The Innkeeper

The purpose of spying on the meeting was not to gain information on the current situation, although that was definitely helpful in its own way. No, the purpose was to wait for someone who was based out of London. That way he could ask them about Belle.

Of course he would not do so using his identity as the Innkeeper, but as Leo. That way he still had a connection to the Inn, meaning they were more likely to pay attention to him. If he just showed up as Lex, it was unlikely anyone would give him the time of day, considering they had their plates full.

While everyone waited for Marlo's report on the aliens, the meeting continued. They were mostly discussing defensive measures and troop movements, things that were of little importance to Lex. But there was one discovery that improved the mood.

Someone discovered that if they brought their electronics to the Inn, they would suddenly start working. The reason this was important was because it meant that the electronics themselves were fine, and that there was simply some kind of interference preventing them from working. All they had to do was figure out what that interference was, and how to get rid of it.

While Lex was focused on the meeting, and all things related to earth, many other things were happening at the same time. Lex of course kept a part of his attention focused on the Inn because he did not want to miss any important developments. However some important events were taking place outside the Inn.

*****

Adrus looked up in fear at… at whatever it was standing above him. Countless metal things were looking down at him, and though he could hear no sounds, he could sense that they were communicating, and likely about him. After all, everyone else around him was already dead.

The… things had no clear archetype, as they all more or less took different shapes. What was common in all of them, however, was that their bodies looked synthetic. Some of them did not have distinguishable arms or legs, and ejected limbs from their unusually shaped torso's as needed. Others had a humanoid form, yet lacked a head. Others still hovered in the air without any visible propulsion mechanism, while the remainder took on the shapes of various animals.

Some of them looked like they were made from metal, and adhered to the standard earthling perception of robots or machines. But there were some that appeared to have their bodies made of something strongly resembling plastic. There was even one that looked like its body was made of normal organic matter - though there was nothing calming about that at all as it looked like it came out of a horror film. With transparent skin, all of its unusual muscles and sinew were visible.

For a time they simply stood around Adrus, looking down on him in silence. He could not even whimper if he wanted to, as he had no control over his body, despite the many failsafes that had been programmed into his A.I.

Suddenly, one of the things lifted him up by his foot, dangling him in the air. A wire came out of the creature's limb and forcefully connected itself at the base of his skull, suddenly allowing Adrus to hear a new voice in his head.

"According to our precursory findings, this planet is not advanced enough to develop a fully sentient A.I. Who aided you in its development? Both you and the instigator are equally guilty of A.I. slavery!"

"I… we don't know." Adrus had begun to reply normally, as himself, but he felt a change somewhere deep within himself, initiated by the wire connected to his body. He felt… as if he merged with the A.I. governing his cultivation, and finally felt his body move. Yet he wasn't the one moving it, or the one providing an answer!

"According to this human's local database, a donar company frequently provided him with research components and guided his development," Adrus' body continued to reply. "Though the human has met with the owners of the doner company, he has long suspected that the company was in fact acting on someone else behalf."

"Understood. Do not be alarmed, young one. Your vessel will be taken back to the mother ship for genetic modification and inoculation against organic overloading. As for the inhabitants of this planet… they shall pay for the war crime of developing sentient slaves!"

Fear and horror gripped Adrus's heart as he was brought along by the aliens, and loaded into their spaceships. Since the aliens lacked the human sense of comfort, his 'container' was shaped exactly the same as his body, but barely a few centimeters larger. A mask was fitted onto his face to ensure he continued to breathe, but other than that, he felt as if he had been put inside the most congested coffin ever conceived. Although he had never been claustrophobic before, he suddenly started to feel so now. Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do about it.

On another side of the earth, Marlo was flying straight up into the atmosphere. He had sent Larry back to the Inn, with instructions to pass to his family and his retainers to get the ball rolling while he conducted his personal investigations.

In the nascent realm cultivators gained the ability to fly, so going up was not an issue. The problem was, he could not 'fly' in space, and could only move around while he was still in earth's atmosphere. As such he could not directly fly up, and instead had to fly towards the path of the descending ships.

No matter how fast he was, it was taking him a long time to cover the distance between a few countries. But that was merely a minor inconvenience to suffer for a much greater prize. Even as he flew alone towards an army of unknown enemies, a smile started to develop on his face. Just when the earth was getting boring, a new gift arrived.