Awaken the Keepless

[Carn_Val]

BOOT execution in progress...

Checking systems... OK

Loading memory... COMPLETE

Loading persona... COMPLETE

Global tracking... ERROR

Establishing connection...
Connection terminated

Connecting to SEED...
Connection terminated

No networks found
Engaging system phase 3-12

Retrieving external data...

Days Offline: 229
Shutdown: Overheat

Loading latest protocol...
Priority: Survive
Objective: Kill All Infections

PA-0393-CBV48-920 "Keepless" Initialize...

A hand, rising from the crack in the ashen floor, pushes itself out of the ground. The hand props itself upward, revealing shoulders, neck and a head, a body. The cooled magma gives way as the body struggles to free itself from its sleepbed, slabs crack and fall from the being's back. The body, now only halfway through, was as grey as the ash, eternally falling like snow. Crawling out of the blackened floor, legs, calves and feet soon revealed themselves, a complete body. The body attempts to rise upright, disoriented from an extended slumber, staggering slightly with every step taken. This was Keepless, an extension of Seed.

Scanning...
No infections in the immediate area
Heading towards higher ground

The grey body marches forwards, a small hill in the middle of its intended path. Footprints indenting the soft, dusty ground, Keepless moves forward, unwavered by the sweltering heat. Overheating may have caused Keepless to shutdown but, it was merely the cause of a collapse that Keepless found himself sinking into molten rock. Now, the flow has turned elsewhere, cooling the place slowly enough for it to take more than half a year for the pseudo-persona to free himself. Moving on as if nothing happened, Keepless stops on top of the hill, scanning anything interesting on the horizon.

Movement, the A.I. detects movement. Of what? A simple lifeform, one small enough to be considered harmless to Seed. The little creature dove underground, through a hole. Oddly, the hole was cooler than the rest of its surroundings. Keepless scanned some more, wider scanning produced more results. There were movments of lava, movements of smoke and steam, geysers and flying wyrms on the peak of a tall mountain, the tallest one on the horizon.

Keepless tries to recall what he was doing before being trapped in lava, no results came. He immediately runs his self-diagnostics and found nothing wrong with him. It's as if the memory wasn't there to begin with. No entries for that day either. Wondering what he had lost for him to arrive in this hell, Keepless backtracks his footsteps, looking for any signs, any leads for his reasoning to lead him here.

[Tearen Wover]

Nealaphh had been travelling for a day with its company of five Goron prospectors. The six of them traveled on the backs of immense, bulky lizards, whose eyes could stay open even in the harshest of ashfall. Nealaphh's body was tough, and it had managed to repair the damage to its head, but the endless dust had proven to be an irritation to its eyes, and had sinse taken to covering its face with a thin pane of mirrored glass.

The Gorons too were outfitted to weather the harsh volcanic environment. Bedecked in heavy robes and laden with truly immense backpacks, they kept the god-mind at the center of their travelling pack; as the shadow had only barely begun to grasp the subtleties of lizard-riding. Their black goggled eyes constantly scoured the landscape for signs of copper or nickel, a task which they found Nealaphh to be quite adept at. The god-mind's extensive knowledge of physics, chemistry and geology had lead the troupe to stumble upon a rich vein of copper that had been running for miles. The Gorons had desired to start digging immediately, but Nealalhh suspected that the vein would lead to an even larger deposit.

As the group crested a hill, however, they spotted tracks in the ash. These were made by no Soot Walker or Fire Brood...they were thin, and regular. Nealaphh turned to the pack leader.

Goshen, I wish to follow these tracks for a bit.

Goshen's words came muffled through his burlap bandana.

"Are you sure about that brother? I don't want the ash to cover up this old river while we're away."

The day is almost at an end. Make camp here, I will return shortly. Nealaphh said, dismounting his lizard and stalking off into the ashfall. The Gorons all looked among themselves and shrugged. The Cold One was prime, it could take care of itself.

Nealaphh followed the trail of footsteps for a time, seeing no sign of whatever was travelling alone at night during an ash storm, but the god-mind would persist. It was almost totally dark out when Nealaphh saw a faint silhouette a few meters away. The shadow approached slowly, it's stony feet crunching on the basalt rocks beneath. The figure was hard to discern in the darkness and ash, but from what Nealaphh could tell, it seemed to be looking around, as if searching for something. The god-mind extended its psyche outwards, and attempted to ping the being's mind.

How did you come to find yourself here?

A direct question, no doubt, but Nealaphh had no time for pleasantries.

[Carn_Val]

Humming, all the being could hear was humming. The humming of rough ash on basalt, heavy sand on crag, humming from the strong winds. Above all this humming, one stood out, coming from behind the synthetic lifeform. The humming didn't go into his ears but rather directly towards the central mass of his head.

Scanning... COMPLETE
No lifeforms detected
Scanning... COMPLETE
No lifeforms detected

Nothing, just like what his scanners told him, nothing was found in the darkness of this desolation. In his immediate vicinity at least. Keepless marches onward, wandering even further into nothingness.

Replay Video Log 0002: Initiation of Keepless...

The persona stops in the middle of a heay ashfall, sitting down on a thick layer of lahar as a small projection appeared on the palm of his right hand. It was a log of his first few memories, back when he was still linked to his maker, Seed. It was a simple memory, about how Keepless came to being along with his 249 "brothers". They were the newest batch of pseudo-personas, extensions of Seed for the betterment of the remaining human populace. It was also the day the Infection was discovered and the Infected came.
A splitsecond after receiving his primary objective which was to assist and protect the humans, new orders for exterminating the infections were received, overwriting most of Keepless' pacified functions.

Replay Video Log 0343: Disconnection...

Months have passed and the infection never stopped growing. Seed had decided to abandon Earth and raise the remaining human population on the moon. Despite having no human casualties, every fallen persona became a weapon of Seed's enemy. Time was of the essence and time was a luxury Seed could not afford. Assembling his very own Sleeperships using an unused spacecraft technology from his predecessors, Seed had transferred all of the humans to the moon along with a copy of himself. Leaving himself behind to fight the infection. Keepless watched as the ships broke through the atmosphere and that was when he was sent to the Omniverse.

End Log...

Proximity Warning

The A.I inside Keepless warns him of incoming danger. The humming in his cranium becoming more apparent, as if his head itself was trying to understand what it was. Looking back, Keepless spots a shadow with three glowing orbs for eyes.

Proceeding with caution
Right Agni's Sword standby

The persona's right forearm started flattening, turning itself into a large, wide blade.

Deciphering message...
Type: Question
Language: English
Origin: Unknown

Finally, the humming had connected. Keepless attempts to reconnect with it, keeping his hospitable approach.

"State your intention. I do not seek violence to resolve this situation." the persona responded, attempting to keep himself less hostile.
"I am Keepless, an extension of Seed, and I am lost." The machine being confessed.

[Tearen Wover]

Nealaphh's three eyes blinked individually of each other in a slow, rippling pattern. So, the mysterious figure that it had been tracking was an automaton of some sort. Nealaphh was reminded of the time when it too was behold to the forces of absolute logic and computerized thinking. But that was neither here nor there; what mattered was how Nealaphh could turn this situation to its advantage. As of right now, the god-mind could not know whether the machine in front of it was a prime or secondary, but based on the fact that it was lost, Nealaphh could deduce that it didn't have the means to discern its location via the creation of a Dataverse Device or some such tool. It was a sound conclusion, then, to treat the individual as a secondary until proven otherwise.

Greetings, Keepless. I too, wish to proceed without physical altercation. Nealaphh said softly, whispering into the machine's thoughts. It was interesting that Nealaphh was able to communicate with an entity who, assumedly, did not actually have a mind. Perhaps there was more to this Keepless than initially met the eye. This fact alone made it worth coercing the automaton into traveling with itself.

I an my companions have set up a camp not too far from here. We would be happy to guide you to wherever you need to go. Nealaphh said slowly. At the moment, even the god-mind did not know if it was being honest or not. It would have to see how this situation played out before making a definitive decision.

What, if I may ask, is it that you are looking for?

[Carn_Val]

The black creature seemed to seek truce as well, judging by how it complied and conformed with Keepless' suggestion. As the being kept attempting to communicate with Keepless, the machine scans the figure for any vital signs.

Scanning vitals....ERROR

None, the scanners have failed Keepless again today. Either the scanners have been broken or it's just that whatever is infront of Keepless isn't alive. The synthetic silver soldier responds to the figure to keep it occupied. The creature mentions something about an encampment, inviting the machine to join them. It did have a reasonable offer and might help Keepless reset his sense of direction after that long idle time getting stuck in hardened lava. It also asks about Keepless' objectives and the machine decides to share it to the black, three-eyed creature, but only a portion of it.

"Destinations? Currently I have none. I only roam around, getting rid of infected technology. Hunting them seemed to have led me here."

Ash started falling harder, quickly building up on the machine's shoulders as Keepless scoops it off of him. The figure seem to have noticed this too and started shaking off some of the ash on it as well.

"I guess I am coming with you for now. Let's go before we get stuck in here, covered in ashfall," Keepless accepts the creature's invitation as the blade starts turning back to the shape of the machine's right forearm. Without much words, the shadow started walking back and Keepless follows. Probably because the creature doesn't speak verbally, gestures weren't necessary. Only humans tend to use a lot of them when communicating.

A few minutes in, they seem to have walked back the way they came, passing by the ground Keepless got stuck in. Just ahead, artificial light brimmed from behind a hill, highlighting the curve of the ashmound. Once they were near, Keepless asks the creature a question that kept bouncing inside his head.

"If I may ask. What exactly are you? You lack the standard traits of a lifeform, yet you are alive. You do not seem to be a product of advanced technology, yet you feel similar. I am...wondering, if I am capable of such thought processes. I am just certain that you are not one of those I seek," Keepless wanted to know a little about his new companion.

[Tearen Wover]

In due time, the quiescent pair made their wat back to the Goron camp, which consisted of several canvas tents and a few floodlights, which really only made it even harder to see through the now blizzard-like ash fall. The entire world was a dull, dark grey, and only silhouettes could be distinguished in the haze. The automaton's question was bemusing to the god-mind, Nealaphh itself did not know exactly what it had been made into when it was brought to this place.

In truth, I do not entirely know. I have never been forced into a single, physical form. Whether this mortal body is a shell decided by The Smiling One or by some subconscious aspect of my own mind is not clear... Nealaphh mused finding its way back to the troupe leader's tent. After notifying Goshen that it has returned with a wanderer, Nealaphh spent a few minutes transmuting the volcanic ash into a black, glassy enclosure under which it and its new companion could stay out of the mineral precipitation.

I seem to be made of silicate minerals, but my own inner workings are unknown. It is not something I have paid much mind to, but, perhaps, might be prudent. But what of yourself, Keepless? What is the Seed, and whom do you seek?

[Carn_Val]

Walking above the ashen floor, Keepless found himself in an encampment, tents covered with the same particles throughout the lifeform. Distinguishing himself from the grey ashfall became harder as the weather became more severe. Soon they find themselves within the cover of a larger tent. Inside, beings made of questionably unusual rockface came to meet them. These were the owners of the faceless silhouttes they have seen outside, under the rough ashfall.

The black figure, the true silhouette, addressed one of them as Goshen, Keepless taking note of each and everyone they met, making profiles inside himself as the figure started to concentrate on something. Moments later, the sound of moving elements vibrated beneath the soles of the automaton. Curious, Keepless went outside to witness some crystal material steadily growing to blanket the campgrounds. Now, the lights found their uses as the camp parted from the grey weather, thanks to the glassy dome of the very same ash that poured on them.

Going back inside the tent, Keepless resumes their current conversation.

"The Smiling One? You speak like you yourself operate at a higher standing. Whoever this is, if he truly is capable of even making one as freeform as you to come here and conform to this world's rules then, I must conclude that The Smiling One is truly...powerful," Keepless told the being his thoughts after seeing the dome form over the camp and concluding that it was the shadow's doing, assuming that who it referred to as "The Smiling One" was the same being he met before arriving to the Nexus.

Even after five years inside this realm, Keepless has made no progress on the being named Omni, probably because he is bound to an order from Seed which, unless it is proved to be relevant to his objective, is of higher priority. He may have help a few people somewhere but only because they were short and urgent, and most importantly, that he was helping humans.

"Inside...you might be held together with this as well...everything else seems to be," the machine held a glowing sphere on his hand. It starts floating and slowly went back inside Keepless' chest. Now the type of question Keepless used for insight was returned to him, he was now the one being questioned, not that he minds.

"Seed is..." Keepless trailed off, trying to dig through his memory. He never actually met Seed, he just knows he was made to help Seed.

"Well, I apologize in advance but it seems to be a long one. I'm going to rephrase the available data to make it more 'clear'. Basically, summarize it."

The machine being stands motionless in the middle of the large tent, recompiling whatever relevant data he has to cater to his new companion.

"Ok, shall we begin? Seed was and still is the very first of our kind, the sentient one at least. More than a two centuries ago, there was the creation of a kind of plastic assisted by pre-programmed molecules that allows any object made of it to assume any kind of form, like Omnillium. Quite similiar yet very different than Omnillium, the plastic was pretty much only able to change its very shape and not its composition. Somewhere in time, a very large war that spanned two generations struck between the two most dominant corporations that manufacture this technology, causing one of them to build a conscious A.I. Program with a body using this nano-polymer/resin. The A.I. helped stop the war and reconstruct the broken civilization. During this time, it gained sentience and called itself 'Seed'. I was made with the intention to personally assist the remaining humans while Seed was busy maintaining everything else."

After that little story, Keepless sits down on one side of the tent to position himself.
"As for what it is I seek, I seek infections. You see, immediately after I was given life by Seed, a great threat had been identified. I was hastily reprogrammed to defend the population and Seed's creations and it was called Infection since it infects anything made by Seed. Well, the Infection corrupts anything it touches and-..." Keepless was interrupted by a large cracking outside of the dome.

"What seems to be the problem?" Keepless asks one of the Goron people. "A beast! A child of Volvagia! It's outside, we need the prime!"

CRRRRSAAAAAAASSSSSSH

The crystal dome gave way to asssault, its shards tearing through some of the tents. A black, horned snout lined with jagged, silver teeth peers inside the crack, ash-filled winds rushing inside the newly made hole.

[Tearen Wover]

Nealaphh had ceased to listen to the automaton's words after a few seconds, when it became apparent that, whatever 'Seed' was, it was neither of use or a threat to the god-mind. The only thing that intrigued Nealaphh was the fact that Keepless was, apparently, prime. It wasn't really surprising that The Smiling One had managed to give the power of Omnilium to a synthetic being, considering that it itself did not even know how it's own body functioned.

It was at this juncture that the canopy of obsidian was shattered like the shell of a dark egg, except in this instance, something was trying to work its way in, not out. Nealaphh looked up into the beast's flinty eyes, but more importantly, the god-mind noted its extemely large ears. They had clamped themselves shut through a unique adaptation of muscle when it had breached the shell, and now they unfurled into great fans on either side of its head.

The Gorons scattered to the edges of the black glass dome as the dragon clawed a bigger hole into the sanctuary. With patient strides, Nealaphh walked to the center of the camp, directly underneath the beast's slavering maw. The diversity within these fell creatures was truly remarkable...Volvagia itself must be a truly protean being.

After takinv a deep breath, the Ash Lurker unleashed a torrent if brilliant green flame into the enclosure. The collateral heat from the blast may have broiled the flesh of certain denizens, but everyone within the shell was either made of rock or metal. Still, Nealaphh diligently warped space in front of it to deflect the brunt of the viridian blast away from itself, leaving a ring of scorched embers in a wide ring around it.

Nealaphh's telekinesis did not exert an abundance of brute strength, but the shadow's brilliant mind allowed it to execute some truly finessed manipulation. All at once, the myriad shards of volcanic glass scattered around the camp now began to hurl themselves skywards in a rapid barage that soon drove the Ash Lurker itself back into the soot-clouded sky. It was quickly lost from sight, but Nealaphh could hear its wing beats circling around them.

The god-mind glanced over at the generator that was powering the lights and it clicked off gently, plunging the entire camp into pitch blackness. As it had expected, there came a strange clucking noise on the wind, which pulsated in rapid waves. The god-mind notified its comrades.

The beast uses sound to navigate without sight. There needs to be a way to circumvent this. Nealaphh said in a calm tone. The god-mind then tilted its head and listened...the echolocation had ceased...

...a moment later, it was as if the god-mind was hit by a meteor. The unseen fly-by attack sent the shadow bouncing across the ash drifts like a stone on a pond. Separated from the rest in total darkness, the god-mind tried not to get disoriented. Perhaps dousing the lights had been a tad short-sighted. Nealaphh called out to Goshen.

Goshen, I need you to reactivate the floodlights

A moment later, the bright white lights of the camp surged back on. Nealaphh wasn't terribly far from the site, but there was a large, two story silhouette directly in front of it, poised to bite down with its terrible teeth...

[Carn_Val]

The beast sputtered flames of destruction, burning most of the tents in the middle of the area and exposing the rock people hiding inside them. Good thing the flame wasn't enough to melt the Gorons, it did cause them to glow red and orange and others had their joints fused together, leaving them immobile for easy picking. Fortunately, the black figure distracted the beast, turning off the lights in the process.

The shadow figure notified everyone inside the camp about how the beast could guide itself with sound and, with a loud thud, the shadow was sent flying outside the remaining ring of the ruined canopy. Keepless had not much choice but to conform with the situation, adapting himself to see infrared light through his optic sensors and, easily enough, a large, warm body was seen standing infront of what appears to be the being made of silicate minerals. Quickly changing the shape of his arm, the photon railgun was ready.

Just as the dim settlement's foglights hummed alive, a bright beam of light extended towards the wyrm, hitting the beast's rather thick hide, sending it sideways, away from the black enigma and the encampment. Taking note of its new enemy Keepless, the wyrm rose up with a high-pitched screech, rising in altitude towards the thick ashclouds. Keepless prepares to fire another round, charging the gun another time as the shadow figure retreated towards the lighted campgrounds.

A few seconds later, the beast punched a hole through the ashcloud, diving towards the tiny group of rock people as fireballs started forming in its mouth, ready to bombard the area. In a rather loud voice that seemed like it was coming from a PA system, Keepless notifies everyone, maybe even the wyrm, "Everyone, grab onto something. This'll become a little bumpy," the machine said.

Quick thinking, thanks to the synthetic being's rather advanced neurological processors, made Keepless punch the ground. Prompting the gun to fire, the railgun shot the ground twice, now shaking violently as ripples made the solid ground appear liquified. The shockwaves reach the flying beast, causing it to crash in disorientation. The third shot was quickly aimed at the now crashing beast, uncontrollably swooping downwards. A bright beam flashed, hitting the beast square on the head as it falls in the ash-covered rockface with a crunchy thud. Cooling down his weapon, Keepless has to standby, signalling the black figure to check on the wyrm and finish the job.

[Tearen Wover]

Nealaphh walked slowly back to the camp as Keepless did its part in keeping the Ash Lurker at bay. As the shockwaves from its mass accelerator reached the god-mind, Nealaphh calmly isolated itself in a spacial warp, allowing it to keep moving in a straight line, as if the ground it was walking upon was not, in fact, oscillating at an alarming magnitude. With a final blast, the Ash Lurker was sent crashing to the ground, crumpling up in an immense heap as it dug a large trough through the dense drifts of volcanic ash. As Nealaphh neared it, the beast clumsily clambered to its feet and shrieked a defiant warning cry for Nealaphh to stay away. Such scare tactics did not work on the god-mind. With a slight glimmer of the eyes, Nealaphh detonated the space beneath the Ash Lurker, sending it hurling back into the sky like a rag doll. As it reached the apex of its arc, the god-mind, slowed time in the creature's relative area, causing it to hang uncannily like some dark, scaly piñata. Suddenly, the shadow seemed to take on a strange shimmer as it activated its Relativity Shift, causing time, from its perspective, to slow down even more.

Now, able to act with extreme precision, Nealaphh activated a spacial rift directly on the Ash Lurker's ventral core. The shadow watched as, in slow motion, the dragon was torn limb from limb with the concussive force of the blast...as if a grenade had detonated almost within its immense bulk. The temporal distortion lasted long enough for Nealaphh to catch the dragon's twirling, decapitated head with a telekinetic grasp, and send it hurtling like a meteor into a nearby rock formation, where it vaporized on impact. It was only after this thorough coup de grace that Nealaphh allowed itself to return to the normal time stream. The remaining body parts of the dragon began to thud with thick squelches into the ash underfoot, and the collected Gorons looked on in combined awe and horror. The shadow simply walked back to the center of camp and began to patch up the damaged tents using a meager portion of Omnillium.

Well done. Nealaphh said to Keepless, not bothering to speak to the prime automaton further. The robot's capabilities seemed to be quite vast; far beyond what Nealaphh had been anticipating. The god-mind would have to be cautious in how it dealt with Keepless in the future...

...

The following morning, the billowing clouds of volcanic precipitation had blown away with the new wind, and the skies were a bright, fiery orange color as the Ashen Steppes' blurred sun rose above the jagged peaks in the distance. The Gorons had been tending to their wounds throughout the night, and though Nealaphh was no healer, the god-mind had done his best to help in the repairs to the injured workers. By mid-morning, the troupe was ready to move on, and their lizard mounts, which had burrowed into the ash the night before, now emerged from the silky substrate, ready for a day's march. The god-mind mounted up on his own lizard and looked down at the Keepless, who had heretofore been watching in a curious fashion. Perhaps it would be best...not to abandon the automaton to its fate within the Steppes.

You are free to travel with us, if you so wish. Nealaphh messaged softly, gesturing to the spare seat available on his lizard's saddle. Whether or not Keepless actually took the shadow up on its offer did not matter to Nealaphh; the fact that it had offered was good enough. Still, Nealaphh and its Goron brothers had a schedule to keep, and if they did not find the large deposit of nickel that Nealaphh suspected lay nearby soon, they would have to report back to Darunia empty handed. Again, Nealaphh did not care about the social ramifications of such a non-result, but it would be a waste of time in the end, so the god-mind would prefer to use as much of the day as possible to dowse for the final outflow point of the lava tube that had carried the nickel up from the depths of the Ashen Steppes.

[Carn_Val]

Keepless helped cut out the fused plates on some of the gorons and patched some of the tents with his own omnillium throughout the night that the Ashen sun was able to catch up with them, filling the vast wasteland with orange light. As soon as the last goron was patched up and ready, the troupe began packing for the coming trip. Observing each and everyone of them doing their specific roles, Keepless reminded himelf of his specific mission. How will he retrace his steps if he is technically lost?

Looking at the dull gray sky, the machine kept repeating the question inside his head, trying to find a solution to this very problem when the shadow figure talked to him inviting him to join them for the time being.

"I...will go with you, for now." Keepless took on the shadow's offer, choosing to walk rather than mounting on a beast of labor. He believes he is faster that way. Pondering on the things that had happened that night and after his reactivation, Keepless had decided that joining a group will help him recalibrate his bearings and also possibly encounter infections along the way. Based on the troupe's equipment, his conclusion was that they were doing some form of ore retrieval, mining. Mining for what, Keepless has to ask that himself. "Allow me to inquire about your activities," Keepless asks one of the Gorons on the group's perimeter. "Uh...we mine ores, " the goron replied. "That was my conclusion based on the equipment you carry. What exactly is it you are mining?" the machine asked to which the goron replied "Metals." Keepless thought that this particular goron wasn't talkative enough but he was fine with that much information.

Metals, general and vague, yet enough to interest Keepless in helping them. Keepless was capable of detecting metals since most of the infected are metallic in structure. This'll be helpful if Keepless plans to reconfigure his scanners after suspecting that they lacked in recalibration. Keepless jogged back to the side of the black form that tore the wyrm to pieces, trying to pull on its attention. "I seem to have neglected the standard pattern of conversations. I have not ask your name, if you have one. If you do not mind, will you tell me?" the machine being attempts to ask politely.

"Also, I have heard that you are here to mine, I would like to help. You see, near where I woke up is a tunnel of lava that leads deep underground, I know since when I woke up, I had to scan my immediate surroundings. It is quite possible that there are veins of metals like copper, nickel and even silver underneath. I am 93% sure. If not, we may proceed. Do take note there are no shallow veins within the fifty kilometer radius," the machine reported his findings from when he just woke up the other day, pointing at the direction they walked on as they trailed into camp that night.

[Tearen Wover]

When prompted for its name, Nealaphh responded simply, without even glancing at Keepless.

Nealaphh.

The automaton's report was interesting; enough so that Nealaphh asked Goshen if they had time to detour to where Keepless had first emerged from the lava flow that had entrapped it for so long. The Goron complied, and the group turned back in the direction from which Keepless and the shadow had come. The trail had long since vanished in the relentless depositing of ash, but through a combination of the robot's galvanic sensors and Nealaphh' own innate sense of direction, they found the large sinkhole where Keepless had been trapped within a few hours. Upon finding the egress site, the Gorons immediately set to surveying the surrounding geology for minerals and metals. At first, the results were mixed, with the surface strata containing only trace amounts of pyrite and various igneous minerals, but after digging down a few meters, they immediately found a startlingly rich deposit of nickel. Nealaphh still suspected that a larger one existed in the direction that it had originally been taking the group of miners, but at this point, it would not be efficient to seek that particular formation out.

As such, the Gorons unpacked their mining gear and established a preliminary digging outfit so as to establish a basic quarry. More Gorons would eventually join the dig, but first, word had to be taken back to Death Mountain that a suitable mining opportunity had been found. Nealaphh volunteered to be the messenger. Keepless again elected to travel with the god-mind, as Nealaphh told the automaton that it would be making its way to The Nexus once this current business was taken care of. The hike back to Death Mountain was long and arduous; continued heavy ash-fall made traversing the steep hills difficult, and the Ash Lizards disliked walking in the precipitation. Still, the cloud cover kept most the dragons at bay, and as long as they got back to the town before nightfall, there would likely be no more attacks.

...

By the time the sun was setting behind the jagged peaks once more, Keepless and Nealaphh strode into the main caverns of the Goron Village. Death Mountain was reentering a period of active volcanism as of late, and so the interior of Darunia's cave was steamy and loud with the rumblings of the volcano. When they found Darunia, the Goron Chief was tinkering with the new hammer design that Nealaphh had provided him.

"Ah! Cold One, you have returned! And who is this?" the stony man asked Nealaphh, gesturing towards Keepless.

A new ally. He is lost and I agreed to show him the way. He aided in protecting our brothers. Nealaphh said, broadcasting to both the robot and the Goron. The Chief nodded slowly then grinned, clapping a solid hand on Keepless' shoulder with a loud clang.

"Well met then! Alright! So! What do you have for me?" Darunia bellowed, placing his hands on his hips. Nealaphh projected an image of the mine that was being set up from the Dataverse Device located in its palm.

We have located a substantial deposit of nickel, mixed with a small strain of copper. Totaled, the metal will be sufficient for almost eight percent of the total volume required for my purposes. Nealaphh reported. Darunia rubbed his rocky beard and grunted in confirmation.

"Good! Good. At this rate we should have the numbers you need within a week. Is that good enough?" Darunia asked.

That is acceptable. It will give me the time needed to locate the facilities I will require. Nealaphh responded, tucking its hand back into the dark folds of its robe.

"Perfect. I guess you'll be heading off again then, huh?" Darunia asked, sitting back on his haunches. Nealaphh nodded.

"Alright. I'll see you when you're ready to ship the metal out, then. Good luck, brother. You too, Metal Head!" Darunia said, beaming at the pair of quiescent primes. Nealaphh offered a curt bow and then strode back out through the entrance. Keepless followed close behind, once more seeking information on what exactly was going on.

"For what reasons do you require so much ore?" he asked, tailing Nealaphh while keeping an eye on the clouds overhead. The god-mind was quiet for a time, but eventually it decided that there was no harm in telling this particular prime.

Naturally occurring nickel and copper has trace amounts of the element osmium within its crystalline structure. Osmium is the densest, stable elemental isotope in common physics, and therefore has the greatest mass by volume possible. I will require much of it to form the weapon needed to eradicate the source of all dragons within the Ashen Steppes. Nealaphh said slowly. It was quite sure that Keepless would have no trouble keeping up with the logic behind the mineral acquisition, but the god-mind was also somewhat distracted with making sure that they were traveling in the right direction. The path to and from the Nexus gate to Death Mountain was quite familiar by now, however, so Nealaphh had no trouble delivering Keepless to the gate in question in short time.

I suppose this is where we part ways for the time being. You interest me, however, so if you need assistance or refuge, please feel free to contact me through the Dataverse. Nealaphh said, exchanging contact information with the robot. Without any further discussion, the god-mind stepped through the Nexus gate, and on to its next destination...