Cath

Price of Life (EliteCommander and Cath)

“Yes, he is perfectly fine. My daughter is with h-him. What you heard must have been some interference caused during the suit handover. It is very common.” RIDA assured Senjen out loud.

When he asked her what was really going on, RIDA hesitated. She looked back towards the fitting rooms, as if trying to spot someone watching. Then she signed using just a small patch across her midriff.

“Someone is here. They are holding my offspring and your friend hostage. They said they’d kill my sweet daughter if you go back there, please help me!”

-

“They’re called the Vermillion Consortium, that's all I know! Please, just let me go!” Light cough, his suit struggling to drink in enough oxygen when the droid released their grip via the control pad.

“What has this Vermillion Consortium given your Utaysi friend? You must have some idea, tell me!” The robot hissed. It dropped the control pad then picked Light’s suit up with him inside and slammed him against the wall. They pushed their large handgun through the pliant gel and shoved it into Light’s face.

“If you prefer, I can shoot your head off, then tear the Utaysi apart to find out what it is. They’ve just entered the shop now; I can hear them. Is that what you want? Don’t even think about calling for help; they’ll never get here in time to save you.”

“I swear, I have no idea! Our only instructions were to drop it at a restaurant a few segments away!” Light spluttered. The robot had made a mistake talking specifically about Senjen. This focused the QV’s mind enough to allow him to send a short text message directly to his assistant via his body implant.

HELP DROID WITH GUN FITTING ROOM

Price of Life (EliteCommander and Cath)

“G-greetings, to-be-friend. I am Resplendent-In-Divine-Apostasy.” The elder QV said to Senjen, glancing back down the shop. The words came from speakers positioned nearby, as was common in QV establishments when dealing with other biologicals. But her colours were not warm and welcoming, in fact there were tinges of black, green and yellow in there.

“Into-The-Abyss-In-Search-Of-Light is currently having their new suit fitted. If you’d like to wait here, they will be out shortly.” RIDA glanced back up the shop towards the fitting rooms, where hidden by aisles of gel suit packs her daughter tried to make herself as small as possible. The droid kept their gun trained on her from through the open fitting room door while they questioned Light.

“Tell me who you’re working for, I can make all this stop.” They soothed as the QV writhed pathetically on the bed. Light felt as if his lungs were about to explode. The droid released their grip momentarily. “So?”

“Torture is forbidden on the Fourteen Factories!” Light cried, using little speakers embedded within the suit to speak out loud.

“Be quiet! Use your colours, I can understand you. Who do you work for? What are you carrying for them?” The robot asked again, smacking the top of Light’s suit with the fist that carried the control pad.

Price of Life (EliteCommander and Cath)

Double post

Price of Life (EliteCommander and Cath)

When the door to his fitting room opened, it wasn’t Resplendent-In-Divine-Apostasy senior or junior who came to Light’s aid. It was a large bipedal combat droid with black armour. It held the room’s control panel in one hand and a pistol in the other. Light’s suit wasn’t scanning the environment properly, but he got enough of the picture to realise he was in really, really deep trouble.

Senjen! In his panic he’d forgotten about his assistant. Light tried to message him via his implant but then his respiratory system suddenly stopped being able to access oxygen. In the blind chaos of his mind, Light found he couldn’t even compose a message, let alone talk directly. So he just sent a load of nonsensical signals to the Utaysi. Much like slamming one's appendages on an old keyboard. The QV prayed he would get the idea.

“Into-The-Abyss-In-Search-Of-Light, what is in the package you are carrying today?” The droid asked gruffly. For a moment, Light could do nothing at all to respond. Every sinew of his body was in agony, he couldn’t breathe and he couldn’t move. Eventually the droid realised this, and released the chokehold. Light spluttered, lapping up the new supply of oxygen, before saying “I don’t know what you’re talking about! Let me go!”

The droid tapped a few options on the pad, and Light was pushed hard into the bed as if being strangled inside his own suit.

“Don’t hurt him!” The young QV female pleaded. Both her and her mother were floating side by side just outside the room, holding onto an aisle as if they’d been ordered to stay put.

“Silence!” The robot snapped, visor spinning nearly 180 degrees to face her. It then looked at the elder QV.

“Go tend to the shop front. If a Utaysi robot enters, keep them distracted there. If you fail or give me away, I'll shoot your daughter. Go!”

Price of Life (EliteCommander and Cath)

The adult QV closest to Senjen turned to look briefly at the Utaysi, before flashing up to the children on the second storey.

“My offspring will give you a quote.” They said distractedly, then drew their attention back to the newscaster.

The juvenile QV came down together and unabashedly took the list from Senjen. One of them plugged it into their inventory and pricing system while the youngest looked him up and down.

“Are you a droid? Wanna live here with us?”

“Enough, they are Utaysi. Echoes of extinction…These [untranslatable] Tindrel, I swear..” The adult QV turned to stare at the boisterous insectoid beings, aggressive colours flaring across their suits.

“The Tkclakytor Remnants destroy an entire planet with gridfire and these [untranslatable] Tindrel act like nothing is happening.” The other adult complains to Senjen, gesturing to the holo.

The elder child shoves a paper-thin gel parchment with a quote for about three quarters of the list into Senjen’s face. It's about 20% higher in total than Light had secured before.

“Are you going to fight in the war?” The youngest asks Senjen.
-

It would be unacceptably dangerous for Light’s old suit to decouple before the new suit has assumed control of his vital functions. The gel was the only thing that enabled him to breathe, or move out of water with his boneless anatomy. So the reddish suit mixed into his existing blue-grey gel and for a moment Light had the disorienting feeling of being connected to both. It felt like having double the amount of limbs, double the amount of thoughts and double the mass. One side felt old, familiar and safe, the other was new, sprightly and unpredictable. They fought each other despite this being a willing transfer, gel swirling around inside the bubble with Light at the centre.

Light cried out at a sharp pain in his head as an untidy handover took place. Then gradually, the warm and comfortable embrace fell away, and his new suit pushed out the old. The blue-grey gel slopped onto the floor and lay still. Light tried to move, and found that he could. He could move quickly in fact; this nomadic frame handled well, despite feeling draughty and sterile. Perhaps a little too well, for being unused to it, he fell right off the bed. Light got up quickly. His breathing felt clearer too, which was an unexpected relief.

There was a voice outside. Light figured the fitting must be over, and moved for the door.

Then his breathing choked, and his movement became laboured and stiff before paralysing completely. Light tried to reach for his old suit, but his new home wouldn’t obey him. Instead he hopped back onto the bed and lay flat.

“Help!” He called feebly, colours disjointed and blurry across the surface of his suit.

Price of Life (EliteCommander and Cath)

The market was growing busy. The noise was rising as more people haggled with vendors and chatted with their friends. An eatery in one corner was particularly raucous, with half a dozen Tindrel making a mess of the furniture.

The nearest QV stall to Senjen was a few rows along. It was two storeys of grey gel crammed between two large pillars. Some of its wares were hung outside the gel blob for all to see. Senjen might see seafood, water sacs, gel suits and a variety of suit mods, that sort of thing. Two small QV played a game together on the upper level. Two adults sat out the front watching a QV news holo.

-

The elder Resplendent-In-Divine-Apostasy opened the fitting room door and chucked the compressed reddish suit inside before motioning for Light to go inside. Her daughter took her position at the control pad.

He looked inside sheepishly. It was a small, slightly cube of a room, not much bigger than his cubby on his ship. In the middle was a raised bed moulded to the QV form.

“Don’t worry. It is perfectly safe. My son changed his suit here just last week. Lay on the bed and relax. When your new suit makes contact, let your suit cede control then remain still.”

Light sighed in the affirmative, then wafted inside. The elder closed the door behind him, and he was alone. He got up onto the bed then lay down - at least it was comfortable. After a few seconds, he detected the clamps releasing on the new suit and it quickly expanded in size until it lapped up against the edges of his current vehicle. A message entered his brain.

New gel layer detected. Requesting permission to cede symbiotic function?

Light flashed with fear for a few moments, before steeling himself. Lets get this over with.

Request approved. He replied, before trying to go limp while every impulse in his brain screamed to tense.

Price of Life (EliteCommander and Cath)

The Tekeri hadn’t heard of Orostro, but could see an actual paying customer approaching the stall.

“I hope so. Tekeri are always happy to help.”

She saw Senjen looking for some kind of name for her business and readily produced a business card. There was a physical option, or you could just touch the card and your implant would store her business details.

“I’m Kreena. Come see me some other time and we’ll talk about your plans. Not your client’s.”

-

The elder meandered down one of the five main aisles towards the fitting rooms before stopping in front of a reddish brown cube.

“This is perfect for you. Came in last month from mountain desert nomads on Buktaw 4. Very hardy, good for breathing in high altitudes, and best value for money. I’ll give you a good price, since you are a nice male.”

“It is…red.”

“It is desert camouflage.”

Light looked on the plaque for the price per cubic metre and found she was right. It was pretty good value. He supposed he could live with this racy new colour for a few months.

“Fine. Do you do trade in, for my current suit?”

The elder floated back so she could study Light’s current gel layer. She flashed disapproval.

“It is not in good condition. It would cost more for me to repair than it's worth.”

They haggled back and forth for a little bit. Eventually Light agreed to a knockdown rate to recycle all his current cubic meterage, and a decent price for the same size suit of this new type. He didn’t feel great about the deal, as his old suit was arguably much more valuable than this one once repaired. But he didn’t have space for two suits and they had to be moving on.

“Wonderful! My son will collect the rest of your gel from your ship tomorrow morning. Now, let's get your new suit calibrated.” The elder gently guided Light towards the fitting room while flashing for her daughter to join her.

Price of Life (EliteCommander and Cath)

“We’ve always done it, more or less. Being among nature has physiological benefits for most species, but Tekeri in particular. I read an article on it.” The shopkeeper beamed proudly.

“Yes, it's real grass. We’ve bred species that grow in mats for easy application to surfaces. They even have their own covered irrigation system, to stop water floating away.” The Tekeri floated to a mat about one metre by half a metre that was hanging from a hook near the ceiling. She levered it gently free, then returned with it in her hands.

“For you. It is to wipe your feet on when you step inside your ship, but can grow to cover the whole floor. Consider it a gift.”

-

The elder QV introduced Light to her daughter, who was also called Resplendent-In-Divine-Apostasy. It was a thoroughly awkward experience, as the younger female was actually very attractive and for some reason seemed ready to court him. But she was less than half Light’s maturity. It was absurd to even speculate as to what a potential courtship between the two of them would look like. He was reaching the end of his sexually productive lifecycle, while she was just entering hers. Light quickly steered the conversation back towards buying some gel, saying he was already late for another appointment.

Gel suits and vehicles were a huge business for the QV, and this gel shop had a lot of different varieties of gel. Extra rugged gel, body obfuscating gel, vacuum-resistant gel, poison-skinned gel, gel for other species, gel that shot shards of dried gel like darts, the list was endless. He even spotted a gel technical waiting in front of a corrugated loading door. A large rectangular gel frame with a Human heavy laser repeater fixed to the top.

The old QV shopkeeper had a particularly rambly sales pitch where she went into far too much detail and didn’t ask any questions about what Light actually wanted. So in the end he sort of tuned her out and just examined the small flashing plaques with each suit’s product specifications. After about five minutes of this he realised how much time it would take to read them all and grew exasperated. He turned to the elder who was still mumbling on and interrupted her.

“I just need something cheap, that can survive a vacuum for about five minutes and has enhanced respiratory efficiency. Got anything like that?”

“Why, yes! You should have said. Come with me.”

Price of Life (EliteCommander and Cath)

The Tekeri inside the stall that Senjen approached was designing a 3D cross section of a spaceship from a holo-pad. It was a bog standard Tindrel warship, but was bedecked with all sorts of additional features. Lichen growth on the rocks, ornamental gardens in the crew room and an aviary in the cargo bay. The Tekeri wore comfortable clothes and floated sedately in the air, occasionally bumping into the sides. When she noticed the Utaysi waiting, she flinched. When she realised what it was, she let go of the pad and drifted down to Senjen’s level.

“Hello, are you looking for nature design? I can make bespoke packs for any type of ship or building.”

-

Light gingerly opened the door to the gel shop and slipped inside. The door closed quickly and tightly behind him. Smart, to avoid gel getting away. The shop was a long rectangular warehouse with the short side facing the street. There were only two storeys and one floor, packed with compressed gel suits of all different varieties. Soft QV music flashed from light displays on the ceiling and floor. Light spotted fitting rooms in the back for privacy, thankfully.

An elderly QV female and one of her offspring manned the whole shop. The elder flashed a friendly greeting and came over.

“Greetings, to-be-friend, this one is Resplendent-In-Divine-Apostasy. Your gel requires replacing; you have come to the right place. Would you like some help?”

Light recoiled slightly at the QV’s name. It was the sort of thing a religious zealot would name themselves, and he’d had bad experiences with their type before. But this one didn’t seem dangerous, or deranged. Perhaps they’d lost their faith and turned to the service of others instead. He decided to give her to benefit of the doubt.

“Thank you. This one would appreciate some help. I am Into-The-Abyss-In-Search-Of-Light.”

RIDA flashed a demure blue. “Come with me. I shall introduce you to my daughter and give you a tour of our humble shop.”

Price of Life (EliteCommander and Cath)

Light cringed as Senjen asked yet another probing question. They had only been acquainted for five minutes! He outwardly sighed, dispelling bubbles around his suit, and didn’t reply for a moment.

“Two years, maybe? I am by no means the VC’s most prolific operator. I am merely an old smuggler with breathing problems. So I have to spread the treatments out more. We could get there sooner if we get into very high risk jobs, but I would actually like to stay living long enough to be cured.” Light offered eventually.

Behind them, the following droid began cross referencing the acronym ‘VC’ with all known entities in the Fourteen Factories. Venture Capital? Valuable Creations?

Boss, you ever know of a ‘VC’? That’s who these bozos work for. Doesn’t sound above board.

Maybe. Do you think you could take the clanger alive on your own?

Maybe. Could use that back up though.

They are fifteen minutes out. Proceed as planned until then.

Roger.

They were moving at a fast pace through the segments, but Light was still surprised when they got to Tanguska Boulevard. It seemed having a bulky, noticeable assistant had its advantages.

This area was old, and had begun as low-rise buildings before having further and unrelated additions made above them. The result was a confusing jumble of different cultural and architectural references piled on top of one another up to a height of eight storeys. The plots were uneven, so many of the buildings had side and rear access where vehicles or goods could be moved. The occupants had taken advantage of this, turning many plots into warehouses, workshops or event spaces. It was a lower class area, and many people did not hang around outside for long. About halfway down the mile long boulevard was an ancient QV gel repository opposite a cavernous provisions market with hundreds of different stalls. Light directed Senjen to stop between them.

“This might take a little bit of time. Why don’t you go over there and look for cheap supplies for our next trip? I’ll send you a full inventory of what i usually stock and previous prices i’ve achieved for them. If you hear of any honest and freight work while you’re at it, find out a bit more. I’ll message you when i’m finishing up."