12 Miles Below-Chapter 44Book 7. : And make it double

To’Wrathh sent the commands to the small human vehicle inside the virtual screen, forcing the small gas powered vehicle to take a sliding turn. It took very little effort to mechanically perfect the directional inputs as the game had very basic physics to master, however it was the mind games that were giving To’Wrathh a problem.

“What I do not understand is how To’Orda of all people is consistently overlapping me at every turn.” To’Sefit hissed over the channel. “How exactly are you doing this?”

“Listen lady, you jump first and then slide so when you hit the ground you are going at the max angle.” The rock answered back for the Feather, a staple part of their group chat channel now. “If you start the slide early, you’re only going to waste a little bit of that angle before the skid starts. To’Orda figured this out from the first few times we played around with sliding. Pay attention.”

To’Sefit seethed over the chat channel. “I’ll save a shell just for you.”

“Hey, you asked, we answered lady. If you can’t handle the answers, don’t ask the question.”

“Enough.” To’Avalis said, gliding through his own corner, hot on To’Wrathh’s heel. She could tell he was analyzing her movements, they both had been constantly doing that since the game was suggested. A novel exercise to both pass the time and give her additional hints as to how her enemies operated. The old human racing game had been unearthed by To’Orda during his spelunking and easily replaced connect four, chess and go. All of which had been played to death thus far and no longer offered any meaningful analysis on her enemies.

To’Avalis wasn’t simply behind her from lack of options, she could tell he’d been intentionally holding onto second place for a reason she wasn’t quite yet certain of. Psychological warfare?

She’d already deduced the Feather was keeping a coin item at all times in hand so that his secondary item couldn’t be seen. And if the source code was to be understood, it was impossible to own two coin items at the same time, thus he was equally forcing the game to give him more useful items as his secondary.

She knew he was about to do something, and couldn’t adequately prepare. She sent him a rude image, and he replied back with a simple one of him fixing his glasses up, preparing his master stroke.

A curve ahead offered a potential gap close. She could run off the track, into the air and skip a good winding section, or play it safe. If she played it safe, To’Avalis could potentially lap her by taking the shortcut himself. She had a red shell in her inventory, if she lined up the shot correctly, she could outdo his attempt.

But the enemy had already noticed her weapons, and would likely play evasively.

The other two feathers were further behind, To’Orda choosing to play mechanically safe at all times, while To’Sefit’s constant use of grandiose gambles and trick plays had made it supremely easy for both To’Avalis and To’Wrathh to blast her into near last place. Something she swore eternal vengeance on, and stubbornly refused to adjust her playstyle.

At this point, To’Wrathh was convinced To’Sefit remained the same out of sheer spite. She’d either win with her antics, or lose, but she would remain true to her core philosophy at all times.

Her constant locking of the pink dressed blond character was equally a hint at her refusal to adjust to the game.

To’Orda’s choice of the giant ape was more pragmatic, likely out of cosmetic reasons. And To’Avalis simply picked whichever character would annoy To’Wrathh the most, swapping each round and testing on the chat channels the effects. She was disturbed by his methodical approach to making the game as unfun as it possibly could be.

She raced off the map, controlling her little primitive human race kart up and over the void. She’d take a gamble and force To’Avalis to reveal what kind of tactics she could expect from that Feather when he kept it hidden.

He swapped to his alternate item. A lightning bolt. It struck To’Wrathh and all players in the map, sapping them of all speed and shrinking them. For To’Sefit and To’Orda, who were still neck to neck and squabbling with each other, there was no true change.

For To’Wrathh who was in midair and couldn’t afford to lose speed, it cost her the game. She fell right down into the abyss, and was respawned long after To’Avalis had passed her, eating the coin as well for extra speed.

“You slimy weasel.” She hissed over the comms. “So that’s what you were planning.”

“I did notice you had a penchant for taking gambles with shortcuts.” To’Avalis sent back, smug. “It was only a matter of time until that pattern would repeat.”

The scorescreen came up. To’Avalis had won, despite having been in second place for most of the match. She filed away what she’d learned: That Feather had no issues with remaining behind or acting wounded, until the reveal.

Well, she’d arrive soon enough and apply what she’d learned from facing him directly in combat.

In the actual real world, she took a dive spin with her wings, letting her soar under a mite bridge built of shards floating in the air, reflecting artificial sunlight in all directions. A few of those reflections were highly focused, meaning passing by the wrong section could burn or melt part of her shell. At this point she no longer needed to hide her location, and sliced through a few machines To’Avalis had placed here to alert him of her passing by.

It was the first time she’d revealed where she was intentionally.

The message was clear: She had already won. At this point, there was nothing he could do to stop her from reaching the mite teleport portal she was after. The one leading to the strata Keith had been reported from. She’d arrive far earlier compared to any prediction he could have anticipated since several of the mite teleports she took sent her to locations they hadn’t been mapped to prior. It felt like the world itself wanted to help her forward.

To’Avalis sent her an image of him rolling his eyes, with text going ‘Really?’ a moment later, as he finally got confirmation on the loss of his minion.

She did note he was surprised by her progress, but not aggravated, so she assumed he’d probably already expected her to somehow advance past all reasonable expectations. That was unfortunate, she’d have appreciate to see him start to seethe in the background.

To’Sefit had no qualms spilling the beans, “Oh my how interesting, and here I thought it would take you two days to reach his strata. You must really like this human of yours. Scandalous.”

“Nnn, we play again after?” To’Orda asked, completely unconcerned with her immediate arrival.

“Assuming To’Wrathh isn’t executed after her capture and just disciplined instead.” To’Sefit said, “I am of course rooting for you to crush her, my dear To’Orda, but you’ll understand if I don’t have great hopes for you given your current employer. Besides, the game would feel a little less engaging without a genuine enemy to joust against. I suppose it’s amusing enough to entertain. Certainly better than the connect four tournament, that was putting me to sleep. Your suggestions were terrible To’Avalis.”

“It was a perfectly good strategy game that gave great insight on our enemy and the lack of strategic planning in yours.” To’Avalis answered back. “As for repeated plays for To’Orda’s suggestion, crushing To’Wrathh was highly satisfying in this game, I am amenable to that idea.”

“I recognize your attempt to rile an emotional response from me. It will not work.” To’Wrathh replied, keeping her voice cool over the chat channel.

She did still send a highly detailed animation of her stabbing the Feather a few dozen times and ripping his soul out.

“Can you old farts just ever agree it’s a fun game to play?” To’Orda’s rock groaned. “You all got way too much pride. Worst family ever.”

“How did you even discover this archaic game?” To’Wrathh asked. The suggestion coming from To’Orda of all Feathers felt odd, but it had been an incredibly interesting game to analyze.

“New… well, actually the big lug and I dove around old files for fun. And got some recommendations from friendly programs while we were exploring old parts of the human web. That’s all.”

To’Wrathh narrowed her eyes at that. It sounded like a deflection, but she couldn’t understand why that would be.

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“I am certain you were multitasking while doing you deep searches through human archives.” To’Avalis said, and implied the answer had better be ‘yes’ or else.

“I for one, look forward to the progress, take pictures if you would be such a dear for me~” To’Sefit said. “And do send the combat log after for study. Best of luck.”

“Nnn… I was multitasking. And fine.” To’Orda grumbled out.

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“Yeah, we’ll see what we can do toots.” The rock added, quickly moving the topic forward. “Anyhow, we gotta go. Plans to make, rogue sister to crush, you know how it goes. See you in a few hours To’Wrathh, I’d wish you luck, but, well, mortal enemies and all that.”

“Likewise.” To’Wrathh cordially responded. “Do put down on the group spreadsheets your favorite textures, more overall data does show there is a trend among the lessers on what food items are more preferred, I am curious to see if Feathers share the same information. Whenever you have a moment.”

“Nnn… Okay.” To’Orda shrugged, and the image generator he used equally sent a follow-up image of it doing the same. They had different tastes, with the image generator preferring artwork rather than food, and To’Orda was diametrically opposed. To’Wrathh found it fascinating.

To’Sefit scoffed, “You two are deranged. Human food sounds disgusting to me.”

“Has the local feather of this strata spoken to you yet?” To’Wrathh asked, ignoring To'Sefit's uncultured barb. The last time she’d asked him about the current biome's master, he’d claimed the Feather had not. Although Mother had told him To’Orda had been wrapped up in To’Naviris’s schemes.

“Well, well, well, wouldn’t you like to know toots?” The rock answered back. “My stony lips are sealed, zipped up, glued shut, the works. What you got last time is the last you’re gonna get.”

“Nnn… yes.” To’Orda himself answered back. “More annoying than To’Sefit.”

“My, my trying to get on my bad side even more I see. Bold of you.” The woman in question answered, sending an appropriate image to match. Of her squeezing a squeeze toy plush of To’Orda, the eyes bulging out. “Why, I didn’t know you had the spine for it.”

The Feather seemed to ignore the jab, letting the rock continue. It sent a side-eyed look over the channel, as if about to whisper secrets. “If you could aim to kill him first during the fight, we’d both appreciate it.” The rock said. “Not because To’Orda would rather survive through the whole thing without having to rebuild a shell, more because the guy’s a prick. We both agree on that.”

“I would have thought you would prefer to stack your deck with allies.” To’Wrathh said. “Even distasteful, To’Naviris is still another Feather to pit against me.”

“I hardly have any expectations for him.” To’Avalis scoffed. “I’ve seen his record, and saw his methods of handling a deathless incursion earlier directly. I would be greatly insulted if you lost against him. Vain fool. Even if it serves the ultimate end goal, I find the process distasteful.”

“I am of similar opinion.” To’Sefit sent a mild shrug. “This little family squabble between us should stay between us, having an outsider show up and kill the Winterscar and you instead would leave a… sour aftertaste. We’re Feathers, not random lessers that need to be given a helping hand like beggars. That outsider should really have a bit more class in all this, very rude of him to try and kill you first.”

“Are you unable to request he stand down?” To’Wrathh asked, a sliver of hope that the pride of her brothers and sister could somehow be taken advantage of.

“No.”

“Of course not, don’t be ridiculous.”

“Hah, funny joke toots.”

“Nnn… can’t.”

Of course they wouldn’t assist with that kind of agreement. None of them wanted anything to be investigated with more scrutiny than it already was. “He’s certainly a little more unhinged than we are.” To’Sefit said. “Lot less polite too from what To’Orda sent me. Far too strange compared to our generation. I wouldn’t invite him to any of our chats, he’d ruin the atmosphere.”

“He is an unsocialized exiled hermit who has lived through delusions of grandeur for too long.” To’Avalis said.

“Weren’t you exactly that for the past fifty years now? Minus the delusions of grandeur, but you are steadily getting there soon.” To’Sefit sent a wink at him. “So proud of your growth in such a short time…”

The rest of the chat had little additional information for To’Wrathh. There was bickering between all of them, and then they all said their goodbyes as To’Wrathh approached the final gateway.

Notably, despite her best attempts, To’Wrathh got no additional information from any of the three Feathers about To’Naviris. There was a limit to what the other three were willing to give her. As for her current opponents…

To’Wrathh’s gathered information on To’Orda told her to expect a conventional defense, likely with an army of lessers, and him attacking with everything he had out the gate. She should expect to be attacked from the moment she crossed the portal.

Mother would have warned him if To’Avalis and To’Sefit were equally in the strata causing trouble, but she only mentioned To’Orda being wrapped up in all this.

To’Naviris was going to be harder to figure out, as that Feather hadn’t seen action for centuries, brooding down here mostly powered off. Waiting for something. All she knew of him was that To’Orda found him more aggravating than To’Sefit.

The portal she was after approached fast ahead of her. She ducked and dove past a few lessers desperately attempting to block her path. The gateway opened up at her command, recognizing her signature. She had recovered the keys required on this strata to activate it, and by the rules the mites put out, only she would be sent through.

One final acrobatic twist over a launched missile at her feet, a quick slice of her wingfeathers against the face of a massive behemoth reaching one hand to yank her out of the air, and she had a clear line of sight to her final location.

Keith. She already knew he was still alive and safe, else To’Avalis would have flooded her with graphic images of his death or impending attack. The lack of that was telling. Mother herself appearing to give her warning of a potential attack meant there really was nothing To’Avalis could be doing to muddle the plan.

She felt rather smug about that, even losing to To’Avalis several times in the past few hours did little to dampen her overall mood. She was going to reunite with her favorite human, get him out of there, and back on track. The other two Feathers could be engaged with full force, given she’d gotten Mother’s permission.

The plan was thus far working out.

She dove through the portal, the fabric of reality whipping across her chassis. When she emerged, it was out of a massive tree hole, wide enough it filled her entire vision. She reoriented herself, overclocks still running, threat analysis programs searching at all angles for possible attack vectors.

A few hundred red marks lit up in her vision. Lessers of all kinds were moving outwards on a search pattern. Their models ranked between standard runners, to more exotic variants found further underground. Mantis types, as well as hunter seekers. Was she too late?

A ping from them came.

“Feather commander. Designation?”

Not hostile, cordial instead. She played along with them, as she quickly sped past their visual sight. “To’Wrathh. The one who remembers and transcends her history. Who commands you?”

“Confirmed Designation. Units under command of To’Naviris. Sending confirmation signature.”

She did get a series of serial numbers and details, putting this army squarely in To’Naviris’s control.

“What are your current orders?” She asked, knowing her rank allowed her to demand answers from these lessers.

“Search for human targets. Two reported in strata. Report directly to command for further instructions. Your assistance would be appreciated, but not required, great one.”

Two humans down here? She already knew one of them was Keith. Who was the second one?

“Inform me, what has been reported of these two humans thus far?”

“No data sent. Two humans, Deathless, no description attached. Last known locations undisclosed. Last known appearance undisclosed. Possible connection with a prior group of ten humans engaged within sister biome, information unverified.”

The information came without To’Wrathh needing to even ask. Ten Deathless, all handled by To’Naviris and his army. Their profiles were outlined red, with giant semi-transparent X’s across all of them. A list of details such as powers seen, comms connections noticed, and tactics employed were listed in an orderly fashion here.

Information To’Wrathh could tell had been generated by the machine here, working with as much information as it could. There were no signs of a Feather adding any details or writing.

She examined the stats of the ping connection.

It was an old model in charge here. A hunter-seeker built closer to the golden age, and one that’s been shut down for some time, kept safe. Under its command were several mantis-types, floating through the forest, eyes searching through multiple spectrums for any signs of the two reported humans in this strata. The hunter seeker itself was a swarm of hovering drones, swimming like a wave on the beach, spreading outwards as it passed under the mantis frames.

She had already sped past them in seconds, heading deeper into the strata. “I will see what I wish to do, lesser. I am personally hunting down one of the two humans and will handle it myself.” She sent it back. “Do not report my presence to To’Naviris.”

“Unable to comply with order, great one. Notification already delivered to To’Naviris, priority medium. Read-receipt unconfirmed.”

It was worth the attempt. She’d need to find Keith fast, and yank him out of here before the rest of this army found him. At least it seemed To’Naviris didn’t check all his notifications immediately, or he was currently held up by another item. She filed that under her notes for the Feather. Thus far, he seemed sloppy. Leaving the administration duties to his lessers.

“Send search pattern data. I will assist in scouting ahead. My shell is faster than your own, I can cover ground and report where they are not.”

She had no intention of sending any kind of truth back. Already she planned to falsify sightings, and send the swarm the other direction. And if she found Keith first, she’d send a false negative back.

“Affirmative. Sending data now.” The hunter seeker returned, happy to have assistance from its superiors, unaware any of them would deceive it.

They’d started an hour ago, arriving in force. Already ten percent of the biome had been searched through, with the wave rapidly spreading outwards. In less than five hours, the entire map would have seen a deep scour for humanity. She took all this, and found no hits for either Keith nor the second human with him.

Location wise, there were a few notable points of interest, several mite-made starship derelict, or potentially real ships, were scattered all across the forest and valleys here. There were signs of agriculture, several fields where either mites or an intelligent species had taken root.

One report showed a human airspeeder had passed out of this very portal, and crashed further up, but when machines arrived to scour the area, they found no humans. The video footage clearly showed footprints leading away, but they were muddled in with a massive storm of animal hoofprints and paws, making the actual trail so difficult to spot, only To’Wrathh’s systems were able to spot them by using pixel to pixel matching. Keith had a smart idea to use wild animals to cover his tracks, as expected of her human. He’d find a way to even use animals to help cheat the system.

There was one report of a missing unit, but that was a mantis type, and they were notoriously isolated territory guardians with pride reaching a Feather’s level. The search was angling for that location first, to verify if the mantis unit had been destroyed by natural causes, or encountered the two humans and was eliminated.

“Ninety three percent confidence rating on mantis-unit elimination by humans. As typical for that unit type, no important information sent during engagement. It did not wish to share a target.”

That last sentence was sent with the closest thing the lessers had to an eye roll. Clearly, the hunter seeker knew exactly the kind of capricious nature it had to work with.

All in all, Keith hadn’t been found, and left no tracks any of the machines could follow besides one dead guardian unit keeping a mite power fountain locked down. And she knew he wouldn’t remain anywhere near that kind of structure.

Good she’d arrived just in time then.

Suspiciously just in time. Something felt wrong about all this, but To’Wrathh was uncertain if it was meddling from the mites… or Mother.

And of course, she got another ping through the machine network a minute into her entrance. This time from a Feather designated origin point. Not one of the three others she was in usual contact with.

To’Naviris had finally read his notifications.