Altered Destiny

Ch. 29

To my American (and Mexican) readers– there's a total solar eclipse coming next month. If it is within your power, get to the line of totality. You won't regret it.

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Saylor's answer, it turned out, was "no." So upon their return to Ataraxia, Ingressus promptly tracked Matt down for the job instead.

"Maybe?" Matt answered. "I know what the route was we took to find the slimes, but I don't remember exactly what part of the caves your resonance was in."

"I can handle that," Ingressus told him. "Just get me close."

Galleous was deep in a book when Ingressus returned to the forge, barely even glancing up until Ingressus spoke.

"Galleous. I found it."

He had Galleous's attention after that. Ingressus explained his answer– his theory, he shouldn't get his hopes up too quickly... But he'd thought and rethought it on the way back at Ataraxia, from every angle he could and grilling Nirani for more information on the converters. It made sense, the information all lined up. All he needed was confirmation.

"Oh..." Galleous said, when Ingressus finished explaining. "That seems so... simple."

"I know," Ingressus said. "But it would explain why there was only ever one set of Primes... why they corrupt so badly..."

He drummed his fingers on the back of a chair. "But it also means that we were responsible for the Silencing..."

"Not knowingly," Galleous pointed out. "If your clan then was anything like you are now, I'm sure you wouldn't have done it on purpose."

"I know," Ingressus said. "But odds are that someone will try to use that against us during negotiations."

There was a moment of quiet, and then Galleous spoke again. "So, what are you going to do now?"

"I'll need to confirm this theory before I do anything else," Ingressus said. "I'm going back to the mines when today's shift is done to find the resonance there again. After that I'll need to talk with Aegus about how to contact the rest of the Masters and begin the negotiations."

That would be a whole new challenge... Ingressus knew diplomacy was not one of his strengths. He'd thought plenty about what terms he should lay out– what would have to be insisted on, what could be compromised on, what the other Masters might say to argue that his clan was too dangerous or didn't deserve to return. He knew what was to be said. But how to say it in a way that would avoid antagonizing the other Masters– that would be the challenge.

"I assume you're planning to test it like you did that other resonance?" Galleous asked him. "I'm sure you'll need more than your Protosongs for that."

He stood up, gesturing for Ingressus to follow. Galleous crouched at the chest in his room and unlocked it, opening the lid to reveal the Songs he used for training his students. One by one he handed them to Ingressus– his Mobilileap and Protepoint, then after contemplating the Aggressium Songs for a second, passed over his Aggrobeam in favor of the Aggroshock confiscated all those years ago.

Ingressus took the Aggroshock with a wry smile. "I'll test with the expendable one first."

"Appreciated."

Galleous sat back and held out his hand. A green glow shimmered around his fingers and then his Supporoform condensed in his palm, its bubbling aura simmering in Ingressus's mind like boiling water. Galleous held it out and Ingressus took it, holding the Song carefully in his hands.