Brennan gazed outwards, his eyes widened, as he felt his heart sink. Yet a sense of understanding overcame him. He carefully relaxed his hands on his axe and released it from his grip. With a caress, he touched his ears; they were ringing. He covered them, but alas they were still ringing.
With both eyes twinkling with curiosity, he snapped towards Mira and Lyria, who had the same expression as him. Their pointy long ears moved back and forth as they tried to adjust to the sound frequency they were hearing.
With consecutive acknowledgements, they all pivoted their heads towards the dull and cold forest, along with the intense pitter-pattering sounds that seemed to hammer down the entirety of the earth, like that of a blacksmith refining a sword.
"It's alright now." The ancient construct known as the Ironside whirred.
Through their ears, the distant humming sounds that they could feel now turned into that of a melodic tune. Their ears perked up, now enjoying the sound and vibrations, yet for some distant reason, they felt their chests tightening.
"Why... do I feel sadness?" Mira said, bewildered as to what was happening.
"I do not understand... Yet I feel a strong sense of longing." Lyria placed her right hand on her chest as a tear escaped through her eyes.
"The Ironside... it seemed to be mourning." Brennan said, his gaze placed inward, within his mind numerous images were coming forth.
Mira nodded her head but rebutted, "Can a non-living being have a sense of emotion?" Lyria muttered under the Ironside, its red glowing eyes zooming in and out of them, observing and documenting everything.
"I don't know," Mira replied with a grief-stricken expression. "We have lost a lot of documents, part of our history and all, ever since the Kingdom of Babel fell eons ago." Mira continued.
"Everything went downhill ever since..." Brennan spoke as he slumped his back against a nearby rock. "I might as well rest and gather more energy."
As Brennan lay against a rock, Lyria suddenly had a flash of a thought in her mind, and quickly she asked Mira about it.
Mira, who was staring into the empty and dark void that was shadowed by the black rain, was humming along the ringing sound in their ears, as if she was trying to understand the words.
"Distant nebula... the stars... endless eternity." Her mind tried to decipher the meaning behind the words, unsure of what it was, but she knew, because she felt it, that it was crushing and lonely.
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
"What about the Ironside?" Lyria spoke, then continued, "Do you think it is a relic from the era of the Kingdom of Babel?"
Mira merely nodded, to which she then pivoted her head towards the Ironside's red glowing eye. Its crimson eye steadily observed them. Her face contorted with pain and sympathy.
"So far, it only seemed to talk when it was required to." Mira said, then continued, "There is only one way to know." She gazed at Lyria before she switched back to the Ironside.
"So far... far into the void... the abyss... a distant nebula... through the silence of the stars... this endless endeavour." Altair hummed along the melody; the counter frequency was playing after it switched from the white noise.
He tightened his fist in frustration but soon relaxed as he realized it was not worth it. With a sigh of defeat, he began to routinely check the systems. It was a habit of his ever since the 100th iteration. He would not want to die of something just because of faulty equipment.
With a sigh of relief, he left the interfaces on the sides, and with a pleasant smile stared at the energy bank that was continuously being filled up with the atmospheric energy they had gathered from the surroundings.
"It feels really good to have such backup power." He said with a smile, but then it soured after a few moments. "If only Terra had such capabilities." His chest constricted as anger rose to unbelievable levels, his vision darkening, everything turning monotonous. It was as if he was losing grip of himself.
"Lieuten—" A voice echoed, as numerous shadows appeared before him, whispering, humming a chorus of tenors.
He breathed laboriously, his palms turning white in hatred as many iterations of his life flooded his mind, deaths of friends, families, and that of Elena.
"Lieutenant!" Altair snapped awake, like that of a speeding train across the stars. His vision returned abruptly, and the orchestra disappeared as if it never existed.
"W-What?" he said, his voice breaking and cracking.
"Are you alright, Lieutenant?" The Adjutant buzzed. "You seemed... out of place, Lieutenant." The Adjutant paused and then continued.
"I'm... I'm alright." Altair diverted his eyes as he answered. Once done, he focused back. "What is the matter?" He said as he brought up numerous interfaces in the console.
"The sentient natives, they want to communicate with you." The Adjutant fizzed.
Mira repeatedly called for the ancient construct, but there was no answer, only the red glowing eyes remained, staring at them like that of a hunter.
They felt ominous, like a sudden change of atmosphere, as the humming within their ears peaked at a tenor, then it went downhill from that.
Brennan rose from his place and gripped his axe tightly. His heart pounding loudly, he felt it, and they all felt it too. They were all feeling a swirl of emotions, and they knew full well that it was coming from the ancient construct.
Then, like a mix of hot and cold water, a sudden crack in the atmosphere came. They all crouched as if ready to attack, but as time passed by, nothing happened.
The glowing red eye moved back and forth, observing and staring at them.
"What are you all doing?" The Ironside whirred; the terrifying frequency disappeared like the shadows across a bright sky.
Lyria fell down to her knees as she breathed a sigh of relief. Mira stood straight and gazed in disappointment towards herself and her own party. Brennan simply lay back down again. Yet across his hands, they were trembling hard and intensely.
