“That can be arranged later, Calan,” She told him kindly. “Remember, you need to be in this body. That’s why I gave it to you. Having too much fun outside is actually bad.”
“I don’t get it!” he complained, brushing his teeth with a spindly metal device that cleaned all of his teeth from all possible angles.
“You’re too young.”
“I’m not a baby!” he protested. Liera had forgotten over the years that age was one of the biggest insults she could hurl at a child. “I can draw with lasers,” he added, proud of himself.
“Fine, if you’re good, maybe 3 another minutes before you sleep again.”
“Alright! I’ll be good,” His face lit up and he proceeded to the stasis room to grab something to eat.
“Not that way, Calan, check in the cargo bay. There’s a new place with food,” she told him. This came from Varul. He didn’t even mention it, but it just appeared in the Vellek's cargo bay. She only saw a priest rolling a huge container in through the dock. He just left it there without a word. When she checked what it was, she found a temporary room with a dining table and three large refrigerators full of real food. These were gifts that Calan earned for himself for that drawing.
”Do you like it?” Liera asked, watching his stunned face looking at all the food that lay before him.
“Y-yeah? Where did you buy all of this!”
“It’s a gift from Varul. You can thank him the next time you see him,” a polite display of gratitude would help him get even more out of Varul.
She showed him how to prepare things with a food processing unit in the far corner, and he managed to serve himself a good-looking meal. She thought the sugar content was a bit too unhealthy, but she allowed him to enjoy his gift. “If you need me, call for me. I can hear from anywhere,” she told him, leaving him with his meal.
Calan ate until he was full again. This space adventure was suddenly more enticing to him. Robots, lasers, spaceships, and delicious food. The only thing he lacked now was his family.
Unfortunately, neither Liera nor Varul had considered giving him some form of reliable entertainment. He read through all the labels of food, ranking them by how soon he wanted to eat them. Once he realized this was boring, his fingers were nearly frozen by digging in the refrigerators. He decided to venture out. He had always wanted to explore the boxes and other things that he saw in the cargo bay. He found three different guns packed in cases. He was too small to lift any of them, and besides looking amazing with many small parts, they didn’t offer much entertainment.
He needed to find a laser again. He looked all over the cargo bay for it; he may even have found a couple, but he didn’t recognize them as lasers. Bored again, he walked out of the cargo bay towards the command bridge, which had buttons and screens and that large window he knew how to zoom in and out of.
This kept him entertained for two hours. None of the buttons and screens did anything. He could just feel important playing with them, and he liked it. Screens warped around him in the holographic center deck. He was endlessly entertained by trying to catch them. The window was even more fascinating now. The last time he used it, he was the big robot. Now, he was only half its height, and he felt like he was standing at the edge of a cliff that fell into space.
The zooming gestures that Sineul taught him still worked with his human hands. He learned how to do it in a few tries. Things were happening outside; he started by watching the gigantic ship. It had so many features to zoom into. He didn’t understand any part of it. In the distance, he saw some broken ships. People wearing spacesuits worked around them with various tools. Lots of other ships came and went, hopping between the ships in his sight. He couldn’t tell where his home planet was. It was a tiny dot, indistinguishable from any other star. He didn’t know how to search for it.
“Lira! Where is episome 3?” he yelled over his shoulder.
“It’s right there,” her voice came from above him. The window changed, zooming into a single luminous dot in the distance.
“Woah! Slow down!” he yelled, but it was too late. He fell, disoriented by this huge display just hurling him across space as fast as he could blink. His home planet filled the screen, but it was blurry from here. He couldn’t see the swirling storm clouds, and he knew he wouldn’t be able to see the explosion either.
“That’s as far as we can zoom in from here.”
“Aw,” he stood up, rubbing his knees. “I wanted to watch it explode again. It’s still happening, right?” He was a bit unsure when he asked this question.
“It’s on the other side, yes. You can see the outpost firing from here,” she circled a large white dot. “If it’s firing lasers, the city is still exploding down there.”
“Oh,” he nodded, reassured about his mother and brother. “That’s good, that’s good,” he kept watching the white dot, but he trusted Liera on this.
He had other matters to attend to. He started running, without saying another word. The last two meals had pumped him full of extra energy, and with no brother to play or fight with, he just couldn’t stay still in one place. His hip hurt a little bit, and the bandage was bothering him, but it was all good; he wanted to run as fast as possible through the corridors, see if he could remember his way through this ship..
“Be careful, Calan!” Liera’s voice echoed behind him.
Liera worked on some final touches on the Vellek. The priests had repaired the lost armor plating and solved the energy problem. Power storage was full from both ships sharing their reactors. The ship indicated 98.7% operational capability. As she finalized compensations based on some engine diagnostics, she was alerted to something. The Vellek had detected a warp drive firing nearby. It was one of the supercarriers that accompanied V2 Darnek. From the designation, it was the First of Second. It snapped out of existence within five seconds, leaving a gap in the formation. She wondered where it went and if this was part of Varul plotting against her. However, thinning his own numbers didn’t seem like a good strategy.
Varul appeared in the holographic deck as a guest about an hour later.
“Greetings, Priestess Liera.”
“Likewise, Varul. I’m grateful for your endless gifts.”
“Ah, Don’t mind them, they’re small tokens.”
“Oh? Do we have big tokens planned?” Liera teased.
“Yes” He answered simply with a sheepish smile. “So, Listen. My brother Fifth yearns for a hug from you. Can you arrange this?”
If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.
She expected Varul to plot something bigger. This caught her off guard. The Fifth was not threatening in the least. She couldn’t tell what he stood to gain by this. Replicants didn’t have any biological context. While this seemed like an easy task, it also worried her. Varul was surely planning something deeper that she couldn’t predict just yet.
“Of course, No harm in that. You’re going to switch biologics with him I suppose?” She asked expectantly. Hugging a base frame wouldn’t work for anyone involved.
“Yes, he wants to feel it fully.”
“You’re very generous with your brothers,” She remarked. “You’ve changed for the better over these years,” She watched his gleeful smile. Varul loved praise about his generosity.
“When is your earliest convenience?”
“Impatient, aren’t we?” she teased again. It felt more like Varul wanting to get this over with faster. “I can spend some time as soon as Calan is bored with playing and is relaxed. He’s running around right now. Unless you need the most sweaty, uncomfortable hug, I suggest some patience.“
“Running around? What’s wrong with him?”
“Children do that, I think,” Liera told him. She was only half joking. She also couldn’t understand Calan’s sudden decision to start running. He didn’t explain anything; he just took off from the window.
“Whenever you’re ready, then. Could you visit me again?”
“How about we do it here in mine?”
“In that prison bed of yours? In the room I have to bend to enter?”
“Point taken,” Liera smiled. It was actually a valid point. Hugging a man the size of Varul on a bed that barely fit her would be ridiculous. “Good opportunity to gift me a bed and maybe even a room, don’t you think?” she ventured.
Varul considered. “Are you doing this for the child?”
“Of course. I was under the impression that you liked him” Liera admitted, “Keeping that aside, what can you do for your brother?”
“Ah, this is your trade. I understand, He’ll arrive in yours with everything he needs. I’ll furnish you the best bedroom”
“Do your other brothers need their own hugs as well?” she asked politely. “I’m asking because they’ll all be looking for similar things. I could get this out of our way within the day.” She made sure to use the word ‘our’. She saw it hit Varul just right. She just showed him he was most important—the exact thing he wanted to feel among his band of replicants.
“The Third obviously doesn’t care for it”
“The First?”
“He wouldn’t like it”
“Why not ask him right now?”
“He’s away, actually. An urgent mission came up”
“Oh? I didn’t even notice,” she lied. Of course she noticed; she’d have to be lobotomized not to notice. “How is my battle-frame coming along? Could the Fifth bring it with him? Since he’s coming here anyway?” She paused. “I’ll be honest, my ship’s a bit too quiet without my ascendant; I’m rather fond of him.”
“Uh, I think we have some new suggestions on improvements. This came from the Fifth, He noticed your ascendant suffering from the lack of onboard compute.”
Liera immediately knew his was a close shave. “He might be vary of using your ship’s infrastructure, I apologize if that’s disrespectful.”
“Not at all, We’re sovereigns after all.”
“I mean, do battle-frames even need such compute?” she asked with the flair of someone that wasn’t up to date on the latest trends. There was a reason she kept her configuration as lean as possible.
There are benefits. Mine has your ship’s equivalent. I know yours is an older frame, but maybe we can retrofit a more powerful compute module. It looks like that requires a new power train and some changes to the coolant system, too, so it will take a while.
“The cost? I don’t think I brought enough material.” She put a log in this fire. It was always a good idea to give Varul an opportunity to showcase his generosity.
“At no cost to you, Priestess,” He smiled. “Your ascendant and you can verify the components used before we start.”
“Oh, I’m very grateful to you,” she wasn’t. She anticipated this when she sent her battle-frame off the Vellek. She knew it would be kept away from her for as long as possible, even if it cost Varul an exorbitant amount. By sending Sineul with it, she played a master gambit. In Varul’s eyes, this made her more vulnerable.
“One more matter to discuss, my priestess,” Varul looked less enthusiastic about this upcoming topic. “It’s come to my attention that there is an amputee commander in your ship. An outsider.”
“Yes, Commander Brenvalo. He’s awaiting his sentencing.”
“I can take him off your hands,” Varul looked a bit serious saying this. “Your biologics are in that ship around him. You know the rules, only the faithful are allowed to witness you in that form. This man is a traitor. I gather you want him around as proof against AUM.”
“Yes, I get where you’re coming from, Varul,” She also knew better. “But he’s fine here, He’s confined to a room. There is no chance for him to see anyone’s biologics.”
“More chance there than in a prison cell in my fleet,” That was a good point. Liera had to pivot here and compromise.
“I’ll be comfortable if my cards against AUM were within my reach, I hope you understand. But, everything’s up for a trade. Not today, though.”
“I understand. My concerns are for your safety. I’ll think about something of equal value. Maybe another card against AUM?”
“I’m glad we could come to an understanding,” she made sure to smile in her holographic form. “I look forward to taking good care of your biologics, Varul,” She could see in his expression that he liked what he heard. It wasn’t him that was receiving this hug, but it still boosted his ego that she cared about his biologics. She placed it well, too; she had to make this about the original Varul somehow. The Fifth’s yearning was not that important. Only Varul mattered.
Commander Brenvalo managed to get out of the room. His knowledge of ships helped him figure out the door mechanism. The Vellek was an old ship, retrofitted multiple times over millennia. Every room in a ship needed to have emergency unlocking methods. Luckily for him, an obscure method that he learned long ago actually worked. He used the chair as his crutch and limped out of the room with several sheets of thin white foam he salvaged from a wall panel. His finger was stained black from some sort of oil, and the sheets had patterns that he finger-painted on them. He made about 20 m from the room when he started hearing footsteps.
“H-Hello” He croaked, “Priestess, I have-“
A blur of red and white dashed at him rounding a corner. He caught glimpses of the priestess. She was running from something.
“You can’t catch me!” She laughed, looking back over her shoulder.
“Watch out!” The priestess’ voice came from all around them and she bumped into Brenvalo in her full sprint. The sheets flew, the chair flew, Brenvalo himself flew at least two meters back, absorbing the full impact.
“UH!” The priestess grabbed her head, rubbing it vigorously. “Who’s walking in here when I’m running!” She complained, standing off of Brenvalo, he was fresh out of breath to say anything. His amputated leg started burning as soon as the adrenaline washed out of him.
“You’re outside?” The ball appeared next to the priestess. “You, run the other way” it told the priestess.
“W-wait! I just want to talk! Please!”
“Calan, get out of here,”
He was puzzled. Did she have other names? Why was she in two bodies at once?
“There you go, old man,” the priestess helped him up and aligned him against a wall. “My head hurts now,” she complained, rubbing her forehead. Her elbow had a rapidly reddening bruise that she kept cupping with her other hand.
“My priestess! I want to show you what I saw! It’s coming! It’s coming!”
“Eh? What’s he on about?” The priestess looked at him, puzzled. She looked at the ball. “Who is this old man?” Her face suddenly twisted in surprise. “I-is this Sineul!? Why has he been hiding all this time?”
“That’s not Sineul, Calan. He doesn’t have a human body. I guess everyone’s confused. This is the bad man that tried to kill us”
“Oh, now I remember, well, spank him or something! I’m going to watch the window again!” The priestess turned around and ran away. Brenvalo had never been this confused in his entire life. He wasn’t sure if he was dreaming this whole thing or had passed out in that room without his leg.
“Priestess! Wait! Please!” He yelled after her, but she vanished as fast as she appeared.
‘I’m here, Why are you out of your room?”
“Wait but-“ Brenvalo spent five seconds to gather his thoughts. Things he didn’t notice in the rush became clear in his head. He couldn’t be in one piece if he bumped into a robot running at full speed. She also had no black lines. There was a bruise. She felt pain. “That was your body! Isn’t it!”
“If you speak about this to anyone, You’ll be executed. You’re already on thin ice with your previous crimes. Go back to your room. If the priests see you outside, you’re a dead man walking”
“But, I already knew your biologics were here,” Brenvalo croaked, trying to catch his breath. “I was told you stole them…and it’ll be a huge loss if it was destroyed.e”
Liera turned. This was completely new information. The implications were staggering. Only the Red Sect could know about her stealing her biologics. Not even Varul knew. When she stole it, she hoped no one would ever know. She replaced it with a fake to keep the Red Sect off her. Someone had spied on her. She couldn’t tell who. Up until she told Varul, she was under the impression only Sineul and she knew. Sineul would never betray her.
“We’ll talk about this later, to your room, now. Not a word to anyone else, ever,” She raised the chair off the ground with one spindly arm.
“P-please take a look at what I drew! It’s coming, priestess! It’s coming!” He begged, pointing at the foam sheets scattered on the ground.
“Fine, I will, you can go now,” She rushed him along.