Defiance of the Fall

age.
However, it seemed more likely that Billy’s ancestor somehow managed to reach Earth through a spatial tear or something, rather than the whole clan escaping.

“The object made its way into the core of the base, presumably killing all our captors as well,” Leviala continued.

“Presumably? You don’t know if they were killed?” Zac asked with confusion.

“What followed after the impact was over a hundred years of spatial chaos.
We call the event the Cataclysm.
You should have encountered those rifts by now, right? Those kinds of things raged across the whole base, wreaking havoc.
We lost most of our people during those days.
But one day it just stopped and the base woke up again.
By that time our captors were all gone, and we slowly managed to eke out a living here,” Leviala said.

“Do you know who was it that captured you?” Zac asked curiously.

“They called themselves the Tsarun Clan,” Leviala said.

“WHAT?!” Zac exclaimed.
“Those guys?”

’

“You know of them? Are they still around? Do they know of your planet?” Leviala said, fear shining in her eyes.
“Our elders were peak D-Grade, but they were all slaughtered by those people when they came for us.
They are terrifying.”

“They’re around, and they are still extremely powerful.
They have a pretty unsavory reputation as well, and no one wants to make an enemy out of them.
There are also rumors of them working with unorthodox forces to become more powerful.
So I guess it’s not too surprising they started messing around with a Technocrat Research Base,” Zac explained.

Leviala looked shook that their captor was still around and living well.

“You don’t need to worry about me selling you out though,” Zac added when he saw the fear in her eyes.
“They probably are more interested in capturing me than they are in capturing you.”

“What? Are you carrying a unique bloodline as well?” Leviala blurted.

“No, we are enemies for other reasons.
A small disagreement ended up with them losing one of their main-branch descendants and getting publicly embarrassed,” Zac slowly said, his voice somewhat decreasing in strength after seeing the mounting horror in her eyes.
“Anyway, I guess we have a common enemy? So what happened afterward?”

“When my ancestors realized they were left alone in this place they immediately started looking for an escape.
But movement in this place is always highly restricted, and we never found a way out.
However, we managed to find a few tablets left behind by the Tsarun Clan and that’s how we learned the methods of the Datamancers,” Leviala said.

“Unfortunately, only a few of our people can become true Datamancers as they can’t be registered as research subjects by the AI of this place.
Only one out of a thousand might have the ability to become a Datamancer, and even then it’s highly random their degree of success,” Leviala said.

“People without bloodlines,” Zac muttered.

“Exactly,” Leviala nodded.
“Our clan was essentially bred and experimented on for millennia with the sole purpose of purifying and strengthening our bloodline, and it was the same with the other clans.
For someone to be born without it after all that it is extremely rare.
I guess there are a lot more potential Datamancers among you outsiders.”

“In either case.
We found out about the fundamental rules of this base through reading the Tsarun Clan reports.
As you mentioned, they didn’t build this base.
They rather stumbled upon it during an exploration trip outside of integrated space.
They spent tens of thousands of years slowly gaining control over the basic functions, but we believe they never managed to get a hold on the core secrets of this place,” Leviala continued.

“What do you know about the original creators?” Zac asked, straining to keep his face impassive.

“Not much,” Leviala said with a shake of her head.
“We know they were terrifyingly powerful, far greater than the Tsarun Clan.
We think they finished their research then left this base, though we don’t know why they didn’t repurpose this place.
The Tsarun were only digging through the scraps for their own project.”

Zac sighed and nodded.
He wasn’t sure she was telling the truth or kept the secrets about his mother’s clan to herself, but there was still ample time to find out the truth.

’

“This is all valuable information, but what does this have to do with the Wastelands?” Zac asked, returning to the main subject.

“I needed you to understand how dangerous it was during the age after the cataclysm, where less than five percent of our Clan survived.
Because the wasteland never healed.
It is the sector where the dimensional treasure passed through before hitting the core of this base, and the laws of space are still in flux here.
The rest of this world has found an equilibrium and is bound by the rules of the Builders, but the wasteland is in a permanent state of turmoil,” Leviala sighed.

“So what? If the werewolves can pass it, so can I,” Zac said.

“We have spent millennia mapping the spatial storms, but that knowledge holds no sway in the wastelands.
A spatial storm can descend on you at moment’s notice, and that’s not all.
This area is full of spatial holes, and sometimes things fall out.
Dangerous things,” she said, her eyes inadvertently darting toward the ominous scars in the ceiling.

“Dangerous things?” Zac said with a frown.

“There are weird dimensional beasts hidden in the darkness.
They can’t survive in our environment for long, and they cause massive destruction in their attempts to return to the void.
Encountering those things almost always results in death.
But other things can fall out as well, like a mountain getting dropped on your head.
You never know,” Leviala said.

“Then how can the Lunar Tribe pass it?”

“They live the closest to the wasteland, so they understand it the best.
Their bodies are also very strong, and their lunar skills allow them to briefly pass through spatial storms unscathed.
I’ve heard they also maintain routes where they have left protective measures, like small safe bubbles powered by Base Power,” Leviala said.

“Don’t your clan have something similar?” Zac asked with a frown.

“No.
We never go here.
Treasures sometimes fall out of the void, but the dangers far overshadow the potential gain.
Besides, passing the wasteland only leads to the Lunar Tribe, and you’ve seen how our relationship is,” Leviala said.

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“So, the relay station?” Zac asked.

“It’s probably a base where the scouting units gather to cross the wasteland together.
Powering those safe bubbles require a lot of Base Power, and each squad can’t pass alone.
Besides, there is safety in numbers.
I’ve also heard that they make the troublemakers and the elderly take the vanguard, so they’ll somewhat block the spatial storms with their bodies if one arrives unnoticed,” Leviala said.

“Okay, we hopefully won’t need to worry about that.
Which way? If you don’t know, just follow your instincts,” Zac said.

Leviala looked into the eyes of Zac for a few seconds before she sighed as a small glimmer activated in her eyes.
Her one remaining good eye turned milky white the next moment, eliciting a strong sense of unease in Zac ’s mind.
However, it soon returned to normal, though Leviala looked even more sickly than before.

“That way,” she said as she nodded at a route as blood started to flow down her nose again.
”Now, can you rearrange these chains to something more comfortable? ”