Twilight Mirage 05: The Sunlight of Knowing

Episode description[edit | edit source]

With the sounds of conflict guiding them into action, the crew of the Myriad prepares for battle. Grand Magnificent tests his ability to work under pressure while Gig Kep-hart sends a message to the masses. Echo Reverie sets out to save the day, and Even Gardner makes a grand debut.
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This week on Friends at the Table: The Sunlight of Knowing
The Remaining Records of Curiosity // Reference Code: M-Qu75-4:53N-SV  
Silica-Vitrus

The sprawling dunes. Dust under foot. Churning endlessly. Stateless—and of two states. Energetic, yet at rest. Waiting. Ready. A mumbled word: “Glass.”

I'm getting worried, Primary. There's this little display box right over in the corner of my work grid. It shows the status of the team I'm watching, and it's been stuck on the same image ever since they reached Quire's surface. I can see them, eyes full of hope, and concern, and curiosity. One of them looks a little distracted.

But… the picture is supposed to be live by now, and it's not. Everyone's in the right place, and there's been more than enough time, so what's keeping them from throwing the switch? We were sent all this way and with all this tech, and we can't even get a decent visual on Quire before the new arrivals set up their network.

Sorry, it's just—what happens if they fail? I mean, I know we're not supposed to ask questions about mission-critical premises, but this is more… mission-tangential, at least by my readings. What happens if they get hurt? Or captured, or if the node gets destroyed and then they can't fab up a new one? I gave up a stable existence for a chance at adventure, Primary. But it's just me, and this capsule, and this little picture in the corner of my work grid. And all I wanna know is, what happens if this picture of them never changes?”

Plot[edit | edit source]

The Attack[edit | edit source]

The whole group heads outside after the explosion. One of the Mandati Glintwings sends a blast down at a caravan of several trucks led by a beetle-shaped vehicle and defended by four knightly Saint mechs. Gig has all the ingredients for a broadcast, and intercuts the scene of the attack (using his eye as a drone) with footage of the team traversing Quire. The footage quickly goes viral.

Janey is already ahead riding on a robot horse and carrying a rifle with fire in her eyes. Surge drives after her with Even and Echo in tow. Grand boosts up their maglev and he and Gig ride it toward the scene. Janey is trying to shoot down one of the Glintwings.

Even calls down his mech, the Amprunner — they briefly switch to the conversation when Grand first met Even to design his mech.

The Amprunner launches from orbit and descends with a deafening, distracting roar. While Gardner enters the mech, the Doyenne in the beetle-walker recognizes Grand as a fellow mech designer. At the same time, one of the Saints is shot in the heart and the Mandati take the upper hand. Gig, feeling nervous with his broadcast going viral, narrates taking out his gun. Echo takes off after an armed Mandati truck, jumping off the dune buggy while Even fires to distract the others. They take two guys out of the action and a shot to the arm, but keep on going, scaring the remaining guard into fleeing.

In the beetle-walker, the Doyenne makes a strange gesture and raises fine, dispersed glass around her. Gig scans the fight and spots the sniper that shot the Saint, at the top of the plateau and now packing up to leave. He also realizes that one of the Saints, the one armed with a gun, is missing their shots on purpose.

Grand climbs under the Mandati truck, cutting at its insides with his knife. The wire he cuts makes the gun on the truck fire indiscriminately. Its powerful blast hits the glass raised by the Doyenne and evaporates into nothing. Even shoots down all three of the Glintwings, and the remaining Mandati flee, though not before Janey shoots one of them.

The Aftermath[edit | edit source]

Everyone reconvenes. The Doyenne speaks to Grand, impressed by the Amprunner, and then to Janey, who she thanks for remaining loyal. She tells them all they have her favor and then returns to the beetle.

One of the knights explains that the food in the trucks being attacked was basically an artist-scientist’s genetically modified and award-winning dissertation. They finally set up their beacon, and Gig’s broadcast goes live to the Fleet; the people watching it up until now were residents of Quire on their version of the Mesh. With the node online, they also receive many points of interest marked by Curiosity in the past. One is The Sculpture, the city the Doyenne is returning to.

Even starts collecting scraps from the fight. Echo digs the bullet out of their arm and sews themself up with Surge's help. Grand starts fabricating a wolfman robot based on his earlier conversations, before discarding the design. In a village they’re passing through, he meets the sniper from earlier, who compliments his work. Gig signs off by thanking his suddenly-expanded audience; he doesn't understand what's going on here yet but hopes to emerge from ignorance into “the sunlight of knowing anything about this world.”

Cast[edit | edit source]

Other Characters[edit | edit source]