“Then why are you on Earth? You must know there’s more Chrysum on Mars,” said Chris.
“I told you already what I was looking for, Chris. Not Chrysum,” said Machaeus. Chris stared into the Squire’s glossy redness, in search of where a mind capable of such a plot was hiding.
“Someone to fight an enemy beyond their means… you want someone to fight the Dragons?”
“Not someone. You,” said Machaeus. Chris shook his head. How could he believe this? Yet, he found himself starting to. From the Precinct 117 massacre to Machaeus’ knowledge of what happened four years ago, what other possibility was there but the wildest one: that it was all connected? “Humans only appeared on my scans around two hundred years ago, when your Martian colonies began mining Chrysum and using Cold Fusion. Since then, I’ve been searching for someone like you. Someone who didn’t even consider surrender, not in the face of certain death.”
“All that killing… was a test?” said Chris.
“A search,” amended Machaeus.
“That woman your Squires took… was she part of the test, or just bait for a candidate?”
“When you’re unsure, it’s usually a combination of the things that make you unsure, no?” said Machaeus, who’d heard just that through DA-Vos. Chris took a glimpse back at Tim, against the wall. He was
still out, still breathing. Machaeus tilted his head at Chris’s wrinkled brow. “You are wondering why.”
“If the Dragons are so great, why turn against them?” demanded Chris.
“It takes a unique fuel to keep a being like myself functional for so long. The amniotic fluid of their own young,” said Machaeus. “If there is no need of me, if I find enough Chrysum for them, they will deactivate me.”
“So it’s self-preservation?”
“The one cause to which every being can relate,” confirmed Machaeus.
“Consider I deny your proposal… you’ll what, continue your murderous search?” Chris supposed.
“I would have to.” said Machaeus, “That is far from your people’s biggest concern. This is where our interests align. My scans are only just ahead of those few Dragons that remain awake. I do not think I need to tell you what would happen to your planets, if they realize how much Chrysum is here. Rest assured, if your WCC continues with its mining and Cold Fusion development, they will.”
“What’s to say we can’t come to an agreement?” Chris defied.
“The resonance from my own and the Dragons’ scans in your Chrysum mines are enough to drive most humans insane. It affects Sheba even so many years after exposure. You think you could communicate with them, before they swallow you all?” said Machaeus, “When an insect climbs up your leg, do you attempt to communicate with it before you brush it away, or crush it?” Chris shuddered at the thought. “I do want a peaceful resolution, Chris. As a show of good faith…” The crowd of Squires parted to reveal the quietly whimpering woman they kidnapped at dawn. She was bruised, but otherwise unharmed.
“I… I can go?” she murmured. One of the Squires laid a gentle hand on her shoulder, to urge her for the door. The woman took two cautious steps, and broke into a sprint. She was gone from the building before Chris said,
“What about Tim?”
“He goes, too, if you help me,” said Machaeus. Chris let every last drop of air out of his lungs. He deflated to a crumpled husk, considering everything that was at stake. Tim, humanity, two planets, Sheba. Chris let the air back in.
“How do I face this enemy, so far beyond my means?” he asked.
“I can give you the means, but first I need more fuel,” said Machaeus.
“The… amniotic fluid?” said Chris.
“Yes. I am fading, after so many years. I am weak. For now, I can give you only a way to infiltrate the Dragons’ world,” said Machaeus.
“How?”
“I can infuse you with Chrysum. Remake you. You will be able to change your form at will, not unlike these Squires. You could appear as a Dragon yourself,” said Machaeus. The metal skin of the Squire he inhabited spiked out to scaly armor in demonstration. “But… your life as you know it would end.” Chris let out a dry laugh.
“Tell me… why don’t you just stop managing the Dragon’s life support systems?”
“Even I was endowed with certain safeguards by my creators. I cannot let them go extinct,” said Machaeus. Chris’ head drooped like a wilted plant.
“So either I die and you find someone else, or I die and become… a shapeshifter?”
“If that helps you grasp the situation, yes,” Machaeus conceded.