Thebes looked at his team, arrayed around him. Even though most had their visors down, from their body language he knew what they wanted him to say. He turned back to Rareth. “That’s generous, but it’s not what Mem would have wanted. He always hated anyone he didn’t know making a fuss over him...As is customary, we’ve fought in his honour.” Thebes gestured back towards the sim-arena. “Now, we’ll wait through the night, and toast his life with a drink.”

Thebes looked around him at the Sacred Band; they nodded. Thebes pointed at Kjartan. “That means you too - no exceptions.” Kjartan beamed, glad to be included. “Ale and song, I look forward to it!” Thebes looked back between the two Rothians. “Although no one outside the Sacred Band is ‘invited’, we won’t object if you decide to attend.”

Thebes spotted Captain Andersen approaching them, flanked by two aides. He instantly snapped a smart salute, and the Sacred Band quickly followed. Kjartan kneeled respectfully, as was traditional for the Varangian Guard (and practical when holding a massive hammer and shield). “At ease. I was sorry to hear about Memnon, he was an excellent soldier. On behalf of the whole ship, please accept my condolences.” Andersen said, standing up straight with her hands politely behind her back.

“Thank you, ma’am.”

Andersen sniffed awkwardly, glancing at the Rothians as she considered how to phrase her next request. “I respect your Funeral Rites, as per our contract. But I saw the sim just now, and wanted to ask you to help train my marines. When you’re ready, and not on mission. I want them to be able to look to you for leadership, as a permanent fixture aboard this ship. Not only that, but there may come a time in the not so distant future you’ll need to work together, once again. I want us to be prepared.”

Thebes shook his head. “Ma’am, it’s an honour. But we couldn’t-...”

Andersen interrupted him with a wave of her hand. “I know you’re not contractually obligated. But contracts can change. Just think about it, Ok?”

And just like that, the Captain turned and smiled cordially up at Datius ‘Jharn. “Welcome aboard, Datius. I trust everything is to your satisfaction?”

Rareth turned her head slightly towards Andersen. “All is well. I just wanted to speak to the Sacred Band. I will be leaving shortly. Vreta’Sori, I would like for you to join me. In light of recent events, a few questions have come to mind that I would like to ask about your previous experiences in the Cradle.”

“Of course, Datius.” Vreta answered with a small not. Naturally, he expected she was lying about her reasons, but he would not deny a Datius regardless.

Moving her focus back to Thebes, Rareth continued to show her sympathy, as least as much as it could be conveyed across species. “If you think that is the path he would prefer, then I respect your choice. I can understand if your people do not prefer to engage in ceremony. Though, if I may ask the favor, would you consider allowing me to at least add his name to the list of honored? Given the secrecy of our work, it may be beyond your lifetimes before the details of his deeds can be told, but I do feel he at least deserves to be remembered among those who were lost before they could see eternity. You need not answer now; just think on it. If you make a decision, you can tell…well, any of our people, really. The answer will find its way to me.”

---

After they parted ways with the Sacred Band, Vreta ended up joining Rareth when she left the ship. He originally intended to speak with Freyr when he could, but events in the simulation changed those plans considerably. Rareth waited until they were the only two passengers aboard a Rothian transport bound for the surface before she finally spoke up openly to Vreta. “The hacking attempt, was your implant able to recover any logs from the event?”

Vreta nodded. “Even better. I was able to create a write-once partition and direct a copy of all changes to be saved into it. Any code she injected into my head, any transmissions, any changes that anything made or attempted to make, are all saved within the partition.”

While not going as far as smiling, it was easy to see from her tone and demeanor that Rareth was pleased with the result. “Excellent work, Agent. We will get you down to the medical center right away to deal with it. Meanwhile, I will go speak with the Director. This may change aspects of our approach going forward.”

Andersen studied Rareth’s face closely. “Of course.” She said.

Thebes nodded at the Datius kind offer. “Thank you.” He glanced around. “We’ll think about it.”

None of the assembled parties appeared keen on small talk, so from there they quickly said their goodbyes and went on their way. The Sacred Band to begin a long night of mourning, and the Captain to talk to the ship’s resident spook.

---

Freyr had bad dreams again that night. She woke up tangled up in her bed sheets on the floor with someone knocking at the door. “You alright, Freyr?” She recognised Dr Wetherall’s voice. She gulped to wet her bone-dry throat before answering. “Yes, fine. Just a bad dream.” There was a pause from behind the door. “You were shouting. I think a somnologist would call that a night terror.”

Freyr opened her cabin door, dressed in her ship-issue pyjamas. “I’m fine. Coffee and granola please, if you’re making some.”

The old scientist sighed, before bowing deeply. “Oui, madame. Good choice!” He straightened with a flourish, and Freyr closed her cabin door again. She sighed herself, rubbing her eyes. She desperately wanted to share her ordeal with someone, but it would only make her team drop the ball. For now, she just needed to put on a brave face until they had more answers.

Freyr changed into comfy grey tracksuit bottoms with running shoes for her feet. She then completed the look with a white t-shirt emblazoned with her department’s sigil and her trusty lab coat.

Once ready, she strolled out of her cabin and plastered a sweet smile on her as she took her breakfast and coffee from her colleague. “What are we working on?” She asked, as they walked through to the lab together.

“We’re synthesizing all the data we retrieved from our encounter with the sim. Then, we’re going to brainstorm potential sites for the other objects.” Freyr slurped her coffee. “What did Dr Hou’s sample-set come back with? Any clues in Human DNA?” Dr Wetherall pursed his lips. “You know what, i’m not sure. I’ll look into it.”

For Vreta’s procedure, the medical center he was taken to was located in the Rahn’Masser’s headquarters itself. He and Rareth went their separate ways upon landing, but the doctors already knew to expect him. In fact, they already had his treatment queued in the machines and ready to go. As far as procedures with neural implants were concerned, replacing a storage drive was quick and easy. Its physical location was close to the access port in the back of the skull, so it was a simple matter of opening the port and having the precise tools to remove it. Vreta did not even require sedation for the process.

Once removed, the storage drive was no doubt taken off right away for study. Given the nature of the program that had attacked him, it was safest to consider that drive to be permanently compromised, along with any systems it touched. As long as proper quarantine procedures were followed, though, it would be safe to study it and learn what they could. Vreta could restore most of the data that had been on his drive from external backups, once he had a new one.

Up to that point, everything had gone about as Vreta had expected. However, what he had not anticipated was the report he was given right after the drive was removed, while he was waiting for the replacement. It was a report detailing the discussion that took place between Roth’Orsa and Freyr, and what it contained was both enlightening and alarming. Without internal memory, only Vreta’s vital implants were still active, so it took him longer to read through the report the “old-fashioned” way.

Ultimately, Vreta could not be sure where this would lead. It seemed like they were not sure whether or not the Institute actually had any dangerous plans in mind, but the possibility that they could was too risky to leave alone. If they were being deceived, it could be dangerous to reunite the object with the Cradle. It seemed likely that Vreta’s own directives might change out of this, if he was being briefed on these events. Given the sensitive nature of this issue, all information would be on a need-to-know basis.

After a while, Vreta did start to question why it was taking so long for someone to return with his replacement storage drive. He had been alone in a waiting room reading the report, but when someone did finally come in, it was not one of the doctors. His guest was once again the Datius Rareth’Jharn, which no doubt meant that no one would be disturbing them until their business was concluded. He sat straight up and clearly gave Rareth his full attention, while she was the first to speak.

“I’ll assume you’ve read the report, so you know the situation. I only learned myself just a few hours ago, but I have had a discussion with the Director. This is a matter in which we will need to tread carefully. We have to maintain our alliance with Outremer, but it’s possible their government is being lied to as much as we are. You will be at the center of this as much as I am, so you will need to be ready.” Rareth explained.

“Of course, Datius.” Vreta answered with firm confidence. “I already have a good position among the research team to be closely involved with the investigation heading forward. What is my next objective? The report did not mention our plan going forward.”

Rareth shook her head. “Because we don’t have one. At least nothing more specific than what you’ve already read. All of this has just happened in the last few hours. Our goal is to investigate and learn what we can. It is up to us to determine how best to do that. And given this whole matter with the virus, both the Director and I agree that it sheds new light on the potential capabilities of the Institute, or at least what they can harness from the Cradle. We believe that all agents directly involved in this investigation will require the greatest level of preparation we can give them. Your neural implants will be receiving a software upgrade, and will require a substantial hardware upgrade to accommodate.”

For a moment, Vreta felt confused. “But my implants are already top-of-the-line. There aren’t many upgrades they can have, unless…”

Vreta’s eyes widened slightly. His implants were the top in their class, so there was only one option left for improvement: the highest class of implant. To integrate a full, living AI with the mind of a Rothian was the best that could be offered, and it was no trivial task. A full Rothian AI was an immensely complex neural network that required powerful hardware to operate. It was well-known that Rothians could fit such processors in artificial bodies, but to integrate it into a living Rothian mind was another matter entirely. Officially, such implants did not even exist, but unofficially, Vreta knew they were given only with special approval, and only when needed. These style of implants were far more comprehensive than most. Not only were they much larger, physically, but they touched virtually every part of the brain and nervous system. Its parts could be upgraded or replaced, but as of yet, no way had been discovered for a brain to survive having them removed. Not only would this upgrade require comprehensive brain surgery, but once he went through with it, there would be no going back.

To all of these considerations, Vreta looked into Rareth’s eyes and answered without hesitation. “I understand. I am ready.”

“My patience is wearing thin, Agent. This is the second time you’ve failed us.” The Director-General spoke directly into 595’s head. She was curled up in Freyr’s office, cross-legged in her chair. Rows of symbols flashed on a nearby monitor as she stroked the interface pad. “Your inability to control the powers we’ve invested in you will be drawing even more attention to us...Do we need to replace you?”

“No, Master. I’ve meditated on it now. All the signs point to my Sublimation having begun already. I will exercise more restraint from now on, like you taught me. I will keep an eye on the other Humans too, in case they show any signs of change. The Rothian Datius may prove a bit trickier…”

“Don’t attempt anything until we’ve extracted the Navigator from Rothian space. Just run interference on any further investigation. We have to assume the entity interpreted our handshake as we intended...We have a team examining the sample data you sent. If you hear anything from CRD about the location of the other artifacts, you report back immediately. Understand?”

“Yes, Master.” 595 wanted to ask about the situation at home, about the fight raging inside the Cradle. But she knew the Director-General wouldn’t answer. He chimed in again. "And try to drive a wedge between Dr Lang and this...Vreta'Sori. We'll deal with him properly when the time comes." 595 spotted Freyr entering the lab space outside the office windows. “Of course. I have to sign off now - Dr Lang has risen.”

“Don’t let me down. We are watching you closely.” The connection to Outremer ceased. 595 quickly uncurled from her comfy position on the seat and padded out of the office.

When Vreta opened his eyes once more, it took a moment for him to start breathing again. His core software had already booted up before he was conscious, while secondary programs started to come online once he was awake. His surgery, along with most others on Rothia, was performed by quick, precise, and reliable machines, but even for them, the complete overhaul of his neural structure was a task that lasted several hours. He had been told beforehand everything the procedure would entail, which was why he was surprised at just how…normal he felt. At least, for the first few seconds.

Vreta had been moved from the auto-surgeon to a hospital bed before he had awoken. The sensors in the bed beneath him were constantly scanning his vitals and sending the results to the two doctors that were looming over him while his implants were coming online. The pair of them were both occupied looking at charts and readouts on various holographic screens floating around them, while talking back and forth to one another mostly in medical jargon. However, there was a third being that he could see: a Rothian woman. She caught his attention right away, not in the least because of the vibrant designs of her scales. Repeating patterns of various shades of orange and yellow stood out between black and white accents all across her body. She seemed to be sitting between the two doctors, right on top of some medical equipment, yet they did not look at nor even acknowledge her existence. Vreta was still too weak to get out of bed, and besides which, the doctors would likely still want to keep him under observation for a while. However, he did look up at the Rothian, finally acknowledging her where no one else had.

The woman stood up to her feet and walked past the doctors, again without notice. “Well, you’re finally awake. Glad I finally get to meet my new host.”

Vreta nodded his head and took another moment just to breathe. He still remembered his briefings on this; answering her aloud was not even necessary. Merely thinking would suffice. ”I suppose so. I would introduce myself, but I guess you already know everything there is to know about me.”

The woman chuckled briefly. ”Not quite. Even for me, it will take a while to sift through six centuries of memories. Even then, memories, by themselves, don’t give all the context. Anyways, I’m Rhia’Sel, and if the mission briefing I got is anything to go by, we’re going to have a lot of work to do.”

Freyr looked up from the console she was reading from over Dr Wetherall’s shoulder and saw Agent 595 exiting her office. They locked eyes across the lab - the spook winked and grinned devilishly at her. Freyr didn’t react, immediately thinking back to the previous afternoon.

The Rothian Speaker, Roth’Orsa, had questioned the motives of the Director-General, Agent 595 and the organisation they claimed to be a part of. A lot of what she...it had said resonated with what Freyr had pieced together so far. It had felt nice to talk to something that shared her concerns, even if they were almost certainly synthetic.

But any feeling of security Freyr gained from the meeting were immediately shaken upon leaving. 595 promptly and firmly whisked her back to the Barbarossa, where the Director-General was waiting on a holo-screen. Ostensibly, this meeting was for her to run through her report on their foray into the simulation, propose next steps and answer questions. Freyr dutifully obliged; the bright-eyed man was technically her boss, after all.

She explained her recommended course of action - learn as much as possible about the object before it was moved, try to negotiate terms of use for the Cradle. 595 jumped in, changing the conversation entirely. “What did you and the Speaker talk about? Back then, in Threria.” The Agent was leaning against the wall behind where Freyr was seated with her arms crossed. The Director-General’s holo was in front of her, staring into her soul.

Freyr had been expecting the question, but her throat still tightened and her cheeks still burned. She gulped. “She wanted to talk about how they could best assist us with our investigations.” 595 appeared from behind and sat down in a seat facing her. “And what did you say?” The Director-General asked. “We’re, uh, going to set up a joint patent scheme to take advantage of Rothia’s advanced technology. They claim to have improved our mobile transit station design. Don’t worry, I’ll have our team ensure they-”

“You’re lying to us, sweetie. I thought we were friends?” 595 asked.

“I’m not lying, I-”

“You do not have the authority to make deals on Outremer’s behalf. I will need to see your implant recordings of this conversation, to see if it’s something we can legally offer.” The Director-General interrupted her.

Freyr hesitated, then pretended to look through her internal archive before focusing back on him. “I don’t have anything recorded, the Speaker must have a scrambler. I’m sure she’d repeat it for you though.” 595 chortled.

The Director-General considered her like a science teacher might inspect a dissection sample. A few seconds passed before his features softened and spoke softly again. “These aliens, Dr Lang...they aren’t your colleagues. That thing you just talked to is the leader of a police state. They want nothing more than to take the Cradle for themselves and turn us into a satrapy if we give them the chance. While our leaders have lost their senses and agreed to cooperate with them, that doesn’t mean we should let our guard down.”

He took a pause. “I understand that collaboration in the pursuit of science is your natural response. But this is no longer just a scientific endeavor. The survival of our entire species hangs in the balance now. Conspiring against Outremer and Humanity with a foreign power is at best, grounds for dismissal. At worst, treason. So i’ll ask you one more time. What did you say to them?”

About the next half hour was spent with Vreta having about three different types of diagnostics run on his body while answering questions to the doctors. Rhia’s internal diagnostic finished long before the other two, and she gave him a clean bill of health. Vreta could easily believe her, as he was well-aware of the fact that she had knowledge of every single cell in his body. Or at least, that was the reach of his implants, and she had taken the place of his implants’ central operating system. Really, he had few options except to trust her. In principal, he was still in charge, but that was convention enforced through Rahn’Masser rules and regulations, not anything physical within his mind. They were meant to be partners, so there was nothing that shackled her in his implants.

Rhia continued to appear in a Rothian form within Vreta’s vision, but it was only he that could see her for now, until she decided to show herself to others. “Once the doctors cut you loose, we have an appointment to meet back up with Rareth. With how long you’ve been under, they’ll surely have at least some preliminary results by now from studying that virus. Though, we can’t take too long talking. Investigations into the object will probably start soon enough, and we’ll want to be there for that.”

Vreta tilted his head towards Rhia, though it occurred to him that he should probably avoid making gestures towards her in public if he wanted to avoid any peculiar looks from others. ”Are you sure? This is all pretty new to me. I imagine we, or…I, at least, would benefit from a good orientation and some practice with your capabilities.”

”Normally, yes.” Rhia nodded. ”But, we’re not really operating on our own timetable right now. Besides, the best way to learn is by doing, right? Don’t worry too much, you’ll pick up what you need easily enough. And I already know what I’m doing. You’re not the first head I’ve been in. I was partner to a Datius for almost a century. He’s retired from field service now, though, and I was looking for something new.”

”A Datius?” Vreta remarked. He was surprised, but this time avoided showing that outwardly. ”I imagine there are some amazing stories you could tell from that. I’ve seen Rareth’Jharn in action.”

Rhia chuckled for a moment. ”Yeah, those were great times. Great…classified times. Don’t worry, though. We can make our own stories. It looks like the doctors are almost done.”

Snapping from her reverie momentarily, Freyr grabbed a pill from her back pocket and popped it in her mouth. She slurped her coffee again and wolfed down a spoon of her granola as she watched 595 make her way over. The Agent was being uber polite, standing aside to let scientists pass and exchanging pleasantries with them. That wasn’t a good sign.

---

At this point, Freyr realised didn’t have much to lose by doubling down on her statement. What she was saying wasn’t technically a fabrication. It just relied on the Speaker actually following up on what she’d said. “I’ve already told you. We talked about improving our Cradle-tech. You should be thanking me.”

Director-General Smith audibly sighed. Freyr noticed 595 look quickly at his holo, as if waiting for some signal. Smith almost imperceptibly shook his head at the Agent, before looking back at Freyr. Every nerve ending in her body was screaming at her to get up and run, but Freyr forced herself to remain motionless.

“Very well. I’d like you to conduct your investigations from aboard the Barbarossa. That way, I’m better placed to help you coordinate the team’s efforts, and can stay in closer contact. I also require the Agent or myself to be involved in every conversation you have with the Rothians from now, in the interests of national security.”

Smith paused, and returned with a consolatory tone. “Only together, will we bring your family back. That’s your main reason for being here, right? Remember that.” Freyr felt her jaw tighten and her breathing stop. The Director-General signed off, and 595 patted her gently on the shoulder before leaving her alone in the conference room, staring at the wall until she couldn't hold her breath any longer.

---

“Good morning. What’s the plan?” 595 asked enthusiastically, gliding in beside Freyr’s console. Freyr eat another spoonful of granola and made the Agent wait while she swallowed. “I’m going to request a tandem insert from the Barb. We’ve got the infrastructure here to move heavy equipment into the sim. It’ll be faster than transporting everything down to the FOB.”

“Exciting!” 595 grinned, stroking her arm. Freyr tried her best to not look resentful as she requested a call with Marae.

After Vreta was given a clean bill of health, he followed Rhia’s direction for their appointment with their superiors. When Vreta entered the meeting room near the top floor of the building, only two others were inside: Rareth’Jharn and Director Valic’Ans. Vreta could not help but to feel some anxiety come over him. Datius were something unique among his organization, something exceptional. He had never even properly met a Datius before this mission, and now he was in a private meeting sitting at the table with two of them. For an Agent like himself, it was of course an honor to be trusted by them, but also equally nerve-wracking.

“Excellent. The doctors sent word ahead that your procedure was completed successfully. Has Rhia properly settled in to her new environment?” Rareth asked after Vreta took his seat.

This time, instead of just appearing to Vreta, Rhia accessed the holographic systems in the room and projected her avatar into the seat beside him. “Affirmative. I’ve run diagnostics thrice over, Vreta, and myself, is ready to go.”

The Director nodded. “Good, then we’re ready to begin. And it is good that we are; we are not going to have a lot of time to act. It is just a week or so before we will be ready to move the object, and we need to know if that is wise by then. Now, to start, this attack you suffered, Agent Vreta. We have started receiving results from the analysis of your storage drive. It will take some time to fully analyze its contents, but we can confirm with reasonable confidence that the virus was made at least partially with Cradle technology. We don’t think the complete virus ever made it into your head. From what we’ve seen so far, it seems clear that the virus in your head stayed in communication with its source, but it never fully uploaded. We may not get a full picture of its capabilities, but the Humans likely could not have created it on their own.”

“That was my impression as well.” Vreta replied. “It was very adaptable; moreso than I would expect from a Human program. Still, the parts that did enter my head, my implant would have still been able to contain. It would have done so more quickly, had I not focused on trying to preserve so much information.”

With a flick of her wrist, Rareth brought up a holographic document and pushed it in front of Vreta. “That is true, but we cannot know what the source program was capable of. We cannot afford to underestimate anything made from, or by, the Cradle. From the data you gathered, we do know that, before it ceased operation, the virus did transmit a partial scan of your neural map. We are still working on getting a complete picture of what they may have learned, but we do have thoughts on how to use that to our advantage.”

While Vreta was still reading the report Rareth gave him, Director Valic quickly continued where she had left off. “If Agent 595 was willing to attack you in a mere training simulation, we have no reason to believe she will not attempt it again, perhaps in more dire circumstances. She has her scan, but as of right now, she does not know that your neural map has essentially been completely overhauled. If you keep your upgrades quiet, don’t let anyone know about Rhia, then the Human Agent won’t know her scans are out-of-date until it is too late.”

Although Rhia did technically need to think about the suggestion, the time she required to come to a decision was hardly perceptible to the others. “That shouldn’t be too hard. I can keep a low profile. Whenever I need to interact with any external systems, I should be able to rig up an interface to imitate Vreta’s previous model of implant. The outside systems won’t know the difference.”

“Good. We will keep you both updated as we learn more from our analysis. In the meantime, you should get ready to join in this investigation into the object. The Rahn’Saki decided to include Dr. Freyr Lang into this investigation, so we are obliged to work with her as best as we can. Preferably subtly.” Rareth said, though her expression was not entirely encouraging. “We may have our work cut out for us in that regard. Not all of the Human representatives seemed particularly thrilled that Roth’Orsa was able to negotiate full-cooperation. I suspect there may be some pushback, especially from the Director-General’s people. It may be a…diplomatic fight for us every step of the way to maintain that equal cooperation.”

Vreta was silent for a moment. He brought a claw up to his chin as he thought back on his time among the Humans. Out of everyone in the room, he was actually the most experienced in living among them. “Well, if they are intent on resisting cooperation, I imagine they will want to maintain their control however they can. Using their equipment, their facilities. Honestly, it might not be hard for the Agent to convince their scientists of that. From what I’ve seen, even without any pressure, their scientists do seem to prefer their equipment, even if ours is much more advanced. I would expect them to say they are more familiar with it and they want to work with what they know. They have a whole lab on the Barbarossa that they might prefer to use.”

Rareth frowned, giving a quick sigh. “Hmm, if the Agent can get the scientists to agree with her, then it might be difficult to keep them working on the surface with us. From the Barbarossa, the Institute will be able to keep track of everything that passes through the ship’s transmitters, so it will be hard for us to act discretely.”

Rhia spoke up again, but not with the look of concern that the others were showing. Instead, she almost seemed excited about something. “True, but that also works for us. Those harnesses, they form a connection between the mind of the user and the object. The mind isn’t actually uploaded, but for the mind inside the simulation to be able to act and remember things as that person, the information still has to be transferred between the harness and the object at some point. In the underwater FoB, the Cradle harnesses are fairly close to the object and beam their signals directly to it. Not really much of an opportunity to intercept them, especially without anyone knowing. But, if that signal has to cross from a ship up in orbit, all the way down under the surface of the planet, well…there are thousands of points at which we, or anyone really, could intercept and save a copy of that signal without either the source or destination being aware of it. The trick is being able to decode it once we have it. Those signals are rather complex. They encode the neural map of an entire Human brain, but if we put enough effort into it, we may be able to look inside the heads of anyone who enters the simulation. Thoughts, emotions, memories in particular, that could be valuable intelligence.”

“Not bad.” Director Valic remarked. “So we might be able to gain some advantage either way. Still, the Institute will be expecting us to push for equal cooperation, so that is exactly what we have to give them. Try as best as you can to keep the scientists working together on the surface.”

---

Marae could not answer Freyr’s call immediately, though she did return an alert that she would be ready to talk momentarily. After a few minutes, a hologram of Marae finally appeared in front of Freyr once she connected to the channel. “Sorry about that; I was working on one of the designs for the new equipment. Based on all the data collected in our last insertion into the object, we started working on a more compact transit station. My team believe they have figured out how to integrate our power source, and Nirann has been working on modifying the internals to get them into a more compact frame. We’ve fabricated our first prototype, so how soon can you and your team get down here?”

“Perfect! Roth’Orsa and I discussed a joint IP scheme for all these collaborations.” Freyr lied. “We’ll send over the documentation and will need to get post-hoc ratification before we can consider the equipment’s use for our mission. I’d also like my people to inspect the new additions, to make sure they’re safe for Humans. We can’t afford any more injuries.” Freyr glanced over at 595 to see if her new show of standoffishness was working. The Agent appeared satisfied, nodding at her from off camera. She carried on.

“We should have a full debrief, but right now my team is going through the data we collected. From what i can see, it’s not translating well at all. Which is why I’d like to try and set up a lab inside the sim next. It’ll afford us much faster processing times and give us a shot at finding something meaningful before the week is over. We have a full-size CradLab ready for insertion in the Barbarossa, either we can send a description or you’re welcome to come and see. I’ve also cleared the way for a Terraformer/Builder duo to insert and set up shop this time. I'm conscious of time, so how do you feel about spinning up the mission this afternoon?”

Marae tilted her head, exhaling slowly as she considered what Freyr was suggesting. “Terraformer? We’re…going to have to get together with Rareth and have a talk about that. This object is an inhabited space; it’s not ours to reshape as we please. Unless we have permission from that being, I really would not feel comfortable with that. For the mission today, I was just hoping to be able to make contact again. Perhaps brief the being on our plan, and ask questions if we can? Though, given the way the last encounter went, that may be an optimistic hope.”

“At any rate…” Marae continued. “…speaking of injuries, Rareth is mandating a few safety regulations based on what happened last time. She wants full medical scans with our best equipment on anyone who had entered the object before she will approve them to enter again. She’s particularly worried about the possibility of neurological damage with repeated entries. The problem might not come up again now that we’ve fixed the language issue, but that doesn’t help anyone who has already been in.”

595 immediately opened a private channel with Freyr upon Marae mentioning scans. ”Absurd overreach. Tell them we can scan our own people. Tell them.” Freyr glanced at the Agent, who was staring oppressively at her. She was doing exactly what Roth’Orsa had said she would. She didn’t see any way to reasonably maneuver 595 through a Rothian scan though. The Barb did have facilities more than capable of comprehensively monitoring neurological function in Humans.

Freyr tried to be diplomatic. “I agree. We can keep very close tabs on our group from here. The Barbarossa boasts one of the best medical suites Outremer has to offer, after all.” She shot a look at 595 after that. ”We do need to keep you under observation. Just to make sure there’s no damage.” Freyr blocked her out again to answer Marae’s other concern.

“We can just terraform the ground underneath where the lab will go. This allows us to detect any changes to geography and prevent the sim from, say, swallowing us up in a chasm.” Freyr spoke in a calm and matter of fact manner, like she had hundreds of times before when explaining the Cradle to the uninitiated. “It’s perfectly harmless.”

Marae frowned, or at least gave the Rothian equivalent. “I know you brought your best for this expedition, but Rareth doesn’t want to take any chances. Brain damage is a serious concern, especially with the symptoms Agent 595 was exhibiting. No offense, but our equipment can map a brain in far greater detail than yours, and will be much more likely to catch the problem. Besides, more detailed scans means more data points for determining what could have caused the issue in the first place. If there are any problems, you’ll have to talk to Rareth about it. She’s the one who made the decision.”

For a few moments, Marae took the time to to review what information she had on Cradle terraforming. What Freyr described was not inaccurate, but Marae was not convinced that they had the complete picture. “As for terraforming, it is not dangerous to us, yes, but can we truly say for sure that the same is true for the environment itself? So much is unknown about the Cradle and similar objects. Humanity has terraformed the Cradle for centuries, and now, the Cradle itself is becoming hostile to outsiders. It is true that we cannot simply assume that the two are related, but neither can we rule it out. The deeper mechanisms that control these objects are still an unknown. Perhaps we can at least start by trying to contact the being again? Then, we can ask directly if such processes harm the simulation.”

Freyr sighed, before looking at the Agent again while Marae turned her attention elsewhere. 595’s eyes had narrowed slightly. ”Hey, i tried! Marae is sort of correct.” Freyr protested. The black-clad spook folded her arms and assumed contrapposto, thinking for a moment. ”The Captain will have something to say about this. I’ll have her talk to the Datius. Let's put this science class on ice until it’s resolved.”

”That’s not your call.” Freyr retorted, but she hesitated. Would the Captain actually have and objection? It occurred to her that several of the military types attached to the scientists might have hardware in their heads that they might not want to reveal. Although she had operational control of the expedition, the Captain could veto the use of Human protection while in the simulation if she wasn’t satisfied.

Freyr turned quickly back to the holo after her retort, determined not to acknowledge the daggers 595 was throwing from her eyes. She fully realised the risk she was undertaking now, but wouldn’t surrender her one true piece of influence - executive without a fight. She focused her attention on answering Marae while the Agent got in contact with Captain Andersen.

“Alright, yes. Let’s attempt to open a dialogue. But if it proves unresponsive there’s no time to waste. We can insert the lab but leave it dormant until we need it.”

Marae nodded. “Agreed. We do have such a limited time to carry out our work. I’m sure a simple talk with Rareth will be enough to clear up any problems you have. If there is anyone on your ship, or team, with experience in neuroscience, they are more than welcome to assist in analyzing the data from the scans. Once they can see the data themselves, they may be able to explain to your people the advantage of using our devices.”

Though they were all clearly in a hurry, Marae still had one more matter to bring up to Freyr. Based on the smile she had, it was something she was particularly excited to share. “Now, there is one more thing.” She added. “I have a project of my own I intend to take on, based on the data from our first insertion. Much of the interaction we have with the object pertains to a mix of artificial intelligence, computer science, and neuroscience. All of that falls quite squarely into my area of expertise. Some…work I have done in the past has inspired me with an idea. Don’t set expectations too high, I am only just beginning to explore the idea, but I believe I could develop a method to prevent ‘Cradle death’, as you call it. A way to prevent the neural shock in the real world that comes with expiring in the simulation.”

“I’m not sure any amount of explanation will help…” Freyr muttered, glancing again at the Agent.

What Marae said next excited her greatly, but Freyr did her best to maintain an equal tone. This wasn’t the expedition’s main objective. “A noble endeavor. Let me know if you require assistance; it’s something of a specialist subject for me.

---

The two science teams pushed on with preparing for a second insertion, including the set up of a tandem link between the object, the FOB and the Barb. The enormous computing power at their disposal allowed for seamless virtual collaboration and analysis between the two labs. The majority of this to and fro centred on discussing the best way to approach the ancient entity, but a multitude of side projects were simmering away on the fringes too.

However, the timeline was thrown into disarray when Captain Andersen informally requested a short postponement. She was obviously reluctant to submit state of the art military hardware contained within her soldiers to any scanners apart from her own. Freyr tried to explain that Outreman infantry likely possessed nothing the Rothians already knew about, but Andersen maintained that clearance was required from Fleet Command.

While Dr Lang theoretically had discretion on all scientific activity, they were guests aboard the Barbarossa. It would have been the height of bad form to press ahead with the plan, so Freyr reluctantly acquiesced, after stressing the very short timeline everyone was working to. The Captain sympathised, but maintained her need to follow procedure.

So Freyr gritted her teeth and pressed her team to work with the info they had until things played out.

Given the true motivations of her actions, Rareth’s first attempt in negotiating was to try and convince the Humans to allow the civilian scientists to go ahead and get to work while they worked out a deal for the military personnel. She stressed the short timetable they had and pointed out that the civilians did not have the same issues with the scans as Andersen was concerned with for their soldiers. However, Human pride did come to the Institute’s aid in this case. Despite the fact that Rothian forces were even more capable of protecting the scientists than the Humans were, they would only be satisfied with a Human presence.

Rareth was not afraid to chastise them for obstructing the project for matters of pride; however, she did not argue for any longer than was necessary to keep up appearances. In the end, she agreed to allow the project to proceed without full scans, under the condition that anyone affected would sign a rather comprehensive waiver before being allowed to proceed, in addition to the Captain signing a formal agreement between herself and the Datius. For the most part, the paperwork was a formal acknowledgement that the Captain understood the health risks involved, and that the Humans were knowingly proceeding against the recommendations of Rothian medical personnel. It also waived any legal liability on the part of the Rothians for any future health issues among Human personnel as a result of the decision.

Eventually, the project did get back on-track to start. The Rothian science team had been ready to begin for hours, and indeed likely would have entered the simulation themselves had the delay lasted too much longer. They had only to wait for the Human team to be ready to start, and to that end, Rareth contacted Freyr directly shortly after her meeting with the Captain concluded.

“Dr. Lang, I am sending you a copy of some paperwork that some of your team may need to sign. It waives liability for us in case any of your team decide not to follow our medical advice. Though, for civilians like yourself, you do have a choice. I still highly recommend that you allow us to perform these scans. Having before-and-after imaging of the brain could be highly valuable in identifying and treating any neurological issues, and it would be best to have data points from both of our species.” Rareth recommended.

The academic in Freyr relished the idea of getting a better view on her brain. For the purposes of our expeditions into this unknown object, but also for her own interest. She suspected a few members of our team would also be similarly interested. They’d heard about the advances of Rothian instruments the same as her; some had begun grumbling about the lack of access they had to those tools now.

“Thanks. Yes, it would be good to have that scan. Can you get the equipment up here quickly? I want to begin the exercise as soon as possible.” Freyr was standing in a yawning hollow near the Barbarossa’s cargo bays. Harsh white lights shone down on a grid of insertion harnesses, metal shelves of equipment and a hulking mobile lab on six hydraulic legs. Bots floated around, carrying items and making changes to connections; they’d built the entire array to spec from the main lab in a matter of hours.

Most of her team were already down here, either manning stations or huddled around a holo-collab table with the Rothian scientists. Military personnel had stayed away purposefully until the all clear from their Captain. But that must have been given now, because Freyr spotted the Sacred Band filing in. They clanked over to her, visors up. “Good morning, ma’am. Where would you like us?” Thebes asked.

“The equipment is already set up and ready in the field laboratory. To bring the scanning equipment up to your ship requires keep a constant presence aboard your ship. We still have to protect our technology, after all. It will need to stay under armed guard, which means negotiating for the constant presence of an armed guard with your Captain. It would be much easier for your team to come to the surface.” Rareth replied.

There was a slight tinge of irritation in Rareth’s voice, though it was hard to tell at exactly whom it was directed. She did not look directly at Freyr when she growled under her breath. “And for that matter, why are you operating on the Barbarossa at all? The lab we constructed above the object contains the full array of necessary equipment, both yours and ours. It was constructed fully cooperatively between our two people, it contains facilities and equipment that are comfortable for both of us. Having our science teams move to constantly work separately will be to the detriment of our efficiency. Now that we have negotiated full cooperation between our people on this project, it would be quite a strange time to move away from having our teams work together in a hybrid lab.”