“Sympathetic Resonance.” Ashani grimaced. “I thought I’d suppressed those thoughts. They must have leaked during the simulation I showed you. Strong thoughts can sometimes be difficult to hide.”
You’re worried about it, too, Vir thought, nearly brought to tears by her plight. After all this… after watching over the city for so long, she was doomed to die. Simply because her energy ran out.
“It would have been impossible for me to remain active the whole time,” she said. “Impossible… and dangerous, I’m afraid.”
“Dangerous? How?”
“While my body’s repair mechanisms will keep me in working order, my mind is far more complex. I was never meant to go so long without routine maintenance.”
“You’re saying you’d… go insane?”
Ashani nodded. “I’ve seen it in other Automatons that survived. I… do not wish to end that way.”
She looked off into the distance, wistfully.
“All things come to an end, Vir. My people were long-lived, yes, but they were not gods. I should not have survived this long in the first place. My time has come.”
“I refuse to accept that,” Vir said.
“Look around you. Mahādi’s buildings are resilient, and their built-in inscriptions can repair damage by Ash Beasts. Yet they, too, require power to operate. Each reconstruction consumes a bit of their energy. One day, they will fail. Then only rubble will mark the site of what once was.”
“There has to be something we can do. Anything!”
To Vir, Ashani was like a wick that had burned down to its stem, burning its final flame.
“Truly, I am grateful you feel this way,” Ashani said. “It has been so long since I felt the care of another sapient being. I never thought I would experience it again.”
“No. You don’t understand,” Vir said. “You can’t die. You… are a treasure. You’re the last survivor of your people! My people worship you as a god!”
Ashani laughed. “They worship my people, you mean. Who would worship me?”
“Um, actually…”
“You’re serious?” Ashani asked.
“Y’know, your name’s bugged me ever since I heard it. It felt so familiar, but I just couldn’t place it. Then, when you mentioned Siya, I knew. It has to be. It’s too much of a coincidence, otherwise.”
“A coincidence? I’m not sure I follow.”
“Ashani, there’s a nation of powerful mejai—magic wielders—in the Human Realm. They call themselves the Altani. One of their major cities is named Alt Siya!”
Ashani frowned. “Just a coincidence.”
“I thought so as well, but do you want to guess what their capital is? It’s Alt Ashani. Ashani… I’m pretty sure those cities were named after you and Siya.”
“How?” Ashani asked breathlessly. “That’s impossible! The Imperium died that day. You said it yourself—my people haven’t made themselves known. Even if they did, few knew my name. I’m hardly someone to name a city after. Let alone a capital! How would they know of Siya? She was just a girl!”
“I don’t know,” Vir replied. “I really wish I did. But I do know this. People in my world worship you. And Siya. To them, to us, you’re a goddess. Don’t you understand what that means? I’m sorry, but I can’t let you die. No matter what.”
“Because I’m a goddess?” Ashani said, half laughing. “If Siya had heard that people worshiped her, she’d have giggled until she fell over.”
“No,” Vir said. “Because I want you to see your city. I want you to experience what the world has become. We’re not nearly as impressive as your people, but as you said, there’s art and culture. Maybe even food you might enjoy. Don’t you want to experience all that? Isn’t that worth living for?”
“I admit, that all sounds wondrous. It sounds like a dream if I’m honest. But what can be done? Fate never seems to care one whit about our wishes.”
There was an edge to her voice—an astringent bitterness—that she’d never shown before.
“Your spent energy core,” Vir said. “Show it to me.”
Back at Janak’s home, Ashani led Vir down another hall, then down a flight of stairs to a grand room, perfectly square. Its walls and high ceilings glowed a pristine white, and all sorts of strange apparatus had been placed all around the room.
Vir had never seen a mejai thaumaturge’s workshop, but this is what he imagined it might look like.
There was no clutter, though. Aside from the desks with knobs, levers, and buttons, and the strange crane-like machinery that sat in the corner, it was spotless.
“Janak’s personal workshop. He worked at the central spire most times, though he maintained a facility here for the rare occasions he was home.”
“He worked even when he came back here?” Vir asked.
Ashani nodded, approaching a metal box in a corner. “For Janak, meeting Siya really just meant working while Siya got to watch, I’m afraid. Especially near the end.”
The box hissed when she touched it, opening on its own to reveal a perfectly smooth crystal sphere, the same size as the one Vir had slotted into her back.
That orb had shone with mysterious energy, but this one sat dark and dormant.
It’s similar to mejai orbs, Vir noted. Strange. No inscriptions on it.
Vir eyed the crystal, bringing his eyes closer and closer. He felt like he saw something inside, but lost it whenever he looked closely.
“Lady Ashani? Do you have anything like a magnifying glass, by any chance?”
Ashani clapped her hands together, and when her palms separated, an image appeared, showing the orb, except magnified several times.
“No way,” Vir whispered.
He’d been wrong. There were inscriptions. Just miniaturized. Shrunk down so small, his eyes could barely see them. And unlike mejai orbs, there wasn’t just a single circle of inscribed text. There were dozens, all at various depths, crisscrossing each other.
I was a fool to think I could help, Vir thought, paling at the absurd complexity. This is the kind of magic that powers her? Just how complex must she be?
“Do, uh, do you know how they work?” Vir asked hesitantly. He couldn’t let her know just how beyond him this magic was.
Ashani shook her head. “I’m afraid not.”
No magic in the Human Realm could ever replicate this… But maybe he didn’t have to.
“Is there a way to refill its energy?”
“There was, yes. With a machine. None exist any longer, I’m afraid. I would know, I’ve searched far and wide.”
“But everything in here looks pristine? Even the buildings look well maintained,” Vir said.
“Most of our smaller self-healing scripts were destroyed in the blast. Only the powerful ones that keep our buildings in the condition they’re in remain.”
“What about conjuring a new orb from prana, then? Can you conjure things too?”
Ashani opened a palm, and an exotic fruit the likes of which Vir had never seen popped into her hand. “Matter fabrication only functions for simple objects, I’m afraid. Lord Janak created me at the height of Imperium advancement, and my construction is equally complex. My prana cores cannot be materialized in such a manner.”
Of course, Vir thought, flushing. She’d have mentioned it if it were possible.
“Thanks for humoring me,” he said. “You would’ve tried everything already, I’m sure. Look at me, thinking I could solve a problem even a goddess like you couldn’t.”
Vir found himself held in Ashani’s embrace. “Er, Lady Ashani?”
“Please do not feel this way. Ashani is touched by your concern. She truly is. Please do not think yourself any less than her. She is hardly omniscient.”