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 Posted: Thu Sep 01, 2022 4:55 pm
By the time they reunited with Andreiya — not a difficult feat, considering Aliez hadn’t gone far — Vyn had gathered himself enough that he no longer appeared to be on the verge of tears. Aliez had made a mistake, that was all. Nothing would come of a personal-log-turned-very-embarrassing-message. Vyn would just have to pretend as if nothing of the sort had ever occurred.
They had more important matters to see to now.
“You are both fortunate to have avoided another visit with the Reasoner,” he told Aliez and Andreiya as soon as they were together again. (They were not, however, fortunate enough to avoid more of the lewd statues. It seemed they could find such horrors everywhere they turned.)
“There was another Mauvian, less patronizing than the first,” he said, but visibly winced soon after. “Although her priorities seemed… questionable. The Reasoner proved no less exasperating, but we came away with this.”
Vyn hoisted the power cell he carried, pleased by the acquisition. “A Knight and one of the Senshi from before… the one in black who was skulking around… they helped to retrieve this while I dealt with the Reasoner. I believe it should have enough power to get us back to Earth, assuming the beacon Lysvi found is successfully dismantled.”
From his subspace pocket, Vyn produced the satchel of silvery seeds. This he passed to Andreiya.
“The Reasoner also led me to these.”
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Posted: Fri Sep 16, 2022 7:52 pm
Aliez still felt horribly guilty for his mistake, but tried to not bring attention to it as Vyn went over the different items he obtained while at the ship.
“They just… gave you this?” Aliez asked in surprise as he looked from Vyn to the power cell. He was a medic, so his expertise was not in engineering, but he knew what it was and what it could do, and even he knew how to rewire it if needed.
It was surprising, and a little concerning, that they would just give Vyn such a valuable item. Maybe they didn’t understand what it was. Or maybe they didn’t have the technology to use it themselves.
He glanced at the satchel then, and agreed silently that Andreiya would likely have more luck with seeds than he would.
“What are those?”
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Posted: Sat Sep 17, 2022 6:07 pm
Andreiya frowned as he accepted the satchel; he raised it to his eyes and shook it carefully. “They are probably little bombs or poison capsules or something horrible,” he grumbled. He had very little faith in the ship, or in anyone Vyn might have met.
…Even if they had given him a powerful tool. He suspected they simply had no idea what they had; humans were not known for their generosity. Nevertheless, he was grateful.
And, glad that he didn’t have to deal with any more hardships, even if he felt a bit guilty that Vyn had to deal with all of this on his own. He didn’t trust that he’d have been able to manage his emotions at all if he’d been put under more pressure.
“Why did it give you these, did it say anything about them?” he asked. He held the satchel carefully in one hand as he readied the scanner on his ComTech. It took all of a few seconds to get everything prepared, and he watched the screen flash with a string of code. Useless, it went too fast to see. The screen went black.
He frowned, shook his wrist, and restarted the scan. It flashed again, and the screen stayed on for a few seconds longer this time, but the application closed out again. Stubborn, Andreiya readied it for a third scan.
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Posted: Sat Sep 17, 2022 7:55 pm
At Aliez’s initial show of disbelief over the power cell, Vyn shrugged. “They have no use for it. Once the beacon comes down, they have their own ways of returning to Earth. I did offer them assistance while we’re here, if they find they need it. They were more amenable than some of the others we’ve encountered. Much more practical.”
Vyn had no fondness for humans, but he could give credit where it was due.
As for the seeds… Vyn watched as Andreiya tried to get an accurate reading, then adopted a similar frown.
The ship had been no less foreboding the second time. If he were to be honest, Vyn could say he hoped to have no need for a third visit. The more he considered the Reasoner’s few brief references to Velenia, the less Vyn could banish the dark thoughts and suspicions it roused in him.
“The Reasoner called them a treasure and said they were rightfully ours, if we survive.” Which was another matter entirely. Lowering his voice out of concern that some of the others might linger nearby and overhear, Vyn continued, “It also said… ‘Your iridescent skies were all the more beautiful streaked with fire.’”
He shivered, and swallowed down an aching lump that rose in his throat.
“When I consider the little we know about that ship… how it recognized us as Velenian, how it spoke our language, the few things it said… I…” Vyn paused and glanced at his feet. His heart tapped out a furious beat against his ribs. “We learned that a Mauvian owned the ship most recently, which might explain some of its peculiarities, but… before that… There are suspicions I’ve had about its origins that I shudder to give voice to.”
Nervously, Vyn lifted his gaze and glanced between Aliez and Andreiya. Part of Vyn thought he might be jumping to conclusions, that his fears and his heartache must be getting the better of him, but he knew Aliez and Andreiya had sensed the ominous air about the ship, too. He was not alone in his dislike for it.
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Posted: Sat Sep 17, 2022 9:16 pm
Aliez watched curiously as Andreiya took the bag of little bombs or poison capsules--
He looked between the two of them in mild distress, debating on using his ComTech as well to see what it read. But it looked as though Andreiya’s was having trouble.
“It recognized us as Velenian, but it didn’t seem to know anything about Velencya. The ship is likely old enough that it never came across Velencya but…”
Your iridescent skies were all the more beautiful streaked with fire.
When in Velenia’s history had their skies been streaked with fire…?
Another shiver of dread fell over Aliez, similar to the feeling he’d had when inside the ship with the others. He looked wildly at Vyn, and then Andreiya, also not daring to voice his suspicions.
“We should gather the others and work on adapting this world’s technology to work with ours, and get back to the Commodore,” Aliez said, his voice quiet and uncertain. Seeing Vyn nervous made him nervous. Vyn usually had a better intuition about these things. He trusted that. Which meant… if they were right…
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Posted: Sat Sep 17, 2022 11:08 pm
The more Vyn talked, the more Andreiya found himself filled with dread. There was something completely unsettling about the way he spoke about The Reasoner. Another robot that claimed to be sentient. So who named it? Did it name itself? Did it think it was logical? Rational? More so than the others?
Is that why it spoke in riddles and made vague threats to them?
…Was it some sick mockery?
A shiver ran down his spine, and he looked at the ground as unease washed over him. He was almost tempted to look in the direction of the ship, just to see it, but he didn’t want to. Vyn said that they were fortunate not to interact with it again. Andreiya believed him.
Something that was rightfully theirs. A gift, from a ship that fire belonged in the skies. A ship that didn’t think they could survive.
And yet, they were here. And they would survive.
When his ComTech would not scan the satchel a third time, he did not attempt a fourth. He held the seeds back out to Vyn for safekeeping. They’d been given to him, and if their ComTech did not identify a threat, it was probably safe. He hoped.
It was not difficult to assume what Vyn and Aliez had pieced together from this information, but whatever the ship was, wherever it was from, Andreiya wanted to be far away from it.
“I agree. If we can get back to the Commodore,” he nodded towards the power cell, “We should. I doubt we will find answers or peace here.” He grimaced at the statues around them for only a second before his eyes returned to the safety of the ground.
Earth wasn’t home, but it was better than this.
The Commodore might have answers.
And, they’d be safe with him.
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Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2022 2:22 pm
Vyn took the satchel back and stared at it for a few moments.
The stachel was a gift. The seeds inside were rightfully theirs. That could mean anything. It could mean nothing. It could be they’d come across something they’d previously thought lost to them, or it could be that the ship was malfunctioning. It was in a sorry state now, whatever it might once have been.
Vyn’s hand twitched. He almost returned the satchel to Andreiya, who had better use for the seeds than he did — whatever they might be. But Andreiya seemed disturbed by everything. Their time here had not been easy. If Vyn could shoulder even a small piece of that burden by protecting their prize until they were better equipped to determine where the seeds had come from (and what they were), then he would do so. Later, perhaps, they could squabble over who should have possession of them.
So Vyn sent them back into his subspace pocket, and did his best to push back all the dark thoughts that threatened to consume him.
When they were back on Earth, once they had answers (if they ever did), perhaps he’d allow himself time to grieve. Until then, they had work to do.
“Yes, let’s regroup,” he agreed. “We’re all in danger here. The Reasoner was at least quite clear when it confirmed the inorganics are likely to attempt taking our starseeds. They’re all equipped with a golden glass orb which somehow functions as a retrieval device. I hope everyone has remained cautious in my absence.”
Given how careless and nonchalant some of their comrades had been while marooned here, Vyn had his doubts.
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Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2022 6:55 pm
“They are likely to attempt--?” Aliez didn’t want to finish the sentence. He felt nauseous and quickly looked around for the others in the Vanguard. Who knew what they were up to, but he didn’t like the idea of the robots taking starseeds.
He felt an uncomfortable cold wash over him, similar to remembering what it was like to watch the Commodore remove Caedus’ starseed.
Aliez took in a deep breath, and eyed the satchel once more, before nodding. He felt nervous and uncertain. He wanted to get home-- he wanted to get back to Earth so they could figure out a way to save their home. But for him, wherever his friends and the Commodore was would be home.
He was grateful that Vyn didn’t seem to be holding a grudge over his mistake, even if he kept his head lowered in shame whenever Vyn looked his way. He would make it up to him.
If they got off this horrible place at least.
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