"Grand elder, we are pleased by your return to the capital to receive punishment for your crimes but all that will have to wait until we have spoken to the outsider and learned what he knows of the black spheres that have invaded our s.p.a.ce and brought strange artifacts to our land.""Ohh~ Silas brat you became an elder, how many years have it been?"
Completely ignoring his grand speech, the elder stood up as she made the wind lift her from the ground as she patted another elder about 30 centimeters taller than her on the head as a child.
(So that one is both an elder and has a name… I guess I should find some time to ask for her name…)
Observing the conversation like it did not concern him at all, Dax leisurely buried himself in Zephyr"s soft fur, Zephyr being quite happy with that as he removed any dirt from her fur with a gentle hand and didn"t touch anywhere strange.
"Grand elder please don"t treat me like a child and listen to what I am saying.."
Showing an extremely irritated expression on his face elder Silas still managed to stay polite in his words.
"Ka ka ka! In my eye all of you are still marley children, or just clueless adults, which is about the same."
With a grand smile on her face the grand elder continued insulting the other elders without a care in the world.
(Aaahh~ I definitely want a of my own now..)
Meanwhile Dax had realized why the elder liked Zephyr"s soft fur so much as he felt himself disappear into its embrace.
(WARNING: LOWERED OPERATOR HARTREATE AND BLOOD PRESSURE DETECTED, INITIATE FULL SYSTEM DETOX Y/N?)
(Obviously no, I"m just relaxing a bit..)
Looking on at the grand elder and the capital elite posturing for a few more minutes Dax finally felt like it was time for them to get on with it and regretfully left Zephyr"s warm embrace.
"Let"s get on with it, I"m f.u.c.king bored.. I"ll answer your questions if you at least treat me with respect."
Walking past the grand elder that still floated effortlessly in the air Dax quietly whispered to her without anyone noticing.
"Get Zephyr to hug the wall and stay away from the center of the plaza, for her own safety."
Not questioning Dax"s words the elder did a small nod before quietly signaling to Zephyr. Leaving the border control force behind with the promise that he would fix Amy"s arm as long as she held on to a token he had given her, Dax and the elders moved into a lobby like room of the large skysc.r.a.per. With a wave of the hand the elder called Silas made the entire room move, making Dax realize that it was a giant elevator.
(How decadent.. And completely unnecessary to boot.)
As time went on more and more Dax realized why the grand elder had left the capital, as the elite clearly sold the idea of equality to the people while taking the lion"s share for themselves justifying it as something necessary for the elven peoples protection. As the oversized elevator reached the top of the building it stopped, and Dax was lead out of it into a extremely luxurious room with a large round table at the center.
"Take a seat outsider."
With a stern voice elder Silas pulled out one of the chairs and offred it to Dax that accepted it with his best poker face.
"Now let"s get on with it, tell us about the spheres and why you know about them and we might let you live despite trespa.s.sing into the capital outsider."
"Wow that"s kind of rude right of the bat.. h.e.l.lo, my name is Dax, and you are?"
Completely unfazed by elder Silas" words Dax acted hurt before putting on a friendly face and introducing himself before asking the other party to do the same.
"I do not care for who you are outsider. You hurt my son, the only reason you"re still alive is because I allow it. You will call me elder, and with respect."
"Is he always like this?"
"Yes, Silas has always been like this ever since he was a small child that would pester me for my or his dad"s attention."
Deflecting Silas" treat Dax addressed the grand elder that had taken a seat next to him, how started talking about Silas like he still was a child.
"Cut the f.u.c.king bulls.h.i.+t right now outsider! Tell us or die!"
Not being able to handle the continued breitling elder Silas slaved all mana in the room under his control as he drew in water vapor that formed into long ice spikes that pointed menacingly towards Dax.
"Okay then, G.o.d would it kill you to lighten up just a tiny bit? I know about the spheres and the technology within because I arrived one of them when I crash landed in this s.h.i.+thole of a world."
"That"s im-"
"Impossible? If you or one of the other elders are at least somewhat competent then you should be able to see that I house no mana of any kind in my body."
"What!?"
Looking closer at the outsider sitting across the table form them the capital elders each confirmed that Dax contained no mana, making him by their definition not a living creature.
"How is that possible!?"
"I told you. G.o.d he is daft isn"t he? I am, like the alien artifacts you grasp to understand, not of this world. If an artifact was brought before me I could immediately tell you its uses."
With a completely calm face Dax spoke to the grand elder before laying out the facts to elder Silas.
"I see! So you"ll help us then!?"
Being tempted with knowledge of an unknown magnitude Silas took the bait, hook, line and sinker.
"Not so fast. When I inspected the annihilation event site your border control forces destroyed a weapon of mine."
"Then I"ll have them all brought before you to be executed immediately!"
Completely blinded by greed Silas didn"t even consider that his son was among those he just condemned to death for his pursuit of knowledge, even the other elders looked at Silas with bitter faces but they could do nothing as he had skillfully placed himself in the center of the capital"s power structure.
"Now now, there"s no need to kill them. They destroyed one of my weapons, so I want a weapon in return. Simple, right? After that transaction is completed we can talk about educating you on the Galactic Empire."
"G-galactic Empire… Ah, a weapon you say? Right away, I"ll pre-"
Repeating the name of Dax"s government with a revencense like he was speaking the name of a G.o.d Silas then was about to send someone to fetch his best weapons when Dax interrupted.
"That simply won"t do. I"ll pick out a weapon myself, I trust you have a treasury in this building?"
"That we do! Please follow me."
Standing up like there was a fire below him Silas hurriedly started leading the way through multiple luxurious rooms and hallways.
"Dax, what are you doing?"
Whispering to Dax quietly as they were being lead to the treasury, the grand elder had started to doubt Dax as a person.
"Just trust me, and remember what we talked about down in the plaza."
"What we talked about?"
"I"m still awaiting your word."
"Here we are! But first you"ll need to prove what you"re saying is indeed correct, outsider."
Stopping before a 4 meter tall vault door, Silas waved over a handful of his a.s.sistants that each carried a alien artifact.
"Now tell me what this is first."
Showing Dax a black cylindrical metal container about the size of a fist with a what looked to be a trigger guard integrated into it Dax picked it up before speaking.
"It"s a medical container, and judging by the weight it"s completely full too."
"I see! So it"s some sort of medicine then?"
"Yeah, but it is very special medicine that only people of my race can use, to any other it would just be poisonous. Do you mind if I keep it? I haven"t been able to find any since I arrived on this planet?"
"Sure, go ahead!"
With a warm smile Dax put the medical container into his pocket before stealthily sending the grand elder a wink.
"Okay then please tell us what this is."
Handing Dax a light metal plate with alien inscriptions on it Dax took only a second before telling Silas what it was.
"This was part of a s.p.a.cecraft, the text details what kind of fuel the reactor takes so I would guess it was a part of the internal armor plating."
"I see! Very fascinating, so can you tell me what this is too?"
"Can we do that later? I"m pretty sure I"ve proven that I know what I"m talking about."
"But-"
"Let"s get my replacement weapon first, then you can take me to wherever you"re keeping these artifacts and I can tell you about them in detail while you and your a.s.sistants write down important details. Deal?"
"Deal."
Understanding that it was more logical to do the examinations in the research wing instead of standing in a hallway would be better Silas started channeling mana, then released it at the vault door that opened without a sound. Meanwhile the other capital elders were starting to see the value of going along with Silas" wims as understanding alien technology could be a great boon to them.
"Please pick anything from in here that you want."
Having opened the vault door Dax was suddenly surrounded by riches of unmessable value. Besides sensitive doc.u.ments containing forbidden knowledge and priceless works of art there was also countless finecrafted weapons. Looking over the weapons with great care the elders all lost interest as they started discussing how to split Dax among themselves.
"Interesting.."
Having walked a bit further into the vault Dax spotted a two handed longsword of extremely detailed craftsmans.h.i.+p
(ICI what can you tell me about that one?)
(SCANNING, STANDBY… ERROR, MATERIAL COMPOSITION UNKNOWN. DENSITY ESTIMATED AT 22705 KG/M^3.)
(So it"s somehow denser than any known stable material? Can you tell it"s structural integrity?)
(UNKNOWN, FURTHER a.n.a.lYSIS REQUIRED.)
(Let"s do that then.)
Looking at the 1,5 meter long, 20 centimeter wide single edged longsword that he with ease could use with a single hand with great interest Dax slowly walked over towards it, like a sailor being dragged towards the abyss by a siren. Snapping out of her own boredom, the grand elder noticed Dax was walking towards the sword while completely ignoring the elven warning signs around it she Rushed to her feet before shouting at Dax as he reached out to grab the sword.
"Stop you clueless brute! That sword is cursed!"
"Eh!?"
But she was too late as Dax had just managed to take a hold of the sword as she said that, and Dax felt his consciousness fail him as he was surrounded by darkness, then a bright and happy genderless voice spoke out in his head as if commanding him.
(Finally a new host! Let us decapitate all of them and stack their heads in a corner!~✿)