I radioed to 03 to produce replacement parts before I arrived, entering the hanger and moving to the human living space. Looking through the various cameras set up in the facility and its drones allowed me to locate everyone quickly. A shared cafeteria was operational now, and most of the acolytes crowded inside, sitting around tablets and discussing things animatedly.

Tavi drew a sigil from a book on the floor. He held a piece of black chalk, flecked with silver, walking along the floor to trace lines beside him, all while holding a tablet like an open book. I would have to have a bot remove the sigil later. And probably give them access to a workroom, so that they didn’t track any disease inside.

Mathias stared, expression dull, sitting among the watching acolytes. Fluorescent light and all white walls made the room sterile. All that occupied the room besides the acolytes was a non operational vending station for food, rows of tables, and painted lines along the floor directing them to different areas of the ship.

I shot down the halls. They crawled as always with hundreds of the starfish mechs, the ceiling black and undulating in mechanical motion. Every hour, the ship neared its return to service, repaired panel by panel and cable by cable. Then we could launch to orbit and bombard the Templars into dust.

When I entered the room, the Acolytes looking at me nearly jumped, paling. My head and left arm were still missing, only slowly recovering. I estimated that i would reach full health in a day if I didn’t make use of the [Skeletal Repair] skill that I consolidated.

Tavi looked at me for only a moment before turning back to his work. He set the tablet down, grabbing a bottle and pouring it into the sigil. A scrying pool bloomed, much more complex than the smaller one Tobias had cast previously. A portal of vision spread out, showing the environment stretching outward for hundreds of feet. One stopped for a moment over the ruins of the town we had occupied previously. All that remained was the church, covered in plates of metal.

“See?” Tavi turned to Mathias, who was staring at me. “No one is coming. Not even a single person investigating. As far as they know, we’re days over the border at this point.”

“What the hell happened to you?” Mathias asked me. He was paying no attention to Tavi.

//The second floor of the dungeon exceeded my expectations. Come with me. I predict that many of our undead will be lost in taking the second floor. I will need you to create replacements.// Several acolytes seemed unnerved at me speaking — likely because of the missing head component. I would need to build a replacement for that soon.

“No.” Mathias said, frowning.

//You will progress your class.// I offered, aiming to pacify him into complying.

“You don’t have a — you don’t have a tank, any support, control spells… we’re totally unequipped to clear the dungeon. The first floor, fine, but without a proper team, you’re just asking for it.” Mathias replied.

//We will bring the undead.

Mathias was about to open his mouth to reply, but Tavi spoke first.

“I’ll go.” He gave a head nod to Mathias, dropping his chalk, and clapped his hands together to free them of the residue.

//Are you capable of raising wights?// I asked, my focus switching to Tavi.

“I am now.” He walked to the tablet, raising it smugly. “Now that Mathias can’t hoard all the knowledge for himself.”

“I told you — I have hoarded nothing!” Mathias said, his voice rising an octave towards the end of his sentence.

//Let’s go.// I said, without further preamble. Over the radio, I ordered some starfish to bring us the blanket and the cart. We would bring the Templars, but leave the golems and qilin here to defend the ship and Tobias.

Tavi shared a look with Mathias, then shrugged, before following me out through the halls. A drone delivered a replacement arm to a workshop room. I entered behind it, seizing control of the room from the generic AI, stepping into the center of the room. Arms deployed from the ceiling, mechanical and menacing, as they descended around me for repairs.

//I suggest you remain behind the glass.// I warned Tavi, who had wandered into the room and was staring up at the arms. He stepped back into the watching room.

I looked at my body from the perspective of the control center, lowering my replacement arm down. With mechanical fingers for careful manipulation, I attached the mechatronic connections one at a time. [Skeletal Regeneration] helped me, the black smoke quickly spreading to new connections and fusing them together. I pressed the arm into place, letting regeneration secure the bond enough that it no longer had to be supported.

A second drone brought the replacement head in. I worked to attach it quickly. I booted a diagnostic as I exited the room, releasing the controls.

My arm moved on its own through several testing patterns as my display flashed a variety of lights. Sensory suites bombarded me with information as they launched one by one and calibrated their inputs. Tavi ducked as my arm swung out, every joint being tested in sequence.

“Is your arm supposed to bend like that?” He asked. It was pointing behind me, bent at a 90-degree angle at the elbow.

//It is within normal parameters.// I paused for a second to connect my voice to the speakers around the compound before broadcasting. //All Templars to the cart.//

The cart had arrived while we were walking, freed of the Qilin and loaded with the blanket and the reagents from Tobias’s back — minus a sample of each so that 03 could begin producing them. Many of them were mundane chemicals, such as the chalk they used, a charcoal composite flecked with silver dust. We had already begun producing more of those. The others required more study.

Why these materials were components to rituals, I did not know. Hopefully AI615 could answer those questions when we restored her to service tonight.