At some point in the distant past, there might have been a time when Morgana had walked through the land of Bridgeport in the region that would eventually become the Depths. Even in that era, the city had been in a state of decay, and differentiating it from the rest of the failing cities of the late twenty first century would have been nearly impossible. That time had been different for Morgana: in those days, the old programming was still fresh in her mind, and she avoided forests or towns out of fear of being haunted by visions of Ponyville and the Everfree.

No such visions haunted her this time. Although the old memories of being Twilight Sparkle could never truly be suppressed completely, there was almost nothing left in the human world to remind her of the life she had been told that she had lived. What might once have been recognizable as forests and a city had been replaced with something now completely uninterpretable as familiar.

The Depths themselves were enigmatic. Various phenomena had contributed to their construction. The largest and most generally accepted aspect was that the city had simply moved beyond; as lower levels were consumed and replaced with supports for higher ones, they became abandoned and fell into decay. Even that, though, was an incomplete view of their formation.

In the areas around Level C, there had been heavy remodeling by Delvers. The areas past the gate had been tunneled through and reinforced, forming caverns and caves that occasionally interfaced with cavities or pits that had been left from much older mining operations or abandoned drainage projects. The gates to Level C had no doors, because they were not necessary. This part of the Depths was undeveloped, but also uninteresting. Anything of value had long-since been removed, and the high traffic of Delvers taking the various trails to new and deeper frontiers tended to repel anything that might attempt to rise from deeper.

This area was lined with a number of electric lights strung through the caverns on long chains of wire. The distance between each of them was too far for anyone to have been able to see without augmented vision, but it was adequate for Morgana, who watched the world through Lilium’s eyes as hewn rock-walls and long-buried concrete partitions passed.

In time, this region passed. The lights stopped, and the channel began to move in a downward direction. Eventually, Hoig stopped at a gap into darkness.

“Here,” he said, drawing an enormous square rifle from his back. Morgana had already assessed it and determined that it was an obscure Ethiopian brand, designed for use with both .90 and .30 caliber bullets. Hoig had loaded the larger caliber with hollow-points. He paused for a moment, and then jumped down into the blackness. Forth followed him, her wings fluttering as she went. Lilium hesitated.

“Go,” said Morgana.

Lilium did so, jumping down the five meter gap to the floor below and landing with an uncomfortable thud.

“Ow,” she groaned. Beside her, Elrod fell, landing on his side as he did so. He did not complain.

Lilium looked up and at the tunnel before them. This one, unlike the others, had not been cut- -at least not recently. The walls consisted of badly-cracked concrete, assembled in a long, straight tube. “What is this place?”

“Tunnel,” said Hoig, as if that were not already obvious.

“From the shape of it? It looks like it was meant for a train,” suggested Morgana.

“Then where is the train now?” asked Elrod.

“Long gone. Do you need to seek a schematic? The whole place is like Swiss cheese. Subways, pneumatics, utility corridors, drainage systems. About a thousand years worth of them.”

“But it’s abandoned.”

“Of course it is. Or do you expect someone to come down here and repair it?”

“Metro,” said Hoig. He flicked on the light on his rifle, and a large number of eyes reflected back at him before they departed rapidly into the darkness. Only the harvester spiders remained, taking note of the intruders before climbing up the walls and into various rusted access channels. “This was metro. Does not flood, not this time of year. Know way. We take route.”

“This leads to where we’re going?” asked Lilium, sounding quite hopeful.

Hoig laughed darkly. “No. It does not go down.”

They proceeded, for many hours. Time seemed to have little meaning in the Depths. Everything was dark and decayed, and the channels were long and winding. Hoig seemed to know the metro well, but he had grown old. It was a long time since he had journeyed down its paths. Many areas had collapsed, while others had been opened, either by Delvers with powerful cutting tools or by other unknown things.

The path was convoluted. At some places, the tunnels broke away into different systems, either because they had been cut by newer projects that drilled through them or because walls had been broken down into other types of tunnels. Many were trains of various types, but some appeared to be made for water. More than once, Morgana found herself passing effortlessly through shoulder-deep water while Lilium struggled to keep her head above it.

It was in one of these brick-lined drainage tubes that Hoig suddenly stopped. He lifted his gun, aiming it into the darkness. A mist or smoke had filled much of the tunnel, and his light did not penetrate far- -but he still seemed to be able to see.

“What is it?” asked Forth, opening one of her limbs and forming a weapon. Hoig noticed and grabbed her arm.

“No,” he said. “Nothing.” He lowered his rifle. “Nothing there.”

They continued, but not far. The tube widened, and the water grew deeper until it was up to Hoig’s waist. The flow of the water had increased, though, and a sound of water flowing over concrete echoed through the tunnel.

“Mind the wet-lizards,” said Hoig.

“Lizards?” Lilium looked down, and as she did she saw the flowing water undulate as the backs of pale crocodiles moved by. She screamed and attempted to jump out of the water by climbing onto the slippery walls on either side but only succeeding in striking deeper water. She fell below her head, and Morgana rolled her eyes.

“In case you haven’t noticed, we’re not made of meat.”

Lilium pulled herself up, gasping for breath despite her face being covered by a mask and her not needing to breathe at all. “That’s easy for you to say! Did you see the size- -oh sweet Celestia, one just touched me!!”

“If the wet-lizards afear you, your luck is bad,” said Hoig, darkly. He pushed forward, moving the crocodiles out of the way with the butt of his rifle. They protested slightly, but none of them bothered him. Taking down a heavily armored porc was clearly not something they wanted to try.

“What do they eat?” asked Elrod.

“Not know,” shrugged Hoig. “Never care.”

Lilium managed to calm down, but only because the grade of the pipe floor increased. It spread into a cross intersection, with two massively wide portions filled with far deeper water spreading out to the left and right. Part of the pipe, however, had fallen away, revealing a precipice. That was whatMorgana had heard; water was flowing out of the pipe system and downward. There was no sound of it splashing against anything, though.

When Lilium finally reached the precipice, Morgana understood why. The pipe opened to a sheer drop. The land was cut away to a square hole several hundred feet wide. From its appearance, Morgana realized that it had once been intended to be a building. It was a penetrating development, like the downward projections of the towers of Hartford. This one, though, had been abandoned for centuries. The floors had largely collapsed, creating a tilting mezzanine of rubble that overlooked a dark drop several hundred meters into blackness.

“This is down,” said Hoig. He raised one of his arms and a small device fired, striking a protruding metal beam overhead. A small flash of light erupted around the projectile as it fused, illuminating an almost imperceptible thread that linked it back to Hoig’s suit. He put his rifle on his back and tapped Elrod’s shoulder. “Right there,” he said, gesturing to part of Elrod’s suit. “Link, then follow.”

With that, Hoig took several steps back- -followed by a running leap into the void. He swung for a moment on the thread and then dropped downward, his line-link producing a whine that faded as he descended.

“This is all insane,” muttered Elrod as he connected himself to the thread. He attempted to go down slowly, but ended up falling fast enough to cause him to let out low squeal.

“I don’t have a link!” said Lilium, turning around her to see that the crocodiles were reassembling. With Hoig gone, they had grown curious about the small, pony-sized creature that was wandering through their water. “How- - how do I use it?”

“You don’t.” Forth descended from above and took hold of Lilium. “Here, Ms. Lilium. I will carry you.”

Forth’s wings beat faster, lifting Lilium off the ground and over the edge. Lilium gasped when she looked down, realizing the vast distance that the vertical pathway went. Hoig and Elrod were already nearly out of sight.

Morgana walked to the edge as well. Being highly committed to her metaphor, she sprouted a pair of wings and took flight, descending alongside Lilium. Lilium tried to focus on Morgana so as not to look down, or on the crumbling floors of the building as they passed. Most of it was just debris, but she could see the remnants of what the subterranean tower had once contained: half-collapsed shops, or apartments, their contents now badly rotted but still often recognizable, spilled out throughout the broken floors.

As they passed, Morgana was able to see some signs of motion. On one floor, a pair of humans in full-body hazard suits and bearing large rifles stared at her as she passed, watching. On another, a group of large dog-like creatures retreated into a more complete section of the floor, leaving behind the severed arm that they had been gnawing on.

“What- -are those dogs?”

Morgana shook her head. “Hyperwolves. Get used to them. There’s a lot down here.”

“If you see any more, let me know,” asked Forth. “I’ve always wanted to hunt. Like a mountain-man.”

When they reached the ground, Hoig was already waiting for them and in the process of tying down his line.

“There you are,” he said. “Good.”

“I saw two humans, I think,” said Lilium as Forth put her down. “I don’t know. It was hard to tell.”

Hoig nodded. “Saw. Delvers. Bad sign. Not worst, though.”

“Why were they here?”

“This. Used to be good. Less now, but some things.”

Lilium looked up at the tower over her. The water was now raining down near them, having been dispersed into many small streams and waterfalls by the jutting pieces of building overhead. Wherever it touched, strange, thick tendrils of mold grew.

“Is this level stable?” asked Morgana.

“None of it is,” replied Hoig, once again taking his gun off his back. He pointed across the level that they now stood on, which consisted entirely of a complex debris field. Periodically, small things would drop from overhead and add to the heap. “Opening that way. We go.”

The abandoned tower led to more tunnels. These, though, were not meant for trains, but appeared to have once been intended to serve as part of a complex of several underground towers. They came across as abandoned, moldering corridors. Some parts of it seemed to have been meant to have a train, or perhaps even a road for cars, but that section now stood empty.

Most things of value had been stripped; every door had been blown out and the rooms inside looted. Even the doorknobs had been taken, as well as any electronics and wire linked to any sort of lighting systems. Elrod seemed to take great interest in this.

“Sometimes I considered becoming a Delver,” he said. “I mean…just one of these doors is better than a whole week’s haul in the civilized zone. I wonder why they’re here…”

“Heavy,” replied Hoig. “You are better off. Things here, are different. Costs, different. Carry only what is worth to carry.”

“Do you know why this is all abandoned?” asked Lilium. She was looking around almost in awe; the environment around her had clearly taken a long time to construct, and yet had fallen completely into disrepair.

“No.”

“What about you?” Lilium turned to Morgana.

“I don’t bother with social policy. But there’s a lot of these. I remember when they opened. They just never took off. I guess nobody wanted to live in the upper Depths.”

“Upper? Wait, how deep does this go?”

“A lot deeper. We’re barely in the surface right now. Trust me. If this was easy, I would have done it before I lost Roxanne.”

The journey continued, and as Morgana predicted, it was neither easy nor short. Days passed as the group picked their way across rubble and through strange tunnels and ancient highways. Usually, they moved in a downward direction, but sometimes upward when the way was blocked. In general, though, they were getting closer- -though they never seemed to.

Of them, only Hoig needed to sleep. He did not do so for very long; every twenty hours or so he would sit down and become silent for several hours. The others would wait patiently, but they said little. The darkness was ever-present, and both Morgana and Lilium began to feel what the other Delvers had warned them about. They were being watched. Sometimes, in the distance, they would see animals of various sorts: mostly hyperwolves, but also genets, and sometimes even sickly vulpi on occasion. There were other things too that they could not see so well, things that were larger and stayed back or flew through the air silently. The feeling of being watched, though, did not come from them. It was some other presence, or a lack of one; one that had been waiting, and almost seemed to be beckoning them forward.

The remains of the city began to become more and more diverse as the distance to civilization grew greater. Less Delvers came this deep, although there were signs that some had: rusted suits with bones still connected to them, or large symbols cut into the walls that gave directions and maps in strange languages. Hoig took note of both, and adjusted his course accordingly.

After four days, they came to an enormous cavern. Lilium had no sense of what had formed it, or why it existed; at this depth, it had to be artificial, but whatever had created it had left few traces that could be seen. Buildings sat on its edge, all of them lining the shore of a vast lake.

What struck Lilium was not the fetid, placid water, though, but the fact that this room also contained light. Near the shore, standing in the shadow of a vast and decrepit building, sat a small network of prefabricated buildings. The distant hum of a nuclear turbine filled the air, and warm lights filled the camp while spotlights illuminated the dead ground around its perimeter.

Hoig did not hesitate to approach it. Lilium was concerned until Morgana pointed out the flag that flew over the camp. Although there was no wind, a wire forced it to sit upright: it showed the crest of the Delver’s Guild, and below it was a large sign with the name “Waystation” written on it.

Despite the light, though, the camp seemed to be empty- -save for a single human. She stood at the edge of the lake, her eyeless face staring away from the lights of her camp. The machines linked to her body churned quietly, filtering the radiation from her blood as they forced purified oxygen into her bloodstream. The back and front of her suit were marked with the crest of the guild.

Hoig hailed her. “Blind Jerri,” he said.

“Hoig.” She smiled, but did not turn. To Lilium, the woman looked like a little girl- -but that made no sense. She had to be older. “They told me you would be coming.”

“Who?” asked Morgana.

Hoig just shook her head. “She has spent decades staring. Into darkness.”

“And the darkness has stared back into me,” replied Jerri. “Because what use are eyes in this land? It is better not to see. Seeing is a distraction.”

“Ah,” sneered Morgana. “So she’s insane.”

“Yes,” she said. “And I can in fact see you. Or perceive you. You have no body.”

“Yeah. I’m working on it.”

“You will not find them down here. Any ponies that were here were consumed long ago.”

Hoig looked up at her. “Machine-eaters?”

“Their activity has increased, yes,” sighed Jerri. “But…”

“But?”

“It is not of their own will. I can hear it when they move. The machines they have taken are not their own, nor are they old. Someone is supplying them.”

“Or they dug into something more sophisticated than their usual diet.”

Jerri shrugged. “Perhaps. But the wind tells me that this is not the case.”

“The…wind?”

“Can’t you feel it?”

“Yes,” said Morgana, without hesitation- -perhaps to end the conversation, or perhaps because she truly did.

“The ghosts have grown strong. But not the right ghosts. Not the ones who lie here, who speak to me in my sleep. Evil ones. The balance here, it’s been disrupted. But it will return. Ninety years I have watched this realm. And it will return to peace before it claims me. Not long now…”

“Jerri. Can resupply here?”

“You are not a member of the guild, Hoig. But I will make an exception. Take only what you need, except ammunition. Take extra of that. The wind has shown me the far side of the lake. And you will need it.”

They regrouped over the course of several hours. Hoig took some supplies- -food, water, reactors, and new filter cartridges- -which came in the form of canisters that he linked to his suit. He did not take more ammunition. Forth, however, took all of it.

After Hoig had rested, Lilium approached him. Morgana followed her like a glowing shadow.

“Do you need more time?” she asked.

“No.”

“But you’ve been going so long. If you don’t rest- -”

“Hoig knows the pain. Is used to it.” He picked up his rifle. “We go. Other side, beyond way-stations. No network. This is last stop, then wilds.”

Lilium gulped and nodded as she followed Hoig to the bank, where Forth and Elrod were already waiting.

“So,” said Elrod, “we need a boat.”

“Do you have boat?”

“Um…no?”

“Then no boat. We walk.”

Hoig stepped into the water, and as he did he pounded his fist against the side of his helmet. Several forward lights flickered to life, and part of his suit began to whir. Lilium and Elrod looked at each other, completely confused. Then Hoig walked into the water, disappearing from its surface.

“Um…”

“Yeah, I’m not doing that,” said Forth. Her wings began to buzz, and she lifted off the ground. “I’ll stay up here, thank you. Swimming is for infidels.”

Lilium and Elrod still paused.Morgana seemed to grow annoyed. “Are you going to go or not?”

Elrod turned and stepped into the water. After a few steps in, he dove below the surface. Lilium found it odd that he had hesitated in the first place, considering he had been more than able to swim in raw sewage. She wondered if he sensed something the rest of them could not.

“It isn’t that much farther,” said Morgana. “Come on.”

“Yeah…I’m coming…”

Lilium approached the water and stepped into it. It was cold and opaque, but she stepped forward and into it. Just before she went under, she looked back at the shore. In the distance, Blind Jerri was staring at her- -and for just a moment, Lilium was sure that she saw a second woman. One dressed in all black.

There was no visibility in the water. Despite this, Lilium was still able to see clearly. The suit she had been given had automatically switched to a form of ultrasonic rendering, which she assumed must have been what Hoig had activated before immersing himself. It showed her a projection of the environment with reasonable clarity: of a floor lined with heavily radioactive debris, all of it forming a treacherous network of metal and glass that seemed to go outward forever.

“Damn,” said Lilium, softly, as she picked over the debris, following Hoig and Elrod who apparently had no trouble doing so. “This is kind of freaking me out.”

“Why?” asked Morgana. She was walking along the debris as well, rendered perfectly in Lilium’s mind. “You can’t drown.”

“I know, it’s just…all this water…” She began to hyperventilate, or at least through she did. Then she forced herself to be calm, even as the debris began to slope and the water started to become much deeper. “It’s not just the water.”

“Nobody said the Depths were a nice place. I don’t like being here either.”

“No, this whole thing. I don’t like it. It’s all wrong. I mean, what are we even doing?”

“Solving the case.”

“Are we? What happens once we get there? Do you even have a plan? Maybe a flowchart?”

“No. I don’t even know how I’d make one right now.”

“Then what are we supposed to do?! Because if we get there, then it’s all on them. And I don’t think they’re going to be all that friendly.”

“No. Probably not. But I don’t think they’re going to be violent either.”

Lilium paused. “Wait. You know something.”

“I know a lot of things.”

“No, you know something about this case. Something I don’t.”

“I have theories,” said Morgana, shrugging.

“Technically hypothesis,” muttered Lilium.

“What they’re called doesn’t matter. What matters is if I prove them right or wrong. I’m so close, Lilium. I can almost taste it. I have to finish this. I just have to.”

“Whatever the cost?”

Morgana stared at Lilium. Though she did not speak, the answer was clear.

The going through the water was slow and long. Several miles passed by as the slope of the submerged land continued to decline. The radiation grew more intense, as did the oppressive darkness and pressure. Lilium could hear her suit creaking from the force, and she was worried that it would implode and allow salt water to rush inside. She had no idea if her body would survive that, although Morgana seemed confident that it would. At the same time, Lilium started to detect things moving in the water. At first, she dismissed them as fish, until it occurred to her that they were far too large and that the water was far too toxic to support any normal forms of life.

Then the slope began to rise. It rose slower than it had sunk, and a longer distance was passed before Lilium finally felt herself approaching what appeared to her sonar like a great flat plane overhead: the surface of the water.

As she neared the shallows, though, a sound echoed through the water. It was a deep, repetitive thudding. Lilium did not recognize it, but Morgana did.

“Gunfire,” she said.

Lilium felt herself grow cold, and she accelerated, clawing her way out of the water and mud on the shore. As she emerged, she saw Hoig firing his rifle into the distance. Forth, likewise, had unfolded half of her body into whatever weapons the Cult of Humanity had built her to contain. She was firing as well. Just as Lilium emerged, she saw a number of enormous white lizards sprinting awkwardly into the darkness. They were as large as crocodiles or alligators, but far faster.

“What is it?!” cried Lilium. “What’s going on?!”

Something in the darkness moved, and Lilium instantly understood that the monitors had been incidental. A thrum of what sounded like many engines, and the sound of something pushing through debris with ease. Hoig’s light shined into the darkness, and suddenly reflected off a massive red eye. The mechanisms within the eye shifted, narrowing its pupil and separating its iris into many more. Optics of every possible kind shifted, staring at the tiny people who were firing at it. Then it lifted its numerous legs and crawled forward, a vast creature made of metal and heterogeneous machinery of every type. It groaned and nearly spoke as it passed, the plates on its body reconfiguring as it shed damaged ones and sealed itself with what scales it had. Then, without pausing, it slipped into the water, its long squirming tail trailing behind it.

The group fell silent for a moment, aside from the sudden splashing of Lilium sprinting out of the ankle-deep water she was standing in as the machine’s tendrils slipped up through the mud around her. Hoig kept his rifle pointed at the water’s surface, though, until he was sure that the creature had gone.

“What- -what was that?”

“Machine-eater,” said Hoig.

“He means a technovore,” said Morgana. “Goddamn it…since when do they get that big?”

“How big are they usually?”

“Between a dog and a car. That…”

“That was an autotruck size,” said Elrod. “I mean…I’ve never actually…you know…seen one.” He put his head in his hands as he sat down. “Damn…next you’ll tell me the feral Fluttershys are real too…”

“Pray we do not find them either,” said Hoig, slowly lowering his rifle. “Our luck is good. White-pony attracted it, but it was less hungry. For now.”

“For now?”

Hoig pointed his light into the darkness. Several horribly deformed metallic creatures squealed and recoiled. Though smaller, it was still apparent that they were also technovores: quasi-intelligent machines that had built themselves from the scrap they consumed, building themselves ever larger and ever-more advanced bodies.

“Can we get through?” asked Lilium.

“Have to,” said Hoig. “Be very careful.”

They moved forward carefully. The technovores retreated some of the time; although they behaved in many ways like animals, their reactions were far less predictable. Some sat where they stood and watched, forcing Hoig to lead the group around them. Forth’s unblinking eyes watched them constantly, prepared to attack at any moment without hesitation. Lilium wished she could share Forth’s confidence or at least Hoig’s poise.

The area on the far side of the lake largely consisted of a forest of pipes rising at an oblique angle, moving upward through a system that had been drilled into the roof, creating a vast chimney. It seemed that someone was either dumping waste or extracting the water for use, or perhaps both. Lilium felt herself growing increasingly glad that she was a machine and did not need to worry about things like drinking or toxicity.
Then, all at once, the entire atmosphere seemed to shift. Lilium froze, as did Hoig. Fog seemed to drift in from the lake as the temperature changed.

“This is bad,” said Lilium.

“Yes,” agreed Hoig.

A tone rang out over the land. It was as penetrating as it was simple. Then, through the mist, Lilium saw something approaching. She did not see it clearly, only the fact that it was bipedal and badly deformed. Its broken, asymmetrical body was far larger than a human, although it seemed to have at least part of a pony head- -or, as Lilium looked closer, three heads.

“Shit!” said Morgana. “MOVE! NOW!”

Before Lilium could even respond, the tone went out again, and this time the technovores reacted. They charged forward.

Over Lilium’s shoulder, Forth opened fire. Her aim was true, but the attacking horde was durable. Being destroyed did not stop them; the only advantage was that when one fell it was devoured by several others as they incorporated its parts into themselves. It was not a random act, though; Lilium could see patterns in their motion that were characteristic of a single parsed mind. They were a hive.

“Run!” cried Hoig, suddenly sprinting. Despite his size, the power-assist of his suit made him unnaturally swift. Elrod attempted to keep pace, but like Lilium, he was slow.

“We can’t keep up!”

“I can!” Forth unfolded her body into its humanoid conformation. She grabbed Lilium under one arm and Elrod under the other. This made her unable to fire back effectively, save for the use of any weapons built into her sides, but she was able to carry both with ease.

“Where are we going?!” cried Lilium. “Wait, Hoig- -”

Suddenly, Lilium saw a ledge appear before them. Hoig did not hesitate or fire a line; he simply leapt over the edge. Jets on the rear of his suit ignited; although they could not lift him, they stabilized his fall and slowed his descent. Forth did the same, although lacking jets she was forced to use her wings.

“Hoig!” she called. “Catch!”

“Wait, what- -”

Lilium screamed as Forth tossed her downward. Hoig caught her under one arm and grabbed Elrod by his collar as he fell. Forth, meanwhile, turned around and opened fire with her full arsenal, melting and burning her way through the technovores that leapt over the edge after them, with special focus on those that had the ability to fly.

Few technovores followed, and those that did and somehow managed to survive were dashed on the rocks below. Hoig landed with substantial force, although the legs of his suit absorbed the blow successfully. Forth followed, resuming her pony form as she neared the ground but never ceasing her flight.

“Thanks,” said Lilium shakily.

“Not yet. I hold a little longer.” Hoig tightened his grasp. “There are other ways. Now, is time to go fast. For a little, yes.”

With that, he took off in a quick jog. Forth followed behind and overhead, occasionally firing backward- -at first a lot, and then more and more seldom until not at all. Lilium held Hoig tightly. In her mind, she could feel Morgana’s emotions: impatience and annoyance, largely, along with an overwhelming, nearly obsessive excitement. Lilium herself, though, was so very afraid.

They did not stop running until they reached the edge of a massive concrete support column. Above them sat a pillar nearly a mile in diameter, made of solid metal and concrete, forced deep into the Depths long ago as the city expanded overhead. It seemed almost foreign as it tore its way through the environment. Though it must have gone hundreds upon hundreds of meters into the air, the area below it consisted of a number of collapsed buildings and partitions that made an excellent artificial thicket. The group took refuge in there, and Hoig set down both Lilium and Elrod.

Almost immediately, he sat down, breathing hard.

“Hoig?” asked Lilium.

“Not dying. Not yet. Just old. And porc. Porcs not meant to run.”

“You saved our lives.”

“That’s his job,” shrugged Morgana.

Lilium turned suddenly. “And what did YOU do?”

“What CAN I do? I’m a technomancer. Despite thesimilarity in the name, I can’t do anything against technovores. Just look.”

“Did you see anything?” asked Forth.

“Yes. They were working together.”

“I noticed that too,” said Lilium. “You don’t need to be a technomancer to see that.”

“That’s not how they normally work, though. Technovores are solitary. They were focused on one of them. One that was MUCH smarter than it should be.”

Lilium gasped. “I saw it.”

Morgana nodded. “I did too.”

“Was it…one of them?”

“No. I don’t think so. But I think they helped make it. Damn it, that’s a risky move. Either they’re desperate or insane. Or…”

“Or what?”

“Or they want sentries that can’t be traced back to them.”

“The motivation doesn’t matter,” said Elrod. “What matters is we got away.”

“You don’t sound happy about that,” noticed Forth.

“Well…do you have any idea how much technovores are worth? Just one of them…”

“Not worth it,” said Hoig. He made a slicing motion with his hand. “Price is high for reason. Hunting machine eaters is not easy. They come back too good. From tiny pieces.”

“You mean those will grow back?”

“Not know. Not matter. Ten clicks, be in spider-place. Not better, but not follow.”

“Because harvesters and technovores can’t coexist,” noted Morgana.

Hoig nodded and stood up. He lifted his rifle, but then paused before inexplicably placing it on his back. Lilium suddenly detected motion. She turned sharply to see eyes staring back at her from the broken corridors of the debris around them. Figures moved swiftly, and Lilium backed away, even though they did not look like technovores or hyperwolves. Whereas technovores were often reflective or produced a whirr of motors and hyperwolves squeaked and growled aggressively, these figures were dark in color and moved in silence.

Forth raised one of her arms and unfolded it, preparing to fire. Hoig put his hand on her barrels and forced her to lower them.

“Are times to shoot. And times not to. Now is not to. White-horse:you must listen. Do not shoot. Not at all, and not ever, until I say so. Listen now. Is important.”

Forth looked up at him, confused, and then at Morgana. Morgana nodded, and Forth obeyed Hoig’s suggestion. She folded her weapons back into place and began walking, although she did not take her eyes off the darkness surrounding her.

They continued around the perimeter of the support pillar, and Lilium was distinctly conscious of the figures following them. For some reason, it was almost impossible to get a clear view of them; part of this was the decreased resolution of her suit’s camera, but it also seemed that the pursuers were dressed in some kind of camouflage. They knew to stay in the dark where they could not be seen, and only made their presences known- -and only ever partially- -when they wanted to be seen.

“Morgana, what are they?”

“I don’t know,” snapped Morgana. “We have the same eyes.”

“Quiet is good,” whispered Hoig.

“I wasn’t talking,” said Morgana. “I’m not integrated into their systems. I can’t even find any systems. At least with the technovores there was SOMETHING. But these, I can’t tell…”

Hoig did not respond, with seemed to annoy Morgana greatly. She did not like others knowing things that she did not- -and to Lilium, it served her right for keeping her own ideas so pointlessly secure. To Lilium, it was a matter of patience and trust: she trusted that Hoig knew what he was doing, and that she only had to wait until he revealed what his plan was.

The land began to slope upward, and the ceiling of the broken corridor gave way to a larger cavern. Overhead, some massive piece of debris had formed a roof, while a heavily sloped flat piece had made the floor. The result was a substantial cavity.

“You’re taking us in the open,” said Morgana. “I don’t like this. If my body- -”

“It’s not even your body,” grumbled Lilium.

Forth turned around, her eyes wide with amazement. “Hoig said to be quiet!”

“No. You can speak now. Just quiet. Better they know we are here.” Hoig pointed. Lilium squinted, trying to see through the static of her camera. After a moment, she realized that she was looking at buildings. Not ones that were the remnant of some fallen or abandoned aspect of ancient Bridgeport, or prefabs set out by the Delver’s Guild. They were instead constructed from what appeared to be scrap and debris, and they were lit by fire instead of nuclear-driven electric light. Planning and conscious effort had gone into its construction: it was a village.

As if on cue, the figures emerged from the darkness, suddenly swarming around the group. Lilium realized what they were: human. Their bodies had been painted in various shades of black and gray, and they bore some various rusted armor. In their hands they held swords and spears, as well as tubes that Lilium supposed were blowguns of a sort. One among them held a badly decayed gun that had been decorated with various small, hanging bits of glass and fur. He appeared to be the leader.

The leader pointed his gun at Hoig. “Kien?” he demanded.

Hoig slowly raised his hands, and then reached for his helmet. With a click, he removed it. The humans jumped back, and for a moment Lilium was sure that they were about to attack. When they saw Hoig’s face, though, their eyes went wide and most of them lowered their weapons. Even the leader turned his gun so that he held it by the barrel, using it as a staff. A wide smile crossed his wrinkled face.

“Puerco Asado!” he cried, raising his arms.

Hoig smiled, or made an expression that was as close to a smile as his porcine face would allow. “Si,” he said. “Hola. Bueno.”

The humans laughed, yet their circle grew somewhat tighter. Lilium felt one of them poke her with a stick. They were moving them toward the village, and although they seemed happy, Lilium once again found herself strangely nervous. This time, though, she wondered if it was her own fear- -or Morgana’s.

More humans awaited them in the village. Some were like the others, although without the charcoal paint. Others bore no weapons, but reacted with great reserve toward the oncoming group, at least until they saw Hoig. As soon as one recognized him, she yelled to the others. Those that possessed weapons lowered them, and those who had hidden emerged suddenly, instantly forming a throng of half-naked individuals. All of them seemed to speak in the same language, and as the group leading them spoke amongst themselves, Forth looked confused.

“I can’t understand them,” she said.

“No. You wouldn’t be able to,” said Morgana. “It’s Spanish. The language has been dead for six hundred years.”

“I can understand it,” said Lilium.

“You were programmed to speak it. It was common when I was young, and when you were originally supposed to be born. But now…”

They were led into what amounted to the village’s main street. Children ran forward. They hesitated greatly around Elrod and Lilium, and they could not see Morgana. All of them looked at Hoig in awe, though, as if they were seeing a man straight out of a tale. Few approached him, though. Forth, though, was swarmed.

“Caballito!” they cried. “Caballito con alas!”

They said other things, but Forth did not understand any of it. The children hugged her and grabbed at her wings. She herself was only slightly taller than some of them, but seemed to tolerate the attention well. Her body had been intended for endless military campaigns; there was little that children could do to harm her. Still, she looked to Morgana for advice.

“These beings. Are they infidels?”

“No,” said Morgana. “They are children.”

“Oh. Good. It would make me sad to kill them without a reason to. But I’ve never seen children before. Just in targeting simulations. They are smaller than I thought they would be. Like little humans.”

“That’s exactly what they are!” laughed Lilium. Morgana, though, did not laugh. She still seemed as concerned as ever, and seemed to observe the children intently.

“Do you notice anything?” she asked, turning to Lilium.

“No,” said Lilium. “Why? Should I?”

“Look at their skin.” Lilium did. She winced when she saw a number of strange scabs and early evidence of tumor formation. “All the people here are either old or badly diseased. Cutaneous conditions, infection, amputations, mental retardation…no one here is healthy.”

“If they live like this, what do you expect?”

“What else do you notice?”

“Excuse me? What, do you want me to identify every one of the conditions by name? You’re really confident they can’t hear us insulting them, aren’t you?”

“They can’t hear me anyway. But that’s exactly my point. Not one of them has cybernetics of any kind.” Morgana turned to Elrod. “What do you think?”

“I can’t tell without a reading,” said Elrod, causing some of the braver children to squeal and jump away from him; they had not realized that he could speak. “But movements and the presence of disease suggest that they have very little genetic modification.”

“They don’t have any,” said Morgana. “I’m sure of it. These are naters. Natural-born humans.”

Suddenly, the children cleared. The groups of people who had come to witness “Puerco Asado” parted, leaving the dusty street clear. A man appeared before them on the street, and was joined by two other humans who arrived from the sides. All three of them were considerably aged, at least by natural-born standards, and they were dressed in dirty but extensive clothing decorated with various trinkets. The leader of them bore jewelry that contained numerous hyperwolf skulls, as well as several harvester spider eyes- -as well as a human jawbone and the lower hooves of at least three separate ponies. The other elders- -one male, and one female- -had similar chains and dress, although often with different bones and parts. The woman even wore the extensive skull of a long-dead technovore on her chest.

All three of them had guns, although the weapons they used were ancient and likely nonfunctional, having been converted into what amounted to spears or staffs. The warriors of the village, though, converged around the elders, responding to orders that Lilium could not perceive. The leader of the elders, though scarred and ridden with disease, looked quite similar to the leader of the warriors, who was a slightly younger version of himself.

The leader moved one shaking hand over his face, spreading his fingers to reveal that there were exactly five. “Caras,” he said, softly.

“Wants remove masks,” said Hoig. “El-rod, also remove glove. Show fingers.”

Elrod did not hesitate, possibly out of fear of being skewered by the numerous soldiers that eyed him viciously. He removed his helmet, and Lilium was pleased to see that his regeneration had progressed greatly. His face looked exactly as it had the first time she had seen them. He also- -with some difficulty- -unlatched one of the gloves on his suit. He held up a hand that despite having brown, flaky skin on its rear, had five fingers.

Lilium also removed her helmet. Some of the crowd gasped, with whispers of the word “unicornio” passing through the crowd.

The elder did not smile, but he nodded, seeming to accept the situation. Hoig reached behind him, but rather than reaching for a weapon he removed one of the canisters from his suit. He approached the Elder and twisted the top unit of the canister apart, pulling it apart to reveal the internal machinery. It was a food component, and the inner portion was filled with numerous bays of dehydrated food blocks.

“Comida,” he said, with some difficulty. He passed the unit to the leader of the warrior band, whose eyes went wide when he saw how much food it contained. Then Hoig reached for his belt, and removed a small square box. He gave it directly to the leader, who took it with one shaking hand. “Por rabia.”

The elder nodded and took the box. He nodded, and then slowly turned his attention toward Lilium, Forth, and Elrod. He leaned on his gunstaff and spoke.

“You speak the language of the fallen?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” said Elrod, clearly confused by the question.

“English,” said Lilium, stepping forward to be beside Hoig. “Pero tambien puedo hablar Español.” Lilium was somewhat taken aback by her ability to speak Spanish, but it seemed that Morgana had been correct. She was programmed with several common languages, although unfortunately none apart from English that were of any use in the modern age.

The elder smiled, although only slightly. “The one called Puerco Asado is friend to us, to our village. Few who come come with kindness. With weapons, with disease, to take, even though what we have is of no value to them. The legend of Puerco Asado runs long, of beasts slain and of kindness great.” His eyes slowly turned to Hoig. “But you have been away long. We had feared you had returned-ash.”

“No,” said Hoig. “Encontró- -”

“Una hija. Si. I know. A perfect child, a remain of a lost tribe. The wind brings news swiftly, and once did a boat cross to the Blind Sentry, the oracle.” He looked between the ponies and Elrod. “But none are her.”

Hoig’s expression dropped, and he tried not to let them see the tears, although it was obvious the humans perceived his sadness. Many clasped their hands to their mouths, and some gasped. “Está… está muerta.”

The elder shook his head. “This is grave news indeed. I am sorry.”

“Tomodo.”

The elder’s eyes narrowed, and the mood of the crowd shifted from pity to fear. “By who?”

“No se…” Hoig turned to Lilium. “Please. Cannot…I do not have words. Morgana.”

Lilium nodded and projected Morgana beside her. Many in the crowd screamed and leapt back. “Fantasma!” They cried. “Fantasma purpura!”

Even the two secondary elders raised their staffs as weapons while they took a step back in fear, and the warriors, though afraid, drew their weapons. The eldest man among them, though, only sighed.

“No es fantamsa,” he explained. “Solo truco del las caballitas.”

“I am Morgana,” said Morgana. Lilium knew quite well that she spoke their language, but that she refused to address them in it. “My body is currently destroyed, so yes, in a sense, I am a ghost. I’m looking for the people who took my body. And who took Hoig’s daughter.”

The elder’s eyes narrowed. “What you seek is evil.”

“Then you know what it is.”

“I have always known. But I had hoped. That one who had been found and brought away might escape. That they would not journey into the far-world. Come. Come with me.”

He turned and walked, and Morgana followed. Since she was linked to Lilium, Lilium had to follow as well. The elder moved slowly, but with a sturdiness that was uncharacteristic for an old man. How old he actually was, though, was not clear.

“Do you want to know?” asked Morgana.

Lilium gasped. “Were you reading my mind?”

“I don’t have to. I thought you would find it interesting. We’re both Twilight Sparkles. Curiosity is in our nature.”

“Fine.”

Morgana nodded to the elder. “He is twenty years younger than Valla.”

“Yeah right. You have no way to know that.”

“I’m a detective. I know people. And I can tell their age.”

“But Valla- -”

“Still has a number of genetic enhancements. Even the poorest humans do.”

“I know not this ‘Valla’,” said the elder, without turning, “but what you say is likely true. The fallen live long lives, but pay a heavy price.”

Lilium was confused. “What price?”

“I mean what I say. In money. You have dwelt in their world. It created you, no?”

Lilium thought about it for a moment, and then nodded slowly.

The elder looked over his shoulder and gave a sad smile. “In their world, have you seen children?”

“One or two,” admitted Lilium. “No…” She paused. “Only the one in the Upper Levels…”

“That is the price. In money. They are sterile. Children are born in factories. Though I do not dwell in their world, this I know, as I was told it by my father, and his father before him. A war to cure poverty, but such a war that cannot be fought.”

“A war that succeeded,” said Morgana.

“Did it? A world where only those with money can bring more to this world? Is that a good world?”

“I don’t care if it’s good or bad,” replied Morgana. “I’m a pony. Human reproduction does not concern me. But less humans means less poverty.”

“And would none be ideal, then?”

“Of course. But I gave up on that goal when your ancestors still walked in sunlight.”

The elder chuckled softly. “Then you are a fool. But such is expected. We hold many stories. And even as fantasma, you still bear it. Piedra Rojo.”

A murmur went through the crowd, and Lilium noticed that even though Morgana was only a hologram, she still bore the image of the ruby given to her by Twinkleshine Prime at the end of the Adorable Revolution.

“Today is a strange day,” said the elder. “I am glad I could see it. The return of the hero, Puerco Asado, and to witness the ghost of Piedra Rojo. But in this time, such things must assemble. Such proclaims the wind, and the Eyes of the Night.”

They came to the edge of the village, to a square where no one dared to build their house. No fires burned in this area, and low walls built from ragged concrete debris surrounded it. In the center stood a statue lit by candles. As Lilium approached, she saw that it was carved from many pieces of fused stone- -and she recognized what it was.

It stood on two legs, a thin creature with clawed, outstretched arms. It had six of them, and on its shoulders it bore the head of a pony. The eyes had been painted on with charcoal; they were black and seemed to stare at the approaching crowd, glaring down hungrily. Though the interpretation was distorted, Lilium knew: it was a carving of one of the anthro-units that belonged to the Cult of Humanity.

The elder lowered his gun staff to the ground and dropped to his knees, bowing as he approached the statue. The remainder did as well, and they spoke together in a language that was neither Spanish nor English. Then the elder sat up, though he did not rise.

“Moloch, Rey de Lágrimas,” he said, as though that were an explanation. Then he bowed again. “This is the god our ancestors found. Our price, the one we paid.”

“I don’t understand,” said Morgana. “I know what this is. I’ve seen them.”

“Then you have seen Death.”

“What is it?” asked Morgana. “From your perspective?”

The elder sighed and shook his head. “Many things lie in the wastes. Things with names, things without. We have heard stories. From other tribes, those miles and miles below who no longer live…and who have arisen once more, sometimes as something else. Is finding a god unreasonable?”

“You worship them?”

“We try to appease them,” snapped the elder. “But they are not happy. Never happy. No sacrifice is enough. Save for one.”

“Children.”

Lilium gasped, but the elder nodded, his eyes having grown steely. “Yes. But this land is toxic. We take what we can, and live, but many are born cursed. Some live only days. Some years. But when Moloch comes, he only takes the most perfect. Those not bitten, those without broken minds or sickly bodies. Only the most perfect.”

“Because only one in one thousand natural-born humans is adequate,” said Elrod.

“What did you just say?” asked Morgana.

Elrod shook his head. “Nothing.”

“What are they used for, though?” asked Forth. “Children seem to have little use. They cannot hold guns. Not well, anyway.”

“I do not know. I do not ask. Some here will claim they become the Damned, the vampires. But the vampires are no different from us, born from mothers in their own way.” He shook his head. “This is the way it has always been. It cannot be helped…not until now.”

“What do you mean?” asked Morgana.

The elder paused for a long time. “Things are changing,” he said, simply. “The whole world is moving. Tension gathers. Moloch sits, thinking, waiting in the Great Tree.”

“Yggdrasil.”

“I know not this word. But I know the place. None return from Moloch’s throne. It is our most sacred place. And our most feared.”

“I intend to go there,” said Morgana.

“But do you intend to return?”

Much to Lilium’s horror, Morgana did not answer.

“Then I must know. Do you intend to slay Moloch?”

“I intend to slay no one. This Moloch is not my concern. Nor is the fate of your people.”

“Then you might very well prevail, for if you do, it will be pointless. Such is the way this world tends to progress. The wheel turns, but only in place.”

They remained in the village overnight. A party, or something similar to it, was thrown in Hoig’s honor. The mood, though joyous, had an undertone of somberness: all among them knew that their beloved Puerco Asado was headed to a place where he would not return, and though they honored this it made them sad as well.

Lilium enjoyed the festivities, although she felt that her behavior was somewhat awkward. The humans tolerated it, though, and she was happy to learn about their rituals. Though these people had no books in their possession, Lilium wondered if their behavior was something the Librarians would be interested in. Although Faulkner had never once mentioned the possibility of it, Lilium began composing a text in her mind, organizing and collating it even as she watched hyperwolf meat being prepared and as children attempted to ride Forth.

After a time, though, she noticed that two members of the party were missing. Morgana had vanished, electing to retreat back into whatever distant portion of Lilium’s body she inhabited. Elrod, meanwhile, was nowhere to be seen.

After a few minutes of searching, Lilium found him. He was standing outside the village, just at the edge of the light, staring without blinking back at the people who moved as silhouettes in the distance.

“Elrod, why are you out here?”

“Fire makes me nervous,” he said.

“That’s a lie, isn’t it?”

Elrod turned his eyes toward her. “No,” he said. “It’s true.”

“But it’s not why you’re out here.”

“Correct.”

“Then why?”

“Because I do not understand.”

“Oh. Well, neither do I. That’s kind of the point, isn’t it? To learn about other cultures, to experience new things.”

“I don’t want to experience new things. I never have. Does it serve a purpose?”

“A purpose?” Lilium did not really understand the question. “What is that supposed to mean?”

Elrod was silent for a moment. “I just…I don’t understand.”

“If you don’t try to learn, you won’t. You have to- -”

“It doesn’t work that way. Not for me.”

“Of course it does- -”

“No. I can look like them, but I am not them. I will never understand them. I am not supposed to. I don’t know why they are here, or why they live like this.”

Lilium paused for a moment. “Why do you live in Bridgeport?”

“Because I wanted to live.”

“And that is why they are here too. Look at them. I know your culture was different, but if you could be with others of your kind, if they weren’t extinct.”

Elrod stared for a moment. “If they were not extinct…”

“Wouldn’t you want to be with them?”

“No. I miss them. But those that died cannot come back. There should not be more.”

Lilium thought a moment more. “Then let me rephrase. Why aren’t you living down here?”

Elrod stared at her. “Because I was afraid.”

“But you could survive here, couldn’t you?”

Elrod was about to respond, but he closed his mouth and thought. “I could. And that thought terrifies me.”