Fayden was tired of communicating via natural disasters.
Every time he wanted to tell Lin Fan to stop "optimizing" the moss and start mining, he had to shift a tectonic plate. A 3.0 magnitude quake for "Good morning." A 4.2 for "Stop touching that." A 5.1 for "The Auditor is coming, hide the contraband crystals." It was like trying to send a text message by detonating a grenade. It lacked nuance. More importantly, it was terrible for his Hardware Integrity. His southern fault line had developed a permanent twitch.
Grog. Fayden's voice rumbled. A 2.1 magnitude quake vibrated through a layer of violet mist. He hadn't meant to do that. Habit. I'm done with the tremors. I need a localized interface. Something that doesn't require a 4.0 magnitude quake to say 'hello.' Something with a volume slider.
"You're talking about a Manifestation Module, Big F!" Grog appeared, his digital pinstripes shimmering as he hovered over a crystal vein. His 'HR DIRECTOR' vest was now accessorized with a small enamel pin that said "Ask Me About Referral Bonuses." "It's basically a high-resolution ghost. You won't have a 'hitbox'—meaning you can't touch anything, no high-fives, no handshakes, no strangling Todd—but you'll have a face. And in this business, a face is 40% of the brand! The other 60% is debt."
[STORE UPDATE: 'LOCALIZED HOLOGRAPHIC PROJECTION (TRIAL VERSION)']
[COST: 1,500 CREDITS.]
[NEW TOTAL DEBT: -22,700 CREDITS.]
Install it. Fayden's command was flat. And Grog, if the Trial Version has a watermark, I'm filing a complaint.
[INSTALLING MODULE: ARCHITECT'S AVATAR...]
[LOADING ASSETS... 15%... 45%... 100%]
[CAUTION: PROJECTION IS LINKED TO PLANETARY CPU. LATENCY MAY OCCUR DURING TECTONIC ACTIVITY.]
Down on the surface, near the Loading Dock, Lin Fan was currently arguing with a piece of Manager-Moss. The moss had decided that Lin Fan's sandals were "Unorganized Organic Waste"—a classification it had invented that morning—and was trying to absorb them. The sandals were losing. One strap was already silver.
"I am the Senior Analyst!" Lin Fan shouted, hopping on one foot. The other foot was being slowly digested by moss. "I outrank your root system! I have a badge! Kevin made it! It doesn't shed!"
Suddenly, the violet mist began to spin. It didn't just swirl—the usual chaotic drift of Fayden's atmosphere. It organized. It followed a grid. A beam of cold, silver light shot down from the upper atmosphere, hitting the basalt with a hum that sounded exactly like a cooling fan on an overworked server.
A figure flickered into existence.
It wasn't a god. It wasn't a glowing spirit of the world with flowing robes and a majestic beard. It was a man in his late thirties, wearing a slightly wrinkled dress shirt—the kind with a tiny coffee stain on the cuff—a loose tie, and holding a translucent digital tablet. His eyes were the same violet as the mana-mist, glowing with a steady, rhythmic pulse. He looked tired. He looked like he'd just been CC'd on an email chain he didn't want to be part of.
Lin Fan froze. The Manager-Moss instantly retreated into a neat, square patch, releasing the half-digested sandal. The sandal flopped to the basalt. It was now 30% silver.
"Lin Fan." The figure spoke. The voice didn't rumble through the ground. It came from the air—crisp, clear, with the dry exhaustion of a man who had sat through too many Monday morning meetings. "The moss is correct. Those sandals are a safety hazard in a Tier 0.22 zone. Please log into the 'Apparel' sub-menu and update your footwear. The 'Standard Issue Boot' is 50 credits. I'll deduct it from your next performance review."
"Great... Great Architect?" Lin Fan stammered, dropping to his knees. His forehead hit the basalt with a dull thunk. The half-silver sandal flopped beside him. "You... you have a form? A body? A face?"
Fayden looked at his hands. They were translucent. He could see the jagged rocks of his own surface through his palms—a faint outline of basalt and crystal. He tried to touch a nearby Mid-Tier gem. His fingers passed through it like smoke. The gem didn't even flicker.
Latency is under 10ms, Fayden thought, a small UI window hovering in the corner of his vision. The window flickered when he moved his head too fast. Decent. But the 'Resolution' is grainy at the edges. I look like I'm being rendered on a budget GPU.
"This is a Remote Desktop Application, Lin Fan." Fayden's holographic eyes scanned the rows of meditating refugees. Elder Chen was watching with narrowed eyes. The boy with the flickering green eyes was staring, mouth open. "I am still the world you stand on. The gravity you feel. The crust you mine. This is merely a cursor so I can point at things I want you to fix. Think of it as a very expensive mouse pointer."
"A cursor..." Lin Fan whispered, clearly having no idea what that meant but finding it profoundly divine. He looked at his own hands. Then at Fayden's translucent ones. "The Architect moves among us. As light. As data."
"Fayden! You look... okay, you look like a middle-manager from a mid-sized insurance firm," Grog chirped, floating around the projection. He poked a finger through Fayden's shoulder. It passed through. "Where's the 'Epic' flair? Where's the 'Divine Radiance'? I could have sold you the Sun-King Skin for an extra five hundred credits! Comes with a golden crown and a passive 'Awe Aura'! Very good for morale!"
I don't need radiance, Grog. Fayden adjusted his tie. The motion was smooth, but his elbow clipped through his own torso for a frame. I need to clear the 'Legacy Data' before the Deep Dive audit. I need to manage three hundred users. I need a Moon. I don't have time to look majestic.
Even through his projection, he could feel it. A massive, cold presence approaching his orbit. It wasn't Elara—he'd memorized her gridline signature. This felt different. Heavier. Slower. More... bureaucratic. It was a Satellite Delivery Service.
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION: YOUR 'REFURBISHED SATELLITE (AS-IS)' HAS ARRIVED.]
[DELIVERY STATUS: ORBITAL DROP INITIATED.]
[NOTE: 'AS-IS' PURCHASES DO NOT INCLUDE SOFT-LANDING PROTOCOLS. PLEASE REFER TO YOUR PURCHASE AGREEMENT, SECTION 14, SUBSECTION B, PARAGRAPH 3.]
Fayden's holographic form flickered as the sky turned a bruised purple. A massive, jagged shadow began to blot out the stars. The silhouette was not round. It was angular. Blocky. It looked exactly like a giant, discarded hard drive—the kind you'd find in an e-waste bin behind a data center.
"Oh boy." Grog's digital cigar fell out of his mouth. It clipped through the basalt and vanished. "I might have forgotten to mention... when you buy from the 'As-Is' bin, they don't use 'Soft-Landing' thrusters. They don't use thrusters at all. They just... aim. And hope. And pray. And then they bill you for the cleanup."
Fayden looked up. His first Moon was falling. Fast. The atmospheric entry was already starting—a ring of orange fire around the jagged edges. It was going to hit. Somewhere. Probably somewhere important.
Brace for impact. Fayden's voice echoed both in the air and through the crust. A 5.0 magnitude quake rippled across the surface. The meditating cultivators stumbled. Elder Chen grabbed a basalt outcropping. Lin Fan dove behind a crystal pile. All Analysts, redirect meditation to 'Structural Reinforcement'! Kevin, secure the crystal inventory! Grog, find the insurance clause!
"I'm looking! I'm looking!" Grog frantically scrolled through a holographic document. "Section 14, Subsection B, Paragraph 3... 'The Store is not liable for damages resulting from gravitational attraction between purchased satellite and planetary surface.' That's the whole clause! It's just one sentence!"
Of course it is. Fayden's holographic form flickered as his CPU usage spiked. Of course it is.
The Moon—if it could be called that—was now visible to the naked eye. A massive, rectangular slab of void-iron and old data ports. It was tumbling. End over end. The "Front Toward Enemy" stencil was clearly visible on one side.
Fayden made a mental note to research "Moon Catchers." Later. After he survived the next thirty seconds.
The violet mist swirled. Kevin screamed. The Moon fell.
The grind had just added "Impact Crater Management" to the task list.