Part 32: Sixteen Tons

Sixteen Tons





As you might have noticed, there's no plot driving us here right now besides "get rich or die trying." Solution needs supplies, and the mines are a great place to collect vendor trash and a few valuable items. The exp gain is fairly negligible around level 15.

The western mines seem quiet enough at first.





Checking out the northern path leads to a lucky discovery of another canister. It makes you stronger, increasing not just your muscle mass, but the conductivity of the fibers that control them.





No trip through a Shaper facility is complete without destroying unpleasant security measures.





This zone has none of the scree piles that littered the eastern section of the mines. You don't notice any tools or blocks, either.





You're not sure if something you did shut these radiant panels down or if they broke down ages ago. Nevertheless, the door opens to admit you into a room of records. They don't prove to be of use.



A bit further in, you find another damnable pylon.



As it turns out, the pylon was protecting another servant mind. How curious. You hope this one isn't like Dispenser.




Before you alert the mind, you check the nearby essence pools, but they are inert.



This is a very large servant mind, with a particularly well-developed forebrain. No doubt, it was expected to carry out a lot of jobs and store a lot of information.

Such capabilities are draining. The mind has been weakened by its years of neglect. You have to bend very close to even detect signs of life.

You poke and prod it with your finger, but you have no luck. The mind has been completely depleted of nutrients. You will need to feed it to have any chance of waking it up.

Alas, you're on your last jar of mind nutrients. You suspect this isn't the only servant mind going hungry out here, not after the others you've encountered. Still...

It is a slow, messy job. The creature starts out completely immobile. You need to scoop the food into its mouth, one tiny globule at a time. Eventually you are able to revive it enough for it to eat on its own.

Finally, it speaks. Its voice is weak, but you are able to understand it. "Thank you, Shaper. I am Mind Erwin. Oh, but I was in a terrible state! I could feel what was happening in the mine, but I could not affect it.

"The defenses attacked you! I am so sorry. That sort of thing must never happen. I should be deactivated for my laziness. Please forgive me. I will help you however I can," Erwin says.

"What do you know about the mine's defenses?" you ask. At least Erwin is in better shape than the control mind in the servile warrens.

"I am completely in charge of them. Well, I was. I mean, I was supposed to be. I... l was, but not anymore. I can control them a little, but I am not strong enough to completely control them."

"What about the defenses just outside?"

"The closer the pylons are, the better I can control them. I... wait. The defenses just outside attacked you?"

"Yes," you say.

"Well this is terrible! Wait a moment." It is silent for a few seconds. "Done. The pylons in this area of the mine will no longer attack you. That, at least, I can be sure of," Erwin says.

You're not as confident as Erwin is, though. You'll still destroy the pylons whenever you see them, just in case. "What about the defenses in the other parts of the mine?"

"The mine has three wings, west, north, and east. If I concentrate very hard, it will be painful to me, but I can subvert the pylons. However, right now, I am already concentrating on one of the wings. You must first give me permission to cease before I can deactivate another. Say the word, and I will turn off the defenses in one wing."

"Turn off the defenses in the west wing." You might as well explore that section of the mine next.

"Yes, Shaper. I live to obey."

"What was this mine for?"

"I and the serviles I directed brought forth minerals and crystals from the rock. The stone in this area has a pleasing natural magic concentration. It was very useful in the research of the Shapers," Erwin says.

That makes sense. Sucia Island doesn't seem to have suffered from a shortage of delicate tools, given all the crystal spirals and control panels and spell crystals and...

"What sort of research?" you ask. "Do you know?"

"Of course I know, Shaper. They described it to me so that I could pick out and process the correct minerals. I found the crystal to make their canisters. I purified the stone used to build the Geneforge. And I maintained the processor machines," Erwin says proudly.

Finally, a being who knows something useful. "Tell me about the canisters."

"They were crystal cylinders which contained gene-editing materials. I needed to find pure crystals, without flaws, to safely contain the potentially volatile substances within."

"Gene-editing? What is a gene?" You're still not sure you understand the scrolls and code of life metaphor Clois mentioned.

"That knowledge is beyond me." Disappointing. "My master, Corata, described it as a tiny, tiny scroll, inside all living things, which describes the purest form of their essence. I did not understand. But he did tell me that the Shapers here learned how to read that scroll, and to rewrite it in a way pleasing to them."

So Clois somehow learned about Corata's theory. That's an interesting connection. "What happened to all of the serviles?"

"Is it important, Shaper? They are just creations." Erwin seems honestly confused, but its response irritates you.

"It is important to me," you snap. "I want to know."

"Well, after the Shapers left Sucia Island, they left. Not immediately. First, the food ran out, and there was some discomfort and roguish behavior. Then the units who were still functional went to Kazg. I was left alone."

How pitiable. Without the serviles, the mind starved, but if they stayed, the serviles would've starved. You wonder if Erwin witnessed the first Taker before his untimely end.

"Do you know anything about why Sucia Island was abandoned?"

"Well, one day Corata came to me and told me Sucia Island was going to be abandoned."

"And?" you press the mind.

"Well, he seemed confident that there would be some political maneuvering. And then Sucia Island would be unBarred. But, to be honest, I do not think that happened. The departure was very hectic. Most people left most of their goods behind, because there was little time to pack and because they believed they would be back. Corata was clear on one thing, though. He wanted to make sure all the mine's defenses were up and strong."

"Why?"

"I don't know. He did say he left something important in the north mines, though. Some sort of pass baton for the main research area. Don't know anything more than that. I am sorry, Shaper."

You bite down on a curse of surprise. You'd forgotten about the entry baton! That alone makes exploring these mines worthwhile. It's far more valuable than any amount of coin you can earn from the crystals you can scrabble out of this maze. With the baton, the most sophisticated mechanisms this island can throw at you should no longer be of any concern.

"Who was Corata?" you ask.

"One of the three leading Shapers on Sucia. Corata was in charge of supplies and administration. Defniel took care of the school and training. And Danette directed research. All of their offices were in the main facility to the north. Surely, they are all dead now. Very sad," Erwin says.

If they weren't dead, you'd want to give them a piece of your mind for all the awful messes they left behind. But if they had somehow survived, the Sholai certainly wouldn't have gotten a foothold on this island.

"Back to the defenses. Are there any that you don't control?" you ask.

Erwin is a little reluctant, but the servant mind's not about to disobey a Shaper. "I am afraid that, when I was left here, I was given several powerful, hibernating creations. I was to awaken them when the mine was invaded. Then, a few months ago, the mine was invaded."

Of course it was. "What happened then?"

"I was barely strong enough to awaken them, but I was far too weak to control them. They went rogue quickly. There are a few in this area, and some very strong rogues in the north mines. They are young and strong, and completely, well, bad. But they are also dumb. If you do not want to slay them, you might be able to slip around them."

Now that we've gained access to servant mind Erwin, we can use him to deactivate the defenses in the other adjacent mine zones. This is key to allowing us to make the mine zones safe to freely pass through. We deactivated the eastern mine, so we can turn that area from red to green by re-entering that map and crossing to the opposite end. I won't show that on-screen.



True to Erwin's word, the next pylon you encounter is not hostile, though it hasn't been powered down, either. You destroy it anyway.



The pylon explodes, and as it turns out, you weren't far enough away from the blast to avoid poisoning. To make the situation worse, a glaahk approaches from the west.



Another glaahk comes from the north just as the first one falls.



After putting it down, your team heads north. The radiant panels have also been shut off.



Before you head north, you open up the nearby room with the unlock charm. The crystal spiral inside is powering something, but as usual, there's no indication of what. Since the radiant panels are already cooling down, you elect to leave this spiral alone.



The indicator light by this northern passage is a nice, soothing green. It's the first time that you've seen that. Erwin must have managed it.



Just like before, as soon as you destroy the pylons, another patrolling glaahk shows up.



You locate the glaahks' nests not too far away. A quick search turns up a pair of enchanted tinker's gloves, which are an amazing find. You tuck them away, certain that they will prove their usefulness very soon.





The main path heads west here, but the red indicator light is flashing. You want Erwin to deactivate this wing of the mines before heading further.





Erwin's powerful creations just aren't a match for your two terror vlish. Together, Random Asshole and TooMuchAbs are an indomitable team.

The nearby room houses another spiral crystal. You wish the Shapers would have labeled the things.



There are more nests here, but you're confident that you've killed their occupants.



Nearby is a smelter that's barely warm enough to heat your hands. The nearby chest has a lot of crystals that the last worker retrieved from the scree.



A peek at the tinker's gloves, which are a great help.



You check the southeastern corner of the central mining facility. A few pylons guard the way, but they don't pose an immediate threat to you. The obelisk here reads "POWER AND MAINTENANCE."



This must be where the crystal spirals were made. There are two spirals in the back, but they're inactive.





Where did we disappear to? Hell if I know.

You don the tinker's gloves. Once you re-connect the spirals to the crystal fiber hookups, the spirals come to life. You're a little nervous that they'll explode, but they actually appear to be putting out a steady power pattern.

Since the pylon on the central platform hasn't attacked you, you're fairly certain that you haven't activated any defenses. By your estimation, you're on the opposite side of Erwin's chamber, which means these spirals should be providing power to the essence pools.

Before you go further west, you stop by the servant mind's chamber and confirm that the pools have reactivated. The soothing essence goes a long way towards revitalizing you for more exploration.







The indicator light for the passage back to the mine core flashes red, which doesn't make much sense. Erwin permanently deactivated that facility... but it doesn't matter. You've wrecked all the pylons and destroyed the glaahks back that way, so an incorrect indicator isn't important.

The obelisk here says, "WESTERN MINES. ENSURE DEFENSES ARE INACTIVE BEFORE PROCEEDING."



This kitchen doesn't seem to have an attached cafeteria.



Further north you discover charged fyoras guarding another defunct smelter.



The rogues built their nests back here. No wonder they were so aggressive.



A phlegmy hiss in the corridor draws you back out. A charged artila sways dangerously, sizing you up as a likely foe.

It doesn't prove to be as dangerous as you are.





You find another cache of crystals before turning south. There you find a crystal mine blocking off an intersection. Like the mines in the incomplete holding compound, these are tied to spore mines. You very carefully try to disarm the mines even though Erwin has already shut down the defenses here. You just can't be too careful with mines.

These can still ruin your day.

Even with the tinker's gloves, you're just not quite good enough. You trigger the mine, which flashes. The hiss adds a certain spring to your step that sends you almost all the way back to the entrance before the mines blow.





At least the pylons don't want to kill you. Yet.



You open the nearby door, but not before Random Asshole warns you of another rogue and just as quickly kills it.



The opened room reveals another crystal processing machine and a canister. There are two used-up canisters in here, which make you wonder about the identity of the invaders Erwin mentioned. This canister improves your mass restore spell. You can't wait to put it into practice.




It's a terror wand! Not bad at all.

I'll never use this.





You also manage to disarm a crystal mine without blowing anything up that you didn't intend to destroy.



The rogue patrols here are sparse, but you're glad you had Erwin deactivate the security here. Tangling with pylons, mines, panels, and rogues all at once is just too much.





The rogues are predictable creatures, though. You clean them up and find even more crystals here.



The dormitory is suspiciously full of crystals, too. The serviles must have hoarded them.



You wipe out a pair of rogues in the dining room, then detect a breeze of fresh air.



You follow it south. The mine lets out into a green clearing. The trees are in poor shape, but the air is clean and the sun is warm.

The nearby obelisk says, "SUCIA MINES. CLEAR ALL CRYSTAL AND GOODS REMOVAL THROUGH OFFICES. SECURITY CHANGES MUST BE ENACTED AT MINE CORE."



You're not the only one out enjoying the sunshine, but you haven't exactly finished checking out the western mines. Your next stop is the guards' office.




You've collected nearly that many during your travels. You anticipate finding at least a dozen more in the northern mines while you look for the entry baton. Who knows how many crystals you've overlooked. You don't plan to spend time scouring the mines for them, though. The serviles could have carried some of them away generations ago.






Back in the southeastern section of the mines, you find a barracks that's been taken over by rogues. These go down easily enough. In time, they'll join the other bone piles here.



Someone left a pair of enchanted boots in the cabinet here. They're the same type that the Dispenser showed you. You swap them out for your spectral boots.



You disarm and detonate several more mines and flatten a few more rogue patrols before finding the last of the nests in the area. The rogues have a tidy collection of decent crystals here. They also have quite the bone collection.

Back at the mine core, you rest by the essence pools before directing Erwin to shut off the northern wing's defenses.

It closes its eyes. A look of great discomfort appears on its face. The effort of concentration is really painful for it. "It is done, Shaper. You will now be able to move safely in the northern mines. If you can evade the rogues."



The obelisk at the entrance to the northern mines has the same warning you've already seen three times over now. If you had entered here without shutting the defenses down, the pylons would have killed you before you could read the obelisk anyway.







The atmosphere is subtly different here. There are even more bones here than there are in the western mines, though you're certain there's no exit to the outside world here. The way you entered is almost certainly the only passage in and out of this mine. You don't think that a senior Shaper would have left the entry baton in a place that wasn't well-defended.



You're determined to check every room, every pot, every cupboard until you find the baton.





You're not quite determined enough to walk over these panels without shutting them down, first.





At least the other radiant panels are passable.



You're exploring a narrow, bone-strewn passageway when you hear something huge plodding your way.

A battle alpha trudges up to you. It is a massive, muscled creature, the ultimate Shaper melee design, basically unchanged in the last few centuries. This creature looks experienced, but not ancient. It must have been hibernating.

It looks at you coldly. It doesn't seem to recognize you as a Shaper. It says in a slow, halting voice. “You intruder. Corata told me to slay intruders. You die now!"

"Wait!" you cry. "I'm a Shaper!"

It doesn't seem to know what a Shaper is. "Not care! You must be slain!"

We could also tell Crag to bring it on or lie and convince it that we're Corata, but fuck it, let's show this peabrain who the real alpha is.



You draw your team back further. This is a dead end, but you want more space between your team and the alpha. You know how deadly they are when they can get their hands on a creature.



Strong or not, though, it's no more proof against your vlish's terror than the ghosts were. The battle alpha flees even though your creations have only dealt it minor wounds.



It flees out of sight. You sigh and ransack the nest back here, netting a pair of sandals enchanted to improve healing craft. You're not sure why shoes and healing had a natural connection to whoever made these sandals.

On your way out, you run into Crag, who has regained control of its senses. The battle alpha roars, but placid saviour swiftly cuts it off with a fatal blow.





Bay 1 is full of unsorted rock piles. You check the cabinets in the back to find that they're both locked and trapped. You're too stubborn to let some minor needle trap stop you. What's a little poison to someone who jammed her palm down on a faulty canister?

The explosion still hurts, though. You end up using a healing pod. At least the crystals are worth the pain... probably.





The main gallery was once a busy place. Now it echoes with the sound of your footsteps.

The southern door doesn't open, and the northern one is the primary storage. Your intuition says that the baton must be behind this door.





Before you can do much about it, you're interrupted by the appearance of another massive battle alpha. It dies even faster than the last.




You check the crystal box at the far end of the bay.




The opposite bay contains one thing of note -- a canister that grants you the power to create your own glaahks. You relish the sensation of the agents rushing through you. It's even better than a hot bath. It's better than a hundred hot baths.



That pot behind the pool of water is completely inaccessible. I don't know what, if anything, is inside. Vogel likes to do this sort of thing, though I don't know if it was deliberate this time.



You find one of the battle alphas' nests. The deceased resident left behind some decent change and a few useful spore pods.







There's only one working crystal spiral back here and a lever. You're certain you know what they mean...




This machine creates Shaped Swords, which aren't useful to us but do pack quite a punch.

Fifty depressions are a little too steep for you. You have just enough to cover that requirement, but without knowing what this machine will create, you're not willing to pay the price.





You find another locked door. It turns out to open back into the main gallery just south of the storage bay where you found the entry baton.





You enter this small storage room with the intent of disarming the mines, but they both go off before you can even get close enough to touch them. Now the spore mines are alive. You edge backwards out of the room.





You weren't wrong about finding more crystals up here. You've nearly reached the limit of what you can carry.



You check the pot in the far corner of the room.






You check back with the room you found earlier, but the panels are still burning. You didn't find a means of shutting them down after all.

You don't like it, but you send Random Asshole ahead, hasted and buffed as best you can manage. You share in its pain as it passes over the radiant panels. It encounters a turret at the end of the winding passage and manages to slay it. If you'd gone alone, you probably would have died.



Random Asshole falls back and you re-cast haste, harden your heart, and sprint over the panels all the way to the end, crushing healing pods along the way.

At the end, you find two canisters. One makes you more nimble, while the other enhances the clarity of your thoughts and expands the essence at your command.

I would walk over lava to become faster and smarter. Wouldn't you?

Now you're certain you've seen all that the mines can offer.



Next time: The Only Guarantee of Morality