They ignored her, starting a short countdown. Starling stilled herself. The entity was easily as powerful as her manacles, likely far more so. Firing at it might be enough to drain the power. Moments later, the device emitted a tight beam of concentrated light, which struck the entity square in its serpentine head.
It blinked. Then closed its eyes. And seemed…happy. At a nod from Dajer, the lead engineer, Tague, turned up the power—making the light grow brighter. This didn’t have any discernable effect on the creature.
“It’s feeding on the Investiture,” Tague said. “As I warned you might happen, sir.”
“What key is the Investiture?” he asked. “Unkeyed?”
“Yes, sir. Positive aligned.”
“Try negative.”
They did. She couldn’t see a change in the light, but it…felt wrong. Or, well, sounded wrong. But not to her ears. She thought she could see a slight warping to the air.
The entity didn’t respond. Unnerving, considering the tantrum it threw earlier.
“Maybe,” Starling said, “you’re not using enough power.”
“The ship can’t give much more,” Tague said. “Not without crashing the system. If this isn’t working…sir, you have to accept it. This is a good data point, and a test we’ve been meaning to make, but I’m sorry—I can’t imagine this accomplishing what you want. The entity is indifferent to our interference.” He paused. “This is one of the better outcomes. It could have tried to eat the machine.”

Isles of the Emberdark Chapter 56