Latania is so unreasonable. Not only did she blame Envoy for the exploding human and the guts strewn across the medical tent, she made Envoy clean it all up! Not only did she have to scrub down each table, chair, and pole three times she was made to hand-wash the tent itself twice! It was either that or Latania threatened to make her backside itch for the rest of her existence.

So almost two days later and the cleanup task is done. At least she did manage to recover a view of the blackened pseudo-crystals from the pureed remains of the human-zombie-deathbot. After saying her farewells to the mages, she heads back to the consulate to collect Icarus, Dr. Daedalus, and Walter Thorndike.

Thordike was especially happy to see her! Apparently Born-In-War's daughters discovered how easy it is to fluster someone from a 'Victorian' age, so spent the better part of the two days slinking around and rubbing up against him. His virtue was in dire danger, or so he claimed (conveniently forgetting that Inala took that some time ago!). Icaurs, for the most part, thought it was terribly funny. That's probably because it was Thorndike and his relatives instead of him fending off Violette.

Funeral plans were made for about a week out, which gives Envoy plenty of time to return home, prep her boat, and zip off for a few days of vacationing with her boyfriend, Morpheus on the planet conveniently named Morpheus. She just has to figure out how to get her ship down to the hangar, then how to use the fold-gate to get there. Nothing difficult at all!

A couple hours ride in one of the Silent-One's transports and the ragtag group is dropped off at Envoy's home. Everything looked as secure as she left it and upon entering the hangar, nothing looks damaged.

Base of Decay
This base was once the hole of Doctor Von Bronson. A megalomaniacal scientist bent on crafting unusual thinking machines and other devices fo death and torture. Time has not been kind since the Doctor died. The base has been 'cleared' (the polite term for looted), by the Expedition. What was left is not in great shape, either. Old fluorescent lamps sputter and hum overhead, their ballasts dangerously close to shorting out. The air is damp with the scent of mold and the periodic hiss of steam can be heard in the distance.

"I have decided that all women in this universe are insane and carnal creatures," Thorndike declares as she marches into the hangar with the mostly-finished ship.

"You are safe with me though, Walter," Envoy pronounces. "At least for half of that equation. Now, I just need you boys to pack the Perambulator and all of our supplies into the Gravy Boat, while I go.. straighten out the tunnel that leads to the underground hangar." She doesn't sound so sure of that last part, but it should at least give the others time to pack things up.

Icarus salutes! "Aye aye, Captain Ma'am person," he pronounces. Elsa just hisses a brief tone that sounds suspiciously like laughter.

"Are you insane or carnal?" Walter asks, then quickly adds, "No, I don't want to know. I'll just go pack."

"Would you like to come along and see me built a 2-mile long tunnel, Elsa, or just check on the old lab equipment and stuff?" Envoy asks the now-reptilian scientist.

Elsa considers this by tapping on her blunt snout. "Would I be in the way?" she asks.

"I don't think so," Envoy says, and looks thoughtful. Nobody has ever asked her that question before, after all. "But it will be a bit of a walk, unless you want to ride in the bathtub."

"I'm old, not crippled. I do retain some dignity, even if i look like a creature from a side-show," Elsa remarks dryly. "I can walk."

"Assuming you still have a definite gender," Envoy adds. "I'm not sure if real hormones result in harsher aging or not. Anyway, off we go!" She points towards the corridor leading to the lower levels as if directing an army.. then starts strolling along towards her goal.

Simulated Battlefield
A massive hanger easily fifty feet high and been made to look like a battlefield. The walls look like they're formed from thick concrete, probably more than ten feet thick, more that enough to absorb a major explosion. The room is littered with the remains of destroyed machinery as well. All of them show telltale signs of energy weapon scorching as well as more conventional bullet holes. And that isn't all ... in the center of this room is what looks like a massive combat robot that's roughly humanoid in shape. It's fifteen feet tall, with what looks like hydraulic driven legs and arms. To make it more frightening, it appears to be clad in inch-thick metal plating. The plating shows signs of a few dents, but nothing seems to have penetrated it. Massive gatling guns are mounted to its forearms and appear to be chain-fed from a h opper on its back.

"How are you certain?" Envoy finally asks, once they're away from the men. "Does it have to do with laying eggs?"

"Induced a biological reaction, and yes, it involved laying an egg," Elsa admits. "It was one of the strangest experiences in my life. It was not painful, but not comfortable. Mostly a lot of pressure. Not something I care to repeat." Her eyelids blink as they enter the hangar area and she notes, "This room has seen better days. And I see you were not kidding about a bathtub."

"It was.. convenient," Envoy notes of the tub. "I can't control it as well as Icarus, but I haven't crashed it yet and I don't think Born-in-War has had nightmares because of it. What did you do with the egg?"

"Made an omelet," Elsa claims as she eyes the bathtub. "It wasn't viable life, after all. It was just an interesting experiment in learning physiology. Having a cloacal based system is quite different from the standard bisected mammalian one."

"I wouldn't know in either case," Envoy points out, and checks the charge on the gravity disc to make sure it's not going to fail midway down. "I should expand this hole a bit too.. but that can wait."

"Do you want to know? With some research I could probably alter your body," Elsa offers. The disc's power level is rather good, all things considered. More than enough to go up and down a few dozen times without worry.

Envoy climbs in to the tub, and motions for Elsa to join her. "Maybe someday, if it really is feasible," she says.

"Anything is feasible, look at Icarus. The key is pretending the word impossible does not exist," Elsa remarks as she practically slithers herself into the tub and settles down with her tail coiled about herself.

"I do believe in the word 'difficult' though," Envoy says, and starts singing to 'tip' the gravity field in certain ways that translate into movement.

"You're talking to a woman who changed her species, difficult is a fact of life," Elsa notes. She quickly grips the rim of the tub when it lurches up and rocks back and forth, then slowly moved forward.

"Ah, but you have genes and such to define that," Envoy notes, just as they drop through the hole. "I haven't quite figured out exactly what I use, but it doesn't appear to be necessarily organic.. I really should add seat-belts to this tub sometime."

"Life exists in a myriad of forms. There are silica based life too," Elsa notes, "And yes, you should. This thing moves in disturbing ways." And boy does it! It glides over the hole, then drops at a stomach-sinking rate! "Eeeeeeeee!" goes Elsa and the sides of her neck flare out! Hey, she has neck-fins.

"That looks interesting," Envoy points out, before she tries to slow the rate of plummeting.

The tub kicks, bucks, spins, and a dozen other things that make Envoy wonder if she really should have eaten that pizza entirely by herself! Somehow, though, she manages to land the tub with only a few bounces on the floor of the lower chamber. Poor Elsa has ended upside down, with her hind legs and tail sticking out of the tub. "Is it always like that?" she asks.

"This is only the second time I've piloted it myself," Envoy admits, as she rubs her behind while climbing out of the tub. "Icarus is much better at it. One thing I hope to learn on Morpheus is better intuitive control of my crystals."

"The way he visualizes the world is why it is easier for him," Elsa says as she pulls herself upright, then slides out of the tub and back to her feet. "That and he has in essence a super-computer in his head. We had no right to do what we did to those children. It wasn't science, it was evil."

"He isn't evil though," Envoy notes, as she conjures up some light by making her horn glow with a simple cantrip. "You made sure he wouldn't suffer like the others. Maybe when my brain is reconnected properly I'll have less trouble as well."

"No, no he isn't. He's perfect," Elsa admits as she rubs at her scaled left arm. "I am grateful he stayed safe all this time. Also, your horn is glowing. Is that normal?"

The cavern is too large for her horn to illuminate completely, but Envoy can make out the tunnel that leads from it that lead to the crystal hangar.

"It's normal for me," Envoy says, and taps her horn. "Just a reaction to holding on to some magical energy." As she heads for the tunnel entrance, she asks, "Why did you bother making him a hybrid though? Wouldn't a pure Silent-One have had the necessary metabolic fortitude?"

"I was concerned he might have some of their other ... tendencies. Plus, it would have been difficult for him to communicate," Elsa admits as she follows. "I was hoping to create someone with the best features of both species and none of our failings."

Envoy stands in front of the old lava tube, and ponders how to proceed. From her memory, she knows it doesn't follow anywhere near a straight path, but she does have a good idea of what angle to use to make one. She sits down and.. thinks. What she'll need is a shaped force-field with a high-powered Mold spell attached, to both soften the rock and push it out to the desired shape and size..

"I could use a supercomputer in my head about now," the Exile mutters as she figures out the equations. Gravity likes to flow in certain ways, after all.

"Don't you need some dynamite and an earth-mover?" Elsa finally asks after a minute of silence. "And how far do you have to go?"

"If Icarus were here perhaps you could tap his?" Elsa remarks, "If such were possible."

"Only about two miles," Envoy mutters. Once she thinks she has the proper shape in mind, she says, "Synchronize." "Oh, I've done that before, actually. One of the things I want to get done on Morpheus is having his node locked against that sort of thing, unless he allows it."

"You're going to make a tunnel two miles long by sitting on your butt?" Elsa asks. "That's impossible."

"Connection es ... interfe .... instabil ... " Envoy hears in an odd, juttering, voice spoken in Aelfin in her mind. She can feel her spell take shape, but there's something about being down here that is making it harder to craft this time.

"Field stability improving. Localized probability and gravity manipulation the-hundred-feet above is no longer interfering," Envoy hears the voices in her head.

"Icarus is moving big things around upstairs, I think," Envoy says. "There may have been some sort of harmonic affect. Let's see if I can do this now.." She begins to sing, encoding the gravity field formula she wants (circular with a flattened bottom) while trying to cast a dual-phase Mold spell along the outside of it - softening in front, hardening at widest circumference.

The spell takes some time, but it does take shape exactly as Envoy wanted it to. She can almost see it hovering in the air before her. The equations seem right and the flow from softening to hardening feels like it should be at the proper rate to reshape a tunnel. Now the question is ... can she get it in the right direction?

In her mind's eye, Envoy visualizes the natural path of the tunnel, and then the path she wants it to follow. She'll have to make manual adjustments here and there, but for now she steps forward, pushing the hybrid spell-and-force-field ahead to see how much resistance the rock gives.

Wow; either Envoy is really lucky or really good! The rock almost effortlessly pushes wide, a new tunnel taking shape before her in place of the old one. Behind her, Elsa says, "That isn't possible..."

"You shouldn't say anything is impossible," Envoy notes with a grin. "All the same, best to stay close behind me," she adds, and starts walking forward to push her intangible tunneling tool onward towards her goal.

The walk is slow and surprisingly dull. The rock pushes and shapes around her and Elsa follows close. She doesn't seem bored, at least; she's probably trying to work out the mathematics needed to do this level of rock engineering. A couple hours later and Envoy is standing at the entrance to the hangar.

Forgotten Starport
Everything in this room is made of crystal. It's another huge chamber. At the center of this massive chamber is a massive, sleek, crystalline structure, narrow at the front and expanding outward as it goes backward, ending in a starburst-like uniform array of sleek 'wings'. Given its size and shape .... it's a spaceship made entirely of Sifrian crystal. About one hundred feet in front of it is a great semi-circular archway, large enough for the entire ship to fly through.

"I should add some lighting enchantments on the way back," Envoy notes, as she lets the spell and field collapse, and then heads towards the archway.

"That's incredible. This has to have been here for centuries," Elsa notes as she stares, wide-eyed at the old starship. "So. ... this is where Von Bronson collected the parts we used..."

the Archway looks ... large and silent. There is nothing beneath it; Envoy can see the wall beyond.

"Yes," Envoy says, and pauses to look at the ship. "I've wondered how he was able to get them without waking up the ship's guardian. He's hinted to me that he may have had inside help." She turns back to the archway, and then fishes out the node crystal that Morpheus uses to talk to her with. "Morpheus, can you hear me?" she asks it.

"I hear the voice of the angel that delivered me from darkness and pain. Is that you, my flower-wearing, behorned beauty?" Envoy hears inside her head.

"Thank goodness that wasn't out-loud, or Elsa would have been confused," Envoy thinks back, with a mental grin. "How have you been, dear? I'm at the gateway arch - I don't suppose you've cracked it's synchronization sequence already?"

"That depends," the voice remarks with a somehow odd tone to it. "How important is it?"

"Well, I'd hoped to come and visit you for a few days," Envoy replies. "There are a lot of things I would like you and Cypher to look at."

"Cypher actually cracked the code two days ago. But ... it was nice to hear you wanted to see me," Envoy hears the voice say and she could swear she can feel him grinning. "Stand back from the archway, please."

Envoy moves off to one side and back from the archway, motioning for Elsa to do likewise.

"We're going to persuade the universe that several million miles is actually just a footstep," Envoy explains.

"This might be a little ... violent," Morpheus warns Envoy. The air underneath the gateway ripples and shudders, then inches inward, making the wall behind it appear distorted to the point of being near unrecognizable. It's felt as much as heard as the distortion stretches out a good dozen feet in front of the archway with a rumble. It twists and bends as if it were liquid; light dances and ripples. Pinpoints of light swirl about within it as area after area fades to near black. There's a crack, a blinding flash, and the distortion snaps back into the archway. When Envoy's eyes clear, she's looking through to another crystaline room. A familiar person is standing there, in a crystaline-looking topcoat and tuxedo. The whole being looks to be made of crystal, for that matter. Morpheus tips his top hat, smiles, and waves. "And for my next trick, I'll pull a rabbit out of my ear," he claims.

"That was much more impressive and violent than the fixed-point gateways," Envoy notes with a grin, and heads over to the archway to try reaching through, to see if she gets sucked along the manifold or if it's a smoother transition.

It feels like ... reaching through a soap bubble. Nothing pulls on her and she remains firmly planted on this side. Morpheus reaches out now and closes his hand lightly around Envoy's now that it is through the gate. It feels ... smooth and warm. It doesn't have the same give as say a human's hand would, or the velvety touch of Icarus' but it doesn't feel like cold glass, either. "It's been a while," he says through the gate.

"Who is that?" Elsa asks from behind Envoy. She's apparently peering over her shoulder. "IT seems like you know him? It?"

Grinning, Envoy steps the rest of the way through. "It has," she agrees. "Oh! That's Dr. Elsa Daedalus back there.. She designed Icarus's body! And redesigned her own. I think she'd be able to help in getting you one that's squishier!"

And on the other side Envoy finds herself being hugged. It's ... almost like being hugged by warm jello, truth be told. "Too long," Morpheus tells her, then lets her go. To Elsa he says, "Please, come through. It is safe."

Looking uncertain, Elsa does step through and peer about. "What are you?" she finally asks Morpheus. "You don't look ... living."

"You've made some improvements to your golem form since last time," Envoy can't help but comment. She tries poking Morpheus's chest with her finger.

His chest gives a little; he's somehow managed to make himself a little softer. "I'm ... well; to use a term you would understand. A computer ... and also this planet. It is me and I am it. I've been given the name Morpheus, the God of Dreams. And in a sense, I suppose that is what I am," he tries to explain to Elsa. "Though to be more technical about it, I am a massively parallel processing system of Sifrian design ... that developed sentience and a personality imprinted on me by my interactions with ... certain people."

Elsa rubs the ridge of her blunt snout. "This is ... I don't think I know quite how to describe it. And what is this about a body?" she asks.

"He needs a remote body," Envoy explains. "Being a planet is cool and all, but it's the ultimate stay-at-home experience." She holds up the node crystal, and says, "He should be able to create a crystal network of his own that can be implanted. He's good with crystal." She taps her tiara as she says that.

"Oh. You want me to grow something like Icarus' body that he could operate remotely using some sort of crystalline synapse control?" Elsa clarifies.

"More or less. The appearance doesn't really matter," Morpheus notes, then looks to Envoy. "Does it?" he asks.

"So you have no preferences on it? Using a khatta base and Eeee cross, I could roughly duplicate the form you have now," Elsa remarks as she circles the crystalline entity. "Providing we have proper samples, a decent sequencer, and a working cellular acceleration tube."

Envoy sees the head of a young girl peering at her from around a doorway. At least she thinks it is a young girl. It looks ... like a mix of her own features and a khatta. It even has a tiny horn growing from the center of her forehead and curling back. It blinks at Envoy as Envoy looks back at her.

"Cypher, you can come out," Morpheus says, "You know her; she helped free your subroutine from its logic jail." To Envoy he adds, "I hope you don't mind that, well ... I modeled a body after both of us."

"So long as she is happy with it," Envoy says, still grinning. She's never seen anyone that.. well.. looks like she'd be related.

The little girl steps out from the doorway and walks a few feet into the room. Sure enough she has a mostly feline body with her face and crystalline-feathered wings the main aspects taking after Envoy's form. "Hello," she says, her voice somehow sounding melodic, dual-toned, and hollow.

"Three if you count me," Envoy notes, then turns back to Cypher. "How are you doing, Cypher? Are you getting enough data to keep yourself occupied?"

"I am ... functioning correctly," Cypher says after giving the question some thought. "There is difficulty in understanding the nature of this ... reality. I have tried to interpret the data logs from a ship not far from these coordinates, but the concepts expressed in the logs do not make complete sense to me. They do not follow logical patterns."

"That would be the Silent-Ones ship," Envoy says. "I imagine they weren't very rational near the end. Intelligence isn't necessarily logical though. It may be what provides it flexibility."

"She is trying to understand non-logical thought," Morpheus explains. "It is difficult for her; her neural network is still forming."

"I ... feel lost," Cypher admits, "But I do not understand it. I cannot explain what it is to feel ... but it is there."

"Maybe Icarus can help her when he gets here," Envoy says. "They can be confused together at least. I'd also like her to look into his head."

"A complex bio-organic hybrid of sifrian structures and carbon-based tissue," Elsa tries to explain. "Someone I created ... and Envoy has adopted."

"Ahem. Someone Envoy and I have adopted," Morpheus corrects. "I claim him as my adopted child, same as I do Cypher."

"He's still trying to figure things out as well," Envoy adds. "Also.. you might be able to help protect him from the Tribunal, if you think you can. I've got a crystal element that is.. contaminated.. by the Tribunal. If we can figure out how to clean it or replace it with our own intentions, then maybe we can beat them."

"I am not certain I or she will be able to counter the designs of our creators," Morpheus admits, "They built me. They know me better than myself."

"Do they?" Elsa asks, her head tilting a bit. "Tell me, were you always sentient?"

"Then they do not know you. There is a difference between knowing how a system works, and knowing the system. I can tell you in detail how Icarus was designed; how his interconnects function; how he was grown, and even recite most of his RNA and DNA sequences," Elsa says, "But; I do now know him. The person who grew in the body I designed. His personality, wants, desires ... are his alone."

"I don't know that the Tribunal created anything, or just managed to usurp certain systems," Envoy says, rubbing her cheek. "The Gateway Tower on Sinai is damaged - something tore the top off of it. The Primus chamber is also damaged. Given the resilience of Sifran crystal, these seem unlikely to be due to any natural causes. But a civil war, or similar attempt to strategically cripple or isolate one faction or another might fit the evidence."

"There is little I can add from scouring the databases. But I have run simulations on the systems Envoy has located," Morpheus explains as he removes hit top-hat. It dissolves and is absorbed back into his body. "And the simulations are ... concerning, Envoy. If my projections are right ... I am not sure you want to repair any further components."

"Not with the Tribunal still around, no," Envoy admits. "They have to be dealt with somehow though. I think the Master Interface on Fortunatis is what they really want, but it's either been sabotaged or else needs everything else functioning before it will do what they need it to. I'd like to know for certain. But being able to deny them access or influence over systems would be a good start in any case. If we can 'turn' their old transport ship to our side, it will mean we have a chance."

"Envoy, if the system operates as my simulations predict, it will rend the fabric of the universe by permanently damaging the quantum stability of everything," Morpheus notes. "I repeat, a complete and systemic destruction of quantum stability. The system may be a threat to everything. I am part of the system, which means I may be a threat to everything, too."

"The simulations may be in error of upwards to fifty percent," Cypher notes, "Due to incomplete data."

"Well.. then we won't turn any of that on," Envoy replies. "We couldn't anyway - there aren't enough Svartifin left to maintain it all. In time, we'll know what to take apart. Look at Icarus! He was supposed to be a weapon too.. but he's a relatively normal person now."

"You might be forced to turn me off," Morpheus explains further. "I just ... you need to be prepared for that. Now, that isn't why you came here. You wanted a ... family reunion of sorts?"

"Yes! And your help with some things," Envoy admits. She digs out the burnt crystals from the cyborg, and holds them out. "These were grown from a node crystal, somehow. I was hoping you could make some sense of them, and also maybe help me use my own a little better. Oh, and see if you could make your own versions of some of the gravity drive components and power generator? And.. well, anything else you can teach me about using and interacting with crystals."

Morpheus takes the damaged crystals and peers at them. "Mm. I will have to spend some time examining these. The lattice is all ... skewed," the sentient-computer explains. "As for duplicating other systems, I cannot make promises outside of I will try to copy them. It may or may not be possible," he admits. "And as for your implants ... that would require that I interface with you. Which ... may be a little strange. Are you certain?"

"I've already swapped bodies once with Icarus, so.. how weird could it be?" Envoy asks. "It might be fun!"

"What?" Morpheus asks and gives Elsa a really odd look, with one eye larger than the other.

"Anyway, you could try calling Icarus over the flower," Envoy says. "That should let him know we have the gateway operating and a clear path for him to bring over the Gravy Boat."

Morpheus shakes his head. "Why don't you give me some time to examine these. I should hopefully have something for you when you return with our son," he says to Envoy as he examines one of the crystals closely. The golem blinks a few times, then looks to Envoy. "Oh, you want me to call him? You don't want to leave now that you're here?" he asks.

"It's a long walk back to the base to where they are.." Envoy notes. "They could be here in a few minutes instead though! Oh, tell him to remember to slot the battery into the main console so the enchantment doesn't fail once they come through. At least, that's my hope.."

"And has nothing to do with wanting to stay with me?" Morpheus asks as he gives her the same larger-eye look. Elsa rolls her eyes and notes, "Men always fish for compliments." So Morpheus hmphs at that. "Fine, I will try to contact him. Please amuse yourselves for a few minutes."

"Well, okay," Envoy says, and squeezes Morpheus here an there, trying to figure out the trick of 'soft' crystal. It wouldn't be a water-filled latticework... would it?

"You have a charming, if odd, boyfriend. He reminds me of a professor I once dated," Elsa remarks. "He had a disturbing obsession with collecting and examining the mucosal secretions of various lifeforms."

"Mucous is pretty fascinating," Envoy admits. "And it traps so much useful information and bacteria and such..." She turns to Cypher, and asks, "Have you developed any hobbies yet?"

It's hard to say what is more disturbing, the fact Morpheus is soft, or the fact he doesn't seem to notice and Envoy squeezes him.

"Activities which perform no useful function beyond personal gratification or amusement," Envoy notes. "I'll have to see about getting you some crayons at least."

"I calculated pi out to a million places. Does that count?" Cypher asks. "And I can tell you the exact count of atoms contained within this structure."

"Direct observation," Cypher notes. "Statistical estimation would not be exact."

Envoy grins. "You're able to query them over the privileged bands of particle communication then. Have you tried persuading them yet?" she asks.

Morpheus clears his throat. "Icarus asks if you want him to bring lunch?" he asks.

"Well, of course he should," Envoy says. "Otherwise it'll just be whatever is still growing in the ship's garden."

"The garden tried to eat my foot," Cypher claims. "But it didn't like my foot and spit me out."

Poor Elsa just stands there blinking and looking confused. "All of you are very strange," she finally says.

"Message relayed. He said he will be here in ten minutes approximately," Morpheus says. "So, do you plan to stay long? Do you want me to shape you a private room? I promise I won't peer in it. Records claim that women prefer privacy. The records are old, but ... still accurate from what I glean from dreams..."

"I don't need one. Do you have one?" Envoy asks. "I think the others can stay in the ship, if it's livable. Privacy for me will involve encrypting the access codes to the crystal in my brain.."

"Ah, home base it is, then," Elsa mutters to herself after Envoy's request. As for Cypher, the poor girl just stands there looking confused. It's only going to get stranger, most likely...