Tirzah looked down on Sanity from the window in her office. The guild tower provided a grand view of the people and warriors outside. The vantage point was helpful, but the window itself displayed additional information about the people below. Different color bars showed health, rage, and fatigue, as well as nameplates and average gear level, for each person. The information moved with the people as they carried on their daily lives. People behind buildings were displayed as outlines.
There were many people training – of course, they were always training in Sanity. Rage and fatigue bars fluctuated; outlines danced; fiber training targets shook, broke, and were replaced. Unsalvageable targets were used as mulch. Constant training was how Sanity stayed ahead of its rivals.
Tirzah swiped her finger along the glass, and the entire image shown through the window moved. The city panned around in the window until AD7’s name came into view. It took a while to find her, despite her short name. Luckily, her bars were much smaller than most.
With another swipe, the window centered and focused on AD7 and Keyanna near the Training Square. AD7 sat on a bench looking sad with a pair of nunchaku cupped in her hands. These weren’t AD7’s signature weapons. The guild crafters and enchanters painstakingly searched through recordings and made sure to replicate her weapons perfectly. There must something wrong.
“So, what should we do?” said Carver Lang, leader of Pure Wealth. His sub guild shared responsibility over Sanity. AD7’s welcome was a big event, but the thought of breaking into Rubin’s Trail was much less welcome.
“We are going to help her,” Tirzah commanded, “We need her. She needs us. And, she’s as good as any other citizen of Sanity.”
“I’m all for helping allies. I mean, allies are allies. But can we trust her to stay an ally, after we’re done?”
“Well yeah.” Cyd didn’t know exactly why he was there. It was only the three of them. Not even the Sanity’s mayor had been invited. He did know one thing though, “I’ve met her. She’s cool.”
“She has amnesia and doesn’t have the suit,” Carver rebutted, “That suit beat back an advanced military force and built a fortress complete with death machine factories. Can we trust her with it?”
“The rejuvenation left her a bit confused, but she was perfectly rebuilt and preserved,” Cyd replied. “Her personality is the same as it would have been if she still all of her memories.”
Tirzah stayed at the window and nodded in agreement. The cozy room was well furnished. Cyd and Carver sat in large soft chairs apart from each other but facing Tirzah.
“The suit didn’t go crazy until she died,” Tirzah added, “She controlled it before then. She’ll controll it again.”
Carver knew when he was outmatched. Usually, he would try to argue with Tirzah. This time, there was an expert present. His personal reasonings were invalid. There was a bright side to all of this though: AD7 could help improve their technology a great deal and therefore bring more money to the city.
“Ok then. How will we get into the facility? It’s better defended than the palace.”
“Can’t know for sure. We need scouts,” Tirzah scowled slightly, “Our droids keep getting spotted. Luckily, they were only the basic ones.”
“Rubin’s machines are better than yours … ours anyway. Their scientists would just throw them away.” It was taking some time for Cyd to get used to his new situation. He had been at the Rejuvenation Center for so horribly long, but now his life was new, different, exciting. So let’s be exciting, “So… road trip?”
There was silence in the room. After a few seconds Cyd thought he had said something very wrong. Then he realized that everyone was taking his idea seriously.
Tirzah was the first to speak, “I see your point,” her voice serious. “We need to see everything for ourselves. But, we’re not going anywhere, until we’re all ready.”
Tirzah hadn’t taken her eyes off of AD7 and Keyanna since she had first spotted them. AD7 had gotten up from the bench and started her basic nunchaku training. Basic training with nunchaku.
Recordings of her past battles showed her leaping through battlefields fighting armored vehicles with long chained meteor hammers. A recording displayed her effortlessly throwing her enchanted weights around; leaping to avoid heavy weapon fire; pulling her chain to retrieve the weight from one destroyed tank; and attacking another tank all in a single effortless motion.
Now, AD7 handled nunchaku. Light but powerful weapons in skilled hands but her hands had become unskilled. She was more of a danger to herself than to the target. Tirzah only hoped that training would eventually bring back battle knowledge. Hunger recalled the memory of a restaurant, so not all of her memories were gone. Perhaps, it would be awhile before her other memories return.
They’d have to wait.
She’s not ready yet.