You meet in a tavern (1)

*Clunk!* *whirrrrr...* *tick-tick-tick* The sounds of a computer echoed through my mind.

[Launching Blazing Wheel OS] Those words traveled across my mind without voice. Yet I somehow "heard" them without issue. [Unit ID: Thalia0000] [Status: operable] [Estimated battery life: 67E80 solar cycles] Having data rush through my mind was an odd experience, it didn't feel unnatural or invasive. Instead it felt like my subconscious was just a little louder, like I could focus on what I wasn't thinking.

[Data received from external source. Locating source...

Source found: Device ID: Thalia0000]

'Wait what?' I had just received external data... from myself. But I didn't learn anything. 'You would think that getting data when your brain is a computer would let you learn it.' {Sorry about that!} N.Z.'s voice sounded from... me? The computer? {Neither, I'm acting as the coordinator between your mind and the DiveBot's operating system.} 'Okay... So why'd you apologize?' {I had to prevent that data from entering you as it's from you from the future.} 'What! I feel like I should get that info!' {No no no! It's like a log report about your trip to Kheelu, (that's where you're headed by the way) it's acting as a guide for me to avoid leading to any catastrophic outcomes.}

[Primary functions active] [Auxiliary sensors launching] {Oh shit that was fast. Brace yourself!} 'Huh? What f-' Before I could finish that thought I suddenly had a sense of location and weight and touch and everything else. The sudden rush of reception left my mind muddled for a few minutes. I was now aware of this new body of mine. Or actually, two bodies.

It was laying down on the floor of some dimly lit basement. Dust settled on every possible point it could, cobwebs strung between it and another robot nearby. And I was floating above the two robots like a ghost haunting them. 'Not this again!' {What again? OH SHIT! I am so sorry! I forgot you were killed by Nezha before.} N.Z. spent a while saying sorry. {Okay... Most possession processes use this medium of extra-anima as it's not straining on the soul or mind in any regard. Though of course people who've died might have trauma.}

N.Z. continued to explain various nuances before a shimmer in space near me occurred and Julian's spirit manifested. "Woah..." He floated there for while as he got used to this new predicament. We practiced floating around as spirits, it was actually rather simple, just will it and we moved, up, down, left right, any which way. We both looked to each other and smiled, this is going to be fun.

[Finalizing... Installing language... Waiting for entrance command... Boolean: false, paused]

Each of N.Z.'s appeared in the air between us. {Alright!} They still sounded like they were coming from the computer, but it was nice to see them. They spoke in tandem of each other. {So according to the future data set.} {Which should be trusted as its been through millions of iterations.} {You'll be gaining control of the Vessels in about thirteen minutes.} {It might seem like a random time frame but trust us, it'll make sense.} {We can't have a boring story, now can we?} {And don't worry, it won't be boring.} {So sit back.} {Relax.} {And enjoy the show!}

As soon as they finished we could here voices in the distance of this dingy basement. They were speaking in a foreign language but I could still understand them. "So there really was a second floor to the cellar!" A young woman's voice cried out. A loud clunk was heard echoing through the basement. Then the sound of heavy footsteps of a small party of people began to walk down the aisles of shelves.

We could hear them opening crates and pulling dusty tarps off of anything they could find. "What is all this?" The woman said again. An old man responds. "Beats me ma'am. The closest thing I can think of is an artificer's workshop. But the delicate creation of some of these items is greater than anything I've ever seen." They had now reached close enough that the glow of a lantern could be seen. A third voice chimed in, this one a much younger boy. "Mother, perhaps this is a mage's cache of relics?" "I don't think so Anthony. There isn't the faintest wisp of mana in the air. Which in it of itself is odd, it should be either repelled along the borders of a mana repelling space, or absorbed by some artefact. But instead there are no signs of either."

I float closer to the light with Julian right behind me, trying to get a closer look at these people. I stop just at the edge of a shelf and peak my head around the corner, hoping they don't see me. As soon as I do I come face to face with a gruff looking old man. "Gah!" I dash backwards and float through the shelf slightly, the material feels weird occupying the same space as my spirit. I wait for a reaction, but nothing comes. 'Oh right. I'm a spirit right now. Makes sense that he couldn't see me. Or hear me apparently.'

The old guard walked around the shelves for a few minutes before pausing and catching his breath. "Madame Bevelward! I believe there might be a corpse down here!" He called for his lady. Then the kid named Anthony peaked his head around a different shelf and squinted into the gloom. "Henry, I don't think that's a corpse, it looks too full." Julian floats over to what they're looking at. "Ha!" He calls out. "They see the DiveBots!"

[Thalia0000 detected by party0[0]... Entrance command Boolean: false...]

Henry the guard began to approach our DiveBots carefully, as if expecting us to move or something. When he finally got close enough that the lantern's light could envelope our vessel's figures he stared in awe. "These are the most advanced golems I've ever seen..."

Anthony came up from behind Henry and admired the two robots as well. They didn't dare act though, for fear of traps or something worse. Not at least until lady Bevelward reached them. "Hmm, normally I'd be concerned if I saw golems in a place like this, but there don't appear to be guards or anything of the sort." The noble lady examined. "No weapons, no mana influence, nothing..."

Anthony brightened upon hearing that there was no mana influence. "That mean's that even if they had a master, the bindings holding these golems to them would be long gone right?" Henry responded to Anthony's question. "That is correct young master. In theory, if the glyphs keeping these golems powered have eroded we could rebind them to your family name."

The boy looked to his mother with the same look as a child asking for candy at the market. "What do you think mom? Can we take these golems, maybe they could act as guards for my project with this tavern?" The lady looked back to the golems pensively. "Again, they don't look like guards. But they would be ideal for labor around the building. Sure thing son, but on the condition that you have to fuel them the whole time. We still need to grow your mana capacity to an acceptable level, and this looks like the perfect workout."

Anthony Bevelward reached forward with his hands and put his palms on each DiveBot's head. A small pulse of pale green light emitted from his hands.

[Thalia0000 received mana from party0[1]... Entrance command Boolean: True...]

[Awaiting Blazing Wheel OS fons...]

{This'll be fun!}