[Merskelly Metalien]

[[WHATEVER ELSE (MISC)]]

NOV 3
Space Pirate crew Holo-logs

DICE
>Captain’s Holo-log
Number...whatever, I don’t care, because time isn’t really a concerning factor at the moment. I uh, think everything is kind of a blurr for now, considering I just woke up with my one good eye throbbing and in so much pain. Feels like someone just came up and gave my skull a good knee-ing to. Sheh. Wait, what was I going to say? Right.
My lips are chapped, and I’m starting to get a headache. You’d think this would be enough to make someone stop their damn drinking to function when you need to. Ugh, but do I learn? Yes. I just don’t listen. Until something REALLY bad happens. Like, I wake up with two arms suddenly, or worse, totally blind. Damn. My eye feels like it could bleed right now, and I wouldn’t be surprised. Well, nothing a little visit to the robo-doc can’t fix, right?
Anyway...the good news is, I got the damned butterstone. I don’t know why they bother trying to make it sound cuter; it’s a hunk of gold. And one more to add to the looty loot trove. So, it was a priceless relic, and so it was going to be melted down and shared to benefit the aid of some little moon brats. It doesn’t take a piece of gold to save lives! It takes work. And people who work need to get paid. With currency! Not with a chunk of solid, shining, honey colored stone! In fact, I saved it from a terrible fate. The butterstone, ugh, I mean, a mass of transparent gold is really hard to come by and sells for quite the sum! And now, it’s all mine!
That’s right, I forgot about the crew. I’m sure Ly’s got everything all stabilized and everyone else in shape. I can’t remember if he had anything to drink too...oh, wait. Yeh, he’s more of a drinker than I am so...guh, is there anyone onboard running things? Is there anyone onboard that’s awake?...Is there anyone onboard at all? I hope I didn’t leave anyone behind. Eesh, I’d never hear the end of that...especially from that strog of an empress. But nevermind that. Next on the list is that lumpy little asteroid of uh,...an asteroid. To get that ancient Pirronian crown! Oh...that didn’t feel right in my stomach. I think we’ll take our time trying to get that crown then, it’s probably falling apart anyway. I got plenty of better crowns n’ junk.
Well, it’s 570. And I need to hurl. bye_


LYROH
>First Mate Holo-Entry
Number 604
Time 1781 hours
It’s been some long time since I’ve actually documented anything. I don’t see need to unless I have vital information that really needs to be recorded. My last entry consisted of the telling of the important details I pick up from the last time I encounter some of Dulag’s thugs in a black marketplace, and some...more than humiliating responsive behavior I exhibited...nearing the end of that entry. Neveless, I think it’s important that I try a focus on what is affecting me in a clear physical and chronological sense, than focusing on what really matter I suppose. With that said, I am dying. At least, I don’t very feel I am improving in my health. Like any other sick pirate wretch, I am delaying only the inevitable. I might need think about investing in some few cybernetic alternatives for myself. It sounds well ridiculous, but my coughs feel worse without a smoke. I know I’m make it worse, but let’s face it, my lungs probably being crumbling into ash at this point. Additional, one benefit of artificial lungs would have being able to sneak about without being heard. I don’t think that was very big issue of mine anyway, but it’s not completely all bad. I might need added tube, which I really don’t want, but, I’m not going to have much of the choice. Surgery is a walk, but recovery, that is agony. No, not because of any pain. On its contrary. I welcome the necessary pain. Let’s me know this body of mine isn’t getting to giving up on me. But recovery means I won’t be getting around much and taking care of anything for a while. And this includes not getting smokes for a long time, which I am not looking forward to. I’m been trying so hard, just to get down to one pack a cycle. It’s tough. But this ship need me, and also her captain, that much is obvious. I am going to die. I’ve felt my death in my meditations enough times being for me to accept it when it arrives for me. I haven’t told Dice. I haven’t told anyone. But I have a something in store for myself when the time comes. I always want to leave behind something nice anyway, as consolation for all the devilry I cause and been part of...not that it’s make up for it all, but hey, I can try. That’s all any man can do is to try. His attempt only going in one of two directions. I haven’t fail yet. I know this, because I won’t be dying before I succeed in delivering a requital. I am not through yet, and I’ll be damn if something as miniscule and irritating as lung diseases prevents me from giving up this rust life of mine. To my last breath, I swear it.
In other news, my blades are finally back to their sweet metallic scents. No more reeking blood on them. And I used Sua’s machine polish on them, so they slide back into the sheath real smooth. Real smoothly. Yes. I’m not giving the polish back. I suppose that is it for now. I need to make sure there aren’t any more pest or annoying stowaway hiding inside our ship. And to relieve Dice from his ridiculous cozy chair. End of log entry._

SUA
>Sua’s Awesome Holo-log
Number 88
Got to pilot the ship a few hours ago. Nothing much else happened...oh, except for the fact that I found a sweet ass haul!! On a busted up asteroid! Someone just DUMPED an entire single-pilot ship! Well, they didn’t dump it, I think. I mean, who would just abandon a 386-FLE Quad-gear vehicle like that?! Either a complete idiot or a deadman that’s who! But it was just THERE! For the taking! NOOOO one else around! I really really really really wanted it, but the captain says what the captain says, so, he said no...he said no. But I said yes. The deepest recesses of my heart said yes! My whole instinct said yes! I heard a quick little voice in my head tell me, “Sua. If you just abandon this opportunity, and leave that poor ship out there floating in the abyss amongst the space trash and the ice and the rock, you are just as awful as the person who abandoned it.” I couldn’t deny it! My little voice was right. I couldn’t just leave it there, so I just took a cable from outside the docking bay, and well, hooked it up to the ship to tow. The others don’t gotta know about it. I mean, it won’t even make any difference. So I got to work on the ship and when everything was all repaired and working tightly, I snuck some time in to give the docking bay a good, swift shave to make room for the ship in tow, and then when no one was looking, went outside and dismantled it piece by piece to fit it in, since you know, Quad-gears have the sexy contractable wings and all, and the ship wasn’t really working so I couldn’t very well just fly it in with the wings out. So yeah, that took forever! But lucky for me, I had forever, since there wasn’t any crisis aboard that COM couldn’t handle. So everyone was none the wiser.
Oh! And it gets better! When I put the ship back together in the docking bay, I found that inside, was a GOLDMINE! Well, there was trash in there too, but it was MOSTLY a goldmine! I found a shit-ton of Eaglett comics, some blankets, like, over 20 CSMs, all kinds of batteries, a really cute pair of underwear, but it won’t likely fit me at all...a whole bunch of landing gear and wing repair tools, gum, molding glue because I’ve been needing some more, and some emergency engine fuel, unused! It was like, destiny or something, rewarding me for the ship I salvaged. It was just meant to be. Plus there were like some swimsuit and cosmocycle magazines in there. It had to be destiny.
It took me a good 300 cycles’ time to actually finish fixing up that FLE. I worked up a huge appetite, so I pretty much polished off my platter in the dining hall upstairs...kinda makes me feel bad for Cela. I mean she did just take the job, but, to be fair, she DID also stowaway. Anyhow, the ship’s all nice and not-broken. I scored on some stuff I really needed. It’s still kind of a secret. I can’t keep it secret forever though. I think I’ll tell Captain Dice. I probably should. Maybe later. Not now. I need a shower. Like, desperately! I can’t tell if it’s my sweat or all the fiber debris that’s making me itchy. I better take a good one. My hands are killing me too.
Later!_

CELATARA
>Empress Celatara’s Diary
Journal Entry Number 712 on this computer
Dear Diary,
I’m so disappointed that I can’t leave a recorded hologram like the others. I have got to learn how to speak more physically. It just feels so weird. Opening and shaping your mouth into different ways to make sounds. It’s not as embarrassing with the rest of the crew here doing it...but still. I remember Dia was teaching me to speak aloud before I left. She never got to teach me more, but, I guess I didn’t need it. Oh, why can’t everyone just speak MY language? It’s so easy. I guess everyone is set in talking with their mouths. Even Lyroh, and he hardly chats about anything coherently.
Additionally, on this ship it has come to my attention that NO ONE here MAINTAINS a distinguished and clean environment! But I guess, it’s to be expected. I mean, they are pirates after all...I stumbled through a mess of things down by the generator room, and stubbed my toe. I wanted to cry so much, but I couldn’t draw any attention to myself at the time. So I kept my throat quiet and kept off my foot for a bit. I wasn’t supposed to really be there, you see.
Well, I had nothing more to do really and I was just getting sick of cleaning after everyone’s mess, so I decided to go to the engine room and then the armory, but it was kind of intimidating.
I don’t know what was going on with me. I just, I wanted to find someone to talk to. COM was busy with something in one of the hangars, and so was Sua. Not that I’d have much to talk about with her...Captain Dice was catching up on some rest...so I guess, all that left me with was Lyroh or Aza. Not a bad limitation. I like Aza, even though she looks creepy and short. She’s polite and interesting sometimes. I like telling her to retract her fingernails! It’s so odd! But as much as I like that she’s a good listener, she is still a bit mysterious. She doesn’t talk about herself a whole lot. I wonder if she’s just a shy one, or if she is super secretive. Either way, I feel like I trust Dice more than Aza. Dice! And he’s the most dishonest and evoking human being I’ve ever met! He also happens to be a sharp, unprincipled, black-hearted pirate, while Aza is, just quiet mostly. It’s unsettling, at least I think it is. Almost like she’s up to something...I’m not suspicious of her! I’m just thinking...she might be a little more private than I give her credit for.
So, anyway, I couldn’t find Aza down there, but I did run into Lyroh which was a little more than unpleasant. He found me limping about like some common cripple, and ordered me to leave, even though I wasn’t touching anything. I tried to tell him that I was cleaning in the generator room, but I stubbed my toe, but I should I have tried harder to explain. He really does take everything seriously, and doesn’t seem to have a kind bone in his body! I stub my toe and am on the verge of crying and what does he do? He just scolds me for being near the generators in the first place, and ushers me out telling me to go see COM if it hurts that bad. And he called me a weakling! ME a weakling! I still can’t fathom it, even though he has called me a weakling before. But I’m taller than him, and his bones are more frail than mine! There are some things you just don’t to say to an empress! I’m going to change his mind about me, and I don’t care if I have to perform menial and challenging tasks in order to do so. I mean, what does HE do for this ship? Just walk about and relay orders? Boss everyone around? Ruin laundry? Leave cigarettes all over the place? Sometimes, I don’t know who is worse, Dice or Lyroh. Both of them together are just as infuriating and insufferable to deal with as a bad headache during a holiday, with no gifts! Just thinking about it all makes me boil so I’m not going to waste time and write about it anymore. It was just a stubbed toe, so the pain went away in a short period of time. But I still feel bored. Dice will probably make me want to kick something, Aza is like a scampering, hidden mouse, Sua and COM are still doing whatever, and I can’t go back and talk to Lyroh. Well, maybe I could, but I’m not going to! I really shouldn’t have been exploring down there, sure, but, what else am I supposed to do? I feel bad for COM. Everyone orders him around all the time. I can’t imagine being used like that. Like Avos back at home was. But I could see the fatigue in him. In COM, he has no fatigue, but he’s mechanical so it’s understandable. I think I’ll go see what Sua and COM are doing. Maybe I could help! I do know a thing or two about machines or whatever. That’s all for now then! Until next entry. ~Empress Celetara_


AZA
>Ship’s Holo-log
Number 3
I guess I’m stuck here. It feels like it’s been forever since I even saw an inhabited planetary system out the windows of the Huntress. I miss my aunt and uncle, and Lexan. I even miss Taya. I miss my friends. I can only imagine how worried they must all be. Probably as worried as I was since I first arrived on this ship. I guess I was kidnapped but, it really doesn’t feel like I’m a prisoner all the time. I mean, I’m recording this, even though I don’t think I’m allowed to. I’ve even stopped trying to seek help to get me home. This crew, and this Captain, both seem less intimidating now. It could be worse. They could have killed or sold me if they wanted to. But the fact that I’m still here, is probably thanks to that one Gellvhi woman, who seems kind for a pirate. I’m not even sure why they keep me here, other than they are trying to avoid justice and need an extra hand for running things. To be honest, I really don’t want to be here, and a part of me is still scared for my safety. I can’t believe the mess of deadly weapons this pirate ship has! Not to mention the fact that there are extreme dangers here out in deep space. Asteroids, other pirates, star dragons, black holes, gamma ray surges...there’s just so much that can go wrong at any given time. This ship’s medical bot is more concerned than the ship’s captain is! I don’t know what I’ll do if we ever land somewhere civilized again...I want to be home again, but I don’t know if I’ll be allowed to. I would keep my mouth shut about this ship and it’s crew, but I can’t guarantee I will if in the future I’m asked about them...I don’t know what to do...but, at least I’m alive. I can thank the goddesses that I still have strength and breath and food and rest. I might be crazy, and this might be a captive’s admiration, but this band of pirates is actually kind of intriguing. If they weren’t such crooked, roguish, disagreeable thieves and charlatans, I think I could be friends with them. As it is, the only one of them who seems to show me any fair treatment is Sua, the Gellvhi. I guess captain Dice is, kind to let me live, but he really doesn’t strike me as the murderous cutthroat type. He likes to talk. And he seems to like people...even though they aren’t of the same race as he is. It’s strange how he doesn’t seem afraid of anyone...even if he should be. And his love for this ship, is probably more genuine than his love for anything else, even precious treasure. Well, I guess I should really try getting on everyone’s good side. If I manage that, I can manage more than I could as just a captive prisoner. That first mate will probably be the toughest to appeal to...he is a bit scary for being so short. Someone’s coming- I got to go._

NOV 6
Nicorbus and his Wives

“Where are my shoes?”
“Hey, let go! That’s mine!”
“Is everyone ready?”
“This is MINE! All your bows are pink!”
“Crissyyy! Hurry up! I need to go!”
“One minute! I’m almost done.”
“Um, is everyone ready? Because, um-“
“Everyone shut up!”
There was suddenly silence among all of them, when she shouted out. All the ladies turned to see her, the dark, fallen angel with long, tied up, blood red hair. She strode into the lavish, large bedroom hall, a deep and threatening coldness in her expression and ice in her teal eyes. She glared at all of them one at a time, and kept her gaze on one of them in particular. A very young, red and pink shaded demon girl, with short horns on her forehead and a small pink tail drooped under her dress stood, looking up at the angel in fear. “I don’t want to hear you instigating anything Dredara, I mean it.” The dark angel warned. At that time a lovely succubus with long white hair and violet eyes came out of a sparkling, clean and tiled room, holding a small towel. “I’m finished, who needs to use the, oh-!”
“Out of the way!” blurted a short but spunky looking demon girl with short blonde hair and the strongest of urges to relieve herself. She quickly shut the door behind her while the white-haired succubus in her long white dress stood in front of the dark angel. “Oh, excuse me Linzy dear.” She smiled softly, tip toing around her, exiting the hall. Linzy, the dark angel quietly stared back at her briefly before walking after her, and glaring at the other girls. “He’ll be home in 5 minutes. Please. Behave yourselves for your sakes.” She grimly breathed before leaving.
“’buhave yourself for YOUR sakes.’” One demon girl, dressed in soft turquoise furs and hair, mimicked quietly before scoffing in frustration. “Ugh..she’s so melodramatic sometimes.” She said folding her arms. “Um-uh, w-well, I need to um, please, use the comb, if, um, I can just-“ a soft and delicate voice spoke up, coming from the only one of them without a demonic look to her. Just a girl with short red hair, a soft maid-like dress and the sweetest but most tired looking eyes. As usual one of the other girls cut her off, a blue skinned spirit girl, with short black hair and sunglasses. She had dark, punky and rebellious style to her, matching her expression, and she was also transparent from the waist down. “You’re all boring me.” She grumbled. “What do you need a brush for Apricot? Your hair is short. Just use your fingers. Enjoy feeling your hair while you got the chance.” She almost snapped at the poor tired girl, wooshing past her. “Oh, okay.” Apricot softly just accepted her passive aggression with a sad smile. “Thanks Clementine.” “It’s C!” Clementine shouted back and stormed off through the bathroom wall. The demon girl that ran into the restroom came out again, looking behind her and drying her hands with a towel. “So sensitive.” She muttered, while the other ladies all chattered and built up the noise again.
Suddenly in the middle of it all, the deep sounding old doorbell rang, and they all turned their attention to it, quickly setting off together down the hall and to the foyer.
“Give me my bow D.D.!”
“Nah nah, it’s mine now!”
“White doesn’t suit you Dredara. Nothing about you is pure.”
“Shut up your face, DARline!”
“Oh, give it! Ugh! Right now!”
“No!”
“U-um, what do I do with this?” Apricot murmured, holding up someone’s purse.
“Hey-! That’s mine!” Xally, the blue demoness spoke up. “Why is everyone taking all my stuff today?!”
“I-I didn’t take it, I found it on the-“ Apricot tried, but Xally already snatched the purse back and hurried with the rest of them downstairs.
A tall male demon dressed all in dark red royal garbs and his long dark ashy hair parted around his horns, arrived in the foyer, holding a package in one arm and a thick book in the other. He set the book down with a heavy sigh and immediately glanced up to hear the ladies all chattering and overlapping one another in welcoming him home. His tired, demonic green eyes turned suddenly agitated and rolled away, as they nearly all ran to him.
“Welcome back!” “Returned at last!” “I missed you so much! You have no idea how much I missed you Nico!” “Welcome home my love!” “Do you like my bow?” “I’m s-so happy you’re back!” “Jeez, don’t everybody suffocate him at once.” “Nico, did you bring me everything I wanted??” “Look at my bow! Do you like it?” “You look tired dear.” “Have you been working really hard?” “What did you do today? Tell me, come on tell me!” they all chattered, surrounding him and heavily piling over him like wet towels. Linzy the dark angel just stood to the side, separate from them all, glaring calmly at him with folded arms. He looked to her for help, but there was no mercy to be found in her silence and her face. He turned back to them all, trying to get a word in. “I-, now hold on, let me get to my room.” He groaned, picking the book up but Apricot took it for him, and the package as well. “Thank you lovely.” He sighed. “Is that for me??” Xally beamed. “I just ordered some new socks off of Amazon.” He replied. “Are they for me?” She repeated. “Nico! You like my bow?” Dreadara interrupted, bouncing up and down with devilish excitement. “That’s Xally’s sweetie.” He told her, taking it off and giving it back to Xally. “I know,” the small, pink Dredara giggled. “I stole it from her because she’s such a hoarder.” “I am NOT.” Xally growled. “Honey, I’ve got some new perfume.” Crissy, the white succubus sweetly smiled, pressing close to him and wrapping her arms around his as they followed him up the stairs. “You did huh?” he answered, looking more tired, but keeping the smile he had reflecting hers. He then looked again back at Linzy, standing at the bottom, but she did not move to help him in the slightest, looking most unamused. “Well-l-ladies, hey-w-ha-let me speak.” He told them all before quickly getting a sentence through. “Let me get dressed and then we can all go and have dinner okay?”
All seven of them followed behind him to his room, chattering and blathering away excitedly, even after he shut the door behind them. He stood against it, and quietly let out another tired sigh, slumping over. “This is what I get for marrying 7 women.” He groaned to himself with self-pity. Just then, Clementine, the tough looking ghost, floated through right beside him. “Long day, huh Nicorbus?” she scoffed.
“You have no idea.” He grumbled back, rubbing his face in one hand and staggering over to his bed, belly flopping right atop of it with a hum. He squeezed the sheets in his hands and stretched his spine. “I should have married my bed. It’s the only thing in hell itself that I miss every damned day.”
“Rude. I’m still here you know.” Clementine pointed out, holding up her translucent hand with a dark wedding band on her finger. “Whatever.” Nicorbus murmured. “At least I don’t worry much about you, C. You don’t give two shits about anything but what I’ve got to say.” At this, she floated closer, sinking into the bed next to him. “Am I your favorite?” she asked. “Today you are.” He sighed. “You wanna hear about what’s been goin’ on?” “You know it.” She grinned, rolling over and floating atop the bed. “Lay it on me.”
“You know how last week we were all working on some big political corruption influences?”
“Yeah?”
“Well, I guess the good news is that it has potential for escalating into some violent activity and maybe even begin another human war.”
“Really?? Hell yeah.”
“I know, cool right? Anyway, I’ve been worked to the bone just to keep things tense and upsetting, while Seth gets the easy work, right? How hard is it to keep things in the dark? He can’t even do that, and yet he’s getting all the credit, it’s bullshit. Even though I’m getting paid more, that’s a given, but, holy hell. Give credit where credit’s due. That’s what dad enforces all the damn time.”
“Does he know how hard you’re working?”
“He doesn’t give a fuck, C. That’s what I love about him.”
“Huh. Well, I guess you better get some rest before dinner.” She smiled, pushing up her sunglasses before floating down into the floor.
“It’s never enough.” Nicrobus grumbled as she left, laying still on his bed and finding it very easy to drift to sleep.

NOV 8
Sua Entering a Ring Race

“It’s such a beautiful planet.” Aza smiled, looking down at the blue ringed terrestrial planet from the ship’s main window on the bridge. Dice stood beside her looking out and folded his arms. “I’ve never seen such colorful rings. Have you been here before?” Aza asked him.
“One or twice.” Dice shrugged, cracking his neck. “We’re only here for provisions though.” “Couldn’t we take a little scenic exploration?” Aza requested, watching Dice as he sat down on his captain’s chair, kicking back and lounging.
“Why? You into swimming all of a sudden?”
“Swimming?”
“Yeah.” Dice scoffed raising his eyebrows and nodding his head in the direction of the planet. “Or did you not notice the planet is covered in one big ocean?”
“That’s water?!”
“Well what did you think it was miss brainiac? Methane?”
“Well..yes.” Aza confessed, looking back at the planet. “So, what are the rings made of then, if this isn’t a gaseous planet?” Dice yawned and reached in his pocket pulling out a cube of water gum, popping it into his mouth.
“Dusa’s rings are made of junk space stuff and moon bits after one of its moons bit the dust.” “What happened to the other moons?”
“Oh they come around once in a while, seasonally. And then they migrate to the southern end of the galaxy.” Dice smirked.
“Be serious about something for once, Captain.” Aza grumbled. “Oh I’m so damn serious!” came Sua’s voice as she nearly darted onto the ship’s bridge. “Serious about racing!” She grinned in excitement, standing before the crew on deck, cracking her gloved knuckles. While Aza beheld Sua dressed in a short top and skin tight racing pants with high boots and three glowing belts, Dice raised his eyebrows at her and smiled.
“Ahh, you’re going to enter a position?” He asked her.
“I-I thought we were only here for supplies?” Aza folded her arms.
“We’re in no rush.” Sua shrugged, smiling and stretching her arms up. “I’ve always wanted to race on Dusa. It’s like the coolest place in the whole damn galaxy to race!”
“You race in a ship?” Aza asked her.
“Well of course silly, how else do people race?”
“Well, there’s Bazi Racing.”
Lyroh’s ear twitched and his head tilted to listen to Aza, seated at the navigation hub behind them.
“It’s pretty neat to watch, and people bet on it.”
“People bet on these races more.” Sua beamed. Dice nodded and smirked, blowing a small bubble in his gum. “That’s because they’re fast as hell.” he added. “Racers live and die for these kinds of races.”
“It’s that dangerous?” Aza asked, squeezing her arm.
“If you call racing around the planet’s rings dangerous, yes.” Sua replied.
“Around the rings?! Yes! I do!” Aza protested. “The tidal resistance of small ships can’t possibly allow it to fly close to a planet’s rings and remain in one piece!”
“They can if they were built for just that purpose!” Sua grinned down at her. “I’ve raced in more dangerous places, rings are a cinch compared to the winding canyons of Marrat. They’re just like asteroid belts but, tame.” she shrugged casually.
“Well, how would you know Sua? Have you raced on rings before?” Aza worriedly questioned. “No. But how hard can it be?” She smiled back, stretching her wings. Aza turned to Dice, picking his ear on his chair and chewing his water gum.
“Well, I hope you’re just drenched in worry for her.” She sarcastically scolded him. Dice blinked his eye up at her, rubbing his dirty finger on his pants.
“Oh, I’m just distraught.” He sarcastically returned, smirking. “Relax Aza. She hasn’t had a good race since that cross meridian track on Aoshi. If she doesn’t come back alive, I’m going to lose a LOT of money! And you’ll have a new job.” Aza frowned up at him and lowered her voice.
“You ba-! How can you say such a terrible thing? Don’t you care that-!?”
“Aza.” Sua stopped her from nearly lunging at Dice. “It’s alright. Hey. Why don’t you come with me to enter my name in the race?” She smiled, placing her hand on her hip. “I really want to enter this, and I hate going alone to register.” Aza blinked up at her and worriedly taking her hands in her own.
“I don’t like it, but alright.” She sighed before Sua excitedly extended her feathery golden wings out and flapped them slightly before hopping up and down. “Woah-! Hey-!” Aza exclaimed, nearly being launched up in the air.
“Ooh! This is going to be so much fun! I need to start thinking of a cool alias name! Go get ready, I need to fix up The Velocity.” She delightfully beamed and set Aza down safely before folding her wings and taking off down the ship’s bridge. Dice chuckled and came behind Aza, patting her shoulder.
“Let her have her fun. Here.” He nudged her. Aza looked down at his bandaged fingers, handing her a small, odd smelling box.
“Eugh. What’s this?”
“It’s Sawsa. Her favorite meat. For celebration or for defeat, whichever.” Dice explained and brushed Aza aside with his shoulder, walking down the ship’s bridge over to Lyroh. Aza gave him a look of unsure concern which he didn’t see, and then made her way off the bridge with the box in her hands.
“How much you wanna bet Sua lands first place?” Dice grinned, watching the planetary information screen on the navigation hub with his first mate.
“20,000 says she places third.” Lyroh murmured, a toothpick in his mouth.
“Make it 80,000 and the tab at the next bar we visit.” Dice smirked. Lyroh tapped a few controls on the navigation hub, sliding his fingers around the screened planet to focus on the rings, with holographic zooming objects traveling around them. He smiled and sighed folding his arms. “40,000.”
“Nah nah, 80.” Dice grinned shaking his head as he rubbed his scruffy chin. “I know you have it.”
“45.” Lyroh haggled, leaning back in his seat and folding his arms behind his head.
“Fine, 75.”
“50.”
“Hmm, 65.” Dice said, shifting is feet. “Final offer.” A long pause drifted between them before Lyroh held up his hand to Dice, which he slapped in a positive agreement.
“65 plus the tab. She’ll place third.”
“First.” Dice sighed with a look of silent pride. “I’m counting on it.”

On the planet Dusa’s watery surface, there was a small hovering city high above the waves, where Sua took Aza with her and landed her craft to register for the ring races. She leapt off, helping Aza down with her and locking her ship’s cockpit.
“Well, where do you register?” Aza asked her. She looked around at the vendors, landing and departing crafts, and took in a very chilly oceany scent. “Not sure.” Sua admitted, rubbing her neck and looking around. “I’ll ask.” She added, walking up to a Foshkin man. Aza watched her and looked around the craft lot, noticing a group of three tough-looking racers all laughing and walking together in her direction. One was clearly Valocitian, with grey skin and large black eyes, and though their hair was dark and short, they seemed female in appearance. Another was Obskanian, looking like a taller, more friendly and sandy-haired Lyroh. The leader, with neck tattoos and reddish brown hair tucked around his curved up horns, was Schynyn, and had a very commanding and intimidating look to him, with his voice muffled through a breathing apparatus. She nervously stood still, looking over at them before turning around and pretending to be busy checking up on Sua’s ship wing. While she avoided their attention, she listened in on their brief conversation as they walked by. They were speaking a dialect of Fichii, which she once studied in school, but they hardly seemed to be talking about going to the store or sharing likes and dislikes.
“Hahaha, I mean, did you see his face?”
“Too easy. Heheheh, ah, it was worth it though.”
“Next time we should…”
“...HA! No doubt!”
“Hahahah!..” They finished, walking out of Aza’s hearing range. She frowned nervously and suspiciously, knowing in her gut, they seemed up to no good. Sua came back with a smile on her face.
“Aza? Oh, there you are. Registration is over that-a-ways.” She sighed. “I hate flying in this wind, but I wanna save my feet the exercise. Let’s go, yeah?”
“Um, Sua?” Aza began nervously looking around her.
“Don’t worry, I’m not going to drop you.” She smiled scooping her up and stretching her wings. Aza held onto her neck tight.
“Wa-wait wait wait-waaitSuaa!” She yelped as Sua took off upwards and in the direction of the city where a long line which split into eight shorter lines could be seen from above. Aza shut her eyes and clung to Sua, grumbling in the strong wind as Sua shifted her wings to glide and try to avoid turbulence, but made her flight shaky nevertheless. “Hey! There’s the line! Darn. If I were famous I could just cut ahead!” Sua spoke, flying down to touch back down to the metallic ground. Aza shivered and steadied her breathing as Sua set her down with a short chuckle. “Back to ground. See? That wasn’t so bad was it?”
“I’ll never get used to that.” Aza replied, fixing her hair and composing herself.
The two stood in line, with other racers from across the planets. “You’re sure you want to enter this race?” Aza asked her.
“You don’t have to worry, I’m used to races like these.” Sua insisted. “I’ve been racing for years now.”
“Oh? How many years?” Aza sighed, her arm across her abdomen. Sua smiled with a thoughtful and guilty look on her face.
“Ahhhhh, I think…” she paused, placing her hands on her hips and furrowing her brow in thought. Aza looked up at her uneasy and awaiting her response. “It’s hard to say, since different planets have longer and shorter years, and-” Sua tried.
“How many A-cycles then?”
“A-cycles? Uhhhmmm, around 6?” Sua replied.
“6. And other racers have been at this all their lives and you still want to enter?” Aza worriedly spoke, the both of them moving up in line.
“I’m tougher than I look.” Sua shrugged, folding her arms. “Besides, I have a knack for it you know. I might not win first, but I’ll try to.” Sua smiled.
“Dice said he was counting on you to. How can you let him bet money on you? That isn’t very respectable of him.” Aza said folding her arms.
“The captain trusts me on my own like this Aza. I’d say that’s pretty respectable.”
“But you’re not alone down here, are you?” Aza smiled.
“I know. It’s kinda nice.” Sua smiled back and moved up in line. “What do you know about Rally ships?” She asked Aza, fixing one of her gloves.
“Not much.” Aza admitted. “Actually very little. I’m not really into mechanics and crafts.”
“Ah, it’s not difficult. Once you get to know the frame, function and build of everything in the vehicle, you get used to knowing how to quickfix shit and what adjustments to make and how to install some sweet improvements for it.” Sua explained. “I’ll show you once we register.” They moved up in line.
“Are you racing in the Velocity?” Aza asked her. “It’s got speed, but it doesn’t have much be means of a shield, does it?”
“True, but that doesn’t mean I can’t customize a few things on her a little for a ring race.” Sua returned cheerfully. They moved up in line again, the man in front of them registering his name in the race. Aza leaned in closer to whisper up to her.
“Isn’t that cheating?” Sua just shook her head with a reassuring frown and calmly shut her eyes before blinking up at the man in front of them finishing up his registration.
“At least..I’m pretty sure it isn’t.” She smiled, moving up in line, Aza moving up beside her.
At the front was a booth with a thin horizontal window, a single register bot attending the window. Sua cleared her throat and began to speak in Tuse. “Ah, vol. Sussi co val a kelves ve raches?” The bot replied in an electronic pitch in Tuse.
“Suve. Cele ut, ey? Ut weva al esen?”
“Ves.” Sua answered.
“Ev ish?” the bot asked. Sua glanced over at Aza before answering.
“Ves, asse.” The bot maneuvered with multiple robotic arms and punched in her information as she marked the holographic screen with slight taps of her finger.
“Ev ut aretu kam?” The droid asked. Sua smiled.
“Ve Velocity.” The bot clicked and whirred around, making her ship name appear in the roster on the screen.
“Chetu. Kav sci ii, vel a ut rache Z522408. Geuaccavim.” The bot finished, handing her a small circular device.
“Agrave.” Sua replied and took her racing beacon the bot had given her, placing it in her hip pocket.
“What language was that you just spoke? It sounds Lekkish.” Aza asked, following behind her as she headed back towards the docking bay.
“It’s Tuse. It’s a Zovaxian language. I knew a couple Zovaxians that were kind enough to teach me.” Sua smiled, slipping off one of her gloves and holding it in her mouth as she took off her other glove.
“It’s pretty.” Aza smiled, blushing slightly, wanting to hear her speak something else.
“Eh, I don’t speak it as well as Lushun, but then again, heh I didn’t undergo surgery to learn it.” Sua smirked, rounding the corner. They were almost entering the docking bay when suddenly Aza heard someone’s awfully familiar voice.
“Sua!” It was the Schynyn racer from earlier. Sua spun around to face him and the other two racers. “Lohwah, sehelat! Heheheh, long time, no see.” He glared at her, nearly matching her eye level. Sua blinked and stuck her gloves in her belt side. She looked tense and a little more than vexed as she stared into his pale violet eyes. Aza ducked behind Sua a little, watching her converse with them.
“Nitro.” Sua sighed, almost in dread. “I feel like I have seen a phantom.” Nitro chuckled.
“We ha were so sure you were done for back in Alka.”
“Can’t get rid of me that easy.” Sua shrugged back, folding her arms across her chest. She glanced at the other two racers. “Heya Ora.” She nodded to the female Valocitian racer. She simply nodded back with a smug look on her face.
“Hey! What? No greeting for me?” The Obskani racer scoffed, disgruntled.
“I’m not speaking to you.” Sua glared back at him.
“Aw, come on. Are you still mad about that one little scratch on your landing gear? You get your feathers in a bunch about everything.” He muttered.
“Figured you were as good as dead in that desert city where we ah saw you last Sua. But I suppose old habits do not perish from the person?” Nitro spoke up, before catching a glimpse of Aza behind her wings.
“If you want me dead, grow a pair and use your weapon like a big boy.” Sua hummed with a condescending smirk.
“You’ve made the poorest choice in entering the ring races Sua.” Nitro sneered at her, tip-toeing as he closely faced her, pointing his finger at her nose. “You may have come to win a little cash prize,” he continued, lowering his volume as he spoke to her intensely. “Pala you will lose. And you might lose more than just the race, if you fail to stay out of my way.” Sua blinked her glaring yellow eyes at him and craned her neck to the side, spitting on the ground in response. “I hope your little friend here knows she isn’t safe from anything you aren’t.” Nitro relaxed, backing off and turning his back to her and chuckling to himself. “Graze. Ora. Let’s go get ready!” He called behind him as he walked away. The Obskani racer snickered at Sua before following behind. Ora blinked her large black eyes at Sua and Aza.
“Good luck funny face.” She said before turning and striding away with a smile. Sua folded her wings in slightly and sighed in minor grievance. Aza followed her as they made their way back to the Velocity.
“You know those hoodlums Sua?” Aza frowned.
“Teh! Yeah, I know ‘em. I used to compete with them. On better, more, friendly terms.” Sua answered, reaching up and untying her short sky-blue ponytail before scraping her scalp to gather her hair again to fix it up. “Nitro and I kind of have a rocky past, it’s a long story. Nothing too interesting.” She continued, scratching her forehead and finding her ship. “I don’t worry about him though. At least, only until I can get in front of him in a race that is.” She chuckled, helping Aza climb into the ship. “Can you see if there’s a socket drill under your seat there?” she said, flapping her wings enough to land on top of the ship’s wing. Aza looked under her seat and around the ship’s carpet, looking for her tool, sliding aside the box Dice gave her and smiling, hoping Sua would be surprised by the end of her race. She found a long metallic rod with a spiral locked on the side of it with a clamping mechanism on one end.
“Umm, here.” Aza replied, finding and giving her the tool.
“Thanks.” Sua said, adjusting the tool and pulling her goggles up and over her eyes.
“Well, I just hope you know what you’re doing.” Aza sighed, sitting back in her seat with her arms folded.
“I know what I’m doing 96% of the time Aza.” Sua said, opening a panel on the ship’s wing and disconnecting a few thick wires.
“What time is your race anyway?”
“Oh! Here.” Sua blurted out, remembering the beacon in her hip pocket, taking it out and tossing it over to Aza. She caught it and read the holographic symbols on it.
“It’s counting down from...I think 3 hours? 2 hours now.” Aza replied, holding the beacon. “Um. Are you going to be able to fix the ship in time?”
“Without any crazy distractions, I sure will!” Sua answered, sparks coming from the wing’s mechanical components as she used her drill to connect and seal some wires in place. Aza began to pull out some thin Zoom chips from her pack in the ship and began munching on them, while she waited for Sua to fix up the wing of her ship.

Meanwhile on The Huntress, orbiting Dusa, Captain Dice and Lyroh were messing around with the gravitational stabilizer and floating around the bridge. Dice was singing a hearty, silly tune while batting a shiny piece of Obsidianite back and forth with Lyroh.
“Ten old men with ten old arrows,” he sang.
“All of them with tats of pharaohs,
Took ten aims out in the rain,
And hit nothing but sparrows!”
“Nine old men with nine old snakes,” Lyroh sang with him.
“Swam into an icy lake,
They swam out and did so shout,
‘Our poor old backs do ache!’”
The men chuckled about to continue with another verse when suddenly they were interrupted by Celatara’s telepathic voice.
‘When you two fools are through playing with rocks, you could take some responsibility and maintain the Roven-drives! They’re overheating again!’ She scolded them, placing her hands on her hips. ‘And please fix the stabilizer in here captain! You are going to make a mess! Who do you think has to clean it up for you? I’m not your mother!’ Dice laxly batted the Obsidianite in between his bandaged hands.
“We’re bored. The race isn’t for another half a rotation.” he told her as Lyroh behind him was tumbling in free-falling circles. Celatara blinked her large black eyes and shook her head in scorn.
‘You’re both grown men, find something less childish to do.’
“Like what exactly?” Lyroh yawned, picking his thin pointed ear.
‘Like helping us maintain the ship!’ Celatara frowned stamping her foot.
“Fine fine, I’ll get COM down to the engine room.” Dice waved, leaning back and slowly flipping in zero gravity.
‘You two don’t deserve such a good bot like COM. You can’t expect him to do everything for you you know.’ She sighed. Lyroh grumbled, switching the gravitational stabilizer back on and slowly landing back onto the bridge floor.
“Awww.” Dice sadly groaned as he slowly fell to the hard floor with the Obsidianite on his chest. ‘I’m taking a break, so there won’t be any food until the race begins. You two had better get to work.’ she said folding her arms across her aproned chest. Lyroh slid down the bridge staircase and landed right in front of her, leaning on the door.
“Whatever would we do without your guidance princess?” He sarcastically remarked, giving her a wave before switching the bridge door closed in front of her.
‘You’re lucky I don’t poison you because it’s very tempting!’ She echoed back to him and left the bridge door in a calmer but still irritable mood. Lyroh looked back at Dice still on the ground and they both shared an immature chuckle.
“You’re in trouble.” Lyroh smirked, kicking Dice’s foot before walking past him.
“Ehh, I’m always in trouble.” He smiled before yawning and laying his head back.
“I wonder what doesn’t piss her off.” Lyroh chuckled to himself, sitting at the navigation hub and plotting their next course on the ship’s computing system.
“She’s just used to things always done for her.” Dice answered, staring up at the bridge ceiling. “We’re just used to things done whenever they need to be done.” He exhaled with an amused tone. Lyroh slid over to the side containing drawer and took out a flat square device, pressing a single button on it and speaking low into it.
“COM, the Roven drives are overheating in the engine room, see what you can do about it.” A robotic-human voice replied back from the device.
“Already working on them mate. They’re stabilizing.” Lyroh looked back at Dice and talked away from the device.
“He’s already working on it.” Dice just grunted and lifted his arm in reply. Lyroh turned back to the device and spoke. “That’s all then. Full thanks.” He said before placing it back into the side drawer. He slid back to the navigation hub and altered the coordinates easily, ignoring a continuously blinking contact signal coming from the communication plate.
“Lyroh?” Dice sighed, still staring at the ceiling.
“Captain?”
“Could you turn off, the stabilizer again? I forgot how heavy this rock is.”

It was only ten minutes left on Dusa until the ring race began. Sua was finishing up some modifications for her ship’s tri engine boosters, while Aza worriedly kept trying to contact The Huntress on her VOITS. When no answer or reply was returning, she sighed nervously and watched Sua as she clamped together two mechanical parts and did her best to seal them together. With a sigh of relief, they both relaxed in the Velocity’s seats. “All finished.” Sua said, wiping her neck with her grimy towel.
“At last.” Aza added, smiling over at her. “You can take me back to The Huntress now then. I’ve been trying to contact someone but no one is answering. I hope nothing is wrong.”
“Heh, they don’t answer most of the time, probably nothing to worry about.” Sua assured her before strapping in and lowering the cockpit top, as it hissed shut and the ship began to whirr and start up. She flipped a few controls and attended to some blinking alerts, silencing them and taking off vertically. Aza strapped herself in loosely and made sure the surprise box under her seat was still secure. Sua then flew up and away from the hovering cityscape, high into the atmosphere with a smile on her face.
“You’re excited about this, aren’t you?” Aza said, smiling a little at Sua’s obvious delight. “How long has it been since you’ve done this?”
“Back on Aoshi, about half an A-cycle ago, I raced over the famous Bau-Zen Mountains. I remember going back after the race ended just to look over what I was zooming past. It was really breathtaking.” Sua answered, making it past Dusa’s last atmospheric layer, cutting her engine’s speed to fly closer to the top of it’s rings. “I think Dice took pictures. Remind me to show you later.”
“I will.” Aza smiled, taking the box out from under her seat and holding it away from Sua’s sight. She then furrowed her brow, wondering why Sua was traveling around the rings, with other ships joining in. “Sua...you’re taking me back to The Huntress right?” she nervously asked, leaning in her seat and looking out the windows at the other racing vehicles.
“No time Aza. Look at the beacon. I have two minutes.” Sua shook her head. “Looks like you’re stuck in here for the ride.” She smiled mischievously shrugging. “I hope you haven’t eaten anything heavy.”
“But-! Wait- I never registered for this!” Aza gulped, leaning forward in her seat. “I’m not with the proper protective gear!” Sua reached behind her seat’s arm and pulled up a pilot helmet, handing it to her.
“Here you go.” She smiled. Aza took it and looked at it, strapping it on quickly but nervously.
“I don’t know about this Sua. YOU might have done this before but I haven’t!”
“Scared?”
“You really have to ask?” Aza shot back, flustered.
“Ohh, it’s not scary, I promise.” Sua chuckled, piloting the ship over to a cluster of other racing crafts, taking her place on the starting line. “I’m a good pilot, trust me.” She smiled, placing her goggles over her eyes and adjusting them around her head, checking her hair was tied tight and placing her gloves over her hands.
“I’ll try to.” Aza murmured, tightening her seat restraints. Sua inserted her beacon device into the ship’s holo display, locking it in with a click and emitting a short confirming blip. Sua took a deep breath as the counter counted down to zero, and all racing vehicles had lined up.
“And now we wait for our go.” Sua smiled.

Back on the Huntress, Dice, Lyroh, Celatara and COM were all gathered together on the bridge, seated in hover-stools and chairs, watching the holoscreen, tuned to the planet’s local signal, displaying the planet and the racers, while an announcing voice spoke. Dice turned a dial to change the language spoken.
‘Don’t hog all the husk sops! I have a stomach too you know, save some for me.’ Celatara hummed angrily at Lyroh. COM stared at the hologram with his robotic green eyes, folding his arms and mimicking human breathing.
“There are over 700 racers. Are we going to wait until all of them are announced?” Lyroh grumbled. Dice hushed him, setting the language to Fenese. Racers and their craft were displayed on the holoscreen, along with their ages, ethnic races, and positions at the starting line. Lyroh munched on the snacks Celatara brought in, while she looked around.
‘Where is the Hexxian by the way? I thought you called everyone to the bridge.’
“She’s down there, with Sua.” Dice answered her.
‘What is she doing down there?!’
“Ohhhh!” Lyroh suddenly exhaled, shutting his eyes and chuckling sheepishly. “That’s who was blowing up our communication plate.”
‘Lyroh! She was probably trying to reach the ship so one of you could pick her up!’ Celatara scolded.
“Well, it’s too late now.” Lyroh smirked.
“There she is! Yeah!” Dice cheered, as Sua’s picture, vehicle and info appeared on the screen, with her alias name, “Azasha”. “Look she’s way over there on the left in the back row.”
“I can calculate her percentage of successfully arriving in first place for you if you’d like.” COM offered.
“No! No, it’s more thrilling not knowing!” Dice stopped him, watching her wave at the hovering camera from her ship window.
“There’s Aza.” Lyroh pointed at the holoscreen. Aza was seated tight with the large helmet strapped over her head, looking very tense.
‘Oh the poor thing.’ Celatara sighed loudly.
“She’s going to be fine! They both are.” Dice assured.
“You don’t know that.” Lyroh smirked.
“Of course I do.” He replied.
“Actually Captain, there is less than a .06-” COM began.
“Aup! Don’t say anything COM, you’re only making Lyroh look smarter.” Dice hushed him.
“It looks more like you just don’t want to be contradicted.” Lyroh said leaning back in his seat, and resting his arm over Celatara’s lap. “Or are you nervous about your wager?” Celatara huffed and pushed his hand off her lap with a look of irritation. Lyroh instead placed his arms behind his head and crossed his legs in a lax position while he gave Dice a smug look. Dice sighed back at them all behind him.
“You all should be ashamed. Ye of little faith. How can you not root for your own crewmate? Come on!” Dice scolded.
“Personally I’d like to see her win the race.” COM spoke.
“Thank you!” Dice nodded, looking back at the screen.
“Maintaining the engine room is something I’ll admit she does much better than I do.” COM added.
‘I’m just hoping they come back unhurt.’ Celatara folded her arms, sighing through her small nose. ‘I don’t care what they place in.’
“I do!” Dice replied, enthusiastically placing his hands on his hips. “I’m counting on that Gellvhi speedster to blow them all away. You hear that Sua?! You’d better win!”

Back on Dusa’s rings, while waiting for the race to commence, Sua received a beeping alert of an incoming holocall. Sua furrowed her brow, looking at her holo display plate and punched the call through. It was a holographic projection of Nitro’s face as he squinted at her. “Sua. Don’t think I’m above crashing a ship with an innocent passenger inside.” he darkly spoke through his breathing apparatus. Aza worriedly gulped and listened as he spoke, frowning up at him. “I hope you get in front of my way this time, so I will have the pleasure of knocking you into dust myself.” “Save it for when you’ve lost Nitro.” Sua replied with an intense look on her face.
“Hmhmhm. Been nice knowing you quillback.” Nitro chuckled, placing his goggles over his eyes and ending his call. Sua ended the call link and bit her lip, grumbling to him in a low voice to herself.
“Yeah? I’ll show you, you scum suckin’ shit weasel.” She then flicked on her engine preparation warm up, holding the brakes of her ship tightly. Aza nervously felt the Velocity hum and rumble, it’s engine power increasing. “Alright, I think they’re going to announce the starting rules and race data now.” Sua told her, as the beacon projected the rules on her cockpit window for them to read.
“Sua...it says, ‘upon ship destruction, placing will be recorded at the last remaining distance of a vehicle.’ They wouldn’t allow ships to get wrecked to that sort of degree, would they?” Aza nervously gulped.
“They sure would. But I’m not going to. I need her in one piece so we can head back to the Huntress.” she answered with a little smile, reaching over to her shoulder and patting her. “I promised right?”
“Did you?” Aza whispered, laughing nervously.
“I did now.” Sua smiled.
The announcer spoke up loudly to announce the start of the race. Sua and Aza listened as he spoke, repeating his announcement in multiple languages to all of the racers, as their engines began to power up.
“Attention Pilots! Attention Pilots! The race is about to commence! Please remember to wear your protective gear at all times, and keep the rules in mind always! Any violations of the rules, will disqualify you from any prize you may receive! Absolutely NO use of ship weapons, distracting devices and so forth while racing! No flying above or below the magnetic lines! No use of communication to other racers or other outside parties! 5 laps around the rings! No more no less! Once you are ready, please start your engines and we may begin! Good luck!”
The Velocity’s engine hummed with an intimidating scream as Sua held her brake, gripping her ship’s yoke tight and resting her other hand on it’s accelerating lever. She took a deep breath and smiled.
“Ohh, I’ve missed this.” She then turned to Aza and patted her again. Aza nervously nodded back shakily breathing in and out with her. She nearly jumped when suddenly a loud buzzing alert was heard around them at the starting line, a ship flying above them in their line of sight, displaying a line of blinking red horizontal beams. The loud buzzes periodically sounded as the lights flashed red, Sua turning off her cockpit lights, the controls all glowing like small bright stars. She grinned wide. “Here we go.” She hummed with an intense fire of concentration in her golden eyes. Aza readied herself, bracing for harsh speed and a wild ride. The ship above then displayed five red beams and one blue one. The beams blinked out in sync with the loud final buzzes. Aza watched them through the pilot helmet as they counted down, until the very last red beam blinked out.
A loud humming buzz sounded as the blue beam disappeared and instantly, Sua let go of her brake and cranked her accelerator up sharply. Both of her hands flew to grip her ship’s yoke steering it at high speed with the other racers zooming beside her. Boulders of ice and space rock flew below in a blur as the Velocity tore across the rings. Sua maneuvered around several other racers, passing them up as she maintained the curve of the rings. Aza was holding onto her seat restraints, pressed against the window and arm of her seat with each turn, her screams barely audible over the roaring rumble of the Velocity’s engine. With a sharp jerk, Sua drifted their direction in a hard crescent, passing up four racers traveling in a steady line.
Aboard The Huntress, Dice was cheering on Sua’s graphed position on the hologram, with the crew behind him watching intently.

SEPT 22
First 3 Chapters of Fantasy Prologue

I.

In the bushes and trees of the Scenta forest, a young man was trekking through, with a pack of wares and food upon his back. He had heard the forest was old, and if he was not careful, dangerous. He had heard the rumors that demons and their ilk, whom had survived the purging wars, lived in Scenta forest, awaiting lone travelers just like him, to trick and eat alive. He kept his wits about him, listening to the calling birds in the trees above him and the scurrying of squirrels on the trunks. The sun was setting and he would need to set up camp soon. As he stopped to take a rest, putting his pack down, his ear caught the sound of branches snapping. Spinning around, he looked to the source of the noise and saw movement in the bushes. “Hello?” he called out. There was no reply. He took the dagger from his pack and approached the bush cautiously, looking over it slowly. He lowered his dagger and relaxed, seeing a bushy tail and dirt being flung out from under the bush. A fox, which had caught a fat mouse, looked up at him before promptly trotting off. “Only a fox.” The young man sighed. “Nothing to be scared of.”
As he turned back to his resting spot, he froze suddenly, seeing something larger and darker dart from behind a tree. He did not take his eyes off the tree, and slowly moved to get his pack, regretting his decision to rest in an area of the forest which was off-trail. But as he bent down to put his pack back on, he saw the thing peek out from behind the tree. “A child?” he spoke under his breath, surprise etched on his face. The child gasped and ducked back behind the tree. “Hello! I’m sorry, did I scare you?” he spoke, setting his pack down and his blade in his pocket. He approached the tree and walked around it to see the child sitting, curled up in a small ball. It was a very young boy, no older than 3 or 4 he wagered, seemingly lost and afraid. The boy had dark midnight blue hair to his shoulders and was dressed in torn rags. He was also barefoot, his toes full of dirt and grass. “It’s alright. Are you lost?” he asked the boy, kneeling down to comfort him. “Where is your mother?”
The boy looked down at the ground, as if he could not understand him, and began to look rather sad. “You’re an orphan, aren’t you?” the young man sighed. “I’m an orphan too. My father was killed in the old wars, and my mum died of the plague when I was 10.” He saw that the boy’s look had not changed. “Come, you can camp with me. I have plenty of food to share.” He offered. “I’ll make sure you get to a safe home.”
The boy suddenly got up and ran away from him, much to his surprise. “Wait! Don’t run out here it’s not safe!” he called to the boy, taking off after him. “Stop! Come back!”
The boy ran into the forest, where the tangles of trees grew closer and more numerous, then across streams and rocks, until finally disappearing into a cave. The young man stopped, hesitating, once he felt the coldness of the cave. There was something about it that felt very, very, wrong. “This-is!” he gulped. He knew it was a place where demons were rumored to live. The Devil’s Throat. It was no place for a small child to hide or play in.
He decided to go after the boy and save him from the clutches of the demons which might be lurking in its darkness. Taking out his dagger once more to arm himself, he looked around behind him and above him, entering the cave cautiously. He felt the darkness encase his sight, and he felt the cold, damp, stone wall of the cave for security, continuing into its depths. “Of all the places-“ he whispered to himself in frustration. He then stopped in his tracks, seeing the boy’s outline standing before him. “Oh thank the heavens. You’re alright!” he exhaled. “Come back now, let’s get out of here. It isn’t safe.”
The boy turned around slowly, looking at the young man with a sad and apologetic look on his face. The young man’s eyes widened at the sudden realization, and feeling of ultimate dread. The boy’s eyes were glowing in the darkness, and they were an unholy red. “No…” he gasped, gripped by fear.
“I’m sorry.” The little boy replied looking as if about to cry. Before anything else could happen, the young man was descended upon by a trio of vicious demons, and torn apart violently and quickly.
They hungrily drank his blood and tore his flesh, gorging on his organs and bones. One turned to the little boy, it’s eyes dimmer but red, and whispered loudly and sinisterly. “Well done Silos.”
“Yessss.” Another demon chimed in. “Well done.”
Young Silos sat on the cave floor, hugging his knees and looking down. He was silent as the demons devoured the young man’s corpse. It felt wrong to lead a kind and unassuming human to his doom. He wished he didn’t have to do it. He wished he could just say no, but the demons threatened him regularly with injury and torture, unless he did as he was told. They would tell him he would need to be taught to live as a demon, to hunt as a demon, and to fight as a demon. But he would always feel like he wasn’t enough of a demon to belong.
“Silos…” the largest of the three demons quietly growled, striding up to him. The young man’s severed foot was thrown before him. “Here is your share.”
“I’m not hungry…” Silos glumly replied.
“You must eat.” The big demon darkly grumbled. “Eat.”
Silos got up, frowning at the severed foot, hating how delicious it looked and sadly walked away, back out towards the cave’s entrance.
“Hey! Where do you think you’re going?!” Snapped one of the demons ferociously, making ready to snatch him back. He was stopped by the big demon. “Ah, let him go. He knows not to leave.” The big demon assured. They all continued their feast, even scarfing up Silos’ share of the kill, down to the last bone. “That boy is too soft…” snarled one of the demons, picking his teeth with a bone. The big demon turned to him after glaring out at the entrance of the cave. “That boy is none of your concern. He is bound by the highest pact to remain in the realm.”
“Huh! He may be of demonkind, but he is a sorry excuse for one.” Grumbled the other demon. “Silence!” growled the big demon, shutting up the other two. “Away with you.” He ordered. “Away with us all. We must prepare, dusk is upon us!”

II.

The sun was setting and the owls in the deep thick of the Scenta forest were calling out the moon. Little Silos walked back to the spot where he encountered the young man, staring at his pack on the ground. He knelt next to it, a travelling bag as big as himself, and went through its contents. He took out a bushel of beet roots, a cluster of assorted nuts in a net, and a large satchel of copper and gold pieces. He dumped the coins, only taking the satchel that held them and put it in his shirt. Then he found some carrots tied together with string. Silos sniffed them, unfamiliar with the vegetable, and took a bite from it. After a few munches, he dropped the carrots and spat out the juicy orange remnants from his mouth. He then felt a bunch of chicken feathers, digging back into the pack, grasping them, and yanking out a whole chicken, dead but unplucked. He stroked its feathers, liking the softness. He then decided to stuff that too in his shirt.
Something alerted Silos’ senses and he turned to see the fox from earlier poke its nose towards him and the pack he was scavenging. He looked at the curious fox, and coaxed it closer, with the sliver of meat he had laying beside him. The fox cautiously approached, its muzzle lingering closer. Before the fox could snatch up the meat and dart away, six dark, murky tentacled arms shot out from Silos’ shadow, quickly catching the fox. It squealed and cried and shrieked in distress, struggling in his hold. With his dark arms he squeezed and slammed the fox to the ground, killing it instantly and tearing it apart into small bits before him. Silos then began to feast hungrily on its bloody meat, setting aside its bushy tail to take back to the caverns with him as a pillow. He ate up every last bit of the fox meat and left the rest for the night crows to pick at. He could already hear a flock of them cawing closer and closer.
Standing up, he looked at the pack again and went through more of its contents with his small bloodied fingers. He was not allowed to take anything made by human hand with him back to the demon’s realm, but he thought the chicken’s feathery body could hide a few small items. His clothes were an exception, as they were repurposed rags from several of the corpses that were laying about the caverns. But Silos knew the demons would not be pleased to see him return with a rolled up map of the land. He kept it tucked inside his clothes to look at later, and he made his way back to the Devil’s Throat.
Silos didn’t know much about the land of Steira. The world outside the demon’s realm, save for the natural world above was his home. The Scenta forest was all he knew of, with its many flora and fauna scattered and thriving about. Within the next couple of years, he had learned to catch rabbits, hawks and wolves, preferring them rather than humans to satisfy his demonic hunger for blood and spirit. He had tasted the blood of animals and of a few unfortunate people as well. Being half demon, he has found bits and slivers of memories within his meal’s blood. Visions of a peaceful village life, or a particularly dangerous situation, and sometimes even saddening recollections that were not his. Being half human however, meant that he could not absorb the souls within the blood and retain their energy and immortalizing properties. From all that he has eaten, Silos had pieced together only small amounts of knowledge about the mortal human world outside the Scenta forest. Although every memory seemed like a dream, unreal and surreal. Silos was unsure if he could trust the memories. Nevertheless, he looked for solid proof in the things he would recover from human corpses and human made objects. Such as the ones he was sneaking into the realm of demons, his wretched first home.

From the minute he had returned on a short hunt, a dark mass from deep within the caverns approached his living chamber. He spun around in time to see a massive shadowy demon, his first adopter and supreme ruler of the darkest realm. Silos stood quiet and frozen in fear as he knelt before the swirling, twisted mass. He could hear the other demons screeching and howling in delight as they all fled the dark of the cave and into the darkness of the night.
“Staying behind once again young one?” The massive demon spoke in multiple eerie voices. Its six glowing red eyes glaring down at Silos, who gasped and turned around to try and block his trinkets from the great demon’s view. “The sun’s reign is gone. Out ancient dominion has been presented before us. Are you never to join nocturne conquests?”
Silos remained quiet. He merely shrunk back and looked away. The massive demon then slithered around the chamber slowly, looking around his living space. It spied a small trinket beside a rock, a wood carving of a bird. “I see you are interested in other prospects.” The demon darkly purred, looking down at Silos again. “Human prospects.” Silos lowered his brow and his dark tentacles emerged from his knees, coiling around himself protectively. “Yes, my lord.” He admitted. The great demon slowly circled him, eyeing him as it spoke. “It does not surprise me. You are human born after all. I have shared our realm with you for only 5 miniscule years. For over 3,000 years we had shared the world with humans. Shared knowledge and magic. Shared relations.” The demon hissed and closely watched Silos.
“What does that mean?” Silos asked, naively looking up at the great demon.
“You do not think you are the first product of a human by a demon, do you?” it spoke, sticking to the ceiling of the chamber, looking down at him, its sharp teeth in a calm grin. “It is time you knew. Time you understood young one, why you have chosen this form instead of the one you have had at birth. There were many myriads of half-bred children long before you. You are one of an extinct union. You are a forbidden. But you, young Silos, do not belong with humans.”
“I don’t belong here either.” Silos frowned before looking away. “I can’t eat humans. I can’t make pacts…I’m not a demon-!”
“Whether you accept it or not, young one, you are of demonkind.” The great demon spoke louder, slithering closer to him. “Unlike your mother, here in our realm you are safe and let to live. Yet you are only permitted to live because of demon law. And a demon who does not follow demon law…is less than even humankind.”
Silos stood up and looked up at the great demon, with tears suddenly welling up in his eyes. “Why was mother not allowed to live? What did mother do?”
“Her crime was through no fault of her own. She did not ask to be born human. You must know Silos, that humans are never to live in our realm.”
“But-! But she didn’t know, did she?!” he cried. “How could she know? It’s not fair!”
The great demon slithered down to face him and glared intensely and coldly at the crying boy.
“She was naïve, like you. But she knew. She understood our laws. She accepted her fate, and she made the pact. Though she was human, you should be proud and thankful that she made such a pact.”
Silos dried his eyes with his sleeve and sniffled, still frowning. The great demon curled around him seemingly in comfort. “She decided to love you before you were even within her sight. Your mother is dead young one, but the dead do not always have to be consumed by the darkness.”
Silos stood silent, looking more down than upset. The great demon slipped away and steadily gripped the rock of the chamber, moving towards its exit. “Leave the trinket in your clothes behind here, and come with me. There is something I wish to show you.”
Silos blinked his red eyes at the demon as he took his haul from his shirt and pockets, placing them all down. His tentacles retreated and he scampered after the great demon, spiraling out and into the deep of the Devil’s Throat.

III.

He knew the deepest part of the demon realm was where the great demon lord lived, and where it consumed all who crept in uninvited. It was a rare sight to behold. A grand and unimaginable dome made of pure darkness and sharp gems. The gems were the only light in the chamber, glowing a sinister shade of violet unlike the violets seen in the natural world. The great demon rose up the side of the chamber and back down onto the floor where it raised a stone altar from the shadowy muck in the center. “Today I shall show you the truth.” It spoke. Silos watched as it cleared the altar, the ancient stone left bare and unbroken. He approached the altar cautiously as the great demon beckoned him. It then slid one of its eerie fingers onto the stone and pulled out drops of blood, letting them drip back onto the stone. Silos’ nose caught scent of it, and his eyes widened. “You should recognize this blood.” The great demon hummed. “It’s…mine.” He stammered, looking a little confused. “It’s your human mother’s.” corrected the demon lord, swiping up more of it from the dark altar in a fist full. Blood dripped onto the stone quietly. Silos felt a dark grip on his heart, feeling echoes of the past, the agony his mother must have felt, and the heartache she endured throughout. The great demon then took the fistful of blood and with more of its hands, shaped a prism out of the darkness, placing the blood inside of it. The prism encasing the blood was sent down to the altar where Silos could better see it. He watched as the prism of darkness changed color, and glowed. It hurt to look at, and he winced away from its brightness before risking a look back. The demon floated behind him and watched with him. Silos looked as the prism dimmed slightly, keeping its light and its color intact with the blood inside it. It was a crystalline indigo. “Your mother,” the demon hummed, “was royalty.”
Silos looked in awe and blinked at the prism. “Royalty?”
“The human realm is ruled over by humans of divine power and influence. The kings and queens of the three human kingdoms have reigned for centuries. Your mother was a princess, of the human kingdom of Arlia. What you hold in your hands is her pact, an oath she made to me with her life and soul through her last drops of blood.” The demon lord told him. Silos held the prism in his hands, feeling its warmth and light. It almost burned him, but he felt a certain familiarity about it. He began to hear the blood’s life, whispers from the memories of his mother.
“Since you are so curious about humans and the world they greedily claimed, I thought it was time I show you the tragedy of what can become of them, not even sparing the most undeserving of them.” The demon whispered darkly. “Your mother’s kind shares a likewise ugly fate with us. Humans, and their nature, their ways have a way of destroying themselves as well as all they touch. You would know this if you could have seen the wars they have wrought upon nature, upon us, and upon themselves. Your mother was no more responsible for the turmoil of her kingdom, than a blade of grass would be responsible for the dissolving of a carcass. She was simply present and within a position of influence, likely with her royal family, whom may be responsible for much worse.”
Silos heard the whispers grow louder as he held the prism closer.
“She was happy…” he deduced with a slight smile. “She…wanted to practice magic.”
“I hear all that echoes within this realm. I can recall all that has been uttered since the beginning of the great purge, and even before the darkest war.” The great demon lord hissed, rising up before Silos and the altar. “She wanted to become a sorceress. But she was foolish and young. She placed trust in those who could not be trusted, just as she had with trustworthy souls. She had a comapnion. One she trusted I presume. I heard her calling her name in the darkness, again and again. Her voice broke with her spirit the day she ventured into our realm. I heard the laughter of her friend just outside the walls.”
The prism echoed the memory as the great demon recounted. Silos heard the faint giggling of a young woman, and the pleading cries of desperation from another young woman. He looked back at the great demon, tears welling up in his eyes as he could feel the memory return to him through the blood he had inside of him. “Please don’t leave me here.” He echoed with the prism. “Please, please come back. Don’t leave me here Amella. Don’t leave me.”
“Your mother was betrayed, by her wicked friend, and sister sorceress in training.”
“No!” Silos cried, clutching the prism, as the whispering memories swirled around.
“That was too easy.” The young woman’s voice from the prism echoed. “You’re really stupid for a princess you know.”
Silos’ teary eyes glowed in the dark, as he grit his teeth, glaring at the darkness. “You lied to me. You tricked me.” He repeated with the words his mother spoke. “Why? I thought you were my friend!”
“With you out of the picture, I will become the best sorceress in the kingdom, and you will be stuck here, rotting in the earth with the demons.”
“No! You can’t leave me here! All of Arlia will come looking for me, and my father’s men will arrest you!”
“Arlia won’t be looking here. No one even dares to venture in this part of the forest. They’ll never find you. And Reon will have to marry someone else. Someone who’s around. Someone they love.”
“No. You’re not his fiancé. You don’t get to steal a prince of Polaris! You have no right! I love him!”
“Then why did you run away from the engagement party? Maybe it was because you couldn’t stand the thought of leaving Arlia. Or was it because you never truly loved him at all?”
“Amella! You witch!”
“Not so loud dear Staphine. Or the demons will hear you.”
Silos’ eyes were swimming with tears of anger and despair, identically reacting to the anger and despair of his mother, as he fell to the ground, holding the prism. Everything felt heavy and suffocating as he tried to pull away from the prism.
“Please, Amella. Don’t go.”
“Oh, but I have to go back to the engagement party immediately. I have very distressing news you see. For the king, for the queen, for all of Arlia. And especially to Reon. He’ll need comforting after months of searching for you. And I will always be there for him.”
“No. Amella. Amella!”
“I would bid you a peaceful rest, but we both know the demon filth will show you nothing but hostility. Goodbye Princess Staphine of Arlia.”
“Please! Amella, come back! Don’t leave me here! Please!”
The screaming echoes ceased as Silos set the prism down and moved away from it, panting in horror and disgust and fear. The great demon slid down and crawled over the altar and around Silos, picking the prism back up and setting it onto the altar.
“She was left to die..” Silos shivered, sadly curling up into a small ball of dark tentacles. “She was supposed to live in peace…and…and Amella took it all away.”
“Such is the nature of humans. To take and claim and steal, no matter how it is done.” The great demon hummed. “This is the very norm of your mother’s kind, and it always shall be.”
“It’s not fair!” Silos shouted suddenly, hugging his own tentacles and wringing one in his hands. “Why did mother have to die? She could have left if you let her! Why didn’t you go to her?! She was so scared! She was in pain!”
“I do not concern myself with her kind, as I have never remained on good standings with humans. They are fouler than even the beasts of old, which we have given life, and to which they have taken too! Humans cannot help but destroy and steal and sin.” The great demon boomed. It slithered back onto the altar and opened its jaws wide, dropping the prism into its mouth and snapping it shut. “This is why they taste so good.”
Silos looked at the demon lord with both anger and fear. “And is that why demons make pacts?”
“Yes.” The great demon answered. “It is the foolishness of humans like your mother that is to our advantage. Humans will do anything to see that their desires are fulfilled. Your mother was no exception. She wanted you to live on, to be safe. Her desire was one of comfort and peace. Perhaps because you are all that is left of her in this realm and in theirs. Perhaps because she loved you and didn’t wish for you to share her fate.”
“Then she is not human.” Silos protested. “You are wrong my lord. She can’t be human if she made such a pact!”
“Your mother was human.” Assured the great demon. “Your mother was not a spirit, nor otherling, nor creature of old. She possessed kindness, but she was not born with it. And her kindness brought on her downfall. She even held onto it until her last breath.”
“Mother knew how to use her kindness.” Silos persisted, swirling his tentacles around behind him as he stood up. “She showed kindness to demonkind, even when she was scared and dying!” He defended.
“She pleaded mercy to us which have none.” The demon lord returned. “Her kindness was useless in my realm.”
“When was the last time you were given kindness by a human my lord?” Silos asked.
“Never have humans given us kindness.”
“I don’t mean all humans!” Silos stamped. “I mean one soul. A good soul.”
The great demon slithered up close to him, facing him with a cold toothy frown. “I wished to show you why it is you are better living in the realm of demonkind. That humans in their realm are not only dangerous, but they are irredeemable. They cannot be bargained with. They cannot be trusted, as you have seen and heard! You think you are safe with them when they see themselves as foul beasts? How would they see you? No, young one. Humans have proven time and time again that they are unmatched in sanity and lawlessness. They are a failed race, and they are better off dead or otherwise elsewhere far from here.”
Silos held a look of confliction, looking down at his own two hands. “Is that why you all hate me so much?...”
The great demon grumbled and calmly floated around him. “Hate is not in our nature. It is something humans have instilled in us, due to our past with them. However, to say we hate you is an erroneous assumption young one. No, we do not hate you. We only hate that there are not more of you half-breeds.”
“…I don’t understand.” Silos frowned.
“You seem to have inherited your mother’s heart in place of her mind, no doubt due to the blood she shared with you. Because of this, I will tell you the secret of your destiny. This secret will be your life’s reward for seeing yourself through to the end of my judgment.” The demon lord hummed, turning around and descending into the ground with a spiral. It then came out, taking the form of a dark, black, humanoid shape with its six red eyes upon its head, chest and shoulders. It walked over to Silos, facing him directly.
“Silos, your mother was taken by your demon father and made his bride. She bore you as a result, and though she possessed little rights and control, she recognized and honored demonkind rather than her own. That is why I treasure the pact between us.” The demon lord held out its hand and in it appeared a royal crown with jewels and made of shining silver metal. Silos took the crown with care and looked upon it with wonder. “Staphine was a human princess. This in turn makes you, a prince.” The demon spoke.
Silos looked up at it, holding the crown. “Your blood is royal, and therefore, you have a birthright to your mother’s kingdom.” The demon lord went on. “Yet, it is a tragic thing. As her kingdom shall destroy you, knowing you are not fully human. You shall live not knowing the taste of human things, nor living among humankind, nor knowing human dreams.”
Silos blinked back at the crown, seeing some of his reflection in it. He touched the cool silver and calmly frowned. The great demon pat his head with its shadowy hand and slid away. “You are so adamant to live like a human…with humans…and so, I will show you truly how horrible it is.”
Silos looked back up at the demon. “I don’t want to be like a human.” He said shaking his head.
“I know.” The great demon smirked, looking back over its shoulder at him. “You’re going to be better.”
The demon then shifted its form back into its massive shadowy beast-like appearance and glared back at Silos. “Go now and sleep if you shall stay within the realm. Come back tomorrow.”
“Good hunting my lord.” Silos bowed politely before relaxing. “I’m sorry I am so difficult.”
“Child. You are part human, and you are royalty.” The demon huffed. “Difficult cannot begin to describe the life laid out before you.” It grinned sharply and bellowed eerily before shooting off into the darkness in all directions, leaving him. Silos looked back at the altar, brushing his hand on the stone, before leaving to return to his chamber disappearing back into the darkness.

The demons of the Devil’s Throat scattered all across the lands of Steira, preying upon the humans they could and forming pacts with the ones they had been watching go astray for weeks. Humans were an abundant source of soul and blood, the two things demons craved most of all. Each night they would take their fills and return before dawn, back to the safety of their dark realm.
Silos stood in his chamber, alone with only the trinkets and food from the human world to keep him company. He held onto his mother’s crown, staring at it as he lay on the ground. He pressed it to his chest and shut his eyes, tears flowing down his face. His dark tentacles crept out under him and wrapped him up warmly. Sleep came slowly, and the sun began to rise. Luckily for Silos, the other demons left him alone for the night, and proceeded to celebrate their bountiful hauls of human flesh and blood. The next afternoon was all Silos had to look forward to, but it was enough.

OCT 14
Hindsight: A One Act Play

Hindsight

[The stage is set with a wide screen, which is seen only by the people on the stage, faced away from the audience. The people onstage, all separated by stalls, all divided by walls, sit and stare blankly at the screen, at the images before them.
One, sick, shivering, lays back, coughing into a tissue.
Two starts to get angry and yell at the screen.
Three is laughing.
Four is crying, curled up and alone.
Five, looking frightened runs out, leaving.
One slowly fades away into darkness, weak and pale.
Three stops laughing and starts screaming with Two.
Four disappears, and a gunshot is heard.
Two tosses a remote at the screen, shouting, shattering the screen.
All are gone. All is silent and dark. Then a male voice chimes in.
“Well. This is very interesting.”

A light illuminates around a man standing in a long coat and strange uniform. He looks almost like a detective, though there is something off about him. He has a blinking light right beside his ear. He walks in to see the broken screen, and examine it further. He tweaks it a bit and appears to be fixing it. As he does so, another person, a female, dressed in a similarly long coat walks in to see him working on the screen. Although she also wears sunglasses, an obvious wig, and a hat ontop. Her clothing SCREAMS “badly put-together” disguise.]

Woman: “What are you doing?”

Man: “Fixing it.”

[He continues to fix it.]

Woman: *points out* “Your stabilizer light is blinking.”

[The man stands and places his hand over his ear to cover the light and turn it off. He turns to look at her, showing a degree of surprise and alarm at her choice of clothing.]

Man: *he scoffs in amusement* “You look comically incorrect.”

Woman: “Thank you.”

Man: “That was not meant as a compliment.” [He manages to turn the screen on again, expressing relief and pride.]

Woman: “It was meant as an insult then?” [She shows no offence, but no smile either.]

Man: “Yes. An insult to your knowledge of correct appropriate attire.” *turns to her, his hands on his hips* “You should have brushed up on era fashion and taken all factors into account.”

Woman: *takes the sunglasses off to look directly at him* “There should not even be anyone here. What is the purpose of a disguise anyway?”

Man: “History is poorly documented Erfie. Even we don’t know the entire past.” [He turns to the screen and places his hand into the side, causing it to emit sounds from broadcasts and radio signals. From movies, shows, advertisements and interviews.]

Erfie: “That’s why we are here though, aren’t we? To look for the past. To reconstruct.”

Man: “To understand.” *he corrected*
[He let the screen play, the sound quiet but uninterrupted now. They both watched the screen and stared blankly at all on it, sitting down on the ruins of a sofa, until one of them spoke up.]

Man: “Such vanity. Such fear.” *he shakes his head*

Erfie: *looks at him* “Fear?”

Man: “That’s right. Fear. You know. Rrrr!” *he makes a scary bear gesture with his hands at her*

Erfie: *unphased* “That was meant to illicit fear? What was that? A pirate?”

Man: “Fear. Human response number one Erfie.” *he sighs* “Remember what I told you about fear?”

Erfie: “Yes.” *she sits tall* “Fear is the absence of courage. A negative emotion in response to something deemed threatening or painful.”

Man: “Correct.”

Erfie: “Pirates are not deemed a threat.”

Man: “It wasn’t a pirate, it was a bear.”

Erfie: “Bears too are not deemed a threat either. As both pirates and bears are no longer alive.”

Man: “Oh nevermind.” *he briefly gets up and touches the screen with his hand to look at more* “You wouldn’t understand it yet.”

Erfie: “I apologize.” *she wears a sorry frown* “I want to try to understand. Won’t you show patience with me Ohst?”

Ohst: *he pats her head, then tosses the wig from under her hat* “It’s hard to explain. You need to understand more about the past first before you try to examine the present.”

Erfie: “Why?”

Ohst: *he looks at the screen* “So we do not repeat any mistakes that would hinder progress. Hinder growth. That would destroy instead of strengthen. Let me explain it this way.” *he turns to her and raises his hand for a high five*

Erfie: *she looks puzzled at his hand*

Ohst: “You don’t know yet how to respond to this gesture. This is meant to signify what’s known as the high five. It’s a gesture from the past, acknowledging achievement, encouragement and success.”

Erfie: “Oh.” *raises her hand the same way*

Ohst: *gestures* “Slap your hand then against mine.”

Erfie: “Why?”

Ohst: “It’s required to complete the high five.” *slaps his gloved hand with hers*

Erfie: *looks unphased, looking at her own hand* “Why was the high five seen as positive?”

Ohst: “That is tough to explain. I don’t even know myself. All we know is what we have learned from past record. From the people of the past. What they did, and what it meant.” *he looks back at her* “Now this gesture,” *he raises his hand to strike her*

Erfie: *she quickly stops him, silent and cold as she blocks him from even getting near to striking her*

Ohst: *he nods* “You read that gesture as a negative, harmful response. One that meant to do you harm.” *he relaxes*

Erfie: *she relaxes, staring at him* “You did not mean to harm me?”

Ohst: “No. But, how did you know to respond in the way you did?”

Erfie: “If I did not, I may have been damaged.”

Ohst: “But how do you know that?”

Erfie: “Because I can be damaged with enough force.”

Ohst: [He leans closer speaking clearer and more exaggeratedly, as if she mistook him the first time.] “How-do-you-know-that?”

Erfie: *blinks confused* “I don’t understand your repetition of the question.”

Ohst: “You must have early memories of damage, don’t you? One you suffered as a result of failing to defend yourself.” *he leans back*

Erfie: *she tilts her head * “I can recall only of the first time I was knocked over and damaged. From then on, my programming has been mapped and adapted to prevent such damage from happening again.”

Ohst: “Precisely. It was a mistake to fail to protect yourself. You corrected your mistake, learned from it and now, it would take a whole lot to try to damage you, wouldn’t it?”

Erfie: “I agree.” *nods*

Ohst: “And you would not make the same mistake anytime in the future, would you?”

Erfie: “I agree.” *nod*

Ohst: “And you would not fail to recall the reasoning behind your programming had I asked the right words in the right order, right?”

Erfie: “I agree.” *nod*

Ohst: *leans back with a sad sigh, looking back at the screen after a short pause* “And that’s exactly where we differ…human and machine.”

Erfie: “You mean, humans do not correct their programming?”

Ohst: “In the past, as I understand…no, they did not.”

Erfie: “Is that why this air is full of hazardous chemicals and lack of structure?”

Ohst: “That’s likely why it’s a total ruin, yes.” *he looks around with pity*

Erfie: “What mistakes could they have made that would make such damage occur?” *looks around with intrigue and cold logical observance*

Ohst: “That’s what we’re here for. To learn what those mistakes were.” *he changes the screen around*

Erfie: *looks at the screen* “So, why would this primitive device hold the answers?”

Ohst: “Don’t be rude. Just because you can’t transmit electrical signals into a visual projection doesn’t mean you can call it ‘primitive’.”

Erfie: *looks a bit jealous* “I could if I wanted to.” *she then looks closer at the back of the screen and around it* “Why don’t I try?”

[He watches as he takes her own hand, putting it in the side of the screen and moving it around steadily. The sound shifts around and the screen’s images flutter at a rapid rate, too fast for him to keep up.]

Ohst: “Well, don’t break it.” *he looks a bit worried* “There’s only a few of these left around the wasteland that are in working order anymore.”

[She takes her hand out, standing up and looking around at everything now with seemingly new eyes. Less cold and less logical. Oddly reminiscent of a human.]

Erfie: “You said past human response number one was fear?...I think, I understand.”

Ohst: “Do you?” *looks doubtful*

Erfie: *nods quietly and looks around, feeling the eerie silence and emptiness around* “There was so much of it. It was…like a virus. It could not be combatted alone. Ohst, did humans have someone to introduce the software necessary to combat such a hindering thing?”

Ohst: “Humans didn’t have anyone but themselves.” *he shook his head* “As I understand it, most worked together, like their own software to combat their fears and their sorrows, all negative emotions which influenced them. When they worked together, the fear, the virus had been eliminated.”

Erfie: “They could function at full capacity then?”

Ohst: “Oh, fear always came back Erfie. Humans could only work at full capacity for such a short time before fear rose again.”

Erfie: “Fear is bad then. It destroys.”

Ohst: “Now you’re beginning to sound more human.” *he places his hands on her shoulders* “Fear is not bad. It does not destroy. It cannot do anything. It’s how fear is received that determines an action. To protect or to do harm.”

Erfie: “Why would humans want to harm themselves? Out of fear? Why?” *she looks confused and a bit heartbroken* “Why did they let fear control them? Infect them?...Why Ohst?”

Ohst: *he shakes his head sorrily, looking around with her, then back at the screen.* “It’s the biggest mistake humanity is guilty of Erfie. This place might be proof of that. The past of humans were full of wars and profit. To gain land…To win for a just cause…To keep their freedoms…To enslave…To exterminate races…To create an empire…To perhaps even conquer and steal along the way…

It’s just a guess. It’s just a hunch, but, from what I know, from all the memory files I poured over, from all the databases, and the recovered documentation, from what I know of that, I have the impression that humans of the past had…complex and chaotic lives. They lived and died in places that were only given little to sustain all of the needs of a human being. The need to eat, sleep, and function physically yes, but, also the mind’s needs. The need for companionship, for compassion…understanding. The need to be challenged and the need to learn and grow. I think some of the past humans made the mistake of thinking that all needs stop at the adult stages of life. I think, and like I said, this is only a hypothesis, but, somehow, somewhere in the world, such fear…and doubt…and agony was at a sharp peak,
and it gave way to destruction. It gave way to freedoms being stolen away, land being destroyed, lives being sacrificed…all in an attempt to fight the fear, to satisfy a need. Perhaps, the need to be understood. Perhaps the need to feel like they have control, a need of comfort. That if they hold the key to destruction for all, no one will dare go near them. That if challenged, they would, unchecked, assert their need to feel like they are important, so they wouldn’t feel unsafe again. I have a feeling…a horrible feeling, that whatever happened, happened because the tension was too much, and the virus, Fear, got out and infected so many that it turned deadly. Until, no one was left. Until not one person was left surviving intact…Few, a very select few must have, or else I wouldn’t be here.”

*he looks at his hand* “I might have mechanical parts but I do have human organs, the mind and the heart, two most important ones.”
*he looks at Erfie and then around the dark setting* “The humans from the past destroyed themselves. That’s my perception. But! Until we know for sure, we’ll keep prospecting the devices we find for any evidence.” *he turns to walk away*

Erfie: “Ohst?”

Ohst: *he turns around looking back at her*

Erfie: *she is still in her place, looking down at the ground for a brief moment, before suddenly running up to him and throwing her arms around him*

Ohst: ! *is shocked at the emotional gesture from his mechanical partner and slowly hugs her back* “Well, this is very interesting. I didn’t teach you this gesture. Did you get this from the device?”

Erfie: *nods into his chest*

Ohst: *he stifles a chuckle and hugs her close* “I appreciate it. Even if it is simply a practice command.”

Erfie: *looks up at him with a human-like smile* “I’m…glad.”

Ohst: “Easy now.” *he pats her head and turns, walking away with her* “Don’t overload yourself with too much human data. Past entertainment programming was EXTREMEY misleading. Then again, in hindsight it likely always was.”

Erfie: *as they walk away into the darkness* “Ohst? What do the white bears with hats and scarves have to do with promoting soda?”

Ohst: “I wouldn’t have ANY idea.”

[They both exit and the screen stays on for only a minute, before the sound of a TV monitor shutting off echoes and the light goes out.]
End