It was the Secondary Grid all over again, though at the center of the room, encased in what she imagined was incredibly protective glass-like material embedded at just above her eye level into a square pillar that spanned the height of the room, was the Code Piece.
It floated silently in its space, with very light, almost imperceptible data lines running all throughout inside that space. She imagined that was how it had access to the Wonder’s computers, though the only way to confirm was to ask it and hope that it gave her a proper answer. Considering it had been a bit selective with what it shared with her even up to this point, she had a feeling it wouldn’t answer unless it absolutely had to, so she wasn’t exactly holding out hope for that.
They were just lines for now though, no light running through as in the Secondary Grid, so she took that to mean that there was minimal connectivity at the moment. And she only hazarded that guess because she was able to speak with the Code Piece in the first place. If not…well. She was doubtful she’d have made it this far at all.
Rather than focus on that. though, she let the thought slip away and chose to keep her focus on the task at hand.
Because it was the Secondary Grid all over again, she was able to quickly put together a plan of action and get right to work.
It turned into basically a second job that she did just about every single weekend, allowing some exceptions for some socialization outside of work and actually getting some good rest in. She had fallen into a routine of sorts, with alarms dictating every hour of every day, and that…
Well.
It suited her just fine, if only because she knew it would be temporary. She would eventually see a light at the end of the proverbial tunnel, and the rigid schedule would loosen up and she would have more leisure time again.
She held on to what mattered most, though–Lulu, of course, as well as family and friends, and of course work and school obligations after that. Hobbies fell a bit to the wayside (though she tried to squeeze in some yoga sessions when she could), as did patrolling (she went from almost nightly patrols down to just once or twice a week as her schedule allowed), but progress on her Wonder almost made up for it!
Almost.
She knew both were important, but for the moment her priorities as a Knight were very clear to her, so for months now she had been pouring almost all of her knightly energy into fixing the Primary Grid. It had gone much the same as the last Grid–cleaning came first, organizing of the debris, and finally assessing each and every little thing she came across in the room. The room was larger, and had a lot more going on inside of it than the last one, so she imagined it would take twice as long, if not longer than the last time.
Ekstrom worked slowly but steadily, checking off items on the to-do list as she went. Each time she checked something off felt like a little victory worth celebrating, and she picked those moments to take a little break. By the time the cleaning and organizing was done, a month had already gone by. Using the map provided by the Code, she was able to do a quick diagnostic scan as instructed, but she also happened upon a pocket computer that was stored inside the desk in her quarters. After charging it using the main console, she was able to bring it along to run more specific diagnostics from inside the room. It made it easy to find the most problematic areas so she could focus on them first.
Though…while she was able to prioritize what to repair, she basically had to repair everything.
It wasn’t just rusting. It wasn’t even just misalignment.
The entire room needed repairs of some sort or another, so Ekstrom dutifully made her way down the list. The weekly visits were like clockwork, though this week she took vacation from work to celebrate her birthday.
Sort of.
She did celebrate her birthday over the weekend, but because it was when she normally came to her Wonder she opted to move her Wonder visit to the following day. So she took a week off to buy some time for that, and to properly rest afterwards as a little birthday present to herself. Because she was wearing thin, and between the movement started by Celadon to push for them to get together and get organized and the lightning storm that suddenly cropped up and seemed to be interfering with some things at her Wonder, she knew she could use the break.
Glancing around the room, the Knight let out a little sigh.
She was barely finishing up the last of the biggest issues that needed immediate attention, and there was still so much to do. She wasn’t exactly losing steam, but each time she finished a repair and ran the diagnostic tool for an update it felt like it was finding something new to replace what she just finished. Small things, maybe, but still more things that she added to the list. It was hard not to wonder if she would ever see the end of the list of repairs to this specific room.
She still had the rest of her Wonder to do, too, which was a whole other can of worms that often came to mind as she worked her way through this one room.
“One thing at a time, though,” she wound up saying as the thought again crossed her mind, and she went back to the current panel she was fixing. It was nearly done, just one more piece, and then she could slide it back into its place…
It slotted in perfectly when she finally moved it into place, audible click and all.
Followed by the sound of whirring, as though someone had just pressed the power button on a computer and the fans were starting to kick in. In the otherwise perfect silence, Ekstrom heard what was likely meant to be a very subtle sound came to her loud and clear.
The lights flickered as a loud humming sound filled the room as the data lines all along the floors and walls came to life. Ekstrom stepped toward the pillar as she looked around the room, only noticing then that it all looked so much like a circuit board of sorts. Looking back on all her encounters with her Wonder, the data lines somehow made a little more sense now…
It was…Mercurian at its core, but uniquely Ekstromian at the same time.
She smiled at that thought, and watched as the room seemed to be charging, like some kind of battery.
The humming persisted, growing in volume only slightly as the minutes passed. The pillar gradually grew in brightness alongside it, and before long it was fully white…and she had barely any warning at all before the entire room flashed a brilliant white.
Instinctively she tried to shut her eyes to shield herself from what she imagined would be some kind of pain or discomfort due to the sudden brightness, but rather than pain all she felt was…warmth.
It was soft and gentle, comfortable because it was familiar. The same warmth that often enveloped her each time her Wonder reached out to her.
Her entire face was still scrunched together even as she processed what she saw just before shutting her eyes, and what she felt afterward.
Light, for one.
Power, for the other.
Moving all around her.
Surging through her.
Carefully, she opened her eyes.
Energy flowed freely through the myriad of data lines on the walls, floor, and ceiling. It bathed the entirety of the room in pale blue and gold light, and much like the Secondary Grid it gave the room life. The pillar emanated a dim white light, acting almost as a beacon of sorts in what would otherwise be a relatively dimly lit space and drawing attention to the Code Piece situated within it.
Ekstrom focused her pale blue eyes on the Code Piece then, watched curiously as the energy moved across the data lines within its protective glass cube.
There was something…different. Not just about her Wonder, but about her. She could feel it, though what it was she had no idea. And the best one to ask happened to be floating right in front of her. Granted, she had only ever communicated with the Code using the console. She had no idea if it could communicate with her without it.
Reaching out, she gently rested her hand against the glass encasing it.
“I don’t suppose you’d be able to tell me what just happened…?” she asked, though the corners of her lips soon tugged up just a tiny bit, and she smiled the smallest of smiles at the silence that followed.
1605 (gdocs)
Backdated to 3/2/25.
Backdated to 3/2/25.
