Welcome to "The Diary of a Miner"; a blog detailing the adventures and mysteries that I, Syeonyx, embark upon in my quest to further my mining and survival skills! It'll be tough, there will be good times and bad times, but I'll always be alive to post my adventures... probably...

"Catch-up chat"

      No-one said or did anything for some time; UOPETA and THEROS stared at SERVERE's face the entire time. After a few moments SERVERE became fully visible; the shimmering air around him began to part like a concealed veil, showing the black armour beneath. Now SERVERE was fully visible, in the unmistakable armour of the Elite, his face the only piece of flesh visible to us, peaking between either side of the parted helm.

"SERVERE...? Is that really you? We thought... You..."

"We thought you were dead!"

"It was necessary for you to think that... By now I assume you've read the last parts of my diary, and you should know the position I was in. HoN Co. had me surrounded, and I had only choice. Join them or die."

"So you decided to betray us!?!?! Why??? What had we ever done to deserve this?!?!"

"I know what it looks like, but you're wrong. I didn't betray you!"

"You're wearing the armour of the Elite! What else would you call that?!?!"

"So you know of the Elite? Very few do... But it is not how it appears."

"Fill us in then on the last year or so then! Because every one of us have been jumping to conclusions about your... Demise. And I assure you, some of them are not complimentary at all!"

"You remember the night I received the Solus stone from you for safe keeping? Away from the base, away from HoN Co., away from danger. Well... They found me. HoN Co. found my outpost and assaulted it. I stashed the stone away in the hidden basement beneath the outpost, and remained there to safeguard it. I fought to protect the stone, which meant having to engage the HoN Co. soldiers that had infiltrated the house."

"What about the skeleton? When Syeonyx found that skeleton, we all thought you were dead! Killed by the HoN Co. Elite!"

"Syeonyx? That's you, I presume?"

SERVERE pointed at me with his gauntleted hand. I was way out of my depth here, but managed to nod once.

"The skeleton was that of an unfortunate guard who took a bad fall. I never intended to kill any of them, it's not in my nature. I dispatched as many as I could with no force, but he took a tumble and smashed his head against the wall. I was eventually overwhelmed and knocked unconscious..."

"That still doesn't explain why you're the armour of the Elite!"

"When I came to, I was handcuffed in my house, with a figure standing over me. I don't know who they were, I couldn't even tell if they were male or female, but I knew they were HoN Co.! They gave me the choice to either "die as a traitor to humanity" or join the "Ascension"..."

"Ascension? "Traitor to humanity"? What does that mean?"

"I didn't know at the time, but I did know that I would be more use to someone alive, so I sided with them. But my choice was faithful, my decision was pure. I intended to work with them, but to protect you from the inside. The more I knew about them understanding our cause, the more I could do to protect you. Whenever there was any sign of your presence, I was called in to "assess" the situation. If I knew the location was a likely place you could be, I'd report that there was no trace of you. If I knew there wasn't, I'd pretend I'd seen some suspicious activity. Anything to waste time, and keep you hidden!"

"So Syeonyx was right then... You called it almost from the beginning."

I was still in shock and didn't know how to deal with the situation so far. We had somehow found SERVERE, alive and well, and within the higher echelons of HoN Co., and yet still protecting us. Admittedly I had stated that possibility from an early stage, but I thought the chances of actually seeing SERVERE alive were as remote as seeing HoN Co. give up their cause!

"It seems I have you to thank, Syeonyx. You kept them strong, in the face of almost definite despair."

SERVERE walked over to me, and shook my hand. I stood there, speechless, still trying to get the mass of jumbled pieces to fit together within the time the conversation took place.

"So you've been part of HoN Co. for over a year, protecting us, and yet you never attempted to contact us? Why not?"

"It was too risky; HoN Co. had an idea I could go rogue at any point, so I had to prove I was worth the agreement I made with them. I excelled in the tasks that they gave me, to show willing devotion to the cause..."

"This 'Ascension' thing?"

"Yes. Eventually, I was allowed into the rank of the Elite; given an M suit, I was entrusted to work alone, in tracking you down and "bringing you to justice"... Only recently have I noticed a more lax attitude towards observing me. They would almost constantly watch my every move, up until recently. I decided that now is the best time I would get to talk with you. You've done something recently that has attracted their attention, and shifted the majority of attention from me to you. Likely it was the destruction of the obsidian plant they had. Massive crater you left behind there. OROTHO's work I assume...?"

"Yes actually. And Joe. Quite a lot's been happening in your absence. We haven't deviated from our cause, and even recruited a few more along the way, Syeonyx being one of them!"

"So I can see. I've managed to help a few in the past; whenever HoN Co. were called in to deal with a new portal a miner had found, I would try whatever I could to allow that miner to disappear. I know what they did to miners that found portals, and quite a few are out there now. I believe a few have established a small community hidden below ground."

"That's right, although some of the miners were captured by HoN Co. and put to work in the obsidian plant. That's where Joe came from. We rescued the others, but they opted to going it alone. Anyway, what's the M suit? And how have you maintained this level of secrecy for so long?"

"The M suit; Mimic suit. It uses light-bending technology to mimic its surroundings to allow the user to appear invisible. Almost like camouflage that adapts to its environment. It also has built-in kinetic boosters for improved agility, speed and grace! With it, I can jump more than twice as high than a normal man, and land on a loud surface such as gravel with barely a crunch. And I've remained undetected for so long because I'm good. I've been following you know for a few days. I also noticed you found the second library I made. Aside from the portal locations and the map, has AMPHIS decoded any more information that has proven useful?"

"How do you know AMPHIS is doing the decoding?"

"I stopped by the old outpost before you left it. I see you took the diary too. Good. You've gained enough information then. Sorry for the Latin and cipher. It was a necessary level of encryption to ensure only the intended users found it, namely, the brothers of the Lone 7."

"You wrote all of those books? Well maybe you can help us! You can come back with us! The others will be ecstatic to know you're still alive!"

"No! They must not be told! The more of you who know I'm still alive, the more danger I put you in. I'm taking a big enough risk as it is telling you three. I will remain working for HoN Co. whilst protecting you, but I can feed you information as and when it becomes available to me."

"What happens now then...?"

"Give me the map and stone, and I will finish off the remaining portals. AMPHIS is getting to the last of the translations now, so after that you'll be back to square one. Return to AMPHIS and inform him of me, but do it within the basement. I can't guarantee you are safe there, but I will try my best to protect you. Steer HoN Co. in a random direction. I should be able to inform you of the master portal status as well."

"What do we do after that?"

"Translate the books bound with the yellow covers. The information within those will be quite eye-opening for you. I can't risk telling you directly. Now give me the map and stone."

"How do we know we can trust you?"

"You can't... But if you're thinking how you've remained undetected for so long, just think about the connections I've told you. I've allowed you to remain hidden for this long, and I can maintain it, but you have to trust me on this base level."

There was a slight hesitation, before UOPETA handed the map and stone over to SERVERE, who took them and hide them within his armour.

"Thank you UOPETA. THEROS. Syeonyx. I will be in contact with you soon. And remember: the yellow-bound books!"

The air around SERVERE began to bubble and shimmer once more, and his body faded from sight, leaving his face exposed. It remained in sight long enough to see him wink and smile at us, before the sections of his helm slide to cover him entirely. The red lights where his eyes were began to increase in intensity, and then they were gone. Moments later, not even the shimmering air was visible. He was gone.

"Okay... Now what...?"

Syeonyx signing off

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