The Record of Unusual Creature

Hao Ren raised an eyebrow at the MDT. “You can supply power to that? You sure?”

Looking at the palm-sized device, Hao Ren was incredulous. He was under the impression that the MDT was much more like a smart phone. While Hao Ren had never seen the island’s shield generator proper, he figured that it probably needed a whole tonne of nuclear reactors in Earthling terms to power it. (With that said, Aerym’s most basic power plants were probably still more advanced than Earth’s) To use this tiny device to power a city-wide shield seemed almost like using a AAA battery to power up a space elevator…

The MDT wiggled smugly in the air. “Nah, you’re just being an ignorant pleb. As small as I am, I’m still psionically-powered. To generate that level of power is just child’s play. Quickly, get me a power terminal. I’m going to save the world.”

The Elven mage beside them could only look in awe at the wondrous “magitech” device that was almost human. Seeing that the MDT was confident, Hao Ren approached the crew on the scene. “I suppose you guys can pull out one of the power conduits… can you?”

The crew at hand quickly went about preparing for the job and the Elven mage who was in charge looked awkwardly at the MDT. “Pulling out a power conduit is not an issue… but… what sort of terminal does it use? We-we have not seen this sort of device before.”

Hao Ren then went to prod the MDT. “So… how do we solve this connection compatibility issue? You support USB3.0, yes?”

“And you suppose these bunch of elves have USB?” The MDT snorted as it made a quick spin on the floor, leaving a ring-like marking. “Bring the power conductor equipment and place them around the circle. I’ll be inside it. Forget the conversion works. Once I get started, please stay far, far away. There may be some mild psionic radiation that will be lethal.

The so called magical technicians had managed to wrench out an additional conduit from a nearby maintanence hatch, pulling out a wriggly, almost plastic-like piping towards the circle. Hao Ren realised that the elves’ magitech equipment used a system akin to blood circulation in order to power itself. Within the “blood vessels” was some sort of thin liquid that was infused with magic and some kind of consumable substances in it. The liquid was a glittery green, almost like what you would see inside a plant. The elven technicians dragged a couple of thick conduit tubes towards the MDT and fitted a circulation pump on them. At the same time, they also placed an absorbtion conduit on the tubes before welding the entire equipment onto the ground. (In low gravity situations the tubes would be floating all over the place if not welded.) After that, they created a magic amplification circle using some silver-coloured, liquid metal, with the MDT at the centre of the circle.

Hao Ren could only look on in amazement at this “high-tech magic”. Anything was possible in this vast void. Indeed, the development of a magical civilisation was not about who could cast the biggest fireball. They too can fabricate spacecrafts and other intricate items. Or rather, there was almost no difference between a magical civilisation and a scientific one. The difference was only on the surface layer, and it all boiled down to “technique”.

Who could says an Earth-made circuit board would not look like a magical circle in the eyes of another alien race? It seemed like mysterious runes to the Aerymian elves, were nothing but simple and elegant circuit diagrams.

Once all the needed equipment were in place, the MDT signalled for all present to stay back as it muttered, “Thank goodness I’m one of the newest models, and part of my case is made from energised alloys. Or else, this form of conversion would have been beyond me… I’m starting up!”

A faint, blue light expanded outwards from the MDT as the magical circle lit into life with a silver glow. With it, all of the charging equipment came back online.

Hao Ren took a deep breath. “It’s working.”

The elves beside him also nodded in agreement. “It’s working…”

A soft hum rang out from the hoops at the top of the dome. The shield generator that had been offline for almost an hour was reactivated once more and it automatically synchronised itself with the other shield generators at a rapid speed. As the shields reformed, the snow screen that had spread for miles on end faded away. The dome was now secured.

The elves around Hao Ren gave a roaring cheer. Even the grim-faced elven mage smiled after taking a deep breath. “Now what’s left is to plug the hole, and figure out how to fix the propulsion system. This is however, a secondary concern. The propulsion system is usually dormant and is only activated if there is a need to adjust the floating isles’ position or move it elsewhere—”

Boom!!!

A thundering crack cut the mage’s speech short. Chills ran down the spine of everyone present as vertigo struck. It appeared that the artificial gravity had been restored but it was not aligned to the surface. Hao Ren looked up in confusion and only realised that there was an unusual flash of light, almost blinding, outside the dome hoops. It almost seemed like there was a giant pillar of fire rampaging outside the walls.

The aftershocks were getting more violent after every passing second. It spread throughout the isle before it suddenly skewed sideways!

Lily’s natural senses towards danger were triggered as she looked upwards, her tail bristling. “The stars are flying!”

It was not the stars that were flying, it was the whole space turning upside down!

The stars rapidly faded from the sights of everyone onboard the station, as if the whole world was spinning about wildly. It was the very land that they stood on that was spiralling out of control. It did not take long for the elven mage to register what was going on and quickly ordered two of his personnel to go up to the dome hoop to see what was going on. (The cameras outside the wall had been destroyed by the explosion.) The two personnel quickly flew up to the top of the dome, and with quavering fear they reported.

“Part of the propulsion system is still intact! It’s now activated! It’s pushing the Dawnbreak Island away from the sun!”

“The island is rolling! All the other propulsion units are out of control!”

“It’s heading towards the Isle of Radiant Light!”

At the same time, the snow screen or static started forming over the shield that was close to completion, and it was growing rampantly. It seemed that something in the dome’s energy distribution system had gone wrong and the energies from the shield generator were being drained and diverted to the ruined propulsion systems!

“Inform the command tower,” the elven mage quickly ordered. “Turn on the propulsion on the opposite side! Decelerate the island! Set the artificial gravitation system to automatic. That will ease the tremors! And, we will need to figure out how to shut down that damned propulsion unit!”

“Command has responded!” the communications officer yelled. “Where to?”

The island, under its one-way propulsion, was quickly rolling away from the island chain. At this point, the propulsion unit had yet to reach its maximum output, and if they did not stabilise the island now, there was a risk of the island being overcome by massive earthquakes and disintegrating altogether.

The propulsion units on the other side of the island could potentially stave off the acceleration, but if the units were to accelerate in the same direction, there was a risk of it crashing against neighbouring islands. Conversely, pushing them in the opposite direction would make too strong, which may result in the artificial gravitation system overloading and tearing the island apart. This was the conundrum that the elven mage was in, either option would result in massive destruction and carnage.

He could not make the call.

“Her Majesty’s orders!” a communications offer suddenly yelled, “no harm is to come to other islands. Let the Dawnbreak Island roll in place!”

“But, this will result it its’ rapid disintegration!” The mage exclaimed.

“Her Majesty’s instructions! All gates into the Royal District have been opened. All elves are to evacuate to the Royal District! Even if the island comes apart the Royal District will survive! It has it’s own indepedent walls and shielding. It will be able to hold out until other islands come to the rescue. All emergency support teams are to only stay for 24 hours! After 24 hours, if the propulsion system cannot be shut down, or if it comes apart, all teams are to abandon post and evacuate!”

“We are abandoning Dawnbreak Island?!”

“This is Her Majesty’s orders! At least, we can preserve our lives and not affect other islands!”

The mage gritted his teeth as he looked at the raging inferno outside the walls. “This is the home of my ancestors… It can’t be helped! We need to shut down the propulsion system at all cost or our home will be done for!”

“The control system is offline! We are using the backup power source! If that gets cut, the whole dome will shutdown!”

“Then blow that bloody thing till kingdom come!” There were veins popping in the magister’s eyes. “What about our corvettes?! Bomb the bloody thing with a salvo or two! At most, we will have a damn crater to deal with, which is better than the whole island coming apart!”