Nick left Piercing Heaven Base and went back to Deep Core Base.
He didn't want to fake asking for permission since there were probably checks to make sure that wouldn't happen.
He had to work with the Empire's rules if he wanted their support.
Nick quickly reactivated the Pure One's Containment Unit and entered.
"Sorry to disturb you so soon after our farewell," Nick said. "There is an issue with the Ice Maiden."
The Pure One took a deep breath. "Yes?" he asked.
Nick explained the issue with the Ice Maiden and talked about his plan to move the base.
The Pure One frowned and fell into thought for a while.
"Tell me more about the plan," he said.
"Deep Core Base has to remain here. It is too important," the Pure One said. "Rising Star Base can't be moved."
"If you fail, it will be difficult for the future generations to find our safeguards, assuming you move the base."
Nick frowned. "Piercing Heaven Base is too deep underground. Nobody is going to find that anyway. The secondary knowledge repositories are most likely all lost. The only way to find Deep Core Base or Piercing Heaven Base is by coming into contact with Rising Star Base."
The Pure One remained silent.
"You may move Piercing Heaven Base and Night Sky Base, but Deep Core Base and Rising Star Base have to remain where they are," the Pure One said.
"I assume Night Sky Base is the last knowledge repository?" Nick asked.
The Pure One wordlessly nodded.
After learning the names of the four bases, Nick could see the naming scheme.
From the deep core, a star would rise into the sky and pierce the heavens, creating the night.
"What am I supposed to tell the Ice Maiden?" Nick asked.
The Specters had always acted like they didn't know about each other, but it seemed like that was a ruse.
They were probably supposed to keep that knowledge secret.
"Tell her that my father would shrug and say that it's not his problem anymore," the Pure One said.
"Your father?" Nick asked with raised brows.
"The Emperor," the Pure One said.
"I assume I forgot to mention that part," the Pure One said. "After my creation, I was raised by the Emperor. He raised me like his own child, and he taught me what it meant to be human."
Raising a Specter like a child…
That was more than unusual.
And yet, it worked out in this case.
"Then, I will move Piercing Heaven Base. You know where I am going to move it. If I fail, you can tell the new Emperor where it is," Nick said.
The Pure One wordlessly nodded.
Nick said his goodbyes, left the Containment Unit and deactivated it again.
Then, he traveled back to Piercing Heaven Base and entered the Ice Maiden's Containment Unit.
"I am allowed to move the base," Nick said.
"Oh, what did the biology Specter say?" she asked.
"He said that his father would shrug and say that it's not his problem anymore," Nick said.
The Ice Maiden became distracted.
It was almost like she was lost in memories, which was very unusual for a Specter.
"You really have Pure's trust," she said. "If he gave you permission to potentially compromise the Empire's safeguards, he must truly believe in your power and character."
'As expected, they know about each other,' Nick thought.
"We were all raised together, you know," she said.
"I didn't," Nick answered.
"Pure was the prince, and we other three were his servants."
"We used to be an experiment. Pure was the only artificial Specter, while we were natural Specters."
"Pure was the last safeguard while we were supposed to help him."
Nick frowned. "Raising a natural Specter like a human is dangerous," Nick said. "You know that."
The Ice Maiden just nodded. "Yes, we do not have feelings. It might seem like I am lost in thought, but I am just imitating what I've learned."
"I am not human, and I do not feel like a human, but after centuries of living amongst humans, I adapted."
"I may not be human, but I think of myself as human."
The Ice Maiden chuckled bitterly. "I'm a cat that believes she's a mouse."
"Pure advanced without any issues. He didn't need to cause suffering."
"Meanwhile, we other three had to cause a lot of suffering to reach our current levels of power."
"It was strange. When I tortured all of these countless humans, I felt nothing."
"I saw myself as human as well, but when I caused so much suffering, it just didn't seem strange."
"In fact, it felt natural. It felt like that was what I was supposed to do."
"And that scared me. Or, I believe I would be scared if I could feel these things."
"It felt so natural to destroy all of the beauty of humanity."
"And yet, with every act of torture, I destroyed part of humanity's beauty."
"I didn't want to destroy it, but I also didn't not want to destroy it."
The Ice Maiden sighed.
"All of this is such a mess."
The Ice Maiden shook her head.
"Go, move Piercing Heaven Base. I won't do anything."
Nick nodded and left the Containment Unit.
It was a bit interesting to listen to the Specter's past, but he had more important things to do.
Every second of wasted time represented thousands of humans suffering immense torture.
"Assistant, activate Piercing Heaven Base. Keep all lights deactivated," he ordered.
"Affirmative," Assistant answered.
The next moment, the entire base started to hum as several machines came to life.
Nick asked for several reports on the base's functionality and deactivated some parts.
"Deactivate the central Zephyx generator. Use the Zephyx storage for energy."
"Affirmative," Assistant answered.
Nick walked out of the base and stopped beside it.
A couple of hours later, his surroundings started to heat up.
The cold vanished, and the moving magma deep inside the Earth washed over Piercing Heaven Base.
The spatial fixator had been deactivated as well,which meant that Piercing Heaven Base was being slowly swept away by the magma.
Then, Nick charged at the base and pushed it.
On his own, he wouldn't be able to move it, but the endless magma helped him.
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The author's . If he gets more than 1000€ per month, he will increase the number of words in the chapter.