Page 39 of Grounded (Convergence #1)

With the thunderous closing of the barrier, Liria lost her vision.

Any light she made would draw attention to herself, so she left the lightstick in her jacket pocket for the time being.

That rumble had been bad enough. So loud, in fact, that she waited in the dark, giving her eyes time to adjust and her ears time to hear any approaching Nethren.

No Nethren came to investigate, and Liria's eyes did their job at last. Complete darkness turned into a dim tunnel with a faint glow at the end of it. She crept along silently, pebbles skittering under her boots. At the end of the tunnel, she found the light source.

They were in the walls—half-spheres of glass set into metal housings.

The light that spilled from them wasn't as bright as the energy lights they used on the surface, but it did the job.

Metal tubes ran horizontally away from them, extending down the tunnel to the next light.

They must have an energy source, but it wasn't magic.

She assumed their fuel came through those tubes.

It grew colder. Damp. But the lights grew more plentiful until the rock walls were covered in metal panels and tubing.

It was all downhill, the path taking her deeper with every step.

Liria expected to encounter sentries at any moment.

But they never appeared. Eventually, she realized that there was no point in posting guards.

The Nethren knew no Medean would ever venture down there.

And as for the Aethari, it would be a death sentence.

The thought sent a slice of fear down her spine—for Thax, not herself.

But then the calm returned. The longer Thax was down there, the weaker he'd get.

But with magic so strong within him, she was hoping the process would be slower.

Regardless, Liria had to hurry.

With the appearance of the fully tech walls, the damp disappeared. It got warmer. Sounds came. Grew louder. Whirring. Clanking. Churning. Machinery sounds. Sounds of technology.

The path branched. Liria felt her feet veer to the right despite her intention to go straight.

She let the urge lead her, dampening her reasoning until it was only instinct.

Everything became a spectacle to her. The stone floor turned to metal.

Metal walls became machinery. Lights flashed and zoomed along wires within that machinery.

Liria turned down a corridor. Crept along. Came to an opening.

Easing up to the edge as she squinted against an onslaught of light, Liria pressed her back against the warm, metal wall and peered down into a city of steel, glass, and stone. Gaping, she surveyed what no Medean had ever seen.

A Nethren city.

Medeans didn't give the Nethren enough credit. They were seen as beasts when in actuality, they were advanced machines with the minds of Medeans. And they had built something incredible down there, far away from the Source of Magic.

Liria thought the cities on the surface of Para were wondrous.

Those in the sky were said to be even more so.

But this was beyond anything she could conceive .

It was an entire ecosystem built upon and run by machinery.

The buildings moved, adjusting their heights, ledges, windows, and more to the whims of their masters.

Light filtered down from above, the entire cavern ceiling covered in strange panels that mimicked sunlight.

It diffused down through misty clouds manufactured by vents in the walls and onto the shining city below that, despite its differences, also bore many similarities to surface cities.

Why would the Nethren come to the surface when they had all this? Maybe the parts of them that were still Medean longed for true sunlight. Or maybe for the freedom of fresh air and open spaces. Liria couldn't say. She could hardly comprehend what she was seeing.

Although there was a lot of tech—like the metal vehicles rumbling and chugging through stone streets—there was also an abundance of plant life.

Green everywhere. On rooftops, in planters on the sidewalks, in parkland, and even in large spaces where crops grew.

Liria had expected a tech nightmare, but this was beautiful.

But of course. Just as she had told Thax, tech was the application of science, and science included all of the natural world. Here it was. Nature underground.

Unfortunately, the beauty was poisoned by the monsters who inhabited it.

They strode down the sidewalks, rode their vehicles, and took moving platforms up and down the walls to the multitude of tunnels that opened to the city.

Those holes stared at Liria. Ominous eyes.

Those many tunnels meant the city wasn't alone.

There were other caverns underground connected to this one.

Not just other cities, but possibly extensions of this city.

Like an anthill spreading in all directions.

The Nethren looked like ants to her from that vantage point.

Metal ants scrambling about their metal hills.

Despite all their achievements, they weren't satisfied.

Whatever they wanted on the surface, it was worth sacrificing convergence for.

They didn't care if they destroyed all the magic on Para.

Maybe that was their goal. Then, they could build more of these shining cities on the surface.

Of course, that was it. They wanted to spread and conquer.

They fought for technology. They didn't understand what they'd do to the world.

They were so wrapped up in tech that they didn't see the lack of harmony in their existence.

As beautiful as the city was, there was no convergence there. And to Liria, that was terrifying.

Wait. Why was she suddenly afraid? Where was the calm that had been with her throughout her journey?

Liria felt it then. The heaviness inside her.

The magic that was always in balance within her was withering.

No, not withering—withdrawing. Despite what the Source of Magic had said to her through the Speaker, it had to pull back in the presence of so much technology.

It was still there, just not at the level it should be.

Unbalanced. And if Liria felt like that, she couldn't imagine how Thax was feeling.

If he were still alive.

“He is,” Liria whispered, knowing it to be true.

And then, staring out across the massive metal city, Liria felt a path to Thax.

Odd. On her trip down, she felt led and comforted.

It had to be the Source of Magic, doing what it could for her, as promised.

But this guidance felt different. Hotter.

Brighter. Sharper. It cleared Liria's mind and focused her past her fear.

Not comfort exactly, but it was useful. It had to be the Source of Technology.

“I'm coming, Thax. Hold on.”

Oh, this was how technology had seduced the Nethren.

Such clarity of mind could become addictive.

Liria closed her eyes and felt the Source of Technology reaching for her.

That mental sharpening may stem from the core of the world, but it was still her mind.

And her mind told her that she needed tech to save Thax.

To move through this city undetected, Liria had to become one of the Nethren.

Temporarily, of course. So, she focused on technology and summoned it.

Cool power rushed through her veins, and she saw the city anew.

Eyes opened by new wisdom, she traced the wires and tubes that were the veins of the city, moving tech-made energy through every building, light, and vehicle.

Even the walls. She saw how it all functioned, and instead of marveling at it, she learned. She understood. It made sense.

Liria reached out to the left without looking, her hand going to a panel there. Stare still locked on the path tech had laid out for her, she punched in a code. A platform came level with her tunnel, but before she stepped out onto it, she set both hands on the wall.

“Come on, Techy,” she taunted. “You know you want me. Show me what you can do. Make me want you back.”

But nothing happened. Nothing but knowledge.

Technology didn't want her. Not like that.

It didn't want to rule the surface. It didn't want to kill magic.

It craved harmony. And she knew that. She was a Medean.

She knew magic and technology were siblings.

Partners. Two sides of the same coin. They worked together.

Tech hadn't pushed magic down in her. It simply was stronger here, so it took over with guiding her.

Magic had handed over the reins willingly, knowing that Liria would be taken care of.

Faced with the Nethren city, Liria had briefly forgotten the truth.

Technology seeped to the surface because it was part of the surface.

It was a part of every physical thing in and on Para.

But it also reached upward to find those who would weave it with its counterpart.

Like lovers, magic and technology were drawn together.

Convergence was their loving union and often resulted in magnificent procreation.

But they needed Medeans to join them. Technology did want her, but not to consume her.

It wanted what she could do for it. This wasn't a seduction—it was a bargain.

“You want me to converge? I need magic for that. You've gotta let it pass. I don't know how you're going to do that. Maybe make a bubble around me? Draw back—oh, I see.”

Suddenly, the sharp clarity in Liria's mind was tempered by emotions.

Her love for Thax exploded with the rise of magic inside her.

Magic allowed her to feel fully—emotions being the complementary counterpart of reasoning.

They tempered each other. And that was something only a Medean could understand.