"Forget it. I’m not talking, and you can’t do ’nothin to me. I’ve seen yer’ methods- I have no idea how yer’ carrying ’em out, but they just ain’t good enough. You’re delusional if you think you’ll be able to get even a single word out of me!"

Right as Daneel turned his attention to the being that was now safely secured in one of the corners of the space that was present within the diamond-like Artefact which now had two prisoners, he got this message that was spoken with a strange accent that the had never heard before.

He took one last glance at the old researcher who was still screaming madly- it was clear that his other persona had taken over again, and although Daneel felt a little pity as the man really had been helpful all this while, and instrumental in their victory, the stakes were just a bit too high for him to trust anyone freely.

This was especially someone who had been out of contact with anyone living for so damn long, and any way he looked at it, there was no way that he could be trusted. When his success or failure in this mission would decide the lives of millions, it was better to be safe, rather than sorry. All of his experiences so far had taught him this, and there was no way that he would let go of all those lessons that had been instrumental in his growth.

With a sigh, Daneel went over to the being. He still had no idea what to call it: he didn’t even know whether it was a him or a her, or whether it could belong to some other race which was androgynous.

As for the ’going over’ part, it was basically that his consciousness was controlled to move to get nearer to the place where it had holed up. Even this movement was difficult, and if Daneel had tried it, it would have been as if he was swimming through mud. This was the reason why Elanev and Faxul’s consciousnesses were presently roaming around aimlessly, like they were children who were just now learning to walk, and if it weren’t for the system, Daneel would have been doing the same thing.

Ordinarily, he would have placed back their consciousnesses in their bodies, but he had not done so as they would be needed if another attack had to be mounted. Until he was perfectly sure that such a thing was not possible, he would need them close by, but as he reached that being and saw the image that was sent to him by the system which was formed from the interpretation of what his consciousness was supposed to be seeing, he realized that he might not need to take so many precautions.

The reason behind this... was that he could now actually see just how frail their opponent was.

This whole ’seeing’ thing was all so complicated- it could be summarised that there should be no real way to look inside this kind of a space, but that the system was allowing him to do so by creating an image of how it would be if it was able to be conveyed on a 3D plane.

Hence, thankfully, comparison was easy. In the image that he was given, Daneel could look at his own consciousness- it was in the form of a brilliant, pulsing halo of pure white light that looked as if it could burn anything in the world to ash, whereas the consciousness of the being in front of him was incredibly frail, with its glow looking like it was almost about to dissipate.

Daneel was now able to truly understand what the system had meant when it had said that the opponent was ’weak’, and now, he was definitely impressed that even in this form, this guy had been able to put up a fight for so long even though he had been caught offguard.

Yes, the surprise element had also been crucial in the outcome of their battle, and as he heard the muttering of the person in front of him, he realized that this was true.

"How the heck was I supposed to know that bones could hold consciousnesses? Dammit dammit dammit! I’ll have to stay trapped for a long time now! Ack! Oh well, it’s just a few thousand years, no biggie..."

That last part would have resulted in Daneel raising his eyebrows, if he had them, but instead of doing that, he said, "It’s in your best interests to speak. Yes, I might not be able to break through your defenses now, but that doesn’t mean that I won’t keep trying. Even now, it must be hard to keep resisting. Give up, and we might even be able to work out something. If you cooperate with me completely, I might find no reason to end you."

Daneel had expected to have a sane conversation with the being, but right away, he found out that that was not going to happen.

"Cooperate? HAAA HAHAHAHA! Piss off!"

[Breaching methods have been ineffective. Continuing to search for methods that might succeed.]

As Daneel received this message, he found out the reason behind the man’s confidence.

If someone was assured that they could stay out of the grasp of someone who had invaded their home by locking themselves up in some kind of a vault, then what reason would they have to spill any secrets that they might be holding?

Realizing that it might be futile, Daneel asked the system, "Is it necessary for us to remain in here to keep him subdued? Or is it possible to do that with just one consciousness?"

[Replying to host: At least two consciousnesses are required by system in case there is a counter-attack.]

Two consciousnesses.

Looking at the idly floating consciousnesses of his two sovereigns, Daneel decided that they would have to fend for themselves for some more time.

He sent messages to both of them saying that they would need to stay in here, and surprisingly, all he got was enthusiastic replies where the two even seemed to be happy to do so.

On asking why, Daneel found out that they were both finding it fascinating to be in this form that where could explore their consciousness and basically find out all of the things that they would have to if they wanted to proceed further on their Path anyway. So, feeling glad that his sovereigns had managed to find the silver lining through which they could use their time, he told the system, "Alright. Keep a wisp of my consciousness here through which you can control our dear friends here, and send the main part back to my body. Can a module be present here which can act if needed and send an alert if anything has to be done, so that I can take the main part of the system back with me?"

[Affirmative.]

Daneel had only asked to make sure, even though the system had already displayed the same thing by controlling all of their bodies. To do that, he had basically done the same thing- small parts of his consciousness had been ripped off and then placed in their bodies, and the system had been able to use that to carry out his commands.

It had hurt a lot, as this was the first time that his consciousness was being split into so many pieces, but it had all been worth it.

A few seconds later, Daneel was back in his body, examining the oversized monstrosities which were still frozen.

It looked as if they were not even breathing, but on studying them further, he saw that they were taking low, small breaths in small intervals.

His priority right now was to follow the connection that seemed to exist between the Artefact in which the spirit of their opponent was present, and the one that it was connected to, but before that, he was completely enthralled by these beings which had almost massacred them.

Moving closer, he hesitantly touched the finger of the one that had been bent over him, ready to pounce and tear him into the tiniest pieces. Just its finger was half the size of its entire hand, and as he touched it, he told the system to carry out an analysis.

They still didn’t know exactly how these things were alive, and that seemed like a mystery that was worth solving.

Right away, he got the answer, and it was something that shocked him and made him stand there, agape.

[Targets have been modified to use the Energy of the Endless Sea that seeps into the city in order to maintain its formations. It is the same method through which the beasts of the sea have such long lifespans. Research was carried out on this topic in the age of the Empire, but it was concluded that no organic being that was capable of holding a consciousness that could operate at a certain level of intellect could be capable of such a feat. Even in the case of other beasts, many attempts were made to adapt them to use this method to live longer, but they all failed.]

The same method as the beasts in the sea?

After thinking about it, it did start to make sense- hell, it even looked as if it was the only plausible solution, and with one mystery solved, Daneel felt so much better.

However, this presented more problems: how had this person been able to do such a thing in which all the collective intelligence of the Empire had failed?

Deciding that he should dally no longer, Daneel directly followed the path that was given by the system.

Soon, he was at another vault whose doors were even larger.

It looked like the size of doorways decided the importance of a place, because the system had just told him that he had reached the primary vault.

It was the place he had come to find, and now that it was near, Daneel felt exultation flood through him.

Taking a deep breath, he walked forth, and he was greeted by a large chamber that had many dazzling objects placed all around.

The thing that attracted him most was a corner of the chamber where multiple items in different colors were placed in glass jars, but for the moment, Daneel ignored them and walked to the center of the room, where a familiar object was present.

It...was a stone podium, much like the one where the Empire Spirits resided, and right as he neared it, he received a message from the system.

[Original place of residence of target found. Majority of target’s consciousness has been detected inside the podium, but it is in an inactive form.]

Oh?

historical

As Daneel stared at the podium, all the things that he knew, and had experienced about consciousnesses flashed through his mind.

Suddenly, he got an idea that completely captivated him, and finding no reason to not use it, he started to shoot out a bunch of instructions.

A few minutes later, an awful sound suddenly echoed from the secondary vault, and it was so loud that it even reached the place where Daneel was standing.

"AIGHT, I’LL TALK! STOP THAT! YER’ GONNA PUT ME TO PERMANENT SLEEP, FOR FUCK’S SAKE!"

Not even a few seconds later, Daneel was back in the secondary vault, ready to find the answers to the rest of the questions that had been plaguing him ever since he had entered this place.

This was finally it!

With excitement clearly visible in his features, he waited for the being to talk, but what he didn’t know...was that its words would be so astonishing that they would make the King of Lanthanor, himself, almost collapse on the ground while holding his heart that felt as if it might give out due to the shock.

"Here’s the kicker: you know that force which right f*cked up ’yer continent, and made that f*cker use that Inheritance thingy that made everyone go flippin’ mad? I’m part of that force! And I’m not the only survivor, either. Even if it’s the last thing I do, I’ll rat out that bastard. He went to ’yer continent, and he got himself a place as some ’Overseer’, or some shit! Oh, if only I could get my hands on that piece of shit..."