# [[Data Crystal]]
![[Data Crystal.svg]]
Small crystals carried inside the Rifler shells fired by the [[Quadruped Construct]]. When a Rifler is destroyed, its data crystal detaches and makes its own way out of the fight — and the party could tell, on sight, that they were heading back to [[Volluk Azrinae]].
## Session 128 — First Recovered
During the fight in [[The Gauntlight]], several crystals detached at once as the Riflers went down. [[Jaspen Bond Callistair|Bond]] picked one up before it could escape; [[Grumblebum|Grumble]] destroyed two more. At least some got away.
## Why They Matter
- They are the construct's telemetry — whoever receives them is watching this fight in detail
- They point at Volluk as the construct's builder or handler, which sits badly against his claim in [[126_20260823 Subject 9751 Confirmed]] that he is stalled, isolated, and abandoned by [[Belcorra]]
- Bond, who is chasing an ethical alternative to soul gems, now holds a working sample of Volluk's newest technology
## Session 129: Hunted Down
The crystals turned out to be the session's real cleanup job. They scurry like insects, they will take any opening to slip through a door, and they are easy to break: AC 20, no damage roll needed, one hit destroys one.
- [[Grumblebum|Grumble]] destroyed four or five over two rounds, including one on an opportunity attack as it tried to squeeze past him through a doorway
- [[Vayle]] crushed one underfoot with an ordinary boot
- Riflers destroyed *by their own backfire* still drop a crystal, which the table found bleakly funny: one spawned, shot itself, died, and its crystal immediately tried to run
- [[Jaspen Bond Callistair|Bond]] refused to let go of the one he caught in Session 128 even when it cost him actions, eventually summoning a **Mage Hand** to hold it so he could use his gun again. He is treating it as a specimen, not a trophy
- Some still escaped
## Open Threads
- What is actually recorded on the crystal Bond took?
- Can Bond read one, and does reading it tip off whoever is on the other end?
- Do the crystals hold data only, or something closer to a soul?
- If Volluk was peeking through his door at the party this session, how much has he already received?
## Related
- [[Quadruped Construct]]
- [[Volluk Azrinae]]
- [[128_20260906 Good Graces Spent]]
- [[129_20260912 Leave This One to Me]]
%%
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