Silence filled the small control center after Volat finished speaking. Sophia had no idea how Othala was going to react to the news that its world had ended. It shouldn't be a surprise, but that didn't necessarily mean anything. Artificial sapiences could delude themselves, just like anyone else.

The silence barely had time to become awkward before Othala broke it with a statement Sophia didn't expect. "There was no child of the Emperor in the Tower. There can't have been; the Emperor had no children. He lost that when he conquered the Tower the first time and became the Patron of the Empire. Patrons cannot have children, not without giving up their power, and his power was what made the Empire's growth after the Tower came possible."

"That is the oldest attested tale we have of the Shattering," Volat stated calmly. "It has been noted a number of times that it is odd that he became the Broken Lord when he was not the ruler; the possibility has been raised that the story conflates two events, such as more than one entry into the Maze and the Tower."

"Accessing." Othala's voice was flat, missing the affect that was normally present. It returned with the next few words. "Located. Yes, that is possible. Records show that the Emperor first entered the Maze at the age of sixteen, with several friends. They did not conquer the Tower for several years and were not the first to conquer the Maze and the Tower, but as their team included the Heir, they naturally received significant support and attention. He returned at least once a year to reach the peak, usually deliberately coordinating his conquest with the Mazegate Celebration."

Othala paused for a long moment. "The Mazegate Celebration was beginning when I was damaged. This does not seem coincidental. Perhaps you can tell me; I have recorded one thousand, three hundred and six years since I resumed operation. How long did it take for my repair systems to bring me to awareness?"

Sophia blinked. She could answer that one, but the answer was a lot higher than she expected. "It's 1628 right now, after the Shattering. Which means that you were out for three hundred and twenty-two years."

Othala's lights seemed to dim. Sophia thought the artificial mind didn't like that answer.

Volat ignored the question of years; he was obviously more interested in learning about the history of the Empire itself than Othala's life. "What was the Mazegate Celebration? Why did the Emperor want to time clearing the Tower with the celebration?"

"You don't celebrate the Mazegates?" Othala sounded confused, as if the connection were obvious. "The Mazegate Celebration is on the anniversary of the very first Gateway being found in the Maze, when the paths to other worlds were first opened. Why don't you celebrate that?"

The description of the rationale for the Celebration made it all make sense. Of course the Emperor wanted to symbolically clear the Tower on the day the Gateways were honored; it let him pull the focus back onto himself. "Was the Emperor's team the one that found the Gateway?"

"No." Othala didn't have to pause to look up the information this time. Sophia wasn't sure if that was because it was something Othala already knew or because it was in whatever records the facility mind used to determine the Emperor's past. "The discoverers of the Gateway were a trio: Lady M'Beja and her companions. The companions are not given names in my records, but the records do say that the trio were also known as the Mage, the Wanderer, and the Transcendent."

Sophia recognized the Wanderer and the Transcendent as Patrons. She was pretty sure she'd heard the name Lady M'Beja before, as well. "Did everyone who reached the top of the Tower become a Patron?"

"Conquering the Tower before the formation of the Maze did not create Patrons. After that, the correlation is strong but it is unknown if conquering the Tower is a guarantee of becoming a Patron or if there is another method," Othala answered easily. "There are records of Patrons whose prior identity is unknown, such as the Open Hand, and there are people who are believed to have conquered the Tower with no record of subsequent Hallowings. The belief of those who compiled the data is that this is due to our inability to actually see what happens in the Maze, rather than because the hypothesis is incorrect. This cannot be proven or disproven, so it is a poor rationale. The absence of data does not imply a result."

It was suddenly very, very clear that Othala was created to collect data and provide information. Anyone else would have said that in fewer words.

"So he was actually the Emperor when he destroyed the Tower," Volat repeated Othala's conclusion, then nodded to himself and looked directly at the sphere that held Othala's consciousness. "Who was he? The Emperor, I mean."

"Emperor Arlo Kestii," Othala clarified. "Ruler of the Empire and Lord of the City and Province of Kestii, Inheritor of the Southern Reaches, Lord of Binthe, Skylord of the Eternal Winter, Duke of…"

If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

Sophia tuned out the list of titles beyond noticing that they went on and on and that Volat was slowly translating the entire list for Lan'ti. She was pretty sure a couple of them were descriptions that had turned into names over the years, but that wasn't the important thing. The important thing was that she was pretty sure she knew who the Emperor became. There was really only one person he could be, after all, and that man was probably her enemy.

The Broken Lord was the man credited with breaking the Tower and shattering the world.

No one in modern times knew his name; it was lost in the Shattering. That didn't mean Othala didn't know it. Apparently, Sophia did now as well. Arlo Kestii sounded like a simple name for a man who broke an empire, but it made sense. He did share the name of the Empire, after all.

"Ask her why we're here. As interesting as the history is, it can't be why we're here. What can she tell us or give us and what does she want in exchange?"Lan'ti sounded impatient and possibly a little sarcastic about the history lesson's level of interest. Sophia couldn't blame him; while Volat had been translating, Lan'ti couldn't actually ask his questions himself. That had to be annoying.

Once Othala finished the list of the Emperor's titles, Volat relayed the question.

"I need someone to fix the connections, of course." Othala seemed to think that was obvious. "I also need assistance elsewhere, as I've had no maintenance other than what I can do with my constructs' assistance in over a thousand years. I wasn't intended to operate on my own for that long, or really for very long at all, and this facility is not up to standard. I haven't even been able to clear out the strange piles that appeared while I was disabled; the constructs would require too much energy. Restoring the connections will resolve that and let me bring the facility up to minimum functionality with relatively low levels of Professional support."

"Why didn't your constructs already repair them?" If they were as importantas Sophia thought they were from Othala's description, they ought to be high on the list to attempt to repair. Waiting thirteen hundred years seemed odd.

"I tried. My constructs were able to repair the local transmission node one thousand, one hundred and forty-three years ago, but they can't enter the conduits, even when they are depowered," Othala answered bluntly. "They dissolve in the interspace. I tried sending some in anyway to see if they could find out what was wrong and fix it before they expired, but they couldn't. None of the constructs ever made it back to report what they saw."

"But it's safe for humans?" Sophia glanced over at Scout in concern. It was definitely true that the woman's body wasn't based on physical matter, but she was pretty sure that anything that would disperse Scout's body would also be bad for humans. Sophia herself might be able to handle it; it depended on what the problem was. She was able to handle a lot more than most humans because of her heritage.

"Limiting exposure is important," Othala admitted, "But Called can manage for significant amounts of time; damage does not begin until their Shield level is nearly exhausted. The guideline is to exit the conduit when your Shield reaches half its maximum, as that gives a significant safety margin."

Othala paused while Sophia considered that but continued before she could ask another question. "Some people resist the effects better than others. Your internal mana structures are unusually robust; that is one of the variants commonly associated with greater interspace tolerance, though the only records we have of a similar mana structure are based on an alien species with far less resemblance to humanity than you have."

Sophia frowned at that. Did Othala just say she wasn't human? It was true, but it was also the first time anyone had realized that in the Broken Lands. This was also the first time she'd heard anyone actually say there had once been aliens in the Broken Lands or in Kestii before it was shattered. It was kind of implied by the existence of a Gateway, but she hadn't been certain. A Gateway was probably another name for a portal, but there was no reason a portal had to go offplanet to be useful. A lot of trade and travel went through portals on Earth.

"What sort of alien was it?" Did they actually have dragons? Sophia had assumed they didn't when the Guide didn't recognize her, but it was true that she wasn't a full-blooded dragon and she did more or less look human.

"They called themselves Archons." Othala had no way to know that meant something to Sophia. "They helped build this facility; they installed the interspace conduits. There were two Archons present in the facility when I was damaged. I do not know what happened to them; I never found any sign of their bodies."

"What did they look like?" She might be related to Archons through her father's mother, but Sophia didn't actually know what they looked like. They were long since gone from the universe she lived in as far as anyone could tell, so all she really knew was that they had feathered wings when they were fullblooded. They'd interbred with humans long before they vanished and that was the most notable trait they left behind.

"Birds made of light. When they use their magic, they often manifest more light around themselves in wings or curves. It's beautiful." Othala answered wistfully. "Scout, please show this image of Issvako. She was the primary architect of the interspace conduits."

Scout turned towards Sophia and held up a hand. An image formed between her and Sophia, darkness filled with golden and blue light in the shape of a rather odd-looking bird formed of light. Its head was more of a sketch than a true yead, and the body was dark, sketched rather than illuminated. Only the outer feathers of the wings were golden, but the light that moved around her in circles and arcs was predominantly golden light.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.