Upon removing all of the rubble surrounding the structure hidden within the broken pillar, it revealed itself to be something akin to an elongated bean.
Stably hammered into the ground, it was topped off by a round dome with three hand imprints facing outwards.
And upon seeing such an arrangement, it didn't take a genius to realize that this was meant for them.
To begin with, there weren't many people that could manage to utilize hand imprints in technology, even less so the number of people that could've hidden such a device in the cave they were in.
If it weren't for the guide somehow tracking Ester to this place and the fact that Astra was helping them, the location of this base would've remained known to a number that could be counted on one hand.
Especially since there were names carved atop the imprints, names only known to a number that could be counted on one hand.
That hand was probably a mutated one with seven fingers, but again, it wasn't even a very large number.
Even less so when three of the ones who could've possibly known of this location had died long ago, the two surviving ones having no interest in this base.
'Well maybe she would have an interest.'
Recalling the grey eyes of the one who they cut contacts with and had appeared a few days ago unannounced, Eva's shoe soles slapping against the cold stone ground caught his attention.
[Are you coming]
Bland feminine voice questioning him, Ester snapped out of his own thoughts and moved towards his own section.
It seemed that she reached the same conclusion he did.
Standing astride the metal pole, he stared at the metallic rod no doubt containing a message from their mentors.
'They're really thoughtful.'
Seeing that it was a metallic groove in the shape of his right hand instead of his left for obvious reasons, Eva raised her left hand and placed it into the groove.
Following soon after, he ungloved himself, his pale fingers thick with calluses were exposed to the air as he placed it onto the hand imprint carved with his own name.
Meeting each other's grey eyes, they nodded imperceptibly to each other and infused their internal Aether into the rod.
*Flinch
Instantly, a thin needle penetrated through the layers of thick skin, drawing a droplet of blood onto the skin as the center of their palms bled.
Bringing their palms away, the sound of machinery whirring to life reached their ears as the top of the blue dome glowed blue as a hologram slowly began to form atop it.
And despite anticipating it, the voice that leaked out of the hologram seemed to sweet of a lie to the ears.
[Long time no see kiddo's]
A familiar voice.
A voice that they hadn't heard for a year.
A voice that they shouldn't be able to here ever again since its owner fell into an eternal slumber.
Speaking lightly and languidly, a man's confident yet relaxed voice belied the heavy message it carried.
Hands pressed into their pockets, they carried themselves with a lax stance, a greasy smile covering their face as a beard missing the best part of a beard, the mustache atop the upper lip hung messily across their face.
Grey eyes shining, the holograms eyes stared at the duo.
[By now you smart little bastards should've figured out that these pillars have absolutely no use in supporting this hall thanks to the hint]
Ester and Eva looked at each other simultaneously before shaking their heads in shared denial.
As children born on this planet, they were hard pressed to learn things outside of what they were taught.
And since their mentor, Gabriel Echo only taught them certain subjects, architecture not included, they were unable to discover such a flaw.
In that manner, they weren't exactly prodigies that could discover inefficiencies in structural integrity.
To begin with, there were no hints of such a message and without a coincidence, this message would've never seen the light of a lamp.
[If you guys understood the hint left behind, which I know you will, then this man would like to offer my congratulations, no matter how belated.]
Ester blinked.
"What hint is he talking about?"
[I don't know either.]
Staring at each other in confusion, their mentor forcefully caused them to put aside their questions as he spoke.
[So have you guys been doing well?]
"Uh... I... Yes?" Ester stuttered at the sudden question, the hologram nodded their head with a playful smile.
[Of course, I'm not expecting a positive answer, if my prediction comes to bear fruit, I'm most probably dead.]
The man chuckled.
[But if it is a positive answer, then I can only say... as expected of you guys.]
The man leisurely brought up their hands and tapped at the air in front of them, forming dots in the air.
[Now that I think about it, the best case scenario is for you guys to never have to ever see this message, but if you are then it's the worse case scenario.]
He chuckled leisurely while rubbing his chin.
[Architects above, what am I thinking? So negative, if they are seeing this, then no wonder I died.]
Staring at the collection of star signs set in front of him forming a free weave, the man stood silently in thought before suddenly waving away the floating stars.
[Oh what am I doing, dancing around the subject] Slapping at his face to psyche himself up, a particularly serious look appeared on the mans face.
[My name is Gabriel Echo, one of the last of the Echo line]
Ester and Eva locked eyes with each other in subtle but present confusion
They knew that Gabriel, their mentor was an impressive person, someone of definite status.
But that was before they were exiled here.
Here, the only thing you could rely on were your own skills, a name was nothing more than a way to dub someone.
And since their mentor never bothered to mention his last name, they never bothered to dig into it.
So why was he mentioning it now?
Well he began to explain.
[You guys are probably confused onto why I suddenly mentioned my last name right? Well it's because...]
He rubbed his head full of natural blue hair, the identifying feature of Current Branded
[...Architects this is embarrassing.] He took in a deep breath. [I want you guys to carry our family's last name.]
"!?"
[What]
'What indeed' Perhaps feeling the confusion from beyond the veil, Gabriel smiled softly and continued.
[Of course, I'm not making this decision without much thought, I just think you guys deserve to carry our name, after I die, you guys will be the last of the line.]
[And if I don't tell you in this message, I don't think I'll be able to ever tell you.] He chuckled to himself. [Besides, didn't me and my brother teach you everything while you grew up? You could take our last name at the least.]
A depreciating smile covered his face, a tired look suddenly dimming the youthful jubilance on his features.
[Anyways, I should get back to the topic, I'm probably dead, and if that's the case, we left behind a few things for you guys.]
Pointing at the pillar opposite to the one where they were at, he continued.
[The other one is also a fake pillar, this one has the hologram record, but the other one contains our gifts to you all.]
They broke through the stone covering the pillar, surprisingly brittle for something that should've been made out of hard metal, they unearthed three cases.
[The top one is for you Ester-]
Ester took the top box and opened it, revealing a pair of black gleaming Katars.
[-The Middle is for you Eva-]
Eva took the middle box and opened it, revealing a chain staff completed with bladed ends
[And the last one is for you Astra]
No one took the last box.
[Once you guys have gotten all of our gifts, underneath this metal rod is a small node, use the last thing I taught you on that.]
Ester placed his hand just besides the node, tapping at the air with small movements to create a small cluster of white dots.
"Elphim"
Pushing it into the node, the node brightened before unlocking whatever it was hiding.
[In there, you guys should find a map, supplies, a whole kilogram of Aether dust and a special locator.]
Taking out said items, Gabriel Echo continued.
[You guys probably don't know this, but the Echo family were actually natives of this planet before it became a trash planet, and because of that, we have knowledge that most other factions wouldn't]
He brought out an exact replica- no, the map before it was hidden in the pillar and tapped on its surface.
[Because of that, I've taken the liberty of marking down certain points of interest that you may like to visit, just so you know, this map is the latest work of a well trusted source, so you should only need to reference a few things]
Staring at the several red points on the large sheet of paper, Ester noted that these were places that had remained relatively unchanged.
[And just to clarify] A thin smile covered his face [I sincerely recommend that you guys visit these points of interest, they might contain things that you guys might be surprised and interested in.]
[Hopefully Harris didn't spoil everything for you guys.] Waving at them, Gabriel smiled softly [I still wish you guys success in leaving this planet for better frontiers
Blinking out of existence, the blue light shining at the top of the dome shut down, causing Ester and Eva to fall into their own respective silences so that they could understand the information dumped onto them.
But in the end, there was only one conclusion to be had.
This was a message left by their mentor containing their last wishes.
A fire burnt in the ashes of Ester's eyes.
And he would be damned to let his wish go unfulfilled.
"Pack up our things Eva, we leave by dawn."
+++
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