It seemed clear to me that the lightning arcs were definitely not hurting the flesh golems; could they actually be invigorating them?

There was only one way to find out!

“Eshami, smash those devices! I’ll fight the monsters!”

I stepped in between Eshami and the two fleshy automatons, readying my blade as I did so. The two golem-like creatures lunged at me, their mechanical gears whirring as they swung haphazardly.

I noticed that, although menacing, these monsters were hardly a match for me and my blade, and between fire and ice attacks, I was able to dispatch one almost immediately.

There was a crackle of lightning and thunder as a bolt of electricity shot out from one of the machines that Eshami was demolishing with her longsword. The bolt arced between the devices, striking the fallen golem.

I saw its eyes reignite and its gears begin to whir again.

I was right! It was regenerating!

“Hurry, Eshami!” I called out as I slid past the fallen golem to parry a strike from the still fighting one.

The golem on the ground was struggling to stand up, flailing and thrashing its arms and legs.

It was still dangerous.

Eshami obliterated one of the devices she had been beating with her sword, its mechanical sounds finally falling silent.

One down, one to go, I thought with a smirk.

I slammed my foot down on the chest of the golem struggling to rise up off the ground, and impaled it with my sword. It sparked and convulsed, then fell silent and still.

I looked up at the second one as it was backing up slowly toward the end of the room. A large window behind it displayed flickering black and white horizontal lines that zigzagged across it.

The second golem’s eyes glowed more brightly suddenly, and the beast lunged toward me, flailing its arms in an attempt to knock me aside. It landed a couple of good blows, but I managed to deflect most of the force with my blade — just.

Eshami had now smashed all the arcing devices in the room with her blade. She switched back to her hand crossbow to provide me with support.

“Aww, thanks Eshami!” I said over-affectionately as I continued my fight with the monster.

A bolt whizzed by my ear, narrowly missing the giant target I just placed on the back of my head. I heard a brief giggle from her.

Hey, wasn’t I supposed to be your great hero? I asked myself.

Oh well. I guess I deserved that one.

The monster tripped and stumbled over a pile of debris in the back of the room with the fuzzy window — it was either some kind of magic portal or a really bad work of art!

I made an opportunity of the creature’s stumble, and jumped at it, slashing with my icy blade. Its thrashing slowed as I continued, unrelenting, until its limbs fell limp onto the metallic floor with a clang.

The room was silent save for me and Eshami now, with the creatures defeated and the arcing lightning devices destroyed.

“What manner of room is this?” Eshami asked, looking around the room. Her usual air of calm and serenity was slowly returning.

“Well, if this is the control room of a ship,” I reasoned, stabbing at random debris on the cluttered floor, “then perhaps this Control Room acts as both the bridge and command center. Look at all these strange devices…”

I kicked the dead golem at the front of the room out of the way and half-heartedly stab at the pile of refuse under the fuzzy window.

“Ouch!”

I nearly jumped into the air at the unexpected yelp. I was poking around for loot — a passive habit — but instead, I discovered a person under the rubble!

A bloodied and bruised hand slowly reached out to me. I glanced at Eshami, who stood in stunned awe. I kept my weapon ready, but grasped the hand with my other and pulled with all my might.

A human male was attached to the hand!

He looked injured and sickly. I suddenly remembered the potion Eshami gave me earlier, uncapped its rubber stopper, and shoved it down the man’s throat. He coughed and gagged, eventually waving me back.

“It tastes awful, but it works,” I reassured the man with a smile. “Maybe you can tell us what’s going on here finally.”

The man looked at me strangely, tilting his head to the side as a puppy would.

Eshami stepped up to me to whisper in my ear. “Maybe he will understand Celestial.” She turned to him and offered a simple greeting in the language of the divine.

His ears perked up, and he gasped audibly.

Eshami was practically vibrating with joy. She slowly introduced us both to the man and waited for his response.

He touched some metallic badge on his neck and turned to me. He began to speak, and after an instant, I understood his words.

“ — activated my translator. Can you understand me now?” he asked me, then looked to Eshami.

Somehow, his lips moved, but the sound I heard was different, changed. It seemed the man could speak in many tongues, including ours!

“Thank you for saving my life,” he said thankfully, offering what in his world might have been a salute or a gesture of greeting. “How did you get here?”

I explained to him that an angel summoned us, teleported us onto the Ark, then left us to fend for ourselves. Thankfully, he seemed as confused by this as me.

Perhaps teleporting angels weren’t a thing where he was from, either!

He returned my kindness by describing the events that led him and his ship here. “The ship was heading right for the singularity, just as we planned, but then — there was blackness, followed by explosions, and all our controls went dead. When I came to the Pilot Servitors had lost their damn minds and attacked me!”

Pilot Servitors. Those golems had merely been the ship’s drivers?

“I’m sorry, but they attacked first. I had to kill them,” I confessed.

The man held out his arms. “Don’t apologize! They attacked me too…” he looked pensive for a moment. “Perhaps traveling through the wormhole changed them somehow — made them behave differently…”

“Wormhole?”

He nodded. “We are probably on the other side of the wormhole, yes.” He examined my confused stare and elaborated. “A bridge between our two worlds. We always assumed it would fly us into oblivion, yet… here we are…”

He took an uneasy step forward and held out his hand. “First contact protocol, then. I am Ark Attendant Olear Dom. Pleasure.”

I stifled a gasp. This was the man that we had been warned about! But was the threat credible? Who was the creature who had died in Eshami’s arms?

What was the angel’s true reason for sending us here?