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“Hey, isn\'t that the winner of the philosophy contest? What is he doing among weightlifters?” one of the noble visitors wondered out loud.

“You were here yesterday?” his acquaintance asked a little surprised. “Who do you mean?” he asked curious, nonetheless. A poet that also entered a competition of might? How intriguing!

“The muscular dude in the loose toga. Though I personally disagree with some of his views, his speech was really good. I didn’t expect that his muscles were not only for show,” his compatriot explained, pointing at the bug, bearded man, slightly advanced in age.

“Wow, who would have thought the winner of an intellectual contest would take part in this, too?”

“he’s not the only one, look at that demon over there, that is getting ready for the obstacle races?” he asked, pointing at a humanoid demon with slightly stretched proportions. It was very tall, with long legs, torso, arms and head. Only hands and feet seemed “normal”.

“That’s a bard who got second place in Flyting, yesterday in the evening,” he added when his friend found the demon in question. However, a different question occupied his friend.

“What is flyting?”

“It’s what you would expect when you hear the word poetry slam, but with real victims. The demons really dominated that one, although some of the Urthans were able to defend their honor, at least,” the noble gave his expert opinion and the excessive dissing that had happened yesterday in the evening.

“Tsk, maybe I should have come yesterday instead of visiting the village,” his friend lamented.

“Oh, don’t worry about it, you can watch the best offs later. I doubt you would have enjoyed most of it, except the flyting of course. I learned quite a few new ways to curse someone.”

Their conversation soon came to an end, when the first competitions of the day finally started.

---

While the crowd was cheering on the Athletes at the center of the stadium, Seth was at the Little Gamma branch office tending to a guest. Although Seth was not uninterested in the fantastical feats athletes with the power of the system could achieve, the situation in Arget Nore convinced him, that this could not wait until after the games ended.

Leading her into a wide underground hall, Joannia followed his every step. Originally, this business would have had to wait until after the Pythian Games, when Baker and his man finished the subway and were free for other stuff.

The arrival of the Commander of Epsilon’s remaining fleet and genius engineer by title and profession had given them the unique chance to work together quicker than expected on something even grander than expected.

Joannia’s eyes went wide in shock, surprise, and the typical interest of a researcher. At this moment the serious commander was unable to control her emotions and it was obvious to the bard that she was already hooked, by the sight in the secret chamber.

Several weeks ago, when the unfilial parrot finally returned from his charitable solo adventure, it had dragged something back home with it. The air in the hall stank of burned rubber, flesh, and ionized air, still exuding from the apparatus the elemental had brought back.

There were many names one could have given it. The people of the system would have called it an Automaton or a golem. For people of Urth, it was a-

“A mech? A robot? A cyborg?” the young woman asked eagerly as she started circling the heap of technological advancement. There was also a silver disc in the corner, but it was ignored by the two, as flying machines were not that unusual.

The elemental’s adventure had led him quite far away from home and it had accomplished many great battles and adventures, according to its own rendition of the story. It would have been hard to believe if Governor Adam hadn’t also reported of people arriving at Emerald City. People who allegedly escaped secret testing facilities thanks to the help of a lightning bird.

It was just a shame, that neither those people nor Ceres contributed any detailed information on who was behind it and what they were trying to achieve. Very important points, considering that they were a potential threat.

This was where Mike’s tragic tale came into play. With both of their stories combined, Ceres was also able to remember what this robot had spouted during their days of battle. With both of their stories combined, they were able to paint a picture.

Like the hair-raising cyber worms, this robot was a creation from a being that came from beyond the border storm. A being of advanced technology, which had also created the Hashing Birds to collect test subjects for these sites that Ceres had raided.

Although its ultimate goal was vague, they knew it was a searched rebel in Lambda, which was ruled by the machine god, according to the things Mike talked with. Anyway, whatever it was, it used a vast technological advantage to accomplish it.

But this didn’t mean they had to despair. On the contrary, it was the chance to steal and assimilate technology they couldn’t touch before. Like with the Core Reactor. Seth and his group of experts had already succeeded in reverse engineering a crude version of it.

If this was what they could accomplish, what would a genius engineer be able to accomplish, given these templates? Especially one, that was responsible for a fleet of flying ships and a squadron of warriors in mech suits.

After three days of the tournament, Joannia and the people following her had come to the decision that they would join Minas Mar and settle at one of the less populated Tree Stations to found a Little Epsilon. The details still had to be discussed, but it was enough for Seth to bring her into the loop. Of course, she had to sign a few waivers and contracts, but only to keep things down here secret.

“What do you think?” his words burst her little bubble and she returned to reality. Clearing her throat, she put up her front of a serious and unimpressed leader.

“It’s heavily damaged, what caused such devastation?” she asked, examining the thick, mostly molten, and burned, layer of non-conductive rubber coating that must have once covered the whole robot. Most likely an attempt to counter the Parrot of Doom’s favorite way of attacking.

However, Seth didn’t yet trust Joannia enough to reveal the hidden strength of Minas Mar.

“That is still inconclusive. My people found it at the far edge of the Unclaimed Mountains,” he explained vaguely.

“The Unclaimed Mountains?” the woman asked a little confused. Seeing her like this, Seth remembered that she and her people had been separated from the rest of Urth ever since the Apocalypse. With the expansion of Urth, they had grown even further apart than just time could have caused.

“The sprawling mountains in the southwest. After the rush to reclaim the No Man’s land, they were given the name because we, as the first ones to venture out from the original districts, didn’t claim them. Instead, many businesses tried to expand themselves out there,” the blacksmith explained readily.

“Ah, I think one of the scouts mentioned this. And this was found at the far edge of it?” she asked again.

“Right before the Borderstorm that separates us from the western desert,” she confirmed with a nod.

“Hmm, I always heard that Lambda was ahead of the other districts, could they have built it, but it got destroyed in this…Borderstorm?” she guessed.

“Possible, but unlikely. The storm is one of ice, snow, and wind. Nothing that would cause this. So, do you think you can reverse engineer it?” Seth asked, his voice calm despite the great interest he had in this. After all, this thing had battled the storm elemental for days.

If they could reverse engineer even just a part of it and he could integrate it into his golems, like they did with the Core Reactor, he might have been able to make even stronger golems, without needing a stronger soul.

“It’s too burned and dirty to say anything definitive. I will have to take it apart and clean it up, is that okay?” she asked seriously.

“You signed all the contracts, you can do whatever is necessary,” Seth gave free reign over the project. Of course, she didn’t do it for free. In exchange for her cooperation in this, Minas Mar supplied the fleet with fresh food and rations, for the time of their stay.

They also allowed groups of civilians to enter Little Gamma and spend time off their cramped ships. It was just an interim solution for the duration of the Pythian games, afterwards, they would deal with their settling at a Tree Station of their choice.

Until then, and hopefully even afterward, he would have an extremely motivated researcher, unraveling the mysteries of this advanced technology for him.