It turned out not to be that difficult.

Once Rei suggested[1] the possibility of a threat Mead could not detect nor process, the weapon itself went to work on a solution. It came up with one shortly.

"It wants to what?" said a surprised Trian.

It was early afternoon and the five of them were gathered in the courtyard. A number of other villagers were taking shelter in the compound as well, entrusted with watching over the walls outside to ensure they were not attacked.

Nobody wanted to think about what exactly they could do if an attack did come.

For some reason the khiladri had stayed away from the compound walls the night before, and both they and the dead were now nowhere to be seen. Trian reported that the fog, though still thick, was fragmenting under the relentless rays of the sun. The group decided that the best time to break the siege was whilst the first sun was out, before their attackers returned.

Rial, torso still bandaged but at least in fresh clothing,[2] lay leaning against the vivinder tree. Shaleigh had carried the beautiful duvet[3] and placed it there for him, and he looked on as their next steps were discussed.

"He wants to burn us a path out of here," said Eselwol, pacing nervously.

"It, not he," said Rei. She was lounging on the Kotaku's chair, legs hanging over one arm as she carved something into the other with a knife.

"It can do that?" asked Trian. He looked haggard from the night's events, with dark bags under frantic eyes, made darker by the soft blue light that covered everything. He stood in the centre of the square, looking from one person to the other.

“It can. Apparently the hard part is not levelling the entire mountain when it does,” said Rei, not looking up from her carvings.

Rial didn’t know how it had happened but now it was Rei who explained what Mead was and what it could accomplish. She had a way of… of translating what it was saying that Rial could not. Had his language changed so much since meeting the machine? He let her converse directly with the machine more and more.[4]

But it was more than language. She was able to elicit and discern information far more clearly than himself, and seemed to understand arcane phrases regarding “energy matrices” and “fold manipulation” with ease.

A small part of Rial was angry at her for being better than him.

Still, he was far too tired to join in anyway. His wounds throbbed and his eyes felt heavy.

“So how would this work? How far can it get us?” asked Trian. Everyone was looking at Rei now.

“Mead, explain it to them. Simply, please,” she said.

The weapon spoke up from where it lay besides the chair, looking for all the world like some discarded toy left by a forgetful child.

“Given a parameter set that includes threats undetectable to this unit, an energy flux equivalent to 6.7 billion pinins for a duration of five to ten seconds over a squared area of…”

“Simply, Mead,” growled Rei.

“I’m going to vaporise everything from here to the plains, ensuring nothing survives close enough to threaten you,” it said.

The group looked at each other and nodded.

As if they truly understood, thought Rial. They have no idea what Mead can do…

“I also recommend this be carried out immediately,” said Mead.

Rei paused in her carvings and looked down at the weapon.

“Immediately? Why?” she asked suspiciously.

“Rial, may I speak with you?” said Mead.

Rial laughed.

“Whatever you say to me you can say to them,” he said. The words came out oddly.

“Understood. Rial, the vivinder tree is having a drastic effect on your brain chemistry, altering it at a far more rapid rate than the others. It would be advisable to leave now, before an irrevocable personality shift occurs.”

Rial didn’t know what the machine was talking about, but he knew it made him angry.

“What?” said Rei, bolting up from the chair. The others looked on, mystified. “What are you talking about, Mead?”

“The vivinder pollen is highly toxic and has a major degenerative effect on the orbitofrontal cortex. Likely effects include elevated levels of anger and frequent periods of mental confusion leading to dementia. Unfortunately, my diagnostic system is unable to discover why the reaction has been so much more extreme and rapid in Rial than others,” said the machine.

“You knew?” shouted Rei, face flushing with rage. “You knew it was making us sick and you didn’t tell us?”

“My responsibility is limited to my owner and those he designates only,” said Mead.

Whatever Rei was going to say next was cut off by laughter. Rial was doubled over on the floor besides the tree, clutching at his painful chest.

“Stop it,” snapped Shaleigh, striding over to Rial and helping him stand. “You’ll open the wound again.”

Rial didn’t care. At the moment all he could think about was how hilarious Rei’s face had looked at the moment Mead began his spiel on the vivinder. At least he wasn’t the only one to fall for Mead’s tricks!

The laughter racked his body as Shaleigh slung him over her shoulder and carried him off, the others close behind. The pain that shot through his chest did nothing to stop it, though it added a layer of groans, and he was gasping for air by the time he was laid against the wooden-slatted walls of the outer area of the compound.

More villagers gathered now, all those who had been watching the outside. They were drawn by the shouts of Trian, calling them together.

“We go now!” shouted Trian. He and another grabbed the sliding door and threw it sideways, cracking against the wooden blocks that held it in place.

The mist was far lesser than the night before, though wisps remained despite the sun high overhead. A chill blew in the instant the doors were open, reaching into Rial’s core and bringing him some of the way back to lucidity.

Rei shoved Mead into his hands.

“Do it!” she said.

Something moved in the trees beyond.

“Mead, are you ready?” Rial asked muzzily, looking out into the forest. Was that a glimmer of violet within the shadows?

“I am, though be advised: this course of action will deplete me of all charge. I will possess no offensive capability for some time,” it said.

“It doesn’t matter,” Rial replied. He looked out at something deep within the trees. “Do it.”

"This lack of offensive capability could extend into a factor of years..." continued Mead.

"Do it!"

It began. A high-pitched sound, growing swiftly higher, broke suddenly into a boom as a beam erupted from the weapon. It was blinding, pouring out in a rapidly widening torrent the colour of magma, expanding to engulf everything in front, visible even through closed eyelids. A powerful blast of air slammed back against them, knocking most to the floor with its force. Only Rial and Rei still stood.

Rial could hear Rei’s laughter over the onslaught.

It ended in an instant, the beam snapping to black then everything ending so abruptly that he felt as if he had gone deaf.

Where the forest had been, where half the village had been, was smouldering ash. No, not smouldering, that was a trick of the mind.

A huge ‘U’ had been carved from the mountains, a blackened canyon that ran down from their feet far into the distance. It must have been a hundred paces across or more, flanked either side by a line of untouched forest that stood in stark contrast to the flayed land. What Rial had thought to be steam was fine ash, whipped up by the chaotic streams of air crashing back into a space that had just seconds ago roiled in the heat of a thousand suns. Thunder rolled across the mountains as it did so.

They clambered down into the fissure as one, the ash soft under their toes, billowing up into the air and making them cough at every step. No one spoke.

They had gone only a little way when Rial stopped, falling behind the others before they noticed.

“Rial?” called Trian, noticing first.

The group stopped to look at him, as he stared out into the trees above.

“I can’t go with you,” said Rial, not taking his eyes from the lip of the gulley.

“What? What are you talking about? Of course you’re coming with us,” said Trian, as the others murmured in surprise.

“We go together,” insisted Shaleigh, as Rei, standing beside her, followed Rial’s gaze.

She saw it too, Rial knew.

“Gryrne,” she said.

Rial could see him, stood between two untouched trees, pale skin standing out from the shadows and eyes a bright violet that shone even in the light. He did not move.

Only Rial could hear the whispering, he knew.

“I… can’t go. You need to move, you’re not safe here,” he said, taking a step towards the silhouette above.

He was stopped by Trian, grabbing his arm.

“What are you doing, Rial?” said Trian. His voice carried his distress. “You can’t stay here! They’ll kill you!”

“Not me,” answered Rial, turning to his friend. “I can’t explain it, but I’m… safe.”

“The weapon? But it said it has no charge left!” Trian did not release the arm.

“It’s not about Mead,” said Rial, grateful the machine did not chime in. “This is different.”

Rial pushed his friend’s hand away and looked over at the huddled group, faces already smeared by ash and sweat.

“Go,” he ordered, “Go now, before anything can come for you. Follow this down to the plains but don’t let your guard down. It won’t be safe there, either. I’m not sure anywhere is safe anymore.”

He tried to ignore the hurt on some faces, the bewilderment on others. Only Rei seemed impassive, watching him without expression.

Trian, face a confused mixture of anger and horror, unclipped Brin’s old sword in its sheath and thrust it towards Rial. Rial looked down at it, then at his friend.

"Take it," said Trian. "Take it, and the gami watch over you."

Rial bowed in thanks, and took the sword.

He set off up the sloping side of the gulley towards where Gryrne… no, not Gryrne, never Gryrne… stood, waiting. He ignored the shouts that followed him. Once he had reached the lip he turned a final time, looking down at those he was leaving. Rei had already begun gathering them together, ushering them onwards down the slope against their protestations. He raised one hand in farewell to the heads that turned to look at him, then turned away.

He stepped into the forest.

[1] or 'postulated,' as Mead said

[2] They felt exquisite. He couldn’t remember the last time he had changed.

[3] As she told him it was known

[4] Though, some part of him had to admit, he was only pretending he had decided to let her. He dreaded to think what might happen if he refused.