Vivien passed through the portal out of the Ginnungagap into the sky over a snowy landscape. She fired her thrusters, slowing her descent as she scanned the ground below. Despite the thick snow she could easily see that this was once a city, pieces of buildings poked out here and there. It was like looking at a corpse; which, it was. The corpse of the dreams and lives of those who dared rebel against the Economic Council. This was Veles. 

“According to information I skimmed during my brief visit to Mittila, there should be an eitr font near here.”

“Viv, I can’t see,” said Ben. 

“Here, I forgot that the link could get disrupted by void travel,” Vivien focused in and reestablished her pilot’s link to her body’s external sensors. “We’ll be safe here once we find the font.”

Ben watched as Vivien flew lower, staying just above the suggestions of streets left under the snow. “It’s pretty…” 

“It’s also safe. This planet is considered off limits to any attempts at settlement or mineral exploitation.” Vivien slowed as she neared a sheer rock wall of a plateau that reached far up from street level. “If we’re lucky, most of the systems will be working inside. I'll be just a moment.”

Vivien reached out for anything still running within the complex. From her initial ping she was aware of a few old Alfar units, and with the eitr font potentially deep within the earth she connected to one of them. The machine was over a decade out of date and had multiple non-standard repairs done to it… There was also a frozen corpse inside of the pilot's seat. Even with the damage from the shots that killed the pilot, the Alfar was capable of movement, and so she moved the machine towards a freight elevator. With a loud screech the freight elevator opened and she looked inside. The lift itself had fallen down some distance.

“Pilot, I–”

“Viv! I was getting worried!” shouted Ben.

“Pilot, I've only been gone a couple minutes.”

“Got worried…”

Vivien sighed. “It’s okay. I'm here, and I am never going to leave you.” She paused to let her pilot whine happily. “Since you are going to be my pilot, you will need to learn how to use that Einherjar. We'll start with something basic.”

“Okay. I can't really feel the other set of arms though.”

“You'll be able to eventually, I'll make sure of that. But right now I want you to turn on one of the eitr blades. If I recall, you're left handed?”

“I am, yeah. How do I do that?”

“Open your left hand. Your nervous system is directly connected to my machine. Once you've opened your hand, focus on the image of a shaft of light extruding for your palm. The systems in the Einherjar will respond.”

Ben opened their hand, fingers pulling back just a little further than the Einherjar's would go, then  did as they were told. The shield that prevented detritus from entering the emitter dilated, then a flow of crimson eitr pushed out. 

“I did it…” Ben turned their hand, marveling at it. 

“Good girl. Now, use that to cut a hole in the door in front of you. The font is deeper down…” Vivien paused, her focus going back to the room that her pilot would be entering. “You may see some disturbing things in here, but I'm going to obscure them from your vision.”

Ben pushed the eitr blade through the heavy metal door to the complex. “Okay.” They pulled the blade across in a wide arc, leaving a gap partially closed by white hot, liquid metal.

“I've hidden the offending objects from your senses, you can come inside now.”

They could feel Vivien's influence, turning off the emitter in their left hand, then gently guiding them to push the cut out section of the door in. The hunk of metal fell onto the concrete of the complex's floor with a heavy thud. They bent down and walked inside as a set of floodlights on the Einherjar turned on, illuminating the darkness within. Several locations in the room were partially blurred in their vision. On some level Ben was aware that Vivien was likely hiding corpses… For that, they were thankful.

“The way down is over here.” Vivien moved the alfar she'd commandeered out of the way. “I'm going to take control again, try to pay attention to what this next part feels like.”

“Okay,” said Ben, loosening their connection to the Einherjar.

“I'll be using the boosters as we descend. It's one of the less intuitive parts of operating one of these for most humans.”

Vivien fired her boosters before stepping off into the freight shaft. On the way down, they passed several floors that would have been used by the prior inhabitants for all the requirements of human life. As the bottom and the wreck of the lift itself neared, Vivien fired her boosters harder, letting them land as gently as a several ton war machine could. 

“I'm giving you control again. Do as you did topside and cut through the debris in our way.”

Ben nodded inside of the Einherjar, then manifested the left hand blade again. “Viv, since I'm your pilot… Does that mean I'm gonna get a callsign? And also, what’s this Einherjar called?”

Vivien hadn't really thought of that. Until she'd seen Nimue in that body on Mittila, she'd considered the Einherjar her body. She took the time to think on it as her pilot clumsily cut through the twisted metal of the fallen freight elevator. Ben slipped as a cut beam robbed the lift of any remaining structural integrity, forcing Vivien to briefly assert control to steady the machine. 

“Thank you, Viv… I’m sorry,” mumbled Ben. 

Don't worry about it, Emrys,” replied Vivien.

“Emrys?” asked Ben.

“Yes, Emrys, that's your callsign. Now, the door to the font needs to be opened. The reactor is, unfortunately, not running.”

“Okay.” Emrys set about their task. “And what about the Einherjar?”

“The Myrddin. In the stories I took my name from, both that and your callsign are names for the fictional Vivien's lover.” She sent signals to Emrys’ nerves to mimic the sensation of a hand gently touching their cheek. “The relationship between a pilot and the mind in their machine is similarly intimate.”

“Your lover…” mumbled Emrys.

They pushed the cutout into the next room, and was bathed in light. The eitr was visible through a huge pane of glass that composed the opposite wall. The pair stepped into the room, the roof just shy of being too low for the Myrddin to stand. 

“Emrys, the temperature here is within normal limits for a human. I’m going to need your help to  restart the reactor.” 

The Myrddin knelt down, its torso opening and distorting Emrys, the cables that had restrained them now carefully placing them on the floor. Emrys felt the cold stone beneath their feet; feet, as in two of them. They winced as the connection to the Myrddin was cut, those specialized cables pulling back in with most of the others save the ones that kept them supported. 

“My leg… How?” they asked.

“Look down, babe. You are now, in part, like the Myrddin.”

Emrys looked down at their nude body, down to their legs. The right leg was normal up until the knee, where it had been replaced by smooth, dark metal. It had been severed near the top of the calf, but the metal had grown up to consume the joint. They felt a mixture of fascination and panic, but the fear gave way to the awe of being able to feel the limb. Even though it was metal, it felt barely different than their other leg. Not that anything felt quite right. They’d been connected to the Myrddin since just after VIvien had saved them and it had left them changed, something was different beyond the healed leg and the points where they had plugged into the Einherjar. They looked back down at the prosthetic that had grown into place on their right leg, it felt more real than the rest of their body…

“This has to be even better than the ones that Necker makes!” said Emrys. 

“Good, only the best for my pilot. Now, I'm going to guide you through restarting the reactor. The model is old, but that just means it's simpler.”

With Vivien guiding them, Emrys moved to a nearby console and began the process of restarting the machine. When the moment arrived, they threw the switch to connect the reactor to the complex's energy grid. Lights clicked on throughout, and Vivien slid into the systems as they came online. The HVAC sputtered before coming to life, but soon the air quality began to improve and the temperature started to level out through the complex. Vivien also noted where the corpses of the former occupants were as she looked for food and clothing for Emrys. She would need to keep the dead from their sight until they were more stable. 

“Emrys, I've found you somewhere to rest and a stockpile of food that should still be edible. Follow the line.”

Emrys nodded and watched the guide line return to their vision. They smiled and followed the path obediently, ignoring anything else. Soon they reached a bedroom, a private one at that. It appeared to have belonged to a woman, judging by some dust covered old photos.

“The previous owner's clothing should fit you. Emrys, are you tired? The bed appears to be in good condition as well.”

“Mhm, yeah I am, Viv,” said Emrys, sitting on the edge of the bed. 

“Then rest. I should have the rest of the complex's amenities functional by the time you wake.”

Emrys climbed under the old blankets, ignoring the mustiness of them. It didn't really matter if they weren't perfect. It was the first good bed they'd been allowed since before the Shahrat was taken into the Nastrond Anomaly. They closed their eyes, then felt the phantom sensation of Vivien's lips against their own. 

“Sleep well, Emrys.”