The next day, they all got on with things as planned.
The moment Blanc finished breakfast, he excused himself and Lunk, then they went right to the workspace to start work on system mapping. It was something that Blanc hadn't needed to be asked to do, he knew Carl already knew that as well, so he just repeated the task while he waited for Sophie.
The moment Gillian, Carl and Klaire were done, they headed to Mirage, ready for the signing with the chasm dwarf.
Alysse went with them to test the vehicle, which confused them at first. "Alysse. Where's the vehicle you're testing, you didn't forget it did you?" Carl asked as they stepped through the portal.
"What? What do you think this ugly block of nanites is?" She asked the question as though it was obvious, but the fact that the block in question was a cube that fitted in her hand was anything but.
"You do know we need to fit in it right?" Klaire asked in equal disbelief.
"Duh, just come with me." She led everyone outside and set the box down. "Nannite vehicle activate single rider mode."
As she spoke, the the box burst like water released from a damn, slowly forming a mass of unsettled nanites. "Oh yeah, exposed single rider." That was the last command it needed. As it settled into a two wheeled vehicle that was designed for one rider, but could seat two incase it was needed quickly.
"Okay Alysse, I think this is that yet you were talking about. Seriously, how did you create nanites like these?"
"Well it was actually thanks to a new skill I picked up with my experiments. It's called "Neo-nanite engineer" and from what I can tell, it acts like a kind of sub-system inside my build. Pain in the arse to get used to though."
"Seriously, is there a god of engineering we can ask to inspect your work? This can't be normal human or even hybrid tech."
"Funny you ask, pretty sure that would come under the chasm-dwarf patron's domain."
"Pfft, dwarf "engineering", couldn't engineer a mine cart that stays on the rails." Alysse mumbled unapologetically. "The dwarf should stick to mining ore and let the gnome put it to use."
"Damn Alysse, is there some hatred I didn't know about?" Carl asked, a little shocked considering she had half-dwarf friends.
"No, not hatred, just professional assessment. I'll concede that they are great at weapon design, but they never refine anything."
They each took a turn on the vehicle, the controls were simple and the self-balancing made it almost impossible to fall off. Between the handle bars was a screen that displayed scan data for the air and ground survey data.
The vehicle was also fitted with mapping cameras, which were centred on planet HQ.
A short while later, the gate opened, but it wasn't a dwarf that exited first, it was what appeared to be a human carved from stone.
"Greetings, everyone. I am Golgia, the dwarf patron. When my child ran back home in tears, I decided to inspect this place for myself." The figure said with a voice that sounded like it echoed through a throat lined with gravel.
"Well then it seems we both chose to attend the occasion personally. I'm Carl, the faction patriarch and these are; my wife Klaire, chief of diplomatic affairs Gillian and chief of engineering Alysse." Carl replied as he extended a hand, which Golgiar took.
His hand completely engulfed Carl's, he stood about twelve feet tall. Rather than skin, his body was covered in a dark-grey stone and rocky protrusions grew from his joints like tiny mountain ranges.
His eyes were black apart from the irises that seemed to glisten like ore veins.
"I see, are those miniature automatons her work? Impressive, but I'd expect nothing less of a gnome-kin. What is unusual, is the human with a star, one who sculpts life like that strange slime and that fiery dog."
"Don't forget me!" Levi shouted as she appeared, catching the figure by surprise.
"How did you hide from my eyes little one?"
Carl gave a brief rundown of her abilities. "Anyway, I'm actually glad you're here. You have something we need in large quantities, I think one of our other chiefs might actually die without it."
"Carl, sorry to interrupt, but I'm gonna take my toy on a proper test. Activate shape sky scout." As she spoke, the bike shifted and became vehicle that hovered off the ground, stealing Golgia's attention completely.
"I stand corrected, that is far more than I'd expect from any engineer..."
---Back at Lugaria HQ---
"So Sophie, I don't really think about relationship stuff too much. I don't know how I feel, but I admire a lot of stuff about you." Blanc was speaking to himself, as he tapped away at his computer.
"Well, I kind of figured all that out already, except the admiring stuff about me bit." Sophie had entered just in time to overhear and her words made Blanc fall of his chair and Link bite him when he got squashed in the process.
"Ow! Mother of demons that hurts!"
"Please leave me out of whatever is going on in there!" Lillim shouted through as she got ready to go train some of the new arrivals.
"Hear that? Guess you better speak to me instead Blanc, I'm sorry for surprising you."
"Nah, it's fine I guess and sorry Link, I didn't mean to land on you."
"So, it wasn't clear, were you practicing to ask me out or let me down gently?"
Blanc groaned. "Look, I just wanted you to know. I really have zero experience with this stuff. You're strong, confident and sociable. You're a hard worker and you come up with creative solutions to problems."
"Okay, I think I get it. you don't just not know how you feel about me, you mean you don't understand your feelings in general. Well then, why don't we spend a bit of time hanging out, see if you realise along the way."
"This is exactly what I mean. Seriously, why do you even like me?"
"Oh, well put simply, I'm very good at hiding my problems and trying to ignore them. You saw through me in a heartbeat, I like that. Also, you don't bury stuff like me, you know exactly what you think of stuff and don't hold back with it."
Blanc start blushing immediately. "Okay, so, we can't really go anywhere because we aren't part of committee space anymore, so how about a games night at my place?"
"See, you make a decision and dive in, but why not my place? I have loads of games and stuff too, thanks to the home allowance Carl gave me."
"Simple, when I mess up, I don't want you to remember it so bad when you're playing games at your place."
"Fine, do you have a kitchen? I'll cook us dinner if you do, if not, I'll cook at mine and bring it over."
Blanc pictured the "kitchen" at his place, a fridge/freezer with a microwave sat on top. "Err, you best cook at home. Oh right, how is your night-vision? My place is very dark, but I'll put some lights in if you need them."
"Oh right, you're a half-bluecap. I'll need a bit of lighting but it doesn't matter what kind, if you have a preference just go with that and I'll be fine."
---On Earth---
Alisha was busy saying goodbye to the shack she had raised Carl in.
"Are you really leaving for good Alisha?" A woman asked.
She was skinny, the same kind of malnourished frame that Alisha had. Carl didn't know it, but she spent all the money Carl sent on supplies to feed everyone in the area, which meant none of it went very far.
"I am, that witch-in-law progenitor of mine robbed the choice from me. Though I don't think I could stay.... Sorry I can't say anymore."
"No worries, we're very grateful you know, you saved a lot of people from starving to death."
"No, Carl did."
"Carl was saving his mother and you know it, you chose to share salvation... I, I don't suppose there's room in his faction for my baby. I don't want him to suffer and I can't provide well enough."
"He'll be here soon enough, you'll need to ask him yourself, but from what I hear it will be largely dependent on how things go with Gaia. We don't have a steady supply of resources ourselves now that the committee has recognised us a separate entity and now we have other threats to deal with too."
"Hmmm... Sorry, I'm going to go speak to everyone real quick."
"Oh, okay. Well I'll come find you when he gets her Carine."
---At the location where the misty village once resided---
Carl and Klaire stood at the edge of the territory, which was neighboured by land owned by Gaia.
Gaia owned a significant amount of territory on Earth, almost a third. She had seeded portions willingly to other immortals like Faylorna over the years, but still there were others gods and immortals that had claimed areas during the carnage of the first incursion.
"Gaia, we came to both thank you and seek a meeting." Carl said as both he and Klaire bowed respectfully.
Before them, a body took shape, made of sandy earth and radiating life's vibrancy.
"I'm a little hurt it took you so long to come say so, but that creature you named after me was a touching gesture... Could you make me one now? I never got to see it because it was used to make your son immediately."
Her voice was, for lack of a better word, elusive. It was hard to gauge whether it was that of an old woman, or one in her prime.
"I can, I actually intended to introduce you and I wanted you to be present for the debut." Carl wasted no time summoning one of the Gaia's variety, which appeared with a striking resemblance to Gaia herself.
In fact, the creature could easily pass as her offspring. The one exception was that in contrast to her blatant femininity, the child was androgynous and of an entirely indeterminate gender.
"Aww, look at the little thing, may I adopt them? What's their name?"
"I would offer you one as a ward, unfortunately, I can't separate individuals"
[ SYSTEM NOTICE : REWARD CALCULATIONS ARE NEARLY COMPLETED, THAT ABILITY CHOICE CAN BE COMPUTED IN AT YOUR REQUESTED. ]
"Are you okay? You drifted off for a second." Gaia asked noticing his focus drift.
"For starters, why don't you honour this little one with a name? Then I think we should get to the other matter I came to discuss."