Welcome to Gaia! ::

The glowing orb before her pulsed in a pattern that quickly became predictable. Light hummed a bit brighter every other second that passed. For a moment, she might as well have been talking to a lightbulb.

There was undoubtedly a presence, like something–someone–was taking up space in the room before her. With no mass, with no body, the Code was only a misty ball of light, swirling with great precision.

And then, something within in rippled, like a small stone tossed into a still pond.

The orb trembled. It grew brighter.

It answered.

“It would appear that you and your wonder have transcended expectations and achieved new power together. You have a very strong bond with your Wonder. There are few who are capable of devoting themselves in the way that you have. You’ve been hard at work for quite a while already. How are you feeling?”

"Maybe," the Code answered, and while there was a timelessness to its voice, for a brief second there was also something playful. If they were on limited time, it wasn't going to waste it flippantly.

"Ekstrom is surging with power right now so it bodes well for your prospects. I can manage a bit longer than usual, probably. We'll see. It depends on what you wanted to talk about."

The Code was still glowing, like a lightbulb surging with energy. Despite the brightness, it was still gentle on the eyes, and produced a comforting sort of aura.

"Did you have something more on your mind?"

“I hope you won’t stop working on things here just because you’ve got power back. There’s so much more you can do here. A bandaid is not the same as a suture and there are many open wounds here that you’ve yet to tend to. If you have questions, you should ask them quickly,” the Code pointed out. “You don’t have to explain why you want them answered. Curiosity is in the blood of all Mercury Knights, I think.”

Though it seemed to urge her to speak with haste, the Code itself gave no indication that there was a need to rush. Perhaps it was simply better safe than sorry; if she had questions, it had answers.

It just needed time to make sure she got them all.

“It is not such a bad thing to have clear tasks in mind,” the Code mused. “Better to know what paths are ahead than to stumble in the darkness. Or worse, stagnate.”

The steady rotation of the Code continued, but the light fluctuated briefly, once.

“I would not dissuade you from cleaning up, and combing over the whole place and listing what needs work. It would be wise to familiarize yourself with what you can. You’ll have time to study languages. ‘Later’. But there is also much work to be done to stabilize your Wonder.”

Another few seconds passed, and it seemed like the Code might have drifted back into silence, but when it spoke again it was with a strange echo at first. It stabilized halfway through.

“There is a chaos here, still. Locked away, but still a threat. You have tools available to you. Perhaps I can mark them out on the map. But you should seek out what resources you can so you are best equipped to handle it. You should handle this as quickly as possible, but do not be reckless. I do not want the Chaos to spread. But it was already too much for your ancestor. You will find them together, unfortunately. I shared memories with you, do you carry them still?”

“Good. You will need them. It is not a common practice, but I did not know how else to communicate with you, and something as important as this cannot simply be left to chance. The Chaos here is contained, but I cannot guarantee it will be as such forever. You will need to address it, before it ever has the chance to spread. If it is a purpose you are looking for, make it that. Is the usage of ‘Ancestor’ so perplexing? You have distant relatives, you all came from somewhere.”

The Code did not seem particularly hurried but it did not have the time to afford a more gentle or paced conversation–not when its energy could give out at any time.

“One of yours, distantly so, once protected this Wonder. I will spare you any curiosity–their life ended a long time ago. And so, the mantle has passed to you. But, their starseed remains, and their spirit. They cannot return to the Cauldron under these conditions, the Chaos needs to be dealt with first. I will give you every resource at my disposal, but much of this is in your hands, Ekstrom.”

“If I could have given you the information any other way, I would have,” the Code assured, but it wasn’t much in the way of an apology when it was simply such a necessity. Ekstrom knew they were on borrowed time. So did the Code.

There was no time to dissect semantics.

“I cannot tell you everything, I do not have all of the answers. But I know the Chaos came from another world. There was a team of intruders. Your ancestor–Sebastian–fought valiantly. But lucky was not on his side. He defeated the leader, but there is a poison in death that stretches far and wide, sometimes. It rotted him, the Chaos he carried. And when he died, it spread.”

A moment passed, and the Code let it sink in.

“Sebastian fought as gallantly as all any Knight should aspire to. But a man, the poison claimed him, too. He did what he could. His ghost is where they fell. Where he fell. Shall I tell you how to reach him?”

“Of course,” the Code answered. A dot on the map was easy enough. When the Code spoke, there was no emotion, but such simply seemed to be its natural state. It meant nothing either way; the Code wasn’t human, after all.

“The area you will need to visit has been difficult to read for some time. The sensors have not worked properly, nor am I able to extend my reach so far. I can only tell you that you should expect the Chaos has affected more than just this one room. I do not know how far it might have stretched, or what the effects may be. I can only advise that you should be careful, and you should expect danger. Do not travel there unguarded. Be vigilant. Please.”