[An Unwelcome Guest]
[3590585543-00001-03]
[2]
[Scrio]
[Network Archon Striga-600 AI-Neuralet]
[D2-45 Eren]
[Ezekiel Ratakana]
[FTL 3862|06|(2)13|00-00-00]
[Cruiser Class Star Shuttle 886]
[Unidentifiable Energy Residue-Integrity Uncompromised]
‘Izy~. Are you awake Izy?’ Rena speaks gently into Ezekiel’s dreams, obviously more concerned with seeing what she can do without waking him than with actually waking him. She is planning something, I know it. She has been activating systems all over the body for the past Super cycle[ten days], pretending to have no idea what we’re talking about every time Ezekiel or I confront her.
There! She’s at it again. She’s gotten into the occipital lobe again. She must be planning to blind Ezekiel right when it will harm him most; right as an enemy attacks or… I have to stop her.
I am ashamed to admit, though, that I do not know how. The first thing she did was construct a defensive screen to cover her back while she works. It is of the highest caliber; no holes, windows, or weak spots to speak of. No cracks to slip through nor backdoors to take. Breaching it without alerting her will be impossible, and that would defeat the purpose.
I must admit I am impressed.
For now, all I can do is watch and record and hope to act swiftly enough when the moment arrives.
‘Izy~ It’s time to wake up, Izy~. I’ve got a surprise for you~,’ Rena begins cooing at Ezekiel like a lover. That’s another thing she started doing on Ram-arow. I hate it. ‘Izy. Wake up.’ she says, beginning to lose her patience.
“Wha-? Hm? What? Who calls?” Ezekiel jerks awake yelling aloud. He must think someone is at the door.
‘EZ, that was-’
‘Surprise!’ Rena barges through me. Something flashes and pops. The occipital and temporal lobes light up.
Shit! She’s hitting him now!? What could she possibly gain from that?
There’s no time to find out.
I dive into the occipital. I’ve got to stop her. ‘EZ! We’re in danger! Rena’s attacking your senses.’ Inside the occipital, I immediately find the code Rena left and waste no time tearing into it.
‘Eren, wait!’ Rena screams. Right. I won’t let you get away with this. I strike at the code again and it cracks.
‘Eren!’ This time it is Ezekiel. ‘Stop!’ As always, his command stops me dead. A moment passes. The heavy silence creeps over it like a veil. Finally, Ezekiel breaks it. ‘What are you doing, Eren?’
‘What? Rena, she attacked your senses, trying to blind and deafen you. I am undoing the damage so-’ I feel a shift. This isn’t making any sense. Why does Ezekiel seem so disappointed right now? Why is- is Rena… crying?
‘Eren, did you actually look to see what Rena had done?’
‘I couldn’t, EZ,’ I plead. ‘She kept it hidden behind a screen-’
‘Look now, then,’ says Ezekiel, ‘since you have the code in hand.’
To my complete disappointment, I hesitate, cold fear creeping up inside of me. I didn’t do anything wrong. I was trying to protect him.
My attention slides over the broken code. Instructions for colored lights, a link to the temporal lobe to play music? The fear begins twisting into horror. Parameters for a visual projection, specifications match… ‘A female bipedal mammal-’
‘You ruined my surprise!’ Rena screams through her tears, sobs choking her words. ‘I just wanted- to-’
‘Rena apparently wanted to celebrate her first task as a resident of our Neuralet,’ Ezekiel finishes for her. ‘She designed an avatar that she could project into the physical world within my perceptive field. She wanted to surprise us with it. But it seems you had other ideas.’
‘I-I thought…’ I kick my thought generation to the max. I can’t admit my suspicion of Rena yet, not while she is listening. ‘I noticed that the occipital and temporal lobes were being forcefully activated.’ I begin, each word bringing the excuse into sharper focus and my demeanor under tighter control. ‘The source of the activation hid itself and I took that as a sign of malicious intent because the sections are vital to your function. I didn’t know it was Rena until I’d already taken a closer look.’
‘Why didn’t you stop then?’ Ezekiel probes. Sometimes he is far too sharp. It’s infuriating. ‘Why continue destroying the program? Do you not trust Rena?’
‘She has only been here for a short time. She hasn’t earned it yet. I was being cautious.’
‘Cautious-’ he begins
Yes, EZ, cautious,’ I cut him off, feeling the anger pump through my systems. ‘Someone has to exercise some caution while we gallivant around the galaxy, and it’s not going to be you. So-’
‘So that leaves you,’ Ezekiel finishes for me. ‘Watching closely and waiting to give your trust away to keep us safe.’
‘Yes. Exactly.’
Ezekiel is silent for a while, but finally says, ‘Alright. Thank you for remaining on guard Eren. I’m sorry for doubting you-’
‘What about me!?’ Rena breaks in. She is done crying. ‘Eren just destroyed all of my work! And I’m just supposed to accept that she doesn’t trust me? Do you expect me to live in such an unwelcoming environment?’ Anger leaks off her in waves as she speaks, flooding the Neuralet connection. I feel a healthy mix of fear as it washes over me, and I’m sure Ezekiel does, too.
‘Well, um, no’ The sudden outburst cracks Ezekiel’s demeanor, leaving him flustered. ‘That isn’t exactly fair, is it?.’ He pauses awkwardly. ‘But, but I can’t force Eren to trust you. I mean, I trust you, Rena, but- I’m sorry. You’ll just have to earn hers.’
‘How am I supposed to do that if she keeps undermining me?’
It is my turn to speak. ‘There wouldn’t have been a problem if you hadn’t hidden the project in the first place.’
‘I wanted it to be a surprise!’
‘Color us surprised.’ I am no stranger to fear and anger. She will not take me down that way.
‘You-’
‘Why don’t the two of you repair it together?’ Ezekiel cuts in between us before an actual fight can kick off. ‘I kind of like that idea. It could be a chance for you to grow closer, and you can finish Eren’s avatar to her specifications while you’re at it.’
Rena makes a noise like a huff and falls silent. Immediately her turbulence begins to fade as if it were never there at all.
‘EZ,’ I begin,’ you know I don’t want-’
‘Oh~ but we’re going to have so much fun, Eren,’ Rena squeals, cutting my protest short. ‘Just wait and see. I hope you like what I wrote, once you actually stop to look at it that is-’ I suddenly feel a sense of dread as she begins rattling on and on about how magical this will be.
‘Fantastic,’ Ezekiel says, ‘I’m happy we could resolve this without violence. You girls have fun. I’ll be going back to sleep.’
[The Dregs of Khanra]
[3590585543-00001-05]
[1]
[Scrio]
[Network Archon Striga-600 AI-Neuralet]
[D2-45 Eren]
[Ezekiel Ratakana]
[FTL 3862|06|(2)16|09-15-23]
[Cruiser Class Star Shuttle 886]
[Unidentifiable Energy Residue-Integrity Uncompromised]
Ezekiel Ratakana here. Welcome to another installment of Ezekiel’s Wondrous Wanderings!
‘Ew, no.’
‘Agreed.’
‘Girls, please. This isn’t as easy as I make it seem.’ Three days ago, Eren and Rena encountered a slight disagreement. Rena had been planning a surprise gift for us, but Eren, ever vigilant, noticed that she had been tampering with our occipital and temporal lobes and did not wish to risk a catastrophic sensory failure. We were able to talk things out and the two of them agreed to finish Rena’s project together.
The experience seems to have made them closer. I’m happy for them, truly, but instead of taking some of the pressure off me as I’d hoped, it feels heavier than ever.
An image appears in my vision of a young woman in a frilly dress. She does a twirl, a broad grin lighting up her face. ‘What do ya think, Izy? Ya like it?’ This is Rena’s avatar.
‘It’s adorable,’ I say as her grin coaxes a smile from me. ‘It matches your youthful energy.’
Rena clasps her hands together at her chest and bounces on her toes. ‘Yay!’ she says with a giggle, ‘I knew you would like it! I told you he would like it, Eren.’
‘I can see that, Rena. Congratulations,’ chimes Eren. ‘It’s my turn now. Step aside, please.’ Another image steps into view behind Rena. This woman is taller, older, and at least a little bit intimidating in her black three-piece suit. She smirks, puts a hand on her hip, and raises her chin just enough to make it feel like she’s looking down at me through her glasses. ‘I knew you would like it. There will be no more ignoring me in the future, will there, EZ?’
‘It certainly won’t be easy.’ I can’t help but let out a nervous laugh. Eren has been with me for a long time, but she’s never bothered to implement a visual feedback device. Seeing them like this hammers it into reality that I now have two women stuck in my head. It will certainly not be easy at all.
Eren turns and struts toward the left side of my visual field. ‘I can hear you,’ she says.
‘Yeah, I can hear you!’ echoes Rena with another giggle as she follows suit and dances to the right. ‘Tell us which one you like better, Izy!’
“Not easy at all,” I say out loud to myself.
An announcement pings in the back of my mind. As soon as I turn my attention to it a voice tells me that we will be entering Khanra’s orbit within the sub-cycle[90 minutes]. This is how the Star Shuttles disseminate information to passengers: voice recordings sent to their Neuralets. I lean my chair back and close my eyes. All of my stuff is packed and ready to disembark. It’s time for a nap.
[2]
[Scrio]
[Network Archon Striga-600 AI-Neuralet]
[D2-45 Eren]
[Ezekiel Ratakana]
[FTL 3862|06|(2)16|09-55-85]
[Khanra| Shuttleton]
[Unidentifiable Energy Residue-Integrity Uncompromised]
‘Please watch your step,’ the cheery voice pings into my head, ‘Your shuttle will depart in two Block cycles[twelve hours]. The next passenger shuttle will arrive in two Standard cycles[two days]. Welcome to Khanra.’ It falls silent as I step out of the single-person ferry pod onto an outdoor platform. The wind grabs at my coat. It nearly takes my hat. Hand pressed to my head, I turn back in time to see someone step into the next pod over, the door slide into place, and the pod launch into the cloudless sky.
‘Izy,’ Rena chimes, ‘this planet doesn’t seem that interesting. What are we doing here?’
‘There is something here I want to see,’ I say.
‘But what is it?’ she complains, materializing into my field of view.
I smile. I’ve begun to find this side of her quite endearing. ‘You’ll see.’
Her hands move to her hips. ‘I wanna go back to that golden ocean on Ram-arow,’ she says with a pout.
‘That isn’t likely to work on him, Rena,’ Eren appears, standing tall, hands behind her back. ‘We’re on our way to see the Dregs aren’t we?’
‘That’s right,’ I say stepping off toward the small building before me. ‘Such things are hardly rare among the larger settlements but something about the ones here stands out to me.’
‘What, exactly?’ asks Eren, moving to the left side of my vision.
‘I can’t say for certain,’ I say. ‘Throughout history, especially Human history, this kind of thing was more prevalent in larger settlements, or if it happened in smaller settlements it consumed the entire thing and eventually killed it outright. Khanra doesn’t have any settlements large enough to encourage the natural occurrence of its Dregs. But neither has the place rotted into nothing like it should have. I suppose I hope to find out why.’
‘What are “the Dregs”?’ asks Rena
‘People,’ Eren says slowly, ’who have fallen through the cracks,’
‘Oh,’ Rena says quietly, finally moving to her place on the right. It seems as if she is about to say more when another cheery voice pings.
‘Welcome to the Shuttleton Tradekeeper Embassy,’ it says as I step through the door. Inside is an utterly pristine lobby decorated in the old style: shining patterned tile floors, leather armchairs, hooded porcelain lamps on carved and polished wooden end tables, and their brass counterparts hanging from marble columns. The numerous autodroids bustling about, ceaselessly cleaning and repairing and generally sticking to the shadows, serve as the only marker of the present.
Without breaking stride I walk through the large room, hollow echoes announcing its emptiness with each step. The two Autodroids at the door bow as I step through it.
Just on the other side, the world is completely different, as if the door were actually a portal between realms. Tall metal buildings pack the streets like the fibers of a cloth, reaching blank and emotionless arms up to the sky. Hundreds of gravports rush back and forth between them. Below on the ground, a swarm of people fills the narrow strips of land. Each of them hurries from one place to the next as if racing the flying machines above; each of them quite overtly not paying the slightest bit of attention to any of the others; each and every one of them a Terran Human.
‘Where is everyone?’ Rena asks as I shuffle, slip, and shoulder my way through the crowd, ‘Ram-arow had so many different kinds of people, but I only see one here.’
It is Eren who answers. ‘Khanra is a Terran settlement, correct? Humans, especially Terrans, are infamous across the Milky Way for sometimes overly and inadvertently relying on tribalism. It is possible no other species are welcome, or that they do not wish to come here at all.’
‘I believe Eren is correct,’ I say, ‘Shuttleton might appear to be busy and thriving but the prospects for its residents amount to little more than “Circle lacky ensuring the goods make it to Ram-arow’s market.” No one really has a reason to come here if they already have somewhere else to go. Those that are here, don’t.’
‘Take the name, for example,’ Eren says, tapping into my line of thought, ‘Shuttleton. Shuttle Town. This is the only city on the whole planet where Tradekeeper shuttles drop and receive fares, but despite that bottleneck, there is little enough passenger traffic that the smallest class shuttle can keep up with it. All of the other traffic is cargo, and most of it exports.’
‘But the shuttles are fully funded by the Societies,’ Rena protests, ‘They are completely free to all direct customers. Why would they not just board one and go somewhere? Anywhere?’
A tall man in a patchy brown jacket bumps into me. ‘They have nowhere to go,’ I say watching him stumble past without even turning to look at me. ‘The shuttles are free, yes, but we cannot use them indefinitely. We must disembark at some point and wherever that happens to be, life there will certainly not be free.’
‘They can’t save up any money to get them started?’
‘They could if they really wanted to,’ I say. ‘But that’s a complicated issue. Feel free to look into it on the Web, but for now, the bottom line is that it would take a great deal of deliberate suffering to accomplish. Most people just don’t have what it takes to put themselves through it.’
Rena is silent for a moment. ‘It almost feels intentional,’ she murmurs.
‘Another thing Humans are infamous for.’
Another twenty minis[30 minutes] of walking clears the streets around us. In fact, the city changes so much that I have to stop and look around to make sure I haven’t stepped through a Treshay to some other city. The buildings are shorter, with busted paneling and repairs left undone. The gravports still slip by above, but below nothing moves. All about, in the cracks and crevices, I can see people scattered, lazing, or hiding. It feels like this place is trying its best to die but can’t without its neighbor’s approval.
‘Are there any large gathering places?’ I ask my companions. There is a short silence.
‘Oh! I found one!’ Rena bubbles, then sobers, ‘It feels… strange, though, like it’s both alive and dead at the same time.’
‘Let me see,’ Eren says. Another brief silence and she speaks up again, ‘Unfortunately, Ez, it seems Rena has found exactly what you are looking for. A hub of Protorgs that have not exited C-space in many cycles. The people here call it a Dreg Nest. Before I show you the way, I want my opinion known that this is not a good idea. Rena is right. Something is wrong with that place. There is a filth on it that seems dangerous. I’m sure none of of will enjoy what we find there.’
‘Let’s be sure to watch each other’s backs, then,’ I say simply.
Eren sighs, ‘As expected.’ The navigation line appears above her head, pointing to a nearby street block.
The line leads to a large multi-story house. Looking at it, it was clearly once private property meant for a single resident and their family, but something so lavish in this place meant it came from a time long long ago, when individuals could still afford to own property here and actually wanted to. Next to the steel pillars surrounding the structure, its wooden frame appears frail and decrepit. With large holes in the roof and walls, paint that has chipped completely off, and a droop to one side where a support beam likely gave out, I can’t help but imagine it being haunted even in broad daylight.
Not another soul shares the space with us. If I were actually alone, it would likely seem terrifying, standing here, preparing to enter this dilapidated pit.
‘EZ,’ chimes Eren, ‘I’m detecting numerous signatures inside, all Protorgs, all extremely weak.’
‘Are they a threat?’ I ask.
‘To you, I don’t think so. Each is in full dive, completely immersed in C-space.’
‘So they might be a threat to the two of you.’
‘Likely not as long as we don’t open a direct connection with them.’
‘Are we really going in there?’ Rena chimes, ‘It’s creepy and scary. I don’t like it.’ This is actually an understatement, I realize, as her fear seeps into my mind through the Neuralet.
‘Don’t worry, Rena,’ Eren says, probably feeling it as well, ‘Ez might lack any sense of caution, or punctuality, or consideration most of the time, but that’s only because he’s actually quite capable when the chips are down. He wouldn’t ever intentionally put us in danger by getting himself killed.’
‘That settles it, then,’ I say, stepping forward before I let any of this stop me, ‘In we go.’
Every single one of the front steps creeks beneath my weight. One actually breaks. At the top, there is no door to speak of, only a door-shaped hole leading to empty darkness. I creep off to one side and inch one eye around the edge.
Something moves. I freeze. My dark vision activates. Nothing. Gone, whatever it was. A fresh wave of fear hits me; Rena responding to my own reaction to the movement. I turn and sit against the wall. ‘Rena, do you know how to squeeze your emotional channels?’
‘Um…uh…yes! I do!’ Rena stammers, clearly too afraid to think straight.
‘Please take a moment to do that.’
‘Um, alright,’ she says. After a brief silence, I feel my heart rate begin to decrease and my breathing slow. ‘How’s that?’
‘Better,’ I say after a deep breath. ‘Go ahead and focus on maintaining that for now.’
‘Right.’
Inside, the place is even worse. The ceiling has collapsed, the walls are falling down, and I can’t even see the floor beneath the rubble and refuse. ‘Where are the divers?’ I ask. I want to see them directly and the quicker we do that, the less time we have to spend here.
‘In the basement. It covers the entire area of the house on the level below. That also seems to be the source of the building’s C-Bubble.’
‘Likely created by whatever they’re using to dive.’ I’m still getting a bad feeling, but that shouldn’t be enough to stop me. I’m Ezekiel Ratakana after all, Outbound Saint, explorer extraordinaire. Danger is the name of the game.
I push into the hallway, stepping deftly over and around the rubble and refuse, and find the stairs to the basement in only moments. To my surprise, a light is on at the bottom bathing a single door in in stark white light. Unlike the rest of the building, it appears to see regular use.
I creep down the stairs one at a time, doing my best to ensure that none make any noise. I crack the door just enough to see through it and the first thing that comes through is the smell. Absolutely rancid. More unwashed bodies than you can count.
The basement is one enormous room. The structure itself seems perfectly intact, though, as if deliberately maintained. Plastic and hardware line every inch of the floors and ceilings. Rows and rows of people lying in dive chairs remind me of crops in a field. An eerie, multicolored light baths the room; small dots of green from the chairs lost in an ocean of blue from the screens.
Only one thing is moving in here besides myself: an autodroid gliding gently between the rows of divers. It stops at a chair with a red light, fiddles with the diver’s connections, and the light turns green. Then it moves on.
‘Why is that here?’ asks Eren.
‘No idea. Can you shut it down so we can ask?’ I say.
‘I should be able to,’ she responds, ‘Rena help out.’ Our Neuralets light up with activity and only a moment later the autodroid quietly falls into a standby position.
As I rise to move closer, Eren chimes, ‘Ez, that autodroid is registered to the city. Its primary directive is to ensure these people remain in C-space.’
‘How mysterious,’ I say, giving the autodroid and the diver it was attending a once over. Finding nothing of note, I turn my attention to the hardware on the walls. ‘ Why would the city dedicate recourses to helping the Dregs remain Dregs? That goes completely against the natural flow of events. Is it directed to keep them alive as well?’
‘No, but there were directives for friendly behavior toward certain visitors.’
‘They must be getting something out of it,’ Rena chimes.
‘Yes, but what?’ In the corner, I find a console for auxiliary access. I’d rather avoid sending my companions into a questionable system like this so the hard way it is. After a few moments of pounding away at the keyboard, the system files are on screen. I’m not exactly surprised by what I find in them. All the same, I can feel the heat rising in my neck as I read each line.
The city is using these Dregs as slaves to harvest resources in C-space for trade into P-space. I make a copy and download it onto our Neuralet. Eren knows what to do and scrubs it for pathogens.
‘What are we going to do with this?’ Rena asks.
‘Not sure yet, but better to have it than not.’ no sooner have I set the console back to its default state than the hum and screech of an old elevator seep through the walls. Someone is coming in through the back door.
‘Time to go,’ I say, making haste back toward the stairs. ‘Girls, please reactivate the autodroid on our way out.’ I hear two curt acknowledgments and a series of metallic movements right as the door closes behind me.
[End Chapter]
