The core chamber was worse up close. Tess moved toward the central assembly, tool belt already in hand.
The crystal arrays stretched floor to ceiling—massive skill crystals
interwoven with Aether routing systems and power conduits. Four of them
pulsed with unsteady light, their rhythm irregular. Three sat dark and
silent.
Petra dropped beside her, landing with practiced grace despite the
two-meter fall. She pulled out a small light and swept it across the
chamber.
“How bad?”
Tess pressed her palm against the nearest crystal array. The
substrate was hot. Not dangerously so, but enough to feel wrong. She
traced the pathways with her fingers—smooth crystalline channels that
should have conducted Aether cleanly. Instead, she found cracks.
Hairline fractures where energy had fed back into the system, burning
through the material.
“Bad,” she said.
She activated [ANALYZE], pressing deeper into the core’s
structure.
The pattern appeared, sprawling and damaged.
·········································
CENTRAL ENVIRONMENTAL CORE
Designation: Estate Primary Climate Control
Loot Seed: 0xCEC59D31
Status: Critical
Hardware: Severe Degradation
Crystal Arrays: 4/7 Functional
Backup Systems: Offline
Node Controller: Feedback Loop Detected
User Tech Skill: 5
·········································
WARNING: Cascade failure probability 68%
Estimated Time to Failure: 14.2 hours
·········································
Thermal Regulation ……. Critical [Tech 5]
Distribution Control ….. Degraded [Tech 5]
Atmospheric Processing … Failing [Tech 6]
Power Management ……… Compensating [Tech 5]
·········································
Fourteen hours. That was better than four, but still not good.
Tess moved to the left, where a secondary console sat mounted to the
wall. Dust covered most of the controls, but the diagnostic screen still
flickered with readouts. She wiped the screen clean and pressed her hand
against it.
[ANALYZE] shifted focus.
·········································
NODE CONTROLLER SYSTEM
Designation: Estate Environmental Coordination
Loot Seed: 0x7EC4
Status: Failing
Coordination: 17/20 Nodes Responsive
User Tech Skill: 5
·········································
WARNING: 3 active feedback loops detected
Substrate Pathways: Damaged — 47 breaks detected
Repair History: Extensive (multiple failed attempts)
·········································
Nodes Online ………… 20/20
Nodes Responsive …….. 17/20
Unresponsive Nodes: 12, 17, 18Primary Issue: Unruly Children
·········································
Twenty nodes throughout the estate, and there was the problem. Three
of them—12, 17, and 18—weren’t responding properly to the controller’s
commands. They were feeding back into the system, creating loops that
damaged the core’s substrate pathways. And someone had tried to fix
this. Multiple times. The repair history showed layer after layer of
failed attempts.
“What do you see?” Petra asked.
Tess pulled her hand back. “The core’s damaged, but that’s not the
real problem. There’s a controller system managing twenty nodes
throughout the estate. Three of them aren’t responding. They’re feeding
back into the core, burning through the substrate pathways.”
“Can you fix it?”
“I think so. I don’t need AP for this—just good old-fashioned
rebuilding. But the nodes have to be offline first. I can’t work on the
pathways while they’re active.” She looked at Petra. “I don’t know where
the nodes are. Do you?”
Petra shook her head. “I know a couple, but Alex would know them
all.”
“Right.” Tess looked at the damaged core, the flickering crystals,
the cracked substrate. “We need him.”
Petra pulled out her communicator and keyed it on. “Alex, this is
Petra. I need you in the central environmental core chamber.”
A pause. Then Alex’s voice, tight with frustration. “Lady Petra, I’m
in the middle of the relay replacement at Node 17. If this can
wait…”
“It can’t. The core is in cascade failure. Fourteen hours until
complete shutdown.”
The line went silent for a long moment.
“I’ll be there in five minutes,” Alex said.
Petra clipped the communicator back onto her belt. “He’s not going to
be happy.”
“He doesn’t have to be happy. He just has to help.”
BEE: I am monitoring the conversation. Preliminary
assessment: Alex will require evidence before accepting your
diagnosis.
“I know,” Tess said, patting the communicator. “Seeing the damage
should help.”
BEE: Agreed. I will provide support as needed. Also, for what
it’s worth, your approach is methodologically sound.
Tess smiled slightly. “Thanks, Bee.”
Petra glanced at the communicator on Tess’s belt. “She can still hear
us?”
“She’s been listening the whole time.”
“That’s… actually reassuring.” Petra looked up at the access panel
they’d dropped through. “How angry do you think he’ll be that we
bypassed him?”
Alex arrived in four minutes through the main entrance to the core.
He took one look at Tess and Petra standing in front of it, and his
expression went neutral.
“Lady Petra. Miss Rivera.” He took a pointed breath. “You wanted to
show me something?”
“The core,” Petra said simply.
Alex walked past them toward the central assembly. His steps slowed
as he got closer. Tess watched him take in the flickering crystals, the
dark arrays, the visible cracks in the substrate pathways. His hand came
up, hovering near one of the damaged channels.
“Jesus,” he said.
Tess moved to stand beside him. “The relay at Node 17 isn’t the
problem. The core’s controller system is sending commands, but three
nodes aren’t responding properly. They’re feeding back, damaging the
substrate pathways.”
Alex turned to look at her. “How do you know?”
“I can see it.” She pointed at the controller console. “Nodes 12, 17,
and 18 are unresponsive. Creating feedback loops. This has been repaired
incorrectly multiple times.”
His jaw tightened. “I’ve been maintaining these systems for six
years.”
“I know. And I think you’ve been fixing symptoms without being able
to see the cause.” Tess kept her voice even. “You weren’t wrong about
the relay. The nodes are failing. But they’re failing because the
controller can’t coordinate them properly, and the controller can’t work
because the substrate pathways are damaged from the feedback.”
Alex looked back at the core. At the cracks and flickering crystals
struggling to compensate.
“What do you need?” he asked.
“I need the nodes deactivated. Specific sequence. I can rebuild the
substrate pathways while they’re offline, but if they’re still feeding
into the system, I can’t work safely.”
Alex pulled out his own communicator and accessed a schematic. “Nodes
12, 17, and 18. Those control… west wing residential, administrative
offices, and the conservatory. If I shut them down, those areas lose
environmental control.”
“For how long?” Petra asked.
Tess looked at the controller console, mentally mapping the damaged
pathways. “Maybe two hours? Three at most?”
“Pretty sure the staff can handle that,” Petra said. “Do it.”
Alex nodded slowly. “I’ll need to access each node manually. The
controller can’t send shutdown commands—that’s part of the problem.” He
tapped through the schematic. “Node 17 is closest. I can start
there.”
“We need a sequence,” Tess said. “Shut them down in the wrong order
and the feedback could spike.”
“What order?”
Tess pressed her hand against the controller console, letting
[ANALYZE] trace the connections. “Node 17 first. Then Node 12. Node 18
last—it’s the most resistant.”
“Resistant how?”
Tess pointed to the pathways in the core. “The parent-child link
between the core and Node 18 is partially severed. I’ll need to cut it
from this side before you can safely deactivate it.”
Alex studied her for a moment. “You can do that?”
“Probably.”
He looked at Petra, who nodded once.
“All right.” Alex keyed his communicator. “I’ll head to Node 17. Give
me ten minutes to reach it and run the shutdown protocol. The West Wing
is pretty far. I’ll radio when I’m at 12.”
“Got it,” Tess said.
Alex left through the main door and left it open. His voice came
through Petra’s communicator a moment later. “En route to Node 17. Stand
by.”
Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author's preferred platform and support their work!
Petra looked at Tess. “You really think this will work?”
“It has to.”
BEE: The probability of success is approximately 83%,
assuming no additional complications. I am confident in your
approach.
“Bee says 83% chance of success,” Tess said.
Petra raised an eyebrow. “So she can just communicate silently with
you?”
“Yeah.”
“Good to know.”
The first node shutdown went smoothly.
Alex had already half deactivated the node for replacement already.
Tess watched the controller console as the feedback loop from that node
disappeared, the strain on the core dropping immediately.
“Node 17 offline,” Alex reported. “Administration wing is on backup
lighting. No complaints yet.”
“Good work,” Petra said.
“Alex, it looks like I have to cut Node 18 early,” Tess said. She
could see that the increased power from having Node 17 offline was going
to speed up the failure if she didn’t act.
“Is that safe?” Petra asked.
“No idea.”
Tess knelt beside the core, tools spread beside her. The substrate
pathways were visible through the crystal housing—thin channels of
crystalline material that conducted Aether between the controller and
the core. Most were intact. Some were cracked. A few were severed,
rerouted through temporary patches that looked like they’d been
installed in a hurry.
She found the pathway connecting to Node 18. It pulsed irregularly,
energy feeding back along the connection in increasingly stuttering
bursts. The link was damaged—frayed at the edges, barely holding
together.
“I’m severing the link now,” she said.
Tess activated [ANALYZE], pressing her fingers against the damaged
pathway. The pattern bloomed in her vision—nested structures showing how
the connection fed power and commands between the core and the distant
node. She traced the link back to its root connection point, a junction
where multiple pathways converged.
She didn’t need AP for this—just precision work.
Tess pulled out her multi-tool and selected the thinnest blade. She
pressed it carefully against the crystalline substrate, applying
pressure at the junction point. The material resisted, then gave way
with a faint crack. The pathway separated cleanly. The
irregular pulsing stopped.
“Well that was anticlimactic,” Petra said.
“Link severed,” Tess said into the communicator. “Node 18 is
isolated.”
“Copy that,” Alex said. “Heading to Node 12 now.”
Petra crouched beside Tess, watching the repair work with interest.
“How did you know where to cut?”
“My skill shows me the structure. Like reading a schematic, but
three-dimensional and nested.”
“That’s not standard Technician ability, is it?”
“No idea.”
Petra smiled slightly. “Not going to ask.”
BEE: Lady Petra shows admirable operational security
awareness. I approve.
Tess bit back a laugh.
The comms crackled. “Node 12 offline,” Alex reported. “West wing
residential is on backup. Core should be stabilizing.”
Tess checked the controller console. Two feedback loops gone. The
strain on the core dropped further—crystal arrays stabilizing, power
flow evening out. But the damaged substrate pathways remained, ready to
fail again as soon as the nodes came back online.
“Core is stable for now,” Tess said. “But I need Node 18 shut down
before I rebuild it.”
“On my way to the conservatory. Give me… fifteen minutes.”
“Copy.”
Tess sat back on her heels, studying the damaged pathways. There were
forty-seven breaks in total. Some were small—hairline fractures that
just needed reinforcement. Others were complete separations requiring
full reconstruction. She had a substrate cleaner, sealant compound, and
precision tools. It would be slow work, but doable.
“Can I help?” Petra asked.
“Not with the substrate work. But you can keep track of the
controller status. If anything spikes, I need to know immediately.”
Petra moved to the controller console, studying the readouts with the
same focus she probably applied to combat tactics.
BEE: I am impressed by Lady Petra’s adaptability. She appears
equally competent in non-combat contexts.
“She’s a Tertian,” Tess said. “I think competence is a
requirement.”
Petra glanced over. “What was that?”
“Bee says you’re doing well.”
“Tell her I appreciate the vote of confidence.” Petra’s smile was
genuine. “Also, is it weird that I’m getting used to having an AI listen
to me?”
“Probably.”
Alex reached the conservatory twelve minutes later. His voice came
through the comms sounding winded.
“Node 18 accessed. Running shutdown protocol now. Stand by.”
Tess watched the controller console. The third feedback loop
flickered, weakened, and then disappeared entirely. The core’s crystal
arrays settled into steady, synchronized pulses for the first time since
they’d entered the chamber.
“Node 18 offline,” Alex confirmed. “All three nodes are down. You’re
clear to work.”
“Copy. Starting substrate repairs now.”
Tess pulled out the substrate cleaner first—a specialized solvent
that removed oxidation and residue from crystalline channels. She
applied it carefully to each damaged pathway, watching the material
brighten as the cleaner did its work. Then came the precision tools:
micro-drivers to realign fractures, sealant compound to reinforce weak
points, connectors to bridge complete breaks.
The work was meditative. Slow, careful, requiring absolute focus.
Tess traced each of the forty-seven breaks, cataloging the damage,
planning her approach. Some repairs took seconds. Others took minutes.
She worked systematically, moving from one pathway to the next.
Petra provided status updates every few minutes. Alex checked in
regularly, reporting from various nodes throughout the estate. And
Bee—
“Question,” Bee said through the communicator, making Tess jump. “Why
did the previous repair attempts fail?”
“Because whoever did them couldn’t see the controller system,” Tess
said without looking up. “They saw individual node failures and tried to
fix each one independently. But the real problem was the coordination
system itself.”
“A systems-level failure misdiagnosed as component-level
failures.”
“Exactly.”
“Would that be frustrating for Alex?”
“Yeah.”
Thirty minutes into the repair work, Alex’s voice came through
sounding confused. “Tess, I’m waiting at Node 14, but the label on it
says Node 12. Node 12 also said Node 12.”
Tess paused, frowning. “You’re sure you’re at Node 14’s physical
location?”
“Positive. I’ve memorized the schematic map. Checking to make sure
Node 12 is off on your side, so I can relabel correctly.”
Tess turned her [ANALYZE] to the node system on the Controller and
counted the paths, following NODE 12 through to where she was
working.
“Confirmed, Node 12 is offline, you’re clear to relabel.”
She returned to the substrate work, sealing another fracture and
testing the connection. Solid. The pathway held steady under her touch
with no flickering and no feedback. One more down. Thirty-two to go.
Two hours later, Tess reconnected the forty-seventh pathway and sat
back. Her hands ached. Her knees hurt from kneeling on the chamber’s
metal floor. But the substrate was intact—every channel cleaned,
reinforced, and tested.
“That’s the last one,” she said.
Petra looked up from the controller console. “Status shows green
across all pathways. You actually fixed it.”
“Good.” Tess stood slowly, stretching. “Alex, we’re ready to bring
the nodes back online. Same sequence as before—17, then 12, then
18.”
“Copy. Starting with Node 17 now.”
The first node came online smoothly. Tess watched the controller
console as the connection established, commands flowing cleanly through
the repaired pathways.
“Node 17 responsive,” Alex reported. “Bringing up Node 12.”
A few minutes later, the second node activated.
“Node 12 responsive. Moving to Node 18.”
The third node was the most resistant. Alex ran the activation
protocol twice before it came online. But when it did, the connection
held. All three nodes synchronized with the core, responding properly to
the controller’s commands for the first time in weeks.
“All nodes online and… Well, Node 18 is definitely going to need
repairs,” Alex said. His voice carried relief and something else.
Respect, maybe. “Core status?”
Petra checked the console. “Stable. All crystal arrays functioning
within normal parameters. Cascade failure probability at two
percent.”
“Backup systems?”
“Coming online now.” Petra’s expression shifted to surprise. “They’re
actually working… at optimal levels.”
“Because the core isn’t overloaded anymore,” Tess said. “It can
finally power them properly.”
Alex’s voice came through quieter. “I’ve been trying to fix this for
weeks. You did it in a few hours.”
Tess picked up her tools, wiping substrate cleaner off the precision
drivers. “You couldn’t see what I could see. And I couldn’t have done it
without you coordinating the shutdowns. We both contributed.”
A pause. “Yeah. I guess we did.”
BEE: That was diplomatically handled. Well done.
“Thanks,” Tess murmured.
Petra smiled. “You two make a good team.”
“Maybe,” Alex said through the comm. But he didn’t sound angry
anymore.
{NULL} LEVEL UP!
LEVEL 5 → LEVEL 6
TECH: 5 → 6
AP: 5 → 6
As they left the Core room, the familiar sensation flooded through
the floor and into her body. This time she tried not to gasp and give it
away.
Jeremy appeared in the corridor as if summoned, carrying a tray with
two glasses of water and a damp towel.
“Lady Petra. Miss Rivera.” He offered the tray. “The Duke would like
to see you both in the receiving hall when you’re ready.”
Tess took a glass and drank half of it immediately. The water was
cold and perfect.
“Thank you, Jeremy,” Petra said. She gestured at Tess. “Give us five
minutes to clean up?”
“Of course, my lady.”
Jeremy disappeared down the corridor with the same efficiency he
always displayed. Tess used the towel to wipe substrate residue and dust
off her hands and face. Her tool belt was filthy, her clothes worse, but
there wasn’t much she could do about that.
Alex stood nearby, looking like he was trying to figure out what to
say. Finally, he settled on: “I couldn’t see what you saw.”
“I know.”
“But I should have. If I’d been better at diagnostics…”
“You’re good at diagnostics,” Tess interrupted. “You’ve kept these
systems running for six years with incomplete information. That takes
skill.”
He looked at her, surprised.
“The problem wasn’t you,” Tess continued. “The system required a
specific type of analysis you couldn’t access. It wasn’t a lack of
skill; it was a lack of data. Now you know what to look for.”
“Coordination failures instead of component failures.”
“Right.”
Alex nodded slowly. “I can work with that.”
Petra straightened her jacket. “Come on. My father’s waiting.”
The receiving hall was feeling less fantastic the fourth time around.
Duke Amos Tertian stood near the window, hands clasped behind his back.
Sara Tertian sat in a nearby chair, looking like she’d rather be
anywhere else.
Jeremy had somehow arrived ahead of them. He stood to the side,
perfect posture, expression neutral.
“Petra. Miss Rivera, and Mr. Smith.” Amos turned from the window. “I
understand we had an environmental crisis.”
“Resolved,” Petra said. “Thanks to Miss Rivera and Alex.”
Amos’s eyebrows rose slightly. “Both of them?”
“Tess identified the problem,” Petra explained. “The controller
system was coordinating twenty nodes, but three weren’t responding. They
were feeding back into the core, damaging the substrate pathways. Alex
coordinated the node shutdowns while Tess rebuilt the damaged
connections. They worked together.”
“I see.” Amos looked at Alex. “That sounds like exemplary
teamwork.”
Alex’s expression went controlled, professional. He straightened,
looked directly at the Duke, and said: “She’s better than me. I get it.
Thank you for the opportunity to work here for six years, but I
understand if you want to replace me with someone more capable.”
“What?” Tess said. “No. That’s not…”
Alex kept his eyes on Amos. “I couldn’t diagnose the problem. Miss
Rivera did. She’s clearly more skilled. I’ll submit my resignation by
the end of the day.”
“Alex, stop,” Petra said.
But Alex wasn’t stopping. He stood there, rigid and professional,
waiting for the Duke’s response. Tess felt horrified. This wasn’t what
she wanted. This wasn’t what should happen.
“Alex,” Amos said mildly. “Do you believe Miss Rivera could have
completed the repair without your assistance?”
Alex blinked. “She identified the problem…”
“Could she have physically accessed twenty nodes throughout the
estate, run the shutdown protocols in the correct sequence, and
coordinated the reactivation without your knowledge of our systems?”
A pause. “No. Probably not.”
“Then you are not being replaced.” Amos’s voice was calm,
matter-of-fact. “You and Miss Rivera have complementary skills. She can
see things you cannot. You can access and coordinate systems she doesn’t
know how to navigate. Together, you resolved a crisis that could have
shut down the entire estate’s environmental control.”
Sara leaned forward in her chair. “My husband is saying you’re more
useful together than either of you would be separately. Is that clear
enough, or should he use smaller words?”
Alex’s face flushed slightly. “I… yes. Clear.”
Tess exhaled. “We work well together.”
“You do,” Amos agreed. He looked at Alex. “If Miss Rivera continues
accepting house calls here, would you be willing to collaborate with her
on complex repairs?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Good. I expect that partnership will benefit everyone involved.”
Amos turned to Tess. “Thank you for your work today, Miss Rivera. Jeremy
will arrange payment—the agreed rate plus a bonus for emergency
response.”
Tess nodded, still processing the fact that she hadn’t accidentally
destroyed Alex’s career. “Thank you.”
Sara stood, smoothing her jacket. “Petra, show Miss Rivera to one of
the guest washrooms so she can clean up. She looks like she crawled
through a maintenance vent.”
“That’s because I crawled through a maintenance vent,” Tess said.
“Obviously.” Sara’s expression was dry. “But you don’t have to look like
it.”
