Fracture - Book One of the Glass Galaxy Trilogy

Chapter 13: Trading

Present Time

April 15th

6:02 PM

I disconnected the neural-link cable from my neck with a rough, sweaty hand, wincing at the pain of doing so. I took the piece of cloth that Gemini Jhat offered and held it up to the incision in the back of my neck, soaking up the blood that was seeping out. I looked up at the large robot, and it gazed back, its artificial eyes looking over me with an unmistakable curiosity. "Thank you," I told it, my voice coming out more hoarse than I had expected.

Jhat nodded to me, the motion lumbering, then turned towards the other two things that Kaeya had left for me, "I hope that the gifts the young Captain left you are to your liking."

I stepped over to examine them, my mind still digesting the memories I had just experienced. The craftsmanship of the armor was unmistakably Teracon, made of a new version of the carbon-plating that made up my current armor, and enhanced with a mechanical exo-skeleton that reminded me vaguely of the Maestros. The sword impaled through the torso, however, was like nothing I'd ever seen before.

It was a longsword, made of some metal that I had never seen, and there was a minuscule layer of circuitry etched into it that was so fine I almost didn't notice it. The hilt had a small sphere laid in it, and when I leaned in closer to inspect it I heard it giving off a low hum, and my eyes widened in surprise. "There's an antimatter reactor in this hilt," I asked Jhat, "isn't there?"

He nodded.

"Why have you left the blade in the armor? Shouldn't you have removed it and repaired the armor?"

The Gemini frowned, "The blade cuts through non-biological matter indiscriminately, and its reactor generates a small magnetic field, which disrupts my functions. I lost more mass than I'd like to admit while trying to grab onto that handle."

I looked at it ponderously, admiring its quality and level of craftsmanship, "What exactly is it?"

"It's a Gravity Blade," Jhat answered proudly, no doubt pleased at the breadth of his knowledge. "One of only about a dozen that I've ever seen. They're looted from Precursor ruins and Ark ships- and nobody knows how to make more."

"How did this one end up stuck in this armor?" I asked.

Jhat shrugged, "That's how it was when Captain Kaeya gave it to me for safekeeping. I do not know why it's in there."

I reached towards it slowly, readying myself to whip back my arm if I felt any pain, and wrapped my hand around the sword's handle. It felt... Extraordinarily heavy. I pulled on it, but it didn't move. I pulled on it harder, but still it mocked me with its implacability, and I became frustrated. I wrapped both my hands around the handle and set my feet, then heaved on it as hard as I could.

The armor moved before the sword did. It tipped over as I hauled, and I realized far too late that it was going to crush me. Or would have if Jhat hadn't rushed forwards and caught it just in time.

I lay on the floor, the handle of the Gravity Blade pressing painfully into my rib cage, while the armor hovered over me like a boulder suspended in time. The Gemini heaved the armor back up into place, and I got back to my feet. "Do you know why it's so badly stuck?" I asked Jhat as I rubbed my chest.

The Gemini seemed to ponder the question for a moment, "I believe that it has fused the carbon-armor around it together, creating a perfectly shaped hole around it that now holds it in place."

"Any idea how to get it out?"

"Well, it is a blade, and blades are meant to cut, not fuse. So I believe that it is currently not in its cutting mode."