After five or so hours on the road we got to Thompson’s Fork and stopped for a break. Lena and I were fine to continue, of course, but the organics with us needed things like food and privies. I was worried that they might want to stay the night given that we still had another three or four hours until we’d get to Urd, but with the exception of Devin, they were used to long travel times by coach. Everyone agreed that travel by IronHide was much preferred over any carriage they’d been in before.

Devin met with his family for a while and introduced Shea to them while I rebuilt the well that I’d broken the last time I was here. Actually, the villagers here had already repaired the little roof over the well that I’d busted as IronHide. The village chief, a mustelid named Lamont, was very nice and was adamantly trying to prevent me from doing anything, but once I got an idea in my head it was near impossible to sway me from it.

Helping people that don’t ask for it, seems to be my calling card. Lena pulled him away and had him entertain her over some tea that she couldn’t drink. As a test, she maintained her [Cloak] during the visit and for all the world knew, looked like her old, organic self.

During the trip, I’d completely designed, modeled, and virtual-tested a pump system for the well. When I got out of IronHide, it was just a matter of manufacturing the parts and assembling them. I had considered some sort of electrical pump using a lighting crystal as well as a conveyor type system but I was worried about things breaking down if there were a lot of moving parts and no one on site to repair it.

The winning design was a pair of devices. The first one was a small water crystal embedded into a stone disc. I attached a small [Inventory] space to the disc and a tiny program spell that would trigger the crystal to gather water from around it and push it into the [Inventory]. A long line of mana cord was attached to the disc and the whole thing was dropped into the well and would live out the rest of its life at the bottom.

At the top of the well, I installed the other device, which was basically a glorified housing for a mana receiver and a pipe with a bunch of embedded code spells. When anyone puts some mana into the receiver, it pulls water out of the [Inventory] space and out the pipe. Half the mana powers the spells and the other half travels down the cord to power the water crystal to suck in more water. Since it’s the crystal doing the work, only the water gets sucked in rather than any of the dirt and silt that settles on the bottom. It should also be nice and cool for them in the summer and if there’s winter here then the water won’t freeze in the [Inventory] space.

The actual work only took about a half hour, even with Lamont’s daughter, Chi-chi, hovering over my shoulder and pestering me with questions. I didn’t particularly mind too much, though when she tried to wander off with my mini-bot helpers I had to draw the line.

Once the new “pump” was installed, I threatened to leave Devin and Shea behind and we were on our way back on the road. The remainder of the trip went by uneventfully. I was worried that we may run into some megafauna in the area but nothing seemed to want to mess with IronHide.

About five minutes outside of Urd, we saw centaurs and riders coming our way. I could see the banner of the Royal Guard flying with the riders, while the centaurs appeared to be in the uniforms of the Knight Watch. I supposed it was to be expected that we would have an escort into the city since we had the princess with us.

Ironhide slowed to a stop as an ursine rider on a war horse approached him. The rider dismounted and Marshoo got out of the vehicle. The bear woman was clad in the heavy armor of the Royal Guard, but you could see pale golden fur peeking out in places. She removed her helmet, and ruffled her hair until it poofed back up from being flattened under the helmet. She had a few scars cut into her muzzle, betraying a life of combat, though her eyes were a clear, bright green; like emeralds.

“Captain Sunni,” Marshoo said, snapping to attention and saluting the captain with a fist to her chest.

The captain slowly dragged her eyes across IronHide, trying to make sense of what she was looking at but gave up when she saw the princess waiting inside. She then gave a nod and returned her attention to Marshoo.

“Corporal, we’ll be escorting the princess into the city and directly to Baron Karza’s mansion,” she said in a surprisingly high and child-like voice. “The Baron has not been informed of the princess’s conversion and Prince Milliardo has given us strict orders to keep it that way.”

“Understood,” Marshoo responded with another salute.

Captain Sunni climbed back onto her horse and waited expectantly as Marshoo hopped back inside of IronHide. We then set back off again with riders and centaurs surrounding the vehicle. The speed that the escort wanted to go at was considerably slower than the speed that IronHide wanted to go at, and that fact annoyed him.

“You know, Marshoo,” IronHide mused, “sometimes I forget you’re army.”

“Rude,” she snorted. “When have I ever acted unlike a professional soldier?”

“Well the head out the window thing I guess, for one.”

“I’m a basilon... we like running... and um... the feel of the wind in our face... that it?”

“I guess also the bikini armor... is that standard issue for the Royal Guard?”

“Depends on the species, but yes? What’s unprofessional about regular issue sprint scout armor?”

“I uh... withdraw my previous statement.”

“Whatever,” she huffed, folding her arms, averting her attention to watch the captain.

“IronHide,” the princess said, leaning forward in her seat, “do the sprint scouts from Master Prime’s former country not wear armor? How bold they must be.” Her voice was teasing with a tone of feigned innocence.

IronHide thought carefully about how to respond to the landmine that the princess had intentionally dropped into his lap.

“Our former country relies heavily on magic tools for surveillance and information gathering... so sprint scouts aren’t really a thing.”

“Huh,” Strider said, tapping his chin. “Just what country is Master Prime from anyway? He seems to have a lot of knowledge that doesn’t align with the common sense of any of the countries I’ve been to.”

“Ah, I’m afraid that’s classified,” the princess said, reaching over and patting Strider’s arm.

For just a moment, a flash of regret crossed the princess’s face, but she quickly recovered. I figured it was safe to assume she wouldn’t be teasing me in a way that could lead to sensitive information being released anymore.

We were waved through the main gates of the city without having to stop thanks to the escort. It was nice to see that they were able to repair all the damage I’d done to the gate the last time I was here. I wondered if they changed up the port cutlas design at all to make it stronger against attacks from within.

It felt like every citizen of the city was out on the streets, gawking and cheering as we slowly made our way to the Baron’s mansion. It felt like we were in a parade with all the people around. I wondered if royalty had to deal with this every time they visited a place. Princess Relena did her part and waved to people out the window. Shea, on the other hand, looked like she was trying to crawl under her seat.

IronHide noticed a couple of wild-haired scientist-looking guys running alongside him, frantically scribbling notes and such before they were pushed back by the watch guards. While a horseless coach wasn’t completely unheard of, it was still the absolute bleeding edge of technology and IronHide blew away anything that this world currently had in development. IronHide was tempted to transform, or at least pull an arm out, so that he could wave too.

The state of things were still pretty dangerous for an Automata, especially with the restrictions in place as well as the kill orders from the Baron. Lena and I decided that for now, I would pose as her attendant. I had once asked her why she didn’t have a personal escort or a knight that shadowed her. I had expected a princess to have that sort of thing but she said that was the function that her Automata, Lucy-now-Jayce, filled.

We arrived at the mansion to find the Baron’s personal guard and wait staff outside waiting for us. The Baron, himself, and his son, Byron, were perched at the top step of the stairs leading up to the main entrance. I wondered if the positioning was deliborate so that he could look down on anyone arriving. The man wasn’t terribly tall, he appeared human, though short and a bit round, possibly a dwarf. He wore a sneer and most certainly, a wig. While Byron reminded me of a story book prince from the tropics, Baron Karza reminded me of a stout George Washington made from shoe leather and adorned in clothing that probably cost more than the average citizen made in a year.

One of the Royal Guardsmen rushed over to Lena’s door, opening it for her. She delicately took the guard’s hand as they helped her out. The others had to open their own doors like peasants.

Princess Relena looked up at the baron and his son, but gave the distinct impression that she was somehow still the one looking down on them. Byron cowered a bit behind his father while the baron only smirked. The princess waited until everyone had exited IronHide before gently tapping on his hood with a quick pair of knocks.

“Knight mode,” she commanded.

“[HotSwap(Cyclone)],” I mumbled.

IronHide dissolved into my [Inventory] with the usual pixelation and was replaced with Cyclone in a fist-to-the-ground, kneeling position. I mentally crossed my fingers that IronHide’s mass was enough to hide my main body during the transition.

Sorry Cyc, I’ll be taking direct control for this.

Totes.

Totes? Totes.