One by one, we crawled into the tunnel between the gravel and rock ceiling. The myrmidons moved swiftly despite their bulk.

Luwud twisted a torch-fly and let it buzz into the air to illuminate nothing but rough rock walls.

"A dead end", the commandant said.

"My husband wouldn't have wasted effort on a pointless excavation", I said. "Open, door."

The solid rock cracked open to reveal a dusty corridor. No ancient lamps illuminated the passage, and the walls had the pallor of dead coral, made more ghastly by the green light of the torch-fly.

The corridor ended in a door similar to the one, which had lead to the tram far below.

There was no shining window, but I said: "Open, please."

"Scanning", a muffled faint voice said. "Full access authorisation verified. A bonded breeding uterine body detected without bonded pair. User error. Eight excess males in vicinity."

"What does that mean?" Ayimun asked.

"That the facility expects you to bring your wives", I said. "I'll override the requirement. Oh spirit, these people are in a breeding pair, with their partners outside, exactly like me."

"Acknowledged. Required facilities on stand-by." The door opened.

"Step in", I said. "This should take us to the facility proper."

The room was cramped with all of us inside. I commanded the elevator. After a screeching protest from the machinery, the room jerked into a swift downward motion.

Ayimun placed a hand on my shoulder. "Good work thus far, lady Usinilim. If you directed your obvious intelligence to wholesome pursuits --such as guiding your husband to do his duty-- you would be an asset to your country."

"Well, thank you, associate Ayimun." I turned and smiled. "My husband is my first priority."

The man placed his hand under my chin. "You have distinct if faint eyeshine. Is your vision hampered? Any trouble seeing details?"

"Not really." I did my best not to scowl. "But I prefer to use oculars for reading."

Ayimun let go off me. "It's no matter. Such atavism is likely recessive. Bemariq's children won't be ruined by it."

Even though a sudden sense of uncleanness made my skin itch, I kept a confused smile on my face.

The optician at the academy had peddled the idea that my eyesight was deficient due to my 'resurgent anatomic feature'. I had done my best to ignore it.

What did it tell about my distant ancestors, if they had traded perfect vision for the ability to see through twilight? It might not have been a voluntary alteration either. As a fellow pupil had put it, 'the mark of a Collapse times slave populace, surely fit only for work in the mines'.

Then again, simple oculars allowed me to read without trouble, while tools for seeing without good light had distinct drawbacks.

The elevator stopped and opened into a long corridor, in which the weak blue phosphoresce of the walls failed to dispel the darkness.

"What now, associate?" I asked. "Do you want to sightsee, or are you seeking something specific?"

"Weapons, lady Usinilim", Ayimun said. "Anything to give us the edge to drive the Jaan off this land. Afterwards your husband can continue his work, though we --you and I-- will have to make sure he does nothing reckless. Like adjoining his nervous system directly with unmaintained machinery."

The associate was treating me like a partner. My short compliance had unlikely caused such a change of heart in him. Friendliness from such a man as the high associate was a sign that he held all the cards. Or at least thought so.

"Alright, I'll call a guide", I said. "I'm not sure what the creature is, but it'll take us where we need to go."

The disembodied voice acknowledged my request, and our group was left standing in the small spot of light.

"What of the Roluans, associate?" I asked. "How will they be treated?"

"That depends purely on them. Rolu would make a fine addition to the Conglomerate. But as long as our interests are not endangered, we will leave them be."

I declined the opportunity to argue about the fluidity of the interests of empires.

"Now that I'm helping you..." I made my voice waver. "Will you have the authorities brush aside my... assumed treasonous conduct? The well-being of my husband was my concern. I acted heedlessly, of which I'm gravely sorry."

Ayimun's smile cast deep shadows on his face. "I too am sorry that Bemariq was hurt due to this misunderstanding."

I smiled. "As for the weapons, I'm not sure there are any here. Yet, this place should have more suits like mine. They would allow a small group of soldiers dominate the local infrastructure. Commandant Duy knows from experience, how the carapace is practically impervious to small arms fire."

Unease tinged Duy's grin.

"That's a start", Ayimun admitted. "It won't win us the naval confrontation, but that can wait."

A familiar shape approached from the lightless hallway.

"Our guide comes", I said.

The myrmidons shifted restlessly, when they too saw the large inhuman creature. The root-limbed guide made no gesture to acknowledge that it recognised me.

"Take us where my associates can be outfitted with healthy suits like mine." I did my best to keep my unease from my voice. If my ploy failed, it was prudent to keep Ayimun's impression of me positive. "If that is at all possible."

With deliberateness of a glacier, the guide turned and strode into the corridor.

The air grew heavy with moisture and warmth. As we entered corridors with lights, which still struggled against the passage of time, the dark dissipated into hazy gloom.

Our guide stopped and stood in front of a door. For a long moment, nothing stirred. I would have assumed that we were supposed to go inside, if the guide's body hadn't blocked the way.

The twined arms took hold of door. Stone wailed against stone, as the guide forced the entryway open to reveal a long hall.

Though the room was in better state than the corridor, water dripped from the ceiling and the lamps pulsed as with dying breath. Finely powdered white sediment had accumulated on the floor. It shifted with our steps.

One wall was lined with upright cocoons, their transparent hatches open. No human remains were visibly present, which was a reassuring sign.

"Are those machines for fitting on a suit like mine?" I asked the guide, which still lingered outside the door. It did not answer.

"Fortunately, their function can be tested", Ayimun said. "Commandant Duy, strip."

Apprehension twisted Duy's face only for a heartbeat. "Very well, associate."

Despite his habitual appearance of a middle-aged paper-pusher with a poor posture, Duy had the burly physique of a wrestler. I turned my eyes demurely away, in order to avoid giving the impression of admiring his frame.

Duy stepped into the cocoon. The hatch closed. A tendril reached out to hand a ring like mine to the commandant. I felt a bang of disappointment from my wedding ring losing its uniqueness.

"Take the ring", I said. "And put it on."

The man nodded and obeyed. Strands of silky nerve and layers of green-grey skin pushed out from the machine. They wrapped around the commandant, adjusting to his form. Tiny tendrils carried plates of carapace to their places and worked to attach the parts. The seams locked together.

"The machine works wondrously fast", Ayimun said. He turned to me. "Lady Usinilim, do you know, how long a set of myrmidon's carapace takes to grow?"

"I'm not familiar with the subject, but I guess a dozen weeks."

"About so, and only quarter end up being fit for wearing in actual combat." On the associate's face, the nonchalant sternness had disappeared into controlled excitement. "Imagine, if we could manufacture carriages or even warships with anywhere near this speed and precision."

"The Conglomerate would rule all, where waterways reach."

"Indeed."

The cocoon opened, and Duy stepped out. He tested his limbs and fingers separately, crouched and did a few one-armed push-ups.

"Is the suit good, commandant?" Ayimun asked.

Luwud Duy stood up. "Yes, better than good. The muscle, or whatever this tissue is, responds faster than my thoughts."

Ayimun turned to me. "I'm surprised, lady Usinilim. I assumed you would make an attempt at futile trickery."

I pouted a smile. "I'm nothing if predictable, associate. I only want what's best for me and my Bemariq. Service to our country benefits us also, wouldn't you say so?"

"Just so. Alright men, let's upgrade your gear." Ayimun unclasped the protective vest on top of his immaculately tailored suit.

"Are you going to wear one too, associate?" I asked.

"Do you think that I should not?"

"Maybe there's some unforeseen errors in the process." I bit my lip.

Ayimun smiled the smile of an adult reassuring a silly child. "I appreciate your concern, lady Usinilim. But reasonable risk shouldn't stop anyone made from the hard stuff of a Conglomish man."

I had to concentrate in order to keep my eyes away from the myrmidons, as they stepped from their suits. Though they were all notably tall, their bodies were proportional in their abundant brawn. All of them had the wide shoulders of heroic statues, and arms thicker than my thigh. Even the healthy padding of fat couldn't hide the chiselled crevices defining their musculature.

Comparatively, the equally tall Ayimun appeared rangy, though that was an illusion. He was in truth thewy if lean; the reasonable build of a man, who took care of his physique. The associate's frame was very much like Bemariq's, in fact.

If my plan worked, those eminently manly forms might disappear. I might have felt a pang of guilt, if the new suits didn't make the soldiers even more dangerous. Should Ayimun decide that he didn't need my access any more, I'd be lucky to leave the facility with my life.

One after another, the soldiers stepped out and tested their easy new strength to their grinning satisfaction. On their martial frames, the sleek carapaces had the look of true combat suits. If these were what constituted as heavy duty clothes for the ancients, the actual weapons --of even personal capacity-- must have been terrifying.

The associate also appeared pleased. His eyes stopped to stare at me. No sign of the quality of his thoughts was apparent on his face. Ayimun might have been calculating my worth.

I retreated behind my best half-confused smile in order not to show my anxiety.

A faint smirk spread on Ayimun's face. "On to exploring the facility then, lady Usinilim."

My thoughts snapped back to the present. "I'm not familiar with this part of the vault. We should start from near the main entrance. That would be most likely place for security areas with weapon storages."

"Sound thinking. Lead on."

I stepped outside the room to guide. "Take us, where we first met."