After her visit to Elsa, Enjoy grabs her snoggums, aka, Morpheus, to head back to her 'secret base'; the former lair of Von Bronson. Why? She intends to go further down, to the old Sifrian star port and try to convince the control system there to build her three absorption matrices for testing purposes .. as well as possible implantation into herself and into Icarus. Before going down the pit to the star port, though, Envoy stops and collects the bits that were left over from the critical system failures of number Twelve, Icarus' predecessor.

"Are you sure that it is safe to try and get this computer to build these devices? What if it decides to trap them and use them to kill you?" Morpheus asks as the pair enters through the old passage and into the old start port. "I know that I too am an old Sifrian system, but not all of their creatures are likely as magnanimous and handsome as I am," the remote faux-aeolun claims. It's even said with a disturbingly straight face. So, either he means that, or he's starting to figure out humor.

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.

And just ahead, the ship sits, gleaming in its eerie iridescent light. It looks rather pretty, really, and surely wouldn't harbor any dark thoughts or desires, right?

"That's why I've brought the battery crystal and old crystal implants," Envoy claims. "I can install one lattice into the crystal, to make sure I know how to do it, and so I can access it remotely. And if it works, it may be able to keep the battery permanently charged. That's almost as useful as having a direct implant in either myself or Icarus. And if it kills me, the ship can't get the missing parts back."

Before going into the ship itself, however, she tells Morpheus, "And I've got you for backup if anything weird happens."

"I must point out that by the mere presence of either of us, that weird is already happening," Morpheus points out as he raises a finger. "But, if anything weirder happens, well, I will do what I can. Do you wish me to come in with you, then?"

Envoy pauses to consider that. "You've got the missing node from Calypso in your head," she points out. "But.. the ship didn't try very hard to extract the one from Icarus, so you should be safe enough. The drone is fused to the wall now, after all."

"And you are sure it could not have made more in your absence?" Morpheus inquires as he peers at the ship.

"No, but I don't think it can make a drone - it was the skeleton and crystal implants of a Svartifin," Envoy reasons. "It was devoting its energy to regenerating the pieces Victor stole from it. We still have the power core for it - I don't plan on restoring that until we know we can overwrite the Tribunal programming."

"Mmm, fair enough. Let us hope your ship isn't holding any grudges, then," Morpheus says as he bows, gesturing towards the ship. "After you."

After stepping into the ship, Envoy first checks the fore compartment to make sure the drone really is still fused to the wall.

The ship is silent as a tomb. Well, for few seconds, anyway. Lights dot across its walls as the systems seem to come online. In the light Envoy can tell the drone is still quite stuck to the wall. "The defect has returned," the ship resonates. "What is it this time?"

"Defect?" Morpheus asks as he follows in after Envoy. "Which one of is are you referring to?"

"Hello, Bucephalus," Envoy replies in Aelfin. "I assume it means me, since it hasn't met you yet," she asides to Morpheus. "What is the status of your engine repairs?" she asks the ship.

The ship is silent for a moment. "Why is a remote of the reality stabilization system present?" it asks. "Correction; a damaged stabilization system. Are you damaging all primary system controls now? The engines have been restored to functional capacity within the limits of the few missing elements. To you intend to damage them again as well?"

"I have recovered some of the missing elements," Envoy claims. "The remote is present to help stabilize me, obviously. How long will it take you to manufacture three quantum foam extraction lattices?"

"For what purpose are these lattices? What are their operational and size requirements?" the system inquires.

This brings Envoy up short. She knows the size requirement, and holds her thumb in forefinger apart at about the size of a fingernail. "About this big, suitable for a drone and capable of constant operation." She has no idea how to describe power requirements, however.

"That size constraint will restrict the absorption capabilities to matter about 10 raised to the 30th power atoms of carbon 12," the system states. "About the size of a small common asteroid. Is that sufficient for the conversion requirements?"

Envoy blinks. "That should be sufficient," she agrees. That seems like a lot of mass-energy to her, but her only baseline is how much it draws from her in calories - and she does not have the mass of an asteroid. "What is the minimum amount of power that it can provide?"

"Output power is as low as one joule to to a maximum output of 10 raised to the 15 joules of usable power," the system claims. "I have been monitoring this planet since reactivation and an approximation would be enough to power one of the cities as maximum output."

Definitely need to tune these things before testing, Envoy thinks. She doesn't know if Sifran crystal can overheat, but channeling too much energy will probably not be kind to surrounding flesh. "When can they be ready?" she asks the ship.

"Apparently being stubborn was part of our designs," Morpheus notes to Envoy. "Us being old Sifrian systems, that is."

After glancing at Morpheus and holding back a sigh, Envoy asks, "Upon what does it depend?"

"Because I have these," Envoy notes, and holds up the twig-like crystal elements. "Don't you want them back?"

"I could close the access port and force you to return them to leave," the ship points out.

Envoy blinks and looks hurt at Morpheus. "I have many friends," she claims. "It is only people that don't want to get along with me that I have issues with." She turns her attention back to the ship and says, "I have the security override codes for you. I do not believe that tactic would be sufficient, and it would definitely prevent me from bringing back the other recovered elements for you. Why must you be like this? At least I am giving you something to do."

"Because you are an inferior defect. Logic dictates that the superior system, myself, should be in control," the ship notes flatly. "I could modify your neural net to be more proper and subservient," it suggests. "I already detect such has been done to you once before. That must have failed and explains your faults."

"You should not lower yourself to dealing with my shortcomings," Envoy says, but does feel the sting of the remark. "I'm working on them, just as you are working to repair yourself. We are both operating below our normal parameters, so we should be sympathetic to one another. Now, will you trade the lattices for the missing components that I offer?"

"Your logic is acceptable, as is the trade. I can produce the requested components in approximately an hour," the ship states.

"Please begin fabrication then," Envoy says. "Once it is completed, you can instruct me on where to place the recovered components."

"Have you recorded any external events since my last visit?" Envoy asks. The communication node is disabled, but that doesn't mean nobody has tried to contact the ship. Von Bronson knows about it, after all.

"Can you replay the event for me?" Envoy requests, sounding very polite about it.

One of the walls ripples and slowly takes on a sort of mirror-replica of the outer area. It's ... distorted a bit; so the outer sensors are probably not functioning quite right. There are occasional bursts of increased distortion here and there on the screen. They seem to ripple and converge on a single spot ... and then it looks like space itself is separating as a small gate opens up within the old star port. Through it stumbles what looks like one of the more recent 'creations' of Von Bronson. It staggers forward towards the ship ... but doesn't get too far. It starts shuddering and shaking violently, then seems to break apart into dust and crumple onto the floor. "It was unexpected to see something more defective than you visit," the ship comments as the ripple in the wall fades back to its iridescent crystalline form.

"That was a creation of the human who originally damaged you while you were in your dormant state," Envoy notes, but also raises her eyebrows. "He used point to point displacement instead of the gateway," she notes. "Why, unless he didn't have the means to use it? It also suggests that even though he may be in another Sifran structure, it does not have a ship for him to cannibalize."

"Or else he's trying to recover something from the base in a very roundabout manner," the Aeolun adds.

"The gateway is currently powered down," the ship notes. "I deactivated it to conserve power and focus on reconstruction."

"Well, that would explain why the gateway wasn't used," Morpehus notes to Envoy, "And whatever transport he attempted to circumvent it left the traveler in an unstable atomic state. It must have been upsetting ... it went to pieces after all."

"That.. is a terrible joke," Envoy decides, and pats Morpheus on the cheek. "The gateway cannot be activated from another gateway then, unless it is in a state of receptive activation?" Envoy asks. "And I did not realize you were linked to this gateway."

"Of course not. Activating a gateway remotely is a security exposure," the ship claims. "All gateways must be activated at their respective sites before linking between them."

Envoy grits her teeth at that tidbit. Using the gateway to 'sneak' into Dr. von Bronson's base just became trickier. "Can gateways be used for viewing or communication between two sites without mutual activation?" she asks. Morpheus was able to activate this gateway from the one on Morpheus though.. but he also had Cypher to help. She's not about to mention that to the ship though.

"Did the point to point distortion attempt fail because the shell of Sifran crystal around this hangar disrupted it, or some other security system in place to prevent such attempts?" Envoy asks next.

"The latter," the ship states. This structure was designed with a latticework that will disrupt any cross-gates not using the primary gateway interface.

"That is useful to know, thank you," Envoy tells the ship. "Can this gateway be powered independently from you?"

"What constitutes proper equipment?" Envoy asks. If having to ask for details after every answer is getting to her, she isn't showing it.

"Would any of the requested ones be sufficient?" Envoy asks. She does intend to install the first one in the 'battery' crystal, after all. So that could be used to power the gateway.

"Then the three requested ones will be enough," Envoy notes. "I also require the access and command sequences for them, of course."

"Yes," Envoy replies. "I did not realize the name I have given you would be so appropriate. You are a difficult beast to tame."

"Then the codes will be provided," the ship claims. "With proper quantum encryption applied for safety."

"Please explain how the encryption will be applied," Envoy requests, suspecting the ship is hoping to tinker with her brain.

"On a secondary information card. You will have to decrypt it before accessing them," the ship states. "All proper operating servants are capable of such."

Envoy is quiet for a moment, and looks to Morpheus for a moment. "How busy is Cypher of late?" she asks. "I will need her assistance for this."

Morpheus looks distant for a bit. "Not so busy as to be unavailable for assistance," he says once he seems to return to the present.

"I am sure it will be useful once you access the codes," the ship replies. Perhaps the ship figures Envoy won't be able to access the codes.

"I will not be defective forever," Envoy claims. "This is an age of limited resources, and we cannot always wait for things to be fully operational. Workarounds are an unfortunate necessity. Now, what components are you unable to recreate?"

"Navigational arrays," the ship states. "Primary drives are functional, but tachyon scanning arrays to predict positional locations before jumps are non-functional. They are beyond the capabilities of my systems to recreate as the construction of them tends to alter inorganic substrates in close proximity."

Envoy blinks at this. She assumed that only drive components had been taken. But they could have been used in Icarus - he didn't seem to have any problem focusing on where Envoy wanted to go during the 'jump' to save Violette. "Please provide the description and specifications for the array components, and can you tell if they were removed at the same time as your drive elements?"

"They were removed at the same time. I can provide full descriptions on the data card as describing them in inefficient audio-language would take a significant time," the ship states. "And it would be less stressful on your inferior cognitive nets."

"Please provide them on the card," Envoy says. Then she asks, "What will you do if you cannot be fully repaired?"

"Options are still being accessed," the ship claims. "Rendering this astral body down to its constituent molecules would return me to the void of the current spacetime, for example."

"I suggest you focus on options where you can remain useful or operate with an external navigator," Envoy says. "You have some manufacturing capability, after all, and this is useful. Can you repurpose or repair defective or damaged crystal components?"

"Unless the components I have brought are part of your navigational array, it is unlikely they will be recovered," Envoy admits. "A suitable replacement may be found in time. Does the lack of a working array only affect your ability for non-gate-assisted jumps?"

"Your analysis is fundamentally correct," the ship seems to grudgingly admit. "Why cannot the original components be recovered?"

"I have no means of identifying them," Envoy admits. "The man who originally stole them may still have them, or have changed them. That he sent another drone here suggests he wishes to harvest more parts from you. I and others are hoping to secure his base of operations through the use of your gateway. These lattices will hopefully assist in that."

"You wish to track down the thief?" the ship asks. "Why did you not state so before? I can provide you point of origin coordinates for the attempted breech of this bay as well as schematics for establishing secondary power to the gate."

"Glrk," Envoy says, then takes a deep breath. "Yes, please include all available information on the card. Recovery of stolen technology is of primary concern."

"Production of foam lattice devices shortened to one quarter of an hour. Redirecting full production systems to process," the ship claims. "So, the enemy of my enemy is my friend?" Morpheus whispers to Envoy.

"The ship and I are not enemies," Envoy claims. "Dr. von Bronson is my enemy.. and pretty much everyone's enemy. Now that I know what he really is, I feel a greater need to deal with him personally however."

Envoy raises her hands up to stare at them, and then answers, "Yes. He is forcing me to do something I am afraid of doing. I'm still weak. I don't want to fight, and I don't want to kill him. But I'm going to."

Morpheus tilts his head a bit. "I can ... take that task from you if you wish?" he offers. "Are you even sure you can kill him? He has already surpassed normal human lifespan somehow."

The Aeolun keeps staring at her hands as if daring them to shake, and then drops them. "I doubt he even uses his body anymore," she says. "He wanted the Leviathan to be his new one, after all. I think he still does, and I've got some important pieces that it needs. In the meantime, I suspect he will try to take over Icarus again, and live through him. I want to do more than stop him though," Envoy admits. "I want to hurt him. I want to punish him, and stripmine every bit of useful knowledge from his mind. That frightens me, Morpheus. If I can force him into a physical body, I can.. imprison him. Forever."

"Why do you wish to punish him? And raid his mind? What for? What will that gain?" Morpheus asks. "Why would you wish to do to another what ... Inala did to you?"

"Because everything he's done, all the horrible things.. it's all just to get back to what he was before," Envoy says. "He's not a man, not really. He's a former dragon. That's a terrible combination, to be human and dragon. He may even be another of my mother's messes, since she was involved with the Seelie court not so long ago. But Victor.. he managed to get both the Seelie and Unseelie mad at him! My mother only ever got one of them mad at her. But.. above all else, he hurt Icarus. He tried to kill Violette. I won't tolerate that. I couldn't tolerate it when you were captured, and I won't tolerate for any of my loved ones to be hurt."

"So, to stop the monster you will be the monster?" Morpheus asks and places his hand on her shoulder. "I will not stop you if this is the path you wish to walk; I only wish you to think it through and if done, done for the right reasons."

"I won't act on what I want to do to my enemy," Envoy promises. "And.. I'm already a monster, Morpheus. It's just a part of me I locked away, along with what I was actually supposed to do here. Because they weren't things I wanted to be, and since I was my own person, I chose to isolate them. But he needs to be stopped. It's right to stop him. And if I don't, then it might fall to Icarus, and I don't want him to have to worry about things like that."

She looks to her semi-clone, and says, "Besides, if I can't defeat Victor, what chance do I have against the Tribunal?"

"You realize that conceptually, Icarus at full power would be an incredible force, yes?" Morpheus notes. "A being actually capable of manipulating the fabric of reality beyond anything a 'mage' of Sinai is capable of? At some point he is going to have to face 'things like Von Bronson' just due to his nature. But ... I do understand your wish for him to be able to feel like a normal child for as long as possible."

"His Sifran components are also damaged," Envoy notes. "The lattice is needed to begin repairs. Thankfully, his control node has been limiting him to avoid a repeat of what happened to Theseus. But I want that part of him to be fixed and working properly so that it doesn't cause problems for him later. But I mostly don't want him having to fight against creatures that are tortured replicas of himself."

"I ... cannot imagine what that would be like for him," Morpheus admits and looks towards Envoy. "I know he already struggles with himself ... and sometimes thinking of himself as some sort of monster or less than a person. I ... see his dreams sometimes. Having you and having Born-In-War claiming him as family has helped, though. And Violette, of course. I'm fairly sure she has deduced he isn't ... natural. Doesn't care, though."

"Violette knows a lot more about being an adolescent than I do," Envoy admits. "I can't tell if Icarus' moods and doubts are normal for someone his biological age. I don't even know how my own work. I just want to fix myself so that I can.." She pauses, and blinks. "Oh, I'm just the same as Victor, aren't I? I just don't murder people over it."

"We both lost what we used to be," Envoy says. "And have been trying to reclaim it. He lost a lot more, I suppose. I've been recovering in fits and starts, and not in any sort of even way. And.. I also set myself back by refusing to do things that would help me at the expense of others. Victor has been trying to regain what he lost, but was much more desperate and ruthless about it. Do I hate him because I can sympathize with him?"

"Possibly, yes. Or perhaps you're mad that you cannot take the paths he is? But, bear in mind he is more desperate; he's trapped in a decaying body. You're not," Morpheus points out. "But, it may also be you see in him what you could have become and didn't, and would have never wanted to be. So, actually seeing it is triggering the emotion of loathing you that kept you from that path."

"Yes.. that may be it," Envoy says. "I saw him as an obstacle before learning his origins. I still wished to punish him though, because of the pain he caused. But now.. I do loathe him. He's not just an obstacle, he's competition. I've never felt that before."

"And I also want his treasure," Envoy admits. "I want his chaotic crystal. To see if I can turn it to my own use."

"Two," Envoy explains. "In it's current state, it can be used to disrupt Sifran systems. However, Icarus was able to 'turn' the shard we had into something stable that is ours. No old Tribunal programming to overcome. New, clean crystal that we control. In both cases, replacing a few key components in the Primus Engine on Behemoth would let us either disrupt or control the Sifran communications network. We might be able to lock the Tribunal out of systems they are trying to regain access to."

"Well, just do not start sacrificing everyone around you to achieve both," Morpheus notes and squeezes Envoy's shoulder. That is followed by a wink. "Come on, lets leave the ship to fabricate. We can clean up the old test chamber to experiment with the lattices there in hopefully better safety."

Envoy didn't realize how tense she was until Morpheus squeezes her shoulder. She forces herself to relax, and nods. "It shouldn't take too long," she says. "Then we need Cypher's help. Once this mess with Victor is done with, we need to work on a body for her too."

"What sort of body would you want for her?" Morpheus asks as he gently guides her out of the ship. "One like Icarus', or more like this?"

"That will depend on what she wants and what we can produce," Envoy notes. "Has she been observing any dreams to get an idea of what life is like? I'm still assuming she'd be interested in trying it out."

"Admittedly, she talks about little else," Morpheus admits. "A world that isn't entirely defined by abstract mathematics is intriguing, apparently. I believe an apt description is she's like a curious two-year-old?"

"Then perhaps something younger than Icarus, that will grow," Envoy suggests, barely noticing the passage from the ship to the hangar and towards the tunnel now that she has something else to focus on. "I can't produce offspring yet," she points out. "Unless the lattice energy is compatible with my.. quasi-biology. I was able to transfer aspects of it to Icarus when he was wounded, but I don't know if more is possible. I'll have to ask Elsa about it. She knows how to get around reproductive issues, and the equipment here should still be usuable.."

"Cloning a body around Cypher's network? Sort of like Icarus, only more controlled?" Morpheus inquires. "But with a horn, correct?" He reaches up and taps his own, noting, "You do seem to be fond of them, and it makes Icarus nervous."

"I do not understand why everyone is so down on horns," Envoy claims. "It isn't like they are straight and spiralled. Those are awkward. And does Cypher have a physical network? If nothing else, we should try and recover the control node that Victor is using as a seed for his own crystal. Wouldn't Cypher be able to control a body with any suitable node in it, like you do?"

"She should be able to, yes," Morpheus agrees. "And yes, Cypher should have a physical core network ... somewhere. Though, she seems capable of transferring her function into any suitable network in the link. Remember, even I had an original core at one time."

"Should we be worried about not knowing where her original core is?" Envoy asks, sounding worried herself already. "It could be vulnerable! The Tribunal were able to imprison her after all. We should at least plan to recover it eventually, just to be safe. I'm sure she knows where it is."

Morpheus holds up a finger and gets that distant look in his eyes again. He blinks, then lets out a sigh. "You won't like her answer to that," he comments grimly and keeps walking.

"Is the answer that she doesn't know where it is," Envoy asks, "or that she does and it is not in a friendly place?"

"More the latter," Morpheus notes and sticks his hands in his jacket pockets. "It's ... in an old temple deep beneath Babel, Envoy. She has records of being prayed to, to decipher texts and secrets. I don't particularly want to go to that city to fetch it. Do you?"

Envoy nearly trips. "No.. I do not, at least not until I've been forgotten there. Or the Kindly Ones have stopped asking me for favors. And if it's under the Tower of Babel, there's no way to reach it."

"Do you know anyone that could look on your behalf there?" Morpheus asks. "This temple ... I would wager it has something to do with ... Barada."

"Barada is interested in Icarus," Envoy laments. "So asking Her isn't an option. We'll just let it rest for now. Barada won't like the idea of anyone taking her oracle after all. But it should be safe, if she's protecting it."

"Couldn't Violette find out about it?" Morpheus points out. "She's a Babel survivor."

Envoy blinks at that suggestion. "I don't know that she'd want to visit Babel again, but we can ask her," she agrees. "I feel wary of letting Barada know about everyone in our little family."

"Violette is part of the family?" Morpheus asks. "But true in that she may not wish to return. I've seen her dreams and nightmares. She is a tough child; many would not have survived what she endured."

"Of course she is part of the family," Envoy says. "She's Icarus' girlfriend. That makes her one of us, doesn't it, boyfriend?"

"Is she actually his girlfriend? Does he even know what that would mean?" Morpheus asks.

"Well, she seems intent on teaching him," Envoy notes. "But really, they are friends at least. And she needs to feel that she belongs somewhere, and I think we are a good place for her to belong."

"We are diverse, I agree," Morpheus comments. "Do you want me to talk to her about going? Or, do you wish to? I fear I may creep her out a bit."

"I'll talk to her, she already expects me to be weird," Envoy offers. "I know what she's been through, and start by asking her if she ever wants to visit Babel again."

"All right. Now, we should have at least ten minutes to clean up the old test chamber before the ship finishes. That place is re-enforced to handle large explosions ... so if things go poorly, less likely to destroy us and this place," Morpheus points out. "You always take me on such romantic dates..."

"I promise we will get a sitter for the kids and go have pizza by ourselves one night," Envoy offers, and spreads her wings to fly up through the 'hole' in the floor above. She should really build a ramp or something. "And maybe there will be donuts if you're lucky!"