The journey to Goliath's deeper regions took five uneventful days, during which the spaceship traveled across many dark tunnels devoid of any life. Despite this overwhelming emptiness, one could sometimes hear the howling of unidentified creatures, drowned out by the unending rumble of machinery.

Avi wondered what kind of life could exist in this steel maze, but she felt it would be better and safer if they didn't veer off course. There were supposed to be a few towns and cities relatively nearby, but a detour would also take too much time. Avi wanted to meet the superintendent as soon as possible.

When the ship finally entered the last empty cylinder before reaching their target, Avi could notice clusters of lights on its walls, scattered around like stars. Moreover, streams of water continuously leaked from the ceiling, splashing against the smooth surface of Luna's ship.

Avi decelerated and looked beyond the side window, where she could spot hanging, multi-story platforms connected by stairs. On these suspended floors, there were primitive huts made of broken ceramics glued with a golden resin-like substance. In front of them, right before the handrails, there were rows of creatures with bodies made of black jelly, four tentacles, and one large, red eye. They all held steel torches with burning rags on top, as if to greet Avi's ship and illuminate its path.

Avi pressed on, entering a giant, vertical tunnel without any visible ends. There, the platforms connected into a vast, grated landing spot, and creatures gathered, forming a ring, where Avi was supposed to stop.

---

Avi walked out of the spaceship, and slime creatures silently bowed their neckless heads, while a few other members of their society opened the passage in the distance. Their every move was ritualistic and ceremonial, so everyone in Luna's group decided to be quiet, to not offend the natives. They entered a smaller tunnel right behind their spaceship, where rows of lamps at the ceiling illuminated ragged robes of their hosts. These clothes were in shades of yellow and red, with blue tubes embedded into them. They also wore necklaces from screws, gears, and other metal junk The deeper Avi traveled into the tunnel, the more sophisticated the dress was, implying some sort of hierarchy. Gradually, many hooded people appeared, humming a slow ethnic chant in an unknown language, and once Avi and her companions were close to their goal, there were also elders with triple black halos, from which many beads hung down, completely covering their faces. Each elder held a container with burning incense, which produced a sharp, alcohol-like smell.

A hatch as large as the height of the tunnel towered above Avi. On its right side, there was a keyboard where their identification key could be inputted, which Luna did, causing the gate to open. It revealed a mossy, glass dome with water dripping from its cracked ceiling, down into a shallow pond that entirely replaced the floor. On its surface, a few dwarf bushes and water lilies grew, concealing a small hill, where an enormous, black, steel body of snake-machine rested.

When the gate closed behind Avi and her companions, the snake still slept. Luna approached it, scanning its electronic components.

“Incredible...” - Luna spoke quietly. - “...it has to be at least a few million years old, and despite this, its reactive armor is still intact. It's a forgotten technology.” - She knelt next to the snake's snout, touching it gently.

“You... want to wake this thing up?” - Charlotte asked, unsure.

“We are where the maps led. It's our superintendent...” - Luna explained. - “...but it's not a sentient being, but just a robot. All I need to do is hack into its central pseudo-neural unit and overwrite its directives.”

Taken from NovelBin, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

Avi had doubts. - “Luna... I wouldn't do that.”

“Avi. If I do that, we will be able to find out who controls this machine. Maybe we'll even figure out where the administrator is.” - Luna said. - “I'm bypassing the security...”

“Wait!” - Avi wanted to stop her, but it was too late.

The snake's nose moved, and its eyes opened. He lifted his head, pushing Luna away. - “Unauthorized connection attempt detected.” - Its eyes turned red, turning to Luna.

“It's equipped with modules analogous to your immune system. Fascinating.” - Luna commented. - “I will need more time.”

“Luna! Drop it!” - Avi yelled at her friend.

“Avi... that's the only solution!” - Luna protested.

“No!” - Avi ran between Luna and the robot, spreading her arms. - “It's not right!”

When the snake reanalyzed the situation, its eyes turned back to their original, white color. - “Please... cease your fights, this is a sacred place.” - The machine spoke from above.

Avi quickly turned to it, speaking. - “I'm so sorry for her behavior. It's because we are in a hurry to find the administrator.”

“Everybody who looks to walk the path of enlightenment is welcome here...” - The snake said. - “...but your destination is far away, in a place which no enemy can access. I can't let you in. Only the fathers of Soul Forge are allowed to grant you an entry.”

“Please, tell us where we can find them.” - Avi requested.

“You'll have to travel beyond this sub-sector, past the fallen lands. It's a risky endeavour.” - The snake replied.

“Can you show us where exactly we should go?” - Avi asked.

The snake summoned a holographic map above its snout, and Luna saved its copy. However, she had her own doubts. - “The fallen maps are unmapped. I don't know if it's possible for us to traverse them.”

“Find the guide who lives at the swords' coast.” - The snake mentioned. - “They will help you.”

“Eh, more wandering.” - Luna complained. - “The coast is several hundred thousand miles long. Finding a single, specific person there might be a challenge.”

“Superintendent, can you point us in the right direction?” - Avi asked. - “Who exactly are we supposed to find?”

The snake coiled idly. - “It's an old machine. Its signature and model is R-421, a sixteen-armed void hermit.”

“Thank you for that information. We'll do our best to find him.” - Avi stated.

“May the machine spirits guide and protect you.” - The snake spoke, resting its head.

“Eh, everything that, mostly for nothing.” - Luna sighed. - “I don't know if looking for that person will be worth it.”

“It will, not only because of Daichi.” - Avi said. - “The knowledge of administrators and their capabilities can influence the future of many people.”

“We'll know that only after we meet them.” - Luna replied pessimistically. - “Their technology is most likely light-years behind Astronaut's and Anaari's technology.”

Avi shook her head. - “Goliath is full of people. It's an unlimited potential that shouldn't be wasted.”

“I would want to admit you're right...” - Luna responded. - “...but the proper development of infrastructure would take them dozens of cycles. We, and they, don't have that much time.”

“Technology isn't everything, Luna.” - Avi disagreed.

“Even if we utilized their human resources for mining and production, it would still be pointless, because it's easier to automate it with self-replicating fleets.” - Luna added.

“You're missing my point.” - Avi argued.

“...and what would it be?” - Luna asked, seeing no alternatives.

“I'm speaking about what is here.” - Avi pointed at her heart. - “There are so many different people here, each of them can change the future. They are the ones who point us in the right direction and guide us in our journey to improve the world. They are the ones who similarly follow their own paths and dreams, too.”

Luna smiled, admitting her defeat. - “I never thought about it this way... but you're right, without that kind of guidance, we wouldn't be here.”

Avi nodded with a smile. - “That's why, let's continue down this road.”