Penumbra: Nine Realms Saga by Ken Lange

Author:Ken Lange [Lange, Ken]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Ken Lange
Published: 2022-10-31T16:00:00+00:00

14

9:45:33…32…31…

On top of the physical body, Alfred was given an enormous boost in processing power, which he needed to sift through the massive influx of data. Not that he was able to get far, as most of it seemed to be partitioned off, preventing him from accessing it directly. The information contained behind these walls seemed predicated to conditional release. Simply put, we’d have access when, and or if, we met some vague or straight up unknown criteria. He’d spent the last several hours trying to access it while I spent my time trying to get Babel to come out and play. We were both disappointed in the end.

That was where our disappointments ended, especially when we considered the upgrades Kur and Alfred received. Kur’s joy knew few bounds. For the first time since being betrayed, he had his own body that worked independent of the nanites in the coin I still carried. His ability to remain an external entity without penalties was a massive boon. Though we theorized he’d still need to return, at least for now, to recover, be it from exhaustion or injury. As for the nanites from the coin, they were working independently without need of his continued influence.

Then there was Alfred. I’d mistakenly assumed his still form was the digital construct I was used to. It wasn’t. Whatever our host had done had changed him from an intangible being to someone with physical form. His new body straddled the line between biological and something else, being made up entirely of organic nanites. If he was cut, he bled, though the blood was an off shade of red, and his wounds healed without need of sutures. Even stranger, he was a sorcerer again.

That’s right, he was a being made up of nanites able to wield magic. According to him and Kur, that shouldn’t be possible. Apparently, they were both wrong, given current circumstances. If anything, he said that his powers were stronger now than they had been. I had a feeling we were going to need that advantage sooner rather than later.

Before my thoughts could spiral completely out of control, I focused on the timer. Eyeing Babel, I returned them to storage. “Are you two ready?”

Kur shrank again till he could sit comfortably on my shoulder. “To do what? You said yourself this Augur person wasn’t specific when it came to spelling out any sort of goal.”

Absently nodding, Alfred strode over. “He’s right. Without some sort of guidance, we’re mostly meandering here.”

I pointed at the countdown. “When that hits zero, we die. My goal is to be as far away from here as possible.” Shrugging, I said, “Besides, they said I’d know or would figure it out along the way.”

Kur lazily flew over to sit on Alfred’s shoulder. “Did they?”

He knows damn well they didn’t. “Not exactly, it was more of an implication.”

Alfred’s gaze tracked around the massive room. “I’d love to study this place.”

“Me too.” I gestured at the clock, again. “But don’t you think

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