Night City Aliens: The Wandering Planet (Wander Over Yonder X Cyberpunk 2077 Crossover)
- Thread starter DrSick
- Start date
- Crossover Mature Sci-Fi
Ch 20: End of an Empire, Part 2
"Attention passengers. This is your captain speaking. We will be arriving on Sigmorta-5 shortly. Please dress in any necessary thermal gear at this time."
Rana let out a heavy sigh and stood from her seat. She had transferred between three transports to get here, and now it was time to freeze. Opening her carry-on, she started to slip on multiple layers to keep out the cold. She finished off with the thick coat with a hood before sitting back down and strapping in.
"First time?"
"Hm?" Rana looked to the seat across from her. Smiling at her was a furry Sigmor lady dressed in official attire.
"First time on an ice planet? We don't normally get young visitors past Sigmorta Prime," the Sigmor said.
"Uh, yea," Rana hesitantly answered. "I'm, uh… I'm transferring for a work study."
"No need to be nervous, dear. Sigmorta-5 may be harsh, but the locals are incredibly friendly. You'll be alright here."
"Good to know," Rana nodded. She paid the woman no further attention.
Stepping off the transport, the Narjian girl was hit with the biting wind of a snowy landscape. Above her was a foreign, clear, blue sky over a small, industrial city. Not wanting to endure the elements longer than she had to, Rana headed straight for the terminal. The building was modestly busy with people of various species running around to the various docks. It was mostly Sigmors with the occasional Narjian sprinkled in. There were other species, none of which she didn't know the name of offhand.
Taking a second to look around, she spotted a humanoid robot holding a sign with her name on it.
"Are you supposed to be my guide?" Rana asked the robot.
"Rana of Narjahim. Please present your ID," the machine spoke in a monotone voice. Rana did as it asked, pulling out her passport and holding it open for the robot to scan. "Welcome to Sigmorta-5, Miss Rana," it greeted. "Please follow me to the customs office."
"How efficient," Rana smirked.
The customs office was about as bland as the name suggested. While the Sigmors running it were friendly, they rushed her along. She was only there for about 15 minutes before she was being shuffled out with all her documentation and needed information. With her packet of papers and luggage in hand, she took a taxi to her government provided home.
Rana paid the driver with the cash advance she was given and entered the apartment complex. Her place was on the third floor. Unlocking the door, she found it to be incredibly small. It had all the necessities, such as a bathroom, food refrigeration, a sink, a stove, and a bed. There was even a small desk, but it all left little room to maneuver around. At least it was warm inside.
Her new academy was close by, but she would need to find a ride to work. Taking a taxi all the time would eat through her pay too fast. That was still a weird concept to her. Working for a paycheck. On Narjahim, the basic necessities were free for all Empire citizens. But that was why the Sigmors ran so much of the trade within the Empire. They weren't much for fighting, but they knew economics beyond government.
With a huff, Rana put all her belonging away in the few storage spaces her new apartment provided. She decided to buy groceries the next day. She was too tired from traveling. Instead, the green girl pulled out her portable computer. Connecting to the planetary computer network, she looked up a local map for places to order out.
"Class, meet Rana. She's our new transfer student from Narjahim," the Sigmor professor introduced her to the class. As with everywhere else, the class was mostly Sigmor students with a handful of Narjians mixed in.
"Hello," Rana bowed, slightly nervous from the new setting. "My name is Rana. I came here for a work study at the Volcanium plant."
"That sound's quite interesting," the professor smiled. "How are you liking Sigmorta-5 so far?"
"Too cold for my taste," Rana pitifully chuckled.
"Understandable," the professor nodded at her. "We are glad to have you here. Go ahead and take a seat. There's an empty desk in the third row."
"Hey! New kid!" a voice called out as Rana was making her way out of the school.
"Ah, hell," she mumbled, "here we go." She turned around and saw three Narjians quickly approaching her.
"Wow, you're even shorter up close," the lead boy smirked.
"Are you going to do some sort of hazing ritual?" Rana asked in a bored tone. "It not, then I need to go buy groceries."
"No need to be coy," the girl to the left said. "We just want to get to know you better. You haven't exactly been talkative."
"So, what's the deal?" the leader asked.
"The deal?" Rana raised an eyebrow at him.
"Yea, you know. Why are you here?"
"I transferred for a work study at the Volcanium plant."
"That can't be accurate," the boy to the left spoke up. "Narjians don't come to Sigmorta-5 willingly. Anyone who gets shipped here from the home world is being punished."
"Am I supposed to be impressed by your deductive reasoning?" Rana glared at the third kid, growing annoyed.
"I was able to steal a peek at your files," the third kid continued. "You came here from Dietenzi Academy. That's the top school on Narjahim. You wouldn't be here unless you got kicked out."
"Not bad. I guess that makes you the brains of the trio," she pointed at him. She moved her glare to boy in the middle. "You're the meat-headed leader, and you…" Rana looked the girl over with a raised eyebrow. "What's your job? Are you the enforcer, or the group slut?" she smirked.
"You runt!" the girl screamed, leaping at Rana.
Rana easily stepped out of the way, tripping the girl and causing her to fall. The brain kid tried to grab Rana from behind, but the Rana had predicted his attack. Using her momentum from the first dodge, Rana slid to his side before punching him in the back of the head. The leader was about to charge, but Rana launched her backpack at him before he had the chance. The force of the improvised projectile caused the boy to stumble back against the wall. Rana took the opportunity to punch him square in the jaw, causing the boy to fall over in pain.
"Want to know why I'm here?!" Rana yelled down at him. "I shot a man, because he got in my way! And if you know what's good for you, you won't make the same mistake."
A crowd of students was starting to form around them. Not wanting to cause any more of a disturbance on her first day, Rana grabbed her backpack and rushed out into the cold. No one got in trouble, but everyone had heard about the incident within a few days. The other students made a point to avoid her after that.
"So, you're the troublemaker they sent me," the older man greeted Rana at the plant entrance. "I'm Foreman Jurian. I run this place. Anything I say, goes."
"Yes, sir," Rana nervously nodded. She was used to strict authority, but something about the Foreman was off-putting.
"Good. Follow me." Jurian led Rana to receive her safety gear before leading her through the Volcanium plant. The inside of the plant was boiling, a stark contrast to the icy winds outside. There were only Narjians present, mostly older workers, all going about various task in the manufacturing process.
"These are the filtering tanks," the Foreman said as they entered a large room with four massive, open-top vats. Each was filled with glowing Volcanium. "They are fed from the storage outside by those pipes. The outdoor tanks are in turn fed directly from the drilling sites by the main inflow pipe. You have a few years till your old enough to work on those."
From there, Rana was led back to the Foreman's office. She was handed a safety manual and a Rules & Regulations guide and told to read through both. Neither was particularly long, but both books were mind numbingly dry. It took Rana the rest of the day to read through and memorize all the legalese. As she was packing up after work, she was stopped by the Foreman.
"Hold up, rookie," Jurian said. "There's one last place I need to show you." He led the girl through the plant once more, taking her all the way to the back corner. The area appeared to be a workshop, and it was surrounded by a wire cage. "Hey, Seumus! You here?"
"The hell you want now, Jurian?" another man said, approaching the cage from inside and sliding open the door. He looked much older than anyone else at the plant, but still seemed to have a healthy physique.
"Meet your new apprentice. This is Rana of Narjahim."
"Uh, hi," Rana waved to the man.
"Hu. We don't get many home worlders out here," Seumus raised an eyebrow at her, but quickly smiled. "Nice to meet you Rana. I'm Seumus, head of maintenance."
"Kid is some big-brained troublemaker," Jurian commented, earning a nasty look from Rana. He ignored her and continued. "She should be able to keep up with you better than the other slackers, and your ass should be able to keep her on the straight and narrow."
"Alrighty then," Seumus nodded. "You can come straight here tomorrow, Rana. I'll get you prepped for your real first day."
As requested, Rana went straight to the maintenance department the next day. She gave a polite if empty greeting to Seumus as they got started.
"What's the Foreman's deal?" Rana asked. "Seems like a jerk."
"Jurian? Oh, don't mind him," Seumus commented as he looked over the task for the day. "He's just another pencil pusher that thinks he's hot shit. I've seen plenty of his type come and go during my time here."
"You been on Sigmorta-5 a while?" Rana continued.
"Born and raised. I've been sent to other plants in the Empire when they require assistance, but this is my home. I always make my way back here."
"Hm," Rana grunted, her eye drawn to the various tools hanging on the wall.
"What about you?" Seumus asked. "What is Dietenzi's top student doing so far from home?"
"Does it matter?" Rana retorted.
"I suppose not. But I like to know who I'm working with."
"I was kicked out for shooting a man."
"Did you now?" Seumus chuckled.
"He got in my way."
"Did you know him well?"
Rana didn't answer right away, as she was caught off-guard by the question. Most people would ask what her mental damage was. But for some reason, this old man decided to throw her for a loop.
"Yea, I did," Rana finally responded, looking down in shame. "We had a fight at the worse possible time, and there was an accident."
"I see," the old man nodded. He was silent for a few seconds as he gathered his things. "That kind of honesty will get you far on Sigmorta-5." He handed the girl a toolbelt with a smile on his face. "Best thing you can do is learn from your mistakes."
Rana silently nodded and put on the toolbelt.
For the rest of the day, Seumus taught Rana the basics of his job. They started with the 3D printing machines and performing basic upkeep on the large printers and computer circuit printers. Then they did a basic check of all the conveyor belts in the building, making sure that everything was running and marking spots that needed further inspection. After lunch, Rana had to read about forklift maintenance while Seumus started on small repairs.
"You're a quick learner," Seumus commented.
"I try," Rana smirked as she turned the page on the truck manual.
"I know you didn't intent to end up here," Seumus continued, "but I think you'll do alright for yourself."
For the next two years, that was my life. Everyday, I either went to school or I went to work. Seumus turned out to be alright, and he taught me how to run and fix pretty much everything at the Volcanium plant. After being there for so long, I started getting ideas on how to improve the place.
"I propose we research automating more parts of the Volcanium plant," Rana started.
"No," Foreman Jurian said, not looking up from his papers.
"It might sound crazy," Rana stubbornly continued, "but with you struggling to bring in more workers, investing in automation would be a great way to futureproof the-"
"I said no," Jurian spat, gazing at Rana.
"At least hear me out," Rana whined. "I drew up some sketches this week. You'll see that robotics would allow us to increase efficiency and-"
"Rana!" Jurian cut her off again. "I have no interest in your crazy ideas. You might think of yourself as some sort of super genius, but you forget that this is MY factory. I said no. Now scram."
"Fine," Rana practically growled before marching out of the Foreman's office.
"Did he say no?" Seumus asked as she stepped back into the workshop.
"He didn't even let me explain my idea," Rana signed. She sat down at the work bench next to the older man.
"Yep. That's Jurian," he nodded before turning back to the motherboard in front of him.
"What are you working on?" she asked, looking to change the subject.
"I'm trying to replace these capacitors, but… I can't seem to… get it to stay."
"Let me," Rana offered. Seumus scooted over, allowing her to look over the motherboard. In less than a minute, she had the first capacitor soldered in place.
"A perfect job," Seumus nodded proudly. "Guess my eyes and hands aren't what they used to be."
"Maybe you're just tired," Rana suggested.
"Tired of this job," Seumus scoffed. "I've been doing this too long."
"You looking to quit? Leave me to deal with Jurian on my own?" Rana softly laughed as she continued to work on the motherboard.
"You're already doing most of the hands-on repairs. And you can do them faster than I ever could," the man smiled. "I think you would be just fine holding this place together."
"And Jurian?" she gave him a sideways glance.
"Well, you already know how to deal with him. All these little changes we've made with the line workers. Jurian doesn't pay close enough attention to notice us fixing his stupid ideas."
"And what about big changes?"
Seumus let out a soft sigh. "How dead set are you on this 'automation' plan of yours?"
"I mean," Rana shrugged, "I don't know. I just know that it would make things better around here. The line workers wouldn't be under constant crunch, and we wouldn't have to make so many repairs. Automate just 50% of the work here, and we could meet quotas in a fraction of the time. And I could use the down time to look over the robots. Make sure they are running efficiently and replace bad parts."
"I'm sold," Seumus laughed. "Shame our Foreman is too stubborn to listen to such glamorous ideas."
"You think it would work?"
"I haven't the slightest clue. But with you in charge, I'm sure it would."
"Thanks," Rana beamed. Then her expression fell. "Jurian is never gonna listen, though."
"That man would get into an argument with the Emperor if it was over this place," Seumus griped, drawing a giggle from Rana. "Hate to say it, but so long as Jurian runs the plant, nothing is going to change."
"Alright," Rana frowned. She finished up the motherboard before standing up. "Want me to install it?"
"I think I can still manage some basic computer assembly. You go ahead and leave early. I'll worry about clean up."
That night, Rana started going over ideas on how to get rid of Jurian. The easiest way would be to get him fired or promoted off Sigmorta-5. But the more she thought about it, the more Rana realized both would be near impossible. While Jurian was a planet-sized ass, he had technically never done anything that could get him removed from his spot as Foreman. And as far as promotions go, the man had already declined one that she knew of in the last two years. Jurian said something about "Sigmorta-5 being his home and the plant workers were like family". Rana remembered having to hold back a cynical laugh at that.
That left Rana with just one option. She would have to figure out a way to eliminate Jurian without getting caught.
Her first idea was a workplace accident. Sometimes things go wrong around industrial equipment, and that sometimes leads to someone getting seriously hurt. She tried thinking up ways to cause an "accident", but none were too her liking. There was too much risk of hurting multiple people. And even if only Jurian was hurt, the blame would most likely fall on her and Seumus.
Rana needed to get rid of him outside of work. That didn't leave many options. It would need to happen while she was at school, as to give her a good alibi. She could easily build a drone to carry out the deed. As for the weapon? A blaster would be best. Anything else would either be too unreliable or too obviously done with a robot. She just needed to get her hands on an unregistered blaster, so that it couldn't be traced back to her.
Rana stood from her desk and marched over to her tiny bathroom. Staring at her own reflection, she had to question her own sanity. Was she actually considering this? Killing a man in cold blood? The girl had done plenty of things that could be considered messed up or 'dishonorable'. She had made tons of mistakes. But this would be on purpose. Once the deed was done, there was no taking it back.
Rana decided to start work on a drone. Even if she didn't go through with her crazy plan, she could use the robot for other things. And who knows? Maybe she could convince the Foreman to look over her ideas. Even if he turned them all down, just an acknowledgement would be enough.
"For the last time, Rana. I said no!"
"If you would just look over the details, you might find that-"
"No!" Jurian glared at her, a vein in his forehead seeming to pulse in anger. "Not another word. If you bring this up again, you're fired."
"W-what?" Rana stuttered in shock.
"You heard me. Waste my time with anymore of your foolish ideas, and I'm shipping your ass back to Narjahim."
"Yes, sir," Rana grumbled before leaving the office.
Rana and Seumus looked over the Volcanium printer, trying to find any obvious signs of damage. Jurian was there as well, watching them work.
"So, what? It just started glitching out?" Rana asked the line worker.
"That's right," Zak nodded. "The alarm started beeping and it went on the frits. Started spurting Volcanium all over the conveyor. I hit the emergency stop and called you."
"I'm not seeing any obvious signs of damage. It's either an internal part or a software glitch," Seumus said.
"Hm. It seems like an over reliance on machines is leading to problems," Jurian smirked.
"If we actually had time to properly maintain the machines, there wouldn't be any problems," Rana snapped at him.
"Oh, I'm sorry? Did you not want to work here anymore?" Jurian accused her. Rana looked away with a pout.
"Get your ass out of here," Seumus griped at the Foreman. "Go back to your office and let us work in peace."
"Of course. But you better have that printer running by the end of the day." Jurian walked off, head high at his victory.
"I'll take the 3D printer to the workshop and get it fixed. Shouldn't take more than a few hours," Rana said as she started to disconnect the pipes feeding the printer. "You want to get started on the conveyer repairs?"
"I can, but will you be alright with the printer by yourself?" Seumus asked, concerned for his young apprentice.
"I just need some time alone," Rana sighed. "This is the perfect opportunity for that. Zak, I'll need you to bring one of the mini-tanks back to the workshop. I want to do a full test before I bring this thing back to the floor."
"Yes, ma'am." Zak nodded before hopping on a forklift.
Once Rana had wheeled the 3D printer back to the workshop, she got started on repairs. It helped that she already knew what was wrong with the thing, as she had installed the bug on it during the morning inspection. The pump was set to overflow the printing nozzles at a set time, causing the internal filters to break. Rana replaced the entire nozzle set and pump before wiping the computer of the bug. Then she set it to safe mode.
Hooking up the mini-tank to the printer, she started the calibration test. It took the printer about an hour to finish its calibration, at which point it was ready to go back to the floor. After checking to make sure Seumus wasn't coming back anytime soon, she had the printer make a single blaster for her. Rana stashed it away, burying it in her backpack. Then she wiped the computer again and ran another calibration.
"Get the thing working yet?" Seumus asked as he walked into the workshop.
"I believe so," Rana stated. "The internal pump was messed up and overflowed the nozzle. I replaced both. Calibration is taking longer than I would like, though."
"So long as it works," Seumus smiled. "Once it's done, I'll help you wheel it back onto the line."
That night, I overclocked the blaster and attached it to my robot. It had taken a couple months of planning, but everything was set. The robot would wait at the chosen spot till it saw Jurian and take the shot. I had already jury rigged a power supply and tested it. Everything was set. I activated the robot later that week. It would kill Jurian while I was at the school before returning to my apartment complex. It would wait on the roof till I called it down. I would dismantle it and dispose of everything with the scrap at work. But we both know these things never go as planned.
Rana dropped all the robot and blaster parts into the workshop's scrap bin. Thankfully, it was almost full. Smiling as she went, Rana wheeled the scrap bin to the metal recycling smelter. All the metal scrap would be melted down for use on the line. Watching her robot sink into the molten slag, Rana let out a light giggle. She had already wiped all the evidence from her personal computer and apartment. She was home free.
Returning to the workshop, a pair of Sigmors were waiting for her with a Narjian she didn't recognize.
"This area is for maintenance staff only," Rana said.
"Miss Rana?" one of the Sigmors asked.
"Yes?"
"I'm detective Nazyam. This is detective Dughick and Narjian Investigations Officer Maia. We need to ask you a few questions," the Sigmor continued.
"That's nice, but I have things to do. So, unless my boss says otherwise, I should get to it."
"That's actually what we wanted to talk to you about," Officer Maia stated.
"What? Did the Foreman get into a barfight or something?" Rana laughed.
"What was the nature of your relationship with Jurian and Seumus?" Dughick asked.
"S-Seumus?" Rana's smile disappeared. "I mean, the Foreman is a jerk. No one likes him. Seumus is cool though. I've worked with both for a little over two years now. Seumus taught me how to run and fix everything in this building. We're always talking about Jurian behind his back. After graduation, Seumus is going to put in a recommendation for me to learn about the drilling site."
"Did Seumus have any enemies that you can think of?"
"No," Rana shrugged, trying to play off her worries. "Maybe Jurian. But again, the Foreman is a jerk."
"You mentioned graduation. How often do you work here?" Officer Maia asked.
"Any day I don't have school. Part of a work study. Comes out to about half work, half school," Rana answered, but she was losing her nerves. "I-I'm sorry, but what is this all about?"
The three adults all gave each other uneasy knowing glances.
"Miss Rana," Nazyam started. "Jurian and Seumus are both dead."
"W-w-what?" Rana stuttered. Her heart began to race as she struggled to control her breathing. "H-how?"
"It appears to have been murder. Witnesses state that the two were walking together and seemed to be having an argument. They were both shot and killed by a powerful blaster bolt."
Rana stared at the three, her mind becoming blank. The girl's gaze slowly fell as her brain slowly made sense of the words. She didn't want to think, or feel, or breath. She just wanted to crawl into a tiny ball and rot away.
"We're you close to Seumus?"
Rana nodded. "He was nice. He believed in me." She wrapped her arms around herself, suddenly feeling cold in the baking Volcanium plant. "Um, could you excuse me." Rana rushed to the restroom, desperate to collect herself. In the mirror she saw that a couple tears had fallen down her cheeks, causing her black makeup to run.
Work was canceled for the week. Everyone was sent home to grieve. Rana didn't know what to think. She had accomplished her goal. Her plan worked. The detectives continued to ask her questions throughout the week, but she was never a primary suspect. After it was confirmed that Rana was at school that day, they stopped visiting her all together.
Rana threw a series of punches at the dummy. She was having trouble sleeping, so late night visits to the gym were becoming a regular occurrence. To just shut off her brain and sweat seemed to help her focus. Tonight, she decided to work on her combat stances. She continued to wallop the sand-filled dummy until her knuckles started to bruise. Something about the pain made her feel alive. It cut through the numbness.
"We're closing soon. You should wash up," the night manager said, drawing the young woman out of her trance. Rana nodded, breathing heavy from her workout, and made her way to the shower room.
Rana didn't bother with a full shower. She preferred to take those in the morning. Instead, the woman washed her face in the sink. She took a moment to examine her reflection, as she tried to collect her thoughts. She didn't regret what she did. Once the new plant manager showed up, Rana could easily push her plan into action. She just wished she had been more precise.
Rana rubbed at her eyes, trying to will the bangs away. She went to collect her things and dress for the late night cold. She didn't thing this emotion was guilt. She knew guilt from when she accidently hurt Akio. This was different. Like a weird mix of grief and belligerent acceptance. She wanted Seumus back. The old man was good to her. But all fights had a cost. She could kill her target and avoid the police, but something had to be given back. The universe decided to take her mentor. Rana decided that it would be best to not get too close to people in the future. She had a bad habit of hitting the ones close to her in the crossfire.
"Thank you for coming, Miss Rana," the Narjian lady greeted. She had set up in the Foreman's office but was dressed far more formally than Rana was used to. The lady looked like she should be attending political meetings as opposed to running a Volcanium plant. This impression wasn't helped by the fact that the lady looked like she was barely holding herself together.
"No problem," Rana shrugged. "I'm guessing you're the new Foreman?"
"At the moment," the lady nodded. "I'm Loreta. I was assigned to maintain the plant until a more permanent replacement could be selected."
"I'd hate to break it to you, but you might end up becoming the permanent replacement," Rana said as she sat down at the desk, across from Loreta. "There has only been one new hire since I started a little over two years ago, and he's been talking about enlisting in Full Combat."
"Yes, I know," Loreta sighed. "I've read the reports on the labor shortage here." Loreta slowly sat down behind the desk as if trying to maintain some illusion of composure.
"If you need some caffeine, I know an awesome tea shop not far from here. You can walk it, so long as you bundle up."
"I'm fine," Loreta smiled. "I wanted to talk to you about your responsibilities here. As far as I'm aware, you are the only person in maintenance."
"Uh, yea," Rana rubbed her arm in discomfort. "I worked under Seumus. It was just the two of us."
"I'm sorry to hear that."
"As for your inquiry, yes. I am the only maintenance person. If something breaks, I'm mostly likely the only one who can fix it. And I'm not here every day. I have school, too."
"Yes, I read about your unusual circumstances as well," Loreta nodded. "Expelled form Die-"
"Don't," Rana interrupted. "It's no longer relevant." The room fell silent for a breath before she continued. "Besides, I'm graduating soon. After I return from the ceremony, school will no longer be an issue. I can work on improving this place full time."
"Yes, yes. Of course, Miss Rana." The older lady fiddled her thumbs, seemingly unsure of how to continue. "I'm glad we have someone so skilled on staff," Loreta nodded again. "I'm curious about how you plan to improve this place, though."
"Hm? Oh right. You wouldn't know," Rana commented, perking up at the opportunity. "I had been working on plans to increase automation. It could offset the labor problem while also increasing efficiency and output," Rana beamed as she began to explain. "Seumus loved the idea, but Jurian was hesitant. He was… old fashion in his thinking. I wouldn't be surprised if they were arguing about before… well… you know," Rana tapered off.
"Would you-" Loreta paused to clear her throat. "Would you be able to explain this idea of yours in full? If we can offset the labor shortage even slightly, it might be worth investing in."
"Yea, of course," Rana smiled. "I'll make you a deal. Give me the day to get my files together and get caught up on work. I can give you a complete run down tomorrow morning."
"I think that could work. That would give me time to get oriented and bring in other officials. I can think of a few people who would be interested in this idea."
The next morning, Rana came prepared to give the best presentation of her life. She even stopped by the tea house and ordered tea and biscuits to bring in. Every little advantage to help win over minds she would gladly take. Stepping into the Foreman's office with snacks and computer in hand, Rana was greeted by Loreta and two other officials that had also been sent to the Volcanium plant.
The young woman's presentation went off without a hitch. It helped that she had been planning this for months. Rana was able to easily explain her various designs and how they could help improve the manufacturing process. Everything from Volcanium filtering, to assembly, to shipping was covered. There would still need people to help run and guide the machines, but far fewer people would be necessary as promised. And to top it all off, everything could be built in house. The couple of 3D printers they had could make all the parts needed. They would just need to be assembled.
There was one catch though. Rana's plan would come close to a complete renovation of the factory. It would require several months of planning followed by assembly to complete. The building would have to be shut down for most of the process. This was the detail that caused the officials to hesitate.
"While I appreciate the ambition," one of them started, "we would need to make sure we can afford a shutdown of that length. There's also the matter of retraining everyone for the new process." The two officials and Loreta began to discuss the project's merits before Rana gathered their attention again.
"This is more than a way to mitigate the labor shortage," Rana spoke with confidence. "This is a way to futureproof the entire factory. With this setup, we could easily redirect manufacturing efforts towards whatever is demanded of us. The factory could create more that just weapons and spare parts. Whatever item is requested, this plant would be able to create it with upmost speed and quality. It's also a proof of concept for other Volcanium plants. This automation setup could be adapted to any location."
"The upfront investment is steep, but with increased efficiency we could make up that loss within a Sigmorta year. It will be worth it. I can do most of the planning from now till I leave for the graduation ceremony. Once I return, we can shut down, and I'll oversee the assembly with Loreta or whoever is Foreman at that time."
"Thank you, Rana," Loreta bowed gratefully, which Rana returned. "Your idea is impressive, but we will need some time to discuss it."
"Of course."
Three days past. Rana was struggling to maintain her optimism. The pessimist in her was saying that her idea had been reject and forgotten. That was until she was called to the school's main office.
"Miss Rana," one of the staff poked their head into her class during a test. One that Rana had already finished. "You have a visitor."
"Ok?" Rana raised her eyebrow. The teacher excused her, and Rana made her way up to the main office.
"Good morning," Loreta greeted her with a bright smile.
"What the-" Rana blinked in surprise. "What are you doing here?"
"I wanted to bring you lunch," the woman offered, handing Rana a paper bag and drink from the tea shop. "Think of it as a congratulatory gift."
"Congratulatory?" Rana squinted. "Wait? You don't mean…"
"Mm hm," Loreta nodded. "Your project has been approved. We are currently working to bring in other engineers from around the empire to help. They will be acting as your planning committee."
"When you say they are my committee, does that mean I'm in charge of the project?" Rana grinned.
"Of course," Loreta stated matter-of-factly. "It was your idea, and you have the most familiarity with the machinery. Who better to spearhead the project?"
"Yes, yes, yes!" Rana cheered, practically jumping out of her skin in glee.
"I expect you at the plant bright and early tomorrow," Loreta chuckled. "Now back to class with you. You're not a graduate yet."
For the next couple months, I led my new team in planning for the revamp. It was just me and one other person at first, but as more engineers showed up my team grew to 13. I would go into work, do any needed inspections and repairs, then join the team for planning and designing the new machines. There were a few bumps and disagreements as to be expected when you work on a committee, but we got it done. But then my father had to show up and ruin the good times.
Rana stripped off her layers and threw them into her locker, ready for another day of work. As she was making her way to the workshop, Zak stopped her.
"Hey, Rana," he shouted out.
"Morning, Zak," Rana greeted as he walked over to her.
"Morning. Loreta want's you to meet her in the Foreman's office," Zak explained.
"What for?" Rana asked.
"She didn't say."
"Whatever," Rana shrugged. "Better not keep her waiting."
Rana made her way up to the office. She didn't bother to knock, opening the door and freezing in shock. Sitting in the chair across from Loreta's was her father.
"Good morning, Rana," Loreta greeted. "I would like you to meet-"
"WHAT IN THE ACTUAL HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?!" Rana screamed, her brain still trying to comprehend the sight before her.
"I wanted to check up with you, seeing as the graduation ceremony is just one standard week away. When I learned you were working on something big, I decided to inspect it for myself," her father calmly explained.
"And who in their right mind would give you clearance for that?"
"I would," the father chuckled. "I am the head of Transport Design and Manufacturing after all."
"I'm sorry, are you two related?" Loreta asked, bewilderment painting her features.
"Hashim is my dad," Rana sighed. "We've haven't spoken since I came to Sigmorta, so you could say this is a shock."
"Oh," Loreta said. Her eyes awkwardly dashed between Rana and Hashim, suddenly feeling out of place in her own office. "Would you two like some time to catch up? I don't believe anything requires immediate attention."
"I have to do the morning inspections," Rana deadpanned.
"Let your staff do them," Hashim spoke.
"No," Rana grimaced at the man, demanding he be quiet. But her father would not yield.
"Nonsense. I was told of a lovely tea shop not far from here."
"Just came from there," Rana sighed, but her father ignored it.
"I say you let your staff complete the morning duties. We can drive over to this tea shop, have a nice chat, then come back and look over this project you've been working on."
"Loreta, can't you tell this guy to leave me alone?"
"He outranks us," Loreta nervously pulled at her collar, obviously not wanting to be dragging into the family quarrel.
"We are not military," Rana pointed out, gesturing between herself and the Foreman.
"But this is an Empire owned factory. Hashim cannot make major changes by himself, but he can make minor request."
Rana angerly pouted at Loreta. Her disappointment was palpable. She turned to her father who still sat there calmly, if slightly smugly at his position.
"I'll get my coat," Rana grumbled.
Rana huffed as she sat at the small table across from her father. She handed him his tea before taking a sip of her own.
"Thank you, Rana," her father nodded. "I'll be sure to pay you back."
"Don't bother. It's just tea," Rana said. Her father was struggling to wrap his head around the idea physical money. Being the head of a major military department, most of his large possessions were government provided. The few things he needed to spend money on was bought through digital transactions, like all things on Narjahim. Rana would find his confusion hilarious if it wasn't so embarrassing.
"So," Rana frowned, "why the sudden interest in my life?"
"You are my daughter, and you are about to experience a major life event. Why wouldn't I be interested?"
"Maybe because you've never been interested in anything I ever do?"
"That's not true," her father defended. "I've told you before, I want you to grow into a successful and honorable woman."
"You have a funny way of showing that," Rana griped. "You've been neglecting me since Mom died. Hell, even before then, I remember her taking care of me. Not you."
"Rana, I had responsibilities beyond you and your mother. I tried to be there for you as often as I could. I'm sorry that wasn't enough for you."
"Oh, please," Rana rolled her eyes. "Even when you were there, you never tried to support me. All you ever did was go 'good job' and pat me on the back."
"I was proud of you," her farther explained. "I'm still proud of you. You've come so far and learned so much."
"I've had to do everything on my own!" Rana slammed her cup down harder than she intended, causing some of her drink to splash out. She sighed as she wiped it up with a napkin, doing her best to ignore the sideways stares she was now receiving from the shop's patrons.
"I've been on my own," Rana continued, much quieter this time. "You were never there to help me. And as much I resent you for that, I should probably be thanking you. Cause I'm the best there is, and I proved it all on my own."
"There goes your ego again," her father sighed. "It's not about being the best."
"Sure it is," Rana glared. "At least that's what it means to me. And do not try to tell me I'm wrong to think that. You lost that right a while ago."
Both Narjians fell quiet. Rana just wanted to be done already, but her father looked like he still had a lot to say. So, she sat and waited. Her mind wandered to the various corners of the shop, silently observing the surroundings she had grown so familiar with. Her natural instincts tried to get her to remain more vigilant of her father. He was unfamiliar and should be watched. But Rana didn't care enough and would not allow herself to focus on the man.
"Have you, um… chosen a crest for the ceremony?" her father hesitantly asked.
"I have," the young woman smirked.
It was tradition for each Narjian to take on a symbol to represent themselves. This was chosen at the coming-of-age ceremony, or the graduation ceremony as it was referred to in modern times. Most would choose to use a family crest or the crest of whatever group they may be apart of. That may be a guild, team, or military unit. A few would get fancy and design something new, but there was a basic formula to follow out of tradition.
"Something refencing Sigmorta-5 I assume," her father smiled.
"Uh, no," Rana deadpanned. "I went with a simple, nontraditional design."
"I can't say I'm surprised. What is it?"
"You won't like it."
"It can't be that bad."
"Oh, it's actually pretty awesome," Rana cheekily grinned, "but it's unfathomably unorthodox."
"Is it a skull?" her father asked unamused.
"Nope. A Volcanium heart."
"Rana," the man sighed, his face falling into his hands. The heart was a symbol that appeared in several cultures around the galaxy but was usually frowned upon in Narjian society. To them it represented untamed lust, and it was seen as rude outside of private situations.
"You don't get to judge."
"I'm your father. I have every right to judge you," he stated disappointedly. "You can't honestly be considering this."
"I am." Rana pulled out her phone and opened the picture file. Showing it to her father, the screen was black with a red heart. The heart had holes and liquid drops pouring from it as if made of dripping Volcanium. "Already have my robe ready."
"I can't believe this. Are you insane? What will everyone on Narjahim think?"
"Do you actually think I care?" Rana raised an eyebrow at him. "I stopped worrying about what others think awhile ago." She checked the time before standing up to stretch. "If you're finished with your tea, I need to head back to the plant."
"Very well, but we will be discussing this further," her father relented.
"No. We won't."
Rana walked back the Volcanium plant. Her father never went back, reportedly no longer having interest in the automation project.
The transport came out of slip space over the red skies of Narjahim. Rana examined the planet from her window seat and huffed, running her hand through her hair.
"Wow. It's even more beautiful in person," the Narjian student beside her whispered in awe.
"Try not to be too impressed," Rana scoffed. "Most of the people down there are stuck-up pricks."
"Is that why you left?" the girl asked.
"No, but it's why I haven't come back yet."
The 130 students from Sigmorta-5 had all been gathered on the sacred island that was considered the heart of the Narjian Empire. It was part of chain of islands that was home to several cultural and religious sights including the Palace of the Emperor. The island they are all on was formed by the Vahladeh Volcano. It was believed to be where Narjians first discovered the rejuvenating fire.
Dressed in nothing but simple robes, all the students walked the trail up the volcano's peak. It took about two hours until they were all standing before the open gullet of an active volcano. A hole had been dug out the side, allowing a slow, steady flow of natural lava to run down the side of the volcano. One by one, the students removed their robes and stepped into the river to be baptized in the fire.
Soon it was Rana's turn. She stripped off her rope and dipped her foot into the lava. She had handled Volcanium directly a multitude of times at the plant. This felt different somehow. The unfiltered substance seemed to glob around her, as if wanting to drag her down. Making her way over to the group of priests, she bowed her head and recited a prayer she memorized.
One of the priest approached and placed his hands on her back and over her eyes. With a light push, he dipped Rana back into the lava as the group of priests cited their hymns. The heat seemed to permeate her very core, as if trying to reforge her very soul. Three times the priest dipped her into the river, granting her the blessing of the Empire and the Old Religions.
After pulling her out a final time, the priest bowed to Rana and she bowed back. Rana stepped out of the river on the far side, the lava dripping off her form. After a few minutes, her body she was free of any molten rock. Only a light layer of soot covered her. She put on her personal robe that was waiting for her, the black one with her Volcanium heart crest.
As the ceremony continued, the other graduates were all giddy around her. Each seemed to feel a new sense of meaning and excitement from the event. They were ready to take the next step in their lives if serving the Empire. Rana felt… nothing.
Rana didn't feel a damn thing…
She tried to find a reason for this continued numbness. Maybe it was because she was so far ahead of everyone else in life. She had already found a path in life, even if it wasn't what she originally intended to walk. Maybe it was because she never put much faith in the old ways. She always believed it was better to look forward and push innovation. Maybe it was because she had already made sacrifices for the Empire. She had already killed for the Empire.
"No," Rana whispered to herself. "Not for the Empire. For you." The young woman decided at that she no longer cared for the Empire. She had never received help. She felt no sense of community with other Narjians. She hadn't felt so much as an itch of the bond since primary school, while half of her peers already had bond partners.
Rana no longer cared for the Empire. She would continue her work, as the Empire was the one signing her paychecks. But everything she did going forward would be for her own benefit. Everyone else be damned.
Rana met with her father one last time before leaving for Sigmorta-5 again. It went about as well as she expected. They could no longer maintain a civil discussion. Rana didn't really care enough to try, and her father seemed to be "too disappointed" to maintain his normal composure. The young woman decided he was no longer worth her time. Let the man remain disappointed. She knew who she was.
Returning to Sigmorta-5 wasn't nearly as bad as the first time she landed on the icy world. Rana reasoned that she had finally acclimated to the weather. There was something oddly comforting about the chilly wind against her skin. Here she had purpose and power. Rana doubted it would remain her home for long, but it held a familiarity to it.
When she returned to the Volcanium plant, the staff welcomed her back with excitement. When she hung up the small banner with her new crest over her desk, most of the line workers laughed and few even cheered. They were not surprised, given how independent Rana considered herself. Zak went so far as to give her a high five.
The other engineers were not as impressed by the banner. Most of them were down right bewildered by the design, given its potential cultural meaning. A few called her obscene and Loreta had to convince one of them to stay on the project.
"Rana, please," the Foreman practically begged. "I get that you like to see yourself as an outlier, a title you have proudly earned I might add. But could you tone it down just a bit. We need all the engineers to stay if you are to complete the project on time.
Rana let out a huff before waving off Loreta. "Fine, I'll take down the stupid banner. It will look better over my bed, anyways."
For the next year, my entire job focused on the new automation process. The other engineers liked me a lot less after the banner stunt, but we managed to work together despite that. We had all the robots and machines built on schedule. We started to pull the line workers back and teach them how to run the new set-up. Things were going surprisingly smooth. I was able to train a few new maintenance staff for the robots. I even got to learn about the drilling process and started to research ways to make that safer and more efficient as well.
But… there was still something missing. Everything felt so… hollow. So boring. I needed something more visceral to break up the day-to-day grind. I was craving a fight. I wanted to test my combat skills against an actual opponent, not just some dummy or sparring partner. I found temporary relief when I took a holiday to Sigmorta Prime.
Rana kept her hood up and her head down as she went to the address she hacked. Whoever these gambling ring guys were, they desperately needed better cybersecurity. She found a dark corner and watched the building. After half an hour, she started to notice an unusual mix of species heading to the side door. Rana strolled up to the metal door and knocked. An eye slit opened, revealing a single, purple eye.
"Password," a deep voice demanded.
"I don't have a password," Rana deadpanned. "But I did hack your systems. Your boss's name is Crox. He is a Sculquin running an illegal gambling ring for the Onyx Void, biggest mafia clan this half of the Empire. On top of running all the underground casinos on Sigmorta Prime, Crox also likes to host street races and fighting tournaments."
The eye continued to stare down at her, seemingly growing furious as she talked.
"I'm not here to tattle," Rana continued. "I just want in."
"Wait here," the voice commanded. The eye slit closed, and stomping steps could be heard leaving the other side of the door. A minute later, the steps returned. The door swung open to reveal buff, squid-faced man with a single, purple eye and a short, lizard man in a suit.
"You must be Crox," Rana smirked.
"Get in here, girly," Crox demanded, stepping aside.
Rana did as she was told and didn't so much as flinch when the door slammed shut behind her.
"How in Oedon's name did you learn so much about us?" Crox asked. "And you better tell the truth." He pulled out a blaster and pointed it right between Rana's eyes.
"I hacked your computers," Rana grinned. "It wasn't too hard. You're trying to protect yourself from the Empire's older systems. I'm more advanced than that. I built a simple AI to slip past your security. Then I traced the data signature back to this place. Oh, and I pulled your finances to talk my way in."
"How impressive," Crox spat. "You must think you're sooo smart. Give me one good reason I shouldn't blast you right now. If you got my name, then you should know Onyx Void don't take kindly to Narjians."
"I'm not like other Narjians. I don't care about the Empire. I'm just looking out for number one."
"Doesn't explain why you decided to come here."
"I've been itching for a good fight," Rana swayed her head. "And according to your files, you're hosting a tournament tonight."
"Hu… Girly, you must be crazy," Crox shook his head. He lowered his blaster, no longer seeing her as a threat to his operation. "Most of my clientele don't care for you fascist green beans neither. Once the fight starts, it's no holds barge. If you go down, there's nothing stopping the other fighter from beating you into a pulp."
"It's one-on-one, right?"
"Yeah."
"Then I'll be fine."
"Your funeral," Crox shrugged. "Follow me to the prep room. We need to make sure you don't try to sneak no weapons into the ring. Oh, and I'll need a name. Not your real name. I need a flashy title for when the announcer calls you out."
"I have a few ideas," Rana smiled.
Rana let out a heavy sigh and stood from her seat. She had transferred between three transports to get here, and now it was time to freeze. Opening her carry-on, she started to slip on multiple layers to keep out the cold. She finished off with the thick coat with a hood before sitting back down and strapping in.
"First time?"
"Hm?" Rana looked to the seat across from her. Smiling at her was a furry Sigmor lady dressed in official attire.
"First time on an ice planet? We don't normally get young visitors past Sigmorta Prime," the Sigmor said.
"Uh, yea," Rana hesitantly answered. "I'm, uh… I'm transferring for a work study."
"No need to be nervous, dear. Sigmorta-5 may be harsh, but the locals are incredibly friendly. You'll be alright here."
"Good to know," Rana nodded. She paid the woman no further attention.
Stepping off the transport, the Narjian girl was hit with the biting wind of a snowy landscape. Above her was a foreign, clear, blue sky over a small, industrial city. Not wanting to endure the elements longer than she had to, Rana headed straight for the terminal. The building was modestly busy with people of various species running around to the various docks. It was mostly Sigmors with the occasional Narjian sprinkled in. There were other species, none of which she didn't know the name of offhand.
Taking a second to look around, she spotted a humanoid robot holding a sign with her name on it.
"Are you supposed to be my guide?" Rana asked the robot.
"Rana of Narjahim. Please present your ID," the machine spoke in a monotone voice. Rana did as it asked, pulling out her passport and holding it open for the robot to scan. "Welcome to Sigmorta-5, Miss Rana," it greeted. "Please follow me to the customs office."
"How efficient," Rana smirked.
The customs office was about as bland as the name suggested. While the Sigmors running it were friendly, they rushed her along. She was only there for about 15 minutes before she was being shuffled out with all her documentation and needed information. With her packet of papers and luggage in hand, she took a taxi to her government provided home.
Rana paid the driver with the cash advance she was given and entered the apartment complex. Her place was on the third floor. Unlocking the door, she found it to be incredibly small. It had all the necessities, such as a bathroom, food refrigeration, a sink, a stove, and a bed. There was even a small desk, but it all left little room to maneuver around. At least it was warm inside.
Her new academy was close by, but she would need to find a ride to work. Taking a taxi all the time would eat through her pay too fast. That was still a weird concept to her. Working for a paycheck. On Narjahim, the basic necessities were free for all Empire citizens. But that was why the Sigmors ran so much of the trade within the Empire. They weren't much for fighting, but they knew economics beyond government.
With a huff, Rana put all her belonging away in the few storage spaces her new apartment provided. She decided to buy groceries the next day. She was too tired from traveling. Instead, the green girl pulled out her portable computer. Connecting to the planetary computer network, she looked up a local map for places to order out.
"Class, meet Rana. She's our new transfer student from Narjahim," the Sigmor professor introduced her to the class. As with everywhere else, the class was mostly Sigmor students with a handful of Narjians mixed in.
"Hello," Rana bowed, slightly nervous from the new setting. "My name is Rana. I came here for a work study at the Volcanium plant."
"That sound's quite interesting," the professor smiled. "How are you liking Sigmorta-5 so far?"
"Too cold for my taste," Rana pitifully chuckled.
"Understandable," the professor nodded at her. "We are glad to have you here. Go ahead and take a seat. There's an empty desk in the third row."
"Hey! New kid!" a voice called out as Rana was making her way out of the school.
"Ah, hell," she mumbled, "here we go." She turned around and saw three Narjians quickly approaching her.
"Wow, you're even shorter up close," the lead boy smirked.
"Are you going to do some sort of hazing ritual?" Rana asked in a bored tone. "It not, then I need to go buy groceries."
"No need to be coy," the girl to the left said. "We just want to get to know you better. You haven't exactly been talkative."
"So, what's the deal?" the leader asked.
"The deal?" Rana raised an eyebrow at him.
"Yea, you know. Why are you here?"
"I transferred for a work study at the Volcanium plant."
"That can't be accurate," the boy to the left spoke up. "Narjians don't come to Sigmorta-5 willingly. Anyone who gets shipped here from the home world is being punished."
"Am I supposed to be impressed by your deductive reasoning?" Rana glared at the third kid, growing annoyed.
"I was able to steal a peek at your files," the third kid continued. "You came here from Dietenzi Academy. That's the top school on Narjahim. You wouldn't be here unless you got kicked out."
"Not bad. I guess that makes you the brains of the trio," she pointed at him. She moved her glare to boy in the middle. "You're the meat-headed leader, and you…" Rana looked the girl over with a raised eyebrow. "What's your job? Are you the enforcer, or the group slut?" she smirked.
"You runt!" the girl screamed, leaping at Rana.
Rana easily stepped out of the way, tripping the girl and causing her to fall. The brain kid tried to grab Rana from behind, but the Rana had predicted his attack. Using her momentum from the first dodge, Rana slid to his side before punching him in the back of the head. The leader was about to charge, but Rana launched her backpack at him before he had the chance. The force of the improvised projectile caused the boy to stumble back against the wall. Rana took the opportunity to punch him square in the jaw, causing the boy to fall over in pain.
"Want to know why I'm here?!" Rana yelled down at him. "I shot a man, because he got in my way! And if you know what's good for you, you won't make the same mistake."
A crowd of students was starting to form around them. Not wanting to cause any more of a disturbance on her first day, Rana grabbed her backpack and rushed out into the cold. No one got in trouble, but everyone had heard about the incident within a few days. The other students made a point to avoid her after that.
"So, you're the troublemaker they sent me," the older man greeted Rana at the plant entrance. "I'm Foreman Jurian. I run this place. Anything I say, goes."
"Yes, sir," Rana nervously nodded. She was used to strict authority, but something about the Foreman was off-putting.
"Good. Follow me." Jurian led Rana to receive her safety gear before leading her through the Volcanium plant. The inside of the plant was boiling, a stark contrast to the icy winds outside. There were only Narjians present, mostly older workers, all going about various task in the manufacturing process.
"These are the filtering tanks," the Foreman said as they entered a large room with four massive, open-top vats. Each was filled with glowing Volcanium. "They are fed from the storage outside by those pipes. The outdoor tanks are in turn fed directly from the drilling sites by the main inflow pipe. You have a few years till your old enough to work on those."
From there, Rana was led back to the Foreman's office. She was handed a safety manual and a Rules & Regulations guide and told to read through both. Neither was particularly long, but both books were mind numbingly dry. It took Rana the rest of the day to read through and memorize all the legalese. As she was packing up after work, she was stopped by the Foreman.
"Hold up, rookie," Jurian said. "There's one last place I need to show you." He led the girl through the plant once more, taking her all the way to the back corner. The area appeared to be a workshop, and it was surrounded by a wire cage. "Hey, Seumus! You here?"
"The hell you want now, Jurian?" another man said, approaching the cage from inside and sliding open the door. He looked much older than anyone else at the plant, but still seemed to have a healthy physique.
"Meet your new apprentice. This is Rana of Narjahim."
"Uh, hi," Rana waved to the man.
"Hu. We don't get many home worlders out here," Seumus raised an eyebrow at her, but quickly smiled. "Nice to meet you Rana. I'm Seumus, head of maintenance."
"Kid is some big-brained troublemaker," Jurian commented, earning a nasty look from Rana. He ignored her and continued. "She should be able to keep up with you better than the other slackers, and your ass should be able to keep her on the straight and narrow."
"Alrighty then," Seumus nodded. "You can come straight here tomorrow, Rana. I'll get you prepped for your real first day."
As requested, Rana went straight to the maintenance department the next day. She gave a polite if empty greeting to Seumus as they got started.
"What's the Foreman's deal?" Rana asked. "Seems like a jerk."
"Jurian? Oh, don't mind him," Seumus commented as he looked over the task for the day. "He's just another pencil pusher that thinks he's hot shit. I've seen plenty of his type come and go during my time here."
"You been on Sigmorta-5 a while?" Rana continued.
"Born and raised. I've been sent to other plants in the Empire when they require assistance, but this is my home. I always make my way back here."
"Hm," Rana grunted, her eye drawn to the various tools hanging on the wall.
"What about you?" Seumus asked. "What is Dietenzi's top student doing so far from home?"
"Does it matter?" Rana retorted.
"I suppose not. But I like to know who I'm working with."
"I was kicked out for shooting a man."
"Did you now?" Seumus chuckled.
"He got in my way."
"Did you know him well?"
Rana didn't answer right away, as she was caught off-guard by the question. Most people would ask what her mental damage was. But for some reason, this old man decided to throw her for a loop.
"Yea, I did," Rana finally responded, looking down in shame. "We had a fight at the worse possible time, and there was an accident."
"I see," the old man nodded. He was silent for a few seconds as he gathered his things. "That kind of honesty will get you far on Sigmorta-5." He handed the girl a toolbelt with a smile on his face. "Best thing you can do is learn from your mistakes."
Rana silently nodded and put on the toolbelt.
For the rest of the day, Seumus taught Rana the basics of his job. They started with the 3D printing machines and performing basic upkeep on the large printers and computer circuit printers. Then they did a basic check of all the conveyor belts in the building, making sure that everything was running and marking spots that needed further inspection. After lunch, Rana had to read about forklift maintenance while Seumus started on small repairs.
"You're a quick learner," Seumus commented.
"I try," Rana smirked as she turned the page on the truck manual.
"I know you didn't intent to end up here," Seumus continued, "but I think you'll do alright for yourself."
For the next two years, that was my life. Everyday, I either went to school or I went to work. Seumus turned out to be alright, and he taught me how to run and fix pretty much everything at the Volcanium plant. After being there for so long, I started getting ideas on how to improve the place.
"I propose we research automating more parts of the Volcanium plant," Rana started.
"No," Foreman Jurian said, not looking up from his papers.
"It might sound crazy," Rana stubbornly continued, "but with you struggling to bring in more workers, investing in automation would be a great way to futureproof the-"
"I said no," Jurian spat, gazing at Rana.
"At least hear me out," Rana whined. "I drew up some sketches this week. You'll see that robotics would allow us to increase efficiency and-"
"Rana!" Jurian cut her off again. "I have no interest in your crazy ideas. You might think of yourself as some sort of super genius, but you forget that this is MY factory. I said no. Now scram."
"Fine," Rana practically growled before marching out of the Foreman's office.
"Did he say no?" Seumus asked as she stepped back into the workshop.
"He didn't even let me explain my idea," Rana signed. She sat down at the work bench next to the older man.
"Yep. That's Jurian," he nodded before turning back to the motherboard in front of him.
"What are you working on?" she asked, looking to change the subject.
"I'm trying to replace these capacitors, but… I can't seem to… get it to stay."
"Let me," Rana offered. Seumus scooted over, allowing her to look over the motherboard. In less than a minute, she had the first capacitor soldered in place.
"A perfect job," Seumus nodded proudly. "Guess my eyes and hands aren't what they used to be."
"Maybe you're just tired," Rana suggested.
"Tired of this job," Seumus scoffed. "I've been doing this too long."
"You looking to quit? Leave me to deal with Jurian on my own?" Rana softly laughed as she continued to work on the motherboard.
"You're already doing most of the hands-on repairs. And you can do them faster than I ever could," the man smiled. "I think you would be just fine holding this place together."
"And Jurian?" she gave him a sideways glance.
"Well, you already know how to deal with him. All these little changes we've made with the line workers. Jurian doesn't pay close enough attention to notice us fixing his stupid ideas."
"And what about big changes?"
Seumus let out a soft sigh. "How dead set are you on this 'automation' plan of yours?"
"I mean," Rana shrugged, "I don't know. I just know that it would make things better around here. The line workers wouldn't be under constant crunch, and we wouldn't have to make so many repairs. Automate just 50% of the work here, and we could meet quotas in a fraction of the time. And I could use the down time to look over the robots. Make sure they are running efficiently and replace bad parts."
"I'm sold," Seumus laughed. "Shame our Foreman is too stubborn to listen to such glamorous ideas."
"You think it would work?"
"I haven't the slightest clue. But with you in charge, I'm sure it would."
"Thanks," Rana beamed. Then her expression fell. "Jurian is never gonna listen, though."
"That man would get into an argument with the Emperor if it was over this place," Seumus griped, drawing a giggle from Rana. "Hate to say it, but so long as Jurian runs the plant, nothing is going to change."
"Alright," Rana frowned. She finished up the motherboard before standing up. "Want me to install it?"
"I think I can still manage some basic computer assembly. You go ahead and leave early. I'll worry about clean up."
That night, Rana started going over ideas on how to get rid of Jurian. The easiest way would be to get him fired or promoted off Sigmorta-5. But the more she thought about it, the more Rana realized both would be near impossible. While Jurian was a planet-sized ass, he had technically never done anything that could get him removed from his spot as Foreman. And as far as promotions go, the man had already declined one that she knew of in the last two years. Jurian said something about "Sigmorta-5 being his home and the plant workers were like family". Rana remembered having to hold back a cynical laugh at that.
That left Rana with just one option. She would have to figure out a way to eliminate Jurian without getting caught.
Her first idea was a workplace accident. Sometimes things go wrong around industrial equipment, and that sometimes leads to someone getting seriously hurt. She tried thinking up ways to cause an "accident", but none were too her liking. There was too much risk of hurting multiple people. And even if only Jurian was hurt, the blame would most likely fall on her and Seumus.
Rana needed to get rid of him outside of work. That didn't leave many options. It would need to happen while she was at school, as to give her a good alibi. She could easily build a drone to carry out the deed. As for the weapon? A blaster would be best. Anything else would either be too unreliable or too obviously done with a robot. She just needed to get her hands on an unregistered blaster, so that it couldn't be traced back to her.
Rana stood from her desk and marched over to her tiny bathroom. Staring at her own reflection, she had to question her own sanity. Was she actually considering this? Killing a man in cold blood? The girl had done plenty of things that could be considered messed up or 'dishonorable'. She had made tons of mistakes. But this would be on purpose. Once the deed was done, there was no taking it back.
Rana decided to start work on a drone. Even if she didn't go through with her crazy plan, she could use the robot for other things. And who knows? Maybe she could convince the Foreman to look over her ideas. Even if he turned them all down, just an acknowledgement would be enough.
"For the last time, Rana. I said no!"
"If you would just look over the details, you might find that-"
"No!" Jurian glared at her, a vein in his forehead seeming to pulse in anger. "Not another word. If you bring this up again, you're fired."
"W-what?" Rana stuttered in shock.
"You heard me. Waste my time with anymore of your foolish ideas, and I'm shipping your ass back to Narjahim."
"Yes, sir," Rana grumbled before leaving the office.
Rana and Seumus looked over the Volcanium printer, trying to find any obvious signs of damage. Jurian was there as well, watching them work.
"So, what? It just started glitching out?" Rana asked the line worker.
"That's right," Zak nodded. "The alarm started beeping and it went on the frits. Started spurting Volcanium all over the conveyor. I hit the emergency stop and called you."
"I'm not seeing any obvious signs of damage. It's either an internal part or a software glitch," Seumus said.
"Hm. It seems like an over reliance on machines is leading to problems," Jurian smirked.
"If we actually had time to properly maintain the machines, there wouldn't be any problems," Rana snapped at him.
"Oh, I'm sorry? Did you not want to work here anymore?" Jurian accused her. Rana looked away with a pout.
"Get your ass out of here," Seumus griped at the Foreman. "Go back to your office and let us work in peace."
"Of course. But you better have that printer running by the end of the day." Jurian walked off, head high at his victory.
"I'll take the 3D printer to the workshop and get it fixed. Shouldn't take more than a few hours," Rana said as she started to disconnect the pipes feeding the printer. "You want to get started on the conveyer repairs?"
"I can, but will you be alright with the printer by yourself?" Seumus asked, concerned for his young apprentice.
"I just need some time alone," Rana sighed. "This is the perfect opportunity for that. Zak, I'll need you to bring one of the mini-tanks back to the workshop. I want to do a full test before I bring this thing back to the floor."
"Yes, ma'am." Zak nodded before hopping on a forklift.
Once Rana had wheeled the 3D printer back to the workshop, she got started on repairs. It helped that she already knew what was wrong with the thing, as she had installed the bug on it during the morning inspection. The pump was set to overflow the printing nozzles at a set time, causing the internal filters to break. Rana replaced the entire nozzle set and pump before wiping the computer of the bug. Then she set it to safe mode.
Hooking up the mini-tank to the printer, she started the calibration test. It took the printer about an hour to finish its calibration, at which point it was ready to go back to the floor. After checking to make sure Seumus wasn't coming back anytime soon, she had the printer make a single blaster for her. Rana stashed it away, burying it in her backpack. Then she wiped the computer again and ran another calibration.
"Get the thing working yet?" Seumus asked as he walked into the workshop.
"I believe so," Rana stated. "The internal pump was messed up and overflowed the nozzle. I replaced both. Calibration is taking longer than I would like, though."
"So long as it works," Seumus smiled. "Once it's done, I'll help you wheel it back onto the line."
That night, I overclocked the blaster and attached it to my robot. It had taken a couple months of planning, but everything was set. The robot would wait at the chosen spot till it saw Jurian and take the shot. I had already jury rigged a power supply and tested it. Everything was set. I activated the robot later that week. It would kill Jurian while I was at the school before returning to my apartment complex. It would wait on the roof till I called it down. I would dismantle it and dispose of everything with the scrap at work. But we both know these things never go as planned.
Rana dropped all the robot and blaster parts into the workshop's scrap bin. Thankfully, it was almost full. Smiling as she went, Rana wheeled the scrap bin to the metal recycling smelter. All the metal scrap would be melted down for use on the line. Watching her robot sink into the molten slag, Rana let out a light giggle. She had already wiped all the evidence from her personal computer and apartment. She was home free.
Returning to the workshop, a pair of Sigmors were waiting for her with a Narjian she didn't recognize.
"This area is for maintenance staff only," Rana said.
"Miss Rana?" one of the Sigmors asked.
"Yes?"
"I'm detective Nazyam. This is detective Dughick and Narjian Investigations Officer Maia. We need to ask you a few questions," the Sigmor continued.
"That's nice, but I have things to do. So, unless my boss says otherwise, I should get to it."
"That's actually what we wanted to talk to you about," Officer Maia stated.
"What? Did the Foreman get into a barfight or something?" Rana laughed.
"What was the nature of your relationship with Jurian and Seumus?" Dughick asked.
"S-Seumus?" Rana's smile disappeared. "I mean, the Foreman is a jerk. No one likes him. Seumus is cool though. I've worked with both for a little over two years now. Seumus taught me how to run and fix everything in this building. We're always talking about Jurian behind his back. After graduation, Seumus is going to put in a recommendation for me to learn about the drilling site."
"Did Seumus have any enemies that you can think of?"
"No," Rana shrugged, trying to play off her worries. "Maybe Jurian. But again, the Foreman is a jerk."
"You mentioned graduation. How often do you work here?" Officer Maia asked.
"Any day I don't have school. Part of a work study. Comes out to about half work, half school," Rana answered, but she was losing her nerves. "I-I'm sorry, but what is this all about?"
The three adults all gave each other uneasy knowing glances.
"Miss Rana," Nazyam started. "Jurian and Seumus are both dead."
"W-w-what?" Rana stuttered. Her heart began to race as she struggled to control her breathing. "H-how?"
"It appears to have been murder. Witnesses state that the two were walking together and seemed to be having an argument. They were both shot and killed by a powerful blaster bolt."
Rana stared at the three, her mind becoming blank. The girl's gaze slowly fell as her brain slowly made sense of the words. She didn't want to think, or feel, or breath. She just wanted to crawl into a tiny ball and rot away.
"We're you close to Seumus?"
Rana nodded. "He was nice. He believed in me." She wrapped her arms around herself, suddenly feeling cold in the baking Volcanium plant. "Um, could you excuse me." Rana rushed to the restroom, desperate to collect herself. In the mirror she saw that a couple tears had fallen down her cheeks, causing her black makeup to run.
Work was canceled for the week. Everyone was sent home to grieve. Rana didn't know what to think. She had accomplished her goal. Her plan worked. The detectives continued to ask her questions throughout the week, but she was never a primary suspect. After it was confirmed that Rana was at school that day, they stopped visiting her all together.
Rana threw a series of punches at the dummy. She was having trouble sleeping, so late night visits to the gym were becoming a regular occurrence. To just shut off her brain and sweat seemed to help her focus. Tonight, she decided to work on her combat stances. She continued to wallop the sand-filled dummy until her knuckles started to bruise. Something about the pain made her feel alive. It cut through the numbness.
"We're closing soon. You should wash up," the night manager said, drawing the young woman out of her trance. Rana nodded, breathing heavy from her workout, and made her way to the shower room.
Rana didn't bother with a full shower. She preferred to take those in the morning. Instead, the woman washed her face in the sink. She took a moment to examine her reflection, as she tried to collect her thoughts. She didn't regret what she did. Once the new plant manager showed up, Rana could easily push her plan into action. She just wished she had been more precise.
Rana rubbed at her eyes, trying to will the bangs away. She went to collect her things and dress for the late night cold. She didn't thing this emotion was guilt. She knew guilt from when she accidently hurt Akio. This was different. Like a weird mix of grief and belligerent acceptance. She wanted Seumus back. The old man was good to her. But all fights had a cost. She could kill her target and avoid the police, but something had to be given back. The universe decided to take her mentor. Rana decided that it would be best to not get too close to people in the future. She had a bad habit of hitting the ones close to her in the crossfire.
"Thank you for coming, Miss Rana," the Narjian lady greeted. She had set up in the Foreman's office but was dressed far more formally than Rana was used to. The lady looked like she should be attending political meetings as opposed to running a Volcanium plant. This impression wasn't helped by the fact that the lady looked like she was barely holding herself together.
"No problem," Rana shrugged. "I'm guessing you're the new Foreman?"
"At the moment," the lady nodded. "I'm Loreta. I was assigned to maintain the plant until a more permanent replacement could be selected."
"I'd hate to break it to you, but you might end up becoming the permanent replacement," Rana said as she sat down at the desk, across from Loreta. "There has only been one new hire since I started a little over two years ago, and he's been talking about enlisting in Full Combat."
"Yes, I know," Loreta sighed. "I've read the reports on the labor shortage here." Loreta slowly sat down behind the desk as if trying to maintain some illusion of composure.
"If you need some caffeine, I know an awesome tea shop not far from here. You can walk it, so long as you bundle up."
"I'm fine," Loreta smiled. "I wanted to talk to you about your responsibilities here. As far as I'm aware, you are the only person in maintenance."
"Uh, yea," Rana rubbed her arm in discomfort. "I worked under Seumus. It was just the two of us."
"I'm sorry to hear that."
"As for your inquiry, yes. I am the only maintenance person. If something breaks, I'm mostly likely the only one who can fix it. And I'm not here every day. I have school, too."
"Yes, I read about your unusual circumstances as well," Loreta nodded. "Expelled form Die-"
"Don't," Rana interrupted. "It's no longer relevant." The room fell silent for a breath before she continued. "Besides, I'm graduating soon. After I return from the ceremony, school will no longer be an issue. I can work on improving this place full time."
"Yes, yes. Of course, Miss Rana." The older lady fiddled her thumbs, seemingly unsure of how to continue. "I'm glad we have someone so skilled on staff," Loreta nodded again. "I'm curious about how you plan to improve this place, though."
"Hm? Oh right. You wouldn't know," Rana commented, perking up at the opportunity. "I had been working on plans to increase automation. It could offset the labor problem while also increasing efficiency and output," Rana beamed as she began to explain. "Seumus loved the idea, but Jurian was hesitant. He was… old fashion in his thinking. I wouldn't be surprised if they were arguing about before… well… you know," Rana tapered off.
"Would you-" Loreta paused to clear her throat. "Would you be able to explain this idea of yours in full? If we can offset the labor shortage even slightly, it might be worth investing in."
"Yea, of course," Rana smiled. "I'll make you a deal. Give me the day to get my files together and get caught up on work. I can give you a complete run down tomorrow morning."
"I think that could work. That would give me time to get oriented and bring in other officials. I can think of a few people who would be interested in this idea."
The next morning, Rana came prepared to give the best presentation of her life. She even stopped by the tea house and ordered tea and biscuits to bring in. Every little advantage to help win over minds she would gladly take. Stepping into the Foreman's office with snacks and computer in hand, Rana was greeted by Loreta and two other officials that had also been sent to the Volcanium plant.
The young woman's presentation went off without a hitch. It helped that she had been planning this for months. Rana was able to easily explain her various designs and how they could help improve the manufacturing process. Everything from Volcanium filtering, to assembly, to shipping was covered. There would still need people to help run and guide the machines, but far fewer people would be necessary as promised. And to top it all off, everything could be built in house. The couple of 3D printers they had could make all the parts needed. They would just need to be assembled.
There was one catch though. Rana's plan would come close to a complete renovation of the factory. It would require several months of planning followed by assembly to complete. The building would have to be shut down for most of the process. This was the detail that caused the officials to hesitate.
"While I appreciate the ambition," one of them started, "we would need to make sure we can afford a shutdown of that length. There's also the matter of retraining everyone for the new process." The two officials and Loreta began to discuss the project's merits before Rana gathered their attention again.
"This is more than a way to mitigate the labor shortage," Rana spoke with confidence. "This is a way to futureproof the entire factory. With this setup, we could easily redirect manufacturing efforts towards whatever is demanded of us. The factory could create more that just weapons and spare parts. Whatever item is requested, this plant would be able to create it with upmost speed and quality. It's also a proof of concept for other Volcanium plants. This automation setup could be adapted to any location."
"The upfront investment is steep, but with increased efficiency we could make up that loss within a Sigmorta year. It will be worth it. I can do most of the planning from now till I leave for the graduation ceremony. Once I return, we can shut down, and I'll oversee the assembly with Loreta or whoever is Foreman at that time."
"Thank you, Rana," Loreta bowed gratefully, which Rana returned. "Your idea is impressive, but we will need some time to discuss it."
"Of course."
Three days past. Rana was struggling to maintain her optimism. The pessimist in her was saying that her idea had been reject and forgotten. That was until she was called to the school's main office.
"Miss Rana," one of the staff poked their head into her class during a test. One that Rana had already finished. "You have a visitor."
"Ok?" Rana raised her eyebrow. The teacher excused her, and Rana made her way up to the main office.
"Good morning," Loreta greeted her with a bright smile.
"What the-" Rana blinked in surprise. "What are you doing here?"
"I wanted to bring you lunch," the woman offered, handing Rana a paper bag and drink from the tea shop. "Think of it as a congratulatory gift."
"Congratulatory?" Rana squinted. "Wait? You don't mean…"
"Mm hm," Loreta nodded. "Your project has been approved. We are currently working to bring in other engineers from around the empire to help. They will be acting as your planning committee."
"When you say they are my committee, does that mean I'm in charge of the project?" Rana grinned.
"Of course," Loreta stated matter-of-factly. "It was your idea, and you have the most familiarity with the machinery. Who better to spearhead the project?"
"Yes, yes, yes!" Rana cheered, practically jumping out of her skin in glee.
"I expect you at the plant bright and early tomorrow," Loreta chuckled. "Now back to class with you. You're not a graduate yet."
For the next couple months, I led my new team in planning for the revamp. It was just me and one other person at first, but as more engineers showed up my team grew to 13. I would go into work, do any needed inspections and repairs, then join the team for planning and designing the new machines. There were a few bumps and disagreements as to be expected when you work on a committee, but we got it done. But then my father had to show up and ruin the good times.
Rana stripped off her layers and threw them into her locker, ready for another day of work. As she was making her way to the workshop, Zak stopped her.
"Hey, Rana," he shouted out.
"Morning, Zak," Rana greeted as he walked over to her.
"Morning. Loreta want's you to meet her in the Foreman's office," Zak explained.
"What for?" Rana asked.
"She didn't say."
"Whatever," Rana shrugged. "Better not keep her waiting."
Rana made her way up to the office. She didn't bother to knock, opening the door and freezing in shock. Sitting in the chair across from Loreta's was her father.
"Good morning, Rana," Loreta greeted. "I would like you to meet-"
"WHAT IN THE ACTUAL HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?!" Rana screamed, her brain still trying to comprehend the sight before her.
"I wanted to check up with you, seeing as the graduation ceremony is just one standard week away. When I learned you were working on something big, I decided to inspect it for myself," her father calmly explained.
"And who in their right mind would give you clearance for that?"
"I would," the father chuckled. "I am the head of Transport Design and Manufacturing after all."
"I'm sorry, are you two related?" Loreta asked, bewilderment painting her features.
"Hashim is my dad," Rana sighed. "We've haven't spoken since I came to Sigmorta, so you could say this is a shock."
"Oh," Loreta said. Her eyes awkwardly dashed between Rana and Hashim, suddenly feeling out of place in her own office. "Would you two like some time to catch up? I don't believe anything requires immediate attention."
"I have to do the morning inspections," Rana deadpanned.
"Let your staff do them," Hashim spoke.
"No," Rana grimaced at the man, demanding he be quiet. But her father would not yield.
"Nonsense. I was told of a lovely tea shop not far from here."
"Just came from there," Rana sighed, but her father ignored it.
"I say you let your staff complete the morning duties. We can drive over to this tea shop, have a nice chat, then come back and look over this project you've been working on."
"Loreta, can't you tell this guy to leave me alone?"
"He outranks us," Loreta nervously pulled at her collar, obviously not wanting to be dragging into the family quarrel.
"We are not military," Rana pointed out, gesturing between herself and the Foreman.
"But this is an Empire owned factory. Hashim cannot make major changes by himself, but he can make minor request."
Rana angerly pouted at Loreta. Her disappointment was palpable. She turned to her father who still sat there calmly, if slightly smugly at his position.
"I'll get my coat," Rana grumbled.
Rana huffed as she sat at the small table across from her father. She handed him his tea before taking a sip of her own.
"Thank you, Rana," her father nodded. "I'll be sure to pay you back."
"Don't bother. It's just tea," Rana said. Her father was struggling to wrap his head around the idea physical money. Being the head of a major military department, most of his large possessions were government provided. The few things he needed to spend money on was bought through digital transactions, like all things on Narjahim. Rana would find his confusion hilarious if it wasn't so embarrassing.
"So," Rana frowned, "why the sudden interest in my life?"
"You are my daughter, and you are about to experience a major life event. Why wouldn't I be interested?"
"Maybe because you've never been interested in anything I ever do?"
"That's not true," her father defended. "I've told you before, I want you to grow into a successful and honorable woman."
"You have a funny way of showing that," Rana griped. "You've been neglecting me since Mom died. Hell, even before then, I remember her taking care of me. Not you."
"Rana, I had responsibilities beyond you and your mother. I tried to be there for you as often as I could. I'm sorry that wasn't enough for you."
"Oh, please," Rana rolled her eyes. "Even when you were there, you never tried to support me. All you ever did was go 'good job' and pat me on the back."
"I was proud of you," her farther explained. "I'm still proud of you. You've come so far and learned so much."
"I've had to do everything on my own!" Rana slammed her cup down harder than she intended, causing some of her drink to splash out. She sighed as she wiped it up with a napkin, doing her best to ignore the sideways stares she was now receiving from the shop's patrons.
"I've been on my own," Rana continued, much quieter this time. "You were never there to help me. And as much I resent you for that, I should probably be thanking you. Cause I'm the best there is, and I proved it all on my own."
"There goes your ego again," her father sighed. "It's not about being the best."
"Sure it is," Rana glared. "At least that's what it means to me. And do not try to tell me I'm wrong to think that. You lost that right a while ago."
Both Narjians fell quiet. Rana just wanted to be done already, but her father looked like he still had a lot to say. So, she sat and waited. Her mind wandered to the various corners of the shop, silently observing the surroundings she had grown so familiar with. Her natural instincts tried to get her to remain more vigilant of her father. He was unfamiliar and should be watched. But Rana didn't care enough and would not allow herself to focus on the man.
"Have you, um… chosen a crest for the ceremony?" her father hesitantly asked.
"I have," the young woman smirked.
It was tradition for each Narjian to take on a symbol to represent themselves. This was chosen at the coming-of-age ceremony, or the graduation ceremony as it was referred to in modern times. Most would choose to use a family crest or the crest of whatever group they may be apart of. That may be a guild, team, or military unit. A few would get fancy and design something new, but there was a basic formula to follow out of tradition.
"Something refencing Sigmorta-5 I assume," her father smiled.
"Uh, no," Rana deadpanned. "I went with a simple, nontraditional design."
"I can't say I'm surprised. What is it?"
"You won't like it."
"It can't be that bad."
"Oh, it's actually pretty awesome," Rana cheekily grinned, "but it's unfathomably unorthodox."
"Is it a skull?" her father asked unamused.
"Nope. A Volcanium heart."
"Rana," the man sighed, his face falling into his hands. The heart was a symbol that appeared in several cultures around the galaxy but was usually frowned upon in Narjian society. To them it represented untamed lust, and it was seen as rude outside of private situations.
"You don't get to judge."
"I'm your father. I have every right to judge you," he stated disappointedly. "You can't honestly be considering this."
"I am." Rana pulled out her phone and opened the picture file. Showing it to her father, the screen was black with a red heart. The heart had holes and liquid drops pouring from it as if made of dripping Volcanium. "Already have my robe ready."
"I can't believe this. Are you insane? What will everyone on Narjahim think?"
"Do you actually think I care?" Rana raised an eyebrow at him. "I stopped worrying about what others think awhile ago." She checked the time before standing up to stretch. "If you're finished with your tea, I need to head back to the plant."
"Very well, but we will be discussing this further," her father relented.
"No. We won't."
Rana walked back the Volcanium plant. Her father never went back, reportedly no longer having interest in the automation project.
The transport came out of slip space over the red skies of Narjahim. Rana examined the planet from her window seat and huffed, running her hand through her hair.
"Wow. It's even more beautiful in person," the Narjian student beside her whispered in awe.
"Try not to be too impressed," Rana scoffed. "Most of the people down there are stuck-up pricks."
"Is that why you left?" the girl asked.
"No, but it's why I haven't come back yet."
The 130 students from Sigmorta-5 had all been gathered on the sacred island that was considered the heart of the Narjian Empire. It was part of chain of islands that was home to several cultural and religious sights including the Palace of the Emperor. The island they are all on was formed by the Vahladeh Volcano. It was believed to be where Narjians first discovered the rejuvenating fire.
Dressed in nothing but simple robes, all the students walked the trail up the volcano's peak. It took about two hours until they were all standing before the open gullet of an active volcano. A hole had been dug out the side, allowing a slow, steady flow of natural lava to run down the side of the volcano. One by one, the students removed their robes and stepped into the river to be baptized in the fire.
Soon it was Rana's turn. She stripped off her rope and dipped her foot into the lava. She had handled Volcanium directly a multitude of times at the plant. This felt different somehow. The unfiltered substance seemed to glob around her, as if wanting to drag her down. Making her way over to the group of priests, she bowed her head and recited a prayer she memorized.
One of the priest approached and placed his hands on her back and over her eyes. With a light push, he dipped Rana back into the lava as the group of priests cited their hymns. The heat seemed to permeate her very core, as if trying to reforge her very soul. Three times the priest dipped her into the river, granting her the blessing of the Empire and the Old Religions.
After pulling her out a final time, the priest bowed to Rana and she bowed back. Rana stepped out of the river on the far side, the lava dripping off her form. After a few minutes, her body she was free of any molten rock. Only a light layer of soot covered her. She put on her personal robe that was waiting for her, the black one with her Volcanium heart crest.
As the ceremony continued, the other graduates were all giddy around her. Each seemed to feel a new sense of meaning and excitement from the event. They were ready to take the next step in their lives if serving the Empire. Rana felt… nothing.
Rana didn't feel a damn thing…
She tried to find a reason for this continued numbness. Maybe it was because she was so far ahead of everyone else in life. She had already found a path in life, even if it wasn't what she originally intended to walk. Maybe it was because she never put much faith in the old ways. She always believed it was better to look forward and push innovation. Maybe it was because she had already made sacrifices for the Empire. She had already killed for the Empire.
"No," Rana whispered to herself. "Not for the Empire. For you." The young woman decided at that she no longer cared for the Empire. She had never received help. She felt no sense of community with other Narjians. She hadn't felt so much as an itch of the bond since primary school, while half of her peers already had bond partners.
Rana no longer cared for the Empire. She would continue her work, as the Empire was the one signing her paychecks. But everything she did going forward would be for her own benefit. Everyone else be damned.
Rana met with her father one last time before leaving for Sigmorta-5 again. It went about as well as she expected. They could no longer maintain a civil discussion. Rana didn't really care enough to try, and her father seemed to be "too disappointed" to maintain his normal composure. The young woman decided he was no longer worth her time. Let the man remain disappointed. She knew who she was.
Returning to Sigmorta-5 wasn't nearly as bad as the first time she landed on the icy world. Rana reasoned that she had finally acclimated to the weather. There was something oddly comforting about the chilly wind against her skin. Here she had purpose and power. Rana doubted it would remain her home for long, but it held a familiarity to it.
When she returned to the Volcanium plant, the staff welcomed her back with excitement. When she hung up the small banner with her new crest over her desk, most of the line workers laughed and few even cheered. They were not surprised, given how independent Rana considered herself. Zak went so far as to give her a high five.
The other engineers were not as impressed by the banner. Most of them were down right bewildered by the design, given its potential cultural meaning. A few called her obscene and Loreta had to convince one of them to stay on the project.
"Rana, please," the Foreman practically begged. "I get that you like to see yourself as an outlier, a title you have proudly earned I might add. But could you tone it down just a bit. We need all the engineers to stay if you are to complete the project on time.
Rana let out a huff before waving off Loreta. "Fine, I'll take down the stupid banner. It will look better over my bed, anyways."
For the next year, my entire job focused on the new automation process. The other engineers liked me a lot less after the banner stunt, but we managed to work together despite that. We had all the robots and machines built on schedule. We started to pull the line workers back and teach them how to run the new set-up. Things were going surprisingly smooth. I was able to train a few new maintenance staff for the robots. I even got to learn about the drilling process and started to research ways to make that safer and more efficient as well.
But… there was still something missing. Everything felt so… hollow. So boring. I needed something more visceral to break up the day-to-day grind. I was craving a fight. I wanted to test my combat skills against an actual opponent, not just some dummy or sparring partner. I found temporary relief when I took a holiday to Sigmorta Prime.
Rana kept her hood up and her head down as she went to the address she hacked. Whoever these gambling ring guys were, they desperately needed better cybersecurity. She found a dark corner and watched the building. After half an hour, she started to notice an unusual mix of species heading to the side door. Rana strolled up to the metal door and knocked. An eye slit opened, revealing a single, purple eye.
"Password," a deep voice demanded.
"I don't have a password," Rana deadpanned. "But I did hack your systems. Your boss's name is Crox. He is a Sculquin running an illegal gambling ring for the Onyx Void, biggest mafia clan this half of the Empire. On top of running all the underground casinos on Sigmorta Prime, Crox also likes to host street races and fighting tournaments."
The eye continued to stare down at her, seemingly growing furious as she talked.
"I'm not here to tattle," Rana continued. "I just want in."
"Wait here," the voice commanded. The eye slit closed, and stomping steps could be heard leaving the other side of the door. A minute later, the steps returned. The door swung open to reveal buff, squid-faced man with a single, purple eye and a short, lizard man in a suit.
"You must be Crox," Rana smirked.
"Get in here, girly," Crox demanded, stepping aside.
Rana did as she was told and didn't so much as flinch when the door slammed shut behind her.
"How in Oedon's name did you learn so much about us?" Crox asked. "And you better tell the truth." He pulled out a blaster and pointed it right between Rana's eyes.
"I hacked your computers," Rana grinned. "It wasn't too hard. You're trying to protect yourself from the Empire's older systems. I'm more advanced than that. I built a simple AI to slip past your security. Then I traced the data signature back to this place. Oh, and I pulled your finances to talk my way in."
"How impressive," Crox spat. "You must think you're sooo smart. Give me one good reason I shouldn't blast you right now. If you got my name, then you should know Onyx Void don't take kindly to Narjians."
"I'm not like other Narjians. I don't care about the Empire. I'm just looking out for number one."
"Doesn't explain why you decided to come here."
"I've been itching for a good fight," Rana swayed her head. "And according to your files, you're hosting a tournament tonight."
"Hu… Girly, you must be crazy," Crox shook his head. He lowered his blaster, no longer seeing her as a threat to his operation. "Most of my clientele don't care for you fascist green beans neither. Once the fight starts, it's no holds barge. If you go down, there's nothing stopping the other fighter from beating you into a pulp."
"It's one-on-one, right?"
"Yeah."
"Then I'll be fine."
"Your funeral," Crox shrugged. "Follow me to the prep room. We need to make sure you don't try to sneak no weapons into the ring. Oh, and I'll need a name. Not your real name. I need a flashy title for when the announcer calls you out."
"I have a few ideas," Rana smiled.
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Ch 21: End of an Empire, Part 3
"Ladies and Gentlemen! It's time for the fight you've all been waiting for. The Onyx Rumble 6 Championship!"
The crowd let out a thunderous cheer so loud, it felt as if the entire warehouse was shaking.
"In the red corner! The Lavillanite with 11 knockouts to his name! The heavy-weight king of the Chegov Underground! CAPTAIN GODFIST!"
A large, armadillo looking man wearing a cape and gloves stepped into the circular cage. He held his hands high, taking in the praise of the spectators. He removed his cape and tossed it aside.
"In the blue corner! Hailing from the icy planes of Sigmorta-5 with a heart just as cold! The lone Narjian! The Onyx Rumble reigning champion! LORD DOMINATOR!"
Rana stepped forward to a mix of cheering and booing. She always found it amusing how her mere presence could cause fights amongst the spectators. She entered the cage, revealing her iconic black crop-top and black skirt with shorts underneath. Across her chest, her Volcanium heart crest was printed for all to see. She pulled on her own yellow gloves as she examined her opponent.
This Godfist character was certainly chunkier than most Lavillanites. Most would rely on their natural speed and armor to get through a fight. However, this man decided to pack on the muscle and fat to help protect his stomach region. That would make going for the usual weak points less effective. Rana's best bet would be to go for the head. If she could scramble his brains enough, Godfist would become too disoriented to fight. If she couldn't, he would probably kill her.
With the short horn blast, the fight commenced. Godfist charged forward trying to shoulder Rana against the cage, but she easily side-stepped his attack. He screeched to a halt and spun into a punch, his fist slamming down where Rana was standing. She once again side-stepped, causing the attack to contact the stone floor and crack it.
"I see how you got your name," Rana commented before retaliating with a punch to Godfist's face. "Good thing you're too slow to follow through." She followed through with three more attacks before leaping back from her opponent's swipe.
The fight continued like this for a few minutes. Every attack Godfist made Rana would gracefully slip out of the way and retaliate. The constant attacks were visually draining the Lavillanite as he began to pant and sweat. He was also starting to stumble around from repeated strikes to the head. Rana grinned, ready to finish him off.
Godfist charged forward again, slower this time. When Rana dodged, he spun in the opposite direction and tripped her up with his small tail. Rana fell back with a grunt as she hit the cold floor. She opened her eyes just in time to see Godfist bring his hands together and bring them down on her.
"Whoa!" Rana barely rolled out of the way as the ground was cracked mere inches from her head. She quickly scooted out from under Lavillanite, but he grabbed her by the ankle before she got too far. "Get off!" Rana spat as she tried to kick Godfist in the face.
Godfist let out a roar as he spun and threw Rana against the far side of the cage. She could feel a few ribs fracture as her body warped the wire wall. The Narjian picked herself up, holding her side at the pain. Slowly approaching was her opponent, ready to turn her into a pulp.
"Godfist! Godfist!" the crowd started to cheer. The Lavillanite pulled his fist back, ready to finish off the Narjian. Rana wasn't sure she could dodge with her injury. So, she counterattacked.
As Godfist began to swing into the punch, Rana leaped at him with all her might. Caught off guard by the sudden weight on him, Godfist staggered back as Rana pressed her palms against his shoulder. To end the fight, Rana swung her knee up into his chin, cracking Godfist's jaw. As the Lavillanite fell backwards, Rana delivered a final, powerful blow for good measure.
Rana stood from the now unconscious man and stepped to the middle of the ring. There was a short countdown, but she knew he wasn't getting up.
"LORD DOMINATOR WINS!"
The spectators once again exploded into thunderous cheering. There were still a few detractors mixed in, but no one could deny that she won. Rana took a moment to soak in the praise before stepping out of the now unlocked cage.
Rana did her best to rush out of the building. A lot of dangerous people did not want her to win that fight. She got dressed in her regular clothes and put on her Volcanium gloves for good measure. Once she collected her prize money, Rana left the warehouse, activated her hidden bot and started moving. She needed to get to a med center but was stopped as she was leaving the industrial district.
"Now where could Dominator be off to in a such a rush?" a deep voice asked. A tall lizard man stepped into Rana's path, flanked on either side by his goons. "She couldn't be trying to escape, could she?"
"Bug off, Jazk," Rana said. "I won that fight fair and square."
"I told you to take a dive," Jazk snapped. "It's bad enough that Crox lets you partake in his tournaments, but to have a Narjian win? Unacceptable!"
"It's win or die for me," Rana pointed out. "You have yet to throw a fighter at me that would let me take a dive. Not like I would if I could," she smirked at the mob boss. "If it's that big of an issue, just let Onyx Void ban me. It would be funnier that way."
"You're in luck," Jazk chuckled. "You heard her, boys. Break her bones. Make sure Dominator never fights again." On his command, more goons stepped out of the shadows and surrounded her. Each was holding some sort of blunt object, ready to beat her down.
Rana tapped a button on her Volcanium gloves, calling her bot forward. A four-legged contraption of scrap metal leaped off a nearby roof and landed next to Rana.
"Guardbot, kill the goons. Leave Jazk alive."
"AFFIRMATIVE," the Guardbot responded. "CALCULATING… ENGAGING." The bot's back opened, revealing a large blaster. It immediately locked on and began shooting at the goons with deadly precision. None of them came prepared for a firefight and some tried to run away. But it was no use. In a matter of seconds, Guardbot had killed them all.
Jazk had pulled out his own blaster, but quickly lost his nerve and ran. Rana activated her Volcanium gloves, the molten substance coating her hands and arms. Reaching her arm forward, the Volcanium stretched out and wrapped around Jazk's ankle before pulling him back. Jazk tried to shoot her, but Rana formed a shield with her other hand to block the blaster bolts.
"See, you idiots keep thinking I'm just another Narjian following the old ways," Rana spoke down to the terrified man. "But I'm better than that. I understand progress and the sacrifices it requires. I'm not out to prove some stupid, racial superiority complex. I was fighting because it's fun."
Volcanium began to cover Jazk's body, but Rana was careful to not burn him. She wanted him alive. So instead of frying the man, she began to crush him. The Volcanium wrap grew tighter until it started to crack the lizard's bones. His screams of agony were like music to Rana's ears. Once she was satisfied with the damage, she retracted the Volcanium. With a sick smile she pulled out her burner phone, the one she used with Onyx Void.
"Emergency Services, what's your emergency?" a voice on the other end asked.
"There's been an accident," Rana calmly said. "Erni Street in the industrial district. A man has been seriously hurt. He'll need medical attention."
"A Medical Team is being dispatched," the voice stated. "What was the nature of the accident?... Ma'am? Ma'am?"
Rana wasn't listening. She had already placed the burner phone next to Jazk's head. The man looked furious, but he was too injured to talk, let alone cuss her out.
"Let Onyx Void know I'm out. If they come after me, I'll cook them all alive." Rana walked away, her bot in tow. The Medical Center was now out of the question. Good thing she knew a guy who could help and keep his mouth shut for the right price.
Rana rubbed her temples as she went over the new drill design she had been presented. She could appreciate the ambition behind them. The ability to completely drain a small planet of Volcanium would be a major boon to the Empire. She already had a list of dead planetoids it could be used on. But a drill of that size introduced several engineering hurdles, some of which her team failed to address. Which meant she had to fix it.
"I need caffeine," Rana mumbled as she slowly stood from her desk, careful to not strain her still healing injury.
Stepping out of the office, Rana looked up at the red skies of Narjahim and let out a sad sigh. After so much time spent improving Volcanium facilities across the Empire, she had finally been assigned a position on the home world. She actually tried to weasel out of it at first, but the perks of heading up your own R&D team were too good to ignore. Not to mention that finally having her genius recognized was a nice bonus.
Still, there were a few things she missed. Being tied to a desk job meant that she didn't get to travel nearly as much. Her true home was out amongst the stars, not on the surface of a bureaucratic planet. She missed being able to avoid people. Her job always required a certain amount of team planning and delegation. But when you travelled around, no one tried to get attached to you. Now she was stuck with a single team to "bond with". The thought alone sent a shiver down her spine.
She missed the freedom, and the power that came with it. Everything her new team planned and came up with had to be approved by a council that outranked them. More often than not their ideas were rejected with a list of required changes.
Rana took her time walking to the local tea shop. She needed to let her mind wander for a bit. It wasn't like she was dying for a cup. She could make it better herself but didn't feel like going all the way back to her house. It would be better for the Narjian to chill for a moment. Once at the shop, she ordered her drink and sat outside. That was one other advantage of the tea shop. It had a great view of the ocean.
"Miss Rana?" a voice squeaked out.
"What is it, Panni?" Rana sighed, too easily recognizing the woman's soft voice. So much for some alone time.
"I wasn't sure if it was you," Panni giggled. The older woman stepped into view, smiling at Rana. "May I join you?"
"I was hoping for some quiet time," Rana mumbled in annoyance.
"Don't worry, I promise not to be a bother," Panni said as she sat down across from Rana.
Rana did her best to ignore Panni, which wasn't too difficult. The woman clearly wanted to speak up but had long since learned a couple rules. Everyone on Rana's team knew there were certain subjects you did not bring up around the young woman. Do not ask about her friends or family. Avoid talking about your love life or asking about hers. Do not criticize her heart crest. Do not ask about bonding partners. And NEVER mention her father. The person who broke that last rule got a wrench thrown at them when they refused to shut up.
"Have you, um… looked over the drill plans?" Panni finally asked.
"I have," Rana nodded. "I'm impressed. I didn't think you guys could come up with something that ambitious."
"Oh, thank you."
"Though it has a few flaws," Rana continued. "The kind of stuff that comes with going big. I'll have to make some changes."
"Of course," Panni said, somewhat deflated. They both become quiet for a long time, just enjoying the view. Until Panni spoke up again. "So, I know you don't like talking about it…"
"Ah, hell," Rana whispered as she rubbed her eyes.
"But Pherick and I are going to a special gala for the New Year's holiday…"
"Stop."
"And I was wondering if you would like to join us. There will be plenty of young suitors and potential bonding partners."
"There it is," Rana groaned loudly.
"I know it's a sticky subject for you, but you need to be actively looking for a partner. You're not getting any younger, and soon-"
"Shut up!" Rana stood up from the table, turning to give Panni a venomous glare. "Not another word."
"Rana… I just want to help," Panni choked out, suddenly seeming tiny under the shorter woman's eye.
"I don't need your help. Stop trying to act like a mom and stay in your fucking lane."
"I… I… ok," Panni looked away defeated.
Rana continued to stare at her for a moment longer before returning to the office.
Rana decided to go in early again. It seemed like the only time she ever got the workshop to herself. Most of her time had to be spent refining designs and prototyping with her team. But when she was able to get free access to all the tools, she could work on her own projects. The ones that the higher committees always rejected. She had made so much progress on her battle suit idea, but today she wanted to refine her bots.
It took a while to perfect the internal gyro motors. With those working at max, any spherical bot she made could self-maneuver, turning and stopping with pinpoint precision. The problem was making a perfectly spherical body was difficult and time consuming. The mobility benefits were not worth it unless she could manufacture and repair them quickly and cheaply. That pushed her to work on the self-repair module.
It had long been known that Volcanium could be manipulated to any form by charging it with electric pulses. This is what allowed her gloves to warp and shapeshift on command. The issue was that this was an imprecise process. Unless you were using the purest type of Volcanium, Volcanium X, the warping process became sloppy. Volcanium X was hard to come by, as it only formed in the core of planets. If Rana could perfect the warping process, she could use a less pure form of Volcanium to make her bots.
"Alright, that should do it," Rana mumbled to herself as she fixed the new module into place. She stepped back to examine the bot laying open on the table. "Let's see if you work." Rana entered a few commands into her tablet, causing the bot to whirl to life. She activated the module and the bot's body sealed itself shut with Volcanium the same way it would if damaged in the field. "Hmm… a little lopsided, but better. Should work with a printer, but the self-repair needs more tuning."
"Talking to your toys again?" a voice called out from the workshop entrance.
"Hm?" Rana's head snapped to the voice to see a man standing there with his eyebrow raised. "What do you want, Caishen?"
"I came to find you before everyone else gets antsy. I don't want to listen to Kamal complain about your tardiness for the hundredth time."
"Fine, fine," Rana waved him off. "Let me clean up. I'll be there in a few minutes."
"So, what's on the agenda today?" Rana asked as she stepped into the office area.
"We got the report back from the Approval Committee," Jakki spoke up first. She handed it to Rana, a giant smile painting her features.
"Did you already read it?" Rana deadpanned.
"Yep, but we won't spoil it for you."
"It better be good," Rana opened the report and glanced over the first page. "My robot designs were rejected. Again. Shocker," she rolled her eyes.
"You could probably get them to sign off on the gyro motors if you submitted them alone," Caishen pointed out.
"Maybe." Rana turned to the next marked page. "Quin's phaser blaster prototype was rejected, but they like the idea and wish to see it further developed."
"That's a win in my books," Quin smirked as he leaned back in his chair.
"And lastly, the planet drill… has been approved," Rana gasped, her eyes dilating as she read the words several times over.
"Isn't it great?" Jakki cheered.
"Uh, yeah," Rana hesitantly nodded. "Just weird they approved it on the first go." She turned the page and began to read out loud. "The Approval Committee will be reassigning your research team to work alongside Galactic Ship Design and Construction to further develop and implement the planet drill. Your reassignment will begin on the seventh day of the new year and continue until the completion of the project. You will be reporting directly to the Head of the Royal Engineers Guild during the assignment."
"This calls for celebration," Jakki sang. "Oh, should we go out for drinks? Maybe hit up some fancy restaurant? What do you guys think? Panni? Kamal? Any ideas?"
"There is the gala next week. It would be interesting to watch our dear leader try to navigate a social event," Kamal chuckled.
"Oh, hardy har har," Rana glared at him before turning her attention back to the report. "Does anyone know who's in charge of the Royal Engineers Guild? I like to know who I'm working for."
"It was a guy named Fabius," Caishen said, "but I believe he announced his retirement."
"Let me look up who won the Guild elections," Panni spoke up. She started to type away on a tablet. "Let's see… Starting in the new year, the Head of the Royal Engineers Guild is-" Panni suddenly paled before flipping her tablet upside down.
"Well?" Caishen asked.
"It's not important," Panni whispered. "We should just do the job and not worry about it."
"Panni," Rana scolded. "Give me the tablet."
"I don't think that's a good idea," the older woman was starting to panic, now holding the tablet to her chest.
"Just give it here," Rana marched over to her, ready to fight.
"Rana, please! Trust me on this!"
"Holy shit!" Quin burst out into laughter. He had pulled out his and looked it up himself. "Rana, look!" Quin held it out so everyone could see the screen. It displayed an image of Rana's dad with the words Hashim, Newly Elected Head of the Royal Engineers Guild.
"You have got to be kidding me," Rana said as she stared at the picture in abject horror.
I didn't celebrate with the rest of the team. I instead ended up spending most of the New Year's celebrations either trying to get the Approval Committee to reconsider or sulking over my own projects in the workshop. In short, a project as large as the planet drill required my dad's oversight. And because he was elected to Head of the Guild, there was no way to remove or bypass him. We were stuck with each other.
Rana led her team into the meeting room. Each of them was dressed in formal business attire. Each of them had their personal crest printed over their hearts. Of course, this meant Rana's Volcanium heart was on full display. This was a show of force on her part. She wouldn't need to interact with her father too much. He was overseeing the entire ship and not just the drill. But for this first meeting, she wanted to make sure her father knew this was their project. She was in charge of the drill.
"Miss Rana," her father addressed. "Allow me to welcome you and your team." He stood along with his subordinates.
"The honor is ours, Guild Head Hashim," Rana responded coldly as she and her team bowed. Her eyes locked with her father's as they both seemed to size one another up. A tension seemed to permeate the air, one that everyone was awkwardly aware of even if no one mentioned it.
"Shall we begin?" one of the members of Ship Design spoke up.
"Of course," Hashim nodded. He sat back down, and everyone took their assigned seats.
Rana had promised her team that she wouldn't make a scene with her dad, but she also made it clear to them that this would be a power struggle. Hashim would be fully aware, even if his team was oblivious to the circumstances. To make sure they were seen as a substantial force, Rana made sure everyone on her team did their research. Not just on drilling and the complexities involved, but about the entire ship building process. They couldn't design an entire mining ship on short notice, but they could get the groundwork ready.
A mining ship capable of extracting all the Volcanium from planet would require an immense amount of storage, as well as onboard filtering to separate Volcanium X from the less pure Volcanium. The ship would also require a massive, nuclear engine to move, but some of the low quality Volcanium could also be diverted to engines. Two ideas were floated to save energy. Either they could have a fleet of smaller ships to transport the Volcanium across the Empire, or they could have a printing facility on the main ship itself to fulfil demands. Both ideas had merits, and most of the engineers on Ship Designed thought a hybrid system would work best.
For the whole meeting, Rana and her team made a point control and steer the conversation. Panni and Quin made sure Rana and Kamal didn't dominate and let the other teams give input. To most of the people in the room, Rana and her team were incredibly passionate about the project and were eager to work on it with the Royal Engineers Guild.
But Hashim knew better. Rana could see it in his eyes. Her father constantly switched between being impressed and being annoyed. Of course, he would be impressed with her team's planning and design ideas. But he was annoyed that he was being shown up by his rebellious daughter. Rana had built a reputation as having no concern for honor or tradition. She only cared about being the best. Yet despite this, or maybe because of it, she was slowly earning the respect of Hashim's closest allies.
After the meeting, Rana and her team were the first to bow to the others and leave. On her way she couldn't help overhearing someone say, "That's quite the daughter you have." She didn't see who it was, but they were clearly impressed. Only question now was would Hashim be a proud father, or a disappointed one due to her continued rejection of tradition?
My father didn't show any interest in our relationship outside of the project. I thought about approaching him a few times, but ultimately decided against it. It was better to keep things strictly professional with him. We could be two strangers outside of work for all I cared.
It took forever, but the drill was eventually finished. Due to its massive size, it had to be built first and the rest of the ship was to be assembled around it. After putting so much work into this thing, I was ready to go back to other projects, but the damn drill had to be tested first.
Rana stared out the space dock window, examining the drill from afar. Behind her, her team was discussing potential test sites. While the drill had undergone several running tests while docked, it still needed a live test before the rest of the ship was assembled. And the one thing no one could agree on was where to test it.
It was a complicated question. If anything goes wrong, it has to be easily reachable for repairs. Most of the potential planetoids were either too remote or too close to enemy territory for a safe test. The next logical conclusion was a moon, but no one wanted to volunteer theirs for obvious reasons. There were a few good testing spots in Empire territory, but all were close to civilized planets. If the drill were to have a catastrophic failure during the live test, it could wreak havoc on any planet too close.
"What about the Merrotor system?" Jakki suggested.
"They only have one viable planetoid," Caishen responded, "and it won't be a safe distance from Merrotor Prime for two standard years."
"There's Elniea-3," Kamal said.
"Elnieans said no," Quin shook his head. "The Committee confirmed it this morning. They don't want anything to do with the drill and it's unlikely the emperor will override them."
"Did Hashim have any suggestions?" Panni asked.
"Also no," Quin frowned. "The Guild Head stopped caring about the drill a month ago. He has turned all his attention to prepping for ship assembly. We are on our own."
"Figures," Jakki rolled her eyes.
"What about Cuiwei?" Rana suggested, not looking away from the drill. The observation deck became deathly silent as Rana formulated her plan.
"She's joking, right?" Caishen hesitantly spoke up.
"Cuiwei has a Volcanium dense core," Rana explained. "We take the drill there with a few mega printers and set the thing to full power. If everything works, we'll be able to print the ship's basic skeleton around the drill. We'll have a tested drill and have jump started the assembly process in one go."
"Ok, she has to be joking."
"I'm serious," Rana turned to her team with an annoyed glare.
"Rana," Kamal glared back. "Are you forgetting that Cuiwei is a WARZONE?!"
"I know," Rana smirked. "How many soldiers has the Empire lost trying to conquer that jungle waste? They have been fighting the Cuiwei bugs for over a hundred standard years. If we use the drill, the planet will be unable to sustain life. The Empire will be free to plunder the dead rock for all its resources. That's three birds with one stone."
Her team stared back at her with traumatized stares. It was as if they couldn't believe that she had suggested her insane plan.
"Holy shit, you're serious," Caishen finally said.
"Yes. I said that," Rana spoke down at him.
"Rana, dear," Panni stood and stepped towards the shorter woman. "It's not that it's a bad idea. But what you are suggesting is that we use our creation to commit genocide."
"You say that like it's a bad thing," Rana said somewhat amused. "This isn't out of the ordinary. The Empire has glassed plenty of planets into oblivion. We only stopped because the last few emperors have gone all religious and obsessed with 'honor' and 'tradition'."
"You're insane!" Kamal yelled at her. "Even if we agree to this outrageous idea, the military will never sign off on it."
"You don't know that," Rana griped back.
"Yes, I do! And even if they agree, do you really want to risk dragging our drill through a warzone to test it?"
"Do you have a better idea?" Rana accused.
"We test on a planetoid like we originally discussed!"
"Hmm…" Rana studied Kamal for a tense minute, trying to decide how to proceed. She made a few, quick calculations in her head before declaring her ultimatum. "One month. If you five haven't found a suitable testing site in one month, I move forward with my idea. Alone."
"It's never going to happen," Kamal shook his head.
"Let me worry about making it happen. You worry about your own job." Rana gave them a brief, back-hand wave as she walked off.
For the next month, I prepared for my attack. It wasn't hard as I had built the system all the Volcanium facilities ran on. I hacked into one in the Narjahim system and commanded the machines to build my armor and a small army of my robots. I also made a point to forge an order as to avoid raising suspicions.
Getting a ship and access to the drill proved to be more difficult. I had to write a custom virus to gain control of both. I hacked the space dock myself, as I had clearance for most of the systems. For a ship, I sent a bot to break into a military transport that was undergoing routine maintenance.
I was ready for my attack.
Rana rode the orbital transport up to the space dock with her hacked ship. Before she started, she had one last thing to be sure of. She called the office on the surface.
"Rana!" Kamal answered. "Where have you been?"
"Doing my part," Rana's grin could be heard in her voice. "So, did you find a suitable testing site?"
"That's not important right now. Everyone is asking questions, and the Royal Guild is starting to get pissed at your absence."
"I'm only worried about the agreement," Rana said. "It's been a month. Has my team decided on a testing site?"
"Uh… not yet," Kamal hesitated. "We've narrowed it down. Wait! Are you still stuck on the Cuiwei idea? No one is going to sign off on that!"
"That is a non-issue. I'm implementing the plan myself. Catch you later."
"Rana, wait! Whatever you're up to, don-"
Rana hung up.
Rana carelessly tossed her ID to the security guard to check. While he was looking away, she activated her Volcanium gloves.
"Miss Rana, I believe there's been a mistake," the guard stated. "This says you only have clearance for Space Dock 4. I'll need to-"
WHAM! The guard was silenced by a Volcanium fist smashing his computer console.
"That won't be necessary," Rana smirked as she grabbed him and tossed him at the other guards. She was dashing down the hall before they could get up. Slipping on a small headset, Rana continued to sprint through the halls towards the ship. "Hackbot, do you copy?"
"AFFIRMATIVE," a robotic voice answered through the headset.
"Activate the ship's evacuation protocols and be ready to seal all the airlocks on my command."
"AFFIRMATIVE."
A few seconds later, the dock's sirens went off. All the workers onboard started to hustle their way to the safe zones. This slowed down Rana, as it now meant she was trying to run against the flow of traffic, but it also kept security off her back. With a little luck, it will also keep the military guessing until she could get her army. Once past the crowds, Rana took a final left turn into the docked ship.
"I'm on," she spoke into her headset. "Are there any other people on board?"
"NEGATIVE," Hackbot answered.
"Seal all the airlocks and get us out of here."
"AFFIRMATIVE."
Rana made it to the bridge just in time to witness the ship pulling away from the dock. All the connections broke away, as they were designed to do in an emergency. A single scout ship was approaching, probably to see what was causing all the commotion. While her ship was larger and had way more fire power, she didn't want to attract more attention just yet. She pulled her tablet out of her bag and synced it with the ship's computer.
"Let's see… Wow," Rana's eyebrows shot up. "You took over the entire system, and no one noticed. Best AI I've built so far." She smiled at Hackbot, but the floating drone wasn't programmed to respond to casual chit chat.
"Connecting to Dock 4's systems… sending the package… 30 seconds till we can release the drill." Rana continued to talk her way through the process, almost expecting her bot to respond at some point. "Dock 4 is under our control. Hackbot, get ready to tow the drill. Just like I planned."
"AFFIRMATIVE."
The transport ship went into a high-speed orbit, looping around the planet to where the drill was docked. With a few keystrokes, all the wires holding the drill to the dock snapped loose. Working with her bot, Rana maneuvered the ship in front of the massive drill and activated the towing cables. A pair of guided cables ejected themselves from the rear of the ship and automatically attached to the drill.
"ERROR DETECTED," Hackbot announced. "TOWING LOAD OVER CAPACITY."
"Reduce artificial gravity to minimum," Rana commanded. "Shut down life support for all sectors excluding the bridge and divert all available power to the engines. This will work. Only question is how long." Rana strapped herself into the control console and started up the slip space calculations.
"ADJUSTMENTS COMPLETE. TOWING LOAD OVER CAPACITY," Hackbot said.
"Override the safeties. We need to get moving."
"AFFIRMATIVE."
Rana activated the slip space drives, and the ship seemingly teleported to the mining colony at the edge of the Najahim system. With little time to spare, Rana moved into orbit over the colony. The transport ship was too big to land on the surface, so she had to take one of the shuttle craft.
"This is Rana of Narjahim," she spoke over the radio. "I'm here to collect my robots."
"Copy that," the air traffic controller responded. "Please proceed to the Sector 5 Landing. Dock 14."
"Copy that," Rana responded before landing her shuttle on the designated dock. She stepped out and was immediately greeted by one of the facility workers.
"Welcome back, Miss Rana," the man greeted. Rana didn't remember his name and didn't really care to relearn it. "We were surprised by the sudden order you put in, but it's ready."
"Good," Rana nodded to the taller man. "Show them to me. Quickly. I'm on a tight schedule."
"Of course. Right this way." The man led her to one of the nearby hangers. It appeared to normally be for working on spacecraft, but was currently housing 100 identical, spherical bots.
"Everything looks to be in order," Rana commented. "And my suit?"
"Right over here," the man led her to a small table with a large case resting on top. Opening the case, Rana examined the new, Volcanium battle suit. It was exactly how she had designed it. An improvement over the past prototypes, this one was battle ready.
Rana slipped off her Volcanium gloves before reaching into the case and removing the pair of gauntlets. Putting them on, she pressed a few control buttons on the right gauntlet, and all the bots came to life. What appeared to be just 100 black spheres lit up and sprouted legs, identifying them as her robot army.
"Perfect," Rana smiled. "I believe I also requested a small transport to take these to my ship?"
"In the next hanger over," the man assured her. "If I may ask, what are all these for?"
"I'm… taking them to Cuiwei," Rana hesitated, but she quickly recovered. "These are my first, field-ready prototypes."
"I wish you luck," the man nodded.
With a few commands, the bots rolled themselves out of the hanger and into the requested transport. There were already two mega printers onboard, taking up most of the ship's space. Rana went back to her shuttle and led the small transport back to her own ship. At her request, the pilot opened the bay doors and lined up with her own ship's hanger. With shocking accuracy, the transport pilot brought his ship within a few yards of Rana's, allowing her bots to roll through space and land on her ship.
The mega printers proved to be more difficult, but there was already a system in place. The small transport moved over to the drill and used an internal crane-arm to move them. At Rana's request, the printers were secured to the top of the drill. The riggers were securing the second printer when two battleships dropped out of slip space near the drill.
"Shit," Rana whispered under her breath. "Time to go."
"Rana of Narjahim. You are under arrest for Conspiracy against the Empire," a voice came over the radio. It was broadcasting on all frequencies, so the riggers and transport pilot heard it, too.
"Is that second printer secure?" Rana frantically asked.
"Uh… yea, I think," one of the riggers responded. "Wh-what's going on? Why is the military after you?"
"Cool. Thanks," Rana said, not bothering to acknowledge the questions.
"I repeat, you are under arrest," the military continued to announce. "Surrender now."
"Fuck off!" Rana yelled into the radio. "I'm trying to improve the Empire!" Rana haphazardly landed her shuttle inside her ship alongside the bots. "Hackbot! Shut the bay doors and set course for Cuiwei! Launch when ready!"
"AFFIRMATIVE."
Rana kicked open the case and started to strap on the pieces of her battle suit. She could feel the ship jolt from a laser hitting the shields followed by a softer jolt from jumping into slip space. Rana paused to take a deep breath. It would be a while before they reached Cuiwei, but she was safe till then. The final piece was her helmet. She couldn't resist a bit of style on this piece. The faceplate resembled a white skull, contrasting the solid, black Volcanium of the rest of the suit.
With the helmet on, Rana could activate the suit. The heavy Volcanium suddenly felt weightless as the internal systems came to life. All the system checks came back good. Rana was ready to fight. She made her way back to the bridge, making a point to stop by the armory. A sword and blaster rifle would be good to have if she was to lead her bots into battle.
"Status report," Rana commanded.
"ARRIVING AT CUIWEI IN: 7 HOURS," Hackbot said. "WARNING: ENGINE STRESS HIGH. FUEL CONSUMPTION HIGH. A RETURN TRIP WILL NOT BE POSSIBLE."
"Then we better get it right the first time."
Rana's transport dropped out of slip space. Before her, she could see a fleet of Narjian ships in battle over Cuiwei. Rana couldn't help but roll her eyes at what she assumed to be yet another invasion attempt.
"INCOMING TRANSMISSION."
"Answer it. Voice only," Rana said.
"Incoming ship, this is General Reshen of the Narjian Empire. Identify yourself."
"This is Rana of Narjahim," she answered. "I'm here on behalf of the Royal Engineers Guild. I will be testing the planet drill on Cuiwei. Command all ground forces to retreat immediately."
"Negative," the General said. "We were not notified of any test. Bring your ship to a stop and prepare to be boarded."
"No," Rana frowned. "I came here with a mission, and I fully intend to complete it. I don't really care if you evacuate the surface. Just stay out of my way." Rana ended the transmission before the General could respond. "Hackbot, full impulse to the drilling site. Shut everything down except shields, weapons, and critical computer systems. Once the ship is in orbit, do whatever it takes to protect the drill. If anyone tries to stop us, blast 'em."
"AFFIRMATIVE."
Rana rushed to the loading bay, swimming through the gravity free halls. Once she was at the bay, she grabbed a jetpack and oxygen tank to attach to her suit. The woman maneuvered herself out of the bay and to the top end of the drill. Using her suit's Volcanium gauntlets to not float away, she prepped the drill.
First, she had to hook up and activate the two mega printers. This would be hard enough to do alone without zooming through open space. Thankfully her years of experience allowed her to complete the process without much trouble. By the time she was done, she was flying through the space battle. Plasma explosions silently lit up around her as the planet's gravity started to take hold.
Next, she had to turn on the drill. Again, it was fairly straight forward as she helped design the thing. She input her commands into the maintenance console, and the drill slowly started to turn. Once it impacted the surface, it would speed up by powering itself with excess Volcanium.
"Hackbot, detach the tow cables," she commanded.
"AFFIRMATIVE," Hackbot responded. The two cables came undone, and the drill began to free fall.
"Let's hope this works," Rana muttered to herself. She activated her suit's inertial dampeners and secured herself to the drill with her gauntlets. She couldn't stop herself from screaming as the drill rumbled against the planet's atmosphere. The burning air was so loud she couldn't hear herself. Her fall came to a hard stop as the drill impacted. Rana had to fight back the bile rising in her throat.
"Uuuhg…" she groaned, struggling to stand. "I'm alive. Nothing's broke. Let's get… whoa…" So many miles in the air, Rana could see out to the curvature of Cuiwei. It was a lush green and blue that quickly turned to fiery red and orange around the drill. "Awesome." Rana whispered. Not wanting to delay further, she called her bot army forward. After a minute, the spherical bots began to zoom past as they fell to the surface. Once she was sure it was safe, she jumped after them.
"Oof!" Rana grunted as she landed. "I'll need to work on that." As far as she could see, the jungle had been burned away by the impact of the drill. She could hear the deafening cracks forming below her as the drill slowly started to pick up speed. She activated her bots, and all 100 spheres came to life, sprouting legs and blasters. "Bots! Protect the drill at all costs!"
The air was still for several minutes. The calm repetition of the spinning drill contrasted with the light burst coming from the battle above them. But Rana knew better. There was no way the Cuiwei bugs wouldn't try to take the drill. Sure enough, an army appeared on the horizon. A massive hoard of giant insects could be seen coming for her creation.
"Fucking bring it."
As the bugs came, she tried to repel them with her blaster rifle but quickly ran out of a charge. Thankfully, her bots could sustain their charge for much longer, but that still left her without a range weapon.
Gripping her sword, she did her best to slash at the attacking insects, but it was a struggle. Their armor was tough, and the blade struggled to slice through their exoskeletons. Rana would have been killed and eaten a hundred times over if it wasn't for her own armor. Her bots were keeping the bugs at bay, but only just barely. If they started to fall, the bugs would overwhelm the drill in seconds.
"Think Rana, think," she mumbled in a panic. She had no blaster. Her sword was next to useless. All she had was her Volcanium armor. "Wait, that could work."
Doing some on the fly programming, Rana tried to form a blade with her Volcanium gauntlets. It sort of worked, but the gauntlets were not made to form sharp edges. It came out looking more like a rhombus shaped stick. She needed something pure. She needed Volcanium X to form a proper blade. Glancing around the battlefield, she tried to pick the bot that was under the least amount of stress.
"Bot 43, come here," she commanded. The selected bot rolled to her spot at the base of the drill. "Connect yourself to the drill and try to extract some Volcanium X from it."
The bot sprouted a new appendage and punched it into the side of the drill. Riding it around, the bot was able to extract a small amount of the pure substance Rana required. She had the bot inject it into her suit before trying to form another blade. It took a few tries, but Rana was able to form a sharp, molten blade on each arm.
"Alright, you insectoid freaks! ROUND TWO!" Rana rushed back into the fight and swung at the nearest Cuiwei bug. The heat of the blade along with its sharpness allowed Rana to slice the giant insect in half with a single swing. "HAHAHAHA HAA!" she laughed as she started to chop through the hoards. Now on the offensive, the fight slowly turned in her favor.
Rana was panting from the heat of battle, watching the few remaining bugs run away. She didn't know if it was because she was beating them, or if it was because the drill had done so much damage to the planet it was causing the bugs to panic. She didn't care. She had won either way. Rana had never felt so badass in her life.
Looking around at the battlefield, she saw that most of her bots were damaged in some way. The insects were tougher than she expected, and she had expected a lot. Not wanting to dwell, Rana activated her jetpack and used the remaining fuel to fly up to the top of the drill. Taking a moment to relax, she looked out at the dying planet.
It was exhilarating to watch up high. What was once a vibrant jungle world was now a shrinking, grey rock, sucked clean of all life. And it was all because of her. She had the power and the drive to conquer Cuiwei, something so many had failed to do.
"No, not conquer," Rana smirked. "I dominated this planet." Her internal celebration was cut short when a military shuttle flew up next to her. "Ah, hell."
Rana was forced to her knees before the Royal Court. Upon his throne, the Emperor sat with the heads of the various Royal Guilds to his left and right.
"How do you do, old timers," Rana joked. The guard that dragged her in smacked her in the side of her head with the butt of his blaster in response.
"Silence," the guard snapped. "Show respect to the Emperor."
"That's enough," the Emperor calmly stated, raising his palm to the guard. "Allow the girl to rise. She will be given the chance to explain herself."
The guard bowed before stepping back. Rana picked herself up and brushed off her pants.
"I don't know what you expect me to explain," Rana rolled her eyes. "I was just doing my job… and his," she grinned as she pointed to the General directly to the Emperor's right.
"You interrupted a military operation!" the General yelled. "Your recklessness led to the loss of thousands of-"
"Enough," the Emperor interrupted. "I believe she is fully aware of what she's done. Please, Miss Rana. Explain yourself."
"We needed to test the drill but were struggling to find a suitable location in Empire territory. I went with Cuiwei instead. As a result, we have a drill that works, and I jump started the ship assembly process. Oh! And I eliminated the Cuiwei, giving the Empire free reign over the planet. You're welcome." Rana maintained her gaze with the Emperor through her explanation, examining him just as he examined her.
"What of the Narjians on Cuiwei?" the Emperor asked.
"They had plenty of time to escape," Rana retorted. "It's their own fault if they didn't leave like I warned. And as far as the Narjian ships go, I told them to stay out of my way. It shouldn't be that hard to know when you're up against someone who is willing to bet it all."
"I see," the Emperor raised an eyebrow at her. "And what of the Cuiwei magic? All of their knowledge is now lost as well."
"Ooooh," Rana's eyebrows shot up in realization. "That's why you kept up the fight for so long. To ransack their magical know-how," Rana shook her head in disappointment. "I knew you were all about the old ways, but that's going super far back."
"When a peoples lose sight of their heritage, they risk losing sight of what made them great," the Emperor explained. "My predecessor understood that, as do I. As do most of your peers. Why don't you?" The question was not one of malice, but of genuine curiosity.
"I don't know," Rana shrugged. "I just wanted to be the best. I want to move things forward, and progress demands sacrifices."
"Hmm…" the Emperor rubbed his chin in thought. "Hashim, this is your daughter, is she not?"
"Uh, yes, your highness," Rana's father shamefully bowed. "She is."
"Quite the character you raised," the Emperor chuckled. "She's given me quite a lot to think about."
"I try," Rana grinned cheekily.
"Still, her crimes cannot be ignored. Rana, your actions have led to the loss of Narjian lives and Empire resources. The Royal Court demands immediate retribution. Tell me Hashim, what would you find to be a suitable punishment for your daughter?"
"Wait, what?"
"Given the severity, I can only suggest public execution," her father said.
"WHAT?!" Rana stared at her father in shock. She knew she shouldn't be surprised, but she didn't want to believe it.
"I agree," the Emperor nodded. "Rana of Narjahim, Daughter of Hashim and Rajiya, you are to be executed tomorrow at dawn for your crimes against the Empire."
Rana scowled at her father. "I declare Braz Almot!" she snapped. The Royal Court was filled with startled whispers that only died out when the Emperor started to laugh.
"You say you desire progress, yet you invoke the Ancient Right?" the Emperor asked in confusion.
"Don't have much in the way of options," Rana said. "I challenge the Head of the Royal Engineers Guild. If Dad wants to see me killed, he can do it himself."
"Young lady, no one has declared Braz Almot since before you were born. Do you expect us to honor such a desperate invocation?"
"I accept," Rana's father declared. All eyes snapped to him.
"Hashim, are you sure? No one will think less of you for rejecting the challenge," the Emperor tried to reassure him.
"I'm sure," the man nodded, his glare locking with his daughter's.
"Very well," the Emperor sighed. "Tomorrow as sunset, you will both meet in the Grand Arena to duel to the death. Braz Almot demands martial combat, so no blasters will be allowed. The Empire will provide you both with dueling armor. Until the duel, you are free to roam Narjahim and set your affairs in order. Should either of you fail to arrive, it will be seen as forfeit and you will be sentence to death."
"See you all there," Rana grinned before turning to leave the Court.
Rana stood in the massive temple facing the wall with names engraved on it. Behind each of the plates was a memento belonging to whoever the spot was dedicated to. Her eyes were glued to her mother's name. Beside it was a blank plate that had been reserved by her father for himself.
Normally people would speak to the slumbering spirits that were believed to reside in the temple, but Rana couldn't think of anything to say. She stopped believing in the old religion long ago. Even if she hadn't, she doubted her ancestors could provide her with any decent wisdom.
Rana couldn't even speak to her mother. She barely knew the woman. But Rana did miss her smile. And the way she would hold her when she was sad. And the stories she told before bed. Maybe if Mom was still alive, things would have turned out differently.
"Rana?"
"Hm?" Rana turned to her father. Neither of them spoke right away. Her father stepped up beside her to stare at his wife's grave. The silence was oddly peaceful between them.
"I didn't expect to see you here," Rana's father finally said, his voice just above a whisper.
"I finished all my preparations. And we still have a few hours till the duel. Figured I might as well visit," Rana shrugged. "It has been a while."
"I'm glad you came," her father nodded. "I only wish it was under better circumstances."
"If we're being honest with ourselves, something like this was going to happen eventually," Rana huffed. "Either we forgot about each other, or we ended up at each other's throats."
"And you don't regret this outcome?"
"Nah. This is the more interesting option. Regardless of what happens, people will be talking about our family squabble for a long time."
Her father couldn't help but lightly chuckle at that response. "So headstrong and dramatic. I had forgotten how much like your mother you were."
"Mom was headstrong?"
"She was," her father nodded. "Rajiya and I would always get into arguments about the silliest things, but we always made up in the end. We made sure to never fight in front of you, given how young you were. Spirits, I miss her."
"Hm…" Rana awkwardly rubbed the back of her neck. "Why couldn't we ever talk like this before?"
"I do not know," her father sadly said. "I can't help but feel like I failed you somehow."
"That's because you did," Rana said matter-of-factly. "I've said it before. I have always been alone. Once mom died, I had no one. Not even you. The few nice people I met all left me eventually, one way or another."
"I'm sorry."
"I know."
"That doesn't excuse genocide," her father glared at her.
Rana smirked at him. She checked the time before turning away from the temple wall. "I'm going to head to the Arena. Oh, and no holding back. I want it to be satisfying when I best you."
Rana finished strapping on her dueling armor before slipping on her Volcanium gloves. The light-weight armor gave excellent protection to her arms and legs while still allowing her to remain mobile. However, her torso and head were mostly exposed. The intent was obvious. Allow a person to continue fighting right up until their opponent scored a critical hit on them.
"Miss Rana," the Arena Overseer spoke as he entered her prep room. "Are you ready for the duel?"
"I am," Rana said as she looked over her own reflection in the mirror. Her eyes lingered on the Volcanium heart on her modified top. It wasn't ritual accurate, but that wouldn't matter after the fight.
"What weapon are you using?" the Overseer asked.
"These," Rana held up her hands and activated her gloves. Volcanium coated her forearms, transforming her hands into vicious looking claws.
"I see… This is a martial duel. I trust those are not designed for projectile use."
"I can form a short whip," Rana shrugged before demonstrating with her right hand. She gave the whip a quick swing before recalling the Volcanium. "That's about as much range as I can get. This pair wasn't designed to shoot Volcanium."
"Very well," the Overseer frowned as he typed away at his tablet. "I will allow it. Hashim will be using a hardened Volcanium short spear for the duel." He went to leave, but Rana stopped him.
"One last thing," she said.
"Yes?"
"When you announce the fight, can you call me Lord Dominator."
"I beg your pardon?" the Overseer glared in confusion.
"This is a fight. I want you to use my fighting name."
"Your fighting name?"
"Yep," Rana nodded proudly. "Three-time Onyx Rumble Champion."
"I don't know what that is," the Overseer shook his head. "I suppose, but I will need to clear it with the Emperor."
"Fine."
"The duel will be in 15 minutes. A guard will escort you when it is time." The Overseer closed the door behind him, leaving Rana alone.
She went back to her reflection. Something felt like it was missing from her look. If this was to be the last day for the Old Empire, she wanted to look good. Maybe a hat? No, the Overseer wouldn't allow that. It would be better to tie her hair back. Maybe some makeup? Yes, that could work.
Reaching into her bag, Rana pulled out her black eyeliner and applied it generously. She smiled at the improvement, but it was still lacking. What else could she add? Tears? Yes. This was to be a dramatic moment in history. Black tears would be perfect. And they would look freaking awesome, too.
Rana had just finished when the guard came to lead her to the main Arena. As a final bit of insurance, she slipped in an earpiece when no one was looking.
"Citizens of Narjahim. Members of the Royal Court. His Highness, the Emperor. I welcome you all to the Grand Arena," the Arena Overseer announced to the audience. The stands of the historic stadium were packed to the brim. In the center of the small arena was an open fighting ring surrounded by a lava pool. In the middle stood the Overseer, with Rana and her father on either side of the small arena.
"Today we will be honoring the first declaration of Braz Almot in three generations. The opposed: Hashim of Narjahim, Head of the Royal Engineers Guild. The challenger: Rana of Narjahim, Daughter of Hashim and Rajiya. As per the rules of the Ancient Right, this will be a martial duel to the death. The victor will earn the favor of the Emperor. Combatants, please step forward."
Rana and father both marched to the center of the arena and bowed to one another. Her father raised his spear, ready for combat. Rana activated her gloves as she raised her fist.
"You didn't use my fighting name," Rana griped, not breaking eye contact with her father.
"Oh, please. It's a silly name," the Overseer retorted, earning an eyeroll from Rana. "I wish you both good luck." He stepped away.
Rana took one moment to size up her father before they fought. He was much taller than her, as were most Narjians. He looked fit, but not quite as fit as her. He also held his short spear with confidence. Rana knew the man used to fight for sport but wasn't sure how good he was. She didn't worry too much, but this was far from the fist fighting she was used to.
"Begin!"
Rana wanted to end the fight quickly. She immediately turned her left hand into claws and swiped up at her father's head. He blocked with the shaft of his spear. Her gloves couldn't go through the hardened Volcanium, allowing him to shove the girl back. He tried to stab her with the tip, but Rana was able to grab it with her gloves.
Rana turned her right hand into a knife and tried to slash at her father again. This time he hopped back out of the way, then retaliated by kneeing her in the stomach. The girl stumbled back and was barely able to sidestep his follow up attack at her face. Her father started to swing the spear like a staff, forcing Rana onto the defensive. At the first opening, she shoved him back and turned her right hand into a whip and used it to grab his spear.
"Ha!" She grinned as the Volcanium wrapped around the shaft. She yanked it out of his hands and caught it before throwing it back at him. She had never thrown a spear, so her sloppy form allowed her father to step out of the way and charge her. "Oof!" Rana grunted as she fell back on her butt. She leaped to her feet as her father picked up his spear.
"Gotta admit... You're better than I thought you would be," Rana said, but her father didn't respond. He came at her with the short spear again, but Rana blocked all the attacks. She didn't counterattack for several seconds. She instead decided to let her father wear himself out, as well as call in her backup. "Move into position," she mumbled. Her father didn't notice.
Rana stuck back, swinging at her father's stomach with her Volcanium fist. The force caused him to stumble back allowing her to punch him again. She got in a few solid hits before her father ducked down and used his spear to trip her up. With her stance destabilized, he easily shoved her to the ground. He placed his foot on her midsection and brought his spear above his head.
And then he hesitated…
Hashim didn't want to kill his only daughter. She could see it in his eyes. The air in the stadium became still for a full seven seconds.
"Make your decision," Rana spoke, just loud enough so only he could hear. "Your daughter, or your honor?"
Hashim licked his dry lips. "Goodbye, Rana."
"Rajiya," Rana said. Hashim hesitated again, just long enough for a loud bang to resonate throughout the stadium. A slug pierced his abdomen, causing him to stumble back. Rana leaped to her feet and stabbed him through the chest. Hashim let out a silent, final breath as she gently lowered him to the ground.
The crowd immediately started to boo her for her actions. Rana had cheated. They all knew it. A small squad of soldiers stormed onto the fighting arena with their blasters drawn. Rana turned off her gloves and let the Volcanium recede, but she didn't surrender.
"Squad 2, fan out and find the shooter," one of the soldiers spoke into a radio on his vest. "Rana, you are under arrest for ritual blasphemy and crimes against the empire."
"Bots, move in and eliminate the soldiers," Rana commanded. A group of her prototype bots came out of hiding, leaping from the outer ring of the open arena and landing in the lava surrounding them. She dropped down as her bots opened fire, catching the soldiers off guard and killing them all.
Panic overwhelmed the stadium as the crowd tried to flee, their screams filling the air. Rana ignored them. She stood up and pointed right at the Emperor's viewing box.
"Now do you see," Rana shouted at him, "how useless you're your traditions are against my tech? I didn't intend for things to go this way, but you forced my hand. It's time for a new Empire. Surrender the throne, and I'll let you live."
"Eliminate her!" The Emperor shouted before turning to leave.
"Didn't think so," Rana sighed. More soldiers moved on her location, so she ran for the lava pool. "I hope this works!" She leaped into the lava and tried to take control of the Volcanium it contained. She swam beneath the surface, hoping that her shirt could accumulate enough to protect her.
As Rana climbed out of the pool, a fair amount of the lava clung to her body. The impure Volcanium formed an improvised armor over her entire body. As her bots continued to fight the soldiers, she ran from the stadium and after the Emperor. She spotted him climbing into a shuttle craft surrounded by his Royal Guards. Breaking into a sprint, she used her gloves to form two shields as the guards opened fire on her.
The blaster fire slowly chipped away at her dripping armor as she chopped through the guards one by one. Forming a whip, she grabbed onto the shuttle as it was taking off and climbed onto the side. She forced the door open with the intense heat and quickly eliminated the pilot and two guards on board.
Without a pilot, the shuttle fell into a spiral. Rana grabbed the Emperor and warped her remaining armor around them. The shuttle crashed hard but was not high enough to kill them. Rana ignored the pain in her shoulder as she dragged the Emperor out of the wreck and tossed him aside.
"You… you saved me?" the Emperor gazed up at her in bewilderment.
"Don't get it twisted," she scolded. "I'm still talking over. I just wanted the satisfaction for myself." She took on an evil grin as her gloves formed a massive hammer, its form dripping Volcanium. "GRRRAAAAH!" Rana let out a primal growl as she swung the weight down on the Emperor, killing him with a gut-wrenching CRUNCH.
Rana walked into the throne room, her remaining bots easily dispatching any resistance they met. Her head was held high with pride. She did it. It was a sloppy operation, but she eliminated the Emperor and a decent chunk of the Royal Court in one go. The Empire was hers for the taking. Rana sat down on the throne and relaxed into the seat.
"Surprisingly comfortable," she commented before turning to her bots. "Which one of you has my tablet?" A floating probe bot moved forward and handed her the requested computer. "Let's see… I'll need to redirect the Volcanium plants to assemble my bots. That shouldn't take more than a few hours. Then I can build a bigger army to command."
"I'll also need a new outfit," Rana frowned as she looked over her dirty and slightly torn clothes. "I should try to make that new suit. I'll have plenty of Volcanium X. But first, I need to announce the good news. Probe Bot, open the emergency frequencies and prepare to transmit a video message."
"AFFIRMATIVE," the floating robot responded. "ACCESSING… EMERGENCY FREQUENCIES OPEN. PREPARING TO RECORD… READY."
Rana took one last moment to straighten herself out. "Alright, start the transmission."
"BEGINNING TRANSMISSION IN 3… 2… 1…"
"Hello, royal subjects!" Rana cheered. "I have good news! The old emperor is dead! Don't worry, I won't let you fall into anarchy. From now on I'm in charge. Soon, the Empire will be one of efficiency and progress. A true technocracy! None of this species superiority and honorable tradition crap. All life will be equal under the reign of Lord Dominator!"
The crowd let out a thunderous cheer so loud, it felt as if the entire warehouse was shaking.
"In the red corner! The Lavillanite with 11 knockouts to his name! The heavy-weight king of the Chegov Underground! CAPTAIN GODFIST!"
A large, armadillo looking man wearing a cape and gloves stepped into the circular cage. He held his hands high, taking in the praise of the spectators. He removed his cape and tossed it aside.
"In the blue corner! Hailing from the icy planes of Sigmorta-5 with a heart just as cold! The lone Narjian! The Onyx Rumble reigning champion! LORD DOMINATOR!"
Rana stepped forward to a mix of cheering and booing. She always found it amusing how her mere presence could cause fights amongst the spectators. She entered the cage, revealing her iconic black crop-top and black skirt with shorts underneath. Across her chest, her Volcanium heart crest was printed for all to see. She pulled on her own yellow gloves as she examined her opponent.
This Godfist character was certainly chunkier than most Lavillanites. Most would rely on their natural speed and armor to get through a fight. However, this man decided to pack on the muscle and fat to help protect his stomach region. That would make going for the usual weak points less effective. Rana's best bet would be to go for the head. If she could scramble his brains enough, Godfist would become too disoriented to fight. If she couldn't, he would probably kill her.
With the short horn blast, the fight commenced. Godfist charged forward trying to shoulder Rana against the cage, but she easily side-stepped his attack. He screeched to a halt and spun into a punch, his fist slamming down where Rana was standing. She once again side-stepped, causing the attack to contact the stone floor and crack it.
"I see how you got your name," Rana commented before retaliating with a punch to Godfist's face. "Good thing you're too slow to follow through." She followed through with three more attacks before leaping back from her opponent's swipe.
The fight continued like this for a few minutes. Every attack Godfist made Rana would gracefully slip out of the way and retaliate. The constant attacks were visually draining the Lavillanite as he began to pant and sweat. He was also starting to stumble around from repeated strikes to the head. Rana grinned, ready to finish him off.
Godfist charged forward again, slower this time. When Rana dodged, he spun in the opposite direction and tripped her up with his small tail. Rana fell back with a grunt as she hit the cold floor. She opened her eyes just in time to see Godfist bring his hands together and bring them down on her.
"Whoa!" Rana barely rolled out of the way as the ground was cracked mere inches from her head. She quickly scooted out from under Lavillanite, but he grabbed her by the ankle before she got too far. "Get off!" Rana spat as she tried to kick Godfist in the face.
Godfist let out a roar as he spun and threw Rana against the far side of the cage. She could feel a few ribs fracture as her body warped the wire wall. The Narjian picked herself up, holding her side at the pain. Slowly approaching was her opponent, ready to turn her into a pulp.
"Godfist! Godfist!" the crowd started to cheer. The Lavillanite pulled his fist back, ready to finish off the Narjian. Rana wasn't sure she could dodge with her injury. So, she counterattacked.
As Godfist began to swing into the punch, Rana leaped at him with all her might. Caught off guard by the sudden weight on him, Godfist staggered back as Rana pressed her palms against his shoulder. To end the fight, Rana swung her knee up into his chin, cracking Godfist's jaw. As the Lavillanite fell backwards, Rana delivered a final, powerful blow for good measure.
Rana stood from the now unconscious man and stepped to the middle of the ring. There was a short countdown, but she knew he wasn't getting up.
"LORD DOMINATOR WINS!"
The spectators once again exploded into thunderous cheering. There were still a few detractors mixed in, but no one could deny that she won. Rana took a moment to soak in the praise before stepping out of the now unlocked cage.
Rana did her best to rush out of the building. A lot of dangerous people did not want her to win that fight. She got dressed in her regular clothes and put on her Volcanium gloves for good measure. Once she collected her prize money, Rana left the warehouse, activated her hidden bot and started moving. She needed to get to a med center but was stopped as she was leaving the industrial district.
"Now where could Dominator be off to in a such a rush?" a deep voice asked. A tall lizard man stepped into Rana's path, flanked on either side by his goons. "She couldn't be trying to escape, could she?"
"Bug off, Jazk," Rana said. "I won that fight fair and square."
"I told you to take a dive," Jazk snapped. "It's bad enough that Crox lets you partake in his tournaments, but to have a Narjian win? Unacceptable!"
"It's win or die for me," Rana pointed out. "You have yet to throw a fighter at me that would let me take a dive. Not like I would if I could," she smirked at the mob boss. "If it's that big of an issue, just let Onyx Void ban me. It would be funnier that way."
"You're in luck," Jazk chuckled. "You heard her, boys. Break her bones. Make sure Dominator never fights again." On his command, more goons stepped out of the shadows and surrounded her. Each was holding some sort of blunt object, ready to beat her down.
Rana tapped a button on her Volcanium gloves, calling her bot forward. A four-legged contraption of scrap metal leaped off a nearby roof and landed next to Rana.
"Guardbot, kill the goons. Leave Jazk alive."
"AFFIRMATIVE," the Guardbot responded. "CALCULATING… ENGAGING." The bot's back opened, revealing a large blaster. It immediately locked on and began shooting at the goons with deadly precision. None of them came prepared for a firefight and some tried to run away. But it was no use. In a matter of seconds, Guardbot had killed them all.
Jazk had pulled out his own blaster, but quickly lost his nerve and ran. Rana activated her Volcanium gloves, the molten substance coating her hands and arms. Reaching her arm forward, the Volcanium stretched out and wrapped around Jazk's ankle before pulling him back. Jazk tried to shoot her, but Rana formed a shield with her other hand to block the blaster bolts.
"See, you idiots keep thinking I'm just another Narjian following the old ways," Rana spoke down to the terrified man. "But I'm better than that. I understand progress and the sacrifices it requires. I'm not out to prove some stupid, racial superiority complex. I was fighting because it's fun."
Volcanium began to cover Jazk's body, but Rana was careful to not burn him. She wanted him alive. So instead of frying the man, she began to crush him. The Volcanium wrap grew tighter until it started to crack the lizard's bones. His screams of agony were like music to Rana's ears. Once she was satisfied with the damage, she retracted the Volcanium. With a sick smile she pulled out her burner phone, the one she used with Onyx Void.
"Emergency Services, what's your emergency?" a voice on the other end asked.
"There's been an accident," Rana calmly said. "Erni Street in the industrial district. A man has been seriously hurt. He'll need medical attention."
"A Medical Team is being dispatched," the voice stated. "What was the nature of the accident?... Ma'am? Ma'am?"
Rana wasn't listening. She had already placed the burner phone next to Jazk's head. The man looked furious, but he was too injured to talk, let alone cuss her out.
"Let Onyx Void know I'm out. If they come after me, I'll cook them all alive." Rana walked away, her bot in tow. The Medical Center was now out of the question. Good thing she knew a guy who could help and keep his mouth shut for the right price.
Rana rubbed her temples as she went over the new drill design she had been presented. She could appreciate the ambition behind them. The ability to completely drain a small planet of Volcanium would be a major boon to the Empire. She already had a list of dead planetoids it could be used on. But a drill of that size introduced several engineering hurdles, some of which her team failed to address. Which meant she had to fix it.
"I need caffeine," Rana mumbled as she slowly stood from her desk, careful to not strain her still healing injury.
Stepping out of the office, Rana looked up at the red skies of Narjahim and let out a sad sigh. After so much time spent improving Volcanium facilities across the Empire, she had finally been assigned a position on the home world. She actually tried to weasel out of it at first, but the perks of heading up your own R&D team were too good to ignore. Not to mention that finally having her genius recognized was a nice bonus.
Still, there were a few things she missed. Being tied to a desk job meant that she didn't get to travel nearly as much. Her true home was out amongst the stars, not on the surface of a bureaucratic planet. She missed being able to avoid people. Her job always required a certain amount of team planning and delegation. But when you travelled around, no one tried to get attached to you. Now she was stuck with a single team to "bond with". The thought alone sent a shiver down her spine.
She missed the freedom, and the power that came with it. Everything her new team planned and came up with had to be approved by a council that outranked them. More often than not their ideas were rejected with a list of required changes.
Rana took her time walking to the local tea shop. She needed to let her mind wander for a bit. It wasn't like she was dying for a cup. She could make it better herself but didn't feel like going all the way back to her house. It would be better for the Narjian to chill for a moment. Once at the shop, she ordered her drink and sat outside. That was one other advantage of the tea shop. It had a great view of the ocean.
"Miss Rana?" a voice squeaked out.
"What is it, Panni?" Rana sighed, too easily recognizing the woman's soft voice. So much for some alone time.
"I wasn't sure if it was you," Panni giggled. The older woman stepped into view, smiling at Rana. "May I join you?"
"I was hoping for some quiet time," Rana mumbled in annoyance.
"Don't worry, I promise not to be a bother," Panni said as she sat down across from Rana.
Rana did her best to ignore Panni, which wasn't too difficult. The woman clearly wanted to speak up but had long since learned a couple rules. Everyone on Rana's team knew there were certain subjects you did not bring up around the young woman. Do not ask about her friends or family. Avoid talking about your love life or asking about hers. Do not criticize her heart crest. Do not ask about bonding partners. And NEVER mention her father. The person who broke that last rule got a wrench thrown at them when they refused to shut up.
"Have you, um… looked over the drill plans?" Panni finally asked.
"I have," Rana nodded. "I'm impressed. I didn't think you guys could come up with something that ambitious."
"Oh, thank you."
"Though it has a few flaws," Rana continued. "The kind of stuff that comes with going big. I'll have to make some changes."
"Of course," Panni said, somewhat deflated. They both become quiet for a long time, just enjoying the view. Until Panni spoke up again. "So, I know you don't like talking about it…"
"Ah, hell," Rana whispered as she rubbed her eyes.
"But Pherick and I are going to a special gala for the New Year's holiday…"
"Stop."
"And I was wondering if you would like to join us. There will be plenty of young suitors and potential bonding partners."
"There it is," Rana groaned loudly.
"I know it's a sticky subject for you, but you need to be actively looking for a partner. You're not getting any younger, and soon-"
"Shut up!" Rana stood up from the table, turning to give Panni a venomous glare. "Not another word."
"Rana… I just want to help," Panni choked out, suddenly seeming tiny under the shorter woman's eye.
"I don't need your help. Stop trying to act like a mom and stay in your fucking lane."
"I… I… ok," Panni looked away defeated.
Rana continued to stare at her for a moment longer before returning to the office.
Rana decided to go in early again. It seemed like the only time she ever got the workshop to herself. Most of her time had to be spent refining designs and prototyping with her team. But when she was able to get free access to all the tools, she could work on her own projects. The ones that the higher committees always rejected. She had made so much progress on her battle suit idea, but today she wanted to refine her bots.
It took a while to perfect the internal gyro motors. With those working at max, any spherical bot she made could self-maneuver, turning and stopping with pinpoint precision. The problem was making a perfectly spherical body was difficult and time consuming. The mobility benefits were not worth it unless she could manufacture and repair them quickly and cheaply. That pushed her to work on the self-repair module.
It had long been known that Volcanium could be manipulated to any form by charging it with electric pulses. This is what allowed her gloves to warp and shapeshift on command. The issue was that this was an imprecise process. Unless you were using the purest type of Volcanium, Volcanium X, the warping process became sloppy. Volcanium X was hard to come by, as it only formed in the core of planets. If Rana could perfect the warping process, she could use a less pure form of Volcanium to make her bots.
"Alright, that should do it," Rana mumbled to herself as she fixed the new module into place. She stepped back to examine the bot laying open on the table. "Let's see if you work." Rana entered a few commands into her tablet, causing the bot to whirl to life. She activated the module and the bot's body sealed itself shut with Volcanium the same way it would if damaged in the field. "Hmm… a little lopsided, but better. Should work with a printer, but the self-repair needs more tuning."
"Talking to your toys again?" a voice called out from the workshop entrance.
"Hm?" Rana's head snapped to the voice to see a man standing there with his eyebrow raised. "What do you want, Caishen?"
"I came to find you before everyone else gets antsy. I don't want to listen to Kamal complain about your tardiness for the hundredth time."
"Fine, fine," Rana waved him off. "Let me clean up. I'll be there in a few minutes."
"So, what's on the agenda today?" Rana asked as she stepped into the office area.
"We got the report back from the Approval Committee," Jakki spoke up first. She handed it to Rana, a giant smile painting her features.
"Did you already read it?" Rana deadpanned.
"Yep, but we won't spoil it for you."
"It better be good," Rana opened the report and glanced over the first page. "My robot designs were rejected. Again. Shocker," she rolled her eyes.
"You could probably get them to sign off on the gyro motors if you submitted them alone," Caishen pointed out.
"Maybe." Rana turned to the next marked page. "Quin's phaser blaster prototype was rejected, but they like the idea and wish to see it further developed."
"That's a win in my books," Quin smirked as he leaned back in his chair.
"And lastly, the planet drill… has been approved," Rana gasped, her eyes dilating as she read the words several times over.
"Isn't it great?" Jakki cheered.
"Uh, yeah," Rana hesitantly nodded. "Just weird they approved it on the first go." She turned the page and began to read out loud. "The Approval Committee will be reassigning your research team to work alongside Galactic Ship Design and Construction to further develop and implement the planet drill. Your reassignment will begin on the seventh day of the new year and continue until the completion of the project. You will be reporting directly to the Head of the Royal Engineers Guild during the assignment."
"This calls for celebration," Jakki sang. "Oh, should we go out for drinks? Maybe hit up some fancy restaurant? What do you guys think? Panni? Kamal? Any ideas?"
"There is the gala next week. It would be interesting to watch our dear leader try to navigate a social event," Kamal chuckled.
"Oh, hardy har har," Rana glared at him before turning her attention back to the report. "Does anyone know who's in charge of the Royal Engineers Guild? I like to know who I'm working for."
"It was a guy named Fabius," Caishen said, "but I believe he announced his retirement."
"Let me look up who won the Guild elections," Panni spoke up. She started to type away on a tablet. "Let's see… Starting in the new year, the Head of the Royal Engineers Guild is-" Panni suddenly paled before flipping her tablet upside down.
"Well?" Caishen asked.
"It's not important," Panni whispered. "We should just do the job and not worry about it."
"Panni," Rana scolded. "Give me the tablet."
"I don't think that's a good idea," the older woman was starting to panic, now holding the tablet to her chest.
"Just give it here," Rana marched over to her, ready to fight.
"Rana, please! Trust me on this!"
"Holy shit!" Quin burst out into laughter. He had pulled out his and looked it up himself. "Rana, look!" Quin held it out so everyone could see the screen. It displayed an image of Rana's dad with the words Hashim, Newly Elected Head of the Royal Engineers Guild.
"You have got to be kidding me," Rana said as she stared at the picture in abject horror.
I didn't celebrate with the rest of the team. I instead ended up spending most of the New Year's celebrations either trying to get the Approval Committee to reconsider or sulking over my own projects in the workshop. In short, a project as large as the planet drill required my dad's oversight. And because he was elected to Head of the Guild, there was no way to remove or bypass him. We were stuck with each other.
Rana led her team into the meeting room. Each of them was dressed in formal business attire. Each of them had their personal crest printed over their hearts. Of course, this meant Rana's Volcanium heart was on full display. This was a show of force on her part. She wouldn't need to interact with her father too much. He was overseeing the entire ship and not just the drill. But for this first meeting, she wanted to make sure her father knew this was their project. She was in charge of the drill.
"Miss Rana," her father addressed. "Allow me to welcome you and your team." He stood along with his subordinates.
"The honor is ours, Guild Head Hashim," Rana responded coldly as she and her team bowed. Her eyes locked with her father's as they both seemed to size one another up. A tension seemed to permeate the air, one that everyone was awkwardly aware of even if no one mentioned it.
"Shall we begin?" one of the members of Ship Design spoke up.
"Of course," Hashim nodded. He sat back down, and everyone took their assigned seats.
Rana had promised her team that she wouldn't make a scene with her dad, but she also made it clear to them that this would be a power struggle. Hashim would be fully aware, even if his team was oblivious to the circumstances. To make sure they were seen as a substantial force, Rana made sure everyone on her team did their research. Not just on drilling and the complexities involved, but about the entire ship building process. They couldn't design an entire mining ship on short notice, but they could get the groundwork ready.
A mining ship capable of extracting all the Volcanium from planet would require an immense amount of storage, as well as onboard filtering to separate Volcanium X from the less pure Volcanium. The ship would also require a massive, nuclear engine to move, but some of the low quality Volcanium could also be diverted to engines. Two ideas were floated to save energy. Either they could have a fleet of smaller ships to transport the Volcanium across the Empire, or they could have a printing facility on the main ship itself to fulfil demands. Both ideas had merits, and most of the engineers on Ship Designed thought a hybrid system would work best.
For the whole meeting, Rana and her team made a point control and steer the conversation. Panni and Quin made sure Rana and Kamal didn't dominate and let the other teams give input. To most of the people in the room, Rana and her team were incredibly passionate about the project and were eager to work on it with the Royal Engineers Guild.
But Hashim knew better. Rana could see it in his eyes. Her father constantly switched between being impressed and being annoyed. Of course, he would be impressed with her team's planning and design ideas. But he was annoyed that he was being shown up by his rebellious daughter. Rana had built a reputation as having no concern for honor or tradition. She only cared about being the best. Yet despite this, or maybe because of it, she was slowly earning the respect of Hashim's closest allies.
After the meeting, Rana and her team were the first to bow to the others and leave. On her way she couldn't help overhearing someone say, "That's quite the daughter you have." She didn't see who it was, but they were clearly impressed. Only question now was would Hashim be a proud father, or a disappointed one due to her continued rejection of tradition?
My father didn't show any interest in our relationship outside of the project. I thought about approaching him a few times, but ultimately decided against it. It was better to keep things strictly professional with him. We could be two strangers outside of work for all I cared.
It took forever, but the drill was eventually finished. Due to its massive size, it had to be built first and the rest of the ship was to be assembled around it. After putting so much work into this thing, I was ready to go back to other projects, but the damn drill had to be tested first.
Rana stared out the space dock window, examining the drill from afar. Behind her, her team was discussing potential test sites. While the drill had undergone several running tests while docked, it still needed a live test before the rest of the ship was assembled. And the one thing no one could agree on was where to test it.
It was a complicated question. If anything goes wrong, it has to be easily reachable for repairs. Most of the potential planetoids were either too remote or too close to enemy territory for a safe test. The next logical conclusion was a moon, but no one wanted to volunteer theirs for obvious reasons. There were a few good testing spots in Empire territory, but all were close to civilized planets. If the drill were to have a catastrophic failure during the live test, it could wreak havoc on any planet too close.
"What about the Merrotor system?" Jakki suggested.
"They only have one viable planetoid," Caishen responded, "and it won't be a safe distance from Merrotor Prime for two standard years."
"There's Elniea-3," Kamal said.
"Elnieans said no," Quin shook his head. "The Committee confirmed it this morning. They don't want anything to do with the drill and it's unlikely the emperor will override them."
"Did Hashim have any suggestions?" Panni asked.
"Also no," Quin frowned. "The Guild Head stopped caring about the drill a month ago. He has turned all his attention to prepping for ship assembly. We are on our own."
"Figures," Jakki rolled her eyes.
"What about Cuiwei?" Rana suggested, not looking away from the drill. The observation deck became deathly silent as Rana formulated her plan.
"She's joking, right?" Caishen hesitantly spoke up.
"Cuiwei has a Volcanium dense core," Rana explained. "We take the drill there with a few mega printers and set the thing to full power. If everything works, we'll be able to print the ship's basic skeleton around the drill. We'll have a tested drill and have jump started the assembly process in one go."
"Ok, she has to be joking."
"I'm serious," Rana turned to her team with an annoyed glare.
"Rana," Kamal glared back. "Are you forgetting that Cuiwei is a WARZONE?!"
"I know," Rana smirked. "How many soldiers has the Empire lost trying to conquer that jungle waste? They have been fighting the Cuiwei bugs for over a hundred standard years. If we use the drill, the planet will be unable to sustain life. The Empire will be free to plunder the dead rock for all its resources. That's three birds with one stone."
Her team stared back at her with traumatized stares. It was as if they couldn't believe that she had suggested her insane plan.
"Holy shit, you're serious," Caishen finally said.
"Yes. I said that," Rana spoke down at him.
"Rana, dear," Panni stood and stepped towards the shorter woman. "It's not that it's a bad idea. But what you are suggesting is that we use our creation to commit genocide."
"You say that like it's a bad thing," Rana said somewhat amused. "This isn't out of the ordinary. The Empire has glassed plenty of planets into oblivion. We only stopped because the last few emperors have gone all religious and obsessed with 'honor' and 'tradition'."
"You're insane!" Kamal yelled at her. "Even if we agree to this outrageous idea, the military will never sign off on it."
"You don't know that," Rana griped back.
"Yes, I do! And even if they agree, do you really want to risk dragging our drill through a warzone to test it?"
"Do you have a better idea?" Rana accused.
"We test on a planetoid like we originally discussed!"
"Hmm…" Rana studied Kamal for a tense minute, trying to decide how to proceed. She made a few, quick calculations in her head before declaring her ultimatum. "One month. If you five haven't found a suitable testing site in one month, I move forward with my idea. Alone."
"It's never going to happen," Kamal shook his head.
"Let me worry about making it happen. You worry about your own job." Rana gave them a brief, back-hand wave as she walked off.
For the next month, I prepared for my attack. It wasn't hard as I had built the system all the Volcanium facilities ran on. I hacked into one in the Narjahim system and commanded the machines to build my armor and a small army of my robots. I also made a point to forge an order as to avoid raising suspicions.
Getting a ship and access to the drill proved to be more difficult. I had to write a custom virus to gain control of both. I hacked the space dock myself, as I had clearance for most of the systems. For a ship, I sent a bot to break into a military transport that was undergoing routine maintenance.
I was ready for my attack.
Rana rode the orbital transport up to the space dock with her hacked ship. Before she started, she had one last thing to be sure of. She called the office on the surface.
"Rana!" Kamal answered. "Where have you been?"
"Doing my part," Rana's grin could be heard in her voice. "So, did you find a suitable testing site?"
"That's not important right now. Everyone is asking questions, and the Royal Guild is starting to get pissed at your absence."
"I'm only worried about the agreement," Rana said. "It's been a month. Has my team decided on a testing site?"
"Uh… not yet," Kamal hesitated. "We've narrowed it down. Wait! Are you still stuck on the Cuiwei idea? No one is going to sign off on that!"
"That is a non-issue. I'm implementing the plan myself. Catch you later."
"Rana, wait! Whatever you're up to, don-"
Rana hung up.
Rana carelessly tossed her ID to the security guard to check. While he was looking away, she activated her Volcanium gloves.
"Miss Rana, I believe there's been a mistake," the guard stated. "This says you only have clearance for Space Dock 4. I'll need to-"
WHAM! The guard was silenced by a Volcanium fist smashing his computer console.
"That won't be necessary," Rana smirked as she grabbed him and tossed him at the other guards. She was dashing down the hall before they could get up. Slipping on a small headset, Rana continued to sprint through the halls towards the ship. "Hackbot, do you copy?"
"AFFIRMATIVE," a robotic voice answered through the headset.
"Activate the ship's evacuation protocols and be ready to seal all the airlocks on my command."
"AFFIRMATIVE."
A few seconds later, the dock's sirens went off. All the workers onboard started to hustle their way to the safe zones. This slowed down Rana, as it now meant she was trying to run against the flow of traffic, but it also kept security off her back. With a little luck, it will also keep the military guessing until she could get her army. Once past the crowds, Rana took a final left turn into the docked ship.
"I'm on," she spoke into her headset. "Are there any other people on board?"
"NEGATIVE," Hackbot answered.
"Seal all the airlocks and get us out of here."
"AFFIRMATIVE."
Rana made it to the bridge just in time to witness the ship pulling away from the dock. All the connections broke away, as they were designed to do in an emergency. A single scout ship was approaching, probably to see what was causing all the commotion. While her ship was larger and had way more fire power, she didn't want to attract more attention just yet. She pulled her tablet out of her bag and synced it with the ship's computer.
"Let's see… Wow," Rana's eyebrows shot up. "You took over the entire system, and no one noticed. Best AI I've built so far." She smiled at Hackbot, but the floating drone wasn't programmed to respond to casual chit chat.
"Connecting to Dock 4's systems… sending the package… 30 seconds till we can release the drill." Rana continued to talk her way through the process, almost expecting her bot to respond at some point. "Dock 4 is under our control. Hackbot, get ready to tow the drill. Just like I planned."
"AFFIRMATIVE."
The transport ship went into a high-speed orbit, looping around the planet to where the drill was docked. With a few keystrokes, all the wires holding the drill to the dock snapped loose. Working with her bot, Rana maneuvered the ship in front of the massive drill and activated the towing cables. A pair of guided cables ejected themselves from the rear of the ship and automatically attached to the drill.
"ERROR DETECTED," Hackbot announced. "TOWING LOAD OVER CAPACITY."
"Reduce artificial gravity to minimum," Rana commanded. "Shut down life support for all sectors excluding the bridge and divert all available power to the engines. This will work. Only question is how long." Rana strapped herself into the control console and started up the slip space calculations.
"ADJUSTMENTS COMPLETE. TOWING LOAD OVER CAPACITY," Hackbot said.
"Override the safeties. We need to get moving."
"AFFIRMATIVE."
Rana activated the slip space drives, and the ship seemingly teleported to the mining colony at the edge of the Najahim system. With little time to spare, Rana moved into orbit over the colony. The transport ship was too big to land on the surface, so she had to take one of the shuttle craft.
"This is Rana of Narjahim," she spoke over the radio. "I'm here to collect my robots."
"Copy that," the air traffic controller responded. "Please proceed to the Sector 5 Landing. Dock 14."
"Copy that," Rana responded before landing her shuttle on the designated dock. She stepped out and was immediately greeted by one of the facility workers.
"Welcome back, Miss Rana," the man greeted. Rana didn't remember his name and didn't really care to relearn it. "We were surprised by the sudden order you put in, but it's ready."
"Good," Rana nodded to the taller man. "Show them to me. Quickly. I'm on a tight schedule."
"Of course. Right this way." The man led her to one of the nearby hangers. It appeared to normally be for working on spacecraft, but was currently housing 100 identical, spherical bots.
"Everything looks to be in order," Rana commented. "And my suit?"
"Right over here," the man led her to a small table with a large case resting on top. Opening the case, Rana examined the new, Volcanium battle suit. It was exactly how she had designed it. An improvement over the past prototypes, this one was battle ready.
Rana slipped off her Volcanium gloves before reaching into the case and removing the pair of gauntlets. Putting them on, she pressed a few control buttons on the right gauntlet, and all the bots came to life. What appeared to be just 100 black spheres lit up and sprouted legs, identifying them as her robot army.
"Perfect," Rana smiled. "I believe I also requested a small transport to take these to my ship?"
"In the next hanger over," the man assured her. "If I may ask, what are all these for?"
"I'm… taking them to Cuiwei," Rana hesitated, but she quickly recovered. "These are my first, field-ready prototypes."
"I wish you luck," the man nodded.
With a few commands, the bots rolled themselves out of the hanger and into the requested transport. There were already two mega printers onboard, taking up most of the ship's space. Rana went back to her shuttle and led the small transport back to her own ship. At her request, the pilot opened the bay doors and lined up with her own ship's hanger. With shocking accuracy, the transport pilot brought his ship within a few yards of Rana's, allowing her bots to roll through space and land on her ship.
The mega printers proved to be more difficult, but there was already a system in place. The small transport moved over to the drill and used an internal crane-arm to move them. At Rana's request, the printers were secured to the top of the drill. The riggers were securing the second printer when two battleships dropped out of slip space near the drill.
"Shit," Rana whispered under her breath. "Time to go."
"Rana of Narjahim. You are under arrest for Conspiracy against the Empire," a voice came over the radio. It was broadcasting on all frequencies, so the riggers and transport pilot heard it, too.
"Is that second printer secure?" Rana frantically asked.
"Uh… yea, I think," one of the riggers responded. "Wh-what's going on? Why is the military after you?"
"Cool. Thanks," Rana said, not bothering to acknowledge the questions.
"I repeat, you are under arrest," the military continued to announce. "Surrender now."
"Fuck off!" Rana yelled into the radio. "I'm trying to improve the Empire!" Rana haphazardly landed her shuttle inside her ship alongside the bots. "Hackbot! Shut the bay doors and set course for Cuiwei! Launch when ready!"
"AFFIRMATIVE."
Rana kicked open the case and started to strap on the pieces of her battle suit. She could feel the ship jolt from a laser hitting the shields followed by a softer jolt from jumping into slip space. Rana paused to take a deep breath. It would be a while before they reached Cuiwei, but she was safe till then. The final piece was her helmet. She couldn't resist a bit of style on this piece. The faceplate resembled a white skull, contrasting the solid, black Volcanium of the rest of the suit.
With the helmet on, Rana could activate the suit. The heavy Volcanium suddenly felt weightless as the internal systems came to life. All the system checks came back good. Rana was ready to fight. She made her way back to the bridge, making a point to stop by the armory. A sword and blaster rifle would be good to have if she was to lead her bots into battle.
"Status report," Rana commanded.
"ARRIVING AT CUIWEI IN: 7 HOURS," Hackbot said. "WARNING: ENGINE STRESS HIGH. FUEL CONSUMPTION HIGH. A RETURN TRIP WILL NOT BE POSSIBLE."
"Then we better get it right the first time."
Rana's transport dropped out of slip space. Before her, she could see a fleet of Narjian ships in battle over Cuiwei. Rana couldn't help but roll her eyes at what she assumed to be yet another invasion attempt.
"INCOMING TRANSMISSION."
"Answer it. Voice only," Rana said.
"Incoming ship, this is General Reshen of the Narjian Empire. Identify yourself."
"This is Rana of Narjahim," she answered. "I'm here on behalf of the Royal Engineers Guild. I will be testing the planet drill on Cuiwei. Command all ground forces to retreat immediately."
"Negative," the General said. "We were not notified of any test. Bring your ship to a stop and prepare to be boarded."
"No," Rana frowned. "I came here with a mission, and I fully intend to complete it. I don't really care if you evacuate the surface. Just stay out of my way." Rana ended the transmission before the General could respond. "Hackbot, full impulse to the drilling site. Shut everything down except shields, weapons, and critical computer systems. Once the ship is in orbit, do whatever it takes to protect the drill. If anyone tries to stop us, blast 'em."
"AFFIRMATIVE."
Rana rushed to the loading bay, swimming through the gravity free halls. Once she was at the bay, she grabbed a jetpack and oxygen tank to attach to her suit. The woman maneuvered herself out of the bay and to the top end of the drill. Using her suit's Volcanium gauntlets to not float away, she prepped the drill.
First, she had to hook up and activate the two mega printers. This would be hard enough to do alone without zooming through open space. Thankfully her years of experience allowed her to complete the process without much trouble. By the time she was done, she was flying through the space battle. Plasma explosions silently lit up around her as the planet's gravity started to take hold.
Next, she had to turn on the drill. Again, it was fairly straight forward as she helped design the thing. She input her commands into the maintenance console, and the drill slowly started to turn. Once it impacted the surface, it would speed up by powering itself with excess Volcanium.
"Hackbot, detach the tow cables," she commanded.
"AFFIRMATIVE," Hackbot responded. The two cables came undone, and the drill began to free fall.
"Let's hope this works," Rana muttered to herself. She activated her suit's inertial dampeners and secured herself to the drill with her gauntlets. She couldn't stop herself from screaming as the drill rumbled against the planet's atmosphere. The burning air was so loud she couldn't hear herself. Her fall came to a hard stop as the drill impacted. Rana had to fight back the bile rising in her throat.
"Uuuhg…" she groaned, struggling to stand. "I'm alive. Nothing's broke. Let's get… whoa…" So many miles in the air, Rana could see out to the curvature of Cuiwei. It was a lush green and blue that quickly turned to fiery red and orange around the drill. "Awesome." Rana whispered. Not wanting to delay further, she called her bot army forward. After a minute, the spherical bots began to zoom past as they fell to the surface. Once she was sure it was safe, she jumped after them.
"Oof!" Rana grunted as she landed. "I'll need to work on that." As far as she could see, the jungle had been burned away by the impact of the drill. She could hear the deafening cracks forming below her as the drill slowly started to pick up speed. She activated her bots, and all 100 spheres came to life, sprouting legs and blasters. "Bots! Protect the drill at all costs!"
The air was still for several minutes. The calm repetition of the spinning drill contrasted with the light burst coming from the battle above them. But Rana knew better. There was no way the Cuiwei bugs wouldn't try to take the drill. Sure enough, an army appeared on the horizon. A massive hoard of giant insects could be seen coming for her creation.
"Fucking bring it."
As the bugs came, she tried to repel them with her blaster rifle but quickly ran out of a charge. Thankfully, her bots could sustain their charge for much longer, but that still left her without a range weapon.
Gripping her sword, she did her best to slash at the attacking insects, but it was a struggle. Their armor was tough, and the blade struggled to slice through their exoskeletons. Rana would have been killed and eaten a hundred times over if it wasn't for her own armor. Her bots were keeping the bugs at bay, but only just barely. If they started to fall, the bugs would overwhelm the drill in seconds.
"Think Rana, think," she mumbled in a panic. She had no blaster. Her sword was next to useless. All she had was her Volcanium armor. "Wait, that could work."
Doing some on the fly programming, Rana tried to form a blade with her Volcanium gauntlets. It sort of worked, but the gauntlets were not made to form sharp edges. It came out looking more like a rhombus shaped stick. She needed something pure. She needed Volcanium X to form a proper blade. Glancing around the battlefield, she tried to pick the bot that was under the least amount of stress.
"Bot 43, come here," she commanded. The selected bot rolled to her spot at the base of the drill. "Connect yourself to the drill and try to extract some Volcanium X from it."
The bot sprouted a new appendage and punched it into the side of the drill. Riding it around, the bot was able to extract a small amount of the pure substance Rana required. She had the bot inject it into her suit before trying to form another blade. It took a few tries, but Rana was able to form a sharp, molten blade on each arm.
"Alright, you insectoid freaks! ROUND TWO!" Rana rushed back into the fight and swung at the nearest Cuiwei bug. The heat of the blade along with its sharpness allowed Rana to slice the giant insect in half with a single swing. "HAHAHAHA HAA!" she laughed as she started to chop through the hoards. Now on the offensive, the fight slowly turned in her favor.
Rana was panting from the heat of battle, watching the few remaining bugs run away. She didn't know if it was because she was beating them, or if it was because the drill had done so much damage to the planet it was causing the bugs to panic. She didn't care. She had won either way. Rana had never felt so badass in her life.
Looking around at the battlefield, she saw that most of her bots were damaged in some way. The insects were tougher than she expected, and she had expected a lot. Not wanting to dwell, Rana activated her jetpack and used the remaining fuel to fly up to the top of the drill. Taking a moment to relax, she looked out at the dying planet.
It was exhilarating to watch up high. What was once a vibrant jungle world was now a shrinking, grey rock, sucked clean of all life. And it was all because of her. She had the power and the drive to conquer Cuiwei, something so many had failed to do.
"No, not conquer," Rana smirked. "I dominated this planet." Her internal celebration was cut short when a military shuttle flew up next to her. "Ah, hell."
Rana was forced to her knees before the Royal Court. Upon his throne, the Emperor sat with the heads of the various Royal Guilds to his left and right.
"How do you do, old timers," Rana joked. The guard that dragged her in smacked her in the side of her head with the butt of his blaster in response.
"Silence," the guard snapped. "Show respect to the Emperor."
"That's enough," the Emperor calmly stated, raising his palm to the guard. "Allow the girl to rise. She will be given the chance to explain herself."
The guard bowed before stepping back. Rana picked herself up and brushed off her pants.
"I don't know what you expect me to explain," Rana rolled her eyes. "I was just doing my job… and his," she grinned as she pointed to the General directly to the Emperor's right.
"You interrupted a military operation!" the General yelled. "Your recklessness led to the loss of thousands of-"
"Enough," the Emperor interrupted. "I believe she is fully aware of what she's done. Please, Miss Rana. Explain yourself."
"We needed to test the drill but were struggling to find a suitable location in Empire territory. I went with Cuiwei instead. As a result, we have a drill that works, and I jump started the ship assembly process. Oh! And I eliminated the Cuiwei, giving the Empire free reign over the planet. You're welcome." Rana maintained her gaze with the Emperor through her explanation, examining him just as he examined her.
"What of the Narjians on Cuiwei?" the Emperor asked.
"They had plenty of time to escape," Rana retorted. "It's their own fault if they didn't leave like I warned. And as far as the Narjian ships go, I told them to stay out of my way. It shouldn't be that hard to know when you're up against someone who is willing to bet it all."
"I see," the Emperor raised an eyebrow at her. "And what of the Cuiwei magic? All of their knowledge is now lost as well."
"Ooooh," Rana's eyebrows shot up in realization. "That's why you kept up the fight for so long. To ransack their magical know-how," Rana shook her head in disappointment. "I knew you were all about the old ways, but that's going super far back."
"When a peoples lose sight of their heritage, they risk losing sight of what made them great," the Emperor explained. "My predecessor understood that, as do I. As do most of your peers. Why don't you?" The question was not one of malice, but of genuine curiosity.
"I don't know," Rana shrugged. "I just wanted to be the best. I want to move things forward, and progress demands sacrifices."
"Hmm…" the Emperor rubbed his chin in thought. "Hashim, this is your daughter, is she not?"
"Uh, yes, your highness," Rana's father shamefully bowed. "She is."
"Quite the character you raised," the Emperor chuckled. "She's given me quite a lot to think about."
"I try," Rana grinned cheekily.
"Still, her crimes cannot be ignored. Rana, your actions have led to the loss of Narjian lives and Empire resources. The Royal Court demands immediate retribution. Tell me Hashim, what would you find to be a suitable punishment for your daughter?"
"Wait, what?"
"Given the severity, I can only suggest public execution," her father said.
"WHAT?!" Rana stared at her father in shock. She knew she shouldn't be surprised, but she didn't want to believe it.
"I agree," the Emperor nodded. "Rana of Narjahim, Daughter of Hashim and Rajiya, you are to be executed tomorrow at dawn for your crimes against the Empire."
Rana scowled at her father. "I declare Braz Almot!" she snapped. The Royal Court was filled with startled whispers that only died out when the Emperor started to laugh.
"You say you desire progress, yet you invoke the Ancient Right?" the Emperor asked in confusion.
"Don't have much in the way of options," Rana said. "I challenge the Head of the Royal Engineers Guild. If Dad wants to see me killed, he can do it himself."
"Young lady, no one has declared Braz Almot since before you were born. Do you expect us to honor such a desperate invocation?"
"I accept," Rana's father declared. All eyes snapped to him.
"Hashim, are you sure? No one will think less of you for rejecting the challenge," the Emperor tried to reassure him.
"I'm sure," the man nodded, his glare locking with his daughter's.
"Very well," the Emperor sighed. "Tomorrow as sunset, you will both meet in the Grand Arena to duel to the death. Braz Almot demands martial combat, so no blasters will be allowed. The Empire will provide you both with dueling armor. Until the duel, you are free to roam Narjahim and set your affairs in order. Should either of you fail to arrive, it will be seen as forfeit and you will be sentence to death."
"See you all there," Rana grinned before turning to leave the Court.
Rana stood in the massive temple facing the wall with names engraved on it. Behind each of the plates was a memento belonging to whoever the spot was dedicated to. Her eyes were glued to her mother's name. Beside it was a blank plate that had been reserved by her father for himself.
Normally people would speak to the slumbering spirits that were believed to reside in the temple, but Rana couldn't think of anything to say. She stopped believing in the old religion long ago. Even if she hadn't, she doubted her ancestors could provide her with any decent wisdom.
Rana couldn't even speak to her mother. She barely knew the woman. But Rana did miss her smile. And the way she would hold her when she was sad. And the stories she told before bed. Maybe if Mom was still alive, things would have turned out differently.
"Rana?"
"Hm?" Rana turned to her father. Neither of them spoke right away. Her father stepped up beside her to stare at his wife's grave. The silence was oddly peaceful between them.
"I didn't expect to see you here," Rana's father finally said, his voice just above a whisper.
"I finished all my preparations. And we still have a few hours till the duel. Figured I might as well visit," Rana shrugged. "It has been a while."
"I'm glad you came," her father nodded. "I only wish it was under better circumstances."
"If we're being honest with ourselves, something like this was going to happen eventually," Rana huffed. "Either we forgot about each other, or we ended up at each other's throats."
"And you don't regret this outcome?"
"Nah. This is the more interesting option. Regardless of what happens, people will be talking about our family squabble for a long time."
Her father couldn't help but lightly chuckle at that response. "So headstrong and dramatic. I had forgotten how much like your mother you were."
"Mom was headstrong?"
"She was," her father nodded. "Rajiya and I would always get into arguments about the silliest things, but we always made up in the end. We made sure to never fight in front of you, given how young you were. Spirits, I miss her."
"Hm…" Rana awkwardly rubbed the back of her neck. "Why couldn't we ever talk like this before?"
"I do not know," her father sadly said. "I can't help but feel like I failed you somehow."
"That's because you did," Rana said matter-of-factly. "I've said it before. I have always been alone. Once mom died, I had no one. Not even you. The few nice people I met all left me eventually, one way or another."
"I'm sorry."
"I know."
"That doesn't excuse genocide," her father glared at her.
Rana smirked at him. She checked the time before turning away from the temple wall. "I'm going to head to the Arena. Oh, and no holding back. I want it to be satisfying when I best you."
Rana finished strapping on her dueling armor before slipping on her Volcanium gloves. The light-weight armor gave excellent protection to her arms and legs while still allowing her to remain mobile. However, her torso and head were mostly exposed. The intent was obvious. Allow a person to continue fighting right up until their opponent scored a critical hit on them.
"Miss Rana," the Arena Overseer spoke as he entered her prep room. "Are you ready for the duel?"
"I am," Rana said as she looked over her own reflection in the mirror. Her eyes lingered on the Volcanium heart on her modified top. It wasn't ritual accurate, but that wouldn't matter after the fight.
"What weapon are you using?" the Overseer asked.
"These," Rana held up her hands and activated her gloves. Volcanium coated her forearms, transforming her hands into vicious looking claws.
"I see… This is a martial duel. I trust those are not designed for projectile use."
"I can form a short whip," Rana shrugged before demonstrating with her right hand. She gave the whip a quick swing before recalling the Volcanium. "That's about as much range as I can get. This pair wasn't designed to shoot Volcanium."
"Very well," the Overseer frowned as he typed away at his tablet. "I will allow it. Hashim will be using a hardened Volcanium short spear for the duel." He went to leave, but Rana stopped him.
"One last thing," she said.
"Yes?"
"When you announce the fight, can you call me Lord Dominator."
"I beg your pardon?" the Overseer glared in confusion.
"This is a fight. I want you to use my fighting name."
"Your fighting name?"
"Yep," Rana nodded proudly. "Three-time Onyx Rumble Champion."
"I don't know what that is," the Overseer shook his head. "I suppose, but I will need to clear it with the Emperor."
"Fine."
"The duel will be in 15 minutes. A guard will escort you when it is time." The Overseer closed the door behind him, leaving Rana alone.
She went back to her reflection. Something felt like it was missing from her look. If this was to be the last day for the Old Empire, she wanted to look good. Maybe a hat? No, the Overseer wouldn't allow that. It would be better to tie her hair back. Maybe some makeup? Yes, that could work.
Reaching into her bag, Rana pulled out her black eyeliner and applied it generously. She smiled at the improvement, but it was still lacking. What else could she add? Tears? Yes. This was to be a dramatic moment in history. Black tears would be perfect. And they would look freaking awesome, too.
Rana had just finished when the guard came to lead her to the main Arena. As a final bit of insurance, she slipped in an earpiece when no one was looking.
"Citizens of Narjahim. Members of the Royal Court. His Highness, the Emperor. I welcome you all to the Grand Arena," the Arena Overseer announced to the audience. The stands of the historic stadium were packed to the brim. In the center of the small arena was an open fighting ring surrounded by a lava pool. In the middle stood the Overseer, with Rana and her father on either side of the small arena.
"Today we will be honoring the first declaration of Braz Almot in three generations. The opposed: Hashim of Narjahim, Head of the Royal Engineers Guild. The challenger: Rana of Narjahim, Daughter of Hashim and Rajiya. As per the rules of the Ancient Right, this will be a martial duel to the death. The victor will earn the favor of the Emperor. Combatants, please step forward."
Rana and father both marched to the center of the arena and bowed to one another. Her father raised his spear, ready for combat. Rana activated her gloves as she raised her fist.
"You didn't use my fighting name," Rana griped, not breaking eye contact with her father.
"Oh, please. It's a silly name," the Overseer retorted, earning an eyeroll from Rana. "I wish you both good luck." He stepped away.
Rana took one moment to size up her father before they fought. He was much taller than her, as were most Narjians. He looked fit, but not quite as fit as her. He also held his short spear with confidence. Rana knew the man used to fight for sport but wasn't sure how good he was. She didn't worry too much, but this was far from the fist fighting she was used to.
"Begin!"
Rana wanted to end the fight quickly. She immediately turned her left hand into claws and swiped up at her father's head. He blocked with the shaft of his spear. Her gloves couldn't go through the hardened Volcanium, allowing him to shove the girl back. He tried to stab her with the tip, but Rana was able to grab it with her gloves.
Rana turned her right hand into a knife and tried to slash at her father again. This time he hopped back out of the way, then retaliated by kneeing her in the stomach. The girl stumbled back and was barely able to sidestep his follow up attack at her face. Her father started to swing the spear like a staff, forcing Rana onto the defensive. At the first opening, she shoved him back and turned her right hand into a whip and used it to grab his spear.
"Ha!" She grinned as the Volcanium wrapped around the shaft. She yanked it out of his hands and caught it before throwing it back at him. She had never thrown a spear, so her sloppy form allowed her father to step out of the way and charge her. "Oof!" Rana grunted as she fell back on her butt. She leaped to her feet as her father picked up his spear.
"Gotta admit... You're better than I thought you would be," Rana said, but her father didn't respond. He came at her with the short spear again, but Rana blocked all the attacks. She didn't counterattack for several seconds. She instead decided to let her father wear himself out, as well as call in her backup. "Move into position," she mumbled. Her father didn't notice.
Rana stuck back, swinging at her father's stomach with her Volcanium fist. The force caused him to stumble back allowing her to punch him again. She got in a few solid hits before her father ducked down and used his spear to trip her up. With her stance destabilized, he easily shoved her to the ground. He placed his foot on her midsection and brought his spear above his head.
And then he hesitated…
Hashim didn't want to kill his only daughter. She could see it in his eyes. The air in the stadium became still for a full seven seconds.
"Make your decision," Rana spoke, just loud enough so only he could hear. "Your daughter, or your honor?"
Hashim licked his dry lips. "Goodbye, Rana."
"Rajiya," Rana said. Hashim hesitated again, just long enough for a loud bang to resonate throughout the stadium. A slug pierced his abdomen, causing him to stumble back. Rana leaped to her feet and stabbed him through the chest. Hashim let out a silent, final breath as she gently lowered him to the ground.
The crowd immediately started to boo her for her actions. Rana had cheated. They all knew it. A small squad of soldiers stormed onto the fighting arena with their blasters drawn. Rana turned off her gloves and let the Volcanium recede, but she didn't surrender.
"Squad 2, fan out and find the shooter," one of the soldiers spoke into a radio on his vest. "Rana, you are under arrest for ritual blasphemy and crimes against the empire."
"Bots, move in and eliminate the soldiers," Rana commanded. A group of her prototype bots came out of hiding, leaping from the outer ring of the open arena and landing in the lava surrounding them. She dropped down as her bots opened fire, catching the soldiers off guard and killing them all.
Panic overwhelmed the stadium as the crowd tried to flee, their screams filling the air. Rana ignored them. She stood up and pointed right at the Emperor's viewing box.
"Now do you see," Rana shouted at him, "how useless you're your traditions are against my tech? I didn't intend for things to go this way, but you forced my hand. It's time for a new Empire. Surrender the throne, and I'll let you live."
"Eliminate her!" The Emperor shouted before turning to leave.
"Didn't think so," Rana sighed. More soldiers moved on her location, so she ran for the lava pool. "I hope this works!" She leaped into the lava and tried to take control of the Volcanium it contained. She swam beneath the surface, hoping that her shirt could accumulate enough to protect her.
As Rana climbed out of the pool, a fair amount of the lava clung to her body. The impure Volcanium formed an improvised armor over her entire body. As her bots continued to fight the soldiers, she ran from the stadium and after the Emperor. She spotted him climbing into a shuttle craft surrounded by his Royal Guards. Breaking into a sprint, she used her gloves to form two shields as the guards opened fire on her.
The blaster fire slowly chipped away at her dripping armor as she chopped through the guards one by one. Forming a whip, she grabbed onto the shuttle as it was taking off and climbed onto the side. She forced the door open with the intense heat and quickly eliminated the pilot and two guards on board.
Without a pilot, the shuttle fell into a spiral. Rana grabbed the Emperor and warped her remaining armor around them. The shuttle crashed hard but was not high enough to kill them. Rana ignored the pain in her shoulder as she dragged the Emperor out of the wreck and tossed him aside.
"You… you saved me?" the Emperor gazed up at her in bewilderment.
"Don't get it twisted," she scolded. "I'm still talking over. I just wanted the satisfaction for myself." She took on an evil grin as her gloves formed a massive hammer, its form dripping Volcanium. "GRRRAAAAH!" Rana let out a primal growl as she swung the weight down on the Emperor, killing him with a gut-wrenching CRUNCH.
Rana walked into the throne room, her remaining bots easily dispatching any resistance they met. Her head was held high with pride. She did it. It was a sloppy operation, but she eliminated the Emperor and a decent chunk of the Royal Court in one go. The Empire was hers for the taking. Rana sat down on the throne and relaxed into the seat.
"Surprisingly comfortable," she commented before turning to her bots. "Which one of you has my tablet?" A floating probe bot moved forward and handed her the requested computer. "Let's see… I'll need to redirect the Volcanium plants to assemble my bots. That shouldn't take more than a few hours. Then I can build a bigger army to command."
"I'll also need a new outfit," Rana frowned as she looked over her dirty and slightly torn clothes. "I should try to make that new suit. I'll have plenty of Volcanium X. But first, I need to announce the good news. Probe Bot, open the emergency frequencies and prepare to transmit a video message."
"AFFIRMATIVE," the floating robot responded. "ACCESSING… EMERGENCY FREQUENCIES OPEN. PREPARING TO RECORD… READY."
Rana took one last moment to straighten herself out. "Alright, start the transmission."
"BEGINNING TRANSMISSION IN 3… 2… 1…"
"Hello, royal subjects!" Rana cheered. "I have good news! The old emperor is dead! Don't worry, I won't let you fall into anarchy. From now on I'm in charge. Soon, the Empire will be one of efficiency and progress. A true technocracy! None of this species superiority and honorable tradition crap. All life will be equal under the reign of Lord Dominator!"
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Ch 22: Acceptance
Rana, or Lord Dominator as she was now calling herself, put on her helmet as she examined her reflection in the mirror. Part of the young Empress thought something was missing from the design. Maybe a pair of horns would be a nice, intimidating addition? But she wasn't sure how to add them onto the helmet.
Dominator had spent the last month calibrating a neurologic reader for her new suit. She had finally cracked the code for soft Volcanium transformation. Her new suit looked more like a crop top with a dress, but if the tech worked then her outfit would transform into a top-of-the-line battle suit. It really was amazing what you could do with a proper supply of Volcanium X. All that was left was to test it.
"LORD DOMINATOR," a Probe Bot announced its presence. "I HAVE BROUGHT THE DAILY REPORT."
"Is it noon already?" Dominator asked. "Alrighty then. Lay it on me."
"947 DOMBOTS HAVE BEEN MANUFACTURED IN THE LAST NARJIAN DAY, 253 LESS THAN ORDERED."
"Uugh!" Dominator groaned. "More protest?"
"PROTEST ON AOTIS-2 HAVE DELAYED PRODUCTION."
"For the love of-! It's been five months already! Don't these people know when to give up? Send in some Knights to break up the mob and get the facility running again. Authorize deadly force. What else is there?"
"THE PLANET DRILL HAS BEEN RETRIEVED AND IS CURRENTLY ON ROUTE FOR NARJAHIM AS REQUESTED," the Probe Bot answered.
"Oh, that's awesome!" Dominator smiled. "Is the ship frame still intact?"
"AFFIRMATIVE. THE SHIP FRAME IS 93% STABLE AS OF THE LAST SCAN."
"Good, good. What else?"
"YOU HAVE VISITORS."
"Wait, what? Like actual visitors?" Dominator frowned in confusion. "This isn't another assassination team?"
"AFFIMATIVE."
"Who is it?"
The Probe Bot projected a holographic image of three Narjians. Dominator immediately recognized two of them as Loreta, her old boss from Sigmorta-5, and Caishen from her R&D team. The third person she didn't recognize.
"I wonder what they want," Dominator pondered. "Bring them to the throne room. Tell Bot 3 set up the guest chairs and make some tea for us. If I'm to catch up with old acquaintances, it's only polite to offer drinks."
"AFFIRMATIVE," the Probe Bot saluted before flying off. Dominator, satisfied with her look, made her way to the throne room.
Dominator sat in the chair opposite her three guests at the small table. Bot 3 filled the four cups with tea then sat down the teapot. It saluted Lord Dominator before floating away.
"I see you… um… really improved your designs," Caishen awkwardly commented. He hesitantly picked up one of the cups and took a sip.
"Thank you," Dominator smiled. "Years of trial and error went into these things. But it was worth it." She took a sip from her cup, savoring the bitter taste. "What's new with you all? And who's your friend?" She gestured to the lady sitting to the right.
"This is my sister, Narcisa," Loreta answered. "We share a bond."
"Nice to meet you," Dominator nodded to Narcisa.
"My sister spoke highly of you when she was on Sigmorta-5," Narcisa commented. She kept a straight face, not bothering to nod or smile back. "Though I never imagined you to be the ambitious type."
"No?" Dominator giggled. "Loreta, have you been selling me short?"
"Oh, of course not," Loreta nervously laughed. "I've always been impressed by your passion. I just never thought you would… um…" Loreta's eyes dropped as she fell silent.
Dominator licked her dry lips, not sure if she should push Loreta to continue. Not wanting to make the woman feel more uncomfortable, she turned to her sister. "What do you do, Narcisa?"
"I was a reporter for the Empire's media branch. Spent most of my time traveling between territories. When I had time off, I would stay with Loreta."
"Sound's nice."
"It was," Narcisa spat. "But thanks to you, everything is falling apart, and I'm stuck on Narjahim."
"The situation will settle with time," Dominator reassured her. "Once everyone gets used to my rule, I can reestablish order in the Empire."
"You can't actually believe that," Caishen said. "No one is ever going to accept you as Empress. The Empire respected the Emperor and you killed him."
Dominator let out a sigh and stood up. She walked around her chair and leaned against it in contemplation. She pouted at Caishen for a few seconds before speaking
"If you three are not interested in small talk, then tell me why you are here," she commanded.
"You convince you to step down," Caishen said.
"HA! How would that work?" Dominator laughed. "Renounce my rule then let the mobs have their way with me? I'd rather not be drawn and quartered."
"Rana please," Loreta begged. She rose and stepped over to Dominator. "You are too smart to not see it. The people will never see you as anything other than a usurper. If you step down now, I can protect you. I'll help you hide and form a new identity. And we can let the military make things right."
"As interesting as an offer that is," Dominator rolled her eyes. "Something tells me your sister would rather just see me dead."
"A lot of people would rather see you dead," Caishen frowned. "If Kamal was here, he would have tried to strangle you already. We are offering you a way out. A clean escape."
"No," Dominator shook her head. "No, I worked too hard for this. I'm not going back to being ignored." She began to walk away from the three guest and to her throne. "If we are done here, I'll have Bot 3 escort y-"
"HOSTILES DETECTED!" Bot 3 declared.
"Hu?"
Dominator turned round to Caishen and Narcisa pointing blasters at her. Before she could react, they both opened fire. Bot 3's protective programming kicked in and zipped in front of her. The blaster bolts destroyed the bot, but it gave Dominator a chance to react.
With a single thought, Dominator's dress transformed into a massive set of battle armor. Her entire body was coated with a thick layer of Volcanium X as the armor grew around her. Once the quick transformation was complete, Dominator stood taller than her attackers and appeared three times bulkier than she did before.
Caishen and Narcisa continued to fire on Dominator, but the bolts couldn't get through the armor. They bounced off her chest as she rushed forward.
"ENOUGH!" Dominator yelled, her mask modulating her voice lower. Her attackers turned to run, were cut off by a group of Dom Bots. "Execute the attackers." The Dom Bots opened fire, littering Caishen and Narcisa with bolts.
"No…" Loreta whispered. She dashed from her frozen spot at the table and ran over to her sister's corpse. The Dom Bots began to charge up their blasters, but Dominator stopped them.
"Stand down," Dominator commanded, and the bots deactivated their weapons.
"You killed them…" Loreta wept over her fallen friends. "You've turned into a monster."
"They chose this fate," Dominator said. She marched over to the older woman and waved the bots away. "You are free to go. Or you may choose to stay and help me."
"Help you?" Loreta looked up at Dominator in shock. She reached over and grabbed her sister's blaster. "Help you subjugate the Empire! AFTER YOU MURDERED MY SISTER!" Loreta stood and pointed the blaster right at Dominator's face. Her hands began to shake as tears poured from her rage filled eyes.
"Drop the blaster, Loreta," Dominator spoke in a calm tone. "You can't hurt me. Leave before I'm forced to kill you, too."
"Don't pretend to care! You are not Rana!" Loreta cried. She lowered the blaster but didn't break eye contact with Dominator. "Rana died with her father. All that's left is for me to join her and my sister…" She pressed the blaster to the bottom of her chin and pulled the trigger.
The room was deathly quiet for several minutes. Lord Dominator couldn't rip her gaze from the three bodies in front of her. She didn't want to kill them. She could understand their frustration. But why couldn't they just have some faith in her. Loreta and Caishen had in the past. Why the change of heart?
Was it because of Narcisa? Dominator rarely witnessed the hate this woman looked at her with. Was that the hate she would face for the rest of her life. Would the people reject her to such a degree that they would rather die than accept her rule?
Dominator shrunk back her armor, so she was once again in her dress. She removed her helmet allowing her hair to drape over her shoulders. And then she started to laugh at the catch-22 she had been handed.
"I can't win, can I?" She laughed harder as she fell back onto the ground. "I've screwed over the entire Narjian Empire, and there's nothing I can do to fix it!" Her laughter turned into insane cackling as Dominator ran her hands through her hair in desperate self-comfort. After several minutes her sides started to hurt, and her mania died down.
"Well… I might as well give them what they want," Dominator sadly chuckled as she sat up. "Bot 1, come her."
The Probe Bot that gave her report floated into the throne room and stopped in front of Dominator.
"Change of plans. Set all bots to exterminate as many sentient lifeforms as they can. Start at the Volcanium facilities and work outwards. I will wait here in the palace until Narjahim has been cleared."
"AFFIRMATIVE. SENDING COMMANDS."
By the end of the week, Dominator's robot army had eliminated every living person on Narjahim. The rubble she walked through was evidence enough of that. She was alone on the planet. The Narjian military was too distracted by the multiple massacres across the galaxy to respond to this one. If any vessels got too close, her bots would hack it and set it to self-destruct. Dominator was quite possibly the only living thing for several lightyears.
A strange mix or remorse and joy stirred in the woman's stomach. On the one hand, this was her home. It had not felt like home in years, but it was where she was born and where she grew up. Dominator couldn't help but feel a pang of sad nostalgia as she wandered through the destroyed buildings and fresh corpses.
On the other hand, the whole event was intoxicatingly empowering. Dominator could not recall ever reading about a single person holding so much power before. Sure, the Empire as an entity had destroyed several planets in the past, but the Empire was a group of people agreeing to work together. This destruction was all her.
She alone commanded the Dom Bots. Lord Dominator alone had the power to remove civilizations from existence, and there was no one who could stand in her way. This was what her life had been leading up to. All her efforts had allowed her to take control of the Volcanium facilities, build a robot army in record time, and bring about the end of the Narjian Empire.
"Bot 1," Lord Dominator called. The Probe Bot in question appeared by her side and awaited its orders. "Prep a space shuttle for me and have all the Probes on Narjahim collect surviving plant life. Doesn't matter if it's a whole plant or just seeds. I'll need a food source if I'm to survive for an extended period."
"AFFIRMATIVE," the Probe Bot responded.
"Oh, and upload my updated blueprints to the planet drill. When we are ready, we will use Narjahim to create The World Eater."
And thus began my reign of terror and destruction. Once The World Eater was built, I used it to destroy every last remnant of the Narjian Empire. There wasn't a ship in existence that could destroy The World Eater. I eliminated all opposition and sent out bots to hunt down survivors.
Once I dominated all the planets in the Empire, I continued with the rest of the galaxy. Destroying planets was what I got out of bed for. As the isolation set in, it became the only thing I knew how to live for. Destroying planets became my entire identity. After the first galaxy had been wiped clean of life, I moved onto a second and then a third.
After so many years alone, the repetition was starting to drag on me. Until I sent a Probe to scout out Andromeda…
"LORD DOMINATOR. THE SCOUTING PROBES HAVE RETURNED," Bot 42 announced.
"Whoop-de-doo," Dominator sarcastically cheered, half-heartedly waving a finger in the air. She was slouched across her throne, helmet resting on her stomach. She ran a gloved hand through her mohawk before sitting up. "Alright, let me see the reports," she sighed.
Dominator skimmed through the 20 or so scouting reports hoping for something interesting. This last galaxy she dominated felt too much like the one before it to give her the same thrill. She missed destroying the Empire. Those first couple planets were a real treat to watch crumble. Guess that's why they say you never forget your first time.
Most of the galaxies held nothing special, but one caught her eye. "Multiple high-level treats" the report read. As she read the text more thoroughly, she learned about the how there were a bunch of super-powered entities as war with each other in a galactic land grab. The scout was unable to get much info on the individual people, but there were photos of multiple armies going at it. What really caught her attention was the picture of someone clad in red shooting green lightning. The photo was too blurry to see what they were using, but it looked extremely promising.
"I think I just found our next target," Dominator giggled like a schoolgirl. "Shame this place is so far. I wonder…"
Dominator started to copy each of her bots' AIs to The World Eater's main computer. Once she was done, she melted them all down. Their Volcanium bodies would serve as fuel for her warship. She would need to find a planet to dominate as soon as she arrived, but that was a gamble she was willing to take.
V recounted the events after arriving in Andromeda. She showed Jackie how she met all the weirdos in this galaxy from Wander and Sylvia to Hater and his Watchdogs. She showed him how she destroyed all the planets, forcing all the survivors to flee Andromeda. She showed Jackie how Hater destroyed her ship and Wander managed to save her. And how she rejected Wander's forgiveness to instead stumble alone until she found Earth.
The purple glow faded from their eyes, and V removed Jackie's hands from her temples.
"That was…" Jackie struggled to find the right words to describe V's story. "Wow… hell of a tale."
"Yea, well… you asked," V looked away. "Now you know."
"That's your life story?" Jackie asked. He received a nod in response. "Ok… um… thank you for telling me… I'll need some time to process, so if you could give me some space…"
"Sure," V said, her voice barely louder than a whisper. She stood from the weight bench and left the garage. She rubbed her arm in discomfort as she walked away, her head low in shame.
V had no idea how long she was lying on the pool table. It felt like days, but it could have been as little as minutes in the real world. She had no way to distract herself in this mindscape version of El Coyote Cojo, so the green alien had resigned herself to staring at the ceiling. Staring at the ceiling eventually turned into staring at the wall, as V let her head fall back over the edge of the pool table.
V never liked thinking about her old life. She preferred to just imagine herself as some force of nature that appeared one day. But she couldn't say no to Jackie. Now the closest thing she ever had to a friend knew just how fucked up her life was, and how everything bad that happened was her own fault.
Maybe it was better this way? People around her tended to get hurt, even if she didn't intend for them to get caught in any crossfire. This wasn't unusual for Night City. Jackie was a Solo and bound to get into a bind eventually, but there was no need to put Mama Welles in danger. If she was on her own, she could just chill at Arasaka and do her best to make up for past sins. Maybe visit the Welles' home for dinner on occasion.
But could she do that? Could she go back to embracing isolation after feeling what it was like to have actual friends? To be part of a family? V supposed she would always have Wander and Sylvia, assuming she hadn't traumatized Wander by massacring the Watchdogs. She probably had. She pushed away another person, even when she wasn't trying to.
WHAM!
V jumped at the startling sound. Her head swung up and around to find Jackie standing beside the pool table, his fist resting against the felt surface.
"Was that necessary?" she scolded.
"I tried calling your name," Jackie chuckled. "So deep in your own head, you wouldn't respond."
"Oh," V rubbed her neck as she sat up. "That's, uh… been happening a lot lately."
"Perhaps I can distract you." Jackie walked over to the wall and grabbed two pool cues. "Up. I'll teach you how to play."
V slowly slid off the pool table, eyeing Jackie uneasily. "I thought you didn't want anything to do with me."
"I'm bored, chica!" Jackie slumped. "Feels like we've been stuck in here for days. Might as well have a little fun." He emphasized his point by lightly tapping V's head with one of the cues.
"Fine," she smirked. "So long as you're offering."
"Ok, you've stabilized your left hand," Jackie guided V. "Now rest the cue across your thumb. Use the side of your index finger to stabilize your shot." He paused for a second to make sure V had a good grip on the cue. "Loosen up your right hand. You want a secure hold, but not a death grip."
"You sure?" V asked.
"You need to let the cue sort of roll in your hand to maintain control. If you're grip is too tight, you're going to lock your wrist and scuff the ball."
"Ok, I think I get it."
"Go ahead and hit the cue ball."
V pulled back on the cue before swinging it forward. The tip of the cue struck the top part of the ball and bounced off, causing the ball to barely move.
"Make sure you follow through," Jackie explained. "Don't lift the cue until the ball is moving. If you don't commit, you'll scuff the ball." He moved the cue ball back into place. "Try again."
V took a deep breath, internalizing what Jackie said. She pulled back on the cue once more and swung it forward. She hit the cue ball dead on. It rolled forward into the 5-ball and knocked it into the corner pocket.
"Hey! I did it," V cheered.
"And on the second shot, too," Jackie's eyebrows rose in surprise. "I thought it would take at least some time before you pocketed anything."
"Well, this is our mindscape. Physics here work more on our perception and expectations as opposed to any hard science."
"Oh," Jackie nodded. "So, you cheated."
"No!" V protested, drawing a laugh from Jackie. "I've never touched these things. This is all based on your memories."
"Is it?"
"Yes."
"Is it?" Jackie asked again, more skeptically.
"Ok, so I might have fudged things a little bit," V blushed.
"Ha! I knew it."
"It's not like we're actually playing," she rolled her eyes. "I don't know how well your lesson will translate to real space."
"Then I'll have to teach you again," Jackie suggested. "Show you how the pros play."
"Oh, uh, ok," V smiled. "I'd like that." She struggled to restrain her giddiness. Perhaps they would remain friends after all this. "Why don't you give me a preview on this 'pro play'?"
Jackie and V spent the next several hours messing around with the pool table. Most of it was Jackie trying to show off. He didn't do anything too fancy, but he kept wanting to see how many times he could bounce a ball off the sides and still pocket it. V kept rolling her eyes at him, saying it was simple geometry. This all culminated with Jackie trying to make a shot from behind his back.
"A steady aim, and…" Jackie smacked the cue ball from behind his back. It rolled into the 12-ball, which in turn hit the 8-ball into the side pocket. "Aha!" he cheered. "Still got it."
"You fudged," V deadpanned.
"Whaaaat? I did not," Jackie scoffed. V looked him dead in the eyes and vigorously nodded. "Yea, well… You fudged first. Fair's fair."
V giggled at him as she shook his head. "Want to play for real? No fudging."
"Sure."
Jackie quickly racked the balls for play. They decided to rock, paper, scissors for first shot. V won, and proceeded to screw up the break-shot, barely tapping the triangle of balls at the far end. It wasn't long before Jackie was dominating the game, despite his play being far from perfect.
"Hey V," Jackie said as he was deciding on his next shot.
"Hm?"
"I've been thinking. And some parts of your life story don't make complete sense."
"How so?" V frowned.
"Like how you were able to accomplish so much in such a short time for starters," Jackie commented. He took a shot and knocked the 7-ball into a pocket.
"What makes you think it was a short time?" V asked. "Yea, I look young, but every species ages at a different rate."
"Oh, so not only do you have Yoda ears, but you age like him, too?"
"Alright, smartass," V glared at him. "Guess. How old am I in Earth years?"
"Uh…" Jackie's brain stalled, somewhat regretting his choice of question. "52?"
"126," V stated. "Give or take a few years."
"What?! ¿Neta? Really?"
"Yea," V nodded. "And that's nothing. Wander, the orange guy with the green hat?"
"Who saved your life and who's banjo you beat me with?"
"I… yes, him," V rubbed her eyes. "Sorry about that."
"Go on."
"He told me he's several thousand years old. I don't know what timeframe he was using, but he's well-traveled. Been all around the universe."
Jackie let out a low whistle as he contemplated that tidbit. "Universe is a weird place, chica."
"You haven't the slightest idea," V smirked. "Come on. Take a shot so I can go again."
"Bold of you to assume I won't win. I only have two more balls to go." Jackie lined up his shot and sunk the 2-ball. "One to go." His next shot almost sunk the 5-ball, but he put too much power behind it. The 5-ball bounced off the 13-ball. The 13-ball went in, making it V's turn.
"You were saying?" V took her time picking her shot, before smacking the cue ball with excessive force, sinking it with the 11-ball. "Damn it."
"Power control takes practice," Jackie reassured her. He grabbed the cue ball and debated on where to put it. "So, what exactly is Volcanium?" he asked as he placed down the ball.
"Volcanium is a mix of iron and silicon that has been put under extreme heat and pressure for a really, really, really long time," V explained. "Over time, the heat can alter the bonds between the atoms and change the iron's natural magnetism. In its purest form, Volcanium acts a lot like a semiconductor. This makes it ideal for circuitry and computers."
"And armor?" Jackie added.
"Yes. Usually, you use less pure Volcanium for that, but my morphing tech made Volcanium X the best option."
"Interesting." Jackie took his shot and sunk the 5-ball. "8-ball in the corner pocket to win." He lined up his shot but didn't quite put enough power behind it. The 8-ball rolled to about an inch from the pocket. "Your go."
V didn't step up to the table. She instead stared at the 8-ball till it slid into the pocket. "You win."
"Really V?" Jackie sighed.
"You were going to win anyways," she defended. "Besides, I'm getting bored. Let's do something else."
"Once last question."
"Shoot."
"Lord Dominator. How are we going to deal with that mess?"
"Jaaaackie," V whined.
"I'm serious, V," Jackie pushed. "How do I know you won't turn around and try kill us all?"
"Dominator is dead!" she shouted. "She died with her ship! Anything that might have survived was snuffed out by you and Mama." V turned away, marching over to the wall to place her cue on the rack. "It's over. Let it go."
"V, come on," Jackie placed a hand on her shoulder. "I'll admit, you've changed a lot since we met. You're a better person. But you can't hide from your past."
"I can deal with anyone who comes after me," V said.
"I'm not worried about people looking for revenge." Jackie forced V to turn and look at him. "I'm worried about you! Can you honestly tell me that you don't feel any urges? You don't in anyway want to go back to being Dominator?"
"I don't!"
"And the lies continue!"
Jackie stepped back as his gaze darted around the bar. "The fuck was that?"
"No no no… the crystal was supposed to fix this," V softly cried.
"Fix what? WHOA!" Jackie looked back at V to see a second version of her.
This second, shadowy V looked more like the memory of Lord Dominator. She stood behind the distressed V with her hands wrapped around the girl. Dominator let out a giggle, her grin disturbingly wide as she locked eyes with Jackie.
"V… what's going on?"
"When you attacked me a few days ago, it broke the bond we shared. As a result, you went into a coma, and I started to hallucinate. This phantom has been haunting me since."
"Is she going to cause issues with the mental repair stuff?" Jackie hesitantly asked.
"I'm not sure, but I doubt it. She's just a figment of my imagination." V frowned at the phantom as she tried to pry its arms off, but Dominator squeezed tighter in response.
"I'm more than that," Dominator pouted. "Stop ignoring me."
"GET OFF!" V struggled harder against the phantom to no avail. "Jackie, help me!"
Jackie took a step forward causing Dominator to take two steps back, dragging V with her. The phantom grimaced at the man as she deliberately shook her head no.
"I don't think we can fight her off," Jackie said. Dominator smiled in response. "I think… I think the crystal is trying to make you accept her."
"What?" V glared at him. "Why in the flying fuck would it do that? It's supposed to fix our brains."
"Maybe this is part of the repair process? You have to come to terms with this phantom."
"How do I come to terms with a hallucination?"
"Well," Jackie scratched at his chin, "you said you don't want to be Dominator anymore. But that doesn't seem entirely true. I can't help but think that you are lying to yourself."
"For fuck sakes," V rolled her eyes. "I don't want those things. Dominator is dead- AAK!" She squealed as Dominator squeezed at her midsection. "Would you quit that?!" V yelled, but only received a giggle in response.
"V, come on," Jackie sighed. "I know you enjoy hurting people. You only hold back because I ask you to."
"Since when is it wrong to enjoy your job? Don't tell me you don't like the rush of a good fight."
"I've never tried to hurt anyone beyond what was necessary. Just because I defend myself doesn't make me a sadist."
"You did shoot that one guy in the head," V pointed out.
"That doesn't count. I was under the influence of the bond," Jackie argued. "If anything, that only further proves my point. Your urges we're rubbing off on me."
"I held up my end of the bargain! I didn't hurt anyone that wasn't necessary, just like you asked. Dominator would never agree to th-" V was cut off when the phantom Dominator grabbed hold of her cheeks with one hand and forced eye contact. There was a venom in Dominator's glare mixed with the annoyance of parent losing their patience with a child.
"Uh…" Jackie's mind stalled has he tried to think of a way to calm down the phantom without trying to physically pry her off V. "Ok, tell me this. When was the last time you killed for fun? And think hard about it before you answer."
Dominator continued to hold V's unwilful gaze for a few tense minutes. Or it felt like minutes. Both Jackie and V's sense of time was shot, making Jackie unsure if he should speak up again. Dominator hadn't moved yet, which was probably a good sign he didn't anger her more. Eventually, the phantom let go of V's face.
"Well?" Jackie prompted.
"After getting the crystal, I was stranded with the others," V mumbled. "We figured out a way to lie our way onto Lord Hater's ship and try to trick him into bringing us home. But I screwed up. And instead of getting Wander and Sylvia to help me, I fought my way through the Skullship. I must have massacred a hundred Watchdogs. And I enjoyed it. At first it was about survival, but most of it was because I could. I gave into the phantom. I didn't have to kill all of those Watchdogs, but I did."
The phantom loosened her grip on V and ran her hands up to the green woman's shoulders. Her glare had faded into a small smile, prompting Jackie to push V further.
"Why did you enjoy it?" he calmly asked.
"Do you have any idea what it's like?" V looked at him with watery eyes. "I had so much power. I was a force of nature. With the press of a button, I could wipe an entire civilization out of existence, and no one could stop me. Watching a planet crumble by my hand, it was so exhilarating. There's no other high like it. And now it's over. I'll never feel that way again." V had to look away. It was like she was radiating some mix of shame and longing. The phantom started to rub her arm as if trying to comfort her.
"Why hide that? How you were feeling."
"I didn't want to lose you," V said. Small tears started to slowly fall from her face. "I don't want to lose anyone. You saw how my childhood was. I never really had a family or friends. But now I do. Why risk that over something that's gone forever?"
"But you are not gone, V," Jackie said. He stepped forward, and this time the phantom didn't pull V away. "You can't hide who you are. Burying your feelings can drive you insane. I've seen it happen." Jackie took her hand in his and interlaced their fingers. "It's better to talk to someone you trust. They can help you deal with your feelings."
"Yea," V nodded. "I know that now, but… I'm just so scared." She looked at him, her lip quivering. "I don't want to lose you. You're my best friend. But my old life, it's just… so at odds with who I am now… How do I live like that?"
"I don't know," Jackie smiled at her, "but I'm sure you'll figure it out. With some help of course."
"Are you volunteering?"
"Sí, I guess I am."
"Thank you," V smiled back. She squeezed Jackie's hand as she stepped closer to him.
"Told you so," the phantom whispered. She leaned in and kissed V on the cheek before fading into a swirl of purple smoke that seeped into V's skin.
"I guess that's it them," V mumbled. "I've always been Dominator one way or another."
"Think you can be the best version of her?" Jackie asked.
"I'll try." She pulled Jackie into a hug and held him tight. The emotional exhaustion of her journey over the last few days was starting to take its toll. "I wish we could sleep in here."
"I thought this was telepathic dream," Jackie wondered as he pulled back from the hug. "Are we not therefore already asleep?"
"I don't think being fully aware in the mindscape counts as dreaming." V led Jackie over to one of the booths by the hand. "Sit. I told you my life story. Now it's your turn."
"Not much to tell," Jackie chuckled. "Heywood born and raised. Technically an only child, but I had a brother I never met."
"What happened to him?" V frowned. She leaned in on Jackie as he did the same with her.
"Killed by a stray bullet. Dad was an old school Valentino, real piece of work. He pissed off the wrong people and they tried to kill him. They missed and hit a 4-year-old in the head. I was born a few months later."
"Wow… that's depressing."
"Yea, that's Night City for you. It was worse during the Time of the Red than it is now."
"Time of the Red? That's when the sky was red, right? Right after the Fourth Corporate War?"
"Chica has been doing her research, eh?" Jackie joked.
"I try," V grinned. "Keep going. What else do I not know about you?"
"I grew up with my five cousins. They all dropped out of school to join the Valentinos, but Mama made sure I graduated. It's how I gained a reputation as a bit of a nerd. I didn't get good enough grades to get into a university. Even if I did, we would never be able to afford it. Struggled to find work, so I joined the Valentinos. And then a couple years pasted and, uh… here we are."
"How incredibly bland of you," V rolled her eyes. "Use that book brain of yours and tell me something interesting. What did you get up to in the Valentinos?"
"Not much, actually," Jackie shrugged, forcing V to adjust her head. "Dad had me take up boxing when I was young, so I could throw a mean punch. But I didn't have any experience with gun fighting. Until I learned how to shoot, Padre had me relegated to money counter and delivery boy. Even after I got good with my pistols, Padre rarely let me go on risky jobs."
"You're kidding?" V squinted at him. "Jackie Welles, the man who led an army against Maelstrom, was Padre's delivery boy?"
"Yep. I think Mama got to him. She could be scarier than a borged out cyberpsycho when she was trying to protect me. On the plus side, that is how I met you."
"Oh?"
"That day I saved you from the Wraiths? I was delivering data shards to Dakota Smith, the Aldecaldos fixer."
"Hu," V blinked. "I'll be sure to give Padre my thanks." V nuzzled her head closer to Jackie's and closed her eyes. There was a brief pause, as the silence of the mindscape seemed to ease any remaining tensions.
"So…" Jackie huffed. "You are actually a midget. Who'd of guessed?"
"Excuse me?" V griped, sitting up away from him. "I'm taller than you."
"Only by a few inches," Jackie smirked at her. "All the other Narjians, they averaged what? Eight to nine feet?"
"Something like that."
"See? Napoleon complex," Jackie grinned. "You were compensating."
"I was not!" V protested. "I am a super genius who was surrounded by idiotic traditionalist."
"Call it whatever you want," Jackie said with an exaggerated shrug. "I call it compensating."
"Is that why you drive around on a fancy ass motorcycle?"
"Ooo! Ouch!" Jackie dramatically grabbed at his chest. "Low blow, V. You really are a super villain."
V laughed at him. "It could be worse, I guess. You could have one of those low-riders all the Tyger Claws drive. Trying to get ladies to drape themselves across you."
"Dios mío, don't make me think about those monstrosities," Jackie shook his head. "Come on. I'll show you how to shoot hoops."
The basketball bounced off the rim and flew back at V.
"AH!" She threw her arms up to protect her face from the incoming, orange sphere. It harmlessly hit her in the elbow, bouncing off and over to the chain link fence.
"That was the most pathetic thing I have seen you do," Jackie deadpanned.
"It came at me out of nowhere!" V protested. "It should have gone in."
"That's because you were trying to cheat. I stopped you."
"Seriously?"
"Yes!" Jackie stated. "You won't learn if you keep trying to fudge the results."
"I can't learn, because none of this is real," V groaned. "Come on. Where did goofy Jackie go?" She held out her hand and the ball flew into her palm. "You know you wanna," she tempted her friend, holding the basketball out to him.
"Oh… alright, fine." Jackie grabbed the ball and started to dribble it. After he few seconds he started to alternate hands. "We will play for style. Watch this." Jackie dribbled the ball between his legs a few times before throwing it at the backboard with excessive force. The ball bounced off and back at him. Jackie leaped towards the hoop, grabbing the ball in midair. "Serve it!" he yelled as he dunked the ball through the hoop causing the chain net to rattle. For an extra bit of flare, the backboard shattered into a million pieces as he swung from the hoop. Dropping down, Jackie grabbed the ball and passed it to V.
"And here I was expecting you to light the net on fire," V smirked at him.
"Nah," Jackie shook his head. "Fire is your thing."
"Good point." V aimed and tossed the basketball high in the air. It came down as a burning meteor, perfectly dropping through the hoop and igniting the chains. "Swish!"
"Swoosh," Jackie corrected.
"Hu?"
"It's swoosh. Swish is only used buy those wannabes that buy too much Nike crap." He grabbed the ball and reset the hoop and backboard to their original state. "My go."
For the next couple hours, Jackie and V took turns taking impossible and extravagant shots with the basketball. Just like they were playing pool, there was no real method behind their madness. It was just two friends messing around. They could forget about the world and the insane situation they had found themselves in. The two could just embrace the temporary freedom the mindscape provided.
After a while, another burst of competition sprouted between Jackie and V. They started to try blocking one another with mixed results. Jackie had the ball and was going for the shot, but V dashed in front of him like a lightning bolt. Jackie jumped and briefly grew wings, allowing him to glide over V's head and dunk the ball.
"BOOM SHAKALAKA!" he roared, his fists above his head.
"Boomshakalaka?" V shook her head in confusion. "The hell kind of word is that? And what's with the wings?"
"I am Angel Icarus, Warrior of the Heavens," Jackie postured, puffing out his chest.
"Warrior of the heavens?" V chuckled. She strutted over to the man and leaned against his shoulder. "What ya steal that from?"
"Icarus by Remi Morris. It's pretty good," Jackie shrugged her off. "I used to have a digital copy. Might be able to dig it up for you."
"Eh. I wouldn't bother. Never been one for fantasy."
V grabbed the ball and got ready to make a run for the opposing basket. But she was interrupted by a deafening horn blast.
"The fuck is it now?" Jackie grumbled. They watched as the distance silhouettes of Night City started to dissolve into the purple sky.
"I think we might be done here," V said.
"As in actually waking up? 'Bout time."
"10 eddies say only four hours have pasted in real time," V suggested.
"My money is on 12 hours."
The world continued to fall apart around them. All their surroundings faded away into swirling void. They were left stranded on an asphalt island. Before them two doors materialized, one purple and one yellow.
"Hu… that's unexpected," V pondered.
"What is?" Jackie asked. "One of these doors lead out of here?"
"If I'm understanding things right, I think… I think the crystal wants you to choose."
"Makes sense," Jackie nodded, "but what exactly are we choosing?"
"I'm not sure, but I have a gut feeling. It's hard to explain." V said. She paused as she chose her words. "I think… if we go through the yellow door, we wake up healed. But if we go through the purple door… we wake up with the bond intact. And you have to choose. I don't think the crystal will accept my decision."
"Ok, weird." Jackie stared at the doors, not sure what to make of the situation. "Isn't the bond how we got into this situation?"
"The Earthling brain wasn't designed for telepathy. The crystal can fix that, and I would assume it already has. It's just a matter of whether you want it to cut off the bond permanently."
"Alright, I think I understand." Jackie fell into deep thought as he debated on the choices. He was dead silent for several minutes as V grew impatient.
"For the love of crop, Jackie," she sighed. "Are you actually debating this?"
"Sí. This is an important decision."
"Seriously?" V looked at him dumbfounded.
"Which would you choose?"
"I mean… isn't the yellow door the obvious choice?"
"I don't know. You seemed pretty desperate to stay friends earlier," Jackie teased.
"Wha… uh, I… well, yea," V blushed. "Doesn't mean we have to remained linked or anything."
"But do you want to?"
"Doesn't matter. It's not my choice."
"It does matter. This affects you, too," Jackie explained. "Do you want to keep the bond."
"I… I don't know… … yea," V confessed. "Yea, I do. But it's still a bad idea. If we keep the bond now, then we're stuck with each other. No way out. If I screw up, then…" V wrapped her arms around herself as she looked aside, unable to maintain eye contact. "Then I drag you down with me."
Jackie went silent again, his gaze returning to the yellow and purple doors before him. One could see the gears turning in his head as he let out a deep breath though his nose. Rubbing his eyes, he slowly shook his head.
"I think I've made my decision," he said slowly. "These last few months… V, they have been some of the greatest in my life. I made friends with Earth's first alien visitor. And then we proceeded to wreck shop together. You helped me become somebody. I don't want to give that up, either."
"R-really?" V stuttered, blushing even harder now.
"BUT!" Jackie emphasized.
"But?"
"I have two conditions. I need to know you won't relapse into your old ways. If we kept the bond, we don't hide anything. Follow my lead when we work, and don't be afraid to lean on me for support. You've seen how Night City can be. I don't want it pushing you down some dark path."
"Ok," V smiled. "I can agree to that. What's the second condition?"
"Can I hear you sing?" Jackie asked.
V blinked at him a few times. "Say what now?"
"I'm curious. Can you blame me?"
"I can, at least a little," V said. "But what the hell? I'll sing for the dork."
"You have no room to call me a dork, you nerd," Jackie teased, lightly shoving her in the shoulder.
"How am I nerd?"
"You spend all your time indoors talking to your robots."
"Oh, shush comic boy," V chuckled. She took hold of Jackie's hand. "Let's get out of here."
"Follow me, Hermana." Jackie let her over to the purple door. With a light push, it swung open to reveal a star-filled ocean. "Ready?"
V nodded, as she took a deep breath. "Feel the pulse, it's rising. The ocean we call life is deep," V began to sing. "Can we parse truth from lies? Have to crest the waves or sink." She pulled Jackie through the door, and they both began to float into the glimmering sea. "While diving down through memories, Won't heed the siren's call. Just take a breath, hold the light, So life won't drown us all."
The sensation was that of swimming. An invisible fluid seemed to coat their skin as the two friends were swept away by the current. Jackie tightened his grip with V has she led his towards the distant stars.
"Contemplate the future, While staring off into the blue. If we have each other, We'll rise up from the deep renewed."
As Jackie and V approach, the dotted lights began to move. Slowly at first, the stars picked up speed as they circled the two friends. The lights seemed to pull Jackie and V closer to a blue glow in the distance, it's light soon overcoming the rest.
"Take my hand in this stormy sea, We'll fall into the divide. Watch it rage as you swim with me, We're swept under the dark tide."
The swimming sensation was replaced by the feeling of falling. The two found themselves racing to the deep blue glow. Jackie pulled V close. They wrapped their arms around one another and embraced the bond.
Mama Welles sat outside the hospital room with the two Arasaka guards. Iwata and Marcus were decent company but were too focused on their job to provide meaningful conversation. Wander had said hello, but she quickly made up an excuse for him to leave her alone. As contagious as the fuzzy alien's bubbliness could be, Mama couldn't handle any weirdness at the moment. She just wanted things to make sense again. As much as she had grown to care for V, in that moment Mama wished the girl wasn't an extraterrestrial. Maybe then life could go back to normal.
"What even is normal anymore?" she asked no one in particular.
"Pardon?" Iwata asked.
"Oh, disculpa. I was just thinking out loud," Mama clarified.
"Hm. I wouldn't worry too much," Iwata reassured her. "You got two tough cookies in there. Jackie and V will be fine. Then everything will settle down and go back to normal."
"Sí. Of course," Mama said, but couldn't help but sigh as she looked away. "Dios debe tener un extraño sentido del humor"
About another hour passed. Another hour of waiting and watching the medical staff go about their day. Wander stepped out of the room and asked Mama if she was hungry. She wasn't but had not eaten anything all day. She handed Wander a few eddies and asked him to grab her something from one of the scizms in the lobby. She made sure he had enough to get himself and Sylvia something as well. The two came back a few minutes later with an armful of snacks and drinks.
"How did you two get so much for just a couple eddies?" Mama asked bewildered.
"Sylvia knows how to work a vending machine something fierce," Wander grinned. "She managed to get two for one on everything. Here you go." He handed Mama a few granola bars. Sylvia dropped a water bottle in Mama's lap with her tail before plopping on the ground next to the woman.
"Gracias."
The three sat in silence while they enjoyed their scizm-ordered dinner. Mama was thankful to finally have some food in her system. It seemed to make the wait a bit more bearable. After she finished her snack, she decided to speak up.
"Thank you, Wander. For everything," Mama said.
"Just being neighborly, Lupé," Wander smiled at her. "I'm doing what any decent person would do."
"No, you are not," Mama insisted. "You went far above and beyond what any other person would do. And I know it wasn't an easy journey. I saw how bad of a shape that corpo is in. Without you and Sylvia, my son would have died. And as for V, I'm not sure she would have ever gotten over what happened at El Coyote. Thank you for saving them. I'll repay you anyway I can."
"You don't have to repay me, Lupé. If anything, you should pay it forward."
"I intend to," Mama smiled. "But if you ever need anything from me, don't be afraid to ask."
Mama turned away before Wander had a chance to protest. She used to know people like him, always so giving. But Night City wasn't kind to people like that. They all died or grew cold and cynical. She wouldn't let that happen to Wander.
A few minutes passed before one of the suits popped their head out of Jackie's room.
"Contact Mr. Sharp. The VIPs are starting to wake up," they said.
"Roger that," Marcus said. His cyberoptic lit up as he messaged their boss.
"You three go ahead," Iwata told Mama and Wander. "I'll notify the medical staff."
Mama rushed into the room with Wander and Sylvia in tow. The two suits charged with watching over Jackie and V were typing notes on their tablets, recording everything that happened. V woke up first, rubbing her eyes with her right hand.
"Uhhhg," she moaned. "My head… did it work?"
The green woman received her answer when Jackie started to violently gag. He grabbed at the ventilator tube that was shoved down his throat and began to pull it out. Once it was free, the man fell into a coughing fit as his lungs began to work on their own once again.
"Gracias Dios," Mama breathed as she ran to her son's side.
"No chingues," Jackie panted as he caught his breath. "How long was I out?"
"About four days," V answered.
"That explains why my ass is so numb."
"Jackie Welles!" Mama tried to scold, but she couldn't help smiling at her son joking around. It didn't help that V started laughing at her reaction. Soon, all three of them were laughing. "I'm so happy you two are okay." Mama wiped the tears from her eyes.
"Everyone, please clear the room," a nurse announced as she entered the room.
"Room service, perfect," Jackie continued to joke. "Any chance I could get a burger? You'd be surprised how hungry you get while in a coma."
The nurse rolled her eyes at him as she began to record vitals. "Everyone out, now," she commanded. "We need room to work." Two more nurses piled in and forced everyone else out.
"Why is everyone in this hospital so uptight?" V yawned. "A burger sounds great. Just let me… rest my eye a second."
an: song used is Dark Tide by Scandroid
Dominator had spent the last month calibrating a neurologic reader for her new suit. She had finally cracked the code for soft Volcanium transformation. Her new suit looked more like a crop top with a dress, but if the tech worked then her outfit would transform into a top-of-the-line battle suit. It really was amazing what you could do with a proper supply of Volcanium X. All that was left was to test it.
"LORD DOMINATOR," a Probe Bot announced its presence. "I HAVE BROUGHT THE DAILY REPORT."
"Is it noon already?" Dominator asked. "Alrighty then. Lay it on me."
"947 DOMBOTS HAVE BEEN MANUFACTURED IN THE LAST NARJIAN DAY, 253 LESS THAN ORDERED."
"Uugh!" Dominator groaned. "More protest?"
"PROTEST ON AOTIS-2 HAVE DELAYED PRODUCTION."
"For the love of-! It's been five months already! Don't these people know when to give up? Send in some Knights to break up the mob and get the facility running again. Authorize deadly force. What else is there?"
"THE PLANET DRILL HAS BEEN RETRIEVED AND IS CURRENTLY ON ROUTE FOR NARJAHIM AS REQUESTED," the Probe Bot answered.
"Oh, that's awesome!" Dominator smiled. "Is the ship frame still intact?"
"AFFIRMATIVE. THE SHIP FRAME IS 93% STABLE AS OF THE LAST SCAN."
"Good, good. What else?"
"YOU HAVE VISITORS."
"Wait, what? Like actual visitors?" Dominator frowned in confusion. "This isn't another assassination team?"
"AFFIMATIVE."
"Who is it?"
The Probe Bot projected a holographic image of three Narjians. Dominator immediately recognized two of them as Loreta, her old boss from Sigmorta-5, and Caishen from her R&D team. The third person she didn't recognize.
"I wonder what they want," Dominator pondered. "Bring them to the throne room. Tell Bot 3 set up the guest chairs and make some tea for us. If I'm to catch up with old acquaintances, it's only polite to offer drinks."
"AFFIRMATIVE," the Probe Bot saluted before flying off. Dominator, satisfied with her look, made her way to the throne room.
Dominator sat in the chair opposite her three guests at the small table. Bot 3 filled the four cups with tea then sat down the teapot. It saluted Lord Dominator before floating away.
"I see you… um… really improved your designs," Caishen awkwardly commented. He hesitantly picked up one of the cups and took a sip.
"Thank you," Dominator smiled. "Years of trial and error went into these things. But it was worth it." She took a sip from her cup, savoring the bitter taste. "What's new with you all? And who's your friend?" She gestured to the lady sitting to the right.
"This is my sister, Narcisa," Loreta answered. "We share a bond."
"Nice to meet you," Dominator nodded to Narcisa.
"My sister spoke highly of you when she was on Sigmorta-5," Narcisa commented. She kept a straight face, not bothering to nod or smile back. "Though I never imagined you to be the ambitious type."
"No?" Dominator giggled. "Loreta, have you been selling me short?"
"Oh, of course not," Loreta nervously laughed. "I've always been impressed by your passion. I just never thought you would… um…" Loreta's eyes dropped as she fell silent.
Dominator licked her dry lips, not sure if she should push Loreta to continue. Not wanting to make the woman feel more uncomfortable, she turned to her sister. "What do you do, Narcisa?"
"I was a reporter for the Empire's media branch. Spent most of my time traveling between territories. When I had time off, I would stay with Loreta."
"Sound's nice."
"It was," Narcisa spat. "But thanks to you, everything is falling apart, and I'm stuck on Narjahim."
"The situation will settle with time," Dominator reassured her. "Once everyone gets used to my rule, I can reestablish order in the Empire."
"You can't actually believe that," Caishen said. "No one is ever going to accept you as Empress. The Empire respected the Emperor and you killed him."
Dominator let out a sigh and stood up. She walked around her chair and leaned against it in contemplation. She pouted at Caishen for a few seconds before speaking
"If you three are not interested in small talk, then tell me why you are here," she commanded.
"You convince you to step down," Caishen said.
"HA! How would that work?" Dominator laughed. "Renounce my rule then let the mobs have their way with me? I'd rather not be drawn and quartered."
"Rana please," Loreta begged. She rose and stepped over to Dominator. "You are too smart to not see it. The people will never see you as anything other than a usurper. If you step down now, I can protect you. I'll help you hide and form a new identity. And we can let the military make things right."
"As interesting as an offer that is," Dominator rolled her eyes. "Something tells me your sister would rather just see me dead."
"A lot of people would rather see you dead," Caishen frowned. "If Kamal was here, he would have tried to strangle you already. We are offering you a way out. A clean escape."
"No," Dominator shook her head. "No, I worked too hard for this. I'm not going back to being ignored." She began to walk away from the three guest and to her throne. "If we are done here, I'll have Bot 3 escort y-"
"HOSTILES DETECTED!" Bot 3 declared.
"Hu?"
Dominator turned round to Caishen and Narcisa pointing blasters at her. Before she could react, they both opened fire. Bot 3's protective programming kicked in and zipped in front of her. The blaster bolts destroyed the bot, but it gave Dominator a chance to react.
With a single thought, Dominator's dress transformed into a massive set of battle armor. Her entire body was coated with a thick layer of Volcanium X as the armor grew around her. Once the quick transformation was complete, Dominator stood taller than her attackers and appeared three times bulkier than she did before.
Caishen and Narcisa continued to fire on Dominator, but the bolts couldn't get through the armor. They bounced off her chest as she rushed forward.
"ENOUGH!" Dominator yelled, her mask modulating her voice lower. Her attackers turned to run, were cut off by a group of Dom Bots. "Execute the attackers." The Dom Bots opened fire, littering Caishen and Narcisa with bolts.
"No…" Loreta whispered. She dashed from her frozen spot at the table and ran over to her sister's corpse. The Dom Bots began to charge up their blasters, but Dominator stopped them.
"Stand down," Dominator commanded, and the bots deactivated their weapons.
"You killed them…" Loreta wept over her fallen friends. "You've turned into a monster."
"They chose this fate," Dominator said. She marched over to the older woman and waved the bots away. "You are free to go. Or you may choose to stay and help me."
"Help you?" Loreta looked up at Dominator in shock. She reached over and grabbed her sister's blaster. "Help you subjugate the Empire! AFTER YOU MURDERED MY SISTER!" Loreta stood and pointed the blaster right at Dominator's face. Her hands began to shake as tears poured from her rage filled eyes.
"Drop the blaster, Loreta," Dominator spoke in a calm tone. "You can't hurt me. Leave before I'm forced to kill you, too."
"Don't pretend to care! You are not Rana!" Loreta cried. She lowered the blaster but didn't break eye contact with Dominator. "Rana died with her father. All that's left is for me to join her and my sister…" She pressed the blaster to the bottom of her chin and pulled the trigger.
The room was deathly quiet for several minutes. Lord Dominator couldn't rip her gaze from the three bodies in front of her. She didn't want to kill them. She could understand their frustration. But why couldn't they just have some faith in her. Loreta and Caishen had in the past. Why the change of heart?
Was it because of Narcisa? Dominator rarely witnessed the hate this woman looked at her with. Was that the hate she would face for the rest of her life. Would the people reject her to such a degree that they would rather die than accept her rule?
Dominator shrunk back her armor, so she was once again in her dress. She removed her helmet allowing her hair to drape over her shoulders. And then she started to laugh at the catch-22 she had been handed.
"I can't win, can I?" She laughed harder as she fell back onto the ground. "I've screwed over the entire Narjian Empire, and there's nothing I can do to fix it!" Her laughter turned into insane cackling as Dominator ran her hands through her hair in desperate self-comfort. After several minutes her sides started to hurt, and her mania died down.
"Well… I might as well give them what they want," Dominator sadly chuckled as she sat up. "Bot 1, come her."
The Probe Bot that gave her report floated into the throne room and stopped in front of Dominator.
"Change of plans. Set all bots to exterminate as many sentient lifeforms as they can. Start at the Volcanium facilities and work outwards. I will wait here in the palace until Narjahim has been cleared."
"AFFIRMATIVE. SENDING COMMANDS."
By the end of the week, Dominator's robot army had eliminated every living person on Narjahim. The rubble she walked through was evidence enough of that. She was alone on the planet. The Narjian military was too distracted by the multiple massacres across the galaxy to respond to this one. If any vessels got too close, her bots would hack it and set it to self-destruct. Dominator was quite possibly the only living thing for several lightyears.
A strange mix or remorse and joy stirred in the woman's stomach. On the one hand, this was her home. It had not felt like home in years, but it was where she was born and where she grew up. Dominator couldn't help but feel a pang of sad nostalgia as she wandered through the destroyed buildings and fresh corpses.
On the other hand, the whole event was intoxicatingly empowering. Dominator could not recall ever reading about a single person holding so much power before. Sure, the Empire as an entity had destroyed several planets in the past, but the Empire was a group of people agreeing to work together. This destruction was all her.
She alone commanded the Dom Bots. Lord Dominator alone had the power to remove civilizations from existence, and there was no one who could stand in her way. This was what her life had been leading up to. All her efforts had allowed her to take control of the Volcanium facilities, build a robot army in record time, and bring about the end of the Narjian Empire.
"Bot 1," Lord Dominator called. The Probe Bot in question appeared by her side and awaited its orders. "Prep a space shuttle for me and have all the Probes on Narjahim collect surviving plant life. Doesn't matter if it's a whole plant or just seeds. I'll need a food source if I'm to survive for an extended period."
"AFFIRMATIVE," the Probe Bot responded.
"Oh, and upload my updated blueprints to the planet drill. When we are ready, we will use Narjahim to create The World Eater."
And thus began my reign of terror and destruction. Once The World Eater was built, I used it to destroy every last remnant of the Narjian Empire. There wasn't a ship in existence that could destroy The World Eater. I eliminated all opposition and sent out bots to hunt down survivors.
Once I dominated all the planets in the Empire, I continued with the rest of the galaxy. Destroying planets was what I got out of bed for. As the isolation set in, it became the only thing I knew how to live for. Destroying planets became my entire identity. After the first galaxy had been wiped clean of life, I moved onto a second and then a third.
After so many years alone, the repetition was starting to drag on me. Until I sent a Probe to scout out Andromeda…
"LORD DOMINATOR. THE SCOUTING PROBES HAVE RETURNED," Bot 42 announced.
"Whoop-de-doo," Dominator sarcastically cheered, half-heartedly waving a finger in the air. She was slouched across her throne, helmet resting on her stomach. She ran a gloved hand through her mohawk before sitting up. "Alright, let me see the reports," she sighed.
Dominator skimmed through the 20 or so scouting reports hoping for something interesting. This last galaxy she dominated felt too much like the one before it to give her the same thrill. She missed destroying the Empire. Those first couple planets were a real treat to watch crumble. Guess that's why they say you never forget your first time.
Most of the galaxies held nothing special, but one caught her eye. "Multiple high-level treats" the report read. As she read the text more thoroughly, she learned about the how there were a bunch of super-powered entities as war with each other in a galactic land grab. The scout was unable to get much info on the individual people, but there were photos of multiple armies going at it. What really caught her attention was the picture of someone clad in red shooting green lightning. The photo was too blurry to see what they were using, but it looked extremely promising.
"I think I just found our next target," Dominator giggled like a schoolgirl. "Shame this place is so far. I wonder…"
Dominator started to copy each of her bots' AIs to The World Eater's main computer. Once she was done, she melted them all down. Their Volcanium bodies would serve as fuel for her warship. She would need to find a planet to dominate as soon as she arrived, but that was a gamble she was willing to take.
V recounted the events after arriving in Andromeda. She showed Jackie how she met all the weirdos in this galaxy from Wander and Sylvia to Hater and his Watchdogs. She showed him how she destroyed all the planets, forcing all the survivors to flee Andromeda. She showed Jackie how Hater destroyed her ship and Wander managed to save her. And how she rejected Wander's forgiveness to instead stumble alone until she found Earth.
The purple glow faded from their eyes, and V removed Jackie's hands from her temples.
"That was…" Jackie struggled to find the right words to describe V's story. "Wow… hell of a tale."
"Yea, well… you asked," V looked away. "Now you know."
"That's your life story?" Jackie asked. He received a nod in response. "Ok… um… thank you for telling me… I'll need some time to process, so if you could give me some space…"
"Sure," V said, her voice barely louder than a whisper. She stood from the weight bench and left the garage. She rubbed her arm in discomfort as she walked away, her head low in shame.
V had no idea how long she was lying on the pool table. It felt like days, but it could have been as little as minutes in the real world. She had no way to distract herself in this mindscape version of El Coyote Cojo, so the green alien had resigned herself to staring at the ceiling. Staring at the ceiling eventually turned into staring at the wall, as V let her head fall back over the edge of the pool table.
V never liked thinking about her old life. She preferred to just imagine herself as some force of nature that appeared one day. But she couldn't say no to Jackie. Now the closest thing she ever had to a friend knew just how fucked up her life was, and how everything bad that happened was her own fault.
Maybe it was better this way? People around her tended to get hurt, even if she didn't intend for them to get caught in any crossfire. This wasn't unusual for Night City. Jackie was a Solo and bound to get into a bind eventually, but there was no need to put Mama Welles in danger. If she was on her own, she could just chill at Arasaka and do her best to make up for past sins. Maybe visit the Welles' home for dinner on occasion.
But could she do that? Could she go back to embracing isolation after feeling what it was like to have actual friends? To be part of a family? V supposed she would always have Wander and Sylvia, assuming she hadn't traumatized Wander by massacring the Watchdogs. She probably had. She pushed away another person, even when she wasn't trying to.
WHAM!
V jumped at the startling sound. Her head swung up and around to find Jackie standing beside the pool table, his fist resting against the felt surface.
"Was that necessary?" she scolded.
"I tried calling your name," Jackie chuckled. "So deep in your own head, you wouldn't respond."
"Oh," V rubbed her neck as she sat up. "That's, uh… been happening a lot lately."
"Perhaps I can distract you." Jackie walked over to the wall and grabbed two pool cues. "Up. I'll teach you how to play."
V slowly slid off the pool table, eyeing Jackie uneasily. "I thought you didn't want anything to do with me."
"I'm bored, chica!" Jackie slumped. "Feels like we've been stuck in here for days. Might as well have a little fun." He emphasized his point by lightly tapping V's head with one of the cues.
"Fine," she smirked. "So long as you're offering."
"Ok, you've stabilized your left hand," Jackie guided V. "Now rest the cue across your thumb. Use the side of your index finger to stabilize your shot." He paused for a second to make sure V had a good grip on the cue. "Loosen up your right hand. You want a secure hold, but not a death grip."
"You sure?" V asked.
"You need to let the cue sort of roll in your hand to maintain control. If you're grip is too tight, you're going to lock your wrist and scuff the ball."
"Ok, I think I get it."
"Go ahead and hit the cue ball."
V pulled back on the cue before swinging it forward. The tip of the cue struck the top part of the ball and bounced off, causing the ball to barely move.
"Make sure you follow through," Jackie explained. "Don't lift the cue until the ball is moving. If you don't commit, you'll scuff the ball." He moved the cue ball back into place. "Try again."
V took a deep breath, internalizing what Jackie said. She pulled back on the cue once more and swung it forward. She hit the cue ball dead on. It rolled forward into the 5-ball and knocked it into the corner pocket.
"Hey! I did it," V cheered.
"And on the second shot, too," Jackie's eyebrows rose in surprise. "I thought it would take at least some time before you pocketed anything."
"Well, this is our mindscape. Physics here work more on our perception and expectations as opposed to any hard science."
"Oh," Jackie nodded. "So, you cheated."
"No!" V protested, drawing a laugh from Jackie. "I've never touched these things. This is all based on your memories."
"Is it?"
"Yes."
"Is it?" Jackie asked again, more skeptically.
"Ok, so I might have fudged things a little bit," V blushed.
"Ha! I knew it."
"It's not like we're actually playing," she rolled her eyes. "I don't know how well your lesson will translate to real space."
"Then I'll have to teach you again," Jackie suggested. "Show you how the pros play."
"Oh, uh, ok," V smiled. "I'd like that." She struggled to restrain her giddiness. Perhaps they would remain friends after all this. "Why don't you give me a preview on this 'pro play'?"
Jackie and V spent the next several hours messing around with the pool table. Most of it was Jackie trying to show off. He didn't do anything too fancy, but he kept wanting to see how many times he could bounce a ball off the sides and still pocket it. V kept rolling her eyes at him, saying it was simple geometry. This all culminated with Jackie trying to make a shot from behind his back.
"A steady aim, and…" Jackie smacked the cue ball from behind his back. It rolled into the 12-ball, which in turn hit the 8-ball into the side pocket. "Aha!" he cheered. "Still got it."
"You fudged," V deadpanned.
"Whaaaat? I did not," Jackie scoffed. V looked him dead in the eyes and vigorously nodded. "Yea, well… You fudged first. Fair's fair."
V giggled at him as she shook his head. "Want to play for real? No fudging."
"Sure."
Jackie quickly racked the balls for play. They decided to rock, paper, scissors for first shot. V won, and proceeded to screw up the break-shot, barely tapping the triangle of balls at the far end. It wasn't long before Jackie was dominating the game, despite his play being far from perfect.
"Hey V," Jackie said as he was deciding on his next shot.
"Hm?"
"I've been thinking. And some parts of your life story don't make complete sense."
"How so?" V frowned.
"Like how you were able to accomplish so much in such a short time for starters," Jackie commented. He took a shot and knocked the 7-ball into a pocket.
"What makes you think it was a short time?" V asked. "Yea, I look young, but every species ages at a different rate."
"Oh, so not only do you have Yoda ears, but you age like him, too?"
"Alright, smartass," V glared at him. "Guess. How old am I in Earth years?"
"Uh…" Jackie's brain stalled, somewhat regretting his choice of question. "52?"
"126," V stated. "Give or take a few years."
"What?! ¿Neta? Really?"
"Yea," V nodded. "And that's nothing. Wander, the orange guy with the green hat?"
"Who saved your life and who's banjo you beat me with?"
"I… yes, him," V rubbed her eyes. "Sorry about that."
"Go on."
"He told me he's several thousand years old. I don't know what timeframe he was using, but he's well-traveled. Been all around the universe."
Jackie let out a low whistle as he contemplated that tidbit. "Universe is a weird place, chica."
"You haven't the slightest idea," V smirked. "Come on. Take a shot so I can go again."
"Bold of you to assume I won't win. I only have two more balls to go." Jackie lined up his shot and sunk the 2-ball. "One to go." His next shot almost sunk the 5-ball, but he put too much power behind it. The 5-ball bounced off the 13-ball. The 13-ball went in, making it V's turn.
"You were saying?" V took her time picking her shot, before smacking the cue ball with excessive force, sinking it with the 11-ball. "Damn it."
"Power control takes practice," Jackie reassured her. He grabbed the cue ball and debated on where to put it. "So, what exactly is Volcanium?" he asked as he placed down the ball.
"Volcanium is a mix of iron and silicon that has been put under extreme heat and pressure for a really, really, really long time," V explained. "Over time, the heat can alter the bonds between the atoms and change the iron's natural magnetism. In its purest form, Volcanium acts a lot like a semiconductor. This makes it ideal for circuitry and computers."
"And armor?" Jackie added.
"Yes. Usually, you use less pure Volcanium for that, but my morphing tech made Volcanium X the best option."
"Interesting." Jackie took his shot and sunk the 5-ball. "8-ball in the corner pocket to win." He lined up his shot but didn't quite put enough power behind it. The 8-ball rolled to about an inch from the pocket. "Your go."
V didn't step up to the table. She instead stared at the 8-ball till it slid into the pocket. "You win."
"Really V?" Jackie sighed.
"You were going to win anyways," she defended. "Besides, I'm getting bored. Let's do something else."
"Once last question."
"Shoot."
"Lord Dominator. How are we going to deal with that mess?"
"Jaaaackie," V whined.
"I'm serious, V," Jackie pushed. "How do I know you won't turn around and try kill us all?"
"Dominator is dead!" she shouted. "She died with her ship! Anything that might have survived was snuffed out by you and Mama." V turned away, marching over to the wall to place her cue on the rack. "It's over. Let it go."
"V, come on," Jackie placed a hand on her shoulder. "I'll admit, you've changed a lot since we met. You're a better person. But you can't hide from your past."
"I can deal with anyone who comes after me," V said.
"I'm not worried about people looking for revenge." Jackie forced V to turn and look at him. "I'm worried about you! Can you honestly tell me that you don't feel any urges? You don't in anyway want to go back to being Dominator?"
"I don't!"
"And the lies continue!"
Jackie stepped back as his gaze darted around the bar. "The fuck was that?"
"No no no… the crystal was supposed to fix this," V softly cried.
"Fix what? WHOA!" Jackie looked back at V to see a second version of her.
This second, shadowy V looked more like the memory of Lord Dominator. She stood behind the distressed V with her hands wrapped around the girl. Dominator let out a giggle, her grin disturbingly wide as she locked eyes with Jackie.
"V… what's going on?"
"When you attacked me a few days ago, it broke the bond we shared. As a result, you went into a coma, and I started to hallucinate. This phantom has been haunting me since."
"Is she going to cause issues with the mental repair stuff?" Jackie hesitantly asked.
"I'm not sure, but I doubt it. She's just a figment of my imagination." V frowned at the phantom as she tried to pry its arms off, but Dominator squeezed tighter in response.
"I'm more than that," Dominator pouted. "Stop ignoring me."
"GET OFF!" V struggled harder against the phantom to no avail. "Jackie, help me!"
Jackie took a step forward causing Dominator to take two steps back, dragging V with her. The phantom grimaced at the man as she deliberately shook her head no.
"I don't think we can fight her off," Jackie said. Dominator smiled in response. "I think… I think the crystal is trying to make you accept her."
"What?" V glared at him. "Why in the flying fuck would it do that? It's supposed to fix our brains."
"Maybe this is part of the repair process? You have to come to terms with this phantom."
"How do I come to terms with a hallucination?"
"Well," Jackie scratched at his chin, "you said you don't want to be Dominator anymore. But that doesn't seem entirely true. I can't help but think that you are lying to yourself."
"For fuck sakes," V rolled her eyes. "I don't want those things. Dominator is dead- AAK!" She squealed as Dominator squeezed at her midsection. "Would you quit that?!" V yelled, but only received a giggle in response.
"V, come on," Jackie sighed. "I know you enjoy hurting people. You only hold back because I ask you to."
"Since when is it wrong to enjoy your job? Don't tell me you don't like the rush of a good fight."
"I've never tried to hurt anyone beyond what was necessary. Just because I defend myself doesn't make me a sadist."
"You did shoot that one guy in the head," V pointed out.
"That doesn't count. I was under the influence of the bond," Jackie argued. "If anything, that only further proves my point. Your urges we're rubbing off on me."
"I held up my end of the bargain! I didn't hurt anyone that wasn't necessary, just like you asked. Dominator would never agree to th-" V was cut off when the phantom Dominator grabbed hold of her cheeks with one hand and forced eye contact. There was a venom in Dominator's glare mixed with the annoyance of parent losing their patience with a child.
"Uh…" Jackie's mind stalled has he tried to think of a way to calm down the phantom without trying to physically pry her off V. "Ok, tell me this. When was the last time you killed for fun? And think hard about it before you answer."
Dominator continued to hold V's unwilful gaze for a few tense minutes. Or it felt like minutes. Both Jackie and V's sense of time was shot, making Jackie unsure if he should speak up again. Dominator hadn't moved yet, which was probably a good sign he didn't anger her more. Eventually, the phantom let go of V's face.
"Well?" Jackie prompted.
"After getting the crystal, I was stranded with the others," V mumbled. "We figured out a way to lie our way onto Lord Hater's ship and try to trick him into bringing us home. But I screwed up. And instead of getting Wander and Sylvia to help me, I fought my way through the Skullship. I must have massacred a hundred Watchdogs. And I enjoyed it. At first it was about survival, but most of it was because I could. I gave into the phantom. I didn't have to kill all of those Watchdogs, but I did."
The phantom loosened her grip on V and ran her hands up to the green woman's shoulders. Her glare had faded into a small smile, prompting Jackie to push V further.
"Why did you enjoy it?" he calmly asked.
"Do you have any idea what it's like?" V looked at him with watery eyes. "I had so much power. I was a force of nature. With the press of a button, I could wipe an entire civilization out of existence, and no one could stop me. Watching a planet crumble by my hand, it was so exhilarating. There's no other high like it. And now it's over. I'll never feel that way again." V had to look away. It was like she was radiating some mix of shame and longing. The phantom started to rub her arm as if trying to comfort her.
"Why hide that? How you were feeling."
"I didn't want to lose you," V said. Small tears started to slowly fall from her face. "I don't want to lose anyone. You saw how my childhood was. I never really had a family or friends. But now I do. Why risk that over something that's gone forever?"
"But you are not gone, V," Jackie said. He stepped forward, and this time the phantom didn't pull V away. "You can't hide who you are. Burying your feelings can drive you insane. I've seen it happen." Jackie took her hand in his and interlaced their fingers. "It's better to talk to someone you trust. They can help you deal with your feelings."
"Yea," V nodded. "I know that now, but… I'm just so scared." She looked at him, her lip quivering. "I don't want to lose you. You're my best friend. But my old life, it's just… so at odds with who I am now… How do I live like that?"
"I don't know," Jackie smiled at her, "but I'm sure you'll figure it out. With some help of course."
"Are you volunteering?"
"Sí, I guess I am."
"Thank you," V smiled back. She squeezed Jackie's hand as she stepped closer to him.
"Told you so," the phantom whispered. She leaned in and kissed V on the cheek before fading into a swirl of purple smoke that seeped into V's skin.
"I guess that's it them," V mumbled. "I've always been Dominator one way or another."
"Think you can be the best version of her?" Jackie asked.
"I'll try." She pulled Jackie into a hug and held him tight. The emotional exhaustion of her journey over the last few days was starting to take its toll. "I wish we could sleep in here."
"I thought this was telepathic dream," Jackie wondered as he pulled back from the hug. "Are we not therefore already asleep?"
"I don't think being fully aware in the mindscape counts as dreaming." V led Jackie over to one of the booths by the hand. "Sit. I told you my life story. Now it's your turn."
"Not much to tell," Jackie chuckled. "Heywood born and raised. Technically an only child, but I had a brother I never met."
"What happened to him?" V frowned. She leaned in on Jackie as he did the same with her.
"Killed by a stray bullet. Dad was an old school Valentino, real piece of work. He pissed off the wrong people and they tried to kill him. They missed and hit a 4-year-old in the head. I was born a few months later."
"Wow… that's depressing."
"Yea, that's Night City for you. It was worse during the Time of the Red than it is now."
"Time of the Red? That's when the sky was red, right? Right after the Fourth Corporate War?"
"Chica has been doing her research, eh?" Jackie joked.
"I try," V grinned. "Keep going. What else do I not know about you?"
"I grew up with my five cousins. They all dropped out of school to join the Valentinos, but Mama made sure I graduated. It's how I gained a reputation as a bit of a nerd. I didn't get good enough grades to get into a university. Even if I did, we would never be able to afford it. Struggled to find work, so I joined the Valentinos. And then a couple years pasted and, uh… here we are."
"How incredibly bland of you," V rolled her eyes. "Use that book brain of yours and tell me something interesting. What did you get up to in the Valentinos?"
"Not much, actually," Jackie shrugged, forcing V to adjust her head. "Dad had me take up boxing when I was young, so I could throw a mean punch. But I didn't have any experience with gun fighting. Until I learned how to shoot, Padre had me relegated to money counter and delivery boy. Even after I got good with my pistols, Padre rarely let me go on risky jobs."
"You're kidding?" V squinted at him. "Jackie Welles, the man who led an army against Maelstrom, was Padre's delivery boy?"
"Yep. I think Mama got to him. She could be scarier than a borged out cyberpsycho when she was trying to protect me. On the plus side, that is how I met you."
"Oh?"
"That day I saved you from the Wraiths? I was delivering data shards to Dakota Smith, the Aldecaldos fixer."
"Hu," V blinked. "I'll be sure to give Padre my thanks." V nuzzled her head closer to Jackie's and closed her eyes. There was a brief pause, as the silence of the mindscape seemed to ease any remaining tensions.
"So…" Jackie huffed. "You are actually a midget. Who'd of guessed?"
"Excuse me?" V griped, sitting up away from him. "I'm taller than you."
"Only by a few inches," Jackie smirked at her. "All the other Narjians, they averaged what? Eight to nine feet?"
"Something like that."
"See? Napoleon complex," Jackie grinned. "You were compensating."
"I was not!" V protested. "I am a super genius who was surrounded by idiotic traditionalist."
"Call it whatever you want," Jackie said with an exaggerated shrug. "I call it compensating."
"Is that why you drive around on a fancy ass motorcycle?"
"Ooo! Ouch!" Jackie dramatically grabbed at his chest. "Low blow, V. You really are a super villain."
V laughed at him. "It could be worse, I guess. You could have one of those low-riders all the Tyger Claws drive. Trying to get ladies to drape themselves across you."
"Dios mío, don't make me think about those monstrosities," Jackie shook his head. "Come on. I'll show you how to shoot hoops."
The basketball bounced off the rim and flew back at V.
"AH!" She threw her arms up to protect her face from the incoming, orange sphere. It harmlessly hit her in the elbow, bouncing off and over to the chain link fence.
"That was the most pathetic thing I have seen you do," Jackie deadpanned.
"It came at me out of nowhere!" V protested. "It should have gone in."
"That's because you were trying to cheat. I stopped you."
"Seriously?"
"Yes!" Jackie stated. "You won't learn if you keep trying to fudge the results."
"I can't learn, because none of this is real," V groaned. "Come on. Where did goofy Jackie go?" She held out her hand and the ball flew into her palm. "You know you wanna," she tempted her friend, holding the basketball out to him.
"Oh… alright, fine." Jackie grabbed the ball and started to dribble it. After he few seconds he started to alternate hands. "We will play for style. Watch this." Jackie dribbled the ball between his legs a few times before throwing it at the backboard with excessive force. The ball bounced off and back at him. Jackie leaped towards the hoop, grabbing the ball in midair. "Serve it!" he yelled as he dunked the ball through the hoop causing the chain net to rattle. For an extra bit of flare, the backboard shattered into a million pieces as he swung from the hoop. Dropping down, Jackie grabbed the ball and passed it to V.
"And here I was expecting you to light the net on fire," V smirked at him.
"Nah," Jackie shook his head. "Fire is your thing."
"Good point." V aimed and tossed the basketball high in the air. It came down as a burning meteor, perfectly dropping through the hoop and igniting the chains. "Swish!"
"Swoosh," Jackie corrected.
"Hu?"
"It's swoosh. Swish is only used buy those wannabes that buy too much Nike crap." He grabbed the ball and reset the hoop and backboard to their original state. "My go."
For the next couple hours, Jackie and V took turns taking impossible and extravagant shots with the basketball. Just like they were playing pool, there was no real method behind their madness. It was just two friends messing around. They could forget about the world and the insane situation they had found themselves in. The two could just embrace the temporary freedom the mindscape provided.
After a while, another burst of competition sprouted between Jackie and V. They started to try blocking one another with mixed results. Jackie had the ball and was going for the shot, but V dashed in front of him like a lightning bolt. Jackie jumped and briefly grew wings, allowing him to glide over V's head and dunk the ball.
"BOOM SHAKALAKA!" he roared, his fists above his head.
"Boomshakalaka?" V shook her head in confusion. "The hell kind of word is that? And what's with the wings?"
"I am Angel Icarus, Warrior of the Heavens," Jackie postured, puffing out his chest.
"Warrior of the heavens?" V chuckled. She strutted over to the man and leaned against his shoulder. "What ya steal that from?"
"Icarus by Remi Morris. It's pretty good," Jackie shrugged her off. "I used to have a digital copy. Might be able to dig it up for you."
"Eh. I wouldn't bother. Never been one for fantasy."
V grabbed the ball and got ready to make a run for the opposing basket. But she was interrupted by a deafening horn blast.
"The fuck is it now?" Jackie grumbled. They watched as the distance silhouettes of Night City started to dissolve into the purple sky.
"I think we might be done here," V said.
"As in actually waking up? 'Bout time."
"10 eddies say only four hours have pasted in real time," V suggested.
"My money is on 12 hours."
The world continued to fall apart around them. All their surroundings faded away into swirling void. They were left stranded on an asphalt island. Before them two doors materialized, one purple and one yellow.
"Hu… that's unexpected," V pondered.
"What is?" Jackie asked. "One of these doors lead out of here?"
"If I'm understanding things right, I think… I think the crystal wants you to choose."
"Makes sense," Jackie nodded, "but what exactly are we choosing?"
"I'm not sure, but I have a gut feeling. It's hard to explain." V said. She paused as she chose her words. "I think… if we go through the yellow door, we wake up healed. But if we go through the purple door… we wake up with the bond intact. And you have to choose. I don't think the crystal will accept my decision."
"Ok, weird." Jackie stared at the doors, not sure what to make of the situation. "Isn't the bond how we got into this situation?"
"The Earthling brain wasn't designed for telepathy. The crystal can fix that, and I would assume it already has. It's just a matter of whether you want it to cut off the bond permanently."
"Alright, I think I understand." Jackie fell into deep thought as he debated on the choices. He was dead silent for several minutes as V grew impatient.
"For the love of crop, Jackie," she sighed. "Are you actually debating this?"
"Sí. This is an important decision."
"Seriously?" V looked at him dumbfounded.
"Which would you choose?"
"I mean… isn't the yellow door the obvious choice?"
"I don't know. You seemed pretty desperate to stay friends earlier," Jackie teased.
"Wha… uh, I… well, yea," V blushed. "Doesn't mean we have to remained linked or anything."
"But do you want to?"
"Doesn't matter. It's not my choice."
"It does matter. This affects you, too," Jackie explained. "Do you want to keep the bond."
"I… I don't know… … yea," V confessed. "Yea, I do. But it's still a bad idea. If we keep the bond now, then we're stuck with each other. No way out. If I screw up, then…" V wrapped her arms around herself as she looked aside, unable to maintain eye contact. "Then I drag you down with me."
Jackie went silent again, his gaze returning to the yellow and purple doors before him. One could see the gears turning in his head as he let out a deep breath though his nose. Rubbing his eyes, he slowly shook his head.
"I think I've made my decision," he said slowly. "These last few months… V, they have been some of the greatest in my life. I made friends with Earth's first alien visitor. And then we proceeded to wreck shop together. You helped me become somebody. I don't want to give that up, either."
"R-really?" V stuttered, blushing even harder now.
"BUT!" Jackie emphasized.
"But?"
"I have two conditions. I need to know you won't relapse into your old ways. If we kept the bond, we don't hide anything. Follow my lead when we work, and don't be afraid to lean on me for support. You've seen how Night City can be. I don't want it pushing you down some dark path."
"Ok," V smiled. "I can agree to that. What's the second condition?"
"Can I hear you sing?" Jackie asked.
V blinked at him a few times. "Say what now?"
"I'm curious. Can you blame me?"
"I can, at least a little," V said. "But what the hell? I'll sing for the dork."
"You have no room to call me a dork, you nerd," Jackie teased, lightly shoving her in the shoulder.
"How am I nerd?"
"You spend all your time indoors talking to your robots."
"Oh, shush comic boy," V chuckled. She took hold of Jackie's hand. "Let's get out of here."
"Follow me, Hermana." Jackie let her over to the purple door. With a light push, it swung open to reveal a star-filled ocean. "Ready?"
V nodded, as she took a deep breath. "Feel the pulse, it's rising. The ocean we call life is deep," V began to sing. "Can we parse truth from lies? Have to crest the waves or sink." She pulled Jackie through the door, and they both began to float into the glimmering sea. "While diving down through memories, Won't heed the siren's call. Just take a breath, hold the light, So life won't drown us all."
The sensation was that of swimming. An invisible fluid seemed to coat their skin as the two friends were swept away by the current. Jackie tightened his grip with V has she led his towards the distant stars.
"Contemplate the future, While staring off into the blue. If we have each other, We'll rise up from the deep renewed."
As Jackie and V approach, the dotted lights began to move. Slowly at first, the stars picked up speed as they circled the two friends. The lights seemed to pull Jackie and V closer to a blue glow in the distance, it's light soon overcoming the rest.
"Take my hand in this stormy sea, We'll fall into the divide. Watch it rage as you swim with me, We're swept under the dark tide."
The swimming sensation was replaced by the feeling of falling. The two found themselves racing to the deep blue glow. Jackie pulled V close. They wrapped their arms around one another and embraced the bond.
Mama Welles sat outside the hospital room with the two Arasaka guards. Iwata and Marcus were decent company but were too focused on their job to provide meaningful conversation. Wander had said hello, but she quickly made up an excuse for him to leave her alone. As contagious as the fuzzy alien's bubbliness could be, Mama couldn't handle any weirdness at the moment. She just wanted things to make sense again. As much as she had grown to care for V, in that moment Mama wished the girl wasn't an extraterrestrial. Maybe then life could go back to normal.
"What even is normal anymore?" she asked no one in particular.
"Pardon?" Iwata asked.
"Oh, disculpa. I was just thinking out loud," Mama clarified.
"Hm. I wouldn't worry too much," Iwata reassured her. "You got two tough cookies in there. Jackie and V will be fine. Then everything will settle down and go back to normal."
"Sí. Of course," Mama said, but couldn't help but sigh as she looked away. "Dios debe tener un extraño sentido del humor"
About another hour passed. Another hour of waiting and watching the medical staff go about their day. Wander stepped out of the room and asked Mama if she was hungry. She wasn't but had not eaten anything all day. She handed Wander a few eddies and asked him to grab her something from one of the scizms in the lobby. She made sure he had enough to get himself and Sylvia something as well. The two came back a few minutes later with an armful of snacks and drinks.
"How did you two get so much for just a couple eddies?" Mama asked bewildered.
"Sylvia knows how to work a vending machine something fierce," Wander grinned. "She managed to get two for one on everything. Here you go." He handed Mama a few granola bars. Sylvia dropped a water bottle in Mama's lap with her tail before plopping on the ground next to the woman.
"Gracias."
The three sat in silence while they enjoyed their scizm-ordered dinner. Mama was thankful to finally have some food in her system. It seemed to make the wait a bit more bearable. After she finished her snack, she decided to speak up.
"Thank you, Wander. For everything," Mama said.
"Just being neighborly, Lupé," Wander smiled at her. "I'm doing what any decent person would do."
"No, you are not," Mama insisted. "You went far above and beyond what any other person would do. And I know it wasn't an easy journey. I saw how bad of a shape that corpo is in. Without you and Sylvia, my son would have died. And as for V, I'm not sure she would have ever gotten over what happened at El Coyote. Thank you for saving them. I'll repay you anyway I can."
"You don't have to repay me, Lupé. If anything, you should pay it forward."
"I intend to," Mama smiled. "But if you ever need anything from me, don't be afraid to ask."
Mama turned away before Wander had a chance to protest. She used to know people like him, always so giving. But Night City wasn't kind to people like that. They all died or grew cold and cynical. She wouldn't let that happen to Wander.
A few minutes passed before one of the suits popped their head out of Jackie's room.
"Contact Mr. Sharp. The VIPs are starting to wake up," they said.
"Roger that," Marcus said. His cyberoptic lit up as he messaged their boss.
"You three go ahead," Iwata told Mama and Wander. "I'll notify the medical staff."
Mama rushed into the room with Wander and Sylvia in tow. The two suits charged with watching over Jackie and V were typing notes on their tablets, recording everything that happened. V woke up first, rubbing her eyes with her right hand.
"Uhhhg," she moaned. "My head… did it work?"
The green woman received her answer when Jackie started to violently gag. He grabbed at the ventilator tube that was shoved down his throat and began to pull it out. Once it was free, the man fell into a coughing fit as his lungs began to work on their own once again.
"Gracias Dios," Mama breathed as she ran to her son's side.
"No chingues," Jackie panted as he caught his breath. "How long was I out?"
"About four days," V answered.
"That explains why my ass is so numb."
"Jackie Welles!" Mama tried to scold, but she couldn't help smiling at her son joking around. It didn't help that V started laughing at her reaction. Soon, all three of them were laughing. "I'm so happy you two are okay." Mama wiped the tears from her eyes.
"Everyone, please clear the room," a nurse announced as she entered the room.
"Room service, perfect," Jackie continued to joke. "Any chance I could get a burger? You'd be surprised how hungry you get while in a coma."
The nurse rolled her eyes at him as she began to record vitals. "Everyone out, now," she commanded. "We need room to work." Two more nurses piled in and forced everyone else out.
"Why is everyone in this hospital so uptight?" V yawned. "A burger sounds great. Just let me… rest my eye a second."
an: song used is Dark Tide by Scandroid
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Ch 23: Dawn of a New Journey
V slowly crawled her way back into consciousness. Everything hurt, but she kept moving with the familiar comfort encouraging her forward. Once she passed the precipice of darkness, she became aware of where she was. The green woman was laying in a bed, the soft beep of a heart monitor preventing her from falling back to sleep. She felt a slight chill but lacked the strength to pull the blanket higher. There was also that familiar comfort, that she eventually recognized as Jackie.
"Good morning, Sleeping Beauty," Jackie said nonchalantly once he was sure she was awake.
V didn't respond right away. Keeping her eye closed, the woman let out a pitiful groan as she rubbed her head. She had the worse migraine. The kind that made you want to pull the sheets up over your head and forget about the world for a few hours. V attempted this but was only able to pull the blanket up to her chin.
"None of that, chica. You need to eat first."
With a heavy sigh, V struggled to push herself into a sitting position, being careful to not put too much weight on her left arm. She forced her eye open to find herself in the same hospital room that she was in when she went unconscious. The only other person there was Jackie, who had moved one of the chairs and small tables to the window. V watched him read his book, opened out on the table so he could more easily turn the page with his broken arm.
"How long was I out?" V eventually asked.
"Little more than a day. Doctors said it was most likely exhaustion," Jackie explained. "You sort of woke up last night but were too out of it to be responsive." He placed a bookmark on his current page before closing the book. Jackie stood from his chair and strolled over to the door. He stepped out for about a minute before returning to his chair.
"What was that about?"
"Letting them know you're awake," Jackie smiled. He went to scratch his right arm, but he stopped when his hand met the cast. "I'm never going to get used to this thing," he mumbled.
"Sorry," V apologized.
"It's all right. You've said sorry enough to me." Jackie readjusted in his seat as he shrugged off her concern. "Besides, the nurse said I'll be all healed up in a month. And those corporate pendejos are paying for everything thanks to you."
"Uhhg," V groaned, dropping her head back against the back of the hospital bed. "I forgot about those jerks."
"That Vinny character filled me in," Jackie continued. "Making a deal with Arasaka to save my life? Got to admit, I'm flattered."
"Trust me, I wouldn't have if I had a better option. But Vinny did save my butt a few times on our journey, so I can't complain too much."
"Really?" Jackie tilted his head. "I thought he was embellishing. Maybe he isn't so bad after all."
A knock on the door pulled them from their conversation.
"Good morning," the nurse greeted in a monotone voice. She was typing on a tablet and only looked up for a second to give Jackie a judgmental glare. "Mr. Welles, why are you out of bed?"
"Because it's uncomfortable, and the chair is better for reading," Jackie said matter-of-factly.
"Need I remind you that you were in a coma for four days? Remain in bed unless supervised by medical staff."
"Alright, alright," Jackie griped. He stood up and made his way back into the other hospital bed. "Grupo de perras tensas."
The nurse recorded various vital signs from V: blood pressure, heart rate, cognitive functions.
"Are you experiencing blurry vision, double-sight, or any other visual impairment?" the nurse asked.
"Nope. My eye is working fine," V said.
"Any shortness of breath, feelings of anxiety or panic, sense of confusion?"
"I'm good. Just got a headache," V insisted. "Probably because I'm starving."
"I see," the nurse continued to take notes. She stepped out of the room for a minute and returned with a bottle of water. "Here." She shoved the bottle at V.
"I know I'm not exactly a nice person, but you need to work on your bedside manner," V frowned at her. She took the bottle from the nurse and tried to open it. But for some reason, she couldn't seem to get a good grip on the twist cap. "Come on," V mumbled. "God… fucking hell, don't ask me to open a thing when I'm still healing!"
The nurse took the bottle from V and sat it aside. Pulling a stylist from her pocket, she opened a blank sheet on her tablet and held both out to the green woman.
"Sign your name," the nurse commanded.
"Like… as in my street name or my villain name?"
"Which ever is longer. Sign."
"Ok?" V raised her eyebrow at the nurse. She grabbed the tablet but was struggling to wrap her fingers around the stylist. When she dropped it in her lap, the green woman stared at the metal pen with worried confusion. "Why…. Can't I…?"
"Sign," the nurse repeated.
With a great deal of focus, V grabbed the stylist with an awkward grip and scribbled Dominator on to the tablet. She gazed at the messy writing for a second before the nurse took the tablet and stylist back. The nurse opened the water bottle, handed it to V, then left as she typed out more notes.
"You alright, hermana?" Jackie asked, concerned over the confusion radiation from the alien.
"Why couldn't I write?" V whispered, unable to rip her eye from her hands.
"How are my two weirdest patients doing?" Dr. Vektor greeted as he stepped into the room with another doctor in tow.
"Hey, Vik," Jackie smiled at his old friend.
"Vik?" V blinked. "The hell are you doing here."
"We asked for his assistance with your case, seeing as he is currently the world leader on your unique biology," the other doctor answered. "I'm Dr. Hienz, Head of Neurology here at Trauma Center Hospital."
"What's the news, Vik?" Jackie asked. "We finally heading home?"
"You, Jackie, are being released in the morning," Vik said. "Whatever that gemstone thing was, it seems to have repaired your brain. There are still a few anomalies on the scans, but as of right now there is now reason to keep you longer. I'll be keeping an eye on your mental state and will be taking regular scans. Hopefully, we won't need to bring you in again."
"I'll take it," Jackie nodded.
"What about me?" V hesitantly asked. The two doctors gave each other a concerned glance.
"The Arasaka operative told us what happened on your… trip," Dr. Hienz said. "It lines up with what we observed on your scans. Your nervous system is damaged from repeated electrical shocks. You survived thanks to the drugs you took, but the damage was too extensive to heal on its own."
"Oh…" V frowned. "So that's why…"
"Your motor functions are permanently impaired," Vik finished for her. "Normally, cybernetics could be used to repair the damage, but…"
"Right… alien," V sighed.
"The good news is that we can repair some of the damage with surgery," Dr. Hienz tried to encourage. "It won't be enough for you to perform more precise task, but you'll be able to walk and write on your own after a few months of therapy."
"Who will be performing the surgery?" Jackie inquired.
"I will be seeing to it personally," Dr. Hienz smiled.
"Hienz here is one of the best when it comes to neurological surgeries," Vik said. "And I will be assisting with the surgery planning. I'll make sure every person in the operating room knows what they are doing."
"Sounds like my best shot at not becoming a cripple," V deadpanned. "Where do I sign?"
A week later, Mama Welles was pushing V out of the hospital on a wheelchair with Jackie leading the way.
"So glad to be out of that awful bed," V happily sighed.
"Not as good as the cot?" Jackie asked over his shoulder.
"Nowhere close as good."
"It will be nice for things to return to normal," Mama commented. "Well… our normal."
"Cramming into a small house with a bunch of extraterrestrials?" Jackie chuckled. "Sí. The very definition of normal."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" V interrupted him. "What do you mean 'a bunch of'?"
"Wander and Sylvia are staying with us," Mama answered. "It's not safe for them to sleep outside, so I'm letting them live with us for the time being."
"More like making them stay with us," Jackie commented.
"Riiight. And neither of you mentioned this sooner why?" V accused.
"You've been high on post-surgery painkillers for the last three days."
"Yea, well… I guess that's fair," V pouted.
As the three strolled into the lobby to check out, they were greeted by Vinny and another Corpo, both dressed in black, business suits.
"V. Jackie. Señora Welles," Vinny greeted with a nod.
"Hola," Mama greeted back.
"You sure healed up quick," V said. "Who's your friend?"
"Arthur Jenkins, Head of Arasaka's Night City Intelligence Division," the other man greeted.
"So you're Corpo V's boss," Jackie said.
"That's right. If you three could follow us, I need to discuss business with Lord Dominator."
"Don't call me that," V griped.
"That is the name on your file," Jenkins retorted. "Until you receive a legal name change, that is how I will be addressing you. Now, if you would follow me."
Jenkins led the group to a side office to talk privately. Vinny tried to give V a reassuring smile, but it didn't help with the sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. Once all five people were stuffed into the tiny office, Vinny closed the door and stepped back to Jenkins' side.
"I'll get straight to the point," Jenkins said. "Dominator, you have caused Arasaka a great deal of trouble. Far more trouble than I and several of my associates believe you are worth."
"I crashed one spaceship," V scoffed. "I don't see what the big deal is."
"That one crash caused over 70 million eurodollars in damages to the solar fields, destroyed a major roadway, and nearly sparked a multicorporate incident!" Jenkins reached into his suit and pulled out a folded paper and a pen. "If it were up to me, you would have been eliminated already. But due to outside interference, we are under orders to hire you on to the Engineering Division."
"Lucky me," V frowned. "May I ask what counts as outside interference?"
"That's strictly confidential," Jenkins responded. He didn't see Vinny smirk and wink at V.
"Gotcha". V should have known Vinny would make sure she was hired on. He had put too much effort into their deal. And by the sounds of it, he just saved her ass once more.
Jenkins placed the paper and pen on the small desk in the room. "Before we negotiate terms of employment, the Arasaka Corporation needs a guarantee."
"Might want to read through that first, chica," Jackie mumbled.
"I know, I know," V waved off his concern. She grabbed the paper and began to skim through it.
"This is a modified Non-Compete Agreement," Vinny spoke up. "In exchange for Arasaka protection and paying your medical bills, you will not negotiate with any other potential employers and will work exclusively with Arasaka."
"Seems overly strict," V glanced at him. "What if I want to help Mama with the bar every once in a while?"
"We can work out more agreeable terms at a later date," Vinny said. "This contract is just to get the ball rolling. Besides, we need you in therapy building your strength back. Not tossing mojitos in a side ally bar."
"You are so lucky I'm too tired to come up with a snarky comeback right now." V picked up the pen and signed with a single, large V on the dotted line. "There. Can we go now? I'm hungry."
"I believe we are done for now." Jenkins placed the paper back into his suit and began to leave. "Mr. Sharp will be spearheading the negotiations alongside the legal team. He will be your main contact with the company for the time being. Oh, and one last thing." Jenkins stopped in the doorway and gave a pointed look to V and Vinny. "If either of you get any funny ideas, there will be hell to pay." He left, letting the door slam shut behind him.
"Someone's in trouble," Jackie laughed at Vinny.
"Yes, it would appear so," Vinny sighed. "I'll have to walk the straight and narrow for a couple months. I'll give you three a few days to rest before I call. Until then, Welles family," Vinny bowed and began to follow Jenkins out, but was stopped by V grabbing his sleeve.
"Was he serious about eliminating me?" she quietly asked.
"Arthur is always serious with his threats," V said. "Which is why I called in a bunch of favors before we left on our adventure. Just in case."
"Thanks, choom," V smiled at him before letting go.
"You're welcome. But remember, you still owe me." Vinny left without another word.
Despite his better judgement, Jackie let V share his bed that night. But if he was being honest with himself he wanted her close, too. With the bond reestablished, Jackie could feel all the confusion and doubts V was hiding from Mama. He wanted to help her through it, the same way he might help a younger sibling fight off school bullies. It was an odd feeling, unfamiliar as he grew up an only child. But it wasn't an unwelcome one.
The adoptive siblings slowly woke the next morning, Jackie's left hand wrapped with V's right. They didn't bother with the covers, as the summer heat along with V's natural warmth was plenty enough to prevent any night chills. Despite both being awake, neither of them made any move to leave the bed. They decided to just embrace the quiet moment and the comfort they brought one another. There was no rush to start the day.
The quiet moment was interrupted by an outside presence. A near silent giggling pulled the two from their peace. Both tried to ignore it, but were forced to look by the sound of a camera click.
"Hu?" V scrunched her eyebrows. She opened her tired eye to meet Jackie's gaze. They both turned their heads to find two massive eyes in a sea of orange.
"AHHHH!" Jackie jumped, startled by the fuzzy alien's proximity.
"WANDER!" V yelled at him, shoving the nomad off the bed. A second camera flash briefly blinded her. As she blinked the blurriness away, she saw Sylvia holding the camera and holding back a laugh.
"Aren't you two cute together," the Zbornak snickered.
"Don't make this something it's not," V spat as she leaped out of the bed. "Give me the camera."
"Nope. I have blackmail material now."
"SYLVIA!" V tried to grab Sylvia, but stumbled over her still wobbly legs. Sylvia easily sidestepped and ran down the stairs.
"I wouldn't worry about it," Wander smiled at her. "Sylvia won't blackmail you. She's just looking for some fun."
"Whatever," V huffed as she sat back down on the bed. Jackie was already sitting up and stretching.
"Do I need to sneak a few extra peppers into the horse's breakfast?" Jackie asked.
"Maybe," V smirked. "Withhold the milk till she gives up the camera."
"Diabolical. I love it," Jackie smiled as he stood from the bed.
"There's no need for that," Wander frowned at them. "I'll make sure she deletes the picture."
"Too late, amigo. Revenge is in order." Jackie started to march his way down the steps with Wander trying to talk him out of the idea.
"Wander, hold up a second," V called out.
"Hm?" Wander turned around and sat next to V. "What's on your mind?"
"Are we… are we still cool? You know, after the whole incident with Hater?"
"I think so," Wander said, but he didn't hide his suddenly sad demeanor.
"You don't seem like you're cool with it," V observed. "If you need to cuss me out, now's your chance."
"What? No! I'm not mad at you."
"No?"
"I'm just a bit confused," Wander insisted. "I've never had to use a weapon like that before. And I wouldn't have needed to if our visit was less of a disaster."
"Yea, that whole thing was a mess," V slowly nodded. "But haven't you dealt with that kind of stuff before? You have taken on the worst the universe has to offer, but this is the first time you seem… I don't know… traumatized?"
"I have dealt with worse," Wander smiled at her. "But this was the first time it was my fault."
"Say what now?" V deadpanned.
"I should have never agreed to that plan. I keep playing it in my head. I could have gotten us back to Earth without anyone getting hurt. Instead, I let you kill all those people and nearly shot Hater in desperation."
"Oh, Wander," V chuckled at him. "Sweet, pitiful Wander. Nothing that happened on the Skullship was your fault. That massacre was all me. Not you." She took a hold of his chin and turned his gaze to hers. "That's the thing about me and you. You are near pure good, desperate to see the best in people. You could never harm another person, even if you really wanted to. But I have no hang ups about hurting people that get in my way." She gently wrapped her hand around his neck and squeezed. It was nowhere hard enough to hurt him, but it got the message across.
"But… I thought you had changed," Wander whispered.
"Oh, I have changed," V whispered back. "I have people I care about now. I would do anything to protect them. But I'm still a killer. I would nuke Night City into oblivion if I felt the need to. You remember that next time you try to take credit for my madness. I killed those Watchdogs. My actions pushed you to desperation. Understand?"
Wander slowly nodded his head. She removed her hand from her neck and patted his shoulder.
"Good. Let's go help with breakfast. I'm starving," V stood and stretched. She started to leave but stopped at the top of the stairs. "Wander. I want you to know that I am thankful to have you around, even if it's weird that you still don't hate my guts."
"I can't hate you. We're friends… I think," Wander said.
"Yea. If you're sure that's what you want, I'll be your friend."
"And friends help each other be their best selves," Wander pointed out.
"Sure, buddy," V shook her head. "Just… please know that 'best' doesn't always mean 'goody good guy'. Come on. Let's get some grub."
V and Jackie sat in the bar booth. On the other side of the table sat Isabel, David, and Andy. The tension was so thick, it felt like you could cut the air with a blade. The only reason none of them had said anything yet was because they were all waiting for their drinks.
That morning, Wander had told Jackie and V he arranged a meeting between them and some of their friends. He wouldn't divulge whose idea it was, but they both had a few ideas. Neither of them were surprised when Wander led them to El Coyote Cojo for the meeting, or when their three friends sat down across from them a few minutes later. There were things that needed to be said, but no one knew how to say them.
"Here's your drinks," Wander placed a can of soda in front of each of the five people before walking off.
"This isn't what I ordered," Isabel called out.
"No te molestes," Jackie sighed. "Fuzz ball isn't going to let us discuss anything while drunk."
"And Lupé would kill me if she found out I snuck a drink in her bar," Andy tried to joke, but received emotionless stares in response. "I mean… she would."
"So… how are things going with the Valentinos?" Jackie asked as he opened his soda.
"We're still recovering from the Maelstrom fight, but things have been quiet since the Extras showed up," Isabel answered in a monotone voice.
"What's an extra?" V asked.
"Extraterrestrial," Andy said. "Alien has too many different meanings. So, everyone has started calling you Extra. It's short and sweet. Has a nice ring to it."
"I guess."
"So, which of tú pendejos called us here?" Isabel asked V and Jackie, clearly wanting to get the meeting over with.
"We didn't," V said.
"Wander dragged us here. Told us this morning that we needed to talk to some amigos," Jackie added. "He won't tell us who's idea it was, but we know it wasn't his."
"I don't believe you," Isabel accused. "Padre said you two wanted to talk."
"¿Neta? Why would Padre say that?"
"Because your priest is weirdo," V chuckled. "Old man seems to have a soft spot for us, but I haven't the slightest clue why."
"Ok? Then why is the kid here?" Isabel pointed at Andy.
"I'm 16!" Andy protested.
"Sí, un chavo. A kid."
"Guadalupe asked me to come," Andy said, rolling his eyes as Isabel. "She filled me in on what happened with you two and said I should talk to you," he gestured to V and Jackie. "Didn't say why."
"¡Estupendo! The elderly are trying to interfere with our personal lives!" Isabel sarcastically cheered. "I'm leaving." She stood from the booth but was stopped by David grabbing her wrist. She glared at her silent friend, daring him to try something. His eyes remained steadfast, and Isabel relented.
"Fine," she sighed and sat back down. "I'll hear them out."
"Is your friend missing his tongue or something?" Andy asked.
"Dude," Jackie scolded him. "Not cool."
David stuck his tongue out and flipped off Andy.
"Sorry. Sorry," Andy apologized. "So… how do we start?"
"I want to know why Jackie bailed on us," Isabel said. "Let's start there."
"Isabel," Jackie huffed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "For the last time, just because I left the Valentinos doesn't mean I left you."
"Yes! It does! We were best friends. We were part of a brotherhood. But as soon as you didn't need us anymore, you left without so much as batting an eye."
"Excuse me?" Jackie glared at her. "You're the one who decided to hate me out of fucking nowhere. I tried to keep our friendship intact. I tried to be there for you after Diego died. You pushed me away, all because I didn't want to be part of the gang anymore."
"I'm not angry because of Diego. I'm angry, because you used us to save your green 'hermana' here then left us to pick up the pieces," Isabel said. She was maintaining her composure, but she was starting to shake from letting out all her frustrations at once.
"I… I didn't mean… V back me up."
"No," V shook her head. "She's right. I'm glad you saved my ass, but it was probably the worst possible time to bail out of the Valentinos. Right after such a bloody fight."
"Gracias," Isabel nodded to V, earning a smile in return.
"I… Lo siento," Jackie apologized, his head bowed. "I'm sorry. I didn't think about how me leaving would hurt you. I should have waited and talked to you first."
"Sí. You certainly should have," Isabel spat at him.
The table was silent for several seconds before anyone spoke up again.
"Do I need to apologize, or…" V hesitated. "I mean, if I've fucked up, I want to start making it right, too."
"No, V," Isabel smiled softly. "You don't have to apologize for anything. Especially after saving this tarado," she gestured to Jackie.
"Ok. Oh, and thanks for saving me last week when all hell broke loose."
"No hay de qué," Isabel said. "We're cool." She offered out a fist bump, which V accepted with a grin.
"Do you hate me?" Jackie quietly asked.
"No, I suppose not," Isabel frowned. "But I'm going to be pissed off at you for a long while."
"Anything I can do to help?"
"You can help us with the Valentinos. I'm not asking you to rejoin, but we could use some support. I'm sure Padre could find you something to do. Every little bit helps."
"Ok." Jackie nodded, then turned his eyes to David. "What about us? Are we cool, or do I need to work for it?"
David stared at Jackie for a hard minute, his head tilting slightly as he thought it over. He nodded and offered out a fist to Jackie. Jackie smiled as he accepted David's fist bump. David offered the same to V, who gratefully accepted his friendship.
"Wait, so that's it?" Andy spoke up. "You are all just okay with her?"
"With who?" Isabel asked.
"With V! You know, Lord Dominator? The genocidal maniac that has all the other Extras quaking in their shoes?"
"Please don't call me that," V frowned at him. "And why do you suddenly have a problem with me?"
"For starters, you are a mass murderer."
"Everyone at this table has killed before," Jackie said. "Except for you, I suppose. V has turned over a new leaf. She deserves a chance to be better."
"I'm not saying V can't be a better person, it just…" Andy sighed. "It just doesn't seem like a good idea. V's history is as fucked up as it gets, and that can't possibly end well."
"You're being paranoid, kid," Isabel rolled her eyes.
"No, he's right," V defended. "I have a lot of enemies out there. But I can take care of them when they come for me. I won't let anyone get hurt. I promise."
"What about you?" Andy asked. "What's stopping you from going full psycho on us?"
"Well… You all are," V suggested. "I've been a loner most of my life. Never really had friends before I landed here. If isolation made me crazy, having people around should keep me sane."
"That's a touching story. But I'm not sure if I'm buying it."
"I'll keep an eye on her," Jackie said. "Mi hermana steps out of line, I'll knock some sense into her." Jackie playfully nudged V to emphasize his point, drawing a laugh from Isabel.
"If you're sure," Andy said, if somewhat unsatisfied with Jackie's answer. "I still think it's a bad idea, but I'll give her a shot."
"Thank you," V smiled.
The five continued to chat for the next hour about whatever came to mind. It was quiet, simple conversation about nothing in particular. But it felt like it meant something more. It was the start of a new trust building between them.
V stood in Misty's Esoterica staring at the wall of maneki-neko statues. She flicked one of them, making its paw swing faster. She let out a soft sigh of boredom before letting her eye wander around the shop more.
"How much business do you get selling at this… stuff?" V asked, correcting herself as to not offend Misty.
"I get a few visitors a day. I have enough regulars to make a decent living," Misty said. "Most of my income is from renting out apartments for cheap."
"Right, you own part of the building behind here." V leaned against the counter with a huff. "So, people actually buy into the whole spiritual thing?"
"The metaphysical can offer guidance in a chaotic world. It can't solve the world's problems, but the spiritual can provide peace of mind."
"I guess," V shrugged.
"Your skeptical," Misty observed, "which is surprising given all that you've experienced. I would think you of all people would be looking for some otherworldly guidance."
"I've witnessed real magic, Misty," V said. "It's dangerous stuff. And as far as otherworldly goes… well, let's just say I've run into enough crazy shit to be wary of those kinds of things."
"Wary?" Misty tilted her head in confusion. "You don't mean doubtful, do you?"
"No, I don't." V rubbed her eye, before letting out a sad chuckle. "You know what? Forget I said anything. I've just had a lot on my mind lately."
"Ok," Misty smiled at her. "I'm here if you ever need some girl time to talk things through."
"Careful. I might take you up on that offer." V gave Misty a sideways smirk, before glancing at the old deck of cards the Earthing was shuffling. "What are those?"
"This is my tarot deck. It's old, but I have a long history with it," Misty explained. "I could lay out a spread for you, if you'd like."
"Uh, sure, I guess."
"Focus on the recent past and what you expect from the future," Misty said. She stopped shuffling, drew the top card, and placed it on the counter face up between her and V. It was an upside-down image of a woman within a green wreath. "The World reversed. You stand at the beginning of a journey. It will be like nothing you think, and longer than you can imagine."
Misty drew a second card, revealing an upside-down image of a naked man and woman with an angel over them. "The Lovers, also reversed. You are surrounded by a force that will challenge you. You will also come into conflict with another, inner force."
She flipped a third card, revealing an image of a man standing beside a lion. "Strength. Strength of will, discipline and courage will always be rewarded. These qualities will help you on your journey."
Misty drew a final card from the deck. "The Magician… Interesting," she said. The card depicted a man holding a staff with an infinity sign above his head. "You will meet someone fascinating. Someone who may help you on your journey. You may even grow to love them, but it's hard to say." She carefully picked up the cards and placed them back atop the deck.
"That's it?" V asked. "Seems kind of vague."
"The tarot cannot give you instructions on how to run your life, V. It can only provide you with guidance on what it to come. What you do with that information is up to you."
"Sure," V rubbed her arm.
"All done with my checkup," Jackie announced as he stepped back into the shop from the back door. "Hope I didn't keep you ladies waiting too long."
"Nonsense," Misty insisted, "Gave me a chance to read V's tarot."
"Something about strength of will, unexpected friendship, and a long journey," V mumbled as she watched Misty shuffle the deck. "I'm not sure I get it."
"I'm sure it will make sense in time," Jackie said. "Let's head home before it gets too late. And don't forget your crutches this time."
"I won't," V said. She grabbed the pair of crutches she left leaning against the counter and placed one under each arm. She also made a point to put her hood up, as to avoid any unwanted attention. "Later, Misty."
"Later, amiga," Jackie waved with his cast arm.
"Bye, guys," Misty said. "Tell Wander I said hi!"
V and Jackie made their way through the crowded Watson streets to the Metro station. Things were unusually quiet between them, which normally wouldn't be a problem. But Jackie could feel the occasional poke coming from V's mind. Something was bothering her, and she felt the need to hide it from him.
"Out with it, chica," Jackie demanded.
"No. It's stupid," V responded.
"I don't care. We had a deal, and anything that's bothering you that much must be worth talking about."
"Promise not to laugh?"
"I promise. Solo's honor," Jackie said, placing his cast hand over his chest and raising his left hand.
"Is God fucking with me?" V quietly asked.
"What do you mean?"
"Seriously! Is there some cosmic entity out there that has decided to screw with my life?" V asked, looking Jackie dead in the eye. "I've never had a reason to believe in a higher power, but that… thing I ran into with the Mooplexians…"
"You mean the starfield, Lovecraftian, horror thing that told you about the crystal?"
"Yes!" V brushed her mohawk behind her ear. They had arrived at the Metro station, so she plopped down on one of the benches. "I just don't get it. For a brief second, I understood everything. I can't remember most of, so I don't know if it made me forget or if my brain just couldn't handle that kind of information. But… why did it save me? Save us?"
Jackie let out a heavy sigh as he sat next to her. He scratched at the back of his head trying to think up a good response. If only he had paid more attention in Sunday school, though he didn't think the Bible ever referenced aliens or mind-melting, cosmic horrors.
"I'm not sure," he finally said. "And I don't think you're ever going to receive a satisfying answer. My advice would be to not think about it. Maybe your guardian angel will show up again, but until then… Just worry about getting though the day."
"Just don't think about it?" V looked at him skeptically.
"Sí. We got other things to worry about. Like paying the bills, and the meeting you have tomorrow."
"Right, the employment contract. I am not looking forward to that."
The monorail train pulled into the station, allowing V and Jackie to return to Heywood. They stepped onto the train quickly, as to make sure they had a place to sit and didn't have to stand the entire way. V let out another sigh and rested her head against Jackie's shoulder.
"What about my tarot reading?" V continued. "Think I have a long journey ahead of me?"
"Possibly. I would consider that a blessing."
"How so?"
"You've seen how violent things can get in Night City," Jackie said. "If you have a long journey ahead of you, then that should mean you will survive whatever this journey throws at you. At least for a while."
"You're trying to apply logic to spirits and magic," V giggled. "That never works. But still, it's a nice thought. Thank you."
"De nada."
V_WILL_RETURN
"Good morning, Sleeping Beauty," Jackie said nonchalantly once he was sure she was awake.
V didn't respond right away. Keeping her eye closed, the woman let out a pitiful groan as she rubbed her head. She had the worse migraine. The kind that made you want to pull the sheets up over your head and forget about the world for a few hours. V attempted this but was only able to pull the blanket up to her chin.
"None of that, chica. You need to eat first."
With a heavy sigh, V struggled to push herself into a sitting position, being careful to not put too much weight on her left arm. She forced her eye open to find herself in the same hospital room that she was in when she went unconscious. The only other person there was Jackie, who had moved one of the chairs and small tables to the window. V watched him read his book, opened out on the table so he could more easily turn the page with his broken arm.
"How long was I out?" V eventually asked.
"Little more than a day. Doctors said it was most likely exhaustion," Jackie explained. "You sort of woke up last night but were too out of it to be responsive." He placed a bookmark on his current page before closing the book. Jackie stood from his chair and strolled over to the door. He stepped out for about a minute before returning to his chair.
"What was that about?"
"Letting them know you're awake," Jackie smiled. He went to scratch his right arm, but he stopped when his hand met the cast. "I'm never going to get used to this thing," he mumbled.
"Sorry," V apologized.
"It's all right. You've said sorry enough to me." Jackie readjusted in his seat as he shrugged off her concern. "Besides, the nurse said I'll be all healed up in a month. And those corporate pendejos are paying for everything thanks to you."
"Uhhg," V groaned, dropping her head back against the back of the hospital bed. "I forgot about those jerks."
"That Vinny character filled me in," Jackie continued. "Making a deal with Arasaka to save my life? Got to admit, I'm flattered."
"Trust me, I wouldn't have if I had a better option. But Vinny did save my butt a few times on our journey, so I can't complain too much."
"Really?" Jackie tilted his head. "I thought he was embellishing. Maybe he isn't so bad after all."
A knock on the door pulled them from their conversation.
"Good morning," the nurse greeted in a monotone voice. She was typing on a tablet and only looked up for a second to give Jackie a judgmental glare. "Mr. Welles, why are you out of bed?"
"Because it's uncomfortable, and the chair is better for reading," Jackie said matter-of-factly.
"Need I remind you that you were in a coma for four days? Remain in bed unless supervised by medical staff."
"Alright, alright," Jackie griped. He stood up and made his way back into the other hospital bed. "Grupo de perras tensas."
The nurse recorded various vital signs from V: blood pressure, heart rate, cognitive functions.
"Are you experiencing blurry vision, double-sight, or any other visual impairment?" the nurse asked.
"Nope. My eye is working fine," V said.
"Any shortness of breath, feelings of anxiety or panic, sense of confusion?"
"I'm good. Just got a headache," V insisted. "Probably because I'm starving."
"I see," the nurse continued to take notes. She stepped out of the room for a minute and returned with a bottle of water. "Here." She shoved the bottle at V.
"I know I'm not exactly a nice person, but you need to work on your bedside manner," V frowned at her. She took the bottle from the nurse and tried to open it. But for some reason, she couldn't seem to get a good grip on the twist cap. "Come on," V mumbled. "God… fucking hell, don't ask me to open a thing when I'm still healing!"
The nurse took the bottle from V and sat it aside. Pulling a stylist from her pocket, she opened a blank sheet on her tablet and held both out to the green woman.
"Sign your name," the nurse commanded.
"Like… as in my street name or my villain name?"
"Which ever is longer. Sign."
"Ok?" V raised her eyebrow at the nurse. She grabbed the tablet but was struggling to wrap her fingers around the stylist. When she dropped it in her lap, the green woman stared at the metal pen with worried confusion. "Why…. Can't I…?"
"Sign," the nurse repeated.
With a great deal of focus, V grabbed the stylist with an awkward grip and scribbled Dominator on to the tablet. She gazed at the messy writing for a second before the nurse took the tablet and stylist back. The nurse opened the water bottle, handed it to V, then left as she typed out more notes.
"You alright, hermana?" Jackie asked, concerned over the confusion radiation from the alien.
"Why couldn't I write?" V whispered, unable to rip her eye from her hands.
"How are my two weirdest patients doing?" Dr. Vektor greeted as he stepped into the room with another doctor in tow.
"Hey, Vik," Jackie smiled at his old friend.
"Vik?" V blinked. "The hell are you doing here."
"We asked for his assistance with your case, seeing as he is currently the world leader on your unique biology," the other doctor answered. "I'm Dr. Hienz, Head of Neurology here at Trauma Center Hospital."
"What's the news, Vik?" Jackie asked. "We finally heading home?"
"You, Jackie, are being released in the morning," Vik said. "Whatever that gemstone thing was, it seems to have repaired your brain. There are still a few anomalies on the scans, but as of right now there is now reason to keep you longer. I'll be keeping an eye on your mental state and will be taking regular scans. Hopefully, we won't need to bring you in again."
"I'll take it," Jackie nodded.
"What about me?" V hesitantly asked. The two doctors gave each other a concerned glance.
"The Arasaka operative told us what happened on your… trip," Dr. Hienz said. "It lines up with what we observed on your scans. Your nervous system is damaged from repeated electrical shocks. You survived thanks to the drugs you took, but the damage was too extensive to heal on its own."
"Oh…" V frowned. "So that's why…"
"Your motor functions are permanently impaired," Vik finished for her. "Normally, cybernetics could be used to repair the damage, but…"
"Right… alien," V sighed.
"The good news is that we can repair some of the damage with surgery," Dr. Hienz tried to encourage. "It won't be enough for you to perform more precise task, but you'll be able to walk and write on your own after a few months of therapy."
"Who will be performing the surgery?" Jackie inquired.
"I will be seeing to it personally," Dr. Hienz smiled.
"Hienz here is one of the best when it comes to neurological surgeries," Vik said. "And I will be assisting with the surgery planning. I'll make sure every person in the operating room knows what they are doing."
"Sounds like my best shot at not becoming a cripple," V deadpanned. "Where do I sign?"
A week later, Mama Welles was pushing V out of the hospital on a wheelchair with Jackie leading the way.
"So glad to be out of that awful bed," V happily sighed.
"Not as good as the cot?" Jackie asked over his shoulder.
"Nowhere close as good."
"It will be nice for things to return to normal," Mama commented. "Well… our normal."
"Cramming into a small house with a bunch of extraterrestrials?" Jackie chuckled. "Sí. The very definition of normal."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" V interrupted him. "What do you mean 'a bunch of'?"
"Wander and Sylvia are staying with us," Mama answered. "It's not safe for them to sleep outside, so I'm letting them live with us for the time being."
"More like making them stay with us," Jackie commented.
"Riiight. And neither of you mentioned this sooner why?" V accused.
"You've been high on post-surgery painkillers for the last three days."
"Yea, well… I guess that's fair," V pouted.
As the three strolled into the lobby to check out, they were greeted by Vinny and another Corpo, both dressed in black, business suits.
"V. Jackie. Señora Welles," Vinny greeted with a nod.
"Hola," Mama greeted back.
"You sure healed up quick," V said. "Who's your friend?"
"Arthur Jenkins, Head of Arasaka's Night City Intelligence Division," the other man greeted.
"So you're Corpo V's boss," Jackie said.
"That's right. If you three could follow us, I need to discuss business with Lord Dominator."
"Don't call me that," V griped.
"That is the name on your file," Jenkins retorted. "Until you receive a legal name change, that is how I will be addressing you. Now, if you would follow me."
Jenkins led the group to a side office to talk privately. Vinny tried to give V a reassuring smile, but it didn't help with the sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. Once all five people were stuffed into the tiny office, Vinny closed the door and stepped back to Jenkins' side.
"I'll get straight to the point," Jenkins said. "Dominator, you have caused Arasaka a great deal of trouble. Far more trouble than I and several of my associates believe you are worth."
"I crashed one spaceship," V scoffed. "I don't see what the big deal is."
"That one crash caused over 70 million eurodollars in damages to the solar fields, destroyed a major roadway, and nearly sparked a multicorporate incident!" Jenkins reached into his suit and pulled out a folded paper and a pen. "If it were up to me, you would have been eliminated already. But due to outside interference, we are under orders to hire you on to the Engineering Division."
"Lucky me," V frowned. "May I ask what counts as outside interference?"
"That's strictly confidential," Jenkins responded. He didn't see Vinny smirk and wink at V.
"Gotcha". V should have known Vinny would make sure she was hired on. He had put too much effort into their deal. And by the sounds of it, he just saved her ass once more.
Jenkins placed the paper and pen on the small desk in the room. "Before we negotiate terms of employment, the Arasaka Corporation needs a guarantee."
"Might want to read through that first, chica," Jackie mumbled.
"I know, I know," V waved off his concern. She grabbed the paper and began to skim through it.
"This is a modified Non-Compete Agreement," Vinny spoke up. "In exchange for Arasaka protection and paying your medical bills, you will not negotiate with any other potential employers and will work exclusively with Arasaka."
"Seems overly strict," V glanced at him. "What if I want to help Mama with the bar every once in a while?"
"We can work out more agreeable terms at a later date," Vinny said. "This contract is just to get the ball rolling. Besides, we need you in therapy building your strength back. Not tossing mojitos in a side ally bar."
"You are so lucky I'm too tired to come up with a snarky comeback right now." V picked up the pen and signed with a single, large V on the dotted line. "There. Can we go now? I'm hungry."
"I believe we are done for now." Jenkins placed the paper back into his suit and began to leave. "Mr. Sharp will be spearheading the negotiations alongside the legal team. He will be your main contact with the company for the time being. Oh, and one last thing." Jenkins stopped in the doorway and gave a pointed look to V and Vinny. "If either of you get any funny ideas, there will be hell to pay." He left, letting the door slam shut behind him.
"Someone's in trouble," Jackie laughed at Vinny.
"Yes, it would appear so," Vinny sighed. "I'll have to walk the straight and narrow for a couple months. I'll give you three a few days to rest before I call. Until then, Welles family," Vinny bowed and began to follow Jenkins out, but was stopped by V grabbing his sleeve.
"Was he serious about eliminating me?" she quietly asked.
"Arthur is always serious with his threats," V said. "Which is why I called in a bunch of favors before we left on our adventure. Just in case."
"Thanks, choom," V smiled at him before letting go.
"You're welcome. But remember, you still owe me." Vinny left without another word.
Despite his better judgement, Jackie let V share his bed that night. But if he was being honest with himself he wanted her close, too. With the bond reestablished, Jackie could feel all the confusion and doubts V was hiding from Mama. He wanted to help her through it, the same way he might help a younger sibling fight off school bullies. It was an odd feeling, unfamiliar as he grew up an only child. But it wasn't an unwelcome one.
The adoptive siblings slowly woke the next morning, Jackie's left hand wrapped with V's right. They didn't bother with the covers, as the summer heat along with V's natural warmth was plenty enough to prevent any night chills. Despite both being awake, neither of them made any move to leave the bed. They decided to just embrace the quiet moment and the comfort they brought one another. There was no rush to start the day.
The quiet moment was interrupted by an outside presence. A near silent giggling pulled the two from their peace. Both tried to ignore it, but were forced to look by the sound of a camera click.
"Hu?" V scrunched her eyebrows. She opened her tired eye to meet Jackie's gaze. They both turned their heads to find two massive eyes in a sea of orange.
"AHHHH!" Jackie jumped, startled by the fuzzy alien's proximity.
"WANDER!" V yelled at him, shoving the nomad off the bed. A second camera flash briefly blinded her. As she blinked the blurriness away, she saw Sylvia holding the camera and holding back a laugh.
"Aren't you two cute together," the Zbornak snickered.
"Don't make this something it's not," V spat as she leaped out of the bed. "Give me the camera."
"Nope. I have blackmail material now."
"SYLVIA!" V tried to grab Sylvia, but stumbled over her still wobbly legs. Sylvia easily sidestepped and ran down the stairs.
"I wouldn't worry about it," Wander smiled at her. "Sylvia won't blackmail you. She's just looking for some fun."
"Whatever," V huffed as she sat back down on the bed. Jackie was already sitting up and stretching.
"Do I need to sneak a few extra peppers into the horse's breakfast?" Jackie asked.
"Maybe," V smirked. "Withhold the milk till she gives up the camera."
"Diabolical. I love it," Jackie smiled as he stood from the bed.
"There's no need for that," Wander frowned at them. "I'll make sure she deletes the picture."
"Too late, amigo. Revenge is in order." Jackie started to march his way down the steps with Wander trying to talk him out of the idea.
"Wander, hold up a second," V called out.
"Hm?" Wander turned around and sat next to V. "What's on your mind?"
"Are we… are we still cool? You know, after the whole incident with Hater?"
"I think so," Wander said, but he didn't hide his suddenly sad demeanor.
"You don't seem like you're cool with it," V observed. "If you need to cuss me out, now's your chance."
"What? No! I'm not mad at you."
"No?"
"I'm just a bit confused," Wander insisted. "I've never had to use a weapon like that before. And I wouldn't have needed to if our visit was less of a disaster."
"Yea, that whole thing was a mess," V slowly nodded. "But haven't you dealt with that kind of stuff before? You have taken on the worst the universe has to offer, but this is the first time you seem… I don't know… traumatized?"
"I have dealt with worse," Wander smiled at her. "But this was the first time it was my fault."
"Say what now?" V deadpanned.
"I should have never agreed to that plan. I keep playing it in my head. I could have gotten us back to Earth without anyone getting hurt. Instead, I let you kill all those people and nearly shot Hater in desperation."
"Oh, Wander," V chuckled at him. "Sweet, pitiful Wander. Nothing that happened on the Skullship was your fault. That massacre was all me. Not you." She took a hold of his chin and turned his gaze to hers. "That's the thing about me and you. You are near pure good, desperate to see the best in people. You could never harm another person, even if you really wanted to. But I have no hang ups about hurting people that get in my way." She gently wrapped her hand around his neck and squeezed. It was nowhere hard enough to hurt him, but it got the message across.
"But… I thought you had changed," Wander whispered.
"Oh, I have changed," V whispered back. "I have people I care about now. I would do anything to protect them. But I'm still a killer. I would nuke Night City into oblivion if I felt the need to. You remember that next time you try to take credit for my madness. I killed those Watchdogs. My actions pushed you to desperation. Understand?"
Wander slowly nodded his head. She removed her hand from her neck and patted his shoulder.
"Good. Let's go help with breakfast. I'm starving," V stood and stretched. She started to leave but stopped at the top of the stairs. "Wander. I want you to know that I am thankful to have you around, even if it's weird that you still don't hate my guts."
"I can't hate you. We're friends… I think," Wander said.
"Yea. If you're sure that's what you want, I'll be your friend."
"And friends help each other be their best selves," Wander pointed out.
"Sure, buddy," V shook her head. "Just… please know that 'best' doesn't always mean 'goody good guy'. Come on. Let's get some grub."
V and Jackie sat in the bar booth. On the other side of the table sat Isabel, David, and Andy. The tension was so thick, it felt like you could cut the air with a blade. The only reason none of them had said anything yet was because they were all waiting for their drinks.
That morning, Wander had told Jackie and V he arranged a meeting between them and some of their friends. He wouldn't divulge whose idea it was, but they both had a few ideas. Neither of them were surprised when Wander led them to El Coyote Cojo for the meeting, or when their three friends sat down across from them a few minutes later. There were things that needed to be said, but no one knew how to say them.
"Here's your drinks," Wander placed a can of soda in front of each of the five people before walking off.
"This isn't what I ordered," Isabel called out.
"No te molestes," Jackie sighed. "Fuzz ball isn't going to let us discuss anything while drunk."
"And Lupé would kill me if she found out I snuck a drink in her bar," Andy tried to joke, but received emotionless stares in response. "I mean… she would."
"So… how are things going with the Valentinos?" Jackie asked as he opened his soda.
"We're still recovering from the Maelstrom fight, but things have been quiet since the Extras showed up," Isabel answered in a monotone voice.
"What's an extra?" V asked.
"Extraterrestrial," Andy said. "Alien has too many different meanings. So, everyone has started calling you Extra. It's short and sweet. Has a nice ring to it."
"I guess."
"So, which of tú pendejos called us here?" Isabel asked V and Jackie, clearly wanting to get the meeting over with.
"We didn't," V said.
"Wander dragged us here. Told us this morning that we needed to talk to some amigos," Jackie added. "He won't tell us who's idea it was, but we know it wasn't his."
"I don't believe you," Isabel accused. "Padre said you two wanted to talk."
"¿Neta? Why would Padre say that?"
"Because your priest is weirdo," V chuckled. "Old man seems to have a soft spot for us, but I haven't the slightest clue why."
"Ok? Then why is the kid here?" Isabel pointed at Andy.
"I'm 16!" Andy protested.
"Sí, un chavo. A kid."
"Guadalupe asked me to come," Andy said, rolling his eyes as Isabel. "She filled me in on what happened with you two and said I should talk to you," he gestured to V and Jackie. "Didn't say why."
"¡Estupendo! The elderly are trying to interfere with our personal lives!" Isabel sarcastically cheered. "I'm leaving." She stood from the booth but was stopped by David grabbing her wrist. She glared at her silent friend, daring him to try something. His eyes remained steadfast, and Isabel relented.
"Fine," she sighed and sat back down. "I'll hear them out."
"Is your friend missing his tongue or something?" Andy asked.
"Dude," Jackie scolded him. "Not cool."
David stuck his tongue out and flipped off Andy.
"Sorry. Sorry," Andy apologized. "So… how do we start?"
"I want to know why Jackie bailed on us," Isabel said. "Let's start there."
"Isabel," Jackie huffed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "For the last time, just because I left the Valentinos doesn't mean I left you."
"Yes! It does! We were best friends. We were part of a brotherhood. But as soon as you didn't need us anymore, you left without so much as batting an eye."
"Excuse me?" Jackie glared at her. "You're the one who decided to hate me out of fucking nowhere. I tried to keep our friendship intact. I tried to be there for you after Diego died. You pushed me away, all because I didn't want to be part of the gang anymore."
"I'm not angry because of Diego. I'm angry, because you used us to save your green 'hermana' here then left us to pick up the pieces," Isabel said. She was maintaining her composure, but she was starting to shake from letting out all her frustrations at once.
"I… I didn't mean… V back me up."
"No," V shook her head. "She's right. I'm glad you saved my ass, but it was probably the worst possible time to bail out of the Valentinos. Right after such a bloody fight."
"Gracias," Isabel nodded to V, earning a smile in return.
"I… Lo siento," Jackie apologized, his head bowed. "I'm sorry. I didn't think about how me leaving would hurt you. I should have waited and talked to you first."
"Sí. You certainly should have," Isabel spat at him.
The table was silent for several seconds before anyone spoke up again.
"Do I need to apologize, or…" V hesitated. "I mean, if I've fucked up, I want to start making it right, too."
"No, V," Isabel smiled softly. "You don't have to apologize for anything. Especially after saving this tarado," she gestured to Jackie.
"Ok. Oh, and thanks for saving me last week when all hell broke loose."
"No hay de qué," Isabel said. "We're cool." She offered out a fist bump, which V accepted with a grin.
"Do you hate me?" Jackie quietly asked.
"No, I suppose not," Isabel frowned. "But I'm going to be pissed off at you for a long while."
"Anything I can do to help?"
"You can help us with the Valentinos. I'm not asking you to rejoin, but we could use some support. I'm sure Padre could find you something to do. Every little bit helps."
"Ok." Jackie nodded, then turned his eyes to David. "What about us? Are we cool, or do I need to work for it?"
David stared at Jackie for a hard minute, his head tilting slightly as he thought it over. He nodded and offered out a fist to Jackie. Jackie smiled as he accepted David's fist bump. David offered the same to V, who gratefully accepted his friendship.
"Wait, so that's it?" Andy spoke up. "You are all just okay with her?"
"With who?" Isabel asked.
"With V! You know, Lord Dominator? The genocidal maniac that has all the other Extras quaking in their shoes?"
"Please don't call me that," V frowned at him. "And why do you suddenly have a problem with me?"
"For starters, you are a mass murderer."
"Everyone at this table has killed before," Jackie said. "Except for you, I suppose. V has turned over a new leaf. She deserves a chance to be better."
"I'm not saying V can't be a better person, it just…" Andy sighed. "It just doesn't seem like a good idea. V's history is as fucked up as it gets, and that can't possibly end well."
"You're being paranoid, kid," Isabel rolled her eyes.
"No, he's right," V defended. "I have a lot of enemies out there. But I can take care of them when they come for me. I won't let anyone get hurt. I promise."
"What about you?" Andy asked. "What's stopping you from going full psycho on us?"
"Well… You all are," V suggested. "I've been a loner most of my life. Never really had friends before I landed here. If isolation made me crazy, having people around should keep me sane."
"That's a touching story. But I'm not sure if I'm buying it."
"I'll keep an eye on her," Jackie said. "Mi hermana steps out of line, I'll knock some sense into her." Jackie playfully nudged V to emphasize his point, drawing a laugh from Isabel.
"If you're sure," Andy said, if somewhat unsatisfied with Jackie's answer. "I still think it's a bad idea, but I'll give her a shot."
"Thank you," V smiled.
The five continued to chat for the next hour about whatever came to mind. It was quiet, simple conversation about nothing in particular. But it felt like it meant something more. It was the start of a new trust building between them.
V stood in Misty's Esoterica staring at the wall of maneki-neko statues. She flicked one of them, making its paw swing faster. She let out a soft sigh of boredom before letting her eye wander around the shop more.
"How much business do you get selling at this… stuff?" V asked, correcting herself as to not offend Misty.
"I get a few visitors a day. I have enough regulars to make a decent living," Misty said. "Most of my income is from renting out apartments for cheap."
"Right, you own part of the building behind here." V leaned against the counter with a huff. "So, people actually buy into the whole spiritual thing?"
"The metaphysical can offer guidance in a chaotic world. It can't solve the world's problems, but the spiritual can provide peace of mind."
"I guess," V shrugged.
"Your skeptical," Misty observed, "which is surprising given all that you've experienced. I would think you of all people would be looking for some otherworldly guidance."
"I've witnessed real magic, Misty," V said. "It's dangerous stuff. And as far as otherworldly goes… well, let's just say I've run into enough crazy shit to be wary of those kinds of things."
"Wary?" Misty tilted her head in confusion. "You don't mean doubtful, do you?"
"No, I don't." V rubbed her eye, before letting out a sad chuckle. "You know what? Forget I said anything. I've just had a lot on my mind lately."
"Ok," Misty smiled at her. "I'm here if you ever need some girl time to talk things through."
"Careful. I might take you up on that offer." V gave Misty a sideways smirk, before glancing at the old deck of cards the Earthing was shuffling. "What are those?"
"This is my tarot deck. It's old, but I have a long history with it," Misty explained. "I could lay out a spread for you, if you'd like."
"Uh, sure, I guess."
"Focus on the recent past and what you expect from the future," Misty said. She stopped shuffling, drew the top card, and placed it on the counter face up between her and V. It was an upside-down image of a woman within a green wreath. "The World reversed. You stand at the beginning of a journey. It will be like nothing you think, and longer than you can imagine."
Misty drew a second card, revealing an upside-down image of a naked man and woman with an angel over them. "The Lovers, also reversed. You are surrounded by a force that will challenge you. You will also come into conflict with another, inner force."
She flipped a third card, revealing an image of a man standing beside a lion. "Strength. Strength of will, discipline and courage will always be rewarded. These qualities will help you on your journey."
Misty drew a final card from the deck. "The Magician… Interesting," she said. The card depicted a man holding a staff with an infinity sign above his head. "You will meet someone fascinating. Someone who may help you on your journey. You may even grow to love them, but it's hard to say." She carefully picked up the cards and placed them back atop the deck.
"That's it?" V asked. "Seems kind of vague."
"The tarot cannot give you instructions on how to run your life, V. It can only provide you with guidance on what it to come. What you do with that information is up to you."
"Sure," V rubbed her arm.
"All done with my checkup," Jackie announced as he stepped back into the shop from the back door. "Hope I didn't keep you ladies waiting too long."
"Nonsense," Misty insisted, "Gave me a chance to read V's tarot."
"Something about strength of will, unexpected friendship, and a long journey," V mumbled as she watched Misty shuffle the deck. "I'm not sure I get it."
"I'm sure it will make sense in time," Jackie said. "Let's head home before it gets too late. And don't forget your crutches this time."
"I won't," V said. She grabbed the pair of crutches she left leaning against the counter and placed one under each arm. She also made a point to put her hood up, as to avoid any unwanted attention. "Later, Misty."
"Later, amiga," Jackie waved with his cast arm.
"Bye, guys," Misty said. "Tell Wander I said hi!"
V and Jackie made their way through the crowded Watson streets to the Metro station. Things were unusually quiet between them, which normally wouldn't be a problem. But Jackie could feel the occasional poke coming from V's mind. Something was bothering her, and she felt the need to hide it from him.
"Out with it, chica," Jackie demanded.
"No. It's stupid," V responded.
"I don't care. We had a deal, and anything that's bothering you that much must be worth talking about."
"Promise not to laugh?"
"I promise. Solo's honor," Jackie said, placing his cast hand over his chest and raising his left hand.
"Is God fucking with me?" V quietly asked.
"What do you mean?"
"Seriously! Is there some cosmic entity out there that has decided to screw with my life?" V asked, looking Jackie dead in the eye. "I've never had a reason to believe in a higher power, but that… thing I ran into with the Mooplexians…"
"You mean the starfield, Lovecraftian, horror thing that told you about the crystal?"
"Yes!" V brushed her mohawk behind her ear. They had arrived at the Metro station, so she plopped down on one of the benches. "I just don't get it. For a brief second, I understood everything. I can't remember most of, so I don't know if it made me forget or if my brain just couldn't handle that kind of information. But… why did it save me? Save us?"
Jackie let out a heavy sigh as he sat next to her. He scratched at the back of his head trying to think up a good response. If only he had paid more attention in Sunday school, though he didn't think the Bible ever referenced aliens or mind-melting, cosmic horrors.
"I'm not sure," he finally said. "And I don't think you're ever going to receive a satisfying answer. My advice would be to not think about it. Maybe your guardian angel will show up again, but until then… Just worry about getting though the day."
"Just don't think about it?" V looked at him skeptically.
"Sí. We got other things to worry about. Like paying the bills, and the meeting you have tomorrow."
"Right, the employment contract. I am not looking forward to that."
The monorail train pulled into the station, allowing V and Jackie to return to Heywood. They stepped onto the train quickly, as to make sure they had a place to sit and didn't have to stand the entire way. V let out another sigh and rested her head against Jackie's shoulder.
"What about my tarot reading?" V continued. "Think I have a long journey ahead of me?"
"Possibly. I would consider that a blessing."
"How so?"
"You've seen how violent things can get in Night City," Jackie said. "If you have a long journey ahead of you, then that should mean you will survive whatever this journey throws at you. At least for a while."
"You're trying to apply logic to spirits and magic," V giggled. "That never works. But still, it's a nice thought. Thank you."
"De nada."
V_WILL_RETURN
Holy crap, that was a hell of an adventure.
But it sure was a fun one.
Probably bit off more than I could chew towards the end there, but it all came together.
NCA is going on hiatus. I have other projects I want to work on and this felt like a good stopping point.
Don't worry, I'll be back. But it won't be for at least a couple months.
-Until then
But it sure was a fun one.
Probably bit off more than I could chew towards the end there, but it all came together.
NCA is going on hiatus. I have other projects I want to work on and this felt like a good stopping point.
Don't worry, I'll be back. But it won't be for at least a couple months.
-Until then