The Spine Mountains – the old bones of Aethelrex – were always rugged and desolate. Miners and hermits lived there, the latter wanting to be near the purest Echo by the god's brainstem. When the Great Weaning happened, the mines got silent and the hermits either died or went down to the lowlands, disoriented by the quiet. At present, these mountains are only remembered as a place of ghosts and old times.
This is why they were suitable for hiding a secret.
Bianca Frost was climbing the steep, windy trails. She was being guided by Elyas, a former hermit whose eyes were as tough and gray as the mountain rock. He had reached out to the council with a story that they could not overlook.
"The New Appetite didn't disappear along with Wilder," Elyas spoke with a hoarse voice. "There is a tiny group surviving somewhere. Fanatics. When the Heart stopped, they came here. They name themselves 'The Starving.' They believe that the slow beat is not healing, but a mockery. Just delaying the feast. And they figured out a way to… do it faster."
Elyas took Bianca to a concealed fissure from where the air was warmer than the freezing mountain. The odor was typical: ozone, sweet decay, and a more sharp, kind of chemical smell – good Ambrosia.
"They kept it secret from everyone," Elyas said softly. "And they've been making it. They created a reactor, not to dissolve the god, but to… ignite some of it. To make everything go terribly fast and force the Heart to beat like mad, to make it suck all the way in one last, big burst."
It was a twisted smaller version of the Final Digestion, only much faster. As if someone in a coma is given a quick overdose.
Bianca peered into the fissure. The glow from their strange scientific work she could see very far down. She also heard their quiet, insane chanting. They were going to set fire to a piece of their god to awaken the rest of the world. This would probably be the switch breaking the hold, the healing undoing, and the world being thrown into wild eating for a short terrible time before everything crashing down again.
She had to stop them. However, she was just one person, a leader, not a soldier. She required the Taste-Guard. And they obey Joan Rhodes.
Her descent from the mountain was quicker as she was in a hurry. She went directly to the Convalescence Wing. Joan was undergoing brain therapy, wires were attached to her head leading to a machine where Maxine was monitoring the readings. Benny was also there, assisting in the setup.
Bianca did not beat about the bush. She informed them of everything. She also conveyed the message of Elyas to them.
Joan's expression became more serious. Her eyes were sharp and blue. She looked at Bianca as she used to when she was Captain. She tightened her fist.
"She understands the threat," Maxine, interpreting the brain waves, said, "It's like her old defense plans. She is… preparing herself."
Though Joan was hardly able to move, she couldn't take any action.
Benny observed his mother's clenched fist and then looked at Bianca's anxious face. A not-so-good thought crossed his mind. "The fake arm," he whispered.
Everyone turned their eyes upon him.
"Lucien's arm. It is connected to the network. Mum can no longer lead the Guard. But… she could be the Guard. One final time. Via the network."
Maxine was deep in thought and then came with her decision. "The mushroom network is not defenseless. It can immobilize things, emit harsh chemicals, and fight. If we link Joan's brain – her perception of danger – directly with the network in the mountains…"
"It would be like the god's immune system getting a boss," Bianca said, with some hope.
It was insane. To use a sick woman as a biological weapon by connecting her to the planet's eco-system. However, it was also quite appropriate: the one who used to oversee consumption would now be in charge of protection.
Joan looked at Benny. She gave a slow nod of her head.
They were up till dawn working. Lucien, who was filled with terror, eventually finished the brain-to-arm connection. Maxine and Spore linked the arm with a fungus strand that extended to the Spine Mountains.
They fitted the arm onto Joan's unfortunate left side. The crystal fingers twitched. The fungal threads were joined with her nerves. Her eyes shut, then opened. She was no longer looking at the room. She was seeing through fungi in the cold mountain, sensing the warm, dreadful glow of the reactor, and hearing the crazy heartbeats of the fanatics.
A screen displayed a mountain map. She could see their weak points: vents for air, supports, and containers of Ambrosia.
Her good right hand reached out for a simple control panel that Maxine had made. It consisted of a joystick and a button. She shifted the joystick. On the map, fungi spread rapidly through a tunnel.
Underground, the brightly lit fungus exploded out of the rock, sealing an air vent. The fanatics began to scream instead of chanting.
Joan Rhodes, lying in a hospital bed, was remotely controlling a silent battle with a finger. She caused sleeping spores to be released in a room. She directed the bad stuff to consume the reactor. She didn't kill anyone. She simply broke things down and stopped them.
It didn't take long, just an hour. The Starving were either put to sleep or trapped by the fungi. The reactor was turned off, and the hazardous material was taken in by the fungi.
When the connection was severed, Joan dropped back, exhausted and sweaty. But, she had that strong, familiar look in her eyes. She had fulfilled her obligation in a manner she never anticipated.
She glanced at her new left hand, the crystal fingers still. Then she looked at Benny and Bianca, and gave a little smile.
She didn't merely defend the earth. She became one with it.