The trip back to Envoy's base is ... well, not exactly uneventful since they're traveling partially at night and Envoy forgot headlights, in addition to the missing navigation system. Still, after a few near hits with boulders and flying high enough, they were able to use city lights to triangulate their position and finally make it back to the base.
By the time they fly into the hangar it's at least three in the morning. Icarus, Thorndike, and Daedelus are exhausted and while grumbling, all of them drag themselves off to bed, leaving Envoy in the hangar bay, alone with the eyeballs. Thankfully they've quit hopping and running around like fiends. They're back to looking quite, well, inert and uninteresting.
Setting the largest of the crystal eyes on a table, Envoy leans over and stares into it. "Hello?" she asks. "Is anyone watching? I know someone had to have been, to know to come and stop the robots." She even taps on the top of the orb with a clawtip.
The eyeball is, well, an eyeball. It doean't have any obvious lips. This is probably good, because who would want to be kissed by a giant eyeball? In any event, it doesn't answer Envoy's query, it just rolls to the side an inch and sits there staring at her.
"Okay, time to really try," Envoy says, and holds the eyeball in both hands. "Synchronize," she sings to it in Aelfin.
The eye vibrates slightly in Envoy's hands ... then gets a little soft? Well soft enough that soon both her hands are inside the eye, leaving Envoy with her arms joined at the ... and it's staring right back at her. At least the fact the eye finally responds 'Handshake complete' in her head is promising.
Resisting the urge to wiggle her fingers, Envoy instead tries a query: "When was this unit last accessed remotely?"
"One second ago, where a second is measured by the time required for a defined amount of energy required to shift an bound electron to the next energy orbital phase," the eye 'answers'.
"Log access: source of remote activation?" Envoy asks next, unsure if the eye is reacting to her access or not.
"Access source twenty-five centimeters from this monitor unit," the eye replies.
"What was the last remote access that wasn't myself?" Envoy tries next.
"Last successful access was five-hundred solar cycles of the current quantum manipulator generator," the eye answers.
Envoy figures that to have been much longer than 'just this afternoon'. "Can you identify the figure that appeared through the portal event during the previous day phase?"
"/The designate identity is not contained within the data core. Species unknown; bipedal organism encased in titanium alloy infused with solidified quantum foam lattice. Skeletal structure composed primarily of crystalline lattice as well, along with a portable quantum manipulation core," the eye replies.
"Query: are there Svartifin combat drones?" Envoy asks, as that's the closest entity she knows of that might have a crystal skeleton.
"Yes," the eye answers.
"Was the entity encountered within the physical parameters for such a drone?" the Aeolun queries.
"Negative, the eye answers.
"Is there any biological data that you gathered on the entity?" is the next question. Knowing it's organic.. or even alive.. would be useful, Envoy figures.
"Minimal data available. Encasement obscures scanning," the eye answers.
After a moment of thought, Envoy asks, "Was there any temporal displacement from the portal event that you could detect?"
The eye is silent for a bit. "Insufficient information," it answers. "Probability based on available data is fifty percent."
"That could mean anything," Envoy mutters. Portaling from the other side of the planet would probably require relativistic compensation, after all. "Query: were there any non-standard quantum lattices detected in the mechanical creatures?" she asks, wondering if Von Bronson used his faux-crystal in those creations as well. Something had to power them after all.
"Primitive simulation of quantum lattice were detected in the proximity of the monitoring cluster," the eye replies. "Such constructs deemed unstable and dangerous. Cease in manufacture."
"Can you detect such constructs over a long range?" Envoy asks. "Assume the use of all available orbs in a connected interferometric array."
"Detection range is exponentially proportional to distance between monitor units," the eye replies.
"What is the effective range in light-nanoseconds for an array with a radius of 100 light-nanoseconds," Envoy requests, using a universal measure that comes to about a foot in terms of distance.
"52,800,000 light-nanoseconds," the eye responds.
"That should be sufficient to find Von Bronson's production facility," Envoy mutters, and.. actually grins. "What is the detection range for a single unit utilizing passive scanning?" she asks. Might as well see if some of the eyes can be used for proximity alarms.
"10,000 ligh-nanoseconds," the eye replies. "Passive scanning is limited."
Still plenty of warning distance, Envoy thinks. "I am designating this unit as the master for all proximate scanning units. Can you establish the array communications, and have the slave units move into position as needed?"
"Not currently. Units were detached from control linkage without construction of remote communication nodes. Generation of communication nodes requires additional supply of quantum lattice," the eye answers.
"How much is needed?" Envoy asks. "And can extraneous scan units be repurposed to serve as nodes?"
Two times your biomass, approximately," the eye answers. "Monitoring units cannot be repurposed. Molecular programmer not present."
"No wonder those trees were so big," Envoy notes. "Can other clusters that are still connected to their nodes be used as an array without modification?" she asks next, thinking of the other eyeball-trees left behind.
"Yes," the eye answers.
"What is the purpose of the clusters?" Envoy then asks, since she still doesn't know.
"The monitoring of the deconstruction of the space-time structures relative to the artificial planetoid mass," the eye answers.
Envoy blinks three times at this. "Has the deconstruction already taken place?" she asks.
"Negative. Primary generator offline until recent activation by unknown actor," the eye answers. "Deconstruction cannot begin until all generators are functioning normally again."
Wonderful, Envoy thinks. Without more Svartifins to monitor the engines, they can't all be brought back online, at least. "Are there other clusters on the local planetary mass that can be accessed to overcome any shadowing caused by the local lattice?" Envoy asks, not at all putting it past Von Bronson to find a crystal-blocked blind spot.
"Insufficient information. This unit is not connected to the main network," the eye answers.
"What would happen to me if you were reconnected while still interfaced with me?" Envoy queries.
"Absorption of of designate is ninety percent likely," the eye replies. "Designate termination end result."
"Just like on Fortunatis," Envoy notes. Still, good information to have. "What other non-observational functions do scan units have besides being able to sprout legs? Can they record and play back scan data, or display information on their surfaces?" she asks. She's got an awful lot of the things, and can't just leave them lying around for Von Bronson to snatch up, after all.
"Units capable of motive action as well as monitor-target locking and tracking," the eye answers. "Data recorded can be excreted as holographic data cards for use in any standard quantum lattice playback unit."
"Can other units be designated as tracking and monitoring targets?" Envoy asks, seeing a possible solution to their navigation issues.
"Yes," the eye answers.
"Can unit-to-unit communication be established via entanglement or is physical linkage necessary?" is the next question. While a large scanning array likely needs lots of extra bandwidth and processing, being able to plant spy-eyes and see what they do would be extremely useful.
"Point to point communication is possible through entanglement," the eye answers. "Modification of biological specimens precent in this structure to be permanently linked to monitoring units also possible."
"Do you mean physically linked?" Envoy asks, eyes wide.
"Correct," the eye replies. "The linkage would cause some discomfort to the biological specimens, but it would not terminate their functioning."
Given that all of the orbs are fairly large compared to real eyes, Envoy doubts anyone will want to have them implanted. But it does bring about a revelation to her: she can have remotes. "Can point-to-point entanglement be established with the two entities possessing integrated lattices?" she asks instead - it would be easier if she or Icarus could just remotely access the things instead of having them sit on top of their heads.
The eye goes silent for a bit. "Theoretically possible if the lattice structures are one-hundred percent compatible," the eye answers.
"Can compatibility be non-destructively determined?" Envoy asks. That may work for Icarus, she thinks, since he has crystal retinas. But her own crystal is a lot more kludged together.
"Yes. Procedure may cause some discomfort, but would not terminate organic tissue," the eye answers.
"What does the procedure involve?" Envoy asks before committing to anything. She's been stabbed through by crystal before, and it was a lot more than 'some discomfort' to her.
"Target primary neural pathways require temporary crystallization and trace to main lattice. Loss of motor function would occur for a few hours and sensations of being burned and possibly shocked for the duration is likely for most biological organisms," the eye explains.
"So, a night of paralyzing agony," Envoy says out loud. "I am not most biological organisms," she points out to the eye. "I already have exposed crystalline access to my central processor," she explains, referring to the crystal intrusion in her horn. "Can this be utilized for a preliminary judgment?"
"Yes, but there are risks as the lattice indicated enters your cranium," the eye responds. "There is a five percent chance of vaporizing all contained neural tissue."
"That would be a less than optimal result," Envoy admits. "What would be involved with direct integration?"
"Your head would be replaced by a unit with your neural matter contained within a bio-gel inside it," the eye answers.
Envoy blinks at this.. but also wonders if that wasn't one of Von Bronson's reasons for wanting these things. His body can't hold out much longer, but a brain-in-an-indestructible-jar might be a viable solution to the man. "I will consult with my doctor before deciding on a course of action," Envoy tells the eye. "Is the full scan spectrum available through touch-interface, or only visible light?"
"Full spectrum," the eye answers.
"Show me," Envoy requests, expecting something similar to Icarus-vision at the least.
What happens next is a bit disorienting in that Envoy finds herself looking right at, well, herself! Apparently her own eyes have been somehow turned off and she's functioning through the eyeball alone. Maybe this is what the three witches saw when they shared an eye in that told fairy-tale. That is if the eye allowed them to see everything in multiple levels, from the visible body, to the thermal imprints Envoy currently sees of her own body; to the odd flow along her own skeleton as her body communicates with its various parts, to the wave-guides that seem to ripple out from her body as well as from eyerything that surrounds her.
Envoy tries to will the view to turn. She wants to look at one of the other eyes, and even look towards the buried crystal hangar to see if anything shows through the intervening rock or not.
It's not easy to get the eye to turn since it's stuck on her hands. She ends up having to contort herself, along with the eye kind of oozing about in her hands before she manages to get it to focus on one of the other eyes. What she sees almost gives her a headache! It's, flor lack of a better term 'bright'. Everything around the other eye seems to twist and contort in thousands of wave patterns!
"Ugh, that must be active scanning," Envoy mutters, then turns back towards the hidden, distant hangar to see if the gateway or crystal have a detectable presence.
It suddenly feels like needles were shoved into Envoy's eyes! The light is painfully bright! So bright she can't see anything outside of a blinding blur! Apparently the crystal cavern is visible. And now that it has been reactivated; quite visible to a crystalline scanner!
"Reduce input by.." Envoy squeaks, before remembering to use Aelfin. "Reduce input intensity by seventy-five percent!"
Ah, it's so much nicer when your eyeballs don't feel like they want to explode. Enjoy can now make out the outline of the cavern, the gateway within, and the old ship, as brighter-glowing outlines.
Twisting her wrists to do it, Envoy aims the eye straight down, to see if it can detect the regular crystal network of Abaddon.. and now that she has a reference, see just how active it might be.
It's, well, almost like staring into an electrical tracing of a brain. The millions of thin lines branch out everywhere and pulsate with light at regular intervals.
"Still waking up," Envoy says. She's about to disconnect the feed.. then starts scanning around some more. She's curious if the enchantments on the Gravy Boat show up, or if she can locate Icarus within the structure.
The Gravy-Boat is thankfully not blinding and yes, she can make out the enchantments. She can actually see how all the fields are currently cancelling each other out, holding the ship in position. As for Icarus, she can see him, too! He's asleep down in his room. He ..., well, he glows rather brightly. When he moves, it looks like a stick-skeleton shifting.
"And he claims that I glow," Envoy says. Then she does say, "Disconnect scan feed."
Envoy finds herself staring at her eye-encased hands again.
Next step would be.. choosing an eye to become the designated base 'beacon' for another to track from the Gravy Boat. Maybe with two beacons, the system could be used to actually triangulate the boat's position. She'll have to experiment! "The others miss so much having to sleep more than an hour a day," she laments, and starts asking the eye about how to set up what she wants.