A gleaming white mask with wide and richly decorated horns. There were only a handful of Rain Deers ever on the island the Scavengers claimed countless cycles ago as their home. The majestic beings were even for Breaker only a distant memory. And the mask, which was staring at him, and testing his resolve, was the only intact bone mask of that beast of legend left on the island.

A mask, which was worn by an imposing kin of his. Scaled fur gleaming in a dazzling ocean blue and green colour. The Chieftain was by no means a physically imposing figure, much unlike Breaker himself, but what he hadn’t in his leg strength, he had in his ruthless yet wise leadership qualities. Piercing yellow eyes gazed at him through the deep eyeholes of the bleached Rain Deer mask, a hint of curiosity was within the usual coldness.

Commanding Ocean Tides. Breaker yearns to take over the throne. But Breaker is wise, Breaker is a tactician. Breaker needs to carry out plan. Use machine goddess’ might to convince clan of his worth. Breaker needs to be pious!

Unrelenting Wave Breaker lowered his head and outstretched his left, showing Chieftain Ocean the gift of pearls for his superior, proving his worth to the smaller kin. Ocean grunted affirmatively and pushed his long arms into the scrap heap of a throne to heave his scrawny body up and get on his short legs. His presence was outright daunting to Breaker, and he instinctively lowered his posture to a less upright position, showing his respect.

Ocean climbed down the trash throne, his clawed hands digging into the scrap they gathered from all around their new home. There was a bit of everything in that pile. From cogs, over conveyor belts all the way to parts from various statues.

Breaker did recognize some of the statues as representations of the machine goddess he encountered a few cycles ago. This cave, which was unveiled by her burning rain, must have had something to do with her. It would be easy to convince his kin to dedicate the upper city to her, to Shifting Gales, once he would come back with proof of her existence.

The Scavenger got pulled out of his thoughts as the smaller hand of Ocean grabbed the pearls he was still offering and pulled them closer for inspection. The purity of these common pearls was undoubtedly great, and the reaction of Ocean showed Breaker that his offerings were appreciated.

Ocean began to gesticulate wildly yet methodically and used a combination of runts and grunts to bring meaning to the symbols he drew in the sky. Breaker remained calm and attentive to not miss even one hidden meaning behind his Chieftain’s ‘words’.

‘Warriors noticed that the burning rain is now normal again. Storm stopped, ebbs and floods returned. Unrelenting Wave Breaker’s doing? Notice new pearls on Breaker’s strings. Proof of his journey?’

Breaker threw his fist into his chest, built himself up in pride, and answered his Chieftain’s questions truthfully. The grunts of his were in their tunes far deeper and menacing-sounding, but also oddly enough slightly more sophisticated, softer even. Breaker wondered if his line was one of those Approaching Sky mentioned. Could explain his relatives’ superior strength and intellect.

‘Gift of Machine Goddess. Breaker found her in peril. Breaker helped her. Machine Goddess requires aid. Name of Goddess ‘Shift’ ‘Gale’.’

Breaker combined the two symbols for the known words and added a buzzing sound in-between to combine them into a name. He attempted to imitate the way the other machine gods referred to her, adopting the tones of their artificial voices.

‘Calls herself ‘Shift-ing’ ‘Gales’. Return with information. Breaker knows about origin of burning rain.’ 

Ocean’s attention piqued, his yellow eyes burning up in curiosity as he rose his gaze from Breaker’s pointy fingers up to his greyish mask. Breaker had struck a nerve. He knew about things his Chieftain didn’t. His value in the upper city had increased exponentially.

The azure Scavenger’s gaze wandered further up, now focused on the glowing rectangle hovering above his dome. Breaker felt as the air around them cooled down as legends and reality met and Ocean realized the ultimate proof of Breaker’s story. A suppressed growl was the answer, Ocean felt intimidated by that known symbol.

According to what Breaker’s tribe knew of the mainland his people heard from travellers of the far north stories of the Chieftain, chosen by God. A leader among lesser leaders. The only known representative of his kin with a glowing and transparent rectangle above his head. The ultimate proof of his influence and closeness to the ancient gods of the world.

But he was not alone anymore. Breaker was chosen as well. He had the unmistakable symbol of faith branded in the air above his dome. His existence would be a big challenge for his Chieftain to control and suppress. But Breaker didn’t want to take over by force … not yet. He opposed the golden scowl of Ocean with his crimson red stare, ultimately, however, lowering his masked head. A necessary gesture to calm Ocean’s nerves.

‘Breaker signed by … ‘Shift-ing’ ‘Gales’. Ocean does require proof of its purpose. Breaker shall return to Shifting Gales with two of Ocean’s most trusted warriors. If they are convinced that you act out of her will, Ocean will accept your status.

Origin of Rain? Why does it burn?’

‘Machine Goddess is suffering. Broken. Fuelled by burning rain, not normal rain. Breaker desires to investigate. Maybe Breaker can help Shifting Gales. Return lesser evil rain. Breaker determined.’

‘Breaker shall investigate. Take your lizard, mission important. Warriors will prepare. You leave when group ready.’

Breaker respectfully lowered his head and banged his spear on the metallic ground. He signed symbols of him taking a leave and after he got acknowledged by Commanding Ocean Tides' nod, he walked past the scrap heap of a throne and back to the exit. This meeting served him well. His desire to become Chieftain was never before that possible. Breaker was satisfied.

Breaker’s achievements spread like wildfire among the Scavengers, who were living in the upper city. After all, it was difficult to hide or even conceal the sign of his goddess. Everybody, even the tame lizards in the stalls, looked at him differently. His kin already treated him like the new leader of the place, or at least as the Chosen of the Storm. A combination of symbols a few start to sign when talking about him, a title which soon every one of the secluded parts of his tribe knew about.

Breaker liked the title. It felt powerful and he felt valued. It wouldn’t take much to bring those, who were living up here, to listen to everything he had to say or would have to say. It would only be a matter of time until the growing mythos of Unrelenting Wave Breaker reached the Scavenger Hort in the caves past the Deadlands. Soon his whole tribe would know him, and Breaker didn’t intend to let that opportunity pass past his grasp.

Ocean’s warriors were a handful to coordinate. Breaker took his time to train them accordingly so that they would survive the trip to Gales’ heart. His primary concern was their trigger happiness. He didn’t want to offend his machine goddess through the act of his company throwing spears at her floating eyes, or those of her, he assumed, friends. Preparation took quite a while as the warriors were definitely not part of the green god’s lineage. Stupid and slow. Brilliant hunters, but incapable of understanding his concerns.

But Breaker succeeded. Breaker always found a way, even this time. It took him in total, his descent from Shifting Gales included, 179 cycles of preparation and training until he finally felt ready to lead the warriors back up to his machine goddess. As long as Gales’ burning tears were flowing at a constant and predictable pace, Breaker was not too worried. He trusted his goddess to be able to take care of herself and his faith proved to be correct.

Breaker walked up to Crusher, his long claw-like fingers brushing along the antenna-like horns of the tamed lizard. As he saddled it, his gaze wandered over to the warriors he trained. They enjoyed the full favour of Commanding Ocean Tides, and that showed in which lizards they were allowed to helm.

Two cyan lizards, the best of the best to manage the situation outside of the former Observatory. Able to skip the dangerous descent to the Deadlands to find a tunnel inside the hollow mountain, Cyans would be able to simply leap over the overhang and skip the dreadful path. Breaker would have chosen one of them as well if not for the very useful abilities of Crusher.

Crusher represented his desire to lead. He noticed that immediately. The unusually bulky orange lizard never had issues with the others of his kind. It seemed to Breaker that Crusher was their leader, coordinating their obedience through ways he observed in the wildness, back when the rain was still manageable. Orange lizards tended to hunt in packs and whenever Breaker faced a group of them, he was taken aback by their ability to coordinate and flank him. Yet Breaker always triumphed … he assumed. He absently caressed the alpha as strange, yet familiar memories flooded his mind.

Breaker wouldn’t stand here if he wouldn’t have been victorious every time. But … Breaker has these fractions. Pieces of memories of him … dying. Getting torn apart by a group of Crusher’s kind. Breaker recognizes Crusher’s pattern in strange memories. Crusher powerful, Crusher Breaker’s mount. Finally … on same side.

Shaking off the memories of impossible deaths, Breaker climbed on Crusher’s long back and grabbed his antennas. A solid tug on them signalled his mount to do its thing. Being instructed by its master with the information who would leave with them, Crusher’s antennas vibrated below Breaker’s hands and the two Cyans looked up and crawled closer. They knew who was the brain of the operation. Breaker looked to the two Scavengers and signalled to them with a low growl their plan.

‘Rain that Crackles and Flooded Coast. Scout the path. Find a way for Crusher to follow. Breaker does not desire to descend to Deadlands. Cyans know plan. Crusher informed them.

Goal as discussed. Big tower above. Machine Goddess awaits our arrival. Not kill floating eyes. Questions?’

Rain and Coast both shook their heads, their simplistic-looking masks telling Breaker their actual experiences in the outside world. Neither scratched nor discoloured and not at all decorated with pearls or precious gems. Ocean provided him with rookies, he noticed quite early in their training. Warriors at heart but not warriors in the burning open past the gates of the upper city.

Breaker knew that this was yet another test of talents from his Chieftain. Was he capable of providing for his tribe, able-minded to lead and preserve? Ocean provided him with the first hints of growing respect, but this mission would show him that Breaker is of a different calibre.

And Breaker didn’t intend to disappoint.

‘Follow Breaker. Keep eyes open. Up to Shift-ing Gales. Priority is survival. Rain and Coast survive, Breaker guard. Cyans protect Crusher. Go!’

Mobility was nothing new for Five Lives Unbound. Due to how Far Whisper’s architect Two Eyes of the Infinite Cosmos planned her can, the two Iterators had already shared a special bond from the moment Whisper first went online. Far below the rocky surface of their mountain range Lives felt the thick cable, that connected their Superstructures with a connection which was only rivalled by the plans the Ancients had with Five Pebbles when they built him right next to her fallen friend. But unlike the two destructive siblings, Whisper and Lives didn’t share their groundwater or anything that could emerge discord between the two Iterators. The subterranean cable did however provide a direct mental and physical connection.

A connection Lives used to base and expand her drone projects.

Lives pinged Whisper once she noticed that her extensive repairs were finished, citing her into her very heart. A request, which would under normal conditions edge at the point of certain impossibility. But not in their case. It took a few seconds, but then Whisper’s solid vision screen flashed up and appeared at the edge of her four-eyed field of vision. Lives pulled her to the centre, her puppet now located amidst countless blueprints regarding her part in the search for a solution for Shifting Gales’ issue.

Whisper smiled with her eyes to her best friend, her antennas flashing and glowing. The bug-like iterator had made a discovery, Lives noticed with delight. Lives nodded back and summoned a hard light keyboard to continue working on her projects while she was focusing on Whisper.

“Been a while since we talked with each other, Whisper. First things first. Is everything again in order? I know just how much damage you caused to your Can with that righteous outbreak. Allow me to be a bit concerned.”

“I can report that all damage is now repaired. Is after all not my first rodeo with self-inflicted structural damage. Why did you ping me? Is there anything I can help with? Do you have something to show? Need advice? … Are you feeling lonely?~”

“All of the above. Can you please send your drone over to my Heart?” A chuckle from Whisper’s side. “Yes, I require your physical assistance. You are after all the closest to Shifting Gales in terms of your puppet’s dimensions. I want to test out a few theories.”

Lives felt the rummaging of the legless drone deep in her Abstract Convergence Manifold, the heat of its boosters singeing the Coral Neurons as the idle body fired up its motors to fly towards the desired spot. Lives didn’t mind the minor damage the boosters caused to her Can. She was ready to endure any consequences that would come from those advanced Void-Fluid-enhanced Bromine boosters. That ingenious design of Far Whisper solved all their issues with her drones from generation 437 onwards. No more spontaneous combustions, no risk of overheating. The only backlash of that compound was the necessary power that the drones used to keep the body afloat. A power of flames of astounding degrees Celsius, reaching 8000 at full throttle.

Heat that would be fatal outside of the secured parameters of their respective Cans, hence why their personal drones were restricted to only travel through each other’s Superstructure. It took a few excruciating minutes until the pipe, which led to Lives Heart Chamber lighted up and the mostly featureless drone passed the pipe, entering the vicinity.

“There she is.” Whisper fluted and moved her floating screen closer to the drone. “Come to me, other me. It is time to be whole once again.”

Lives lowered her puppet and crossed her legs, laying her head in her palms. She enjoyed watching the transformation process of their shared project, which allowed them to operate so much closer with each other than probably any other Iterator on the planet. The Whisper Drone, courtesy of her own tireless research in robotics and her desire to search for a solution in the buried ruins of the past, appeared quite different to her usual, more feature-rich drones. The simplistic puppet with very intricate hands featured green-glowing orbs with special abilities all over its body, which functioned a bit like a motion-tracking suit.

But the orbs served a different purpose as well. The purpose of merging the physical body with the transparent digital screen their brethren used for solid vision communication. But in their case the screen would not interpret Whisper’s movements like a 3D movie, but much rather act as a shell for the quite present drone.

Lives watched in delight as the floating screen draped itself around the featureless drone, reaching out to the orbs and connecting like a second skin to the robotic entity. Transparent features gave the form and appearance of Far Whisper, and only a few moments later her friend’s glowing antennas blinked happily at her.

Given the floating drone had no legs, the solid vision legs of the projection served more or less only as visual aids and accessories and didn’t really follow Whisper’s tracked movements. She, however, could now change her legs manually and fluently into different positions. A feature they integrated into the design version 300 and kept since then. After all, their real legs were similarly useless to them, which meant investing in their abilities was wasted potential. 

“I see you further fine-tuned your appearance, Whisper. Your antennas are finally glowing. A pointless, but ultimately very lovely detail. Anyway. Theories!”

Far Whisper floated up to Lives and shifted the projected legs to a crossed leg posture, mimicking Lives. A mechanical chuckle escaped the solid vision projection of hers, given volume by the quite real body underneath.

“Theories! I am pleased to see that this new goal allowed you to think about something else for once. I am now here for a few minutes, and you neither mentioned Moon nor any other problems of the meeting of … formerly seven.”

“Well, bravo to you. Thanks for reminding me. But … here I can still do something.” Lives sighed, her posture now lowered. “Focus. I force myself to focus as well, so please do me the favour, Whisper.”

“O-of course, Lives. Oh! I made progress with my part of Gales’ solution. I think the path I took might be important for your section to know. I am currently in the process of purposing a boosted Neuron Fly into the form and function of a mortal brain. The abilities of it are still far from perfect, but I am experimenting on ways to simulate the neurochemical makeover of the common brain with Void Chemistry as we speak. In my theory a one-to-one imitation of the biological example would be unable to process the quantities of knowledge we desire to store inside. I have quite an ingenious idea regarding how to solve that problem, however! Two Eyes of the Infinite Cosmos would be proud of it, I am sure of that!”

“He would, certainly. Speaking of being unable to move on … “ Lives grinned inwards, even after all these major cycles Whisper never did forget her late Administrator. “Now that is interesting! And it eliminates already seven dozen possible shells I designed. So we are talking about a Neuron Brain? … How big is it? Its dimensions must be decently large given it should contain the knowledge of an entire Memory Array …”

“That’s the neat part!” The drone-her pointed with a hand to her head. “If my calculations are not completely wrong, I should be able to contain the Neuron brain in a case not bigger than this drone’s head.”

“T-that is phenomenal! So small!? And so powerful? You surprise me again and again, Far Whisper!”

“I don’t take full credit. Approaching Sky’s groundwork research is invaluable. I simply have to extrapolate and adjust his research and combine it with Gales’ and my theoretical research of simulating senses and brainwaves. … I wish I could create the brain together with her. She would love working with me on it.”

“It truly is unfortunate.”

Lives closed in on the projection of her friend and wrapped her arm around her shoulder. The pressure senses provided her friend with the pleasant feeling of a hug, directly induced on her real puppet.

“See it that way. If we do a good job with that, you can research your project with her like we do, and that in person. Given her already very subpar communication nodes, the difference would be like day and night.

…

So the brain is as big as your head. That opens quite a few options to us. I can downscale my theories substantially. What do you think of a backpack?”

“A backpack … wouldn’t work that well I am afraid. You didn’t see Gales when she was disconnected. Her umbilical arm is after all part of her puppet.

But what about …”

Lives and Whisper spent the better part of the following ten cycles iterating together on a possible design to contain the Neuron Brain. Lives' backlog of solutions shrank down in a rapid fashion, as Whisper started to argue in ways Lives never thought about.

Comfort. Mobility. Survivability. Most importantly: To provide the necessary support to their useless legs, which would have to carry the design. In the end, only one design remained. Lives was nearly ashamed by the sheer simplicity of it. And such an … unimaginative design they would bestow on Gales?

But Whisper was happy with the solution. And with that, Lives made peace with the design, trusting her closest friend that she knows her friend the best.

A walking stick!