"Koryl, could you light me up?" Zara stared at me, lying on her back, head and arms plunged in a tangle of cables.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" I looked away from the volcano vomiting a blue lava flow and joined my Guardian. "My mind was on other things."

"It's nothing, she mumbled, the handle of a screwdriver between her teeth. Right there."

I slipped through the opening and dashed my beam over the amalgam of plastic and copper. Zara approached a thin tin wire to the circuit board and her face tightened; her eyes tinged with Light. The end of the wire began to glow, becoming incandescent, and the Warlock covered the stripped cables with molten metal, restoring the connections. Satisfied, she closed the panel and crawled out from under the console.

I reached the computer desk and the screen lit up, flooding the dark room with a pale light. The symbol of the Ishtar Collective appeared in a stylized animation, then shifted aside to make way for a long list of files.

Zara shouted an exclamation of victory and began to search into the Collective's database. I landed on her shoulder, buried in the folds of her armor. My Guardian was frantically tapping the keyboard, scrolling through hundreds of esoteric signs.

"I have trouble understanding everything that is written, I confessed. How do you find your way around?"

"My knowledge of Golden Age languages is no more developed than yours, Koryl. But the mathematical laws are immutable."

"What do you hope to find? The schematics of a molecular forge? A new processor architecture? The City would certainly have use for it. "

I felt Zara's body tighten and she chewed her lip. Her ember eyes met my gaze for a moment and then returned to the screen.

"Zara?"

"The scientists of the Collective were studying the Vex in the Ishtar Sink. The Kabr fireteam disappeared in this region. If we find the keys to the Citadel, or to the Vault of Glass, we will be able to find their trace."

"Are you still chasing the Vault?" I moved away, exasperated. "Zara, it's only a legend!"

"I'm sure it exists. According to Osiris..."

"Osiris would be willing to tell anything to get all the Guardians to search for the Vex. He has no sense of priorities."

I circled around my Guardian, who didn't stop tapping.

"Zara, listen to me. The Vex don't have the same perception of time as we do, Osiris himself has established that!" I approached her, trying to hide the screen. Finally, her fingers stopped wiggling on the keyboard. "They can wait. We have lost too much in Luna's attack to disperse ourselves in..."

She struck me with her eyes, cutting off my speech.

"I know about the Great Disaster." Her eyes glowed more intensely than usual, resembling the Solar fire that had incinerated so many Knights of the Hive. "We were both there."

"Then you understand that we can't waste time with the Vex! The City has never been so vulnerable, and the scouts of Andal keep reporting Fallen gatherings around the Wall. Meanwhile, our Vanguard Commander is sending entire fireteams of his followers all over the system instead of strengthening our defenses!"

"I am not part of the cult of Osiris."

"It seems, though."

A heavy silence settled in. Zara crossed her arms and planted her eyes in mine. Was it disappointment that I read in her eyes?

"I can't believe you would think that."

Zara started to tap on the keyboard again. Seeing that I couldn't change her mind, I sighed and moved away. For a moment I hesitated to return to the ship to contact the rest of the fireteam. They surely could bring my Guardian to her senses...

This sudden obsession for the Vex had surprised me. Thinking about it, I tell myself that Zara had been no less so. But when Pahanin returned to the Tower, raving about the Vault of Glass and the reality-twisting Vex hiding within it, she started compiling all the records in the City mentioning the killer robots. Fatally, she ended up with the Prophecies of Osiris. I accompanied her on Mercury, on Mars, boarding the transports of the Disciples who were following their prophet. Knowing her passion for mysteries, I had not worried.

And then, Pahanin disappeared as well. Zara requested a ship capable of taking her to Venus, using as a pretext a harvest of Golden Age components from the ruins of the Academy of Ishtar. Obviously, Osiris supported this expedition, knowing the strong presence of the Vex on this planet. Knowing that this investigation was motivated by Zara's thirst for knowledge alone, and not by empathy for these lost Guardians, saddened me.

I left the building through a shattered window. The incessant rain hammered at my shell. According to Zara, the atmosphere smelled of sulfur and wet earth. I was quite inclined to believe her. I climbed to the top of the broken building. Just a few miles away, the volcanic cliffs were under repeated surges of the raging ocean. One could hardly imagine a more hostile environment.

Yet, as I contemplated the ruins of the Academy, I was dying to crawl into every nook and cranny, to explore every square meter of this planet reclaimed by mankind... or by the Vex. I had to get this curiosity from the decades I had spent with my Guardian. If only she was less detached from the present moment, closer to the City!

It seemed that our desires were not compatible. I, who savored every second spent under the Traveler, surrounded by people and Guardians with varied personalities, each with his own story to share!

In a way, we were both explorers. Was that why the Traveler had brought us together?

"We are quite a good team, I admitted aloud. And now Osiris, who claims that the Traveler is the herald of the apocalypse!" I didn't understand how the legend of the Six Fronts could hold such statements.

I stared inside the building. Through the broken floors and rusty metal bars, I saw Zara, extracting data to store it in an engram. I remembered the members of the Cult, dressed in their yellow and black robes, zealots rejecting the words of the Speaker en bloc without really trying to understand the teachings of the Warlock whom they had raised to the rank of demigod. My Guardian behaved like a true scientist; it was normal for her to get close to this man who put his research before the near future of the City. After all, it was what she did best too.

I realized that I had overreacted by comparing her to the followers of Osiris and prepared to come down to her to apologize. However, a familiar hum drew my attention to the sky. A luminous vortex akin to a reddish quasar swept the clouds apart, and a gigantic Ketch emerged from warp. The cyan banner of a House whose symbol I could not recognize floated on its side. A few moments later, the shock wave of such a mass entering the atmosphere shook the coast, breaking the few still intact panes of glass. Dozens of Skiffs emerged from the belly of the spacecraft, heading towards the Academy.

"Fallen! I shouted as I rushed to Zara's side."

"How many? "

"Way too many. We have to get out of here." I crept towards the windows, watching for the scavengers to arrive.

"I need just one more minute." Zara drew her compound bow and checked that her sidearm was loaded. "Transmat the engram to the ship as soon as it's ready. I'll create a diversion."

I didn't really have time to ask what she meant by "diversion": Zara came out of the building, shards of glass cracking under her boots, and put on her helmet. Then she waited for the Skiffs to disembark their passengers.

An arrow charged with Void pierced the skull of a Dreg, causing an amethyst flower bud to blossom and consume a dozen Fallen. Three more arrows followed before the pirates spotted my Guardian. They proceeded toward the top of the hill, their feet slipping on the wet grass and their blades crackling with Arc current. Vandals took up positions behind the low walls surrounding the entrance to the Academy. Zara started running, lowering her head and swerving to avoid the projectiles of the wire rifles. Sparks of Arc Light crackled through her fingers, and lightning struck the Fallen, lifting the earth and shattering the stone. Those who were not reduced to ashes died from the detonation of their Captain's shield, unable to withstand the overload. A Vandal brandished his shock blade, attempting to strike her in the back. The Warlock shifted to pure electric current and moved in the blink of an eye over her enemy's flank. Drawing her own sword, she sliced through the flesh and the steaming Ether gushed forth, splashing on her armor.

Behind me, the computer signaled the end of the data transfer. I quickly transmatted the engram and myself to the ship and started the engine. More Skiffs arrived, and Zara was still in the middle of the stone square, dancing with the storm, lightning pulsing with every beat of her heart. I flew over the area and got my Guardian on board, letting her take the commands.

Moments later, we were on our way to the City, safe and sound.

"What does this engram contain?" I examined the shiny object with curiosity.

"The blueprints of a probability kiln."

"Really?" I quickly went through the schematics. "It's fantastic! With that, the forges will be able to multiply their production."

Zara did not answer anything. The distortion tunnel stretched to infinity, projecting colorful patterns into the cockpit. The milky swirls running through her skin were like foam covering a calm sea.

"And... nothing about the Vault?" I asked in an uncertain tone. About the Citadel?"

"Nothing."

Zara's lips formed a smile, and a chuckle shook her shoulders.

"Back to square one, I guess... I may have to consult with Osiris to uncover new leads. What do you say?"

I hesitated for a second, looking for an appropriate answer. Then it appeared to me naturally, and I exclaimed with delight: "Excellent idea!"