grade? Zac confirmed.
Well, yes, Jaol coughed.
"So can we go? And remember, our fates are bound together. I die, you die," reminded his hostage.
"... You can''t." Jaol sighed after a short silence. "That''s what I''ve been telling you. You have no imnts, so the Ship will consider you an intruder. Only people with clearance will be able to walk around this ship. I don''t even understand how you can stand in my cabin without detection."
Zac red at Jaol before he looked around. The implicit meaning was that the technocrat had expected a rescue, but none seemed to be forting. Zac''s brows furrowed with contemtion as he tried to figure out what was going on. Was it the System that protected him? The problem was that he had no idea if that protection extended out of the cabin he found himself in.
"So how do I get clearance?" Zac asked.
"Get clearance? Impossible. You aren''t even connected to the Multiverse Network through imnts or your sigil, getting clearance is impossible. If it had been so easy we would have been infiltrated and extinguished long ago.
Zac felt a bit helpless as he looked around the room before he spotted a few small holes in the wall not far away. Did spaceships have air ducts? They should have, considering how many people were aboard. Perhaps if he cut through the floor he''d find whole service levels he could traverse instead. But before he could ask about it he suddenly had a thought, and his head snapped back toward Jaol.
"Sigils?" Zac said, an idea suddenly popping up in his head. "Like this?"
He took out the ne that Leandra had left with his father before disappearing. He still hadn''t found any use for the thing, but it was obviously more than a simple piece of metal. It had been able to vibrate and move about in his Cosmos Sack when he met the technocrat researcher back on earth, and it might have other functions that would be useful now.
He wasn''t really worried about attracting his mother''s enemies either, as he was transported god-knows-where by the System. If anything it might rather throw Firmament''s Edge off the scent by thinking Leandra had popped up on this vessel.
The small token suddenly shuddered, making Zac worried he had activated some hidden rm, but it quickly calmed down again. However, the technocrat hostage wasn''t as calm as he looked up and down at Zac with confusion and fear.
This is impossible!! How did you get such clearance?! Jaol almost screamed.
What are you talking about, Zac said, starting to get a bit exasperated by the rapid change of his captives emotions. And keep your voice down.
A- I Jaol sputtered with clear hesitation on his face.
"Remember, if I get pushed into a corner Ill take you out before anything else, Zac muttered and pushed Jaol with his axe when it looked like them''s officer was nning on cooking up another lie.
I swear I dont understand! I dont recognize that insignia, but it has somehow given you Level 4-ess on our ship! Even I only have Level 2-ess. It uses some archaic ess code I have never heard of before, designating you as a Council Inspector! What Council?! Jaol bbered.
Zac looked down at the ne in his hand with mixed emotions. It looked like his mother hade through for him after all. He had already known that she was probably some sort of big shot among technocrats before something happened to maker her turn traitor, and this seemed to further confirm it.
But where was she? Why had she left Earth and her alone, even to the point that her husband had died from the integration? Long repressed emotions threatened to run rampant as he held the sigil, but he quickly gathered his wits and focused on the task at hand.
"Is Level 4-ess enough to get to the Shard?" Zac asked.
"No," Jaol said. "It gives ess to all parts of the ship except critical areas that need the Captain''s direct authorization. In other words, special authorization."
Who has special ess?
Just two people as far as I am aware. The Captain and Dr. Freid, Jaol said.
Messing with the captain was obviously out of the question, which only left him with one option.
"Who is Dr. Fried?" Zac probed.
"Uh, no idea," Jaol said.
"Jaol..." Zac growled threateningly.
Thems officer hesitated for a few seconds before he eventually reached towards his eyes, and literally pulled them out of their sockets. Zac couldn''t stop himself from gaping in shock as the man handed his eyes to him. Zac unconsciously epted them with confusion, before he looked back at Jaol with utter befuddlement.
Thems officer didn''t say anything, but Zac noted that he had pointed his head down, and it almost looked like the empty sockets were staring straight at Zac''s waist. Zac tried to follow theck of vision, and he suddenly had a hunch of what was going on. He immediately stowed the two eyes into his Cosmos Sack.
"I put your eyes in my Spatial Tool," Zac said as he looked at the Technocrat with interest.
"I know, I just lost connection," Jaol nodded.
"What''s going on?" Zac asked.
"I don''t want any hard evidence of divulging information about Dr. Fried. Hees from a powerful corporation," Jaol sighed. "Dr. Fried was sent by Deramex Dynamics, our employer''s employer. He''s an expert at force fields, and he is in charge of keeping the Shard of Creation restrained."
"Sounds like he''s doing a pretty shit job," Zac muttered as he tried to look anywhere except the two empty sockets that stared right at him.
Was this was it felt like talking with him when he was in his Draugr-form?
"Yes, well," Jaol shrugged. "I don''t understand how that works, but he has set up multipleyers of restrictions around the shard in the middle of the bean. I''ve heard from a few guards that the problems we''ve seen are just the tip of the iceberg of what goes on within the containment field. Dr. Fried has said that the Shard does not like being without a host, and it resents being trapped."
"Likes? Resents?" Zac asked with shock. "It''s alive?"
"It''s beyond me. Perhaps alive in the sense that a virus is alive?" Jaol ventured.
Zac felt like it was an apt description after having observed the Splinter in its prison over the past few months. It wasn''t an inert object, but it also didn''t feel sentient.
"What strength is the Doctor?" Zac asked.
"I think he''ste ss-2?" Jaol said hesitantly.
"Is he strong inbat?" Zac asked with a frown.
"I am pretty sure he''s a pure researcher," Jaol said. "Theirbat strength is on the lower end, but they no doubt have some means to protect themselves."
Zac grunted in affirmation. This was exactly what he hoped for. The n he hade up with was pretty simple. He''d use the ne to get to Dr. Fried, kidnap the researcher, and use him as a keycard to the Shard. Seeing as the doctor seemed to have a pretty high status he might even be able to use him as a hostage to blow up the engines and pass the stage afterward.
"Do you know where to find him?" Zac asked.
"I can point you to hisb on the map," Jaol quickly said. "It''s not too far, you''ll be able to get there easily."
"Point on the map?" Zac smiled. "We''re going together."
Jaol froze for a few seconds before he deted with a sigh.
"Alright... Is there anything else I need to know about the doctor?" Zac asked.
Zac asked a few questions to gauge his strength, but Jaol didn''t seem to know too much. The researcher spent almost all his time split between hisb and by the Shard. He was also pretty haughty and barely socialized with the crew. He even seemed to have taken a superior stance toward the captain even if he was just a ss-2 nonbat ss.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om
But that was fine with Zac. It meant that he would get his opportunity as long as he managed to get to theboratory to set up an ambush.
"Okay, let''s go," Zac finally said after he had asked everything he could think of.
Well, you''re still looking a bit. Jaol hesitantly said.
Zac looked down and immediately realized the problem. He looked like someone doing cosy with his ancient robes and weaponry. It wouldn''t take an AI to figure out something was wrong if he walked down the corridors wearing cultivator''s robes. His first idea was to take clothes from Jaol, but waving around an axe for months while focusing on Endurance and Strength had made his build pretty bulky.
Jaol was a head shorter and probably weighed 100 pounds less, so getting into his fitted uniform was impossible. It also seemed that the clothes they wore didn''t have an automatic-fit like his robes. Sending Jaol out for a disguise was out of the question as well. The Technocrat would probably rat him out the second he was out of earshot, so Zac had to go with the second-best option.
Call someone here. Someone with a simr build as mine," Zac said.
"A- alright. I need my eyes back then," Jaol said, and soon enough pushed back the two orbs into their respective sockets.
"So weird," Zac muttered.
Jaol didn''t dare toment, but he rather summoned a screen that appeared in front of him, looking a bit like the status screens that the system used. Zac saw a bunch of faces sh by on the screen until Jaol''s eyes lit up. The screen disappeared the next moment, and Jaol slightly turned away.
Its Jaol. Something is wrong with these calctions, could you assist me? Ill owe you one, Jaol started muttering out into thin air. Well, its a bit inconvenient, could youe to mypartment? Yes, I am sorry, I''ll provide 10% of this month''s sry aspensation.
Well? Zac asked.
A colleague wille over in a minute, he is off for the day so no one will feel it out of ce if hes not around," Jaol said, a small smile creeping up on his face for the first time since getting captured. "His build is pretty simr to yours as well."
Why do you look so happy about this?" Zac asked with a raised brow.
Hes kind of a work rival, and were up for the same promotion, Jaol said, looking a bit embarrassed. If I have to live through this cmity I might as well drag him with me.
Fair enough, Zac snorted as he walked next to the door. But no funny business.