Chapter Text
ENTER COMMAND: SHIP DIAGNOSTICS [RUN]
>
>
>ACLS = PASS
>AIR TOXICITY = PASS
> OXYGEN = 20.9%
>
>ENGINES = PASS
>
>POWER SUBSYSTEM = PASS
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>STEERING SYSTEM = PASS
>
>NAVIGATION SYSTEM = FAIL
>RUN DIAGNOSTICS [YES/NO]
>
>COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM = PASS
>
>MISSION LOG: AUDIO TRANSCRIPT [RUN]
>
Mission Log 78, EXDay 345, 1627hrs
Your faithful Captain Xandis here once again, reporting for duty aboard this here fine ship, the Silver Sun. Navigation systems went down at 0300hrs and we’ve been pulling our hairs out trying to fix it. Not me though, I don’t have hairs. Couldn’t tell you what caused it but we sure as hells thinkin’ it’s got something to do with the wacky anomaly we’ve been tracking for the past 23 EXDays. Ship AI has been running diagnostics and though it don’t been able to troubleshoot how or what’s messing up the IAC, Bradley and her crazy smart brain over here managed to triangulate our approximate position and trajectory using data from the transponder and apparently her photographic memory of the constellations! Can you believe that? You know what I say? I say don’t ask me how she figured out the stars were in the wrong place, I will never understand lesbians and their obsessions with the births charts.
Anyways, Khalil and Bradford fucked with the ol’ Inertial Asterios Compass gyroscopes and turns out, you’ll never guess it, it’s actually working perfectly fine! There’s nothing wrong with it! Something is screwing with these instruments on the ship and what are we doing to address that you might ask? You’ve got it, we’re flying into the storms for answers. I might be El Capitan but at the end of the days it’s our good ol’ Bradshaw that’s calling the shots.
Wh-what was I talking about... Ah yeah, okay so prior to navigation going whack we traced the disturbance to an asteroid belt but it’s looking pretty rocky out there if you’re getting my joke, so it is maybe time for your Captain to be showing what he’s making of! That’s right, we’re gonna do this the old and fashion way.
Terana spotted a massive fuckin asteroid several hundred klicks into the field, and that mama is crazy big so obviously we’re heading straight there because who do you think we are? A bunch of fearless space pirates with a death wishes? Well maybe not pirates, more like scientists because that’s what we are, but we’ve definitely got a death wishes sailing right into the dark and maybe a little bit scary unknown.
I’m sure it’ll be fine, this isn’t some horror story or somethin’.
It’s just the six of us in a janky metal box flying through the infinite void of space. What could possibly go wrong? Ha ha.
_______
ENTER COMMAND:
>SELECT Mission Experiment Notes
>WHERE location = PW Asteroid Belt
>FROM Crew member = Laudna Bradbury [RUN]
>
>INTERDIMENSIONAL RIFT EXPERIME NTS PART 1 OF 294 [SELECT]
Never in my life have I happened upon something so extraordinary! On Exandria it is no secret that interplanar travel is possible; several of my colleagues have researched the science of it extensively. Still, I hadn’t quite considered the possibility of personally leading a SPACE EXPEDITION THAT LED TO THE DISCOVERY OF A FUCKING INTERDIMENSIONAL RIFT!! Or at least, that’s my best hypothesis. The primary readings I have been able to acquire whilst on the ship are telling enough as it is, I’m beyond ecstatic over the fact that they're aligning closely enough with the literature.
This is so fucking fabulous and I cannot wait to publish all of my findings when we get back home, Eshteross and Vee are going to be so proud. Goodness, I could really do with some ginger snap cookies right now.
Anyway, Captain Xandis managed to successfully pick our way through the Parchwood Belt to PW-A (frightfully boring naming convention for large asteroids if you ask me, I suggested we call it ‘Durian’ but apparently I’m the only person with any sense of creativity).
Now, when I say the infinitely expansive nature of space, you know, messes around with your depth perception, I’m not pulling your leg. Durian is so fucking big and weird and spikey and odd and massive. I’m probably not doing a very good job at sounding professional and scientific right now but I’m just so excited, I can’t help it, I keep audibly gurgling with glee which is a bit embarrassing because I thought I was making those noises in my head until I did it quietly behind Xandis and he jumped about two feet into the air. I suppose it doesn’t help that I’m a little spooky looking too, being a Pallid Elf and all, but that’s not exactly something I can control.
I digress.
From my understanding, asteroids are typically smooth, rocky/metallic bodies. Durian does not fit that criteria at all. Its surface has some sort of skeletal elestial crystalline appearance which is baffling in itself because it completely defies the science of crystal formation as we know it. That shit should be in the ground, not floating around in space.
An immense crevasse splits the asteroid down the middle, with smaller crevasses propagating away from its top in a branching fractal pattern. I remember Xandis taking one look at it and just slouching in realisation before saying “We’re gonna go in the big scary crack aren’t we?” which I probably would have giggled at had I not been so transfixed. It was so vast and jagged that it reminded me of a gaping, groaning maw. Dwarved our ship in size as it swallowed us up, its gullet pitch dark and seemingly bottomless. The moment we passed the threshold of the asteroid's surface there was a distinct change to the air, like it became charged somehow, and I remember looking down at my arm as I felt each and every hair stand on end. I think everyone felt it in that moment, an involuntary shiver down the spine, the unshakable feeling that the axis of our existence had tipped— a sudden, irreversible loss of balance.
So of course the first thing I did was set up my monitoring equipment, camera, the works, and not that anyone asked but yes they each have names because they’re my children, I built them myself.
The trip to the centre of the asteroid was longer than anticipated, and the deeper we travelled the stranger things started to feel. It was so unusual, I’m not sure how best to describe it, but on reflection, I’d say the closer we got to the centre of the asteroid the fuzzier our perception of our surroundings felt. Something akin to intoxication but without partaking in any mind-altering substances. Truly a fascinating phenomenon to have experienced.
There was no questioning the source of the anomaly once we reached the centre. I don’t think words will ever do it justice. The base of the crevasse opens out into a cavernous expanse and at its very core is the most spectacular tree. The trunk erupts from a slowly warping crystalline island platform, and its roots radiate outwards below the platform until they bury through the cavern's rock, anchoring it in place.
And like a tear in the fabric of reality itself, even now as I look out of the window, there stands a fine thread of pure light suspended just before the bark of the thick trunk, fracturing and distorting the very air that surrounds it. Like angular planes of glass.
I’m waiting for the rest of the crew to suit up, but I can feel my entire body buzzing with nervous anticipation.
Have you ever gazed at something and felt like you were staring into the future? Apprehension, uncertainty, loss of control… uninhibited excitement? I feel like I can't resist the urge, the tug that draws me towards that thread, aching to be plucked, begging to be unravelled.
I’m simply itching to get both feet on the ground and take some proper measurements.
_______
ENTER COMMAND:
>SELECT AUDIO RECORDINGS/TRANSCRIPTS
>DATE = EXDay 346, 1203hrs
XANDIS: Alright team can I get a radio check?
KAHLIL: Clear on Kahlil.
DENALIA: Clear on Denalia.
TERANA: Clear on Terana
GORDI: Clear on Gordi.
LAUDNA: Clear on Laudna.
XANDIS: Excellent stuff folks, you’re all loud and clear, keep up the pos comms. Copy Bradston, what’s the progressing on bodycams?
LAUDNA: Bradbury receiving, still troubleshooting this error but it shouldn’t take too long to crack.
XANDIS: Copy that, permission to proceed with equipment set up in the meantimes?
LAUDNA: Permission granted, I’ll be setting up the monitors in the clearing at the ship's 8 o’clock. Make sure you have sufficient cabling to reach, we want to limit the number of trips on and offboard.
XANDIS: Copy.
KAHLIL: Copy.
DENALIA: Roger roger.
TERANA: Copy.
GORDI: Rogie.
KAHLIL: Take it slow across the outcrops guys, I almost stacked it.
GORDI: Did you enjoy your trip?
TERANA: Yeah Kahlil, can you send us a postcard?
KAHLIL: Oh get fucked, honestly.
XANDIS: Hahaaaaa!
GORDI: I take it back. That outcrop was surprisingly slippery.
KAHLIL: I fucking told y-
DENALIA: Shit guys did you see that?
LAUDNA: Denaila, can I get a report?
DENALIA: Yeah there’s just- Oh. Nevermind. I thought I saw something in the branches of the tree, I think my eyes might be playing tricks.
GORDI: You forget your glasses again?
KAHLIL: Man you’re really going ham on the wisecracks today Gordon.
GORDI: How dare you use my Government name-
XANDIS: Okay guys I hate to be pooping on your party but can we keep the radio chatter to a minimum? We don’t want to get in trouble with The Doctor.
TERANA: Xandis, we’re all doctors.
XANDIS: Yeah but Bradburn has more accolades and she’s old enough to be your mother.
LAUDNA: Xandis?
XANDIS: Yes Boss.
LAUDNA: I think it’s time you knew.
XANDIS: Knew what, my sweet Bradmington?
LAUDNA: Your father, he didn’t want you to know-
XANDIS: Aaaaaah yes. Let me guess, you’re my mo-
LAUDNA: Your parents weren’t who you thought they were, you see, they found you.
XANDIS: Mhmm.
LAUDNA: In a park.
XANDIS: Yes go on.
LAUDNA: On a swingset.
XANDIS: Oh is that so? Riveting-
LAUDNA: You were taped to it.
XANDIS: Okay that took a turn.
LAUDNA: The thing is, my darling Xandis, your real mother, she just wasn’t ready to be a parent.
XANDIS: Do go on I cannot possibly guess where this is going.
LAUDNA: Hmm?
XANDIS: I said do go on.
LAUDNA: Oh no, that’s all darling. You’re just adopted.
GORDI: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAH-
XANDIS: Okay, okay everyone very funny, now get back to work.
LAUDNA: Oh! By the way, darlings, whilst I’m trying to get your cams up and running could you all try your very best to describe what you’re seeing, especially anything interesting? It would be fabulous if you could do that for me and I’ll go back through the audio later this evening to take notes when I’m reviewing the footage from the experiments.
TERANA: Damn you’re still working on it?
LAUDNA: Yeah I can’t work out what’s interfering with them, probably the fucking rift to be honest.
DENALIA: You got it Laudna, I’m approaching the rift now, approximately 100 meters out. Rift appears as a thin vertical strand of bright white light hovering near the base of a 40ft tall tree with a large canopy of sprawling, yellow-leafed branches. Rather than rock, the ground appears to be crystalline, much like the asteroid itself, and I’ve taken some samples along the way and recorded their location and sample ID’s. Very beautiful, with visible colour-play that occurs typically in outcrops where crystal habit is most prevalent. Geiger counter is getting higher readings on my approach, we’re at about 80 counts per minute right now and steadily climbing, thank the Gods for these suits Laudna hahaha. It wasn’t so obvious at first but the closer I get, ouft, the visual distortion surrounding the rift is definitely increasing every five or so meters. Really warped, kind of like a mirage.
LAUDNA: Copy that, any changes to your mental or physical state? I’ve just noticed an uptick in your heart rate.
DENALIA: It’s uh, gosh haha, yeah I feel really good, to be honest. Borderline euphoric. This is so awesome. Little bit sweaty but nothing too uncomfortable, might be the nerves.
LAUDNA: Well don’t you worry my darling, I won’t let anything bad happen to you on my watch. Just make sure to maintain the 20-meter exclusion zone, we still want to play it on the safe side. Baseline readings and vitals from your suit aren’t showing anything too concerning-
XANDIS: Oh Holy shits this is fucking crazy my dudes, are you seeing this?
LAUDNA: Xandis, be a dear and give me a smidge more detail than that-
XANDIS: Boy this is trippy as fuck! Hahaha, the ground is still made of that crystal material but it feels so soft! Even looking down at my feet I can see it give under my boot! Bros this is crazy-
TERANA: Copy Laudna, this is Terana. I’m experiencing the same as Xandis and Denalia, there is also significant light distortion emanating from the rift, it seems to be bending, like, actually bending the light. I’m getting full-colour spectrum refraction.
LAUDNA: Xandis, Terana, can you give me your approximate distance from the rift? And Terana can you tell me whether you’re getting an even spread of colours? Are you seeing shorter or longer wavelengths?
XANDIS: About 70 meters.
TERANA: I’m at around 50. Yes, an even sprea- wait a second.
GORDI: Yeah copy Laudna I’m around the 40-meter mark and I’m not getting an even spread of colour anymore, it’s starting to warp and flicker with a decent amount of green.
TERANA: Copy, me too, lots of greens.
DENALIA: Gods above it’s slippery, how is it so slippery when the ground is bone dry?
KAHLIL: Wow I just cannot get over how beautiful this all looks. It’s- it’s like nothing I could possibly imagine. My heart feels so full.
LAUDNA: Green? That’s a bit odd, not that any of this isn’t odd, but there’s no atmosphere here so I can’t think of what might be causing the light to refract as green-
XANDIS: It’s probably just emanating from Gordi I think. We all know how he feels about my good looks.
GORDI: Hey. Come on now. Twenty gold is twenty gold.
XANDIS: I know right? Even I get jealous of my hand sometim-
TERANA: Every day I stray further from sanity working with you two.
LAUDNA: Children, children, let’s focus now.
XANDIS: Yes mother.
LAUDNA: Hello team! Just wondering how everyone is doing. I’m still waiting for the remote magnetometer, spectrophotometer, and the other cameras to come online, but everything else is set and I’m already picking up readings. The thermal imagery from the drone is… well, it’s unexpected, to say the least.
KAHLIL: Cold?
LAUDNA: Yes and no. The rift itself is quite cold but, and I’m curious as to what is causing this, a considerable radius around the rift reads at a similar temperature to, well, us.
XANDIS: That’s fucking whack-
LAUDNA: Isn’t it just? It extends out on the ground in all directions, petering off in a smooth, fractal pattern, almost vascular in nature. Furthermore, the tree is of a similar, warm temperature, higher so than what you would expect for a plant of this scale, and there seem to be these - I’m not too sure how to describe it - radial beams of heat that extend out from the tree to the walls of the cavern? They look like anchor points but to the naked eye, there’s just… nothing. Can you guys see anything extending from the tree to the cavern walls?
KAHLIL: Absolutely nothing Laudna, I’m so intrigued to find out what’s causing those readings though.
LAUDNA: Tits. Okay never mind. Thanks for looking anyway Kahlil.
GORDI: Just a heads up Laudna, I’ve just finished setting up the last tripod, you should see the cameras pop up in a moment.
LAUDNA: Yes! I’m getting- ugh FUCK! The feed is so pixelated I can barely see anything. Fucking- BALLS- stupid- connection- work, Gods dammit, you have one job! Ugh. Okay, who’s setting up the last two instruments? Can I get a status update?
LAUDNA: Hello?
KAHLIL: Yeah I’m pretty sure it’s Terana who has them.
LAUNDA: Copy Terana?
LAUDNA: Does anyone have eyes on Terana?
DENALIA: Most of us are heading back to the ship but we can-
GORDI: I can see her. Terana, can I get a copy?
LAUDNA: Her two-way radio better not be down too-
GORDI: I’m heading over, she’s just… she’s just standing there.
KAHLIL: Doing what?
GORDI: Just staring at the rift.
XANDIS: Gordi we’re coming back to you-
GORDI: I’m going to check on her- AAAAAGH! Fucking slipped again!
DENALIA: Copy Terana?
LAUDNA: Hey team, are you almost there?
XANDIS: We’ve caught up with Gordi, almost there.
LAUDNA: Good. Her vitals are climbing darlings, fuck it, I’m doing a hard reset of the bodycams, this is ridiculous.
TERANA: Saoirse?
GORDI: Guys I can hear her! Copy Terana .
LAUDNA: Come on. Come on work!
TERANA: I’ve missed you so much. So, so much.
XANDIS: What the f-
TERANA: P-please-
GORDI: Laduna she’s just started slowly moving towards it. Copy Terana! She’s about to breach the exclusion zone, we’re gonna try to intercept her.
LAUDNA: Hurry up because she’s spiking-
DENALIA: Oh my Gods, guys, the visual distortion-
KAHLIL: We just have to push through it Denalia!
LAUDNA: Fucking come on!
XANDIS: We’re there Laudna. Terana! Terana look at me, hey, hey it’s your Captain. Remember me?
TERANA: I have to follow her-
XANDIS: You don’t gotta go nowhere-
TERANA: Please- I thought you were- I buried you Saoirse.
XANDIS: Who are you talking to there’s no one th-
LAUDNA: YES! IT WORKED! IT FUCKING WORK- W-what?
LAUDNA: This- this isn’t right. Copy Xandis, tell me what you’re seeing because this is- this is nothing like what you all said-
GORDI: Mother?
LAUDNA: Gordi , there’s no one there, guys, you need to move away now .
TERANA: I held you in my arms, my love, I held you until you-
XANDIS: No-
LAUDNA: Denalia? Anyone, please! Can you hear me? There is no one there, it must be the rift, it must be , please move away from it- I order you to return to the ship right this minute you have breached the exclusion zone. It is not safe!
DENALIA: I can help, I can bring you back-
GORDI: Father misses you so much, Mother. He fell apart- he refused to eat -
LAUDNA: Please, please stop! I WON'T BE ABLE TO GET TO YOU ON TIME!
XANDIS: Laudna.
LAUDNS: Oh thanks the Gods, Xandis, you have to get everyone away from-
XANDIS: It’s okay Laudna. It isn’t going to be cold anymore. We will be one again.
LAUDNA: Xandis, don’t you fucking dare do not- NOOOO!! OH MY GODS NO-
XANDIS: *static*
KAHLIL: *static*
DENALIA: *static*
TERANA: *static*
GORDI: *static*
_______
A screen flickers to life.
Text and images blur across it as an elegant, pale hand gestures between windows and holograms that project out from the monitor. Selects a file. It opens to show an alien landscape, a dark cavern.
A fine thread of pure light sends sun flares dancing, illuminating its surroundings.
Soft, moist flesh of sickly pink-grey is stretched across the ground like a membrane pulled taught. Tufts of hair, gently twitching fingers, blinking eyes, and gaping, noiselessly gasping mouths are all that disturbs the smooth, slippery surface, segregated by a turgid vascular system of thick, throbbing veins that create a gently heaving web below a lone figure’s feet.
The figure stands at almost 6 feet tall, form-fitting exosuit studded with numerous carabiners and instruments floating around it in the absence of gravity. Its face is subtly lit by the head torch attached to its glass-visored helmet, revealing striking angular features, dark brown eyes, and a full head of long white hair.
And upon that face, an expression of abject horror is etched across its features, tear tracks pulling heavy black eyeliner from lid to jaw as they stare, mouth agape, at the thread of light.
The screen flickers, scrubs backwards, rewinding, rewinding, there, stop.
Five figures stand motionless before the thread of light.
Staring.
Slow, hesitant steps.
Closer.
Closer.
Arms lifting.
Arms opening in embrace.
The thread flashes with bright green light and from it bursts forth a writhing mass of tentacular organs, swollen, quivering intestines.
Wraps tight around limbs.
Bodies relax, eyes drift shut with a look of serenity in the split second before all five of them are ripped from this dimension forever.
Gone.
All is still and silent save for the gentle pulsing of the veins that snake across the fleshy floor.
The lone figure steps into frame, body quivering, sobbing.
Falls to her knees.
Cries.
Laudna cries.
She cries and the speaker crackles with the wet sounds of her sniffles and pained moans, despair, fear, confusion.
Falls to her knees, visibly exhausted, palms facing up, open, pleading.
The timestamp in the corner of the screen ticks over as minutes pass.
Sobbing, groaning, screaming, frustration, agony.
And the light of the rift flickers once more.
Laudna lifts her head, choking on saliva and quaking breaths, watching the rift before her with a broken smile like it’s a thing borne of beauty and terror. A paradox.
A shadow, a squirming formless shadow like an animated scribble of angry lines drawn in a fevered state emerges from the rift.
A glowing tether of darkness stretches back, anchoring it to the reality it has left behind.
The shadow thrums with energy, scribbled darkness twisting and folding and jerking as it hovers before Laudna as if inspecting her with curiosity.
Laudna stands on shaky feet.
“What are you?”
It pulses and buzzes, the tangled mess of dark energy crackling rhythmically in code, trying to communicate-
“Where did my friends go?”
Thrumming, twitching, stretching, darkness moulding elongating bifurcating arms legs head, featureless.
Stands in front of Laudna, a bastardisation of a biped. It shifts when Laudna moves, mirrors her.
Laudna cocks her head to the left, it copies her.
Laudna takes a step closer, it copies her.
Lifts an arm, hand reaching out with long fingers.
It raises its shadow limb, spindly digits materialising, actualising.
“Please.”
Her voice is broken.
The shadow jerks its hand forward, closing the distance until their fingers are touching, intertwined. Laudna shivers at the contact but the shadow remains still. Observing. Collecting data.
Tendrils of shadow extend from its fingers, climb her arm, weaving together like lace darker than night, climb to her helmet and flow without resistance through the glass, feel for her temples.
They dance across her skin.
“Let me see them, please”
The shadow raises its other arm, grows another hand, points to itself then points to Laudna’s head.
“I just want to understand, please help me understand.”
Stillness save for darkness thrumming. Veins pulsing fingers eyes and mouths twitching.
“I just want to see them again.”
Shadows surge forth in an angry torrent, tendrils boring into her face, her orifices, nose eyes mouth ears and she chokes, falls to her knees numb fingers scrabbling at the clear visor of her helmet and then it stops
and there’s nothing left
and the tether is gone.
Laudna sits back in her chair, watching the screen flicker, recalling the moment, watching the image of herself on the screen as she quivers and cries, remembers how it felt to see the memories of her friends flow through her mind as the parasite made a home for itself in her hippocampus, sorting through her thoughts like a rolodex, pulling up moments memories images flashing faces of her friends, her friends, her friends because she said she wanted to see them again, it shows her her friends because she asked to see them again.
The six of them laughing together.
Shows her they’re happy.
They’re not gone you know.
Laudna sighs heavily. Feels like it was yesterday. Hopes it wasn’t too much to go back into the archives and dig it all up.
They will always be with you. And with Them.
“I know, I know. I’m just feeling nostalgic.”
She weaves her fingers together and reaches up, palms flat and facing the ceiling, cracks her knuckles and her back.
“Pâté, run ship diagnostics.”
A voice crackles out of the vox on the dashboard before her.
“Can do mum.”
The monitor to her right flashes with auto-generated text as the Patrolocus A.I. produces a report.
ENTER COMMAND: SHIP DIAGNOSTICS [RUN]
>
>
>ACLS = PASS
>AIR TOXICITY = PASS
>OXYGEN = 20.1% {DOWN TREND}
>
>ENGINES = FAIL
>RUN DIAGNOSTICS [YES/NO]
>
>POWER SUBSYSTEM = PASS
>
>STEERING SYSTEM = PASS
>
>NAVIGATION SYSTEM = PASS
>
>COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM = FAIL
>RUN DIAGNOSTICS [YES/NO]
Laudna leans deeper into her chair and rests her boots on the dash, crossing one ankle over the other as her eyelids softly shut.
“Pâté, are we linked to the Drifter ship yet?”
“I’ve almost completed the mainframe override. The AI on their ship is puttin’ up a bit of a fight but not a worry, you built me better Mum.”
“Careful darling, you’ll make me blush. When you manage to tap in, would you mind scanning for nuclear isomer batteries?”
“You got it. Think they’ll have anything compatible with the beacon?”
“I mean, their ship is clearly stolen and it's the only one like ours we’ve come across that isn’t utterly wrecked. Seeing as Drifters aren’t known for their advanced understanding of this particular technology then yes, I do think they will have a few hidden away, likely with a beacon of their own… even better, one that’s anywhere near functional.”
The gruff cockney accent that the AI chose for itself crackles once more across the vox. “I know luv, I was just testin’ ya.”
“You know how to keep me on my feet, don’t you?” Laudna smiled, “We’ll need to scrap as much of their shit as we can, our oxygen levels are not looking peachy. Hopefully, they have a full repair kit.”
“Lucky you’re the only one on board who needs oxygen innit?”
She hums in response.
Killing them was a waste.
Laudna takes a deep breath through her nose and lets it escape her mouth in a gust.
“Killing them was a small mercy. There’s no way they would have managed to make it to the Parchwood belt in a ship with engine failure, and their prospects wouldn’t have looked too good if we brought them with us either.”
“What’s that? Do you have another instruction for me, Mum?”
“Oh, sorry Pâté,” Laudna gestures languidly to her temple. “Just- you know.”
“Ah. DELAI.LA havin’ a mope because you refuse to feed her God?”
Tell that fucking imbecile software module that They are not something as insignificant as a God. They are everything and more than he can possibly comprehend.
“What do you think?” Laudna smirks. “She says hi, Pâté.”
“Oh! ‘Ello Dee! ‘Ow’s it goin’ in Laudna’s brain?”
This is no laughing matter, we need to feed, we’re growing weak.
“I’m fine.”
Laudna felt it stir deep in her brain, poking at her memories and flashing them through her mind in a passive-aggressive display.
I’m trying to keep you safe my darling. You forget that we must rely on one another. Our futures shall forever be intertwined.
No amount of scrunching her eyes shut can block out the images that the parasite forcefully brings to the forefront of her mind, all of the times she had resisted giving in to the drive to consume, the insatiable hunger, how it always ended in her losing the fight.
She clutches her forehead and winces at the memory of a recent colleague falling to a band of drifters that intercepted her ship on their last job, “Yes, I think you’ve quite made your point.”
Then you would do well to learn from it, dearest girl. Luck was on our side this time, and I would hate to see you disappointed if you do not manage to find the answers you have sought for so long. You deserve all the help you can get, and all I have ever wanted is to help you.
Nervous fingers run through white hair, picking at tangles and sweeping aside the black streak that grows from the peak of her hairline.
“I’m sorry.” She whispers in a small voice.
Maybe one day she will out-grow the anxious palpitations that still wrack her chest whenever DELAI.LA speaks. Maybe one day it won’t feel like she’s tearing herself apart to resist the urges borne of insatiable hunger.
But she’s been fighting them for thirty-odd years.
You don’t need to fight it… fight me… You know I love you. Laudna, I’m so proud of you.
Warmth radiates down the stem of her brain, down her spinal cord, floods her chest until it’s full and courses down her limbs.
The corner of Laudna’s mouth ticks up in to a reserved smile and her voice is still a murmur, “I’ll do better next time.”
Good girl.
Fingers return to her hair, calmer this time as they massage her scalp as if to beckon forth buried thoughts.
“Do me another favour Pâté and run a mission log recording.”
“Copy that mum.”
ENTER COMMAND: MISSION LOG AUDIO TRANSCRIPT [RUN]
>
Mission Log 3645, EXDay 11499, 0823hrs
Laudna stares at the screen for a few moments through a cracked eyelid, watching the curser as it blinks in and out of existence, waiting to transpose her words.
She closes her eyes once more
and the thoughts pour forth.
I think the entire notion of time is lost on me. Not quite sure what good it does, I don’t see the point of measuring it anymore. Time loses its meaning when there is no longer such a thing as day or night. I can’t even recall the ruddy hue of a sunset for how many decades it’s been since I watched our brightly burning star dip below the horizon.
Nevertheless, tomorrow it will have been 11,500 days since we set off on our mission. 11,500 days since we left our home planet, Exandria, behind in search of answers. 11,500 days since we turned our backs on the ruins of Aeor to solve the mysteries they were unable to crack.
11,500.
I think that’s a nice round number to celebrate our friends too. Yes, a number to celebrate.
And commemorate.
Because loss is inevitable, I suppose, despite what the law of conservation of energy would suggest.
I miss them every day.
I try to reflect on the things that I am grateful for, the friend I have gained in their stead - and a very caring friend indeed, I should note.
She just wanted to keep me safe, wanted to protect me all along, so I suppose I cannot really blame her for doing what she had to do.
But I mustn’t lie, I do wonder what life would have been like had we ignored her call, ignored the little hiccup in our instruments. Scientists, after all, shall always fall victim to the monster of Knowledge. How can we be expected to turn our noses at the possibility of discovery? Revolution?
Do you think we would have all made it to our destination Pâté? Would we have made it as a unit instead of in pieces? I try my best to fix the wounds of our ship, both figuratively and literally, but it can be difficult when you’re missing the right bits. They evade me, even when I scrap together what I can to fashion something new. It will do for now, perhaps it will have to do forever, or at least until I join the stardust once more.
Energy can neither be created nor destroyed.
If that is true then why do I feel like I destroy everything I create?
A paradox.
Thankfully I enjoy puzzles.
_______
With one final heave, Laudna lugs the last body into the incinerator, presses a button and the circular hatch quickly hisses shut like a contracting pupil. She turns to the window and waits to watch the ashes get blasted out of the furnace.
In the vacuum of space, there is no sound when the atoms of four previously thinking, breathing, feeling people shoot out like a swirling cloud of smoke, lost to the sparkling expanse of inky darkness.
The vox next to Laudna crackles to life with a burst of static. “Chin up luv, you did your best under the circumstances. Can I interest you in a spot of cleanin’ music?”
She huffs a strand of hair out of her eyes, then fixes it up in her messy bun with a pin after it falls back down again. The blood that stains her hands smears an angry line across her cheekbone in the process and she lets out an exhausted sigh as she turns to glare resentfully at the splatters of gore that coat the walls and floors of the Silver Sun.
“Fuck it. Why not?”
_______
“Pâté?”
“G’day mum, what can I do you for?”
Laudna trudges over to the access hatch on the floor near the central processing core and it hisses gently as the seals pop when she opens it. She clambers in, her shrouded blanket getting snagged a few times on the latch, and starts to arrange herself in the repair cavity the same way she has every other time before. There isn’t much room in here; the space that surrounds the columnar core is only 3 feet tall and about 4 feet wide but science has shown us that one does not necessarily need much space when much-needed snuggles are in order.
She figures Pâté’s control room has seen more use than her own bed over the last three decades, something about the familiar warmth of the metal and vibrations that correspond with his voice have made her feel just the slightest bit less alone.
Laudna begins detaching and unsheathing all of her tools, gadgets, trinkets and doodads from her suit, then, like a sleepy bowerbird, arranges them all neatly in well-thought-out piles on the thrumming steel floor. Her pillow is already down here from last night, and she hugs it to her chest, inhaling its scent deeply before curling her body around the core.
“Does it work?” Laudna sniffles against the warm steel, closing her eyes at the comforting vibration of Pâté’s rough voice through the metal.
“I’ve run all the tests you asked Mum, just gotta hit the button now, so to speak.”
Her long limbs twitch before she squeezes them a little tighter around the core.
“I’m scared to do this without them.”
“All great people are scared o’ the unknown. It’s what drives ‘em to seek the answers to their most burnin’ questions.”
A comfortable silence blankets them for several minutes.
“I finished your body kit this morning you know.” Laudna chuckles softly, “Exactly how you asked for it except I couldn’t get the fur to grow consistently across the skin so it’s a bit patchy in places.”
The Patrolocus Build A.I. guffawed in his endearingly characteristic way that Laudna so loved to hear.
She had created the first iteration in her youth, building and building and coding until it was just as she had dreamed, better even after decades of use and ongoing interactions with people. Personality traits, humour, independent thought, desires, emotions.
“Everyone deserves a choice.” she had muttered to DELAI.LA when it expressed it’s disdain at the harshness of Pâté’s new voice.
And so it was only natural when the time came to prepare for making first contact that she gave him the choice to stay with the ship or leave it in a body.
“Oh, you didn’t!”
Laudna laughed along with him. “I did! I’m so happy with it Pâté, I can’t wait to finally give you a hug and feel you return it.”
The metal buzzed with his excited whirs and vibrations. “You just wait Mum, I’m gonna give you the biggest squeeze possible with me tiny arms! I’m so bloody keen for- for, well, everythin’!”
With a smile that reaches her eyes, Laudna lets the warmth of companionship wash over her. It staved off the cold apprehension that ate at her like rot deep in her chest.
Tomorrow she would finally begin the last leg of the journey she embarked upon all those years ago.
Tomorrow she would light the beacon and pray that her call was answered.
_______
Imagine waiting sixty-one years to finally make contact with the ancient civilisation that you had based your entire life’s work upon.
It all narrowed down to one simple flip of a switch.
Laudna sits staring at the beacon before her, a mass of wires and circuit boards and battery cells laid bare before her, naked and humming. She’s checked them a thousand times, spent decades trying to make it work, knows the ins and outs of this alien tech because she made it her singular goal to understand.
She needed to know .
She needed to unlock the mystery of how and why this ship ended up in the ruins of Aeor.
Metal slides against metal and gently clicks into place as the grooves fit seamlessly together, insides naked no more, hidden beneath a cold, steely shell.
The simple flip of a switch.
A shaky breath escapes her lips and she sucks one of them back between her teeth, bites hard and tastes copper, lets it swirl and coalesce with saliva under her tongue.
You’re so close my darling.
Blinks twice, swallows the metalic mixture, “I wish they were here.”
They never left.
The memories flood now, smiles flashing and warm embraces and she can’t help but let the tears well over as she feels her friends surrounding her in spirit, each hand reaching down to join hers on the switch.
she closes her eyes
takes a deep breath in
and flips it.
_______
Laudna’s vision flickers into semi-clarity, shadows still clinging to her periphery as she tries to blink into focus. Everything feels so pleasantly weightless. Space was wonderful in that regard, stealing away the weight of the world and replacing gravity with featherlight calm.
Perhaps I should just rest my eyes a little longer.
Fluorescent lights threaten the embrace of a headache, photosensitive as she is, so Laudna shifts a heavy arm to massage her tender brow. Time feels like it moves as slow as a glacier, the ball of her palm pressing languid circles into her orbital bone. So slow. Like swimming in honey. Was she floating? It feels nice. She feels nice.
Eyes closed.
It’s dark and cold and good.
Hello?
Laudna blinks again. Her eyes feel strange. They feel dry and wet and irritated all at once. Everything is still blurry.
Do you understand me?
There is a voice.
Another voice in her head.
She hasn’t heard this voice before.
It sounds nothing DELAI.LA.
No sting, no sweet-dipped malice, no sharp edge.
It has a rich, rolling accent as it slowly enunciates in Galactic Common, elongating it’s vowels and clipping consonants.
It’s nice.
Warm. Comforting. Gentle.
It feels… curious? Excited perhaps. Lilting with guarded anticipation. Kind and smooth and rich with unknown emotions dancing upon a question mark that hangs in the air.
Laudna goes to utter a response but chokes instead when her tongue catches against the firm object that resides in her mouth. Coughing is no use – she quickly realises – no simple solution is going to clear her throat of the breathing and feeding tubes that keep her gullet open and occupied.
Long, urgent fingers immediately go to her mouth, dragging through air so thick it feels like syrup-
Careful there, y’need those to survive, I wouldn’t go pulling them out if I were you.
She tries to move around, blink, focus, turn over? Not lying down, floating, hovering? Suspended. Thick liquid. Arms, legs thrashing, hitting something smooth, cold, glass? Can’t move properly, things tugging, neck tugging, hand to back of neck-
What the fuck is thi- what the fuck is sticking out of my spine?
Lungs starting to burn-
Try to relax, hyperventilating won’t do you any good either-
Who are you? Where am I? What have you done to me?
Me? Goodness no, nothing-
Then what are you going to do to me why am I in a fucking vat of slime?
I’m not gonna do anything to you, I don’t exactly work here. The voice is still warm, almost amused.
I have to go I have to get out I can’t be here I have to get back to Pâté-
You can’t get out, trust me, I’ve been trying for years.
The thrashing stops. Laudna’s hands are still against the curved glass surrounding her, a perfect cylinder. She swivels her head and body around in a full circle, scanning her surroundings and squinting against the harsh, bright spotlight that shines down upon her pale body from within her tank. If she could just find the source of the warm voice-
Were her jaw not sealed shut by the muzzle that held her tubes in place, it would have fallen open.
Five, ten, upwards of twenty tanks like the one Laudna was floating in were arranged in rows, stretching beyond her field of vision towards each supposed end of the room.
A laboratory.
Bodies float within the tanks, some bloated, some impossibly slender, bodies of all shapes and sizes and combinations of limbs, tails, tentacles, talons, horns.
Only her tank is lit up like a beacon.
Walls of deep metallic grey, backlit and bathed in purple lights recessed within sleek alien architecture. Razor-sharp instruments and elaborate glassware of countless varieties lie strewn on benches and wheeled trolleys. Jars filled with organs and body parts, most of which were entirely foreign to Laudna, line the shelved walls. Some still twitch in the murky liquid.
She swallows heavily out of habit and gags against the tube, trying her best to tune out her excited curiosity and focus on what the fuck she’s going to do next.
Find the voice.
Are you in one of these tanks?
She feels a wave of relief flood through her muscles as the voice bathes the folds of her brain with its gentle vibrations once more.
Look for the one with the cage ‘round it, just behind you to the left, I’m a few tanks down.
And sure enough, there it is. Unlike the other tanks in the lab, this one is shrouded with a tightly woven metallic mesh, revealing only the silhouette of the agile but muscular looking entity suspended within.
It looks really fucking tall.
A shadowed hand presses against the glass behind the metal mesh. Laudna mirrors the movement.
Hey. The voice breathes.
Hi. Laudna waves her hand slightly, a small smile curling behind her mask and crinkling her eyes.
Come here often?
Oh you know, I used to frequent this spot years ago but I found it lost most of its charm once the crowds grew bigger.
The voice chuckles and it’s the nicest thing Laudna has ever heard, she muses.
Well, I’m glad you came by, it’s been a while since I’ve had anyone to talk to.
Laudna’s smile falters, she gestures to the tanks surrounding them. The others…?
Nothing much left of them now. You’re the first new addition in a long time, they must have seen something special in you.
The scientist wriggles with discomfort at that, pulling her limbs in close to her body as if to make herself… less.
Who’s “they”?
The people who run this facility, my old team.
Your team- wait, your own people locked you up in here?
The figure’s head bobs solemnly.
Somethin’ like that-
Because you’re dangerous? She probably should have waited a few polite seconds before blurting it out, perhaps even phrasing her words more tactfully than the presumptuous question she just hurled straight at her new companion. She can sense the hesitation in its energy within her skull.
It’s just that- that you seem to have what looks like a- a Faraday cage sort of, you know, enshrouding your tank.
An excuse me what now?
You know, a Faraday cage, a shield to contain or protect from electromagnetic fields. Laudna bites her lip. She can’t help herself. Every time a word bubbles to the surface it flows from her without resistance, leaping off her tongue and into the abyss with reckless abandon.
I built my first Faraday cage and Tesla coil when I was 15 years old for the school science fair but I was so excited to show everyone that I forgot the whole, you know, silly little safety precaution side of things so when I turned it on I may have fried all of the nearby automatons which as it so happens, was a very expensive mistake but thankfully part of the disciplinary measures they put in place involved me spending my after hours with the city tinkerer to fix them and she taught me all about power cores and robotics and everything mechanical and it was precisely the right sort of mental stimulation that I needed at that age so inevitably I became her apprentice- It very suddenly becomes apparent that she’s rambling and her voice trails off into a quiet murmur . It had been so long since she had someone new to speak to. Anyway, that’s basically how I ended up here today.
A warm chuckle. I have a feeling there were a few more steps between becoming an apprentice and ending up in here with me.
Yes well, I wouldn’t want to bore you with details.
I mean, I can check my schedule if you like? I’d happily make some time t’hear the whole story.
This is so odd. Laudna is positively sure that being imprisoned as an alien test subject is not supposed to be so enjoyable, but she can’t stop smiling over the feeling of simmering heat that begins to spread through her chest and down her limbs.
It feels different to when DELAI.LA does it. More natural, less forced.
You’re being so nice to me.
Would be rude if I wasn’t. Besides, people aren’t too kind to aliens round these parts.
Oh! Laudna giggles. No, I’m not an alien, I’m just an elf!
A pardon?
An elf… she could hear her voice losing momentum again, getting quieter. Elves are the, um. Magical folk. From Exandria.
Ah. Laudna is the only elf in space.
Alien.
I see. And are all elves so… She watches as the figure shifts awkwardly in the tank, and in the stead of words, fevered images and emotions flashs through Laudna’s head from the strangers mind. Laudna’s eyes, the curve of her neck, rushing blood, her long delicate fingers, her deep brown eyes again, her bare waist, the sweetness of adrenaline, elegant collarbones, slender ankles, her eyes, her eyes, Laudna’s eyes-
Uh, are all elves so l-lovely?
Laudna blinks. She feels her ears grow warm. Looks down.
Fuck.
She’s stark nude.
With about as much grace as a baby giraffe, Laudna flails around in her tank to cover up her bits.
Oh gods, I’m- fuck - I’m so sorry this is so embarassing, you don’t need to- Oh goodness I didn’t even realise-
Hey! No no, it’s me who’s sorry, it’s not your fault! Besides, it’s just a body, we’ve all got them! Good old flesh prison, that’s all it is. A-and you know if it’s any consolation I have been averting my gaze as much as possible, it’s just that, you know, sometimes I don’t mean to-.
Holographic displays spring to life on both Laudna and the stranger's tank to show a jumble of glyphs and characters.
Laudna gestures to the panel with a jerk of her chin, What does it say?
Oh, nothing too concerning. Just- Is it possible for a voice to emanate heat? Just your vitals, you know. Heart rate and stuff.
Ah. My blood pressure and heartrate have significantly lessened over the years, it’s a side effect of this para- She stops herself. No. Nope. New person. Nice new person being nice and friendly. Don’t need to go into that right now nope. La La La no nothing. Mmmmmyes only nice and good no bad-
It’s okay, The very good and nice voice hums, We don’t have to talk about anything that makes you uncomfortable sweetheart.
Sweetheart? Mhm okay. It’s fine that’s fine it’s just a term of endearment nothing unusual here. Maybe that’s a thing in this person's culture, to throw terms of endearment at strangers, they probably mean nothing by it. Except Laudna is suddenly grateful for this breathing tube because she’s not entirely sure whether her lungs would be able to do the thing all by themselves right now.
And uh, I wouldn’t have known your heart is on the slower side. Looks pretty fast to me right now. She swears the voice is smiling. How is it even possible for a voice to smile? But that’s, you know, probably the nerves right? I mean you did just wake up in a scary lab, you can’t really be blamed.
Yes. That’s exactly what this is. She is definitely not buzzing with adrenaline because of the very lovely and nice tall clearly muscular velvety-voiced mysterious person who keeps talking to her like they’ve known one another for years. Of course, how could Laudna be so daft? Her heart is thumping against her ribs because she’s only just starting to process the fact that she turned on the beacon and then they were called to her within thirty minutes and when they realised she wasn’t one of the original crew they probably got pretty pissed off and attacked the ship, knocked her out with some sort of powerful volatile anaesthetic that somehow managed to bypass her exomask before she even had the opportunity to interact with one of them, and then bottled her up in goo.
How… how long have I been out for?
There was an odd pause before the voice answered.
Two I.S. days.
Laudna narrowed her eyes. Why did you hesitate?
Hmm?
You hesitated. Just then.
Mmmm no. No, I did not.
If I knew your name I would use it very firmly right now. Laudna smirked.
There was a pause. Okay well firstly, time is relative.
Laudna rolled her eyes with a sarcastic Ha ha, struggling to hide her grin.
What? The voice giggled then acquiesced, Truly, I was just overthinking. I was worried it might be a bit presumptuous of me to assume that elves use the Intergalactic Standard measuring system. I mean, what if you have your own units of measurement on Exandria? I’ve never even heard of that planet before, so I thought it might be a primitive or fringe planet because you’re not a part of the United Galactic Coalition nor the ExtraTerra Syndicate as far as I’m aware but then again, what if I’m wrong and I’m actually being prejudiced and that wouldn’t be a very good first impression and I would hate to make you feel uncomfortable because the truth is it’s been very lonely and isolating-
The vitals hologram sprung to life again on the stranger’s pod and Laudna watched the flicker of glyphs tick by.
I just… haven't had anyone to talk to. The people on this ship, they stopped talking to me years ago and before then most of them avoided me, they wouldn’t even look my way. Even in the darkness, Laudna could see the figure curl in on themself, suspended in the fluid, limbs wrapping tight around their body. So I didn’t want to risk ruining things, especially not before getting to know your na-
Laudna! She blurted in her head a bit too loud. It’s- it’s Laudna.
Laudna… The voice rolled her name around curiously, trying to emulate Laudna’s pronunciation of it despite their accent.
I love it. It’s unusual. I hope I’m saying it right?
You’re wonderful- I mean, um, your pronunciation! Is wonderful, of course. Fuck. This was a mess. A big mess. She had forgotten how to talk to people. It made her nervous and giddy and she didn’t have anything to fidget with. All of her fiddly trinkets were clipped to her exosuit and right now she was the opposite of clothed.
Shit.
She forgot she was naked again. Her hands fly back to cover herself.
So, two days huh? Gods, the sleep gas they used on me must have been strong.
Better to be safe than sorry. They had to learn that from me the hard way haha.
The figure shifts in their pod and a long tail unfurles in the liquid. Laudna eyes it and gulps.
You, um, they what? Who?
Although they are a very recluse race, the Aimamel’ani have always stood ahead of the game when it comes to cutting-edge technology, drugs, weapons, and biological warfare. It’s one of the reasons they have me locked up, so they can try to find a way to… manufacture my capabilities.
Laudna wonders what it is that makes this person so capable. They seemed very capable, that was certain. Well-spoken and charismatic, clearly intelligent and big very tall and looks so strong and oh my gods they have a tail too and really quite tall-
Focus Laudna, focus .
Hmm?
Nothing! Please continue, you were saying?
Oh um, well, naturally I wasn’t all too pleased about the prospect of being locked up and tested on for the unforeseeable future so… I put up quite the fight. It took a lot more than their former dose of volatile anaesthetics to knock me out.
Laudna relaxes a little, forgetting why she was feeling so giddy for a moment, and instead, she feels her brows knit together in sadness for the stranger. She doesn’t quite know what to say.
It must have been scary, I imagine, to be turned upon by your own people.
It was. I was so afraid of being the monster they already perceived me to be, so despite my resistance I still held back from using the full scope of my powers and… well, here I am. They gesture to the glass that imprisons them. I often wonder where I would have ended up had I fought without fear or hesitation.
I think it is only natural to wonder about what could have been. It seems to be a common reaction amongst all races from what I’ve noticed. But I hope you are not too hard on yourself for reacting the way you did to the situation when in all reality, they were in the wrong, not you.
The voice laughs bitterly. You are kind, but they had every reason to lock me up. I do not blame my people for fearing things they don’t understand.
So they are your people, not just your team? The- what was it?
The Aimamel’ani. It means Blood of Ink.
Oh.
The- okay. So this… this person is… oh fuck. She isn’t sure how long she will be able to keep her thoughts guarded about the- quick, quick change the subject-
May I ask what your name is? Truthfully, she had been itching to ask already but 30 years of near isolation tends to make one a tad rusty when it comes to social conventions.
Oh, I would love to tell you my name. The voice curls around long vowels with its lilting foreign accent. In our language, it’s pronounced ee-MOH-ghen.
Laudna repeats the name a few times over in her head, hoping her attempt at pronouncing the soft, throaty ‘g’ won’t be too shameful if she ever has the luck of getting out of this place and enunciating it out loud.
It’s beautiful, does it have a specific meaning?
All Aimamel’ani are given names of significance. Mine is a name often given to children who were not expected to survive childbirth.
Gods, I’m so sorry to hear that darling.
The voice in her head seems to stutter for a moment before regaining composure.
Th-that’s kind of you Laudna, but you don’t need to apologise. Imogen’s voice has a peculiar tone as if there is more to the story that they are hesitant to divulge.
Imogen? She hopes she said it correctly instead of sounding like an uncultured idiot.
Yes?
Laudna raises a hand to the glass, searching in the darkness, hopeful of finding the glint of Imogen’s eyes.
I will hasten to guess that we may be here for some time… I know you don’t know me, and truthfully I am honoured that you have already trusted me with such personal insights. But if there is ever a time you wish to talk about anything particularly difficult, I am always happy to listen.
Warmth floods Laudna’s brain as Imogen’s joy pours across their mental bond and she can’t help but smile over how Imogen feels, it’s so infectious.
That’s- I- Thank you so much Laudna I can’t articulate how grateful I am to hear someone say that. I didn’t mean to- I hope I didn’t overwhelm you with anything I just-
Imogen. It’s okay, really.
Thank you Laudna, and I’m sorry for hogging the conversation, I would actually adore to know more about you- only if you’re comfortable telling me about yourself though, I don’t want you to feel obliged just because I’m a bit of a blabbermouth when I’m anxious.
She wants to tell Imogen that she would gladly listen to them talk for hours and hours on end, but settles instead with: You can hog the conversation as much as you like my dear. But if there’s something you would like to know about me, you need only ask.
Imogen’s voice perks up with a hint of curiosity and excitement.
Really?
Of course!
Oh, okay, just give me a second while I think… Damn, there are so many questions, let’s start with why you’re here?
Ah. Yes. She probably should have seen that one coming. Well it may have had something to do with the fact that I was commandeering an Aimamel’anian spaceship and then I may have, uhhh… activated its beacon?
Laudna’s skull was suddenly inundated with roaring laughter. You activated its beacon? Surely not knowingly? Stars above! You must be fearless to be driving a stolen ‘Mel’ani ship! Do you have a death wish or something?
She thought back on Xandis’ words all of those years ago.
It’s been suggested a few times, yeah.
May I ask how you managed to come by one in the first place?
Laudna tries her best to breathe evenly and shifts with unease. It’s a bit of a long story, are you sure you want the whole thing?
Warmth bubbles across the bond, Imogen’s voice is still smiling as radiantly as it was before. It’s not exactly like I have any place I need to be, although I’m sure we’ll get interrupted at some point by our captors for some pre-scheduled probing and torture, who knows?
Oh, joy! What an exhilarating vacation, I can’t believe we won free tickets for the Contiki Tours of Intergalactic Space Eugenics!
Imogen’s silhouette shakes with a full-bodied laugh, Has anyone ever told you how funny you are Laudna?
Oh certainly, Pâté reminds me all the time! He’s my AI, such a good boy but he’s started to become rather randy of late and I’m not entirely sure how to help him with that. Now that he’s in a body kit I’m worried he might get his weenie stuck in an electrical outlet. Although now that i think about it, he’s probably into that kind of thing- I- goodness, sorry I didn’t mean to ramble-
Laudna.
Hmm?
A wave of giddiness and heart-fluttering heat pulsed through their link. I think I could listen to you ramble for days on end and never tire of it darlin’.
Oh. She could feel her face and chest getting warmer. That’s- you really mean it?
Mhm. Now why don’t you take a few deep breaths and tell me about the adventure that led you to finding one of our ships? You can take as long as you like, I will gladly listen to whatever you feel comfortable telling me. Imogen’s voice lowers into a whisper for a moment. And I promise I won’t judge you if you had to fuck up a couple of my people to steal it, most all of them are a bunch of assholes anyway and probably deserved it.
She might suddenly combust from how lovely this new person is. It’s a feeling so foreign, so synchronously addictive yet frightening that Laudna cannot fathom the possibility that any of this is real.
Laudna takes a deep breath through her tube, closes her eyes, and feels a chill numbness settle across her as DELAI.LA stirs deep within the darkest recess of her brain. The parasite doesn’t need to speak for Laudna to recall the honeyed words that have echoed in her skull a thousand times over.
“Let me help you, sweet girl.”
Flashes of memories dance across her vision like shards of broken mirror falling past her eyes as she recalls her past. Ruins stretch across a frozen wasteland, where jagged remnants of colossal towers pierce the icy sky. Once marvels of architectural prowess, the towers now stand as broken monoliths, their surfaces scarred by arcane devastation and the passage of time. Where streets once bustled with life, they now lay buried under layers of frost and debris, frozen in a perpetual silence that echoes with the whispers of lost knowledge.
It is said that thousands of years ago, the Gods arrived in Exandria which, at the time, was a tumultuous world of elemental chaos. Nevertheless, the Gods saw its potential and fought against both the churning elemental powers and even some of their own brethren to mould it into a land of beauty, peace and safety, such that their creations could survive.
To their creations they gifted some powers of their own - gifts of the arcane - and with those gifts our forebears soon thrived. Societies blossomed and so too did the the seeds of knowledge as there comes a time where all parents must let their children go off into the world to discover things on their own. And discover things we did.
Ultimately this led to the Age of Arcanum, a period in our history about 1,500 years ago that represented a time of both wonder and peril where mortal magic flourished and would, inevitably, forever shape the fate of Exandria.
Laudna pauses for a moment.
Is this okay? I hope I’m not boring you.
Is that supposed to be a joke Laudna? If I had a seat, I would be struggling not to fall off it, please keep going.
A smile curls at the corner of her mouth and she feels her cheeks warm as it grows into a meek grin.
The Age of Arcanum was defined by the discovery and manipulation of profoundly powerful arcane magic which led to the rapid advancement of all civilisations across the globe. As you may be able to guess, arcane ambition grew to seemingly impossible heights and the most powerful magocracies that ruled over the flying cities of Exandria were overrun by mages and scholars hell-bent on unlocking the mysteries of the universe and bending the very fabric of reality, space, and time to their will.
Power is a fickle thing. It corrupts. And the most powerful wielders of the arcane festered in their arrogance, they grew to fear nothing and no one. Not even the gods. Some aspired to ascend to godhood, and one even succeeded.
But the scales had lacked balance for too long, eventually they were bound to tilt back. Betrayer gods were released to wreak havoc and destruction upon the lands, and a centuries long war, known as The Calamity raged between them and the Prime Deities who fought to protect all they had built. With the fall of society so too fell the great cities in the sky, save one, the great city of Aeor. You see, the mages of Aeor coveted knowledge more than you could possibly imagine. Their technological advancements and their arrogance grew to such heights that they continued to thrive for hundreds of years during The Calamity until they too were struck from the skies by both Prime Deities and Betrayer Gods alike.
Laudna reaches a hand around the back of her long neck to rub at the junction between needle and spinal column.
I mentioned one of my mentors earlier, the tinkerer who I was assigned to helping after my fuck up at the science fair? Her name was Vex’ahlia Vessar, a woman of incredible talent and sharp mind. She was the first person to nurture my own thirst for knowledge and set me off on my own path, introducing me to other like minded individuals and guiding me in my research. I became fascinated with the history of scientific and magical discovery in Exandria, which ultimately led to my team’s discovery of the ruins of the once great city Aeor-
No fucking way!
Laudna beams beneath her mask, Way fucking way.
Oh my goodness, okay, that’s amazing, I’m so sorry for interrupting that’s just so cool, okay go please continue I’m sorry keep going.
Hahaha, don’t worry darling I’m glad this excites you, it was- goodness, you’re right to react in such a way. It truly was one of the highlights of my life when we finally made it there. Anyhow, I had always been intrigued by Aeor, and I held a guarded theory that perhaps their greatest feats had been possible due to a little extra help on the side, bar the arcane gifts of the gods. I didn’t know what led me to believe such a thing, but my suspicions were confirmed when we finally explored the ruins. On arriving, we came across the most magnificent telescopes and other contraptions designed for what we could only assume at the time might have been for long-distance communication. But it was bewildering, from our calculations, these devices were capable of sending messages over far greater distances than necessary on our planet. Never in our wildest dreams did we imagine that our ancestors actually succeeded in making contact with another world entirely. She tries craning her head around discretely, eager to appear casual as she squints through the darkness for a glimpse of her shrouded companion.
Using modern dating methods we were able to date most of the materials used to build many of the ingenious and peculiar technological devices that we uncovered, but it soon became apparent that whilst many were created using advanced arcane Exandrian methods, some were entirely foreign altogether.
Dark eyes glisten with the joyous memories of discovery but Laudna’s smile faulters when the shadow in her brain shifts to clutch its twitching digits around an image that had lain dormant, buried withing the deepest recesses of her mind.
And then one day we found the bodies. I remember finally unlocking this door that had stood impenetrable since we first came across the ruins. We knew it had to be where they kept their most sensitive information, we had managed to access every other room on that level. Laudna’s eyes glazed over in reflection as she stared out of the window and into the dark vacuum of space. It pissed me off you know. Seeing their bodies suspended and half dissolved in fluid, one disassembled entirely and divided up into fucking jars. I must admit, I found it difficult myself to separate my own… interests from the immorality of it all. I read through all of the notes and listened to all of the recordings we could find. Very well documented.
Long fingers intertwine, twisting, pulling, picking at cuticles and broken nails.
Our people used them. They sent out a beacon and made contact. And someone answered. Someone answered and they came to investigate and they befriended one another, they shared stories and knowledge. And once we had learned as much as we could from their minds, we decided that wasn’t enough. We wanted more.
Her eyes cast down to her trembling hands.
Ultimately, it was their downfall.
The extraterrestrial technology was used to aid in the construction of a weapon capable of killing a God.
Imogen’s form twists within her tank, muscles relaxing in realisation after holding tension for the duration of Laudna’s story.
So that’s why the Gods banded together to smite the city?
Laudna smiles sadly beneath her mask and nods solemnly, feeling moisture from her own eyes mix with a different viscosity to the fluid she’s suspended in.
The greed of men. There’s something so all-consuming about the hunger for knowledge. To seek answers in the stars when we cannot find them below our feet. We have always looked to the heavens for help, and when even the Gods couldn’t satisfy us, we looked beyond them too.
Imogen shares space with her in contemplative silence for what seems like minutes, hours, she isn’t sure, until finally, Do you believe in fate? Destiny?
Fate? Laudna considers the question heavily, recalling countless conversations with DELAI.LA.
I’m… not entirely sure. There have been occasions where I have questioned whether every event in one’s life has been predetermined. Not by any specific entity necessarily but perhaps by time itself. The past has to happen for us to experience the present, and the present must occur in order for the future to actualise. I don’t know whether that is destiny, but sometimes it certainly feels like it.
For several beats, Imogen is silent. There is a tragic irony to your story Laudna. It pains me to see history repeat itself.
Laudna cocks her head to the side in confusion. What do you mean?
She can sense hesitation again within the flitting psychic energy of her unlikely companion.
Have you not considered the fact that it was your own journey for knowledge, although not borne of arrogance and greed, that has led you to walk the path of the very beings that answered Aeor’s call? In all of your brilliance and passion, it is you that has become the alien beneath the scalpel.
Oh… I- no, how could I not have-
Mouth dry and lungs stuttering, Laudna chokes against tubes that now weigh a tonne against the smooth tissues of her spasming gullet. It feels as if her very thoughts begin to quiver as the reality of Imogen’s words coil and thrash like an angry snake, realisation crashing and boring down through Laudna’s very psyche with devastating force.
I- you’re right, how could I have been so- so stupid? Tears flow freely, swirling and diluting her tank fluid as sobs wrack through her body and she can’t breathe properly and she keeps choking and her hands make contact with the glass and she’s stuck there and she’s never going to get out and if she had only learned from the mistakes of those who came before her then maybe she wouldn’t have- she wouldn’t have-
Oh Gods, I’m th-the reason they’re all dead.
This time it isn’t DELAI.LA who conjoures forth memories of decades past.
Laudna sees the computer monitors set up before her very eyes, finally buzzing into clarity as the five bodycam live streams of each of her friends perfectly depict the true horrors of the space they occupy. A mass of grey, quivering skin stretching beneath their feet, thick pulsing veins, gasping mouths, rolling eyes, fleshy adhesions spider-webbing throughout the entire cavern, and that sickly green light fracturing, cracking, distorting the very air surrounding the rift before-
There’s a blinding flash, tentacles intestines mucus organs wrapping constricting embracing and then nothing at all.
Gone.
Laudna- Laudna listen to me-
No- Imogen I- I can’t breathe-
Yes you can, you just need to try your best to slow it down-
I can’t I- it hurts my chest hurts and I can’t get out I’m stuck here and I left them Imogen! I just left them there to die I fucking led them straight to it and I promised- Imogen, I promised I would keep them safe-
Listen to my voice Laudna, I’m so sorry for digging up whatever triggered you but it’s gonna be okay. Right now, in this moment, you are safe. Close your eyes and just breathe, listen to my voice, I’ve got you.
No you don’t understand, it was all my fault .
But Imogen’s voice is soothing, warm. It’s going to be okay, we’ll figure something out, I’m sure of it.
Laudna drags her nails across her bare skin leaving angry red lines in their wake to distract herself from the piercing pain in her chest. How can you be so sure?
A long silence stretches between them, broken only by the thumping pulse that beats the drum of Laudna’s ears.
Our people often speak of fate. Growing up, I rebelled against many of the teachings of the Aimamel’ani. I argued with my peers, my teachers, my elders. I didn’t think it was fair for my misfrortune to be predetermined by a greater power. The silhouette of a large hand presses up against the inside of Imogen’s glass prison. But meeting you is the first time I have felt like I was in the right place at the right time. Does that make sense?
Laudna’s nails retract slightly as she continues to massage her skin in self-soothing patterns. She smiles meekly. I do suppose we are an unlikely pair. But yes, now that you mention it, meeting you is the last thing I would have expected on this journey. Yet somehow it feels like our paths were meant to cross.
Warm tones and vibrant colours vibrate across their mental tether as Imogen happily wriggles in her pod. I really can’t wait to get to know you better.
A teary chuckle is muffled by tubes and a mask. Nor I you, my darling.
So it is here, in the bowels of an alien starship, that Laudna feels the curious tug of destiny once again.
But destiny can wait. For now, she allows herself a small reprieve as she closes her eyes and enjoys the quiet company of her new friend.