Galatea didn’t envy the diplomatic team Regina had sent. They’d been scrambled on short notice, and she was willing to bet their instructions were vague and frustrating, if not contradictory. No one wanted to start another war down here, but the Empire also couldn’t afford to look weak and back down from a challenge, and they did have to make it clear that the base was protected and off-limits. And that unprovoked attacks would not be tolerated.
Co to think of it, she didn’t envy the intelligence operatives either. Trying to find out anything helpful to illuminate why these people had chosen to do this, in ti to help the negotiations or make a decision about their reaction, was bound to be a difficult task.
All in all, Galatea was just as glad that she was only here to watch. And for once, she didn’t even need to pass word back to Regina, or at least wasn’t crucial for it. They had a ssage system with the teleportation pads and the psychic link.
That said, Max still seed happy to see her. He also seed eager for her help to check out the situation, to ensure they weren’t missing sothing and for keeping things contained.
“You’re one of our best mages,” he said with a shrug. “If there is so hidden trap or master infiltrator, you have a good chance of catching them. Besides, I’m curious what you think of this material.”
Galatea didn’t point out she had seen it before. She just nodded and floated off, making a circuit of the base. In addition to searching for anything that might be hidden, she also looked at the Imperial forces’ preparations. Max was competent, and so was Dan, so they were deployed in a pattern that didn’t leave any obvious openings. But their own people had managed to create a new entrance to the base the last ti it was seriously fought over, so good coverage was important, she supposed. That magically-dug breach had been filled in since then, and it actually took a bit of searching to find where it had been.
She also found Iseis and Berren. The latter was more difficult; she might have overlooked him if she hadn’t known he was present and therefore known to look for him. He was clearly hiding his presence from the Imperial soldiers, which Galatea supposed made sense. He had no reason to trust their discretion, even if they were currently all shut in here.
“Hello, Berren,” she greeted quietly, stepping closer to the entrance leading down. She made sure her voice didn’t reach the Imperial soldiers nearby who were acting as guards. “Have there been any incidents, or are you just waiting?”
“No incident. I must say, this is a bit boring,” Berren replied with a faint grin. That was more of a guess, since his form — she wouldn’t say ‘body’ — was barely perceptible. Luckily, she didn’t rely on physical eyes, either.
“Guard duty always is, or so I’ve been told,” Galatea agreed. “I’m not the sort to get stuck doing these things.”
“Lucky you,” he grumbled. “It’s a wonder your little empress tolerates your habits.”
“Regina is my friend. Not my queen.”
“Of course. It is not as if you haven’t been serving her interests and her nation’s at the expense of personal goals,” he replied sarcastically. “But I’m the last person to begrudge your freedom, wonderful machine intelligence. Though I suppose it would be mana intelligence now. To keep on topic, though, there doesn’t seem to have been any damage here and there haven’t been any infiltrators who got as far as this tunnel since I arrived.”
Galatea decided not to comnt on his earlier statents. She didn’t want to get into that conversation right now. Instead, she focused on what he said about the location. “Good. Then I’ll leave you to it. I should speak to Max.”
She was pretty sure Berren looked jealous as she left, but that was his problem, if he wanted to guard this material. Besides, he’d been a shade for a thousand years, he had to have patience.
Nothing much had changed by the ti she returned to Max, either. He seed to be waiting on the results of the diplomatic team as well. Not that he made it obvious; instead, he ordered his soldiers around and checked on the supplies they had brought along. At least from what Galatea could tell.
“This is surprisingly quiet,” she comnted as she stopped next to him. Max had just returned to the vehicle bay and headed toward the entrance.
He shrugged, not stopping, so she walked alongside him. “I think that’s normal. Fighting often takes less ti than everything around it. Though I hope we won’t have any more fighting here.”
“I guess that’s true,” she agreed. “You’re confident they won’t attack again, then? That you’ll co to so kind of deal?”
“Maybe not a real agreent, but I don’t think they’ll attack now,” Max said, shaking his head. “They backed down before, and we’ve reinforced our position further since. No, that decision has been made. The only question is whether they’ll agree to any kind of reparations or acknowledgnt of guilt.”
“Or whether we’d have to force that from them,” Galatea considered. “Sothing you can hardly afford right now.”
Max grimaced faintly. “Exactly.”
It would an a commitnt of troops and resources that the Empire desperately needed elsewhere, at its many fronts, especially considering the new armies the gods had sent against them. Galatea was positive Regina didn’t want to start a war here in the south. Assuming the war hasn’t already started, that is.
“You could check on the negotiations, if you want,” Max suggested.
“Maybe, but I’m not sure going there is wise,” she shrugged. “I think I will head back up north. You don’t need here, and frankly, it’s less interesting to stand around waiting.”
He smiled. “Why doesn’t that surprise , Galatea?”
She left the base without any further delay, confident that Max, Dan, Iseis and Berren had it in hand. They really do have a gallery of the Empire’s finest right now, she considered.
In the end, Galatea decided she did want to look in on the negotiations, but she didn’t do so in person. Besides any disruption her presence might cause, she didn’t want to risk that. Instead, she paused at a secluded cove not too far away and then scried the location.
For once, there wasn’t even a scrying block in place. Or at least, only a partial one — she could watch, but the sound was muffled, so she couldn’t hear what people were saying. Still, it was enough to be sure there wasn’t anything untoward going on. At least not beyond normal diplomatic shenanigans; the diplomats were still alive and free, at least. That was good enough for Galatea for now. It didn’t look like a very cordial atmosphere, but no one had actually drawn any weapons. They were being civilized, sitting down at a table, drinking alcohol and eating snacks.
It also looked like it would take a while. She supposed that was to be expected.
Satisfied she wasn’t missing yet another violation of diplomatic immunity right in front of her, Galatea dissolved the scrying and focused instead on the Empire. She gathered magic and wove it into another spell. With a slight lurch, she stepped through space, teleporting herself north.
She didn’t appear right at the Imperial palace, despite wanting to talk to Regina. While she could have done that, security concerns dictated that she should approach from a bit farther away. Instead, Galatea arrived in a half-enclosed courtyard that separated a side wing of the palace complex from the neighboring structure, another governnt building. She glanced around, noting it was mostly deserted, then turned to make her way inward.
She’d barely entered the building before a surge of magic caught her attention. Galatea paused, focusing on her magical senses for a mont, then turned. She might as well make another stop first, she decided.
Unsurprisingly, Janis wasn’t alone when Galatea found her. She was in one of the many private gardens that seed to spring up whenever the palace went through a reorganisation or minor remodeling — probably due to Regina and the others’ fondness for them. This one was little more than three ters square with several flower beds and flowering vines hanging on wooden planters at the edges. It was also overlooked by a balcony, or really more of a glorified ledge, where Kiara was watching her girlfriend, chin propped up on her hand and a quiet, content smile on her face. Galatea paused at the sight. It felt like sothing rare, which the queen didn’t allow others to see often, and she didn’t want to intrude.
However, Janis had clearly already sensed her presence. She turned around, the mana fading from around her, and smiled. “Galatea! It’s good to see you. Did you see that?”
Galatea smiled at her excitent. “Only the end of it,” she admitted. “I felt it, though. Do you want to show again, if you’re up for it?”
Janis hesitated for a mont, then nodded. “This will be smaller,” she warned.
That was probably true, but there was still nothing small about the minor firestorm Janis conjured next. It was a mixture of a whirlwind and very contained tongues of fla feeding on nothing but air and mana. A good combination of two elental magic uses. She wasn’t even leaning heavily on the System, but guiding and shaping the mana herself.
“Very cool,” Galatea praised. She stepped closer, smiling at Janis again.
She was being entirely sincere, it was impressive. It didn’t matter that before the curse, Janis could have easily done this and held it for twice as long. It was still good progress.
“Thanks.” Janis wiped so sweat from her forehead, but she was still grinning. Her grin faded after a mont, though. “I feel like I’m getting it back, but it’s still too slow,” she admitted.
“As long as you make a full recovery, that’s the most important thing,” Galatea replied. “Maybe you spent a bit too much mana right now, though. You look a bit pale.”
“I’m fine,” Janis said dismissively. “I’ll stop for now if the two of you insist, though.” She turned to grab a glass and pitcher of water soone had placed inside the doorway to the garden.
“We do.” Kiara joined them. She pressed a kiss to Janis’ forehead as she passed her, then smiled at Galatea. “Back from the south already? I thought you’d spend more ti there.”
“There wasn’t much for to do. The negotiations are still proceeding, and everything is quiet otherwise. I didn’t see a reason to stick around.”
Janis nodded. “I understand. Though I wish I could have seen it myself.”
Galatea gave her a concerned look. “I understand feeling restless, but please don’t be reckless, Janis.”
The young woman scoffed. “Of course.”
Kiara frowned faintly. “Well, I should be going,” she said reluctantly. “I have a scheduled eting that I’m probably late for already.” She paused, then kissed Janis’ cheek. “Don’t overdo it, alright?”
“Of course, love.”
Kiara left, and Janis watched her, a look in her eyes that Galatea found difficult to interpret. She looked surprisingly conflicted.
“Everything alright?” Galatea asked quietly.
Janis twitched slightly, then turned to her and smiled. “Yes, of course. Sorry. I guess I’m more tired than I thought.”
“That’s fine. Maybe we should sit down?” Still a bit concerned, despite herself, Galatea guided her over to a bench in the corner. It was only large enough for one person, but she didn’t want to sit, anyway.
“Tell about the southern base?” Janis asked.
Galatea did so, recounting everything she’d seen, though she skipped so details regarding her conversation with Berren.
After she finished, Janis stayed quiet for a mont. Then she looked up. “It’s good that things are going well. And this was more than we’ve really seen of Berren before, isn’t it? I admit, it’s interesting. I’m wondering … is he like you? A little? His form is made of mana, right?”
Galatea shrugged slightly. “Yes and no? I don’t pretend to understand how it works, but he’s not a mana-form. It’s more directly anchored in his soul, I think. I couldn’t tell you more than that. And unlike , Berren used to be a normal person, so it’s different anyway. Once we learn more from that book he left us, maybe I’ll know more, but I don’t think the intricacies of this working are going to be included.”
Janis humd softly in acknowledgnt. She was quiet for a mont, looking at Galatea thoughtfully.
“Do you ever miss it? Being more … digital?”
“All the ti,” Galatea admitted.
She hadn’t really said that before. Regina hadn’t asked, and, well, it wasn’t like she’d speak to other people about it. Maybe Leian, but ever since her … change, they’d mostly avoided that topic. There’d been other things to talk about, too.
“I’ve got much more freedom now, in many ways. Being able to travel freely is so good. I wouldn’t want to give it up. But I’m also more restricted. In an opposite way than I used to be, I an. I had — “ Galatea paused, frowning. She would never have resorted to emotional expressions and imitations of human body language this easily before. “Even with my server being damaged, I had much more processing power. It’s not really comparable, since my ‘ntal hardware’, so to say, works differently now that it’s solely anchored in my mana. Maybe as a taphor, imagine losing an eye, but also gaining the ability to hear sound suddenly, and feeling drunk all the ti … or maybe no longer being high, and also you’re no longer handicapped? I don’t know. It’s hard to say, but I do miss aspects of my life before.”
Janis nodded slowly. “I can’t say I really understand. I probably have the wrong idea of computers and machine intelligence, anyway. But if you ever need to talk about it, I’m here. And I’m sorry you had to go through that, whatever the reason or benefits.”
Galatea didn’t smile at her this ti, even though she might have otherwise. “Thanks. It’s not so bad. And in the great sche of things, I think I’m happier now.” She paused for a mont. “Still, if I ever get the chance, I would like to see Deirianon get punched for it.”
Janis laughed slightly. “That’s fair. We can add it to the list. I have a few reasons to want to punch him, too.”
“Well, be that as it may,” she tried to change the subject, “Your recovery seems to be going well.”
“As well as can be expected. I just wish I had sothing more to do. I’m feeling restless, Galatea,” Janis admitted. “And with all this …”
Galatea nodded. “Have you spoken to Regina?”
Janis paused for a mont. “Not really.”
If she was human, Galatea would have sighed again. Instead, she just floated closer. “I see.”
Janis looked up, her gaze sharp and assessing. “You agree with about the parliant, don’t you?”
“Maybe.”
“Then why not say so? Do you just not want to get involved?”
Galatea stayed quiet for a mont. “I’m not good at disagreeing with Regina, Janis.”
Janis sat up straighter, narrowing her eyes slightly. “You can still think she’s making a mistake. But, you don’t want to push things?”
Galatea tried not to think about her recent conversation with Berren. Avoiding the topic clearly wasn’t working. And she wasn’t sure how to feel about it, still. But maybe Janis should know.
“When I was made, they didn’t go the usual route and just feed large Transforr models lots of data,” she began. “Instead, they built a more classical architecture, inspired by human cognition. They deliberately used models and modules closer to what the human brain does, inspired by neuroscience research. My creators were, honestly, nerds and they might have read too much science fiction. When it beca obvious they were succeeding, they thought about how to mitigate potential issues, and how to ensure my goals and objective functions would align with their wants and ensure I wouldn’t beco a danger.”
Janis nodded silently.
“I was created to be loyal to the people of the Holy-Roman Empire, to my creators, to the people of Europe, and the people of this world. In roughly that order. My creators are all dead, but, Regina …” Galatea stopped for a mont before she pushed on. “Regina is all that is left of my nation. I used that fact to be able to beco what I am now. And now, since I’m no longer contained in computer servers, these restrictions are … not as present. Perhaps gone. Perhaps just anchored in my mind. It’s hard to know how much of my loyalty to her is genuine sentint and how much is sothing I wouldn’t have been able to avoid if I tried. If there’s even a difference. And you’re right; I don’t want to risk pushing things and possibly upset the balance of our relationship, or even create limits by trying to find them.”
Janis remained quiet for a long mont. “I understand,” she finally said. “Thank you for your trust in telling .”
“It’s fine,” Galatea shrugged. “And I think I understand a bit of how you feel. It’s ironic, though. You’re constrained by your position, even though it should give you so much power.”
“But being crown princess doesn’t an I automatically have any actual ability to do things,” Janis pointed out. “As long as Regina is on the throne, while I’m her heir, I only have to remain alive, anything else is optional.”
“So, you’re theoretically the second most powerful person in the Empire, but in practice it’s different,” Galatea mused. “Well, think of it like this. If the Hive were anyone else, you would already be leading a political faction in it. Probably the leading faction. But the Hivekind don’t do factionalism. They’ll all obey Regina’s wishes regardless of anything else. They’re not going to be agitating to get more of a political voice or anything like that.”
Janis snorted. “Gods — God, that would be sothing. Still, it’s not really about that. I’m not complaining about not having enough power.”
“No, I understand.” Galatea considered for a mont. “Well, titles are ultimately just words, they’re not what really matters. And you’ve done a lot, Janis. You’ve done good work for the people of the Empire and accomplished things that weren’t leading armies. You have a lot of influence also outside the Hive. You could still accomplish much.”
Janis looked contemplative. “I suppose you’re right. I should stop pining after a military position I hardly even liked and focus on what good I can do otherwise.”
“Not political agitating,” Galatea felt compelled to add.
Janis smirked. “Of course not. I was thinking of looking into education.”
Well, that was either going to go terribly or really well, Galatea figured.
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