Part 17

Madak had heard stories of ancient travelers to Earth before. He had no name for them until now, but there were stories of advanced technologies that had been handed down to early man. Most of the stories tell of benevolent technologies, such as architecture and astrology. This mechanical thing standing before him could do no less than teach terror. It was inconsistent with what he understood, but there may have been other visitors that did not have such altruistic goals for humanity than to teach them to better themselves. He stepped closer.

The markings on the creature, he had seen before. They were of the script of eons - the written language of the first ones. Madak recognized the icons. Stars with six curving points in groups of three. He had made attempts to decipher them throughout the years, but realized that there was a deeper pattern at play than he was ready to discover.

Laastra turned to Madak, as if shaking himself out of a dream and spoke.
"I want you to study it. Prepare it for habitation.'

Madak, intrigued but hesitant to agree, looked at Laastra and then at the machine.
"Habitation?"

"As part of a bargain I made with other parties, this creature will serve us when it is inhabited by the soul of a soldier."

Madak studied it for a few more moments, feeling Laastra watching him.

"I thought you would be excited to study such an artifact," Laastra said with a hint of disappointment.

"I am very interested... and slightly terrified," Madak admitted.

Several of the demon-looking creatures made noises that could be interpreted as quiet laughter. Laastra smiled and embraced the magan heartily.

"Madak, of all your studies of the things of this world and its neighbors, I am confident that this machine will teach you things you could not have previously imagined."

Madak continued to study it from the far side of the tent. One of the false-demons approached him, holding a scroll. He stood beside Madak.

"Master Madak, it's me, Bojum... you transfigured me last Spring." Madak blinked twice and looked to the face of a yellow-boney once-man. "Yes?"

Bojum continued, " This scroll was encased with the machine - they are phonetic spellings of the Khalbantian commands. There were other scrolls which did not survive the journey, but this one contains the basics."

Madak held the scroll and its smell reached his nose. Old moist stone. The paper was not nearly as old as the machine, and he felt a taste of the person behind the handwriting... a very old magan. Someone with dangerous knowledge wrote down these phonetics, and pieces of that knowledge were hidden in the curls and sharps of the characters.

Laastra stood behind the machine and reached out to touch the metal bands surrounding one of it's legs. Another of the hooded assassins quickly warned him away. "No! Wait!"

"Sorry, Lord Laastra, but the defensive programming of it will treat you as an enemy if you touch it. We have to introduce you, so to speak, to the operating system."

Laastra, at first, glared at his minion, very subtley, then softened into understanding as he finished his explanation. Madak saw this. Another onion skin layer of the mysterious Laastra was betrayed. Laastra did not like to be told what he could and could not do.

Pretending to not have witnessed this, Madak quickly fixed on the scroll again.
"Well then, introduce us."

Bojum reached out for the scroll. "May I?" Madak handed it back to him.

Bojum searched through the scroll for a few moments, and cleared his throat.

"After I speak the three Khalbantian words, each of you must speak your name. Lord Laastra, if you would first, then Master Madak.

The first words are the command to awake... Obann Kebbish Nyemmit."

The insectoid god clicked and shuddered into a fluid state. The skull slowly surveyed the room. Madak stepped back slightly. His motion attracted the empty stare of the machine.

Bojum continued, "Now, I will enter the command to recognize allies... please wait until I signal you to speak... Myotim Botara Goshchullt."

The machine straightened its posture significantly and retracted its arms tighter to its body. Bojum nodded to Laastra. "Just say your name."

Laastra looked up into the face of the machine and spoke his name. The creature turned to look at Laastra. It moved closer to him. The packed earth beneath them shuddered with each stabbing step of those bone and metal spider-legs. Bojum reassured Laastra.

"It is getting a three dimensional sense of your presence. Please stand still."

The machine loomed over Laastra, and seemed to be smelling his clothes. It walked around Laastra and returned to its spot, then resumed the upright posture.

Bojum nodded to Madak. Madak held his breath for a moment then spoke his own name. It still felt alien to be speaking his own name. In the past few years, there had been a disturbing cascade of introductions he had to make. Prior to introducing himself to Laastra 4 years ago, it had been almost 20 years since the last time he had to speak his own name. Since then, there had been an increasing hesitance to use his own name... as if he were betraying some part of himself that he intended to conceal for his own safety. Now, he was offering this sacred information to an ancient machine of chaos. His name sounded offensive. A lie.

The machine stilted over to Madak and stood over him. The hollow eyes of the skull held some distant gleam in them... a crystal, perhaps, thought Madak. Madak could hear a narrow stream of air being pulled into the shadow of the nose, and another hissing sound as air was sucked through permanently grinning teeth, that Madak noticed had been sharpened.

The machine continued around Madak as it had with Laastra, and Madak felt an odd pressure emitting from the creature's face. The pressure left a residue to his subtle body that was murky and spoiled. It quickly dissipated, but Madak began to feel ill deep inside. Soon, the creature returned to its place and straightened.

"Daka Daka Daka" Spoke Bojum, and the creature settled back into its weight.
" I just ended the introduction command. It is safe to talk now."

End Part 17