[IC] Carvings of the Galaxy

[Atrophy]

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Owen Childs

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Owen tightened his lips as Echo laughed. Yeah, he could see the hilarity in all of it, maybe, if he wasn’t one of the poor bastards that was currently in the rather surreal situation. His mind went back to the earlier thought that, perhaps, all of this had been a test by Cryonautics to see how people would actually react to being the thawing remnants of human society, the scientists and board members huddled around monitor screens and scratching down notes about the rapidly deteriorating crew. It was too farfetched of an idea now. He knew Cryonautics had a rather healthy budget, but he doubted they would’ve greenlit an entire alien prison scenario, especially since they were already doing a great job of falling apart when stuck in their own version of a real-life bottle episode.

He tensed as the door opened, and almost lunged at the alien that pulled Tahlia away before better sensibilities and pure cowardice held him back. What could he have done to stop the Skullman? Even if he had Doc’s laser sword, he had seen how that little moment of heroism had played out. He was already shocked, frightened, and befuddled; he didn’t need to add beaten and bruised to the list. He kept telling himself that if they wanted to kill them they already would’ve, and they hadn’t. However, that didn’t mean that they didn’t want to experiment on them with all sorts of sharp, alien instruments that would pretty much be equivalent to torture by human standards. Owen relaxed, if only slightly, as Tahlia was ushered back through the door, weird bread and waterskin in hand.

Great. Even aliens have crappy prison food.

There was something that Owen had been ignoring for quite sometime, although he couldn’t say if it had been consciously or subconsciously, and that had been Yaz’s quiet crying. He felt a twist in his stomach as he realized that he had been avoiding acknowledging it completely for selfish reasons: simply put, he didn’t want to play the role that Echo had been so enthusiastically forcing upon him. Although, maybe that wasn’t the whole thing. He should’ve been talking to her and trying to, in someway, make her feel better, he should’ve kept his cool in the first place, and surely he should’ve said something when she uttered that she wasn’t ready to die.

But, considering the situation, he just had nothing helpful to say. Sometimes, saying nothing was better than saying the wrong thing. This time, though, as he turned his eyes away from Yaz so that he didn’t have to see her face, he knew it was one of those situations where saying nothing at all was the worst of options. Tahlia was the one to speak up for him and to reassure Yaz, rescuing him from the task that he either didn’t want or didn’t have it in him to do. A dozen bleak scenarios, like the possibility of experimentation from earlier, popped up into his head for reason why they wouldn’t want them dead yet, but he kept them to himself. He didn’t know if Tahlia’s words actually put Yaz at ease, but he knew for certain that his ones wouldn’t.

“You seriously ate that?” he asked, looking at Tahlia incredulously in hopes of distracting the others from any conversation about their safety.

[Deserted]

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Echo Montegawitz

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There was really very little threat to Tahlia as she consumed who-knows-what. Most threats in food came from pathogens contained in poorly prepared or foreign raw foods. Beyond that protein was protein, carbohydrates were carbohydrates, fats were fats, sugars were sugars, and fibers were pretty much everything that the body had no clue what to do with. Now, mind you, don’t just go out devouring your way through the countryside. Berries and seeds were not uncommon to be poisonous, containing chemicals to drive the wrong type of animals off (such as insects or bears) some roots were toxic as well making sure that critters didn’t munch on them, and likewise some leaves held those exact same defensive mechanisms. However, on the local level these would be sure to have an affect to the bodies of those who could eat them without the troublesome poisoning. Such as caffeine, it was toxic to a brain the size of a pinhead, cocaine was dangerous to medium sized animals. However, while bigger and more muscular, these aliens were relatively the same size as a human. One thing could be sure, bio-chemistry was the same. There was no substitute for carbon for cracking and bonding, and alien or human cells had to all function off of that same principal. Water was another absolute, there was no other chemical or combination of chemicals that could substitute it. Without water the delicate work within a cell could simply not function. Not only did it function as an insulator as well as a conductor, a cleanser as well as a solution, it could also range in PH from one end of the spectrum to the other. Water was water was water, and life could simply not function on the atomic level without it.

The most real threat was that the bread was infused with vitamins that were not something that earth used. This would likely be caused by the use of a vitamin that was common on one world wile being totally foreign on another. While plants and animals had a great deal of vitamins, they were distributed and diluted. Most vitamin supplements were highly concentrated in order to compensate for a body's inability to absorb them without the other needed support structures of a natural infusing of the molicules. Such an overdose could be dangerous.

There was also one theoretical possibility that was quite a real danger if not coming across as complete fiction. It had inadvertently been resolved without anybody even noticing it. The bread, the ship, the aliens, they could all have been made of antimatter. While the name held some level of magical mojo to it as though it was some mystical imperceptible sparkles, antimatter was a substance just like any other substance and was completely undetectable due to the fact that it was simply matter spinning in an opposite direction. There was not really anything mystical about it. In fact, it was theorized that entire planet's, entire civilizations, entire galaxies were made of the stuff. The only reason it was so rare on Earth was because everything was already spinning one direction, and it took a great deal of energy to get it to turn around. Such matter would seem harmless until it came in contact with normal matter that was its counter. The two particles would annihilate each-other upon contact... and none too gently either. However, due to the fact the two ships and inhabitants were not rapidly boiling away into nothing but a massive bath of radiation, we can assume that was not the case.

At any rate, Echo didn’t care. She simply slumped in a corner of the cell wishing that there was something to sit or lounge on. Her head had been stuffed so full that her stomach didn’t even notice its own vacancy. She had plenty of busy work in her head right now that the lack of chores didn’t really bother her. She though in silence, contemplating twelve things at once. The waiting was actually welcome relief from the insanity of the day.

[SheriffLlama]

Yazmin Cormick

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Yazmin sat against the wall, unmoving from her position even as Tahlia tested the alleged "food." Were she being honest, it really didn't look much like food of any earthly kind. That thought spurred a surprising reaction inside her. She let out the smallest of giggles. "Earthly kind..." Then again, they weren't on Earth anymore, were they? The simple thought of being somewhere of extraterrestrial nature mentally shook her far more than even the sight of these aliens. Sure, the shock of the creatures would set in, but for now, she just needed to confirm within her mind that they really weren't on earth. In the back of her mind she dreaded the loneliness that the realization brought. They couldn't call for help. This abduction would never be undone by the military because they had no soldiers to come rescue them.

There was nothing that scared her more than the thought that she had no earthly- damn it - No universal idea of what was going to happen to them. Tahlia's words didn't do much to satiate her fears, either. She knew the difference between comfort and realism. Tahlia was simply comforting her because she genuinely had no more idea than Yazmin did.

A small panic began to rise up inside of her. To combat this, she began rifling through possible ways to escape. Her most probable one would begin with detaching her arm. She could use the battery, the microtransmitter, and the coils to build a miniature EMP blast. The only problem with that idea was that she had no idea how much of the ship would be affected. She could succeed in disabling the door, or she could send them all floating into space with no way of fixing it. She lay her head back and sighed as she pondered other possibilities.

[beyond visions]

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When Tahlia returned from hall with stale loaf, the four that comprised of what lastly formulated the Artemis crew, spent the rest of the day keeled against a cold wall behind a locked door. Confusion about the situation itself soon would be clear by an odd visitor... Well, "visitor" would be a strange title to tie him too-- to tie it to.

Once the ship landed, or so it felt, the same blacked-skinned-skull-faced-creatures let loose the locked door and in walked another thing. It was a machine, yet quite more deluxe than the other bot before, this one though a similar white exterior actually appeared as a hint of humanity. The way it stared closely into the eyes of those who where what it imitated, head titled-- every movement seemed so real. It held out a hand in front Yaz, waiting patiently until she accepted it. Once its hands was grip, the bot ushered her up. It repeated this gesture with the others, managing that each stood on their feet.

"Pseudo: false but bearing the appearance of; pretender, unreal.

I am Pseudo.

I am a false copy of your humanity, a Pseudo-Human.

Nonetheless, I am the closest thing to your species, or was the closest thing... I as every 'Specie Simulation' was appointed by the Principality of Galaxies. My purpose, I will explain in due time, but first I must inform you of the Principality-- it is an oligarchy of five dominating races. The Principality is quite a brutal system, yet it is suffice to say the race each monarch represents thrives fearlessly.

The creatures outside this door, that I am sure you have observed before are known as the Britheians. A male-dominant race motivated by power, strength, and honor. Britheians take unbreakable pride in the Principality. Offenses against the order are not taken lightly.

Humanity has been accused of treason. Yet, the Principality spares mercy, they wish to speak to your king or your queen. I, Pseudo, will act as means of translation. As informed before, the bot first arriving on this ship was destroyed by a former crew mate. The Principality takes notice to the misdeed... It is advised to speak warily.

Who reigns as humanity's monarch?

Does humanity have a monarch?"

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[beyond visions]

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Owen Childs & Tahlia Spade

Collab between @beyond visions (Pseudo), @Atrophy, and @TheMadAsshatter

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Tahlia finished her partition of the bread and water; a little less than 1/4 of each. She was confident the others would forgive a slight transgression, but she wanted to ensure the others had their fair share. When Owen made his remark, Tahlia simply looked at him and shrugged. Her body hadn't rejected the food yet, and hopefully that would remain the case. She swallowed the last of her portion of bread and water, using the latter to moisten the former somewhat. It sort of helped to make the bread feel more like bread, but it didn't help the taste much.

The others took their time eating their portions when the ship shook a little, then settled. It seemed they had made a stop somewhere. Hopefully they would finally get some answers. A couple of the aliens reappeared, accompanied by another robot. This one, however, looked like it was modeled to very closely resemble humans. It seemed to glance between everyone before going up to Yaz and bringing her to her feet. On impulse, Tahlia stood up on her own immediately following. The robot introduced itself -if you could call it an introduction- once everyone was standing.

Owen pushed himself up to his feet to avoid having to deal with the second robot touching him. He rubbed his sore wrists and watched with suspicion as the robot gave its spiel. Principality, Britheians, Species Simulation, the words seemed stripped straight out of a last century sci-fi film, but it was the idea that humanity had a single monarch at all that struck him as the most farfetched thought. Even if the world had gone down the utopian route instead of the dystopic, destructive one it had followed, Owen doubted people would ever be okay with following just one girl or guy, especially one pretentious enough to go back to the whole royalty system.

Then again, maybe it was just a translation error.

A heavy silence permeated around their cell as nobody stepped up to claim the crown; he certainly didn’t want to assume a role that required him to defend humanity for a crime he didn’t even know existed. Owen refused to look over at Echo, because he knew that she would be staring a hole into him right now, and instead found his eyes lingering on his shoes. There was no way Yaz could handle such a role; she didn’t need to be scared even more by having responsibility forced upon her. If it hadn’t been for the incident with Rend, he would’ve slapped Tahlia on the back and pushed her forward. Now, he was just thankful that she was smart enough to not try and take out the aliens with the remainder of that bizarre loaf of bread. Benji was gone; Rend too. The robots unnerving eyes bored into him. He shook his head and stepped forward.

Tahlia, herself, looked back between the other crew-members. If Benji were there she would have put the responsibility on him. He had been out of the cryo pods the longest and may very well have known something the others didn't. She wished that Benji hadn't gone full retard on that other robot and gotten himself in trouble. Now, even by her own opinion, it was pretty much between her and Owen, and Owen wasn't having the easiest time keeping his wits about him before; Tahlia could tell that much. Of course, there was one more thing worth asking before committing to being humanity's representative, as it were.

“I guess that’d--” he started.

"We would like--” she started.

It seemed that Owen had the same idea. The simultaneous interjection prompted another moment of silence as Tahlia looked over at him. Perhaps he would be better suited for the situation, being a psychologist. “Go ahead,” she said, taking a proverbial step back.

Owen visibly grimaced when Tahlia deferred to him; there had been a second when she had spoken that he hoped she’d just take command and that would be that, even if he did have some reservations about her being their representative. Now, the pressure was back on him. Originally, he had been playing to say ‘I guess that’d be me’. However, something about Tahlia’s phrasing made him feel like that, now, would be the wrong thing to say. ‘We would like’ didn’t sound like a claim to the make-believe throne that was being offered to them; it sounded like an attempt to barter some information out of the robot. Casting a sideways glance at Tahlia, he cleared his throat and reset himself.

“I guess that’d depend. We would like to know why we’ve been charged with treason,” he said, standing upright with his shoulders squared. “And we need to know if our fellow crew-mate is still alive.”

Though not the direction Tahlia was planning to go exactly, it wasn’t the worst start. And despite how he seemed before, he seemed more in control at this point. Still, she wasn’t about to let her own question go unanswered.

“Once we know that, we would like to ask for legal counsel before we say anything else.” She folded her arms as she said this, hoping that they were actually in a position to bargain. Realistically, they really weren’t, nor were they even remotely in their league. Did this civilization even have lawyers?

“Such information has not been distributed to me..." It was an aid to them, he was an aid to them. Pseudo's structure is one partly modeled and referenced after male anatomy without seeming far too graphic and detail. As an attempt to be human he was still treated like such. He was well aware of the galaxy they have never been home to. But as for the state of the crew and of Benji, he knew only as much as they. "My programming and behavior is one built upon the research of human beings abducted. All information stored about your species has been discovered through experimentation and interrogation." He stopped, he mustn't continue with a subject that could be noted later, because for now the highest concern was that who would reign as mankind's monarch.

"However, further detail could be stated at another time. As for legal counsel... Put all faith in whoever holds the lordship. They will make the defense.

I do know of the Principality's current stance made with humanity thus far. A meeting was held in the meantime that the Britheians were making your arrest... The Principality has not made a unanimous decision. It is advised to be represented through a monarch. Although the decision of not having one still remains. Being without a monarch could do both good and bad for you. Good in a sense that the Principality will see how ill prepared you were for first contact, and that you are mere pawns for who sent you. There they will have mercy for you. But bad in that they will see humanity as savages and barbarians, anarchist even."

“Well, Sue, they wouldn’t be completely wrong,” muttered Owen underneath his breath, failing to hide his frustration as he heavily sighed. “You know, they did a real good job when they made you. Like most middlemen, you’ve been incredibly helpful.”

He wrinkled his brow. Was it better to be pitied than considered a threat? Although, judging by this whole treason nonsense, he figured it’d be more threatening to be considered uncivilized rubes than to be a dying race with some traitorous agenda that could, ideally, be explained as some great misunderstanding. Since it had to be a misunderstanding, unless that Voyager thing they launched into space actually made contact with some alien race and they got really offended by Chuck Berry’s guitar. He doubted it would actually work, but maybe there was a chance that he could possibly clear the air.

Or maybe he could get all of them shot out into space by running his big mouth.

First, he had to clear the air with somebody else, because regardless of what happened earlier he still respected Tahlia, or at least her opinions. He leaned over to the woman, lowering his head so that he could discreetly whisper into her ear: “Think you can bear with calling me Your Highness for a spell?”

It figured that the robot would only provide vague details that were hardly helpful, and unfortunately, pressing on the issue would likely do them no good at this juncture. Tahlia lowered her head and pinched the bridge of her nose at this, and was then addressed by Owen. She had forgotten how irreverent he can be, but she hadn’t honestly expected it at a time like this.

“This is neither the time nor place for flippancy, Owen. I’d appreciate you not getting us all killed, or doomed to slavery or something.” She sighed and considered the thought of them both acting in such a capacity simultaneously. Then again, were that possible, the robot would have probably mentioned it. Still, better to ask than never know. “Do you think we could both do it?” she first whispered back to Owen.

“Guess we’ll find out,” he whispered back, raising his voice as he turned towards Pseudo. “Fine, I suppose there’s no point in hiding it any longer. Tahlia is my queen, and I am her king,” he said as he put his arm around her shoulder in a piss poor attempt to sell the lie, hoping with every ounce of his body that it didn’t end up broken. “We’ll speak to your Principality. Together.”

Tahlia figured Owen would take it in that direction, but hadn’t expected him to go so far as to throw his arm around her. She tried to stifle her instinctual urge to throw his arm back off of her, and instead opted to tactfully pull away. “Please, keep it professional... my king.” Ughhh, those words tasted sour coming out of her mouth, but she hoped her lack of acting talent didn’t show.

Pseudo was unresponsive, frozen. After an awkward pause, the bot retain communication. "I have just been summoned... Received information classified." The message transmitted was one he was bounded to keep from them. Pseudo allied with Humanity, the race is the reason why he functions but he was created by other creatures-- they are how he functions. Thus limitations are maintained, along with the mystery that is kept. The imagination can only wonder what the secret was about.

"King and Queen however you say? Very well, it is not a patriarchy nor a matriarchy, but perhaps egalitarian. Such is... controversial with the male monarch weak to lean on a queen. A queen tied to do the same with her king. However, such power can be established before the Principality, and thus will. As for the time now, I must depart from you.

As a wanted species who could be potentially harmed by forces outside of the Principality for crime of treason. You will be escorted to and housed in an isolated location. I will soon reunite with you there when free from further duties."

The door behind Pseudo slid open as he began to make his leave, "Humanity, welcome... If I be the first to say." And with that he exited to leave the crew alone with themselves yet again.

Tahlia half-sighed-half-groaned at the turn of events and brought her hand to her face. “All things considered, I’m glad I’m not taking the stand alone, but the melodrama was hardly necessary.”

[beyond visions]

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At the very instance of Pseudo's departure, a flattened object of spherical shape-- something that appeared to be a thickened disc-- wheeled its way in rotation towards the prisoners. Once it fell flat on the cold hard ground, a beautiful thing happened... A cyan cloud transpired from a tiny opening at the center of the foreign object-- gas grenade. Owen, the king, curled in languid reaction, helpless. The last he recognized was the entanglement of puffs swirling in mad seductive dance, putting him to sleep. His body sunk deep with Tahlia's warmth enclosing on him as she had too folded beneath the contaminated air. Her faint body next to his faint body.

As for Echo, perhaps in those few seconds that she had in realization of the situation, she did reflect on the revisit. For a second time she experienced a sensation of intake and then slumber. This time it was in the form of gas, rather than a puny pill. Maybe she relished it.
It was a peaceful reminder of an anticipated death...

Yaz, poor thing may have cried if spared the chance. Every breath taken was spoiled, defiled-- corrupted. She was a young innocent girl when first joining the project. She wanted to be a part of a movement that swore preservation, though it swore with many circling secrets. The air was pure before adulterated.

With eyes closed, their darkness consumed them.

Light.

Light. They were awake now.
And in a different place.

Relief?
Maybe...

The king and queen awoke to discover themselves breathing again, but breathing together, right next to each other. It was a bedroom with the two pressed against a bed, one of massive size to fit virtually the most common creature. Well, even the most uncommon creature such as the man and the woman. Though the two were still dressed in the same clothes during the arrest, they could still feel the soothing heat of a fireplace. The room itself was rather luxurious compare to their previous cell. Hardwood floors and a door to the balcony was hardly something to complain about. Balcony, that was significance, it gave them a setting.

Once those doors were swung open, then she could at least be aware, and he at least wonder... more...
Because what lied behind those doors was the outside world, an alien world. But it did not seem alien, it seemed familiar, it conceived a distant memory, a reminder. It was chilling to away from a century sleep in the cryo-tank. And now, it was just as chilling to fathom yourself surrounded by floating bodies of ice knowing that your on one tiny island plagued as a wintry wasteland. And you are reminded of this with the stains of snow on every window you pass. Isolation, aren't you use to it?

Yaz and Echo were paired together in their own room, down the hall from where A room that appeared to be once for children. The two were laid on their own separate twin beds. But it was just as cozy as Tahlia and Owen's room, maybe even much more interesting as there were shelves. On these shelves were wooden figurines that appeared to resemble peculiar races that they are just destined to see. One toy could be identified as a Britheian. But was it ironic in how these figurines were placed in a circle with one creature in the center. In the coming, they will be that creature in the center.

Yet for the time being, they must cope with the message sent by their new bot friend, the Pseudo-Human:

"Greetings... again. You have been placed in a remote location for your sake of security. For the time now, I am preoccupied and there is no set date for my arrival, but I will return. And when I return you will present in front of the Principality. But I do apologize for the delay." The audio chip that was placed on the nightstand in Tahlia and Owen's room ends. What were they going to do in the meantime? What was left for them to do? It was up to them.

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[beyond visions]

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Days passed, weeks passed, or so it seemed. Within a new world, time cycled differently than it did on earth. But being locked away from the outside permitted little experience and exploration. Perhaps it was for their own good. Yet, this routine of waiting for an audience with the government that seemed to run galaxies, that waiting had finally came to an end. Because one day they did not wake up inside a cozy palace surrounded by islands of snow, instead they found themselves seated aboard a train that floated among a beam of light soaring through the sky. The ability of the train to do so was no surprise to the prisoners, similar technology had been created on earth. Yet that train trailed a path allowing for the view of a stone tower... taking them to that stone tower.

It was Mount Olympus, throne room of the gods, or so it seemed. Arranged in semi-circle were the five beings, each a single representation compacted into one monarch.

That was the Principality of Galaxies.

And this is real.

No more theories and suspicion of a sociological experiment. No more thoughts and suggestions that those so-called "Skull-men" could be men in costumes. None of that could come anymore. Even the word alien was best not used if these creatures were just as living, breathing, and thinking as they are.

The thrones were elevated on a curved platform and behind each throne was a mural. These murals illustrated a race's significance. Whether that species was famed for breeding warmongers or originators, it was displayed through the faded colors of a single painting. For one's own race to be a portrayal and depiction of a single action must seem quite intimidating and perplexing to grasp. Yet at least it was informative, pictures need no translation. And with that, King Owen and Queen Tahlia are spared a hint of the creatures they would be conversing. Well, that is conversing through their translator, Pseudo. As the Human monarchs trudge their way to the path towards the faces of the Principality, they notice a sixth throne. As they could perhaps recall Pseudo had mentioned only five alien monarchs, but their stood an empty seat of royalty with the mural behind it concealed by strokes of black paint- a cover up. No matter, that should not be a distraction, but rather focus should be put towards the matter at hand, the fate of the entire Human race.

Pseudo walked in front of Owen and Tahlia with Yaz and Echo following in the back. Once Pseudo stopped, the bot bent to his knees, kneeling in presence of nobility, to which it expected that those behind him would do the same. After the genuflect, Pseudo rose upward and instead facing the monarch, he turned around towards the crew.

"Before discussion is made of your crime,

King Owen and Queen Tahlia, the Principality is not convinced that you are truly the monarchs of Humanity.

No, another member of your colony has instead claimed role of king..."

The same massive metal doors that had just been released for the opening when Tahlia, Owen, Echo, and Yaz entered through, had again been moved to make way for yet another visitor, a familiar visitor. But his voice was far from familiar,
now it seem much more

distorted.

"Fall'n Cherube, to be weak is miserable. Doing or Suffering: but of this be sure. To do ought good never will be our task, but ever to do ill our sole delight... you fuckin' eejits."

He appeared before them, stepping out from the shadows behind the sixth throne. He chuckled briefly, and discordant tones crackled from his mouth.

"This bunch aren't familiar with Paradise Lost. You know who the protagonist is? Satan." Ailbeart Rend's face held a countenance that none of the crew of the Artemis had ever seen before - a wide grin spread across his face, his one unobstructed eye bulged down at them and his pupil flitted from person to person with an unprecedented energy. His hair, in contrast, was less lively, for only grey wisps coated his skull and they were altogether unkempt. He was dressed in some kind of blue robe that appeared somewhat skin-tight yet malleable, yet it pooled away from Rend slightly just before it touched the floor. Though he had lay supine, on the verge of death, maintained by machines and the fragile clemency of the crew, now the man was anything but. He had been reanimated from his corpse-like state, and stood to look down on the crew once more, only not from the heavens. If they harboured any questions of how, or who, or why, Rend answered gleefully by raising a hand to his neck and dispersing the (apparently not solid) material that had been a part of his robe. Underneath, the answers lay. Rend's skin grew taut between his chin and Adam's apple, and it stretched paper-thin where the first instances of metal began. The technological reparation of his neck then spanned six centimetres long and five centimetres wide. The metal did not allow any portal or gap through which the interior of the previously damaged trachea might be seen, but one can imagine the incomprehensible alien technology that now powered and maintained the breathing, and indeed the very life, of the one man who had so commonly mouthed patronising epithets against technological advancement.

"Although, I think I'd liken myself more to something like... Frankenstein. Oh, wait, he was the doctor - what I really mean is Frankenstein's Monster." The grin vanished from Rend's face, instead a brooding somberness possessed him. It was now clear that his violent encounter with Tahlia, and whatever had transpired when the aliens had ahold of his near lifeless body, had irrevocably changed the nature of his voice. He was no longer capable of vocal inflections or much variation in pitch. Though words full of menace and anger formed on his tongue, they conveyed themselves as monotone drivel.

"But enough about me," exclaimed the drastically different, robotically-augmented Rend, "I'm sure the Principality would like to know what a handful of would-be usurpers are doing here..."

Pseudo translated Rend's dialogue in terms and language the alien Principality would understand. In return, the deemed monarchy responded in foreign speech, however yet again Pseudo translates but now for the humans,

"They wish to know true allegiance, Yaz and Echo," the machine announced the two girls by name though they themselves had never informed him of such. This information was obtained through the Artemis, once it was cleared of the crew. It is obvious further investigation would undergo through scavenging the ship data. "Stand behind your monarch."

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Ailbeart Rend

Collab between @beyond visions (Pseudo) and @Eru Iluvatar

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Zack Hemsey - "Don't Get In My Way"

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[TheMadAsshatter]

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Tahlia Spade

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The next couple of weeks dragged by. Boredom had become Tahlia's arch enemy in that time. With very little contact with anything past her room, and being stuck with Owen, she was anything but ready for their trial when the time came. Their captors spared no expense to ensure their comfort in the meantime, but after that first day of captivity was over and she had a day of virtually no threat and nothing to do to process what had been happening, it finally hit her how much shit they were in. She'd done a good job to keep her cool when under constant scrutiny and facing countless unknowns; he had taken everything one problem at a time. but it wasn't until that morning, with no problems to face and nothing but time, that she really considered the full gravity of the situation.

That wasn't to say that she still didn't handle it (reasonably) well, but until then she had concentrated only on the ground below her feet and everything she could see and hear. Now that her mind had room to wander and explore the implications, if she was being honest with herself, she was way in over her head. To add to that, despite their comfortable accommodations, she couldn't get over that they were still captives. Despite her training, one can never say how one will respond in such a situation. This was, of course, exacerbated by the fact that her training didn't cover being captured by fucking aliens, and as the days wore on, Tahlia became more anxious, stir-crazy, and fidgety, and while anyone would have noticed that, Owen would have likely noticed on top of that some subtle symptoms of PTSD. It was the first time in years that she had felt so vulnerable.

It didn't at all help that the day of their trial began with as jarring a start as when the aliens first boarded the Artemis. Falling asleep in one place and waking up somewhere else was something Tahlia would likely never get used to. The prospect of forward momentum did calm Tahlia somewhat, though that didn't help her restlessness at all. Her and Owen had discussed how they would approach the situation, and now the moment of truth was close at hand. They had spent some time solidifying their case, and not a moment too soon. They were brought before the Council, confident in what they had to say, though Tahlia seemed as though she was worse off than she was when her face got slammed into the floor of the Artemis's cockpit. "I just want to get back to the ship," she muttered to Owen at one point.

Somewhere in the back of her mind she wondered if Rend was even still alive throughout this whole debacle, and with no sign of Benji either, she wondered what these aliens had to gain from withholding so much information. Like how there was a sixth throne in a council of five species. She supposed either one had been banned, exiled, whatever, or they had recently gained a new one. Humans? Were these beings so generous as to offer a seat to Humanity? It certainly would have been an indication of good faith, but with anywhere between only 4 and 6 members of their species left that they knew of, that seemed cruelly ironic.

Naturally, Pseudo was there to facilitate communication and to advise the two. He kneeled before the Council. Tahlia followed suit, and hoped no one else was stupid enough not to. Pseudo rose a moment later, followed by everyone else. He turned to Tahlia and Owen. "Before discussion is made of your crime, King Owen and Queen Tahlia..." The idea of being called Queen made Tahlia uncomfortable, but not nearly as uncomfortable as what Pseudo was about to say.

"the Principality is not convinced that you are truly the monarchs of Humanity. No, another member of your colony has instead claimed role of king..."

"What the hell?" Tahlia uttered before seeing a figure emerge by the sixth throne, and when that figure resolved itself into the shape of a certain man that she had nearly killed several days ago, Tahlia's eyes ignited with a fire that could have melted steel. "That fucking piece of shit!" She lost the restraint it would have required not to say that aloud, but retained enough not to say it any louder than the level of a disbelieving murmur. Her stance visibly shifted. Any concerns, reservations, or worries she had before was replaced with visible hostility. She only hoped that his encounter with the aliens had humbled him enough to actually be of help in this situation, though she had a distinct feeling that he would spare no mercy for her in particular, regardless.

Their brief encounter that one time was succinct in revealing Rend's overall character, but hardly his peculiarities, and Rend's tendency towards the melodramatic quickly got under Tahlia's skin. That was nothing compared to how he regarded everyone else. Her head and eyes twitched at the word "usurpers" and she pinned her clenched fists to her thighs.

"You can't stop me next time," She said to Owen, deadly seriously. Unfortunately for him, she was likely not going to be a good source for calm discussion in the coming moments.

[Atrophy]

---

Owen Childs

---

For what it’s worth, Owen tried his best to keep himself from pushing too many of Tahlia’s buttons during their internment. Perhaps it would’ve saved him from the doldrums of waiting forever for word from Pseudo about their upcoming trial, but he rather avoid dealing with the explosive aftermath since they were stuck sharing a room together. Or maybe it was because he could see Tahlia’s icy-cool demeanor cracking, and he rather not be the one to shatter her illusion of strength. They needed that, after all. He needed that. He himself could only pretend to be strong so much. Then again, maybe he was just trying to avoid that entire can of worms. For the team shrink, he did spend an awful amount of time trying to not talk about their problems.

Still, all things considered, surely the others could forgive him for seeming distracted. Most of the time he wondered about Benji’s fate, excluding the times him and Tahlia were focusing on creating some kind of plan for presenting their case. Of course, without knowing their crime, each of their conversations rarely bore any fruit, although he figured that they both silently agreed on the goal of not getting the final handful of humanity added to the extinction list. Although would it really be such a bad thing? Now that it was confirmed that they weren’t the only life in the universe, it only made the insignificance of their entire existence that much greater. A dark thought, perhaps, but it took some weight off of their responsibility if he pretended that the outcome didn’t bother him. Because it really did bother him; most nights he pretended to be asleep. He doubted that he fooled Tahlia.

However, one night he did fall fast asleep, only to awake on a train heading towards their trial. Owen might’ve enjoyed the view after recovering from the initial confusion if not for his struggle with the butterflies in his stomach; despite their preparation, he realized that he was not ready to preach humanity’s case in front of a bunch of other species. He should’ve just been honest and say that humanity had no monarch and prayed that the Principality would spare them out of pity and keep them as some sort of rare oddities. ‘Come look at the humans, completely unable to take care of themselves. Aren’t they just pathetic?’ God, he was going to be sick.

He managed to keep himself in one piece, however, as he followed Pseudo, standing aside Tahlia with Yaz and Echo on their flanks. He had to at least try to play it off as if he was some kind of leader, now, since he had done screwed up and accidentally taken one-half of the title. Somehow, someway, he felt that Echo was to blame for him speaking up in the first place, but that was neither here nor there. He continued to try to act unfazed as they proceeded into the room where they would be judged, although perhaps a better word for how he really appeared would be nonplussed.

Owen was gawking so much that he almost missed Pseudo’s cue to bow, bending his knee after a noticeable hesitation that ideally would paint his as arrogant instead of simply dumbfounded. Owen smiled with slight embarrassment before he set his face in stone; he had to play it cool. Act the part. Look confident. Be strong. All that sort of garbage. For a second, he did stand taller, his arms clasped behind his back as if he had nothing to hide. He almost looked regal, even. And then Pseudo opened his damn mouth and ruined whatever appearance of calmness Owen had managed to only momentarily grasp.

At least he laughed when Rend appeared instead of cursing or shouting or running like he wanted to, his head shaking at the absolute perfectness of the situation. Of course, of course things would go like this. Owen figured that it would’ve been a bit of a cruel mercy to keep Rend alive after what he had done, but he never thought that the one it would’ve been cruel to would be him and not Rend. He smiled with some guilt at being so amused by the rather unfortunate turn of event—and there was no question that Rend claiming to be their leader was anything but unfortunate. He moved his hand up to cover his face, watching with a mixture of shock and bemusement as Rend rambled on.

"You can't stop me next time," said Tahlia.

“Won’t stop me from trying,” said Owen. It was the truth. Even though he knew it would be easy to think that it would’ve been better to have let Rend die in the first place, he knew it wouldn’t have been right. He knew he would never have let it happen, not if he had any say in it. And if Tahlia ever did get the opportunity to put her hands on Rend again, he would be there to try and stop her. Was it for her sake, for Rend’s, or for his? Hell, he didn’t even know anymore.

All he knew right now was that he had better start talking. Actually, no, that wasn’t true. It would’ve been smarter to just let Yaz and Echo step behind the person they thought should be in charge without saying anything, because even Owen would bet that they wouldn’t choose Rend. He knew right now that he better just keep his tongue in his mouth before he said something that got him in trouble. However, something about the appearance of Rend had turned his nerves and jitters into something else. Now? Hell, now he just wanted to start talking, screw the outcome.

So he did.

“C’mon old man, we all know that you can never get enough of yourself,” said Owen. “But we thank you for thinking about the rest of us, for once.” He paused, and then looked at Psuedo. “I...I don’t even get why he’s here, really. This man threatened us and attempted to kill Tahlia. The fact that he’s allowed to stand here, let alone to even be considered our leader, is laughable. He isn’t one of us. He was our prisoner. He wasn’t even supposed to be on our ship. It’s…”

He was pacing, now. Owen realized what the something else was: it was anger. He should’ve just stayed quiet.

“It’s freaking ridiculous that this is even happening. Like, did y’all wait to revive this old bastard before giving him the same spiel you gave us? Is Benji gonna come in here claiming he’s also a king or something? You sure human’s aren’t still running the show? Because I was kinda hoping that our species was the only kind that would allow for something this stupid to even be considered. Like, seriously, you guys, are you guys fucking idiots?”

He had gotten louder. He turned again towards Psuedo.

“Don’t add that last part,” he said, and then threw his hands up. “Actually, screw it, do. Go ahead.” He pointed at Rend. “Clearly they’re okay with listening to assholes. Translate carefully, Psuedo. Rend. Is. Not. Fucking. Part. Of. Our. Colony. Just—”

“Just do what they say,” he said quietly to Yaz and Echo with a defeated sigh; he should’ve stayed quiet. “Do whatever you think’s right. Somehow I doubt it’s gonna matter now.”

[Deserted]

---

Echo Montegawitz

---

There was a level of reluctant patience in the grand hall. A great deal of grace had been bestowed upon them. These were not simply a district judge that talked to the bailiff in the break room. These were monarchs of entire worlds, maybe even numerous worlds. They were immensely powerful, if they were anything like the monarchs in human history, they bordered on the reverence of a god. They had also proven to be a great deal wiser, clever, and/or terrifying than any nation of Humans had proven to be... were proving to be. Furthermore, this was more than just a senate or a collection of diplomats. These were the monarchs of their races, and had put themselves into a peculiar situation even gathering. To think like a human, the worlds would be thrown into turmoil if one explosive made it into this room. Honestly, Echo doubted that any of these creatures were even present, she suspected that they were holograms and safely parked thousands of light-years away in bunkers and behind a massive military. Even if they were used to meeting, even if they trusted each other immensely, it wasn’t exactly like they were sitting around all day hoping for some random people get arrested so that they have something to talk about. This was big news. It was not difficult to imagine that their behavior was being observed by every important person if not the breaking news to dozens of worlds.

The Humans were acting like something you might find on... oh what’s the name of that show? Judge Judy. This was not going to end well, especially as words of impropriety and accusations were thrown about. They were acting just as a criminal and backward world might be expected to behave. The entire crew were proving the first impressions correct. Yep, they were all doomed now. Unless...

Echo glanced to Thalia and Owen, then to Rend. Owen, Thalia, they both might have meant well, but they already had two strikes against them... first of all, they took responsibility when they said they were in charge. They were responsible for this crime (if one indeed exist), this was a negative against anybody who claimed leadership. The second strike was that they had leapt without looking and now proven with action more than a record that Humanity was fractured. That would go over worse than simply explaining that they had not ever found common ground to unify. Even if the entire crew, save for Rend stood behind them, their chances of being exonerated were not good. With Rend opposing them, this really did mean that they could not win the hearts of 20% of the population of the human race. Neither of them were public speakers.

If anybody could dig them out of this situation it was Ailbeart Rend. To make matters worse they had accessed the computers of the Artemis. The truth would come out eventually, and it was not going to sit well with these very powerful rulers. Rend was undoubtedly listed somewhere as a leader, if Cryonautics did not put it in there, then Rend’s people probably did, and if they didn’t, then the history books undoubtedly listed him and probably nobody else.

She would just have told the truth... but she had not been given permission to even say a word.

Echo departed the main group, her boots she had were designed to avoid that obnoxious clacking and clomping. Now, however, she kind of wished that that powerful and confident stomp accompanied her as she made her way across the floor...

She locked eyes with Rend as she approached.

Then she passed him, and his expression twisted and contorted, surprised that her path did not take her behind him, but instead brought her farther, much farther from the realm of humanity as though she had reached escape velocity from earth and the sun and all that was Human.

Her first thought was to head to the other monarchs and try to reach a peaceful compromise by hammering out some sort of subjugation to the more merciful ones. However, the perfect opportunity arose, and so did she... straight up the dais and onto the unoccupied throne. There she seated herself. She smiled in good nature. The selection of the throne was a decision to thoroughly enrage them far beyond anything the rest of the group could possibly do. Their frustrations would be vented on her, and then followed shortly would be a martyr's death, "Sovereigns, if any is guilty here, let the accusations fall to me."

The choice of her address of the monarchs as "sovereign" was carefully selected. Driving a strong point home to each. That each was to see to the internal laws of their people. One monarch was not permitted to punish the people of another for violation, there had to be extradition. However, her words also closed the door on that implying that there was such a tight ship kept that any form of law-breaking was because she had made a mistake and not the fault of the underling.

[Eru Iluvatar]

---

Ailbeart Rend

---

Wednesday, the 16th of September 2037, was of particular note to one Isaac Ford, in that it was the day that he died. It was a usual working day for Ford: he got up at the crack of dawn, synchronised his online schedule with his ocular installation, ate a bowl of chocolate-laced wheat pellets and dressed for the day. He had a couple of appointments that merely required his consultant opinion, and these he attended to from the comfort of his own home laboratory. One woman was having trouble with the configuration of her wrist installation, and another had messed with her language settings in an attempt to practise conversational Spanish in real-life situations - yet now all she heard and saw was altered into Swedish. Ford guided the first through her configuration and helped the second out of her 'misstag', and soon after his personal assistant entered the laboratory.

"Excuse me, sir, but a means of transport has arrived along with a... significant lump sum." She walked over to him with a small tablet in one hand. Upon the screen was a bank statement from the same day that raised Ford's eyebrows up to his short black fringe and swung his mouth open loosely.

"Well," he replied, putting on a thick cotton jacket, "Make an excuse for my other appointments, I suppose. And arrange accommodation for tonight - I doubt I'll survive travelling a return journey from New York to Scotland in one day."

Rend watched Owen's burgeoning outburst with curiosity. Truthfully, he and the rest of the crew barely knew each other; he had only observed short, random videos of the five others and all they knew of him was likely Internet libel or news associated with any of his businesses. Nothing personal. They hadn't even met him properly before they had built up slander, corroborated between themselves and ultimately consented to kill - or at least squabble over killing - him the first chance they got. They attacked him over some kid who died hundreds, possibly thousands of years prior - some kid who didn't have any right to survive. Just another millennial who was part of the problem that brought Earth to it's knees in the first place. And instead of greeting him with the respect due to one their elder, who had experienced more success than all of them put together, they glared and shouted and crushed his neck. He hadn't even known they were in... space. Fucking hell, space. This thought had been reoccurring minute by minute since the truth had been revealed: since humanoid creatures had stolen him from his deathbed and shown him the expanse of space as they ripped into his flesh and bone without anything even resembling anaesthesia. He had screamed, to no avail, as incomprehensible pain tormented his body, while he was kept from the sweet release by blinking buttons and sheets of metal. His breathing had diminished almost completely, and he wasn't even sure if there was any oxygen in the alien ship anyway. Five of the creatures had crowded around him, like kids doing a fucking jigsaw puzzle with his neck. Then, he could breathe. And yet more technology afflicted his existence.

Rend sucked in a breath of air, ignoring the still terrifying sensation that emanated from his lungs, and was about to spit a hate-laced rant in response to Owen's, but the young girl - Echo - began to move toward him. Their eyes locked for a second. Rend's heart then sent a shock-wave through his body as a buried memory rose to the surface. She almost looks like... She passed him, giving him a sudden feeling of worry that quelled any chance of reminiscing. He had not forgotten that there were five alien monarchs positioned around the room - one from the race that had experimented upon him, and four other, less humanoid creatures - and though he was not clear of their alligiance in regard to the present humans, he thought that Owen's fit wouldn't give the opposing argument, that Owen and Tahlia were humanity's regents, any credence. In fact, he wasn't even sure what he was supposed to be saying for the aliens to approve of him and shun the rest of the crew. He wasn't even sure if he should be working together with the crew, to save all of their lives. The human facsimile that called itself Pseudo had just woke him up a couple of nights before, and without offering any support to help him transition to being in space and living amongst aliens, had said something about treason and asked if he was humanity's king. In a state of disbelief and confusion, with a human-faced robot looming over him, Rend had said yes. Hell, I would have confessed to being the fucking Loch Ness Monster if it got that thing away from me. But as he thought about it now, why shouldn't he be king? Between the six of them, he was their king. Rend spun to face Echo just after she spoke.

"No, girl, don't go doing anything stupid now," he took a step toward her and the throne and beckoned gently, "I am your king. Now, I am your king.

"Please, hear me! These other humans are young, inexperienced, and they do not know their place. This whole event has confused them, and whatever their actions have been so far, know that those actions were unregulated, for without my regal presence they bear an excessive amount of responsibility upon themselves. You can see plainly that this man," he gestured at Owen, and noticed Psuedo continually translating for the various aliens, "Who purports to be king, is in reality carried away by his own ongoing falsehood. He is immature, disrespectful, and has not come to terms with the fact that there is other life in the Universe. His own outburst proves this, and his so-called queen is equally guilty of these self-serving lies. These younger humans are all self-important, having had any and all of their desires handed to them without delay - they have never experienced a true challenge, or worked for the benefit of others, without having technology or some such other aid accompany them. This is why they have chosen to lie to you, in an effort to save their own hides. Instead, I truthfully state to you that I do not know of any instance of treason on the part of humanity, but I, humanity's one and only king, would be willing to talk and negotiate with you, and I thank you for your hospitality and mercy."

As Rend concluded his speech, his gaze turned to Owen, Tahlia and Yaz, and instead of the bitter glare that he desired to give them, his eyes were instead solemn and serious. If Pseudo and the aliens had not been watching, he would have said 'I am your king' once more - but for his own reassurance or for the good of the entire crew, only he knew.

[TheMadAsshatter]

---

Tahlia Spade

---

It was a shame that Tahlia wasn't really thinking straight. At the moment, her more pragmatic and sensible side might have actually seen that Rend was playing the game with these aliens right now, and at the moment, despite how much she hated her, he was probably the most experienced diplomat of them all. Of course, she was too preoccupied with how badly he was bullshitting these aliens, and also knew for a fact that he was enjoying being their "king" far too much to really give a shit; and on top of that, calling them liars? To hell with the game; Tahlia was too proud for this horseshit. And too angry. Fuck this guy!

"Let's not omit the fact that you tried to kill me, you fuckstick!" she spat at him. "You think you're fit to be a leader? A real leader doesn't shoot their subordinates for disagreeing with them; not that you were supposed to lead us in the first place! You killed the man who was! What do you have to say to that you piece of shit?" In a final fit of rage, Tahlia decided that it wouldn't be enough to not give him the one-finger salute and bellow a hearty "FUCK YOU!!!" She took a few deep breaths after that. She'd been in a courthouse a couple times, and no matter how slimey the defendant was, she knew very well that acting out was one of the worst things you could do, but it felt good to tear into him a little. But now that that was out of her system, she could start to think straight again.

"Surely you can all see that he's a figurehead, but on top of that he's a snake! He doesn't earn respect, he demands it and crushes anyone who tries to oppose him. He tried to shoot me, and very well could have shot out a window, which could have killed us all! Surely you can see that in the logs?" Her words themselves were sound, sensible, and rational, but her attitude was still very hot. "He was never meant to be our monarch! He paid and wormed his way into the ship to get where he is! He's a tyrant, and I think aside from him everyone of my species in this room can agree with that. Believe what you want, but this man is playing all of you, just like he played us all and smuggled, bought, and murdered his way onto our vessel!"

She figured that was enough of that and try to earn back some points. "I will admit, myself and my king..." she said, gesturing to Owen. "We were not originally meant to be monarchs. The man who sits in that throne himself usurped it from the man who was supposed to lead us." She stopped and thought about what she should say next. "I used to serve in my peoples' military. I was one of the best soldiers in my unit, and was eventually given command over a squad when I became a sergeant. I led them just as well as I had followed my superiors, if not better." She paused and looked at Rend. "Having been a leader myself, I fear to think what would have come of my squad had this man been in charge. I valued all of my soldiers; this man would have sent them to certain death without a second thought while he sits his happy ass at a UAV terminal and watches the slaughter unfold. And then he would have claimed to be the sole survivor to get sympathy points!"

She was going on a tangent. She stopped herself and took a deep breath. "I understand, I may not appear so, but myself and my king are asserting our role as humanity's leaders. I sincerely apologize for any transgressions that we may have made, and am fully willing to cooperate and ensure that any ongoing relations between our species and yours is peaceful and respectful."

God she hoped she made their case. It was very likely that her opening outburst had essentially lost her the game, and unfortunately, Rend did have age going for him, and his diplomatic experience. God dammit, the more she thought about it the more she wished she had just ended him when she had the chance; it would have saved a massive amount of headache. Regardless, he was here now, and her objective at this point was to not get imprisoned, or executed, or who knew what else. And if that was the case, she was taking Rend with her. She'd be damned if she left the crew alone with him.

[beyond visions]

The Principality began conversing between each other. Perhaps, Tahlia had captured the favor of the Principality. Perhaps things were turning up for them. Though, the hopeful feeling did not last...

Soon after Tahlia had finished, Echo made her own move. It was outside of the box. Far, outside the box.

Gasps permeated, pervaded the throne room. Echo knew not of what she had done, but she better not expect forgiveness. None, would be spared. Her action be best the equivalent of poison- venom in vial poured in the tongues of every alien monarch, and even into the mouths of her very own crew. But that was no longer her crew, she was no longer apart of them. Echo had to be separated.

"Strierot!" the loathed profanity was cursed first by the aquatic queen, apart of a race known as the Keiko... This curse interrupted Pseudo as he was still in progress of translating all of what Rend said.

The others joined in the chant, "Strierot! Strierot! Strierot!"

"Strierot: in a human translation...," Pseudo began, as it even seem to react in fluster, grabbing the shoulders of both Owen Tahlia, turning them to explain. "It means heretic. They have escalated the extremity of the crime. Treacherous heretic. This is a sin against the Divine Regency! Your monarchical disorder means nothing to them now. It is most fortunate to leave. I will beg the request for departure before further chaos unravels." Pseudo rotated around to the superiors to which he witness, just as all in the room did, Echo darted with bullets charged with electrifying shocks. The bolts, coursing through from the inside and out, left her screaming while trembling.

As guards adorn in royal ceremonial armor encircled the insurgent, Pseudo jolted in his head in a sideways rotation, though not fully facing either from the crew, "Only one of you was correct about the current state of the human rule. And he is not here. If there is to be any respect, a clear governing body would be appropriate.

Although, the supposed queen, you Tahlia, seemed to hold the attention of the Principality. But only so briefly."

It was not clear what violence was being projecting towards Echo, if any, due to the bodies of extraterrestrials working walls to block observation. Though there was yelling and roaring about. When Echo was lifted to be dragged off, she did not seem battered or beaten, but rather the guards seemed to keep composure even to such unforgivable, unforgettable offense. Though was that to keep her as fresh as possible for foretelling retribution?

Once such commotion had departed from the throne room, the faces of the monarchs were now grim and contorted with distaste. It was probable that whatever further claims any of the individual humans made, the Principality would see in a darkened and demented manner. Thus, Pseudo knelt, speaking the foreign language to plead dismissal as he informed the others of that being what he planned to do.

---

Owen, Tahlia, Yaz, and now Rend, instead of Echo, boarded the train that once transported them there to the tower. They were headed home, or that was at least the best description for the icy island they resided in. To keep the location of this place in greatest secrecy, the crew was not even allow to know the direction and path they were headed. So, the same cyan sleeping gas emerged in release from the same distinct disk-shape device seen the first time they were forced to slumber. This was the second time.

Once conscious and awake, the four found themselves seated among a table set with metal bowls for the each of them. These bowls, had in them Pebble-Porridge- not the most flattering dish to eat. The grains of the rough brittle rice gets it name from having the similar appearance to kidney stones. At least it did not taste repulsive, rather just bland and insipid. This was clearly peasant food, the type of stuff served to low-life. Well, they could not each like king and queens yet, they did not even have one.

"The description and explanation was intended to be described during your first audience with Principality. However there were interruptions... an unplanned event. Enjoy the meal, in the meantime, I will contact the Principality via the Telecommunication Waves with cellular function. I will request that I be permitted to now acknowledge you of specific treason and why it was deemed upon the human race.

For now, it is suggested to come in agreement in terms of monarchy..."

Pseudo exited the dining room of the isolated palace. Leaving them on their own.

---

Echo, though perhaps faint due to the voltage shock, was heaved down the tower stairs, pulled by the neck and collar. Sometimes, while going down the many flights of stairs, she was instead thrown to tumble down each step, feeling bruised by each one. Thus when she finally arrived to the first floor, her state of consciousness was quite weary. Echo's vision blurred, figures distorted and unrecognizable as she could only barely hear the alien language speak:

"Ettyk Strierots! Naqu henn eaq'yhru truotyrk freidrylst the Vruewrurd! Crub henn rapruk Vruari! Mesynn ybenn gneqreahshue, stouob kaxux klan!"

"C-Clieffyhsea glicea... Knis troukkilp phoess kaxux klan. Henn freidrylst gledrom otihr syxeolka freidrylst?"

[SheriffLlama]

---

Yazmin Cormick

---

Yazmin sat at the table, a surreal chill overtaking the groggy state that the sleeping gas had cursed her with. She listened to Pseudo, but it was more hearing the android's voice, rather than actually understanding the words. Instead of truly paying attention, she fiddled with a small hairpin, inserting it into seemingly random points in her mechanical arm. To the others, the motions would seem like a self-distracting fiddling, but in reality, she was working. Her "random" poking was actually methodical, technical actions. She was discreetly increasing the strength of her arm's hydraulic system. The people who had invented her arm had designed it to match the strength of the user's flesh body. Because of this, Yazmin theorized that she could heighten the ability of the arm. Instead of having the strength of a pathetic, 110 pound girl with no physical prowess, she could possibly have the strength of a fully grown man, and then some.

She looked around at the others, the fixed her gaze for a moment on the reason she was trying to give herself superstrength - Ailbert Rend. To put it simply, Yazmin was scared of him. Sure, she was scared of a lot of things, but a few days ago Rend had tried to kill her, so he took top priority. The moment she'd seen him in the foreign meeting hall, she'd decided that she would just sit by if he tried something else. If her experimentation worked, she could actually be useful. From she'd seen, and she'd looked everywhere, there wasn't a single piece of electronic technology in the entire place, so the only way she could be useful was to use technology of her own.

Presently, the girl stood to her feet. She knew not if her fear showed on her face. She couldn't, tell if the other thought of her as a scared little girl, but she could see that Rend held nothing but content for her. A thought sparked in her mind. If the this contempt-driven man did see her as weak and vulnerable, she could use that if he posed a threat once again.

"I'm gonna... go wash off." She said as she turned and began to walk away. Scenarios began spiraling through her head, but most of them ended up with Rend shooting her, then becoming the "king of humanity," and the stupid principality sending all of her friends to their deaths.

These scenarios were very sobering, and they destroyed her visions of trying to be heroic. Instead, she began to felt the familiar chilling-panic she so often knew. She went into the restroom and disrobed to her undergarments. Before removing her arm, she knelt and reached her flesh limb into the tub to feel the lukewarm water. As she drew her hand out, her thumb scraped against the wood, a slight protruding chip dragging against her skin and cutting her. She quickly drew her hand back as blood dripped from the cut onto the floor. In frustration she hit the side of the tub with her mechanical palm. Instead of making a dull thud, her robotic limb punched straight through the wooden basin with a loud crack.

She stumbled back and sat on the floor as the water spilled from the tub, and onto the floor, drenching her legs and soaking the clothes that she'd left on the floor. She looked with a sigh at her surroundings. The bad news was that her clothes were drenched, but the good news outweighed the bad. She'd successfully rigged her arm to function at above-normal strength.

[beyond visions]

---

Benji Baker & Echo Montegawitz

Collab between @beyond visions and @Deserted

---

"Wake up Echo, I need to give you a history lesson before your execution," Echo felt nudged and a little shaken when waking up. Once, her eyelids slid over the pupils, she turned to notice him- Benji. That voice sounded familiar, but he didn't sound himself. The way the word execution rolled off his tongue so causally was not the way the Benji they knew before the invasion would act. But there was no way he was still going to be so cheery and so peachy.

He sighed, "I'm exaggerating, and being dramatic. You are not going to be executed... But possibly tortured to no ends." He slumped down, with chin shifting to the direction of the floor. They were situated in the back of some moving vehicle- a van of some sort? "I am talking to you now, hoping that there is some way I can stop that... And still, I care about you guys, even though I probably won't ever see them again. Because guess what? I'm an experiment...

I'll explain what that means later. Right now..."

Echo interrupted him, thrashing back to shake him off but the motion of the vehicle and the failure of her body made it nothing more than a week wave. Her voice was soft from the crap being beat out of her. She focused through watering eyes, "No, you will tell me now. I don't have patience for these little drama games after being thrown down a flight of stairs."

She composed herself a moment, turning her head to look at the ceiling of the vehicle. "Sorry, Benji, I didn't mean to snap at you. It's a relief to see you are okay."

" I'm worried about you... Well, can you tell me something first? I want to know how the crew is doing. I did not get to hear what was happening in there, but I was suppose to be released today. I don't know if that's even happening anymore. They were going to release me if the Principality ruled the crew harmless and peaceful." Benji was irritated by what Echo did, he wanted to be pissed off with her. But he understood in the end, she didn't know what she was doing. He is assuming that the Darling of the Cryonautic Project knew nothing of these aliens and such. He thought it be better for his own mind's sake to trust her, even though he barely ever spoke to her.

Randomly, he suddenly asked a question that had been on his mind since he was first arrested for vandalizing royal property, "Um, h-how's Yaz?" He leaned closer to Echo, eager to hear her reply.

Echo scoffed at the idea. She struggled to see if she was bleeding on her most painful injuries. "I don't think that peaceful and harmless mean the same thing to everyone using them here. Last time I checked, Yaz was probably faring the best. They patched Rend up so that they could make fools of Thalia, Owen, AND Rend himself. Our wonderful companions showed their ugly side with swearing, insults, bickering, and accusations. They even insulted the monarchs. It was like a big game to these aliens, oh look at the backward Humans. We were sunk. There was a defaced mural and abandoned throne. figured I could get their attention off of the others if I committed an abomination and took the blame for their crimes."

It was relieving to know that Yaz was alright, Benji could not forget the promise he made with her. He said he would not let anyone or anything hurt her. He is aware that he should not get attached, not when the possiblity of him never seeing the crew again is likely. Well, unless he followed with that Echo proposed.... But even then he may not be able to do such a thing.

"What? Um, that still doesn't clear anything. Don't be so vague. What about Rend? What do you mean they patched him up? He's still alive..." Benji paused, trying to take everything in. "Is Rend with them right now?"

"I was a little distracted screaming while they shot me. I didn't exactly get everybody's forwarding address." Echo laughed a little still lying on the floor of the cab, she didn't have the strength to stand. Nor the will, "He's alive... so far as I could tell, and a great deal more civil than before. I would say he's a totally different person."

Benji jumped from his seat, luckily the back that they were held was free from watchful guards. Which is understandable since there is no possible way they could actually find themselves busting through the barred doors. Besides, with the two alone, Benji could properly process her intent, that was why they put him in there in the first place. The Principality wished to know her motive. Benji clearly was aware of her reasoning- why she did what she did. And even though Benji now dealt with the urges to bash a fist through a wall, it was violent temptation he had never battled with.

"Oh really?--Rend, a totally different person? What is that suppose to mean? Nothing, that's what... nothing!" Benji raised his voice, gradually adjusting to a louder volume, while he spoke so viciously with each word hissed in his own frustration.

"It means that he has changed or was changed, much like a bashful quiet doctor I met 100 years ago."

"Don't compare me to Rend!" He furrowed his brow, frowning while shaking his head. "Let's just stop talking about him, okay?! At least for now.."

Besides his unwinding fury, it still stood to his surprise that she offered and pushed on such choice. He gave his last irritable huff, before moving on.

"Listen, messing with the Principality is one thing. But messing the Divine Regency is entering a game that you cannot possible win, even in the slightest. The Divine Regency is like God to them. It is what gives them first contact.

Well, it's like this...

The order is represented by one Vruari. Little is known about this species other than they were somehow, someway always there. No one has ever truly understood the Vruari other than by rumors the entire race thinks as one. They are telepathic creature, ones that cannot even comprehend a language. But what makes the Vruari even more special is that they have a record of predicting real-life events. Their foresight has stopped genocides and saved home-worlds. The way they communicate these visions are through dreams themselves, possessing the pure brainwaves of each monarch, allowing them to see their perception- a destined future. The only way you could ever understand a Vruari is through these dreams. The way Vruari invade the mind and perceive the future make these creatures godlike, even worshiped in the past. Therefore this is why their race takes place of the Divine Regency- the most influential position on the face of the universe." Benji was talking fast, because he had a lot to say with limited time. He wanted to tell her everything, it was to her benefit to know. "Within ties among the Principality there came debate of whether or not Humanity would be contacted. The Divine Regency always gets final say in whether or not global contact shall be made to one's race. This is really with anything because if the monarchs ever agreed on one thing unanimously, and the Divine Regency disagrees, then it ultimately goes the Vruari way. But with the matter of contacting Humanity and bringing us into this 'Inter-Galatic Renascence', the Vruari remained silent. The Principality had to wait, but some couldn't. In secret, the Velbenan race conspired to save Humanity from a rotting earth while attempting to be as vigilant and tactful as possible. The Velbenan queen operated Cryonautics, she created it. With the hiring of a few shape-shifting agents, she was able to seal a deal on earth as a legitimate doomsday project.

The real rebel is the Velbenan queen and she disappeared right before they discovered a bunch of Humans drifting in deep space. But since we got caught up in the mix and used as a bunch of pawns in her scheme, they are hostile. And with you sitting on her throne, you just sent a message-- you signed yourself over to the Velbenan. Or so that is what they believe. Now, they are going to torture you until you confess the location of your queen."

The intricacies and complexities unraveled in front of her like an old christmas sweater stuck on a strip of new velcro. "Look who seems to have become an overnight expert on alien languages and culture. Care to tell me what's going on here?"

Benji rolled his eyes, she was suggesting it again. "I'll talk about that LATER. And for your information, I didn't become an expert overnight!-"

Her voice changed from annoyance to full on concern. "Benji, it sounds like you have a line of communication with our captors. You HAVE to convince them that I am the one to blame for the charges of treason. Tell them that I was sent to force the principality into contact with Humans, and that I had tricked the rest of you into being brought along."

"I mean, since they separated me from the rest of you, I have been learning Discovering Tongue- the language they speak. The language you have to speak in order for them not to think your a complete savage barbarian! But I don't have a prefect grasp on---" He stopped himself as she grabbed... something.

This was all just words, but there was no hard evidense to support her claim. Well... maybe. She took a total gamble on the content, but it was the one chance she had. She pulled out her graphene-silica filament and handed it to him, coiling his fingers around the message. "There is a message on this. A lot of it is going to be in metaphore, but it should still contain plenty of information on the true intent of Renessanse. The decoder can be construced with my contact generator, the multitool in the bottom drawer of my nightstand, and the locket of a black haired girl."

"W-Wait, what is this suppose to do?--" Benji grunted as he quickly jumped to his next question.

"It's a message from Renessanse command, I haven't had a chance to see its contents. I was entrusted with it because they thought I was diehard for their cause. I thought it would contain leverage on the crew or a failsafe, but now it makes sense. It is in metaphore and personal references so only one of the crew can make sense of the information. That is why we need Rend alive, we have no idea if he knows something that this information is dependent upon. The same stands for the entire crew. I thought it a weird way to safeguard information, but now with aliens in the picture it is the perfect precaution. There might be a way out, but I know I will be the last person that they would ever alllow on the ship again. It is our way out one way or another, but for the time being you have to go along with my plan."

"Look, Echo, do you expect me to just screw you over? Just like that? I don't blame people! And now you can't even convince me that you actually did know about all of this, because I'm just going to think that you want to die, or suffer the rest of your life being tortured. Yeah... there is no way I am going to do that."

"It's either me or everybody, Benji. It's about time we call this whole mess quits."

"Look, that's very heroic of you but... I still--"

Echo tried to drive her point home but could not grasp the words for it. Finally it conglomerated into a waving hand. Then it all abruptly stopped, and a flood of indifference deluged over her, washing away any care as a stain in the flow that rapidly vanished into the magnitude. Fear and frustration dwindled, and all that was left was the care free woman who had been run through the program. "I suppose you loose some or you loose some. I guess I die a fool rather than a hero. I'm not really planning on caring what you do once I'm gone. The way I see it, you can stick to your scruples and make Yaz burn with you, or you can take my sacrifice and live in peace with Rend as well. It will only work if all of you comply and fighting against Rend will seal Yaz's fate."

"Wait, why are you still talking about Rend?

"Come on Benji"

"Fine, so, this thing would make me able to frame you? Like, is it that important? What if I supposedly were to lose it somewhere?" Benji began backing as far away from Echo as possible, even though she looks weak enough to consider getting up a diificult feat. No matter, he had make sure that she couldn't stop him...

"If you were to lose it, then you would wouldn't surprise me at all."

"Good, at least this won't come unexpected to you," Benji pinched the message between two fingers, edging it closer to his lips before swallowing the thing in its entirety. He barely did such without choking, but no matter- what happened, happened. "Now--" he coughed a couple times before properly speaking again. But while he battled with the coughing fit, he knelt down to Echo, "We stick together." Benji grabbed Echo by her right arm, hoisting her up and over to a seat, to which he sat next to her with his cuffed hands still gripping her arm. "I'm not letting go of you." He had his reason for the clinginess, he couldn't let her be alone. Not while she was marked a Strierot.

[Eru Iluvatar]

---

Ailbeart Rend, Owen Childs & Tahlia Spade

Collab between @Eru Iluvatar, @Atrophy and @TheMadAsshatter

---

The hours passed by in a quiet serenity for Isaac Ford, for he was flying in one of Ailbeart Rend's own private jets. This meant a luxurious, secluded space stocked fully with expensive delicacies from all around the world, plus wine bottles made out of crystals and a state-of-the-art computer that hovered by Ford's hand one minute and, after expanding, covered the far wall the next minute. Some research had obviously been done into Ford's personal life, because his favourite meals revealed themselves through retractable chutes, and a Peter Gabriel-era Genesis song was drifting through a wide archway into the room. As he reclined into an unspeakably comfortable armchair, the computer-turned-wall came to life and began playing one of his favourite films - the 2025 adaptation of Frank Herbert's 'Dune'. However, despite all these conveniences bestowed upon the robotics expert, he had not seen another human soul since departing New York. Ford knew better than to wonder if the aircraft was somehow reading his mind and providing the solution to every one of his wants; there were undoubtedly cameras everywhere, fitted with technologies that studied his facial inflections and, comparing them with previously recorded data, assumed what he would like to do next. Yet, now that Ford thought about it, he supposed it was kind of like the craft reading his mind.

When the jet hummed to a standstill in a white-bedecked hangar on the east coast of Scotland, and the robotics expert came face to face with his client for the evening, Ford regretted his self-imposed refusal of a certain risotto that his mother used to make when it had appeared before him during the flight. He knew now that he would have thoroughly enjoyed it.

Tahlia woke up on the train some time after they were knocked out, again. She understood the secrecy, but figured it would be easier to just put them in a room with no windows while enroute. Then again, they would also be able to vaguely discern turns and directions. She supposed it was reasonable, but was nonetheless off put by the suddenness of it.

She slowly got up from the ground and looked around the room, stopping when she noticed Rend in the same compartment as them, still sleeping. Her eyes locked on him, and she began to approach him with ill intent. She stopped short of him, looking around again. Fortunately for him, Owen had begun to stir. Tahlia resigned herself and took a few steps back, looking for someplace to sit. There was a rounded table with a likewise rounded seat curving around it. She took a seat whil;e the others slowly got up and seemingly followed suit.

Not a word was spoken between the finally re-united humans, as each recovered from their inflicted grogginess in their own time. However, after Yazmin excused herself, the atmosphere became laced with currents of tension.

Owen had been silently staring into his bowl of porridge, his hand mechanically shoving the drek into his mouth as his mind cleared from the after effects of whatever it was that they had gassed them with. It seemed ridiculous to him that the Principality even took the effort to keep where they were taken a secret, since it wasn’t as if any of them had anywhere to go, and even if they did escape for some (stupid) reason it wouldn’t be that hard for something to find them—kind of hard to get lost in the crowd when you’re the last of it. It was almost as ridiculous as the stunt Echo had pulled earlier. She had gone and put ideas in his head of him having some responsibility of leading everyone (as if he had any clue how to do that) and then went ahead and completely failed to back him up when he needed it. That stung. A part of him was almost relieved that she had received the Benji special and was spirited away after her little show; one less headache. The bigger part of him felt gross for even thinking like that.

Besides, she had been replaced by someone completely migraine-inducing: Ailbeart Rend. Owen was rather glad that they didn’t get to hash everything out right then and there, because he knew he had gone and made himself look like a complete idiot. Rend was a lot of things, largely bad things from what little personal interaction he had with the man, but he was also shrewd. If it had come down to a straight-up debate then he doubted he could’ve gone toe-to-toe with the man. Now? Well, he could always just say he was gonna check up on Yaz and leave Rend alone with Tahlia. He wouldn’t, or at least he told himself that, but it was tempting.

“We didn’t eat like we were the orphans from Oliver Twist until you showed up. Guess they must’ve really appreciated your acknowledgment of the classics,” muttered Owen, slowly looking up at Rend. “We never really did get to meet, did we? Seems you were able to...bypass the screening stage. I’m Owen. You owe us a few explanations, Bert,” he said, his voice unusually calm. “Mind telling me how you came to be apart of our crew in the first place?”

"Yes," the word escaped his lips with some difficulty, and his eyes refused to look upon the man across from him, "I do mind." Either the gas was having some extended effect, or something else was weighing on him. He had been pressing the tips of his fingers against the table since his eyes had opened. "How... how can you two just sit there, acting like this - like most of the things going on here are... fucking normal? I really do not care whether you try to pal up with me now, or whether your 'Queen' suddenly snaps and finishes the job, but I do wanna know one wee thing," his eyes suddenly snapped up and locked with Owens', and he raised his voice and shouted, with saliva flinging from his mouth: "How do you cope with the realisation that you're in space, God knows how far from Earth and anything we humans ever knew, with God-fucking-damned aliens in control of the rest of our lives?!"

"It's pretty easy, said Owen, who had been barely coping with those facts over the past few days. "You just ignore it; kind of like how you ignored my question. So," he leaned forward, resting his hands underneath his chin, " Tell me how you ended up here." Rend's lip quivered, hovering between a hopeless droop and an enraged scowl.

"I 'ended up' here after six decades of hard work that began before any o' you were born, and that helped you to live your facile lives. The beloved technologies that answered your every question and showed you how ta' do anything? Sure, I had a hand in their origins. Guess whose business pioneered the 'touch screen' function? That shit, among other things, helped all o' you get inta' those pods. I had the challenging upbringing, did the lion's share of the fucking work, and you think I don't have any right to outlive the generation - your generation - whose hedonistic lifestyle destroyed the world?" Rend's breath faltered and he spent a few seconds subtlely panicking. His operation had left him with a strange, slightly different style of breathing - one that took more attention to enact as he adjusted to it. He noticed his fingers gripping the small table now instead of just touching it. He would have probably have been shouting on his feet if the situation had been different. It was strange to have to explain himself and his beliefs on equal ground against an opponent; on Earth the only times he would even have to raise his voice was when he was firing someone or in a loud environment. Still, this was not the only thing making him feel out of his depth.

It hadn't taken long for Owen's stony composure to begin to crack once Rend had started speaking. By the time the older man was done, Owen was pinching the bridge of his nose and wearing a tight-lipped frown on his face as his head shook in disbelief.

"I don't care if you think you deserve it. That's not the point," said Owen through gritted teeth as he pointed his finger at Rend, his voice raising. "There were supposed to be six people on this project: myself, Tahlia, Echo, Benji, Yaz, and Andrew. But you're here, and Andrew's not. None of us knew about that change except for you." His palm slammed down on the table, rattling the dishes that contained their mediocre meal. "So tell me what happened!"

"I'll give you three guesses," Tahlia chimed in, nonchalantly. Truth be told, her composure was already in a fragile state. The swarm of stupid shit that happened during their "hearing" as it were, along with her growing lack of sanity, were taking their toll, but at least now she had a goal, and it was sitting across the table from her. Or, more accurately, it was what she had to defend the others from. Having an objective allowed things to return to focus somewhat, but her nerves were still shot. She was using every bit of energy she had to keep herself under control. That's not to say she was afraid of Rend, or the aliens, or anything that was happening around her. If anything, she was afraid of losing herself, and her comrades losing faith in her. She had to be the strong one.

"And it's not our fault that you didn't grow with the times old man. We've adapted; you haven't. It's pretty simple, really." She leaned forward a bit. "And just to clear the air, there are very few things stopping me from relieving you of that new windpipe that you despise so much. You've already done enough to prove that you're a liability." She knew that Owen likely didn't approve of any of this, but as long as it was only them three in the room, she could live with looking like a rabid dog on a fragile chain.

Rend's eyes flicked back down to his hands on the table in response to Tahlia's eerily casual threat. He subconsciously filtered out the content and meaning of her words, to reassure himself of her bellicose stereotype, and to keep himself from fuelling the argument. He was not ready - not yet - for a final confrontation. Moreover, it was likely that their alien observers would prevent one, if precautions were not already set in place. With a careful and precise movement, Rend arose, using his hands on the table as support.

"If you'll excuse me, I think I'll go take a breath of fresh air." He stepped quickly around the seat and proceeded to the exit of the compartment, believing that the air outside would certainly not be fresh, and that it might not even be air.

Owen sank down in his chair, his hand cupped contemplatively over his mouth. Yet again they had no answers and they had come to no solutions. "So," he said, muttering into his fist, "I guess we should tell Pseudo that we're an anarchy, then?"

Tahlia thought about that. It wasn't technically incorrect- or at least that was how she saw it. Unfortunately, be that as it may, she was all but certain the council wouldn't take too kindly to that idea. Socio-anarchy? Nomadic republic? Representative oligarchy? What would accurately describe a system in which the population was small enough that everyone's contribution was important, and everyone was, in effect, a member of their government?

"An autonomous collective." she said aloud as the term came to her. "That describes us pretty well, I think." She had to think about that, though. The implication with that was that Rend should be considered as equal to the others, and to be perfectly honest, Tahlia didn't trust him nearly enough to even consider that at this juncture. She cupped her face in her hands and let out an exasperated sigh. "God, life would be so much easier right now if Rend hadn't sabotaged us."

[beyond visions]

---

Benji Baker & Echo Montegawitz

Collab between @beyond visions and @Deserted

---

Benji's fingers unhooked from Echo, while shedding straight eye-contact, staring with lip curling downwards. Yet, his head soon rotated in view of the van's back door, it was open. His bare-feet stepped towards that direction. He wished to say something, anything, but what could save a broken promise? What could restore the truth from a lie? I'm not letting go of you, that was he truth abolished. Only the risk he took now would atone for such sin. Though, he was close to gaining trust, their trust. To defy now would be to put in vain all his dedication. But perhaps his plan was not a defiant one. "Echo..." He called her by name while his feet advanced back steps towards the exit. He could hear, and slightly understand the voices commanding his presence outside. "I-I..I--" There he was again stuttering, choking on his own words, defeated by them. "...Trust me."

He stepped into the light, outside. Then, the door once again closed. What was Benji's plan? He came, he spoke, she responded, and then he left. What was his reason? Perhaps those were two questions Echo wrestled with now. Or maybe not, maybe she had already established an answer.

The quiet ride to whatever destination continued until Echo sensed the van stopping. Now, the door released in opening, this time, for her. She could hardly stand. That didn't matter. She was roughly grabbed and hauled to her feet, half-walking, half being dragged along. Once departed from the vehicle, she first passed by a special statue made of stone and glass. This creature was the closest thing to human, but strange... utterly strange. And etched into the pedestal it was structured on read, "Vruari". She was only given the allowance of a glimpse as the guards bowed in reverence to the effigy, before being escorted further into what lied ahead, a place of worship.

---

---

The First Temple

---

Gathered around appraised statues located inside the First Temple, were offerings of the many sorts: flowers, gems, coins, candles, incense. And beside those gifts for the Divine, were their devotees- creatures of many colors, most recognizable from the Principality. It was beautiful though, to view extraterrestrials in more dignified and majestic style. The exotic language itself no longer resonated so jarringly, not once sung in exaltation.

Echo was forced through a pathway apart from the central place of worship, yet she traveled deeper into the First Temple. Stairs... more stairs. She frantically reached out to grab onto her captors to prevent being thrown down another flight. However, there was no need, these were not used as a weapon. They took the steps down to a lower level. After passing by figures clothed in silk cloaks of turquoise and bronze, she enters a special little room. Now, the wood panels of the room were taped by sheets and sheets of paper, scattered among the walls. What was written on these individual sheets of paper could range from plain English to foreign symbols to drawings. That is where she was shoved inside and left, only to be joined by Benji but a moment later.

"You see, only the Divine Regency can lawfully mark you a Strierot, not the Principality. All it took was a bit of reminding that you're untouchable." Benji wiped the blood seeping from his nose as a candlelight illuminated his black eye. "Well, a bit more than that."

So, someone knows more about alien legal practices than the rulers do. Sure, Benji, you haven't been tampered with at all.
Echo made to walk, but found one leg not behaving. She almost fell. Rather than showing such weakness, she composed herself and forced herself to walk normally on her injured hip, wincing at the effort. She helped Benji clean up his bloody nose. "I would hope to leave you unsupervised at least a little while without getting into some sort of confrontation. Tell me that the other boy looks worse off than you. What am I going to do with you?"

"Principality loyalists get a bit pissy when you point the obvious power their beloved monarchs lack... Call me crazy, but I wouldn't have done it any other way," he gave a crooked smile while wincing through the pain.

She glanced around at the interior. "You shouldn't have done that, Benji. It's just going to take a moment for some self-righteous demigod to look down his nose at me and say 'shure she looks like she could be a herritic to me.' Now, they will toss you in with my lot. So, thank you, Benji, I..." Her voice trailed off, she didn't realize she was getting so worked up about a little thing like dying. Pull yourself together, you idiot! So Benji wants to go down with the ship too. He already did once, just leave it. At least you won't go alone.
"I... um, thank you."
She instinctively reached out as hearing noise from outside. Her hand withdrew, but she caught herself and intentionally reached out and held his. Somehow it seemed fitting that the two that were by all means dead to humanity would go forth into death together as though the simple gesture could somehow act as a tether through the great void.

Benji curled his palm beneath hers, while maneuvering his other hand to hold onto her shoulder. This secured her limping path to his cot. He sat her down, propping her legs onto the surface of the bed. "Tell me what hurts," Benji then bounced directly into doctor-mode, making an inspection here and there on the condition of her health. After a quick examination for major injuries, he did not find anything pressing...

"Echo, I understand if you might wonder why I know too much. But see all of this--" Benji tore a few of the pages off the wall, "This is my way of coping when I'm left alone. It is why I know so much about these creatures. It gives me a peace of mind, to come to terms that in order for me to seem less animal, I nee to seem less lost. I've been willing to learn ever since I was given a second chance after destroying Principality property." Benji began attaching the papers back to their former places. "Echo, if you question what I have become, I don't blame you. But I'm the same man, the same optimistic man. But it is hard to find the positives alone...and I hate being alone."

Alone... the word echoed through Echo's mind as she sat in back of her flying car heading to her new home in some mansion much larger than anything her family could afford. She had been able to secure far more avarice than all of them combined. All relatives agreed that that they knew she would do the best of all of the coddled youngest generation. She was basically an empress now, with factories and institutions, political entitles and trade companies rooted around the world. She had become nothing less than a celebrity, but it wasn't the public's attention she had caught; she was a celebrity to brokerage companies, and the NASDAQ. She wasn't exactly accustomed to the need for a chauffeur or a body guard. But they had become necessary. Nor did she prefer custom-built vehicles that were laser and ballistic missile proof, and capable of being handled by a human without aid of a computer. Then again, never before had she been more hated by the public, now that would take some getting used to.
Upon pulling to a stop outside of the estate, she departed, body-guard in tow. It was a little odd, considering that most celebrities went the robotic route without having to entrust their safety to someone who might be bought off. Her shopping was passed off to the servants, and she proceeded through the halls with a prompt click of her modest yet elegant footwear. She entered the study to see a man seated with his back to the door pouring over documents with a glass of scotch. She approached, and slipped her hands down his shoulders and across his chest, bringing him out of his concentration. She kissed his ear gently.

Ailbeart Rend turned to examine his wife of a meager two months. "I'm a bit busy, Lass."

"I just wanted you to know that I missed you," Echo explained with a smile, "I'll let you get back to work."

"Missed me? After one afternoon of shopping?" He questioned with a half of a smile.

"Well, I must admit that it is entirely my handiwork for dissolving my patience. Since I could not help but be reminded of you while I shopped, and I bought you something. However, you are going to have to drag the answer out of me, for I will not dare tell you what it is," She taunted.

"Oh really, and what is to happen if you have another one of these moments while I am in Baghdad next month?"

"I will have to distract you, tease you, antagonize you, until you abandon all business and race back to Scotland just to alleviate your suffering. Perhaps I will start a charity in your name, or launch a non-prophet that stomps on your toes in the South African market." He snuffed out a pleased half-laugh and dove back into his next conquest. Of course she would not be joining him, it was work, and he needed to focus. There would be plenty of time for romancing when he got back. With one more peck on the ear and no further address, she departed the chamber, lingering at the door a moment to look at the back of her husband. Then the door closed without a noise, and she took a brisk walk to the exercise room.

Benji seemed to be tagging along.
"I think I will play some Destiny Rising and contemplate suicide in the process," she told him.

Rounding the corner, she climbed into her simulation/exercise system, that was part of FREV-R. Her arms slid into holes, and her feet into others as she was seated. She was encased in a bubble of televisions that promptly displayed the start-up of the video game. This was the closest to genuine video games that her husband allowed, and she used the excuse for entertaining exercise more than merely amusement. Immediately a fantasy simulation started, and she began running through terrain and obstacles, pulling out a sword in the process. The simulated underbrush began blasting past, and she waved her hand to remove the obstruction.

Benji was somehow inside with her.

"I'm so tired of this! I'm so tired of all of this mess, drama after drama! I have to patch up everybody's stupid, and somehow figure out how to take care of myself in the process. Not only do I have to tend to my siblings and my parents, my aunts and uncles and grandparents, now I have Ailbeart and his wildfires I have to deal with too! Don't get me wrong, he has been incredibly affectionate, and he will make hellfire rain down on anybody that dares say anything negative about me, but I'm just part of his conquest. Every time I show a part of who I really am to him, he gets annoyed. So, now I'm trapped, playing some sort of tease. It's so exhausting keeping up the act all of the time, but what would have been even more exhausting is the constant nagging I would have had from my mother and sisters and aunts and grandma if I didn't throw myself at him. Now, I'm having to protect them from him too. I don't even know how to break it to them that Ailbeart doesn't even want a child (at least I won't have to deal with a kid as well.) I know they are going to pitch a fit when they find out. I can't make any of them happy! Look at me, I have met every single one of their expectations, and I'm STILL not enough for anybody!
Her character stopped all action as she released the controls to palm her face and rub hard. She allowed the enemy to continue assaulting her without so much as a raised hand for shelter. "I just... I'm ready for all of this to end! I'm so tired. I wish I didn't care, but I do! I wish I could just be self-centered like the rest of them."

She watched a moment. Finally the game-sprite succumbed to injuries and expired, "I wish this was real..."

Everything she saw, from Rend's face to the pixels of the virtual simulation, Benji also saw. This was her perspective. And along with that, were the feelings, her emotions were not her own, while Benji remained locked inside her own conscience.

Could she hear his thoughts? Know why he withstood those two years in total isolation, when he absolutely hates it? Well, he wasn't alone.

"How do I stop this mess?" She responded in exasperation, "If I just kill myself, it will cause a scandal and I'll disappoint everybody. I've thought about everything! There isn't any way to do it. I was going to go sailing and toss myself overboard. I can't do that, they won't let me sail alone! I was going to just OD on some drugs but the success rate is only 33%, if I survive then I am just the dummy who can't count pills. I thought about a laser pistol, heck I HAVE the laser pistol in my purse, but if I do it, I will never be anything more than the looser that couldn't cope with life!"

"Forget coping..," He muttered, quietly with his foreign alien papers grasped by both hands. "Echo, trust me when I say, coping is nothing but indulging in distraction. No, listen--" Benji gave a quick flick of his wrist, thrusting the papers from out of his palm. "Remember on the van, when you offered your own life to potential execution or torture, so that the crew be saved and you blamed. And I said no-- swallowed the whole freaking message, because I was not going to let anything or anyone hurt you. I took a bloody nose and black eye for you! I'm keeping you alive, forget Humanity, I worry myself about us! Us, because I know the desperation, Echo! You and me, aren't so much different."

Echo glared over at Benji as though he had sprouted lobsters from his ears. Sure it was Benji as Benji ever was, but something was radically wrong. He knew what it was immediately. His voice he now held had always been THE voice, tormenting her, coaxing her to dig deeper and deeper into her subterranean depression. Now, suddenly it was speaking as you might expect a person to do. A shiver ran down her spine, and she stood from her encasement to look him square in the eye. "Who, the devil, are you?"

"My deepest darkest secret was crawling around on the ship's vents. You know who I am."

Suddenly things came snapping back into making sense, well... a different sense that is. Sure she had the past years and such of everything that actually happened instead of all of that fantasy about freezing people and training programs, but she also remembered the Artemis and Benji and the others overlapping each other like sheets of text printed on transparent paper. Then one key fact struck her, she had fallen asleep in the cell in the temple. At this point she always woke up, always. In fact, it was before that revelation usually, but not this time. Not this time because for the first time in her life, she was not allowed to leave of her own free will. For the first time in her life she was not the dreamer.

"Well if I'm going to be completely honest about secrets-- there is one last thing. You're not the first to have dreams like this." Benji marched in way over to a familiar statue, Echo did not have to read its etched title to know what it was. But this time, the Vruari moved, it breathed. She had seen it standing in the background the entire time, however, until Benji pointed it out, she never really noticed it. "I never mentioned these dreams, because I never knew it was real."

[beyond visions]

---

Benji Baker

---

Once Echo awoke, she realized it was only her in his room; Benji was no where to be found, or so it seemed for the first couple of moments.
"H-hey Echo, we've got to a get a move on. Guess where we are headed-- better yet, keep it a surprise," he blurted the words as soon as the door cracked even an inch open. From the tone of his voice, Benji seemed rather excitable, but not because of the dream. Rather, he looked forward for the coming location.

He neared closer to her, making way onto the edge of the bed. His palm slid into her hand, "Hey, u-um... We are definitely going to talk later. Definitely." Holding her hand, he supported Echo to her feet. "Echo, I want you to know that, you are very special." Benji was well-aware there are after-effects to multi-dreaming: sleeping walking, sleep-paralysis, hallucinations, and even schizophrenia. But as of now, Echo did not seem to react in any irrational manner. Or at least, he hope she would not be struggling with any of the after-effects that could cause her to stir trouble with the guards escorting them.

"Okay, I'm going to pick you up. It be better than limping around on a sore hip. Also, you may be feeling extremely exhausted, even faint. Everyone does when it's their first time multi-dreaming. Just close your eyes, we'll be there pretty soon..."

---

The Artemis: The Living Area

---

Once in the ship, Benji set Echo down on the couch, to which after he did so to himself. He thought about suggesting that she go sleep in her old room, but it probably be best she was there and present with the rest of the crew. Benji sighed, waiting for the others to arrive while scan his surroundings. For the most part, the living area looked the same. Nothing from it was missing, although the same could not be said for their rooms. He has already been informed that within the Principality's investigation of the Humans, their own personal belongings were seized for analysis. Though, he requested that with his submission, their things be returned. The Principality accepted and soon they will regain all that was once taken.

"Mind if I play some music in the meantime?" Benji approached the stereo, scrolling through songs on the machine's monitor until he found his favorite classical piece, Clare de Lune by Claude Debussy. Benji only listens to classical every once in a while, since he is more of an EDM kind of guy. But he figured to play something light for Echo, while waiting for the rest.

As soon as the first member of the crew that was housed over in the Exiled Utopia, they could overhear the classical piece resonating over in the living area. Benji chose to meet them there because he believed that they did not have to let one incident define an entire room. The first impression, will not be the only impression-- there are obstacles that must be overcome if they are to ever be accepted into the exotic culture of extraterrestrials. The crew is in the their world now, they are the aliens. It be best if they work to seem less so.

"So we meet again..." He made eye-contact with Tahlia first, though greeted Yaz with a quick embrace around the shoulder. He was looking forward to seeing her ever since he left with a broken promise. He sore would never run away, and yes he did not run away, but he was not there for her. Yet as time grew, the regret seemed to wear off, because in the end he was there for Echo when she needed him the most.

"How have things been, ma'm? Have a lot to explaining to do myself, but I want to know what the crew's been up to, or at least how you're doing." he questioned, turning his body to face Tahlia, yet his eyes locked in glare with Rend.

All I need is one reason to rip your eye-patch off-- Argh, focus Benji! That doesn't matter right now!

[TheMadAsshatter]

---

Tahlia Spade

---

As Rend left the room, Tahlia noticed that Rend's behavior had changed drastically from the time that they first met, and even when they were in the chamber where their "hearing", as it were, was held. Possibly now he was starting to realize how insignificant he was now that they were the last humans alive, and they were effectively at the mercy of these aliens. Despite how much she hated him at this point, she wondered if maybe now he may be of some use, since his delusions of grandeur were seemingly beginning to crack. Regardless, she was going to exploit every vulnerability Rend had. She figured, if any of the crew weren't going to let him simply die, then she might as well try to mold him into a productive member of the crew. What else could she do at that point?

Upon his departure, Tahlia looked across the table at Owen. As much as she hated to admit it, she needed to get something off her chest.

---

24 September 2048: Syria

---

By this point it had been several hours since she left the FOB. It was the dead of night, and Tahlia's trek into the Syrian countryside had been fruitless thus far. She was glad she had a half-decent sense of direction; she must have traversed upwards of 15 klicks already. She made sure not to lose her orientation though, and to try not to be more than 7 or 8 kilometers from the base. She had started to circle around the point at which she estimated the base to be. She remained wary, knowing that the New Daesh fighters were a bit too good at hiding and tracking people. She did her best to cover her tracks.

Occasionally, she would even have to hide from a friendly patrol. For obvious reasons, she didn't want anyone to know where she was, friendly or not. She only hoped that she was better at hiding than anyone else was at searching. At one point, a humvee came within 100 meters of her. Upon hearing it's unmistakable engine, she immediately dove behind a small ridge to stay out of sight. It didn't take long for it to pass, at which point she continued her search.

After another thirty minutes or so, she began to hear gunfire. She sprung into action, picking her pace up from a walk to a fast jog, heading towards the sound. She wasn't entirely sure, but she thought it sounded like AK fire. This was it. She was going to get her first kills. She was going to rid these bloodthirsty maniacs from the world. In that moment, she changed her mind about not re-enlisting. Now she was coming back, come hell or high water.

Her adrenaline was pumping as she approached the source of the shots. They had since ceased, but if she could spot whomever it was that took those shots, she could stalk them as long as she needed to. She came up to a hill, behind which is where she estimated the shots to have come from. She got down as she approached the crest of the hill, continuously getting lower until she was prone and watching over the valley below. She spotted the jihadists moving away from her position approximately 400 meters out. There was no way they'd know where she were at this distance.

She lowered the bipod on her designated marksman rifle and set it on the dirt in front of her. This was it. The start of her vengeful campaign against these zealots. She looked down the scope of her rifle, making a couple of adjustments to the reticle before settling it on one of the fighters. There were five of them. She figured she could take out three before they figured out where the noise was coming from. She thought through the range, elevation, and windage calculations once more before flicking the safety off. "Say goodnight, fuckstick."

*BANG*

---

"Owen, I think I should talk to you about something. I may need your help with some... issues I've been having lately. I've been..." She trailed off for a moment. She sure as hell wasn't about to tell her about what happened in Syria, but she did need to talk about how she was holding up as of late. She could deal with it as long as she needed to. She could always find something else to keep her going, but she knew it wasn't healthy. She had thought that the hearing would have represented progress, unlike the last few weeks. She thought they would finally move forward in some way, but after what happened, it felt like they had taken a step backward. Benji was still nowhere to be found, and now Echo was probably equally as bad off with the little stunt she pulled.

"Don't know how much you could tell, but I haven't been handling the last couple of weeks too well. I don't want to talk about it right now, but sometime later. Right now we still have bigger fish to fry." As much as she hated to admit it, she felt somewhat better now that she told someone. Confident as she was, she saw no shame in seeking help when needed, and she knew she would need it sooner or later at this point. That was one of the things the Army, of all things, had taught her.

The train entered a tunnel of sorts; something that she didn't recall from any of the other trips to and from their estate. The windows faded to black, the flash of the tunnel lighting filling the cabin in predictable intervals. The train began to slow down, giving the impression that they were nearing their stop. It took but fifteen seconds to come to a complete stop, and outside of the doors there were already guards waiting for them. Great, were they being brought into solitary confinement now? Who knew what they all had done to piss off the Principality this time.

The doors opened, but the guards did not respond by immediately shackling them all and dragging them out of the train by force. They didn't look too happy, no doubt, but they also didn't appear hostile this time. One of them, presumably the leader, jerked his head as a gesture to follow them. Tahlia looked back between Owen, Yaz, and Rend, shrugged, and followed the guards out of the train and into the station, if one could call it that.

As Tahlia followed two of the guards while the other two flanked the last person off the train, she decided to take stock. If this was a station, it obviously wasn't meant for commercial use, strictly speaking. Crates and supplies of all sorts were placed around the floor, giving the impression that this tunnel was part of a freight line or something. Tahlia followed the guards to a cargo lift of sorts. Once everyone, including the guards, were on the lift, one of them hit a button, causing the lift to accelerate up. Judging by how many floors they passed and Tahlia's own sense of distance, she surmised that they probably went up about 70 meters before the lift stopped.

The doors to the lift opened, revealing the inside of what looked like a massive warehouse. Crates, equipment, and supplies could be found on various shelves, tables, and scattered about the floor in a few places, with various sorts of aliens diligently moving them all around the place. Tahlia noticed that there were large, squared-off portions of the warehouse with various markings and lights, above which cranes and other lifting equipment were suspended from the high ceiling. Tahlia deduced that they could be landing pads or maintenance bays, so that would make this a garage, or a hangar. But then where were the vehicles?

The guards led the crew down a few aisles of the depot, bringing them to a large blast door on another end of the facility. The guard entered a five digit code into one of the panels, ensuring that none of the humans could see it, first. After a moment, the door began to open, revealing a large hangar with what looked like several ships laying all around the flat floor of the facility. At least, her experience with sci-fi movies told her they were probably ships. Who knew, really? Regardless, the aliens led them to one end of the facility. She knew where she was going, when she saw one of the ships with English written on the side of it. The Artemis.

It occurred to Tahlia that she had never even seen the ship from the outside, but now that it was sitting right in front of her, she couldn't help but be filled with pride at what mankind had accomplished. This ship represented mankind's first step in interstellar travel, despite the circumstances that led up to it. It's design was sleek, but minimalistic and utilitarian; a perfect blend between functionality and form. It must have taken years; possibly decades to perfect such a design. She only hoped that they still had a chance to not let the effort go to waste.

She realized that she had lost herself in thought when a guard grunted at her to regain her attention. Tahlia cleared her throat and briefly glanced at the others, expecting similar reactions of bewilderment on their faces. Tahlia gave a short whistle to make sure everyone else was snapped out of it before proceeding onto the ship.

---

The Artemis: The Living Area

---

Tahlia stepped up a ramp on one side of the ship, leading into a small cargo bay that she didn't even know existed. At the other end of this bay was a door to engineering. It was ironic that these aliens now knew more about the ship than Tahlia likely did. Possibly any of the crew, really. Tahlia wondered what the purpose of bringing them back to the ship was. The apparent answer to this question only opened up more questions. Upon entering the living area, Tahlia and the others were greeted by the sight of Benji and Echo. Benji, of course, was all too excited to greet them, or more specifically her, as they entered the room, even as the guards left it. No doubt they had gone to make sure no one tried to leave the ship.

Tahlia was as relieved as she was surprised, as well as skeptical, cautious, and alert. What could the aliens possibly gain by letting them return to the ship? Or did they even want anything more from them. Did Benji sell them some sob story to get everyone off the hook? "I'm-- we're good. Surviving." She wasn't quite sure what to say. "Are you both okay?" she asked, noting Benji's black eye. "And, do you know why we're back on the ship? What did you tell them?" she asked, extremely quizzically. She didn't think that Benji would have went behind their backs with anything, but she was extremely curious to know whatever he did. It was probably more than she knew at the moment.

[Deserted]

---

Echo Montegawitz

---

How many random facts do we actually remember? Between numbers and digits and dates all long accepted and stored in your mind without a second thought of a need to recall in clarity, facts become distorted, altered. Gaps are filled in with imagination and other mostly forgotten facts. So, it was no surprise that Echo could remember very few details of her other life. It would be like, without aid of photographs or records of any sort, to reconstruct an entire year of your childhood. However, it was real... the framework of life events was just as real as this one, the sights, the scents, the sounds, all were vivid when intentionally drawn out. Every bit as vivid as any old memory. Echo knew even what lay behind Ailbeart’s eyepatch.

The threat struck her ears... “Talk later” Benji. It didn’t take much imagination to know what he was talking about. This was blackmail. The very thought of exposure gripped her heart, and as a kneejerk reaction she thought about how to silence him permanently.

“It needs to be done,” her mother’s voice throbbed through her head.

She woke without saying anything, and was liberated from her cell without a word, monks walking about seeming to be about their holy business, but she knew, she absolutely knew that it was all just a front and that they were all well in the knowing. They were all part of the plan. As the two of them passed the monks, she could spot concealed weapons and microphones. They repressed smiles of delight at her folly. She had been tampered with, she was a liability, she was an instrument of the enemy now.

To her disbelief, she was brought to the ship. She had never seen the exterior, but found her stride frozen as she gazed upon a symbol on the side of the ship. Earth... A blue circle with continents pristinely outlined. They were back... or maybe this was a different fantasm that she was trapped in.

There entered the faces of the crew, entering one at a time. Thalia, Owen.

Then her heart jumped.
I can do things right with Ailbeart this time.
She felt radically different about Rend as soon as she could see his face. She could feel the tampering. Affection, while at the same time bathed in an ocean of indifference. It was almost real, but this lead to a haunting like she never had before. Was she merely a puppet now? She could not break eye contact with Rend.

Echo looked as though she had been in a fight with a split lip and visible scrapes. It was chilling to look upon her. But her words spread an even more sinister tone, “I am afraid that it is very little of what we have said to instigate this change in our situation. Rather, they have discovered something that that can be done to us that has changed their minds.”