“Before we can even think about finding our way into the Garden again, I need to get more adequate protection. Time to cash in a favor. You remember Cyrja?”
“Your Corsair drinking buddy?”
“Yes. Remember that business I took care of for her in the Shore?”
“You told me to forget about that.”
“Well, as long as you know what I’m not talking about... Anyway, after wrapping that up, she said to come to her if I ever needed anything special from the Awoken armories.”
“In this case, like a Gensym Knight’s helmet.”
“Sounds fancy. What’s it do?”
“Hopefully keep the Garden out of my head. In the Distributary, the Gensym explored the farthest reaches, charted the greatest hazards of that world. Their gear is beyond anything left over from the Golden Age. A Distributary-made dome-piece stands the best chance of keeping the Garden’s subtler threats at bay.”
“Wouldn’t armor brought back from Distributary be sort of a precious artifact?”
“Yes, it’s not exactly common. I sent a message ahead. It’s a tall order, but Cyrja will come through.”
“OK, special Awoken helmet: check. So what’s with the funny cloak?”
“Figured we might benefit from some enhanced signal transmission capabilities to make sure we don’t have trouble coming back. Rigged a transmitter with some leftover Vex tech so it can modulate its frequencies to match the phase variance in there. Long-range, high-gain antenna for signal strength. We should be able to keep a steady uplink to the ship so we won’t lose our way.”
“I didn’t help you make that. Who helped you make that?”
“Don’t think I could’ve done it myself?”
“Heh. Well, fair enough. Let’s just say having friends in Future War Cult is good for more than just foreknowledge of what a fortune cookie’s gonna say.”
“Alright, questionable Vex transmitter: check. Sounds like you have your hazard gear all thought out—which is well and good for you, but what about me?”
“You came through alright last time, didn’t you? Besides, you’ve got your Vex-plating shell. If its shielding was good enough to get you in and out of the gate network, it ought to hold up in the Black Garden.”
“Last time we were smart enough not to stay long. If we’re planning to be in there any appreciable duration this time around, I’m worried about how long anything will hold up—our gear, yes, but us included.”
“I don’t want anything weird to happen to you in there any more than I want unintelligible whispers to take root in my head and turn my eyes into fruit. Hence the transmitter: if things start looking squirrely, we book it. We shouldn’t have to backtrack far before we can get a transmat signal through.”
“...I don’t like it. Why take the risk of mounting this expedition alone when we still don’t know what the Garden even is, or what the hazards really are?”
“Call it a hunch that the time to find out may finally be at hand.”
(Gensym Knight Casque w/ Warbrick, Prodigal Grasps w/ Refurbished Black Armory, Prodigal Vest w/ Refurbished Black Armory, Phenotype Plasticity Cloak w/ Amethyst Veil)
Previously: Moon Adventure Part I
