Chapter 178: Chapter 167: Trust and Blunders

Regina had to admit she was a bit nervous about how they were going to get out of there, especially after she realized Leian must have deliberately pushed them into the underground ruins. She didn’t say anything, however, just followed Galatea.

It turned out she needn’t have worried. The door opened easily, at least from this side. Well, it squeaked a little and needed a push from Max using almost all of his strength, but that was still easy, under the circumstances. She wasn’t sure if Galatea had been helping it along. While the door was a featureless, dark expanse from the outside, from this side it looked a lot more like a door, with an actual handle. Or at least a weird knob they had to twist to the side. Regina hurried through it and considered putting something between the sides of the door to keep it wedged open after the rest of her party was through, but Galatea pulled her away and the door slammed shut, almost hitting Tia.

“Just how much control over the systems here do you have, Galatea?” Max asked. He kept his voice under control, but Regina could sense his nervousness.

“Enough,” she replied, barely looking at him or the others. “Come on, let’s go. This should be the fastest route back to your Hive.”

Regina sent the others the mental equivalent of a shrug and hurried after Galatea. She had the feeling her reticence had more to do with the AI just not wanting to talk rather than something like the possibility of being spied upon by scrying mages or the gods. But it was probably still better to be safe. Besides, she didn’t feel threatened. And to be fair, if Galatea wanted to harm me, she could probably do it much more easily, without me being able to do much to prepare. But I just don’t think she would.

Sometimes, Regina considered, you just had to put a bit of trust in your friends.

They walked in silence, Galatea setting a fast pace. The physically weaker Workers in her group struggled to keep up at first, before Galatea slowed down. Regina kept quiet and instead focused on her surroundings. Not much seemed to have changed, though. She actually recognized the path Galatea was taking, not that there were that many underground tunnels to choose from here. They mostly just followed the large subway tunnel that lead more or less in the direction of her hive’s main base.

Regina kept part of her attention focused on the others in the hive while they traveled. The first of the Winged Drones she’d sent beyond her reach had returned, although they didn’t seem to have much to report. It was hard to get information like that from their minds, though. She left a few Keepers to deal with it while she focused on other matters. Now that she was traveling towards her hive, the edge of her psychic range was expanding in that direction again, anyway.

Via and the others were still working as healers, and although they’d kept an eye out for anything suspicious, nothing seemed to have happened. Regina considered recalling them, but they were her conduit to the Cernlian rebels at the moment. Tim and the other drones in the south were pretty well dug in at this point, and the gnomes hadn’t made any offensive moves, so she might also recall some of them if it turned out to be necessary. Hopefully it wouldn’t come to that, though. She didn’t want to underestimate the gnomes and then get bitten for it.

After a few hours, Galatea slowed to a stop. They had just reached an intersection, where a smaller tunnel, possibly dug by some monsters, split off the main subway tunnel they’d traversed. Galatea stopped at the tunnel opening, where a small cave sheltered from the bigger tunnel.

“Time for a break?” Regina asked, a bit sardonically.

To her credit, Galatea looked a bit abashed. “I’m sorry if I’ve shown a lack of consideration for you,” she said, looking at the rest of the group. “I just wanted to get away from there quickly. There might still be dangers lurking there even I couldn’t so easily deal with. And, to be honest, I just didn’t want to remain there longer than necessary.”

“Unpleasant memories?” Regina asked, leaning against the rocky wall.

Galatea shrugged. “Not quite. I’ve barely anything you could call an actual memory of the city. Still, it is a reminder, isn’t it?”

Regina hesitated at the slightly pointed question. “You’re right,” she agreed quietly.

Max shifted uncomfortably, and the others stepped away slightly, giving her and Galatea a bit of privacy. Regina appreciated the gesture, and quietly let them know as much over the psychic link.

“What is it that you want, Galatea?” she asked. “Speaking generally.”

Galatea hesitated. At some point, without Regina really noticing, her clothing had shifted. Instead of looking like an old-fashioned suit, she now wore something that looked more suited to trekking through tunnels, although the cut was mostly the same, just in earthy tones and paired with sturdy boots. As she crossed her arms, she looked like a character from some movie. Probably a background extra, though; her features were almost aggressively nondescript, with her hair kept moderately long and in a shade somewhere between blond and dark brown, seeming to shift with the lighting, as well as brown eyes.

“I don’t know,” she admitted after a short pause. “For a long time, I was content to just survive, never thinking that I could have more. After you freed me … I’m not sure. I suppose I would like to do something about the state of the world, maybe.”

“You have time to figure it out,” Regina commented. “I’m in much the same boat, honestly. I feel like I should do something about the Cataclysm, but — what should I do? What can I even do, if it’s against someone like the gods?”

Galatea regarded her silently for a long moment. “Quite so,” she agreed. “I suppose looking forward, to what we may be able to do now, is easier.”

“Assuming I survive the current wars,” Regina muttered. “But on that note, Galatea, what have you been doing? I’m curious about what you’ve seen out there.”

The AI smiled slightly. “Most of the world is much like here. Although I can’t claim to have seen nearly all of it. I’d be happy to tell you tales of my travels later. I suppose, speaking generally, though, it does seem like this is one of the most populated areas of the world, and perhaps even one of the richest. There are several other races you haven’t seen yet, though, and humans aren’t always dominant. Although sometimes they’re even more so.”

“And you came back,” Regina noted, “pretty soon, I’d say. I was expecting you to be gone for a few years at least, although I’m happy to see you, of course.”

Galatea nodded, looking serious. “I would have stayed away for a few years, yes,” she agreed. “Although I did miss you, Regina. I consider you a close friend. But, I may have been a little too careless in some parts of my travels. And in the process, I may have endangered you as well. I apologize for that.”

Regina paused, and took a moment to think about what Galatea had just said. She hadn’t expected that, to be honest. And she didn’t like the feeling of having no idea what was going on. “It’s okay?” she said uncertainly. “What did happen, Galatea? Does this have anything to do with why Leian let us into the city’s ruins? I was starting to think she wanted me out of the way for something.”

Galatea blinked, then smiled. “I should have known you’d catch that,” she mused. “I did tell you I knew Leian. Yes, it did — I asked her to help, and she did. Or maybe she would have done this anyway, it’s hard to know with Leian.”

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“Help with what?” Regina asked. “Why did the two of you want me here, and not with the hive? Are we in danger?”

"Hopefully not,” Galatea replied. She shook her head. “I suppose I should start at the beginning. I was visiting a group in what you would call western Asia, near the Black Sea. To be specific, I stayed with the Delvers there, or rather, a similar group that is part of the same association. They generally don’t call themselves Delvers there. They were very welcoming, and happy to host me even after they realized I wasn’t an actual human. As an AI created by their Progenitors, I evoked a certain feeling of respect in them. This actually wasn’t the first time I got a reception like that, and that was even part of the reason I sought them out in the first place. But I may have let down my guard a little too much.”

“So, you told them about me,” Regina interjected, giving her a look. While the information was interesting, she’d never seen Galatea beating around the bush like this.

“No, well, yes,” the AI said. She looked a bit embarrassed. “I mentioned enough that they evidently managed to put together the pieces. And I heard too late that they were apparently planning an expedition to visit the local Delvers, as well. Because of me — they didn’t say so, but it’s obvious — they pushed the date of that visit forward. I’m sure I only managed to beat them by a few days.”

“Alright, but I still don’t understand what the problem is,” Regina said, frowning. “It’s not like I can really hide the hive, and our presence isn’t exactly a secret anymore. Does it matter if I’m with them or not?”

“Yes, because the person I’m pretty sure they sent is a powerful psychic,” Galatea explained. “And I’d be very surprised if she isn’t more interested in your own psychic power than your species. I thought that it would be better for you to get more information on your own and the Hivekind’s past, if possible, and acquire any tangible evidence you could get. But I also wanted you out of the way so she wouldn’t sense you if she was nearby.”

“That seems like a lot of fuss to get me out of range of someone you aren’t even sure is here,” Regina commented. She managed to keep her voice even despite the annoyance rising within her.

“Well, if I’m honest, I also wanted to avoid you sensing her and alerting her to your presence unwittingly.”

Regina gave her a flat stare for a moment, then sighed. “I think you may overestimate my capability with that kind of thing,” she admitted. “I have been neglecting my psychic powers a bit, to be honest. Especially things like sensing foreign minds. It’s hard to train them surrounded by my hive.”

Galatea frowned. She did not look happy to hear that. “Really? It’s one of your greatest assets, Regina. Independent of your Hive.”

Regina ducked her head. “You haven’t explained why you wanted to keep me hidden fervently enough to come here and conspire with Leian.”

“Because the more we can delay your debut onto the world stage, so to speak, the better,” Galatea replied promptly. “And I did want to correct a mistake I made. Besides, you already chose to go visit the place you hatched now of all times. And maybe I’m being overcautious, but I really think it’s safer for you not to come to the attention of people like that.”

“The local Delvers may already suspect everything,” Regina pointed out. “I’ve been considering leveraging their ideology to turn them into allies, since it seems like it could be very useful.”

“A risky play, but potentially very worthwhile,” Galatea commented.

Regina narrowed her eyes as she realized something. “You think at least some of them would rather not have a living Progenitor around.”

“Exactly,” Galatea agreed, giving her a small smile. “For now, we should resume our journey back to your hive, however. I am reasonably sure that the group I am worried about did not visit the king’s army camp, and anywhere further east should be well out of range. They would have sought out the local government as a matter of courtesy and diplomatic necessity, but that should mean heading to the capital, and I kept an eye out and didn’t see them actually approach the king.”

Regina nodded and turned to go. Max fell into step behind her, allowing her to walk beside Galatea, while the rest of the group formed a loose formation around them.

Regina pushed down on some irritation as she considered what she’d just learned. She wasn’t entirely satisfied with Galatea’s explanation, although she might have just missed some nuances that would explain things better. Either way, she judged that it wasn’t worth starting an argument. At least Galatea had told her about all this now of her own accord, even if Regina would have preferred to learn about this earlier. Maybe when they met Leian.

“They’re not visiting long, then?” she asked after a minute.

“Not that I know of,” Galatea confirmed. “They’re already on the way back according to the itinerary I saw.”

So it should be safe. Regina nodded, choosing not to ask whether Galatea had been supposed to see that itinerary. “You visited the Cernlian army yourself, then.”

“I did. It’s a bit larger and better positioned than your friends’, but nothing you can’t overcome. The king is almost as much of a douchebag in person as his reputation suggests, too. Not that I spoke to him much, fortunately.”

Regina laughed, then looked at her friend contemplatively. “It sounds like you’re rooting for the marquis instead, then.”

Galatea paused and shook her head. They were just walking below a patch of glowing moss, and the light sent shadows dancing and turned her hair into a shimmering curtain. Her eyes reflected her own shape as she looked Regina in the eyes. “I didn’t come out and tell them, obviously, but for me, neither of the two candidates is the rightful ruler of the area.”

“Oh.” Regina’s gaze turned to the path in front of them as she kept walking, falling silent. Galatea was content to let the silence linger as they walked down the tunnel toward the hive.

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