Empyrean Iris Story Collection Vol. 4

Abject Failure

They stood in a loose circle Six standing on their own power and the fourth held in place by the maker's power. The five of them stared at Mitzen in surprise and shock. Krill pressed his pods against his glass containment unit, "How did you find us/"

Ahead of them the maker paused and craned his neck to see into the glass casing behind adam's back, "Ah, I have missed one it seems, lost in the shadow of Impetus's inane thoughts."

Adam frowned, "hold on, inane!?"

He sensed a flicker of amusement from where Sunny was standing.

The maker ignored him and continued to crane his head around, until Adam finally allowing krill to see out of his glass containment and more easily into the room.

The maker chuckled in grim amusement, "Ah, Prolix, I should have known, where Impetus goes destruction reins after and there must be someone there to pick up the pieces."

"Prolix!" Krill said his offense clear through the glass of his containment, "I can think of plenty of words that describe me better than, Overly verbose! In fact I can think of several, keen, cunning, canny, astute, learned-"

He continued as the rest of the group exchanged knowing looks.

Maverick Raised an eyebrow.

Adam turned back around ignoring Krill's rant for the most part. There were plenty of questions he would have liked to ask, but there was one that was far more pressing. He turned to look at Mitzen, "How did you know where we were going."

Mitzen lifted his head in defiance, his ears pulled back against his skull, "I am an expert in predictive analysis. And your ship may be cloaked but it is not invisible. These things always leave traces."

Adam crossed his hands over his chest, arms resting against his chest plate, "Okay then WHY follow us."

"You MURDERED the theocrat. You DESTROYEd a sacred temple and you have left our galaxy in turmoil! And it may be that no one was willing to listen to me, but I for one will not allow this to stand, and i will take recompense.." His voice was high and growing higher as he grew more agitated. Unable to move from that spot he flailed in confusion flapping his wings and kicking his feet in anger.

Adam sighed.

"I didn't kill the theocrat, and I didn't collapse the temple either. I DID sneak in intending to talk to him, that is true, but if you are going to accuse me of misconduct accuse me of the correct misconduct."

Mitzen continued to kick and squirm, "The Theocrat is dead, and you were seen at the scene. I heard everything."

Adam's mouth pulled back in a frown, "Yeah, I am sure you heard plenty, but the council of zealots refuses to understand what they didn't see. I entered the temple from the boiling lake underneath, but by the time I got there Kazna, the hand of the void had made it before me. When I got there your theocrat was already dead and growing void spines from his eyes. Perhaps if the zealots had let me through earlier, your theocrat might still be alive, but instead it is likely he has been harvested by the void to be used as a power source."

Mitzen stared at him with wide, angry eyes, "I didn't come here to listen to your nonsense. Perhaps you believe what you are saying, but I cannot bend to the words of a madman."

Adam threw up his hands in frustration, "Open our eyes mitzen." he gestured around the room, "open your eyes and LOOK. Have you ever seen anything like this." Mitzen was quiet for the moment, and Adam took the opportunity to teep speaking, "This building is of maker design." He jabbed a finger at the maker standing before him, "This one here IS a maker, just look at his robes. Why would someone who looks like they belong on the council of zealots be hiding in a crimson temple under an ice structure guarding alien technology."