A hand was placed on an external window, showing a view of space. Then ca a sigh, as a woman looked at her reflection in the glass. What am I even doing here? Then her eyes flickered to sothing else. What are you doing here?
Anishka watched as the ant on the glass furiously signed at her.
Here to protect- I dont need to be protected! Another silent response. Well yeah obviously they could try sothing but- another pause. No I dont need soone to watch over as I sleep. Anishka sighed. Look, Sergeant. Im glad you want to watch out for , but you shouldntbe here. What do you an why? Because youre a dangerous cultivation beast! Her face was almost pressed up against the glass now. I know youre not technically cultivating but that doesnt change things! I told you to stay behind! Yes, were still friends
Anishka reached out her finger and the Sergeant climbed onto it. The void ant had never grown large, but Anishka had underestimated her power more than once. It had been quite surprising.
She went to lay down on her bed, holding her finger at an angle she could easily see her friend. At least she wasnt worried about crushing her anymore. It would have to be a deliberate act, as the little ant was quite a bit more durable. She continued to sign to Anishka. Even if Im not supposed to be here, you should be, the ant emphasized.
Why? Because Im Antons great-granddaughter? Or the last daughter of the Fire and Ice?
The ants antennae twitched. You have many siblings, do you not?
Sure like, a dozen. So what?
Are any of them here?
Well no, Anishka admitted.
Then it is supposed to be you here.
I havent even done anything though. I saved a few people on Ekict and then made sure nothing horrible happened for a while. And now Im going to be one of the first people to visit the Shining Cooperative?
Yes.
Why?
The ant signed with deliberate motions. Because you are important and strong, but not too important or too strong.
Anishka sighed. Is that it? She honestly didnt know if that made her feel better or worse. So you know Im not going to be able to talk to you while were there, right?
That is not an issue.
Isnt it? Id be the only person you know and can interact with, and youd never get to.
It is not for very long. Just a number of years.
Man, I thought human cultivators were supposed to grow strangely casual about the passage of ti. Do you- what kind of lifespans could you expect from void ants?
I am not dead yet, so a few more years will make no difference.
I suppose thats true. The Great Queen is like three hundred? But you were made to be lower ranking.
I cannot achieve my goals if I do not survive. So I survive.
Still on about that? You dont have to listen to orders, you know.
I am aware, the void ant signed. You are my friend, so I dont have to listen to you. I just do what is best for you.
Ugh. Maybe I should have taught you to listen to my orders.
It is too late. My understanding has transcended that point.
Anishka looked at the Sergeant. Then her hand snapped forward. Her fingers pinched and found no purchase. The ant slid from your grip. The Sergeant was on the back of her hand. Your attempts to restrain will be unsuccessful. Nor could any of your human restraints hold .
I was going to put you in a tal box and rest the bed on it.
The void ant paused. That couldnt have been successful. I would have escaped.
Whoa, when did you learn to lie?
It is not a lie. I just simply do not yet know how it would have been accomplished.
Okay but you should definitely take the first ship back. We cant have any void ants getting spotted- wait, there arent other void ant spies going along, are there?
I am not a spy, the Sergeant said. And I am not aware of any being sent.
That made Anishka feel relieved. Until she realized that it felt like the sort of thing the Great Queen would do. And that it made sense. Even she was kind of going as a spy. Just one everyone knew about. Anishka specifically was not an envoy, but instead a world cultivation consultant. The Shining Cooperative really liked the idea of everyone cultivating, building up whole worlds. They just hadnt had the pieces put together for that to be fully practical, apparently.
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Anishka walked onto the planet Lotren with the confidence of a woman who didnt have a void ant sowhere on her. And if she never checked, she could plausibly maintain that lie to herself. Casual sensing wouldnt do it, since she could easily look over a tiny blip of nothing.
The first thing she noticed was the different style of spaceports they had. The aesthetics were quite different, which wasnt surprising. Even if there were common stylistic elents among cultivators, when developing new things they could easily go in different directions. The spaceports were also smaller, but that was likely more of a feature of recent developnt rather than choice. And they might have been directed away from larger or more military style spaceports.
The ship she ca in on most likely got a vague scan of the planet, but they hadnt been able to get a good look as they were escorted from the edge of the system. It all made sense, of course. Reasonable cautions for newcors.
She wasnt assigned to any specific team, so after they were escorted to where they would be staying- an uncomfortably nice hotel of sorts. At least she was fairly certain it had already existed instead of being constructed for their visit. She had so experience with luxury- shed never known true poverty, at least- but the Fire and Ice Palace had made sure that its disciples understood that luxury was not the core pursuit of cultivators, nor even a necessary byproduct of power.
She wanted to look for the Sergeant, but she didnt. Plausible deniability and all that. So she just lay on her bed, glad to be in proper gravity instead of a ship.
A knock ca on her door, jolting her consciousness. Had she fallen asleep? She could have. Either way, now was the ti to get moving. She walked to the door, opening it. On the other side of the door was a woman who appeared older than Anishka- though given the difference in cultivation that may not be correct. She had olive skin and dark hair. She was also using a technique Anishka had been shown before at the sa ti as Anishka scanned her for being part of the Twin Soul Sect.
Anishka smiled. Everything check out?
Yes, the woman nodded. How about on your end?
I hope you would know the answer to that, Anishka said. But I think Im more the kind of person who would kill a strange mber of the Twin Soul Sect who showed up at my door without thinking about political consequences. And yet here you are.
My apologies, the woman said. My na is Nezihe. I am to be your guide and defender while you are here.
Anishka nodded. Not to be rude but defender?
It will be more convenient for us if you do not have to personally respond, should such unfortunate circumstances arrive, the woman said, holding her head high. Well, her cultivation wasnt bad. But the late Life Transformation stage just wasnt enough. Anishka had achieved Assimilation so ti ago- though she couldnt say shed advanced much further than the early stage.
I see. How likely are such incidents?
Nezihe shrugged. There is no precedent for outsiders.
I suppose your presence is also to assure people that I am properly being watched.
I cant deny that. And if anyone wanted to, they should have picked soone else.
Good, Anishka said. I prefer this. Anishka didnt mind openly studying Nezihes cultivation. This was what she was here for, after all. Sort of. She was sort of wispy, like air. And yet there were hints of stones and even water and fire. An interesting cultivation style. Four elents based, but focused on one?
Thats right.
Too bad, Anishka shook her head. I have a lot of things to say about fire and ice, but theyd probably just throw off your internal balance.
Nezihe frowned. Arent those two inherently in conflict?
Anishka grinned. You should have seen my parents. She hadnt seen it directly, of course. Her father died while her mother was pregnant with her. But there had already been so videos, using older Ruteran technology. She liked to keep those. She kind of wished she could show this person, just to have an excuse to watch them.
Perhaps overcoming the difficulties of such a cultivation style is how you reached your current heights, Nezihe comnted.
I wouldnt say thats wrong, but its certainly not complete. Fighting through contradictions works just as well as following a clear path. There are simply other understandings one must co to. But we should probably not just stand around here. What would you recomnd I see first?
Taron has many things to see. What would you prefer?
I want to see the worst part of the city, Anishka said.
... oh.
It doesnt have to be the most dangerous. I understand that every world has places that are less than ideal. But I would prefer to look at the place that is the most run down. After all, when seeking prosperity one must consider every area. Taking so ti to see how things ca to be is a necessity.
Understood. Would you prefer to walk? Nezihe asked.
That would depend on how acceptable it is for us to move quickly, Anishka said. Or how far we have to go.
It is likely better for us to take an automatic carriage, Nezihe comnted.
Then let us do so, Anishka replied easily. She wondered about the automatic carriages for a short ti, but they turned out to be quite similar to familiar versions of cars with a different control sche. Rather than physical controls, it relied more on the cultivator to direct the flow of energy. Interesting. I havent seen a vehicle quite like this one.
Nezihe frowned. And yet, you appear unimpressed.
Not intentionally, Anishka said. The complexity of the formations is impressive. I just wonder if its necessary.
How could it be better? Nezihe asked seriously.
Unfortunately, Im more likely to make a fool of myself than to actually provide improvents. And I havent seen it in action yet, so it could easily be bias. Please, go on.
Her final judgnt? It wasnt bad, but it also wasnt good. It was effective, certainly. Nezihe was able to accelerate and decelerate quickly, turning where she needed to while the ride was quite steady. But the problem was that it took her to run the vehicle. In short, a strong cultivator. Anishka thought an Essence Collection cultivator might be enough, but early stage could be insufficient.
Since the ti to attain such a cultivation ranged from a handful of years to a couple decades, it was a long journey for anyone who had not already begun.
Are there lower performance options? Anishka asked. What is the minimum cultivation required to use one of these automatic carriages?
Essence Collection, Nezihe confird. Its not ideal, but with the world cultivation project there will be more people who et those requirents, will there not?
Yes but until that point, most people cant have access to this. And I assu it is not cheap.
Thats true, the other woman agreed. But can anything so amazing ever be inexpensive?
You would be surprised. Though there was so difference to be had between those things that were made efficiently and priced for low cost and those things that were truly not worth much, cheap products had few return custors. And in a world of cultivators, competition for long term custors could be quite high.
Anishka wondered where they were headed. Slums, an old industrial area? Certainly it should still be within the bounds of the city- or perhaps just outside. She had no illusions that she would be able to walk in and magically make the place better but an outsiders perspective might be valuable. Or they might laugh at her and say change was impossible, in which case shed be even more motivated to make it happen sohow.
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