1:5:6 Agreements (Part 5)

Under the watchful gaze of the guards, Lore and Char moved towards the door; the black abyss that once filled the doorway dissipated, the new space behind it was again significantly bigger than it should have been. The door shut behind them. Char fell to her knees, making a symbol across herself as she did. She whispered something under her breath which Lore didn’t manage to catch. Lore looked around, the room stretched far beyond what the lighting allowed them to see; it was filled with frosted glass fronted cases, with three person sized tubes at the end of the room; there was Quatarrian writing across the floor. Char stood.
“We shouldn’t be here.” She spoke in a whisper.
Lore looked at her as if it were obvious. “Yeah. We should be in the Prynn’s office.”
“Please don’t joke here. This is the closest thing to hallowed ground the Quatarrians believe in.” Char’s tone remained serious.
“Sorry.” Lore lowered their head. “Should I kneel?”
Char shook her head. “You’re not Quatarrian so no. There must be a reason we’ve been allowed in together.”
“We’re both Time’s Paragon. Maybe that’s it.” Lore lit their hand with their white energy. The room around them suddenly started to glow with the same light. “Woah.”
Char followed suit and so did the room; joining the white light, wisps of gold formed. The two lights mingled, growing brighter as they did. The glass started to defrost on two of the three larger cases. “Look.”
Familiar faces inhabited the cases. Once hidden and now plainly visible, the cases contained life sized statues of the two of them. Their faces matched to the smallest details, as did their armour, with the only difference being the newness of it all. Lore’s black leatherette jacket looked as though it was fresh from the fabricator, as did their Aegean blue armour plating. Their combat trousers remained their original colour, untainted by the various planet’s muck they had been dragged through.
“Hang about. I thought I had forgotten something.” They chuckled before pointing to their chest where they both realised a chest plate had been missing. “Mustn’t be that useful then.”
“Mustn’t be.” Char laughed. She looked at her statue. Her robes looked almost identical, the hard wearing, pale grey wool had not only kept Char protected from harm but also unnecessary stains. Even her white corset belt looked fabricator fresh but her statue wasn’t without it’s inaccuracies; while it wore the traditional colours of Quatarr, red leather with bronze trim, Char had adapted her armour to more closely resemble Lore’s, matching their plating’s colour scheme.
“This is strange…” Lore couldn’t break their own gaze.
“Certainly is.” Char concurred. “Shame there isn’t a lift in here.”
Something about the statement felt wrong to Lore.

A circle of white light appeared on the wall. Lore wandered over to it, clipping their knee on one of the smaller cases. They glanced inside and were temporarily distracted by a model of The Destiny. Pressing the button caused the entire room to shudder. It didn’t feel like they were moving but the floor started to climb up the cases; what had once been at knee level had quickly become barely tall enough to stub a toe before vanishing entirely.
“What’s going on? What did you press?” Char looked around to see if anything else had changed.
“I don’t know.” Lore looked up. “I think this whole room is a lift.” They pointed upwards. The darkness overhead appeared shallower. “Hopefully it’ll take us exactly where we need to go.”
“You seem more confident.” Char smiled.
Lore chuckled. “I know where I’m going now. And, I think we were meant to come here.” They returned to the centre of the room. It was at that point they realised their next obstacle. “There’s no door.”
“Maybe there’ll be one at the top?” Char shrugged. “That room was a bit weird though wasn’t it? It can’t have been like that the whole time?”
Lore just shook their head. They closed their eyes. They found themselves transported to the top of the shaft; just outside the inner sanctum, The Prynn’s office. Three figures inhabited the space: The Prynn, The Ymeriar and a third body of pure, white light. Still, Lore couldn’t identify the spectral form that had followed them so far but they knew somehow that their answer would come in time. When they opened their eyes, they found themselves leaning against the shaft’s outer wall; despite the fact it was uneven and they were being dragged up it, they found their hand undamaged and a dull grey trail formed beneath it.
Lore examined the wall closer. “This room is made of Tempora?” They focussed on their right hand. The veins lit with white light which transferred into the wall. The trail illuminated as if set alight.
“I did say, there’s a pillar of solid Tempora at the heart of The First city.” Char made her way over to them. “It’s just so old that it’s nearly inert. The radiation it emits is enough to block Breaching but that’s about it.”
“So what would it do to a Niwen?” Lore narrowed their eyes.
Char shook her head. “Most likely nothing. Why?”
Lore shrugged. “Just interested.”

The floor came to a stop. For a time, nothing happened; Char and Lore waited in the dim light they had supplied to the walls. The lights started to spin faster and faster, diffusing up the walls as they did. As it spread, the lights grew dimmer. Through the wall, Lore saw the white figure waiting for them. Once the lights had completely dissipated, the room shook once more. They thought the floor was starting to move again but it was merely an illusion; in actuality, the walls around them had started to lower. Four guards watched, frozen in awe and confusion, unable to raise their weapon at the two intruders that had somehow entered the office. The room’s other occupants joined in their protectors in looking at Lore and Char dumbfounded.
“My gods…” Timm’Ottay rose from his chair. He walked towards Lore and Char, his head bowed then knelt at their feet. “They were right.”
From behind their desk, the other Quatarrian followed suit. “Welcome Paragons.”
Lore and Char looked down at the two of them, awkwardly; neither of them knew how to react to such a display. It didn’t help matters that the guards had joined their leaders in their bow. “You may stand?” Lore’s voice lacked authority, a blush crossed their face.