He checked on his Mana bar and found it a few ticks shy of full. Not something that would take more than a few minutes to fill back up. Ladybug trailed along beside him as he stepped away from the camp. The footsteps of both Rittan and Kalter followed moments later.

He angled himself in the direction of the [Summon Pit]. Voithos shield or not, it was better to keep as many barriers between him and the potential threat as possible. Haiko didn’t sound particularly violent from what he’d heard so far, but he’d made that mistake once already, and there was always the chance that Kalter had presented her friend in a more friendly light.

“I need to know more about the person we’re summoning—a lot more,” August said, stopping next to the pit. “I don’t want to mess it up or accidentally summon the wrong person.”

Rittan didn’t say anything to discredit his request, likely recalling what they’d spoken about directly prior to Kalters own summoning. Rittan hadn’t known Kalter personally, hadn’t seen more than the footage spread across the news about her. He’d known her as a leader of the rogue Voithos and one who was trying to save her kind from being decommissioned. The picture he’d painted, and one he might well have believed, was that of a small disenfranchised group trying to stave off destruction from a larger threat.

The problem was that neither of them had followed that line of thought to its conclusion. Given the all-encompassing hold that the Gaians had over their creations, any break off group that sought to establish itself in that world would have had to use force because negotiating clearly hadn’t worked.

Kalter was violent for the sake of it, and she had shown herself capable of cooperation for the most part, but her philosophy of life was at odds with their own. Kalter represented a crack in the group, and he didn’t want to make that crack larger by thoughtlessly bringing more people to the island who would make working together more difficult.

“Like what?” Kalter murmured.

“We can start with your friend’s disposition?” August said, keeping it somewhat vague. “What kind of person were they?”

“Smug?” Kalter said, touching two fingers to her bottom lip. “I mean; she was always smiling when we met—like she knew something that I didn’t. I’m certain that she did it to annoy me.”

August pulled his eyebrows together because it didn’t really tell him anything useful, but when Kalter spotted the look, she flushed, embarrassed by her answer. Kalter coughed into her hand in an attempt to gather herself before pressing onwards.

“Haiko was smart, she understood people and what made them move,” Kalter said, forging ahead. “She was… she found me after my first big mistake. If she hadn’t hidden me, I would have been killed by the security forces long before I was decommissioned.”

That was better information, and it helped him get a better idea of what she would be like. Haiko was willing to bring in somebody who was in trouble, even given the consequences that might befall her.

“You said that she was always stopping you from getting into trouble,” August said, remembering her words from earlier. “Was she a part of your movement?”

“She helped us many times,” Kalter said, looking away for a moment. “But she wasn’t a part of our day to day operations, at least. Haiko would pass along information to us from above, find people who sympathised with our cause, and provide us with places to stay when she could manage it—she had a lot of connections.”

“You mentioned she was an entertainer?” Rittan said, speaking up. “Those connections were her clients?”

“Yeah,” Kalter said, no longer making eye contact. “People would tell her things when they met with her, the kinds of things that would destroy careers. Through her work, she had her finger on the pulse of the 87th finger, and through that, all of Hekaton.”

Haiko would be someone who sympathised with Kalter, but from what she’d said, she should act as something of a restraining force as well. Rittan was in that role already to some extent, but having no prior history with each other, that could only go so far. August was starting to think this might not be such a bad idea.

“To think she would be the one who would save you, and you would become friends.” Rittan said smiling, “A meeting written by fate.”

“Yeah,” Kalter said, swallowing. “I—In the end, they discovered she was helping us, long before they caught up to our group.”

“I see,” Rittan said, ducking his head. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Okay,” August said before they could linger on it any longer. “I’m getting an idea of what she’s like as a person; what does she look like?”

“Haiko was taller than I am, and her skin tone was three shades darker but more of a grey hue,” Kalter said, closing her eyes for a moment. “Black hair, down to the small of her back, it was always in a different style of braid—is that enough?”

August had some trouble picturing what kind of hair she had, but the grey hued skin seemed to stand out in his mind.

“Smug, grey skin, black hair in a braid, taller than you,” August said, summarising it. “Sound right?”

“Yeah,” Kalter said, hands clenched by her sides. “Can you really—is this going to work?”

“I did it with you,” August said, taking a deep breath. “Let’s see if I can do it again.”

He knelt down beside the pit and placed his arm inside. Rittan moved closer, kneeling beside him, apparently taking his role as a shield pretty seriously. August repeated the mantra inside his mind, doing his best to picture all of the characteristics of Haiko. Once he was sure he had it, he opened his eyes.

“[Summon],” August said as the pit grew bright.

August tried to pull his arm back, but he found it stuck, and his a surge of panic grew inside him. The runes rushed over the pit, following the patterns that were already there and renewing the engravings. The light reached the bottom of the pit, coalescing into a bright spot—and then a Voithos was present, lying at the bottom of the pit, just as Rittan once had.

August ripped his arm back, finally able to move, and took three steps back from the pit, putting both Rittan and Kalter between him and the new arrival. Kalter watched him go, an uncomfortable look on her face, while Rittan pushed himself up to his feet.

“Haiko?” Kalter said, kneeling down beside the pit.

A woman spoke, sounding equal parts confused and alarmed.

“I’m naked, covered in dirt, and sitting in the bottom of a hole,” Haiko managed, sounding tired. “Kalter, what have you done this time?”