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Malika Turnbull follows her friend’s instructions, not knowing if it’s going
to work. Truthfully, she hates mythology, but Mandica needs her, and she’s
willing to stomach it for as long as she must. Hopefully Plan A will work,
and it won’t be too terribly long. She’s standing at the maintenance
entrance, still in the plaza, not even too far from the reception. The door
is locked, which they figured would be the case since it’s a secure area.
She locates the nearest camera, and holds a photo of Mandica up to it. This
really probably won’t work. Daedalus would have to be monitoring it, or have
some sort of alert system connected to it. Why would he even do that? He’s
supposed to be an NPC. He’s not supposed to have any access to
the outside world, or the inner workings of any dome. There’s just no
way—the door swings open on its own. “Oh. Okay, then.”
She goes through the passageway then lifts the trapdoor, and ends up in the
meadow that Mandica described. Oh, she almost forgot. She detaches the pole
from her back, extends it to the right length, and jams it into the stone
wall to prevent the hidden secondary door from trapping her here. As a
visitor, she would have every right to leave, but that would be a whole
thing. Hopefully this guy doesn’t take long.
Several hours later, a man wearing brown and gray wings swoops down from the
sky holding a torch. He jams it into the ground, and smiles cautiously. “I’m
Daedalus. What fate has befallen Mandica Kolar of Tribe Kolar?” Would
Daedalus say that?
“She’s fine. She just can’t leave where she is, so she sent me in her
stead.”
“Did she find the woman for whom she was looking?” he asks.
“Yes, but Morgana is powerful, and angry with Mandica, for no apparent
reason. Mandica is calling in the favor that you owe her.” The original
script had her qualify that with expressing the hope that the favor still
stands, but Malika suggested that she hold firm so it doesn’t become an
argument. Mandica accepted the attitude, because after all, she’s not the
one who has to be here with these creatures, wherever they might be lurking.
“She is asking you to engineer a pair of wings for her. She requests raven
black.”
“Hmm,” Daedalus says. “What is your name, child?”
“Don’t call me that. I’m probably older than you. My name is Malika
Turnbull.”
“Fascinating. Are you two related?” he asks offensively.
“Oh, because we’re both black, we must be related.”
“Your names, dear traveler. They’re similar. That is all I meant.”
“Oh.” Malika shrugs. “People have similar names. It happens.”
“I wouldn’t know.” There are other people named Daedalus out there, Malika
is sure of it, but she wouldn’t expect the bot version of the original to
understand that.
“So. How about those wings?” she presses.
“I will not have to build something new for her. If it is raven black she is
after, then it is raven black she shall have. I have a new line of wings
back in my shop that I think she’s really gonna love. More compact than
ever, more advanced in every way. They exist in your world, but they are
quite rare. I had to sacrifice a lot to persuade—”
“I don’t mean to be rude, but I don’t need your life story.” Yikes.
“Very well, my new blue friend. Back or front?”
“Huh?”
“Would you like me to carry you, or let you ride on my back?”
“Neither. I will stay here and wait for your return.”
He shakes his head. “This area is unsafe. Spriggans lurk in these woods. You
have been lucky so far. Had I known that you would be coming, I would have
been waiting for you. Please, you must come with me. You may be immortal,
but I do not want to return to this spot to find your dead body, and have to
wait for your replacement.”
She refrains from arguing that it was she who had to wait for him before.
Instead, she lets him pick her up by her underarms, and fly her over the
lands. “This is some bullshit,” she complains on the way. She doesn’t like
being controlled by other people.
They land on the top of his tower in the center of a great city. Crowds of
people are cheering for him, and seemingly praying. He waves at them
respectfully, and blows them kisses, but does not stay long before escorting
Malika inside. “This is my flight lab,” he says when they enter the room. “I
have others, but I’m obviously fond of wings.”
“Right.” Again, Malika is not into this sort of stuff, but she is an
educated woman. She knows enough about the stories to know that Daedalus
didn’t just keep building wings, and become the emperor of the world, or
whatever he is here. Mandica said that the mythology has evolved on its own
with all these unrelated characters being forced together, but it’s surreal
seeing it up close. She still doesn’t wanna stick around.
“Ah, right here,” Daedalus says as he’s walking a dress form mannequin more
towards the center of the room. He smiles proudly, which is odd, because
there’s nothing on the mannequin. He reaches behind it, and presumably flips
some switch. Nanites emerge from the back, and form themselves into wings.
They are raven black, as requested. “What do you think? I have other
corvids, but this one was specifically inspired by the raven. There are
other black ones too, though they’re more metallic.”
“I think she will love these,” Malika has no choice but to admit.
“Do you want to try them out first?” he asks, still standing tall and proud.
“Oh, no. They’re not for me.” Malika walks around to get a better look at
the backside, and the housing unit. “Besides, what would I be testing? She
didn’t specify what she’s looking for. She didn’t know they could collapse
like this. As long as they work, she will accept them. I presume you don’t
have a return policy.”
“For her, I absolutely do,” Daedalus says. “But you really should try them.
If not, I have other models, perhaps in blue? This might be your last
chance.”
“Okay, fine.” She’s a guest here, right? She doesn’t want to be rude. She
only gave up being a superhero in Underbelly because her substrate was
destroyed. She still likes to have fun. The blue wings are not quite the
same shade of blue as her character, but perhaps that’s a good thing. Blue
Umbra is dead, and unlike Ravensgate Rescuer, she’s never coming back to
life. She lets him help her put the apparatus on, and take her out to the
edge of the building. If he’s trying to kill her, he’ll fail. Her mind will
just stream over to her nearest backup. She leaps from the building,
activates propulsion, and begins to soar through the air. It’s a magnificent
feeling. She was obviously just flying, but it’s better to be in control.
She spends an hour up there, feeling the wind in her face, and enjoying life
for the first time in a long time. She lands back on the roof with a huge
smile. “Thank you for letting me have that experience.”
“It doesn’t have to end,” he says. “You can keep them.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, why not? No one here can appreciate them like a real-worlder can.”
“Well, thank you,” She’s not gonna argue. “Do you have one in red and
black?”
