Lilian and Angel drew in sharp breaths in unison. A grin split the Seeker’s face and he leaned forward, gripping the edges of the chair. “Now you’re speaking my language. Can you tell me anything about the relic? They’re much harder to decipher than artifacts, so if I know what it used to do and how it worked, it’ll be of more use to me.”

“This can be arranged, so long as you repair the catacomb with the energy source in the woman’s pack.”

Angel nodded. “Deal, with one more condition. You let us leave without any hinderance.”

“Deal accepted. You will repair the catacomb. In return, you will be offered safe passage and the information that you request.”

“Sounds good to me,” Angel said. “So, where can I hook the energy source up to? Do I just put it directly into the core?”

“No. That is a much shorter term solution. There is an energy storage in a hidden passage at the back of this room. There is a port that you can insert the power source into. The system can then be activated from this room.”

As the robotic voice emitted from the orb, a faint rumble shook the room. Part of the wall behind the screens slid away, revealing a thin passage. It wasn’t long, and Angel could vaguely make out a small room humming with dim energy at the end of it.

“Could you go stick the canister into whatever this port is?” Angel asked. “I’ll activate the thing from over here once you do. I want to keep an eye on both rooms in case something goes wrong.”

Lilian frowned, then gave him a small nod. She pulled the wrapped glass canister out, then stepped around the computer screens and headed down the tunnel.

“I have a question,” Angel said, his tone hushed. “When you connect to the System, can you obtain information about people using it? Answer through text.”

There was a short pause. Then the screen went blank and words started to appear upon it.

Yes, but they need to be present while a connection to the System is active. The information will also be somewhat basic.

“That’s fine,” Angel whispered. “I want one more thing. Once you get repaired, I want you to download all the information you can about the woman I am traveling with. Save it in my system artifact.”

“Hey, Angel?” Lilian called. “I think I found the port. It’s a big hole in the center of the room.”

“Put the canister in,” Angel called back, not looking away from the screen.

Very well. This service will not be difficult, so I will add it to our deal.

“Much appreciated. Never knew a catacomb could be so reasonable. Maybe I should try to talk to you guys more often.”

The screen suddenly flared with blue light. A hum built up from the room across the hall, slowly building in volume.

“It’s in!” Lilian called. At the same time, the screen turned bright white, erasing all traces of Angel’s conversation with it. New words traced themselves across it once more.

Power source detected.

Error: Source type is not appropriate.

Would you like to convert it for usage, or dispose of the source safely?

[Convert] [Dispose]

Angel tapped the first button. The words vanished as the humming grew louder. It grew to a crescendo. All of the monitors flickered to life as a ripple of white energy passed through the ground.

Runes flashed to life beneath his feet before fading away a moment later as the wave passed them. The humming lowered in volume until it faded into the background. In the distance, Angel heard the familiar noises of Magitech machinery churn to life.

“Everything okay up there?” Lilian called.

“All good,” Angel replied. “What about you?”

“Nothing seems like it’s about to blow up.”

“Then you can probably come back up here,” Angel said. “I think it worked.”

“It did,” the robotic voice said. “Power levels are now all operational. The catacomb is running at low power once more. Your assistance is appreciated.”

“Glad to hear it,” Angel said. “So, about my payment…”

“It is waiting for you in the core room. All of the information you requested has been imprinted into your system artifact. I will now disconnect from your artifact and shut this room down in order to save power. Please make your way out of the catacomb. The defenses will remain inactive for ten minutes.”

One by one, each of the screens blinked out. Lilian stepped into the room right as the tube disconnected from the orb, rattling as it slipped across the ground and disappeared back into the hole that it had emerged from.

Angel grabbed his orb, twisting it back shut and putting it into his travel pack. “We’ve got ten minutes, and my goodies are waiting for us. Let’s get a move on.”

“I can’t believe that actually worked,” Lilian said as they rushed back up the plain pathway towards the core. “Who reasons with a catacomb?”

“Me, apparently,” Angel replied. “Desperation will do a lot of things to people, and apparently catacombs are no exception from that. The thing that surprises me the most is that the catacomb had enough intelligence to communicate with us even though it wasn’t even a Great Catacomb.”

They arrived at the thin pathway that led across the pit to the catacomb’s core and started across it, moving slower to keep their balance. When they reached the core’s circular platform, a long, spindly arm descended from the ceiling.

It was made up of thin metal tubes, with tubes and wires forming strange muscles and veins around it. Angel nearly blasted the arm with a bolt of lightning before he realized that it was holding something.

The arm stopped directly before them, slowly opening its three fingers to drop a metal cylinder the size of a sword’s hilt in Angel’s hands. It was completely covered with intricate lines of Old World Magic.

Angel tossed the tube into his pack as the arm retracted, vanishing back into the darkness of the ceiling. “That wasn’t creepy in the slightest.”

“Just keep moving,” Lilian said, making her way across the pathway towards the other side of the huge pit. “I don’t want to get trapped in here and have to fight our way out. I’ve got little enough energy left as it is.”

Angel shrugged and followed after her. They backtracked their way through the rest of the catacomb. Faint clouds of steam had already started to float at the ceiling as the machinery in the walls churned. The flickers of magic occasionally pulsed through the components and caught Angel’s eye, but it was less vibrant than he was used to.

Luckily, it looked like the catacomb had kept its promise of keeping all the defenses deactivated. Nothing stopped them as they stepped over the door and into the first room, where the wreckage of the merchant’s caravan still rested. The lines of Old World Magic on the floor had turned gray and inactive.

“Well, would you look at that,” Angel said, striding across the room and hopping up into the caravan to grab another magic filled glass tube. “What a nice catacomb.”

“There’s a sentence that has never been uttered before,” Lilian said, taking the tube from Angel as he offered it to her.

“And it probably won’t be uttered again,” Angel admitted. “Come on. We’ve got what we came here for, so there’s no point waiting around for someone to show up.”

Lilian nodded. She wrapped the new glass canister and put it away in her bag. They slipped out of the catacomb and back into the hot desert sun.

“I’ll take a look at you when we settle down for the night,” Angel said as he set his board down and she activated her skates. “Maybe we can push back your expiration date to take some stress off you.”

“You make it sound like I’m a cut of meat that’s about to go bad,” Lilian said.

Angel raised an eyebrow at her. She smacked him in the shoulder, drawing a chuckle out of the Seeker.

“Don’t worry, Lilian. I’ll get you fixed up,” Angel said, a note of seriousness entering his voice. He leaned forward, activating the runes on his board and launching into the desert with Lilian hot on his heels.