"Assistant, the Vex are capturing the sync plate. Stop them immediately!"

Zara grunted as she reloaded her firearm. A Line Rifle shot had pierced her thigh, and the stinging pain had forced her to retreat from the plate. A huge Minotaur stood in its center, and the structure was already illuminated with a red light.

"Goblins are approaching the Conflux. Do something about it!"

"I'm working on it!" A grenade disintegrated the sacrificial Vex. Zara came out of her cover, and a void arrow detonated the Minotaur's shield, quickly finished off with a palm blow.

The Warlock retook position on the plate, which was circled with white lines. Koryl took advantage of the respite to heal his Guardian, who sighed with relief as she felt the pain fade away.

"Others are coming. Hide, Little Light."

The Vex structure in the center of the sync plate exploded. A Hydra emerged from a cloud of ashes, uttering a furious cry. A dozen Harpies followed, protected by shields shimmering with blue energy.

Zara smiled and took a long breath. When she exhaled, the air was charged with Arc Light. The Warlock wrapped herself in lightning and swooped on the Vex, overwhelming the defensive systems of the machines and leaving only ashes in her path.

"Ha!" Her laughter resonated in the Giant's Scar, as she teleported to other enemies and unleashed her lightning. "You'd better run, you little—"

A void orb struck her head on, killing her instantly.

"Zara!"

The Guardian opened her eyes, and saw her Ghost inclined over her.

"Are you all right?"

"Yeah. Thanks for the rez'."

"Glad to hear it, but the Vexes are approaching the Conflux! If they reach it, this precious data will be lost forever!"

"We got this, Asher."

Zara got back on her feet and drew her bow. A little further on, perched on top of a mound of rock and sulfur, the Cyclops that had killed her was charging another round.

Her weapon would not be able to overcome such a platform. The Warlock sprinted to avoid the shot and took care of the Vex agglutinated against the Conflux. One of them had passed during her trip to the realm of the dead, but the structure was still standing.

She took shelter behind a cabal container and drew the One Thousand Voices. She waited patiently for the void projectile to shatter her cover and turned towards the Cyclops. A destructive solar ray melted the eye of the machine, and the accumulated energy was released in a fierce deflagration.

"Just a few more seconds... That's it!" Koryl turned to the Conflux. The data cubes went up in smoke and the structure disappeared. The remaining Vex stopped abruptly, then teleported away, leaving the duo alone next to the huge cabal drill.

"Data extracted, Arrow destroyed." The Ghost fell silent for a moment, his eye blinking as he read it. "There is too much to send by radio. Asher, can we join you?"

"Yes, yes. And make it quick, I've wasted enough time already."

The grumpy Warlock cut off communication. Zara sighed and summoned her Sparrow.

A few minutes later, they found Asher Mir, crammed between the crates heading for the Tower that piled up around his "laboratory". The Pyramid's menacing shadow extended over the Cradle and all the way to the Rupture; the bright point of the Sun partially obscured by the waves of distortion emanating from the object, like the gravitational lens of a black hole.

The dark Scales tirelessly crossed the sky for a purpose that only Eris could hope to understand.

"Hello, Asher."

"Hmm."

Koryl moved forward and waited for the Warlock to tell him where to plug in. "According to these data, the Vex are studying the influence of the Pyramid on the fabric of space-time around the Cradle."

"And meanwhile, the Pyramid is studying the Vex. It remains to be seen what each side wants to learn from the other."

"Do you want us to take care of it?" Zara stepped forward, stepping over the puddles of radiolaria and the network of sensors dispersed in the Vex fluid. Asher's right arm seemed to twitch as she approached, like an eye surprised by the daylight. It was no doubt her imagination. The scientist did not raise his eyes from the screen.

"Unnecessary. I've already sent someone into the Pyramidion."

"Okay. Perhaps you need help with the preparations for the exodus?"

Asher suddenly stopped tapping on the keyboard. His Vex fist closed and opened again instantly. The Awoken stared at her, and she felt his steely blue eyes dissect her.

"Why this sudden preoccupation, Warlock Zara?"

It was the first time he called her by name.

"I go where I need to go, and I help those who need it."

"Very noble," Asher replied without hiding the sarcasm in his voice. "Zavala would be proud of you. You may go now. Thank you for your help."

He returned to his work. His robotic arm went into another spasm and collected a curse before obeying his host again.

As Zara thoughtfully walked away, a sour voice called out to her: "In fact, you might actually be of some use."

"Taken samples?" Koryl sighed loudly as the last Centurion disappeared into a dark vortex. "Really?"

"Someone has to collect them." Zara leaned over to pick up the vaporous remains.

"He could do it himself," muttered the Ghost. "If he was so reluctant to accept your help, you didn't need to insist..."

"You don't get it. It's not by collecting materials that I'm helping him."

"Oh, yeah?" Koryl raised an eyebrow. It was impossible, but the Ghost could be very expressive.

"Yeah," Zara repeated. "How do the Vex think?"

"How many centuries do you leave me to answer?"

"Okay. What is their way of doing things?"

The Guardian mounted her Sparrow, and they rode along the imposing structure of the Pyramidion. Koryl watched the Minotaurs guarding the entrance without a shudder on their bronze shells.

"They don't act," he noted. "They're just reacting."

"Exactly. Everything we know about the history of the Vex is a series of counterattacks, passive or defensive maneuvers. Even the Vex Offensive was only a reaction to the signal sent by the Pyramid. They would never have come out of the Black Garden otherwise."

" So far, I follow you." Zara shot an arrow into the head of a Taken Acolyte. The ensuing abyssal explosion took out two more. "What does this have to do with Asher?"

"His disease is progressing a little more each day. To be honest, I don't think there is a way to stop it... But I think it can be slowed down."

"By annoying him?"

"By pushing him to imagine new possibilities to get out of difficult situations. In this case, a very clingy Guardian. The Vex don't invent anything. They are limited by their own laws. Asher is a Guardian."

"Fighting order with entropy," concluded Koryl. "Simplicity versus complexity. It's not so different from our fight against the Darkness."

"Exactly, Little Light. You know what is said... Guardians make their own fate."