Chapter 61 – Delving the Layers.

Crystal finished stuffing the last of the supplies that Fairweather had given her into the backpacks that Rachael had created earlier that morning. She wasn’t actually sure what Rachael had used as the base material, as she had still be eating at the time, but they were rather cute and matched for them – one a grass green that would have easily passed for a casual sports bag, the other white and pale gold, with dragon motifs along its sides and front. No guesses as to which was for whom, and Crystal may have gushed over hers as soon as she had seen it.

“So no idea how long you’ll be then?” Clocky asked, also gearing up. The rest of them had also finished their preparations, everyone heading deeper into Odinsphere at the same time. Clocky was just intending to exploring the surrounding area of Odinsphere, travelling in the direction of hanger eight, and they were intending to be back by nightfall, not that they cycle of light actually had any impact inside the city. Saylin and Abigail were also going with them, Saylin finally admitting that she was curious about the rest of the floating city. They were armed, more out of habit rather than actual need, as if they got attacked while exploring they had bigger issues than just the aggressor, as after all Odinsphere had control of everything within its mass. Well that was the assumption anyway.

Crystal shook her head. “No idea. Hopefully not too long, but we don’t actually know where what we are looking for is located. If this was just a normal city it could take days to just walk across, and it’s well beyond that.”

“You’re still not going to divulge that information?” Saylin said out loud to Odinsphere. Her constant communication with its aspects while doing her experiments in the lab seemed to have made her rather comfortable with talking to it. Not that her style wasn’t blunt and casual in the first place.

“--No. They have permission to look for what they seek, but it is theirs to discover. That is the conditions that have been set for such knowledge.--”

Spectre had informed them of that when they had woken that morning. He had asked while they had been setting up the arrays, the answer unusually taking some time to come back.

“What, not even a map of this place?”

“--They have all that they need.--”

“Your loss,” Saylin said with a shrug. “If they get lost and don’t come back for weeks it’ll be your fault.”

“And we’d be starving too,” Crystal added with a smile. “Don’t worry. We’re not going to get lost.”

They weren’t anywhere near as badly off as Saylin was apparently implying. Not that she thought that Saylin was being ignorant in the first place, but rather pushing her luck with what they could get out of the situation. There was no doubt that Odinsphere possessed a schematic of itself, but it was its prerogative to share or withhold as it saw fit. There would be much that it would want to keep hidden, secrets that needed to remain that way, and Crystal couldn’t fault it there. That they had even been given permission to dig into this one was actually a surprise, even if they had intended to look anyway. Which it would also have known, but reflected the importance of the knowledge to both sides. What Odinsphere had done was provide them with a very rough outline of the sphere, noting down the approximate locations of the twelve hangers and the Ark, as well as the route that Hope had taken to travel from the Ark to hanger six. Information that they would have been able to get anyway, but providing them with a base on which to expand and detail. If the cat-foxes hadn’t just been directly shifted to them then they might have had similar data, but alas they didn’t. And while they did have a path to the centre of Odinsphere, it was apparently not actually that useful to them, many of the passages small service ones that the spider-bots used, and hence were far too small for them. Quite likely deliberate on Odinsphere’s part. The cat-foxes were reconnaissance models, and they could and would be scanning the surrounding areas as they travelled, building a fuller picture of Odinsphere’s layout and filling in their personal maps as they went. Hope would be doing the same.

“For a city this large, surely they would have designed something to allow rapid travel between its sections if they actually wanted it to function properly,” Rachael mused. “I guess we’ll discover them along the way as well. Mind you there is something to appreciating its entirety instead of just skipping past it all.”

‘Correct on all accounts.’

“We’ll see you when you return then,” Clocky stated. “Stay in touch in the meantime.”

“You too,” Crystal replied with a smile. With Hope, staying in touch while apart was now actually possible. It was like they had cellphones again, though the Arkchildren were well advanced beyond that particular technology, even if they also had their restrictions. Such as being near leylines in order to send the signal, though that was not an issue within Odinsphere itself.

Hoisting the backpack onto her back, Crystal did a little bounce, checking its weight and fit. It was perfect of course. Rachael did likewise, and with a quick wave to the others they headed out of the common room and down along the corridor that ran past the rooms that they had been sleeping in, turning off it and heading along a narrower one that ran along the back of the dining hall. At its end was a sealed metal door that had yet to be opened by any of them. Saylin’s lab lay off another branch to the corridor and through a different door. A small panel sat to the side of the door, two green lights blinking at them.

“To whatever we learn,” Rachael said as she stood by the panel, her hand hovering over it.

“And all that we find,” Crystal finished for her.

Rachael placed her hand on the panel, the door opening with a hiss.

Cold air rushed past them, lights flickering on as they stepped through the door. While the hanger facilities that they had been staying in were brightly lit, uniform and sterile, this corridor was not so much. Dark grey metal formed the floor, walls and ceiling, the left wall slopping at an angle just above head height into the ceiling, the equivalent intersection on the right a mass of pipes and clusters of cables running along the length of the corridor. The lights were small affairs, set at regular intervals either on the sloping section of the ceiling or on the floor, brightening what they could manage but still leaving the rest of it rather dull. Ventilation fans set in the ceiling rotated lazily, but the air still smelt stale. Even with all of the extra power, much of Odinsphere was still inoperational, its movement a resource hog.

‘This is one of the maintenance corridors,’ Spectre informed them as they walked along it, Crystal’s heels clicking on the floor. ‘The direction Clocky is going in appears to be initially more focused towards those who once lived here, from what I saw in the scans, but what we are looking for is unlikely to be accessed from that type of area. This direction also has the first routes down.’

Crystal did agree with that assessment. They had talked about it earlier as well, and settled on two criteria for their destination. It’d likely be near the base of Odinsphere, and it would be at the point of highest mana density, give that that would be where the conversion took place. Hence their initial plan was to head down as much as they could, and observe the mana density, something that Crystal and Rachael could sense as well, though the cat-foxes also had scanners for that.

They walled along the corridor, turning numerous corners before it led to a short flight of stairs that doubled back on itself, then along another corridor that was exactly the same, but long and straight without all the turns. The lights flickered on for them as they went, large panels jutting out of the walls with designations printed on them and handles for opening them. A maintenance spider crawled out from one of the ventilation pipes where the fan had stopped moving, looking at them curiously before continuing on past them along the ceiling and disappearing somewhere behind them. It was all kind of eerie, with Crystals light orbs adding to the ambiance.

‘Here.’

They stopped at a plate that was set into the floor in a small alcove of the corridor, the largest that they’d seen this far, with the label BAY-027-06 on it.

“Curious,” Crystal said as she tried the handle. It was locked. She sighed and stepped back.

Rachael giggled as she stepped past her, and knelt down to look at the plate. “I don’t think that that rule applies to this particular trip,” she stated as her hand glowed and she turned the handle, pulling open the plate and hooking it off to the side. She then looked up at Crystal with a sly grin on her face. “Locks have never been an issue for me.”

“So that was how you got into my room that night then,” Crystal said, recalling when she’d found Rachael sitting on her bed all that time ago. She had been certain that she’d locked the door as she always had, but she hadn’t minded, not then nor now.

A steel rung ladder went down through the hole in the floor, descending into the darkness. Even sending her orbs of light down didn’t reveal anything from this angle.

“Down we go then,” Rachael declared, Kitsune hopping onto her shoulder as she descended, Crystal picking up Spectre and following behind her.

Crystal was pretty sure that they had climbed down at least thirty to forty meters before the ladder deposited them on a narrow steel walkway, the entire area still blanketed in darkness outside of what her orbs were illuminating. The walkway went in both directions with no visible terminations or changes either way.

“We’re here and it’s still hiding the area?” she mostly asked to herself as she summoned as many orbs of light as she could manage, somewhere in the order of fifty before she gave up counting, then sending them to spread out from where they were standing.

‘It appears that this would indeed be hanger bay 27,’ Spectre stated, echoing her thoughts as it slowly came into view. Her orbs weren’t the best source of light here, but they were sufficing.

The hanger was massive, much larger than either of the two that she had seen thus far, and more than high enough to be able to hold Light or Ashling in their full forms. Even with the number of orbs that she had formed, she wasn’t able to illuminate the full area of it. The walkway that they were on was around two thirds of the way up the wall, and ran most of its length before descending on one side to a lower one, or finishing at an access door on the other side. The walkway below repeated the same pattern. Sitting in the middle of the hanger, occupying around half of it, was what Crystal would best describe as a battleship, the sort of thing that you’d see in a science fiction movie. It had a lot of similarities to the seafaring kind, but this one was most definitely designed for flight. Cannon turrets were dotted both over the top and along the sides of the ship, the bridge still set at the back of it. It was however still incomplete, its skeleton visible along good section of one side, piles of materials and numerous shipping containers were stacked neatly down below the walkways. Large cranes sat stationary beside it, and what Crystal assumed were exoskeletons sat empty beside them.

‘It’s the prototype super battleship DSS Slayer according to Engineer. As we can see it was never finished, and he isn’t sure if it would even fly or function as intended.’

“Hidden away in the depths, out of sight and mind,” Crystal said with amusement. “To think that we’ve been sleeping just above it too.”

She had no idea how it would fair in a battle against them and Velvet’s dragons, though it wouldn’t be much of a match for Myne. Standard tactics wouldn’t apply, that’s for sure, the sheer difference in size just one of the complications. But that would make it all the more exciting, not that they would ever have the chance to find out.

don’t worry.

there are things even more troublesome than that out there,

that you will face.

but you are my chosen and paladins.

adversity is to be overcome.

it is entirely possible that you will fight with such as this,

rather than against.

Crystal smiled in spite of herself. They could bring it on then.

She did wonder though if a Channeller would even be able to power something of that size.

“There’s an exit down on the floor?” Rachael asked as Crystal dismissed most of the orbs, leaving just the ones closest them and blanketing the unfinished ship in darkness again.

‘Yes. Several. They all seem to head down at some point within sensing range so the choice is entirely yours.’

“We’ll take the one closest to the centre of Odinsphere then,” Rachael stated as she manifested her wings. Crystal did likewise, following her as they flew across the hanger bay and to the far corner, settling down beside the door.

The door brought them out into a living quarters not unlike the one that they had been using in hanger bay six. It was likely that all of the hangers had a similar setup, so that whoever was using/looking after them would be nearby at all times. While the ones that they were using had been clean and tidy when they had arrived, these ones were not. Odinsphere kept the lights off for them, just illuminating the corridor, and for those that they looked into, the floor was an obvious mess and a lot of the fixtures were broken. As to if it was wear and tear and the age of time, or some other event, Crystal had no way of knowing.

The next couple of hours was just spent travelling along one corridor to the next, interspaced with flights of stairs and the occasional detour through a maintenance passageway. After the hanger’s living quarters the corridor was long and boring, broken up by a warehouse section in the middle, Spectre informing them that they were passing through multiple layers. Whatever that meant. They took a brief look in a couple of the warehouses, their identifying feature the large doors on the wall of the corridor and the nexus of passage ways outside them, their rows of shelves filled with metal parts or large metal crates not of much interest to either of them. The corridor finished in another residential section, much larger than the hanger ones, surrounding a spacious central plaza that had a dry fountain in the middle and plots for trees and other plants. Large screens were set up above the fountain, and benches were scattered around the outside. The lighting for it was a warm soft blue compared to the harsh white that the rest of the residential section had, a pleasant change all things considered. Looking through a couple of the rooms near the entrance to the section they discovered scooter style bikes of various sizes, likely intended for the residents to transverse the corridor at a much faster pace than what they had managed.

“On that topic,” Crystal queried, “have we passed any elevators or pod tubes, or whatever they actually are?”

‘Yes, though they have all been inactive. I believe your own flight will serve you better for the section up ahead though from what the scans are showing.’

Crystal saw what Spectre meant as they walked out of the residential section to find themselves on a large walkway overlooking a sheer drop. It was as if someone had taken a part of Odinsphere and broken it into two vertically. There seemed to be some form of ambient light here, and while not bright, it was enough to actually view what was around them. Walkways and windows dotted the wall both on their side and the wall opposite, red lights flashing whenever a set of stairs descended down from one of the walkways like a fire exit on the outside of a building but many times more massive. She could see a few bridges crossing the divide, but most of it was completely separated. The distance between the two sections was a good half kilometre, and from where they were standing she couldn't see where it finished in any direction.

'This scar, as you seem to think of it, which is actually a rather apt description, is one of the many divisions between the many layers of Odinsphere. Good for quickly traversing height, not so useful for distance.'

"Does it go all the way around Odinsphere?" Crystal asked.

'I don't believe so. I can find the lower edge from here.’ There was a pause before Spectre continued. ‘Engineer confirms that the layers aren't uniform.'

"Down we go then I guess."

Manifesting her wings again, Crystal launched herself off the walkway and into the scar, gently gliding her way down. It was a weird experience, the levels of Odinsphere clearly visible as they passed them. Had this entire wall been designed for people to live in, overlooking the vast drop, the view the wall on the other side? Just how big a population was Odinsphere originally designed to support she wondered. Not to mention, how on earth would they be fed? The bridges were just an infrequent as she had seen as they descended, easy enough to avoid, a couple partially collapsed, their remains not visible and probably at the very bottom. It was hard to believe at times that Odinsphere was over a thousand years old, and at other times it was blatantly obvious.

The scar curved around slightly as they neared the bottom of it, the debris from the fallen bridges haven taken out some of the lower walkways and smashed through the windows of the rooms, now strewn inside them. She wasn’t sure why they had actually bothered doing that, as there was no need for the inside of the sphere to conform to the outside. Cones with flashing red lights had been set up around them, as if someone half marked the damage but then left it at that. The spiders perhaps, Odinsphere allocating where to spend it's small energy pool and ignoring everything else that probably wasn't vital. Would that mean that it would become a hive of activity once they reached the tempest? She doubted it would lack energy at that point, assuming that the interface that converted the mana into an useable form for Odinsphere was capable of handling that load.

The floor of the scar was more than just the end of the division, another bank of the scooter style bikes sitting parked up in the middle arranged around a charging station. Some of them were still plugged in, and quite a number were stacked up on shelves, a small hut sitting in the middle of the shelves on the ground, blank terminals visible within. Plots for more plants and trees could be seen around the area, as well as a number of traffic signs. No painted lanes or anything though. Further down Crystal could see another small cluster of buildings, each the size of a small stall.

While the bottom of the wall behind them was more rooms, with a number of doors leading back into the previous layer of Odinsphere, the section in front of them was purely glass windows, two floors up and running in both directions as far as they could see. She could see a blinking panel just down from where they were, and another even further along.

“Through here?” Crystal asked, Spectre nodding in response as Rachael walked over to the panel, activating it, two sections of glass sliding open.

The room inside it appeared to run the entire length of the glass wall, two layers high and open with regular pillars to help support the weight of what was above. Rows and rows of open shelves ran the length of the room, interspaced with large circular basins that had pillars of small shelves or just rods running through them, as well as open rings with lights set into the middle of them. Looking closely Crystal noticed that all of the shelves had lights on the layer above them, and blank panels at the end of each bank. Trolleys sat parked up in orderly rows at stations after every second circular basin, on the other side of which were stacks of metal crates and a small workstation.

“It’s a hydroponic farm isn’t it?” Rachael queried, Crystal agreeing with her assessment. “A very large one, but likely not the only one either.”

‘Indeed. One for every sector according to Architect.’

This one looked like it had been set up, but never used. Crystal was curious as to how many people Odinsphere actually had inside it at its peak, which was probably when it was being built. The shattering would have changed everything for them, yet here it still was. What had caused them to eventually give up on the floating city, and had it even been in the air by that point? It would certainly have a story to tell, if it ever chose to do so.

They walked their way carefully through the farm, Crystal providing the light once they were far enough away from the windows, Odinsphere still deeming any additional light for them unnecessary. The rear end of the farm was back to the metal doors, Spectre directing them to one of the smaller ones, a maintenance room with a plate on the floor that revealed another steel rung ladder heading down when it was opened. The underneath of the farm was a mass of cable and pipes, the unseen parts of the hydroponic beds, which they weaved their way through for another few minutes till they reached another floor plate, this one locked like the first one that they had passed through, and labelled GBH-045-03. Shrugging Rachel opened it, and they passed through, closing it behind them.

“Who originally designed this place?” Crystal wondered as they made there way though banks of what she was pretty sure were power transformers, for regulating the supply to the farm and the surrounding area. The layout was both functional, and also a mess. Or perhaps it was just their desire for the quickest route.

‘You’re right on the mark as to what they are,’ Spectre replied. ‘The Odinsphere is the brain child of Dr Aranei Mordlaw,’ he then added.

Crystal recognised that name. She’d seen it mentioned in passing in a newspaper, the one in which she’d seen a picture of an Arkchild. Made sense she guessed. If she had the funds and means to build things like the cat-foxes, then Odinsphere was definitely plausible.

They left the plant room via the normal means, the door placing them into another corridor network, this one seeming to be a cross between the flashier style of the residential ones and the utilitarian style of the maintenance corridors. There were a lot of rooms branching off it, as expected, most of them appearing to be workshops of varying purposes or storerooms. They exited out of one of the smaller branches and into a larger one, the corridor twice the height and width of what they’d been used to. Following it along they came out into a large open space, another nexus of paths, a station of the scooter style bikes off on one side, a bank of blank terminals on the other, and a collection of elevator tubes in the middle, coming down out of the ceiling and going through the floor, a door on each at ground level.

“A commute hub,” Rachael observed.

This was the first time that they’d actually seen the elevator equivalents, all of the others they assumed being behind closed doors that they’d passed. Their activation panels were all quiet, Odinsphere not providing any power to that network. There must be one somewhere near the hanger bay as well, though she couldn’t think of where, probably near the direction that Clocky and the others were exploring. Did that also mean that there were other chambers of significance in this area as well, given that people would have gathered at this point every day?

The hairs on her neck suddenly pricked up, Crystal spinning around just in time to see the air split apart behind them, three figures walking out through the tear in reality. A large metallic snow wolf as tall as she was, with a metallic bat like creature riding on its back, and two woman, both with cat features. The rift behind them closed as they stopped, looking them over with curiosity.

Crystal stepped back, dropping into a defensive stance, Rachael likewise. She had no idea who these people were, but there wasn’t meant to be any other people in Odinsphere, and these two had just appeared out of nowhere.

“Well, well, I was wondering who it was who was moving my home,” the leading woman stated with an amused grin.

mogust

I debated for quite a while as to whether or not she would actually come. The answer was always obvious though. There was no way that she wouldn't. It is her home, and even if she was just told what was going on, she would still want to come and see. So, that she did ^^ As to why it took her so long, we'll she's been busy.

(For those wondering who it is, all will be revealed in the next chapter.)

We get to see more of Odinsphere, and some of the secrets that it holds (and a whole lot of its more boring nature as well), of which it has plenty more.

As always, thanks for reading, and comments are welcome.

The next chapter (62 - Missing Link) will be up later this week.