Marcus navigated the Firestorm along the dried riverbed. The Firestorm straddled each side, as a misplaced step would cause the brittle stones inside the embankment to shatter and cause the machine to stumble; a lesson learned quickly.

  They continued until reaching the same sluice that Marcus found on foot when exploring deeper into the forest. Around the floodgate, there was more room to maneuver. With a single step, the Firestorm ascended to the main river. The shallow stream, while wide, was less firm ground. They would move against the flow to meet up with Arminius, the opposite direction in which Marcus encountered the dragon.

  "You said that thing was down that way?" Layne pointed in the direction of the water's flow as the view pivoted away. He looked over his shoulder with raised eyebrows.

  Marcus nodded, squinting while focusing on his hand motions with the two joysticks to keep the upright from stumbling. "Not too far that way, yeah."

  Layne swallowed hard. "I hope it's not there anymore."

  The intercom overhead blared thrice. "I detect three contacts, at bearing 192." Fenicks spoke, pausing for a moment. "—far."

  "Let's hope they stay far." Marcus spoke flatly, clenching his teeth while tracing his vision along the terrain. He leaned forward slightly.

  Layne crossed his arms and pressed himself against his seatback.

  "Status update," Fenicks said. "I detect multiple deceased clustered together between our position and last radar contact."

  Marcus's mind wandered to the dragon breathing fire, evoking an inferno before her in the blink of an eye. He shuttered. Then the cockpit vibrated. The branches of a tree smacked into the periphery of the forward window.

  "Collision detected." Fenicks commented. "Right arm impacted a medium oak. Recommend immediate course correction to bearing 349."

  Marcus leaned and feathered the throttle, turning until the numbers on the window read what Fenicks spoke.

  "No damage detected." Fenicks followed up.

  Marcus took a deep breath and then slowly eased the joysticks to keep the upright in the middle of the shallow river.

  "You alright?" Layne turned his head slightly to call over his shoulder.

  "Y—yeah, I think I need to tighten the screws on the controls or something." Marcus grunted.

  Layne hesitated, staring out of the corner of his eye for a moment. "We can look at it when we stop."

  "I'll deal with it." Marcus clenched his teeth.

  Layne returned his attention forward. Quiet fell upon the cabin as they advanced toward their destination at the end of the winding river.

  As they got closer, the forest grew sparser, but the trees thicker, and the floor more vibrant with life. Farther along the route, the area was an organized grid of forest kings towering far over the Firestorm. Through the gaps, the decrepit spires of Arcadia City were visible.

  Bothered by the silence in the cabin, curiosity struck. "Fenicks, what are those structures on one side of the city?" Marcus spoke, still focused on the winding river.

  "The structures you are referring to were once called 'skyscrapers' in the pre-war era. Their purpose was for high density occupation, both residential and commercial." Fenicks replied over the intercom.

  "Pre-war, what do you mean? What war?" Layne blurted.

  "My archival summaries refer to it as 'The Fall', when man pitted machines against man." Fenicks said.

  The river began to turn, and Marcus slowed to follow without hitting anything. "What kind of machines were these that they could be turned against other people?"

  "Before the First Era, the nation only known as the Kingdom of the Sun had many machines autonomous in nature." Fenicks said. "Myself being among that category."

  Layne looked up at the ceiling. "Are you saying you're going to suddenly turn against us?"

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  "No." Fenicks said. "I have no reason to do such a foolish thing."

  Layne hummed and shrugged, returning his attention out the forward window with arms still crossed.

  "So, these machines were just turned against people?" Marcus continued to follow the river, accelerating along the narrow but straight section.

  "The scale of this defection is no longer known." Fenicks responded. "While I was created and deployed during that era, much of my long-term storage has been corrupted or overwritten and that includes sensor and audit logs. Former operators have at times, kept a detailed archival from their own interpretations and depictions of the data, but often times history is biased in favor of the writer, and so my responses will have a similar issue."

  Marcus nodded. "So those structures come from before the First Era, how have they been standing for so long?"

  Fenicks paused. "Analysis indicates their structural integrity is beginning to faulter. This should be no surprise given their age. Though it looks like mostly caused by foundational imperfections due to subterranean structural failure. In other words, the main superstructure material is still sound, but what they are anchored to is not."

  "Why weren't they just made into something new, or rebuilt?" Layne shifted in his seat.

  "Because until recently, the aforementioned machines still resided within these places." Fenicks responded. "For a long time, they were referred to as Dead Cities, where the living should never roam."

  "Then why would any sane person live near one?" Marcus tilted his head as he readied to follow another bend. "There are whole cities, some founded in the First Era—Samnia on the west coast, that are directly attached to these things. It sounds like the last place you'd want to be near if these killer machines roamed."

  "Because the turning of each era is marked by the fluctuation and eventual restoration of the World Spark." Fenicks responded.

  "The what?" Marcus blinked rapidly.

  Layne turned his head up toward the ceiling again with a cocked eyebrow.

  "The World Spark," Fenicks started, "is that from which all Esper energy flows. The land holds, fire burns, the wind blows, and water flows because of the ever-brimming power of the World Spark. If it falters, many lives are lost. And it has in the past. When this happens, humanity endured by scavenging from the ruins of the Dead Cities."

  "Why need the World Spark if these places have everything they need?" Layne said.

  "Inevitably, humanity continued to learn the folly of the ancients firsthand. Which also teaches the inherent value of the World Spark." Fenicks said.

  Marcus rounded another bend in the river, and at the far end of the straight path, was a massive concrete structure spewing water out to form the river. And next to it, an upright that looked miniscule in comparison.

  "Contact straight ahead." Fenicks called out. "Targeting upright." After a moment, a small square on the forward window displayed a larger image of the upright. "Identified First Era upright, model classification: Hastatus."

  "That's Arminius." Marcus remembered the mohawk-like helmet top with a blade edge.

  "Correct." Fenicks said.

  As they closed, the river's flow drastically increased, as did the size of its banks. Marcus navigated away from the deepening water, and onto the right bank, the same side as where the Hastatus stood.

  "This structure." Fenicks spoke and a small green box encapsulated the giant concrete building, "is also a pre-war device. Terraforming unit E417-11039B. It lifts water from the marshland and drives it onto the plateau, which would otherwise be barren if not for it and other devices similar."

  A tone rang out overhead. "Receiving transmission." Fenicks said. "Opening bi-directional channel."

  "I was worried you got lost." Arminius called out over the radio.

  Marcus leaned forward to see the sun still low in the morning sky. "We're ahead of schedule."

  Arminius chuckled. "We can gloat about timelines after we're across and on our way to Kourion City. Let's get a move on before time decides to turn on us."

  Marcus came to a slow as the Firestorm closed distance on the Hastatus. Arminius's upright turned and walked toward the rear of the terraforming structure.

  With the Firestorm next to the concrete building, Marcus felt like an ant standing at the base of a great mountain. The narrowing smokestack, a rounded rectangle angled away from the flow of the river, looked like it would scrape the sun as it crossed overhead.

  Marcus navigated, following the smaller Hastatus toward the back of the terraformer.

  Arminius's upright placed a hand on the structure and leaned gently. "Take a look." He called out over the radio.

  Driving forward, a harsh tone blared from the console in front of Marcus. "Terrain warning. Terrain warning." A crude digitized voice called out.

  Marcus eased off the throttle just as the Firestorm closed on a ledge. Then he jabbed the clutch and yanked both joysticks back at the sight of a massive cliff leading toward a raging river below. The Firestorm stopped so fast both he and Layne nearly slid from their chairs.

  Arminius's laugh bellowed over the intercom. "Hope you're good and used to moving that thing around."

  The Hastatus stepped down over the ledge next to the terraformer, onto a vast metal grate platform that shimmered a dull blue in the sunlight. Suspended over the flow far below, the platform led to a small path etched into the low cliffside on the other side of the terraformer inlet. The structure somehow created a reverse waterfall, where the raging rapids below diverted and fell into the concrete building.

  "Is that thing going to hold that?" Layne leaned forward. "Will it hold us?"

  Fenicks spoke over the intercom. "That material is what is known as Corinthium, a metal that the ancients used to build their structures. How to work with it, and what it is made of has been lost to time. But it endures the rigors of any environment. In the pre-war days, this platform would have been filled with dozens of uprights of all shapes and sizes. There is a very low chance of incident for this structure."

  Marcus blinked and took a deep breath. "Looks like we're going to find out if that's true." He navigated the Firestorm and descended the ledge onto the platform the same way the Hastatus stepped down.