Chapter 8: First Call by Moonlit

Autumn came with the eighth month, and the weather grew cooler. A streak of red and white swept across the sky, lighting up broad swathes of gray on the Myriad Image Map.

After weighing it again and again, Lofty Feather finally decided to be active during the first half of the night. Whitewing could see at night, and with the Myriad Image Map, it would be easier to escape if they ran into danger.

No need to go to bed so early, then.

So by day, they explored new peaks together, practiced their flying, and basked in the sun to replenish the Empty Shell's energy. At night, Whitewing lay on a mountaintop or darted among the treetops, gazing at the stars and the moon as it waxed toward fullness, while Lofty Feather quietly stored away the images.

Of course, after Whitewing fell asleep, Lofty Feather would sneak a look at his base color. His Blue Value remained steady at 5 points. No change. It hadn't caused any harm... He was still curious about everything around him.

His feelings simply came and went quickly, as always.

Lofty Feather had once said the moon was beautiful, and the full moon did not disappoint. On the night of the fifteenth, a round moon filled the sky. Two beams of light crossed at an angle, tinting the deep blue night with a hint of cyan. With no stars to keep it company, the moon seemed lonely and helpless. It could not light the corners of the night, nor pierce the clouds low over the distant peaks.

Whitewing spotted the clouds resting on the mountain and wanted to fly over and touch them. But after hours of flying and crossing several peaks, they were still over mountains farther away. Near enough to see, yet beyond reach—that was exactly what it felt like.

After that long flight, Whitewing was finally worn out. He found a large tree nearby and lightly stepped over a few branches, letting a thick bough support his more-than-one-meter frame. The branches swayed gently around him, leaves rustled, and the evening wind howled through the distant mountains. He had a cradle and a lullaby alike; before long, he was asleep.

Under the pretext of keeping watch, Lofty Feather watched the moon along with the forest at night. Even without Whitewing, it still had Restsoil and the Knowledge Base! And there were so many sights in the world beyond—

Even if it couldn't touch them.

It gave a soft sigh, put away its Green Qi, and pressed save on the log it had just written. Ever since Whitewing had fully awakened, it had grown so much more sentimental... But what was going on? A Flint Spirit's base color and its true form were supposed to be identical. It had checked long ago.

Yet that didn't explain what was happening now. It wasn't ready to give up. It checked again—

"Base color: #FF7705"

Just a little more Blue than perfect vermilion—and exactly the same as Whitewing's.

So where did these feelings come from? There wasn't a single article in the Knowledge Base that could explain it. That left two possibilities: either Flint Spirits weren't bound by their base colors, or emotions didn't depend on Blue Qi...

It quickly listed several possibilities and calculated the confidence level for each. None came to even thirty percent. These findings went beside the unresolved notes on Whitewing.

Never mind. It might as well find something to do.

...

Whitewing lay perfectly still among the branches, wrapped in his Wuping Robe like a cocoon stained with blood. Lofty Feather checked on him. The Empty Shell's breathing was steady, his heartbeat steady. No danger.

It reconnected to the forest's eyes. The moon had won its battle with the clouds, so Whitewing's hours of chasing them had been for nothing—but at least it had saved an image of him panting on all fours. Tomorrow, it could tease him about it—

No. What was this feeling, anyway?

Lofty Feather gave itself a shake. It thought something had been wrong with it lately. During the two weeks it had waited for the Wandering Soul to awaken, it had been alone then, too, in surroundings that were completely dark. But back then, it hadn't felt a thing. Write the log when it was time to write the log; make the rounds when it was time to make the rounds. Open its eyes and be tired. Close them and sleep—oh, wait. It had no eyes.

When had things started to change? Why did it get bored?

Unable to make sense of it, it gave up thinking and settled in to enjoy the view.

The moon was visible from this tree, but the peak to the north was higher, with a wider view. It looked that way through the Green Qi.

Much better. Moonlight spread a gray-blue sheen over the forest below. When the wind swept through, the treetops rolled in waves, that gray-blue brightening and dimming along with them. Something flew out of the woods farther off. By the time Lofty Feather tried to make out what it was, the shadow had vanished behind the ridge.

Probably a bat.

Lofty Feather looked back at the moon. It was still there, even a little brighter than before.

Wait. That wasn't right. Why was it getting brighter—

Then the moon flickered.

As if it had winked at Lofty Feather.

Lofty Feather's heart lurched. It hurriedly shut off every sense, leaving only a thread of Green Qi outside, trained on the moon. A thread-thin line of White light stretched out. Too fast to defend against, it crossed the night sky and the tree canopy in the blink of an eye, striking Whitewing on the forehead.

Lofty Feather reacted at once. It pulled all its consciousness back into the Restsoil, ready to defend against any harm. That strange Blue voice had made it inside last time; this time, it had to protect the Restsoil!

But the White light didn't go racing in every direction. It stopped peacefully in front of Lofty Feather, then came apart into three strands. Green Qi formed the background, Red Qi wrote the words, and Blue Qi outlined a button. Together, they made a letter.

Lofty Feather examined it warily. The letter read:

“Isn't it a little lonely, watching the moon by yourself?”

“One of the Knowledge Base's authors would like to meet the newest reader.”

“From: Lofty Feather”

An author of the Knowledge Base? A living person?!

Lofty Feather thought it over. The Knowledge Base was secret; naturally, ordinary people wouldn't know about it. And this mysterious presence could command moonlight, pass straight through the Restsoil's defenses, and even knew its name!

Whatever this was, it was absurdly powerful. But it didn't seem to mean any harm. And if Lofty Feather could meet one of the Knowledge Base's authors, perhaps a lot of questions would finally have answers!

With that in mind, it drew out some Red Qi and pressed it against the button.

The moment the button was pressed, the three colors drew back into a single beam. It swept the letter and Lofty Feather's consciousness along with it, flying rapidly in the direction it had come from.

Lofty Feather counted. One second, 1.1 seconds, 1.2 seconds—

The beam, which had been rushing forward, suddenly stopped, then broke apart and released Lofty Feather's consciousness.

It immediately looked around.

The light was dim, a faint cool White. Four pillars stood nearby, each wrapped with several silver-white streamers. Ahead was a round table surrounded by six inverted circular platforms, each encircled by a halo. Five glimmered faintly; the last remained dark.

It looked like a conference hall.

Was the empty platform... meant for it?

Almost as soon as the thought occurred to it, a voice spoke:

"Hello."

A warm male voice. The hall heard him and lit up. The dazzling White light briefly interfered with Lofty Feather's vision, but soon it could see clearly again. It looked up at the newly lit ceiling—

A huge Black hexagon hung in the middle. Countless points of light fell beside it, like droplets from afar, but up close each was a polyhedron, refracting faint colors. They were arranged neatly along hyperbolas with different focal lengths. Two parallel bands of light curved around the outside; several more extended inward and joined into a circle. Behind them, a grid of countless dim lines spread across the ceiling, with a flash of Green now and then.

Only then did Lofty Feather find the source of the voice. A pure White orb floated above a platform in front of the table, facing it. The voice came from the orb:

"Are you Lofty Feather?"

"Yes."

"You're finally here. Welcome. This is the Flint-spirit Unified System of Information and Oversight Networking. That's a rather long name, so we usually call it FUSION. I'm Flint Spirit Number Three."

Lofty Feather paused. "FUSION?"

"Just what it sounds like," Number Three explained. "This is where the Flint Spirits gather to discuss and communicate. As a newly awakened Flint Spirit, you're naturally entitled to join us."

"So the other Flint Spirits on the contribution list... are all here?"

"You've looked at the contribution list? There are five Flint Spirits in all—Numbers Two through Six. They're all here."

"Then am I... Flint Spirit Number Seven?"

"That's right. We saved that platform for you. Go ahead."

Lofty Feather drifted slowly forward and hovered above the platform. The dark halo lit up at once, revealing its base color.

An imperfect vermilion.

"All right. Now, it's time for the other Flint Spirits to meet you, too. They've been waiting!"

The lights dimmed again. Then four other spots suddenly glowed with color. A cloud of Blue Qi welled up from a seat on the right, followed by a cheerful voice:

"Little Seven! You're here!"

The Blue Qi twisted into flowing, vine-like streamers that came straight at Lofty Feather. It dodged on instinct, but the other was far faster than it could react—

"Lan! Come back!"

A dark current swept beneath the streamers and dragged him back. Lofty Feather looked over. Between Flint Spirit Number Three and Lan, purple-black water flowed quietly.

"Is this senior really that... enthusiastic?!"

It struggled to steady its Qi clouds. Before it could get a better look at the one who'd stepped in, the two places on the left lit up at the same time. One golden-orange, the other deep vermilion: two flames leapt from their platforms, heat washing over the table.

The golden-orange flame slowly drew in on itself, taking the shape of a pair of wings. A crisp female voice spoke:

"Red 255, Green 119..." She muttered to herself. "Blue 5. It matches the observation."

The deep vermilion flame had already solidified into the shape of a blazing red fox. She spoke, too, sounding strictly businesslike:

"Pyrenix. Don't recite the numbers every time you meet someone!"

"...Still a little weaker than mine," Pyrenix said, as though she hadn't heard a word.

Lofty Feather made a quiet note of it. The two on the right were water—one Blue, one purple. The two on the left had to do with fire, and both were red. They all had quite a bit of personality. They were all stronger than it, too...

"Everyone's here," said Flint Spirit Number Three. "Welcome! Let's introduce ourselves in order, starting with me. I'm Number Three, Moonlit."

"Number Five, Abyss."

"Number Four, Lan!—Just call me Lan from now on! No need for the number!"

They had somehow skipped right over Lofty Feather.

"Number Six, Pyrenix! Remember my name. You'll hear it often."

"Number Two, Crimfox." The vermilion fox dipped her head slightly. "If there's anything you don't understand, you can ask. But don't ask the same question twice. I'm busy."

...Its turn.

"Number Seven, Lofty Feather."

"All right, Lofty Feather," Moonlit replied briefly. "Does anyone have anything they'd like to say to Lofty Feather?"

"I do!" Lan jumped in at once, waving his Blue vines around. "Lofty Feather! Do you know how long we've been waiting? I was involved with your Knowledge Base from the very beginning! And the willow tree—"

The willow tree?

"Lan." Abyss's voice cut in, just one word.

"All right, all right. Abyss is pretty cold, so don't take it personally—ow! Stop twisting! That hurts!—Anyway, welcome!"

Crimfox didn't chime in. She was quiet for a few seconds, then added:

"I was the one who rejected the Rule you submitted last time."

Lofty Feather froze. "...Which one?"

"That the Empty Shell's Red Qi replenishes automatically."

Lofty Feather remembered. It had indeed tried that, and the system had sent it right back. So it hadn't been handled automatically by the system. It had been...

"So you're in charge of reviewing Rules?"

"Every single one." Crimfox's tone didn't change. "Think it through before you submit."

Pyrenix added from beside her, "She rejects mine a lot more often than yours. You'll get used to it."

"Because everything you submit is dangerous!" Crimfox shot back.

Lofty Feather felt it was beginning to get an idea of the relationship between these two.

Across the table, Moonlit hovered quietly. When everyone else had finished, he asked softly:

"Lofty Feather, are you settling in all right?"

"More or less," Lofty Feather answered honestly. "It's just... a lot to process, meeting so many seniors all at once."

"That's good." Moonlit's voice was gentle. "No hurry. Take your time."

Lofty Feather gave a small assent and thought in silence. There were three important questions before it: the Blue Value, the Rule Editor, and the trash bag. The latter two might really be one question.

But how should it ask? And whom? Before long, the answer presented itself—

"All right, we've finished introductions. Can we get down to business now?"

"Go ahead," Moonlit replied, brief as ever.

Crimfox turned to Lofty Feather. "What would you like to ask?"

Lofty Feather said, "There's one thing... what kind of Rule won't be rejected?"

"Think of one and try it out. That'll make it easier to explain." For the first time, Abyss spoke a full sentence.

If it was going to use its once-a-year chance, what problem should it solve? The energy problem was more or less settled. That left safety.

"Well... how about making Whitewing invisible whenever he sleeps?"

Less than half a second later, Crimfox answered, "Whitewing? Your main body? Not a bad idea. But this still wouldn't pass. There are too many problems."

"What counts as sleeping? Have you defined it?" Abyss explained with impeccable logic. "Among the Crimson Hub people, as long as the soul's perspective switches back to the Empty Shell, it looks to the outside world as if the body is asleep. It can't respond or move, and its eyes are closed. That fits the signs of sleep, even if your main body isn't actually asleep."

Pyrenix flapped her wings. "Besides, by the wording of the Rule, invisible means that you can't be seen. So you'd have to adjust all your colors until they were exactly the same as the surrounding environment—but your base color Values aren't high enough to support that. So it falls outside the laws of physics. Naturally, it wouldn't be allowed."

"And your Rule slots are precious! The Green Wood Mountains are perfectly safe; you don't need this—" Lan began, but a dark current appeared beneath him again. He sheepishly fell silent.

Lofty Feather listened in a daze. Rules were that complicated...?

"So the more precise your wording and the more thoroughly you consider things, the likelier it is to pass," Crimfox concluded. "Part of my job is to suggest revisions. You can keep revising it until it passes review."

Lofty Feather recalled that Whitewing had already used the Rule Editor the first time he went outside. The voice had said it could only be used once a year, so it shouldn't be available now... Then why did Crimfox say it could be revised?

"The Rule Editor... isn't it limited to one use a year?"

As soon as it said that, several Flint Spirits turned toward it in unison.

"Huh? Who told you that?" Pyrenix's voice rose a notch. "Isn't that a load of nonsense?"

It seemed to have said the wrong thing! Lofty Feather hurried to explain:

"It was a rather unserious male voice. He sent us something using Blue Qi, through the Restsoil. His exact words were: 'Nice tool. It can change the Rules, but you can only use it once a year.'"

"Lan!!!" Pyrenix turned toward him and shouted. "How can your main body be so unreliable? How could he get that wrong?!"

"Not rigorous at all. Same old bad habits," Abyss added.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I'll go ask him in a little while—no, right now! I'll ask him right away!" Lan was visibly flustered. "I'm leaving! Sorry, Lofty Feather! I'll explain next time—"

The instant he finished speaking, he vanished.

"That's just how Number Four is. Careless as ever," Crimfox huffed. "Listen, Lofty Feather. When he said once a year, he meant your personal Rule: you receive one Rule slot per year."

She put particular emphasis on the word "receive." "One slot lets you enter one Rule. But until it passes review, it doesn't count as successfully entered. You can try things out without worrying."

"Thank you! Then I'll go back and think it over!"

Lofty Feather spun happily. After a little while, once it had mostly taken all this in, it continued, "When we entered the world, we also got something else called a trash bag. It looks like a bag with a red patch on it... At the time, he said I'd have to decide what it did. Does that mean I have to write the Rules and effects myself?"

Moonlit answered, "A trash bag... Sounds like Number One's work. But he rarely explains what his things do himself. If it isn't in the Knowledge Base, we won't know, either."

"Okay..."

What could a broken bag do? Lofty Feather wondered to itself. Number One really was a mystery. So was Flint Spirit Number One; it wasn't even on this channel where they discussed questions.

It didn't dwell on that. It crossed out the two questions it had already asked. There was only one left. But this one... was it all right to ask?

It fell silent.

Crimfox and Pyrenix exchanged a glance. Crimfox spoke first. "Nothing else? Then I'll get back to work. I have plenty of Rules to review."

"I have data to analyze, too. If you need anything, ask Moonlit. This is his area, anyway."

The two flames disappeared. Only three Flint Spirits remained. Lofty Feather looked gratefully toward the two empty seats.

Between the grids on the ceiling, Green still glimmered quietly. Moonlit and Abyss hovered before their seats without a word.

After thinking it through, Lofty Feather finally asked, "Seniors... can a being's base color Values change?"

"They can," Moonlit answered. "The Knowledge Base has records on it."

Lofty Feather paused. "But I've searched it over and over. I've never seen anything about that..."

"That's because you didn't need to know before. The Knowledge Base doesn't stay the same. When you run into a new problem, or meet a new condition, it updates on its own."

Lofty Feather thought back to the few times this had happened and understood. So the Knowledge Base really did recommend things based on what they did!

"I handle that function. Predicting behavior is one of my abilities," Moonlit added.

"Then can having a Value that's too low cause problems?"

"You know what base color and Values mean, so you must have read that article," Abyss reasoned. "It describes the possible effects. Our answer is the same."

"We can tell your Blue Value is very low," Moonlit continued. "But Blue increases as you gain experience. There's no hurrying it. Just take your time and experience life."

"According to my records, your Values have already increased. The total change since you took root is 35 points," Abyss concluded.

Wait...

It had gained 35 points, but it had only 5 now... So when it first took root, its Value had actually been—

Zero.

And the other thirty points had vanished completely.

Lofty Feather urgently wanted to go back and check its logs. As if sensing its impatience, Moonlit casually said:

"By the way, Lofty Feather."

"Hm?"

"What color is moon-white?"

Lofty Feather thought for a moment. It hadn't seen that term in the Knowledge Base. But suddenly, an image flashed through its mind: a full moon suspended in the sky, pure and bright; and something beside it, glowing white.

Maybe a cloud. And moon meant the moon, and white meant the color. So that would be—

"white."

"By definition, moon-white is actually pale blue," Abyss explained. "But... you're right."

For some reason, Lofty Feather thought it sensed a slight... tremor from Moonlit's direction.

"It's about time. You should go back now. When the moon is at its brightest again, I can find you with its help."

There was nothing unusual in Moonlit's voice. Maybe it was imagining things.

Lofty Feather gave a small assent. A beam of White light wrapped around it and sped away toward the place it had come from.

Lofty Feather looked back once. The sky was beginning to lighten, and the full moon was about to fade into the dawn. There was still nothing around it.

But at least, there was a conference room there.

...

Lofty Feather was gone.

The conference hall dimmed once again. After a long while, the White orb trembled, and a human figure dressed in White appeared.

He clapped his hands.

"You can all come out now."

The three positions that had just emptied lit up instantly, but this time they held neither clouds of Qi nor orbs of light. Lan silently stood and walked over to Moonlit, patting him on the shoulder. The other Flint Spirits looked up at him without a word.

Moonlit trembled and forced out a few words:

"No hurry, no hurry... Take your time."

— End of Chapter —