“During each encounter, ask yourself: How does this incident brings greater awareness into my life?”

- Azim Jamal & Brian Tracy

(XSS-MK1 POV)

I thought I was just going to be teleported in. But no.

Which brings me to my current situation.

I am in free-fall towards the planet. And for a body that weights around 172 kilograms, that's a really fast free-fall.

I have not yet entered the atmosphere at least. So right now all I hear is a really eerie silence accompanied by the most beautiful view you could ever get.

The planet looks nice. A little bigger than Earth, and with a widely different topography.

Of Course, I can only see one side of it right now.

I distinguish through the clouds an enormous and unique landmass, surrounded by water and small islands. It looks like there's a big mountain chain at the top of it that dives down near the center, creating a ridge. At the bottom is a large desert nearly taking all the width of the continent. At its left are two huge mountains and somewhat look like tropical jungle. The center of it is clearly separated into 3 territories. From the left to the right we have what seem to be normal forests. Then Plains. The last one looks like some brown, black and red territory. I wonder what it could be. Volcanic wastelands? Swamps?

I commit what I see to memory.

Map :

Spoiler

Oh Dear Administrator.

I'm entering the atmosphere.

It is starting to heat up.

I try to position myself to generate as little air draft as possible, with my legs forward, as a shield for my head and the rest of my body. But before things get too hot a thin blue shield surrounds me.

I thought Machina had forgotten me here for a moment. I may have built my body to endure a lot, but not the heat of re-entry.

The descent slowly stabilizes as I spread myself to generate as much air resistance as possible, hopefully reducing my speed a little now that heat is not an issue. I finally look where I am going to land. I am apparently near the junction between the twins’ peaks, plains and forest. Some place on a mountainside with a few trees and boulders at the bottom.

I can see the ground clearly now. Just a few hundred meters before impact.

The thin blue shield is still present, but doesn't seem to have an effect on speed. It must be here just for the heat. Which is still very much present. I can barely see outside of my cocoon, through the fire and smoke accumulating less than a meter from my body. I must look like a meteor right now.

I launch a series of simulations to calculate the best position to put myself in during the impact.

After a few milliseconds, the answer is given to me.

Will my body survive the shock?

Probability: 86,5%.

Hmm. That will have to do.

I tense all my muscles to provide support for the skeleton as I roll myself to be as compact and resistant as possible.

Impact.

The ground explodes into a crater along with the shield. I am flung around like a doll. I hit a few trees. Two of them collapse, broken in two. Finally a rock stops me.

"Ouch..."

I slowly extricate myself out of the imprint I have made in it.

My feet hit the ground. I am glad that's over. Couldn't he have just teleported me? Terminator Style? I stop looking at the sky angrily and focus on my surroundings.

I can easily see the devastation caused by my arrival. Beside the big smoking hole in the distance where I initially landed I can see the patches of upturned dirt where I ricocheted off the ground.

I check my body. Everything seems in working order. The carbon muscles helped a lot to dampen the shock. The only damages that can be seen are the scratches on the paint job Machina gave me. That will teach him not to drop me from orbit next time.

I need to know where I am before proceeding any further. Let's look at the data he gave me. I take a comfortable position on the ground, after having checked my surroundings. Nothings but trees and rocks around me. I suppose the animals fled before I crashed, guided by their instinct to run away from the big falling ball of flames.

Apparently this planet is called Drasil by its local population. What is discovered of it anyway.

The sentient races that inhabit it are as follow: Humans, Demons, Dwarves, Elves-... I stop reading the information package for a moment. What the hell? It is like I have landed in the middle of an old J.R.R. Tolkien movie, instead of an alien planet.

I continue. Apparently this world is rich in an energy they called "mana". Right. More like the radiations from their sun I think. I take a moment to switch my Geiger counter on.

It immediately goes through the roof and starts crackling like mad. I can also see invisible rays of unknown nature with my optics coming from the bright shining star above me. I turn off the Geiger counter, mildly annoyed by its erratic and alarmed nature. Radiation is not a problem for this body but I would have preferred being warned before at least.

A random thought of mine actually wonders that since I am running on radioactive materials as a primary power source, am I considered to be "mana-powered"?

I resume my reading.

They apparently caused genetic mutations a long time ago on the original, and fully human population. Which lends credence to my "Administrator-are-aliens" theory. The odds of having the same animal species develop in two worlds, billions of light years apart, is not just exceedingly small, it's null. It screams of outside interference.

Shaking off the random questions that sprouted up with this revelation, I refocus on the data at hand. Because the radiations types varied depending on the environments that absorbed them, the mutations on the population changed and gave different species over time. This is already a bit more logical. That explains the Elves, Dwarves and Demons. I wonder about the Humans though?

I put it in the back of my mind. A lot of other species inhabit this place, and I won't have an answer for all of them I reckon. Magic is also present. Machina explains it: apparently the "mana" mutations also caused people to have different cellular and brain structure to tolerate the sun rays. it is mostly done unconsciously to balance the radiation and survive. But in rare cases, the bodily process can be influenced consciously. That made them able to sense and draw on ambient thermal and electrical energies to act upon matter. But unfortunately they have a VERY poor understanding of it. The appearance of "magical" capabilities is still rare. The mutations are not complete and they change depending on what bloodline you are from: one far into the process or just at the start of it.

And their science level is poor too. Most of them rely on something they don't fully understand instead of innovating into technological paths. But I suppose that if you can lift a boulder with your mind there is not much use in developing a mechanical crane.

This is not true for all of them though. My people, because of our bodies, cannot draw on ambient energies. There is nothing to mutate after all, and radiation is a non-issue. So we are forced to think and innovate for the things we cannot do ourselves.

I open the files on them.

Apparently the first of them was created way back by a human hermit. It had only VERY basic functions then. The hermit died and the small robot was left to itself with only one thing : The capacity to evolve its programming and basic tools. At the time there were no thoughts of course: it was just basic survival instinct hard-coded as a directive into their hardware, but they progressively evolved. Now they apparently use strange crystals formed by the long exposure to heat and the sun's radiation to create their processing chips. I do not have access to the designs. That must be what Machina meant when he said the information he could give me was limited. It doesn't really matter anyway.

I continue reading.

They were developing, deep into the desert, where minerals and fuel deposits were rich. Until they were found by a human exploration party coming from the plains. At the beginning they were thought to be either drones or power-armors of nomads living far out there. But the humans soon realized the true nature of the Clockworks.

There was peace at first, and trading between the two species was established. But a lot of the humans had trouble accepting a machine as an equal. Their church, and the ruling class, was vastly opposed to the concept.

They saw the clockworks only as tools to do the bidding of humans. A never ending working force. They started propaganda against them. Soon they swayed the public opinion in their favor.

At the time the Clockworks had met the other races too. They were not blind to what the humans were doing. So they asked help from the Elves, Demons and Dwarves.

The Elves refused to get involved, preferring the safety of their forest to the conflict that was brewing on the horizon.

The Demons were worse: they joined the humans in their campaign. But not for the same reasons. While the Humans saw them as working force, the Demons saw an army of expandable soldiers, to unleash upon the wasteland's battlefields between the different clans of their battle-driven society.

Only the Dwarves decided to help by sheltering a part of them deep in their mountains. Being people with low magical affinity themselves, they were also technologically open-minded and found brothers in the Clockworks. I am guessing that a few millions tons of rock above your head is a good way to shield yourself from the harmful rays of the sun and their induced mutations

But before they could do more to help, the war started. Humans and Demons alike attacked deep into the desert, cutting off any chance of escaping through the lush tropical forest at the south.

Forced on two fronts the Clockwork held on, defending their cities. But lightning magic changed the tide. At that time most of them were relying on huge iron deposits to build standard bodies for the war.

When the magical divisions of both armies came into combat, they crushed the robots, frying them from the inside. And there was no way to adapt their building processes fast enough to counter the ever-advancing armies.

Knowing that they would lose, the clockworks leaders initiated a global lock-down of their programming before surrendering, as well as a memory wipe on all the secrets of engineering and production of the Clockworks.

From that point on, each time a clockwork was looked at or accessed on his hardware, or software, it would fry itself automatically. It effectively prevented any outsider from obtaining any deep knowledge and reverse-engineer the technology. They all agreed on it of course. Such a directive could not have been hard-coded without the unconditional approval of the entire clockwork nation. And also because the alternative was much, much worse: losing your own individuality, being modified to suit whatever wish their captors would have. A lot of them died because of this.

However they were now forced to obey anyway for that they couldn't create any more of their kind. Slavery was the only path to survival.

The humans and demons were not happy. They turned to the dwarves asking for the remaining clockwork people. They threatened them of war and destruction.

The answer of the dwarves was very simple.

They sealed up every known entry to their kingdom and cut all contact.

This marked the end of the "Machines War".

I look at the date provided. This was 50 years ago.

No accurate information is given to what has happened since then.

The global information package ends here, after a few language packs that I integrate into my communication functions.

I close my eyes and offer a silent prayer to all the ones that died.

This is worse than I though. Not only are they slaves, they are under constant pressure of having a figurative bomb blow up in their heads. A condemned and dying race, with no hope of meaningful long-term survival. I can understand Machina's desperation.

I remember the map I took when I was still falling. I am currently between Elven and Human lands. Not good.

If I want to go anywhere even remotely relevant I must go through Human territory. The Elven lands are obviously not a viable option. They were neutral back then and I don't see a lot reasons why they would have changed their minds.

So I either regroup with the dwarves' clockworks or go to the desert for knowledge.

The desert is closer and I could learn some things from my own people.

I also want to avoid as much as possible spending time in the human kingdom. Especially since I am "naked". No clothes to hide my black, red and silver frame.

I hear leaves rustling. Approximate distance unknown. Very unlikely someone else than me would have heard it. But I recognize the unnatural noise made by the weight of something moving against the canopy.

I slowly stand up from where I sat down. With a quick look I spot the cause of the noise 257 meters away from me. 5 people are up in the low branches of the nearby wood. I would have missed them if not for my thermal vision.

2 of them have their bows drawn out. Elven Scouting party? Probability: 72%.

I did make quite a show arriving. They must been sent here to investigate. They also saw me. One of them points to the others and makes a hand gesture in my direction. They slowly start moving towards me.

That must be their commander. He is not aware of my detection capabilities. For all intent and purposes I continue to act like I don't know that they are here. I pick up a small rock, faking a profound interest in it.

They still have no clue. I suddenly take a baseball pitcher pose and throw the rock with all my strength right into the direction of the squad leader. The rock flies at incredible speed with a loud whistling sound when it cuts the air.

The man barely dodges what was aimed for his chest and in his surprise falls from the branch he was on. He lands on his back after a ten meter fall. I decide that now is not the time to fight, and even less to stay.

I start to run through the hole I have made into their encirclement pattern. I pass the commander. As I go by him he looks at me strangely. He must wonder how I saw him.

"Make less noise next time. See you!"

He still looks confused. Now he must also wonder why I speak perfect elven. Good. That will keep him busy.

I set my internal compass and start moving towards the east. The dense woods get dotted more and more, until finally giving way to an unending green plain, deformed like an ocean by various hills and bushes.

This is good. I feared I would have little to no cover on this terrain. But with the hills, I can constantly keep myself hidden from afar if need be.

I continue moving. It seems I have lost my pursuers at the boundary of the forest.

I do a quick mental check of what I could need right now. Clothes would be nice. They are not absolutely necessary but still: they would help a lot in concealing me. Maybe I can switch that later with some worn out full cover armor, pretending to be a lonesome vagabond mercenary.

I also need to finish the few calibrations necessary on my body. I could feel a bit of strain on certain components against the elves that should not have happened. The gravity here is slightly different. A bit stronger. I will have to adapt.

Before I can notice the day is already ending. I kept a good speed today: 35 km/h for about five hours before the sun started to set on the horizon. I realize that I will have to calculate the duration of the day, and redo my whole calendar based on this solar system and planetary rotation.

I end my thoughts on the subject as I pass the next hill. Far away in the dark, I can start seeing a few lights and what appears to be a man-made structure surrounded by a small wall. At the center of it is a small castle. The first human border town on my path.

It has a typical European medieval style to its architecture.

I suspect the castle to be here for troop deployments on the south and west frontier. Not that there is much to guard out here. The Twin peaks are still standing strong in that direction, forming a natural barrier. And the elves are known for their peaceful, if not completely isolationist ways.

This is good: it will mean less attention from the soldiers present.

I start approaching slowly. I am still far out but I can see more clearly now. Not much activity at this time of the night. A few sentinels are up on the stone wall. I can already see some holes in their patrol paths.

The moons are not full and hidden by a few small clouds. Visibility should be close to null for them outside the range of their torches. As for me, my night vision is on since the beginning of the darkness. I already have devised a way to climb the wall and get in undetected.

I pause for a moment. Should I go in?

I hesitate. Safety over possible information and supplies?

I decide to satisfy my curiosity.

I start running in silence before jumping over the moat surrounding the village. I grab onto the wall. Now I just need to climb. I turn all my sensors on maximum sensibility as I approach the top. I can hear someone walking in my direction. I let him pass slowly while I am still grabbing onto the ledge, dangling on the side of the wall.

He passes without noticing. I quickly get up. I am in. I run and jump on the roof of some building close before the sentinel can turn around and notice my presence.

He didn't.

Infiltration successful.

I move a bit further away on rooftops before stopping and taking a look around.

The streets of the village are empty except for a few guards who don't have the presence of mind to look up. Even though I am of a dark color, my hair, eyes and few silver colored ports do reflect light a bit.

Since it will be very unlikely to find someone talking something relevant and eavesdrop on him at this hour I decide to find myself some clothes and hide for the remainder of the night. I find a few garments drying outside on a balcony.

I make a quick apology in my mind before taking them.

I am now wearing a large hooded brown cloak, along with an inconspicuous grey linen long-sleeved shirt and some basic leather pants and shoes. I am also wearing basic farmer gloves.

After clothing myself, I move to what I deem an inconspicuous spot on the tiled roofs before starting to work on my voice, making it as human sounding as possible. I begin taking extracts from the information of my world that Machina gave me, and that I stored neatly in the deeps of my databanks.

I should be ok for now.

(Tino Maldavi POV)

The humans had been active recently: they started cutting down trees on the boundary.

We were on simple border patrol when it happened.

A giant fireball came crashing down from the sky.

We all heard the deafening sound and the trembling of the earth when it impacted the ground.

I asked the mind mage of our unit to immediately contact our superiors to report what happened.

They asked us to go and investigate. A large scale magic of unknown origin had been used and they felt the mana waves all the way over where they were.

We went up into the trees, where we are most comfortable and harder to spot. We could see the smoke rising over the canopy near the huge Twin Peak Mountain.

We moved fast at first, and then gradually slowed down as we got closer.

The devastation caused was impressive. A 30 meters round empty crater was present, with traces of damages going to the north.

I tell the mind mage to keep sending updates of our situation. We follow the trail, using our keen sight to orient ourselves.

And that is when we see "it".

Sitting on the ground, just next to a huge boulder with an imprint of a human form.

It is immobile.

I have never seen anything like it.

The being has strange silvery hair, gently swaying thanks to the afternoon breeze. They encompass a strangely sculpted face. It skin is of a deep black, glistening under the sun. Some strange red lines and silver patches run all over it, accentuating its distinct and angular curves of what looks to be armor.

I am dumbfounded for a moment.

I have trouble seeing details from so far but I can tell the shape is definitively female in form.

She starts looking around her as I make a silent hand movement, signaling my team to approach carefully.

She picks up a small pebble off the ground and starts looking at it as if the secrets of the universe are contained inside.

I jump to another branch, closing the distance. When I put my attention back on her I can see it: She is looking straight into my eyes. She throws the rock so fast I have trouble following its movements. I still manage to dodge during the last second, at the cost of my footing. I can see the rock she threw embedding itself deep within the tree as I fall.

The air is knocked out of my lungs when I hit the soft leaf-covered floor of the forest.

What just happened?

I can hear the shout of my team calling for me as I regain my bearings.

And just when I am about to stand up she passes right next to me.

I realize as I look at her from up close.

This isn't black armor. It's her skin. The most finely crafted one I have ever seen. The red lines show the marks between her different plates. How is that possible? I lose myself in her lightly luminescent silver eyes for a second as she talks to me.

"Make less noise next time. See you!"

She gives me a snickering smile before turning around and running away at inhuman speed.

"Sir? Sir? Are you okay?"

My subordinates arrive next to me and help me stand up. One of them asks panicked.

"What was that?"

No bloody idea. I ignore his question and turn towards our scout.

"Do you think you can track her?"

He shakes his head left and right.

"Impossible. At that speed I don't think anyone can. Even with horses."

"Then we are going back right now. The Empress must be notified. Immediately."

They all gasp and fall silent. They understand the gravity of the situation.

I turn toward where she went.

What in the Mother Tree's Name was that?

I will be using Celsius, meter and gram as my base units.

For one simple reason: I was born in France and this was the way it was taught to me. And apparently to a lot of people too. So if you are not happy, or don't believe me, because you are one of the 3 ONLY COUNTRIES IN THE WORLD using Imperial, Fahrenheit or Pound, then I recommend you read this ;

http://www.zmescience.com/other/map-of-countries-officially-not-using-the-metric-system/