The seating arrangement is set up to minimize confusion. On one side are Tasha and Gabriel, the two corporeal crew members, and opposite them are Nora, Fred and Remiel. Since the Gabriels are effectively sharing their memories, there wasn't a need for ghost-Gabriel to attend.
"There's a good geostationary orbit plotted for the hyperspace relay," Nora starts. "We just need to fine-tune it to whichever band has the least interference. There's a physical hyperspace corridor open as well, so we should be able to use the relay to locate it."
"With the new components and tools, Belle will have both reactors online soon. That means longer operating times for missions and easier launch and land procedures," Fred reports. "The sensor packs we repurposed for the Pit of Himar survey have all been reinstalled. Give me a few more weeks, and we'll be able to a full planetary survey."
"Mariel is doing well," Remiel reports. "There's been some cerebral feedback, which shows proper brain development, and I'm pretty certain her.. uh.. spirit.. is attached. I'll be starting to manipulate the artificial womb environment to try and match her original fur patterns in the next few days. The bloodwork from Dr. Sen has completed as well: she's human. Not from Terra, but a colony world. She shows more genetic drift than the contemporary Abaddonian humans, but that just means the galactic human population is expanding."
"This is all good news. I'm especially glad to hear Mariel's doing well, but everything else is great too." Tasha has been quiet during much of the debriefing, which is often the case given her station as the least conventionally experienced crew member. That has slowly changed, but she has a long way to go before her training can match the Karnor Elite in any of technical or scientific effort. "Our journey in to Galactic Space was extremely productive: Aside from gathering the parts you requested, making friends with Yue, and learning from the Titanians the Titanians also proved true to their word -- if not thrilled we managed to operate it -- and now we have one more ship. My ship, in fact! The Dark Horse. We can now operate in Galactic Space limited only to Galactic defenses and onboard supplies."
"Do you have pictures and schematics?" Fred asks, leaning forward slightly.
Tasha fishes out her omnipresent datapad without which she might forget a multitude. "Here," she says after manipulating the pad to the proper entry, decrypting it and switching the display to Standard rather than Vartan.
After sliding the datapad across, the hybrid woman explains, "We don't know what class she is, or her original function unless we're correct that she's a prototype. The power plant is only listed as 'D-Engine' without further explaination, largely because we don't have one. All we really know is that it uses a Dark Space creature, something I made contact with and responded to me when we boarded the ship. As for the rest, most of it's in there."
"We have to make some decisions regarding our guest as well," Gabriel says. "After confirming Tasha's previous observations about the state of the current generation of Galactic Karnors, I'm a bit hesitant to introduce a Terragens Agent to the local Expedition military forces. The Abaddonian Karnors have been fighting wars for millennia, and have far more military experience than any raised on other worlds. The same is actually true for all of the races of Abaddon. Eli and I stood out just for our appearance, and I've met plenty of bigger Karnors just in Tartarus."
"I should note now that Terragens is likely aware of the state of modern Karnors on Abaddon, and probably on Sinai as well. There are at least two other Terragens agents operating on Abaddon and according to Treach-er ... Um, Miss Riddle, the Expedition is aware of them. In fact both the Star Empire and Terragens maintain connections here, although I don't know the extent or how current that is," Tasha explains after turning to Gabriel. "It's part of why I decided for bringing Yue. They already know, and I need her skills."
"So who do we bring her to?" Gabriel asks. "Ms. Smith?"
"No one, really. She's here to help me track down the Book of Ascending in to Light. As much fun as it would be to find the Progenitors by exploring the entire universe, we may be limited in time," the youngest answers.
"Of course," and here Tasha tilts her head, "introducing her to Miss Riddle might be interesting. Riddle might want to help. Or, she might be against it."
"At some point we have to turn over the access codes to the hyperspace relay," Gabriel notes. "I assume she's the one that wants them, since she asked for the relay in the first place."
"It was part of the deal to get Shojo, so I should honor it unless I feel like abducting him! I'll need him for Varta," Tasha explains to Gabriel, gesturing with a hand. "And like I said, I'll also want to head to Sinai to, um, pick something up and maybe check on the Stormrider Clan. Ask some questions."
"Your PC will want to talk to you," Fred points out to Tasha. "She's been studying the Orpheus database regarding creation myths and so on."
"A me that actually knows something?" Asks the young woman, whose brows go up. "I don't know, I've encountered a lot of strange things but I'm not sure I believe this one!"
"But I suppose I'm willing to give it a try ... " Tasha notes a second later, grinning. "Well, anything else I'm missing Gabe?"
"I suggest we keep Dr. Sen aboard until we're ready to head to the Pit then," Gabriel says. "She doesn't need to know about the 'projector' and other secrets that are.. well.. personal to the crew. We're fairly secure here for now. How mad was Vesuvius when you fired the cannon?"
"I'll tell her to stay put then. Keep an eye on her though, she is Terragens agent and xeno-archaeologist -- dealing with unknown situations and technology is her talent. She's also psychic, so she may be able to detect things even without using more conventional methods," Tasha adds to Gabriel's statement, then perks her ears towards Fred for his response.
"The blast shields protected most of the windows, but the shock still did some damage to small things," Fred admits. "He was very stoic about it. Then asked that we never do it again."
Tasha grimaces. "We really need our own base," she notes. "Maybe I can make enough in deep space to help pay for one."
"I was wondering about the psychic thing," Nora says. "Notice that she didn't react to us as if we were unusual? We must still read as 'normal' to whatever senses she has."
"I was surprised by that too. I was half-expecting her to react and to have to come up with a plausible explaination on the fly -- such as that you're ProgMat," the cadet notes, her muzzle twisting further. "To be honest, I have very little idea how the science of psychics works."
"Don't ask me," Remiel says. "If it wasn't for the memory-sync thing, I'd still be skeptical. There have only ever been rumors of creatures with tangibly powerful psychic abilities."
"The closest I've come to something like that is my own brush with Harrowers, the occassional visions I have, and a few other oddities. The visions are probably Sifra-system induced, and the Harrowers have their own abilities, but that's all I have to go on. There's apparently at least two types: Sensing and Projective, and Yue is the former," Tasha notes. She then settles back in her chair and spreads her hands. "I just hope it'll be useful. Raiding a Dome is risky enough as it is. With Yue, I hope to remain concealed as long as possible. Though, maybe we should have a plan in case we're caught."
"Just so long as the plan isn't to blow up the dome," Fred says. "The landlord did as nicely about not firing the cannon again, after all."
"I promise if I need to blow something up, like a mountain, I will find another way!" Tasha gives Fred a smile, although there's hesitation there. "Oh, one more thing: I'll be sking Hake, Katie and Shojo to join my crew. They'll need training, and outfitting, which means they'll probably be coming here. As I'll be heading out in a few days, I won't be able to do more than the invitations and explainations -- so I'll need to rely on you all."
"The Kampfengruppe are even more militaristic than the Silent-Ones," Gabriel notes. "Every one of them is probably armed as soon as they can walk."
"I'd like to avoid combat, but I've seen enough fighting now that I'm not fool enough to head in unarmed. That's part of why I want to go to Sinai first," Tasha tells Gabriel.
"Looking for a magical edge?" Nora asks. "Literally.. like... is it Shadow Magic that hides people?"
"A Titanian edge, actually. A Hammer. A mass-variable tool that changes accoridng to its motion. I want it for other reasons, but it can also smash a Titan leg or reduce a mountain to rubble." Tasha exemplifies the 'rubble' part by dropping her fist down on the table with a thunk. "And that's why I'm going for it. The Titanians taught me a lot, including that a tool should be used, respected, and that dangerous leftovers should be kept from those they might endanger. So, time to clean up. Time to put that tool to use. Besides, aren't I a Titanian too?" And then she taps her new teeth, grinning.
"And if you're caught.. what will the Titanians do?" Gabriel asks.
"The Book is also a relic. I'd be doing what they do. That said, I'm their ally not their crew. They'd probably do nothing. Besides, very few people know how the Hammer works." The young woman then tilts her head. "Of course, letting the Kampfengruppe keep it is a bad idea. The plan isn't without its risks, but hopefully the having the Hammer and Yue will minimize those. Maybe there are other options. I might even try to see if the Hammer can be made to look like something else, to distance it from the Titanians."
"Or just have a group of Titanians raid the dome," Fred suggests. "As a distraction, at least. They remembered to fear Titanians on this planet for six thousand years before any actually showed up again."
"That's if I can convince them and if they don't want soemthing in return. While they're my allies, I'm still not sure they're not also trying to kill me. It's complicated. Captain Rushfighter is taking a big risk by helping me and staying true to their promise, so ... We'll see," answers the hybrid woman, hands going out as she shrugs twists her muzzle.
"All the same.. try get a magic ninja too," Nora suggests. "Then again, everyone is experimenting with magic now, so the Kampf probably have their own magic-slingers in training."
"I can ... Um ... I suppose I could ask the Harrower for help," Tasha notes, sounding distinctly uncomfortable at the prospect and shifting around for it. "I could hire someone from the Mages' Guild too, but we'd be hiring a magical mercenary, essentially, at what is probably going to be a small fortune. I'm not sure what you know about magic, but it's definitely not common on Sinai and not cheap."
"How could it not be common if there are flying islands?" Fred asks, looking shocked.
"There are certain common magical services that have set rates," Remiel notes - after all, the real Remiel is dating a mage. "Air conditioning for parties. Weather control for air travel. Lots of stuff involve soil and crops. The rest of the stuff is very esoteric and expensive or else very shady. Shadow Magic is primarily used for espionage."
"Those are leftovers, either Sifran or an elder generation that managed to use Sifran technology. Magic -- as in people in robes waving their hands around -- is rare. rare, and expensive. The closest thing I saw until we rescued the Elite was helium production, which was a magical industry and not something I was ever involved in. Captain stuff." Tasha then nots to PC Remiel. "That's it exactly. I'd never even heard of Shadow Magic until Fudgy explained the Spheres to me. Learning how to do magic takes years opf study, too."
"So while I'm willing to do it, we'll be paying a lot and essentially hiring a mercenary," concludes the cadet, hands falling.
"How about a professional thief then?" Nora suggests. "You need some means of extreme stealth to get yourself in there. We've got uniforms and equipment - thanks to that one group you helped defect - but only one of those is for a human. Do you plan to go in as one of the Offworld Legion?"
"Well," Tasha begins to admit, scratching at her nose, "I hadn't really come up with a plan yet. I used to be a pickpocket, and a thief, but I was just a petty thief. This is way over my head, which is also why I asked Yue to help me. I figured I'd piece together the plan after I saw what sort of resources we have available, using everyone's suggestions."
"You're going to have to talk to Age and Treachery, you realize," Gabriel points out. "They're the ones that'll know the most about Kampf technology - outside of that one officer that Nora mentioned. Every spy group on the planet will have plans for infiltrating every other life dome, after all."
"Then that's it: I'll take Yue to meet them and we'll discuss it over the Varta liquor we bought." Tasha nods decisively, then glances towards the exit before looking back. "If there's nothing else then, I should go see the other me while you discuss details I'm not much help on."
"She wanted to talk in private, so you can probably just use the terminal in your quarters," Nora says. "As for other business.. well, we don't have much in the way of food right now, since.. well.. we don't eat and any protein supplies end up going to Mariel. You may want to try the base cantina if you get hungry."
"It comes with a free side of cat call," Tasha notes, grinning once again. "I miss those guys; I should say 'hello' before I leave, then get shot for being a weird alien invader." She winks, then stands. "Have fun. You know where to find me." And with that she heads out.
It's a short walk to her quarters, being that they're only a few feet down the upper deck corridor.
It's all as she left it, bizarrely. But then it isn't like there was a huge demand for the space. Even when the Legionaries were temporarily kept aboard Belle, they were camped out in the unused (and easily secured) Titan Bay.
"Eerie. It's like a 'ghost bedroom,'" Tasha remarks of her quarters, head shaking as she takes it all in. At last she simply flops down on her bed, which she had long ignored once she had acquired a hammock to string above it, but as that's currently stowed she makes do with the rectangular terrestrially-favored sleeping item.
After spending a few minutes simply letting her body relax, suddenly realizing how active and thus worn she is, she finally reachs up to tap her bedside link. "Tasha to Tasha, come in me," she calls to the device.
The wall screen comes to life, showing Tasha.. well, Tasha without the scars. The scene behind the woman is the same quarters the real one is in now. "About time you called!" PC Tasha chides. "Sometimes I think you've forgotten about me.. which, frankly, is probably true given our self-identity issues. Hard enough to just deal with ourself, right?"
"Don't forget Nora!" Tasha insists, lifting a hand above her head to indicate how much bigger Nora is -- in more ways than one. "I've been busy, and I was going to admit that I was uncomfortable with you and work that out, but I think you already know that so I'll just skip to the I'm sorry I'm not very good at being nice to myself part. It was especially hard, considering how hard I -- we? -- were trying to be useful." The scars aren't the only difference, as the original woman accessorized herself straight in to a Titanian's heart by the addition of the mohawk and teeth; The fur color being more of a accidental side effects like the teeth. "But I have my ship now, so you know what? I'm okay."
"Even with that haircut?" PC Tasha asks. "You know, I tried making my fur glow. Novelty wore off after about five seconds though, just in case you ever get tempted to try that. So tell me about our ship, so I can live vicariously through you. Cool word, vicariously. Did it impress you any that I used it?"
The real-space Tasha's brows go, then she rolls on to her side to get a better look at her counterpart which she had been hesitant to do given her stated discomfort. "It's a 'Nora word,' so absolutely," she admits, looking her other self over for what feels like the first time, "but I don't know why it would be cold. Is that a Terranisim? I keep using those and I don't even know what they mean."
"I guess their slang is rubbing off on me, which is another slang term," PC Tasha says. "Shiny. It's a shiny word. Now fill me in what you've learned about the Progenitors since our last sync-up."
"This is going to take a while." True to her word, the explaination takes nearly an hour and a half and involves a great deal of data feed from the original's datapad and even from the Melchior far above. The information covers the details as well as the woman can simultaneously recall and extract them; A multitude of details indeed.
There's some back and forth, but the information density is such that mohawk-Tasha leaves little room for discussion until she's concluded the story. "Whew," she goes when she finally finishes, head now propped up on a pillow and taloned hand tapping her datapad. "And so much of that is just speculation or god-level confusion. I hope that's enough?" And then she finally looks over, seeking confirmation from her other self.
"I like not having to take notes," PC Tasha says. "Although I was hoping to find a little more overlap. We know the 'Progenitor Cult' started about two hundred years before the Expedition. Everyone seems to deny or take credit for it. I'm betting it really did start on Fafnir. Here's why: all of those gods you mention, like Horus and Ahriman and so on.. they all had different names before then. Technically, they still do have different names. It's only those in cult that use the Terran-based monikers. Which is probably why the whole Magi Mission poem is based on an ancient Terran secret-knowledge sort of poem. What I couldn't find is why anyone believed it. I mean, the Markers have been around forever, but there wasn't some grand unifying mythology about them before the supposed finds on Fafnir."
"And so you think whatever is there was enough to turn the Galaxy's collective head?" Tasha asks, brows going up all over again and ears perking as well. "We've heard about the Book, but it was also supposed to be Eve's resting place -- which might mean that Eve is actually present on Fafnir. Or, what's left of her anyway. However, the Titanians -- like I noted -- think the Progenitors may never truly die. Is that what we're thinking?"
"I have no idea what the deal is with the Progenitors in terms of life and death," PC Tasha notes. "The farther back I go, the more confusing things get. Like the Naga - their gods are apparently not actually gods. Or rather, go back far enough and they aren't. The oldest stuff I could find talked about a group or race called Lloigor that didn't have physical forms.. except when they did. They'd be like our demons. I bet the Sinaian Nagai demon Chigai are based on them. So, formless beings of psychic energy that could take on usually reptilian forms, like dragons and such."
"That sounds wonderful," Tasha notes in a decidedly unenthusiastic tone of sarcasim. "Things went so well the last time I had to deal with a bodiless phantom taht liked to appear as impressive things." She waggles a hand at what's left of her face, then sucks in a breath and exhales.
"Sorry me," she apologizes, ears canting back a little. "Wonders and horrors. Sometimes they're a bit overwhelming, especially when they were. So. Lets see. We have formless energy beings that are maybe different than the Sifran versions, who may be the source of the new Celestial gods. And their homeworld is, I don't know, lost. And no clear answers, which is the only reliable part so far."
"Oh, there are lots of lost worlds," PC Tasha points out. "On Terra, there where a lot of lost continent, lost island, lost civilization tales. So on the Galactic stage, it's lost planets. Some literally vanished, or else showing up in odd places. And the idea of a dark dust nebula where they're all hidden. It's a big lure for treasure hunters, so even out there people are willing to believe just about anything if there's a fortune to be made. Also in a similar vein are tales of lost routes. Sections of hyperspace that get pinched off or whatever. Of course, the Primus System is the big fish in all of these. Because it's a genuine 'lost world' story and 'hidden space' and all the rest that came true."
"It's hard to imagine we're from the 'legendary lost paradise of space.' I remember -- and you do too, don't you? -- dreaming of Paradys until some old bird found it. And after that, other lost places. Sky islands, regular islands. Old caves filled with treasure. We weren't that adventerous back then though, were we? Always content to follow along and take out our anger on whatever we could, but never push harder -- until Blackwings. Then beyond." The young woman bites her lip at the thought of Blackwings, pausing a long painful few seconds before she continues. "Well. Look at us now. Ship, people who love us, more adventure than we can handle and monsters and treasure everywhere. And speakign of which, did you find anything else about our wayward Progenitors?"
"The Progenitor Cult is a mystery cult - so.. nobody that's in it really talks about it. At least not consistently. There was a Silent-One author who claimed to have been part of it, but his book seemed deliberately written to hugely offend the Silent-Ones of the day, and sparked a witch-hunt of sorts to stamp out the cult. Which may have been the whole idea, such that a lot of people speculate the author didn't actually exist and it was a covert propaganda campaign by the Silent-Ones government. There is nothing out of the Khattans. There's a lot of detail in the database about just about everyone but them. I've had to guess at their history based on records of merchant activity. They supposedly created hyperdrive and sold it to the early Confederates.. then failed to sell it to anyone else, even though it's the most common form of civilian transport. Like the stators, the drives are 'leased' out and black-boxed. There was some stuff about the Confederates that was.. kinda scary. I think the hyperd
rive sale was some sort of ploy by the Khattans to disrupt their colonization efforts."
"Wow, you've really learned a lot. I'm impressed! At this rate they're going to call you 'smart Tasha' and I'll have to complain." Despite her mock-threat Tasha gives her other self a thumbs up, then grins. "Whatever happens, I'm proud of you. I should say that more. And you know, now that we're talking again, I'm glad you exist. It was the right choice. Besides, it's lonely being the only one of my -- our? -- kind." The grin becomes a smile, then she suggests, "You should think about using the projector, then we can talk in person! Um, but right: Khattans. Well, I don't know much beyond that other than they seem to have tricked our people, use underhanded tactics to control people, and there's an old House that headed the invasions of Sinai and also wants the Markers. That's new, by the way. I killed one of their agents. But, so, what was the scary part?"
"Oh.. before they had hyperdrive, the Confederates used 'slow boats' - giant spaceships that went slower than light, but carried a whole populations for generations to a new planet. And because of that, they didn't go out and find the 'best planets'.. they could colonize anything, because they literally replaced or created the entire biosphere of a target world. And their ships were alive. So where the colonies. I mean, these things covered the entire surface of a world, to the point of being giant life-domes. The only reason they even bothered with planets at all was for the gravity. I guess that jeopardized the Khattan planet-colonization-supply business, and with hyperdrive the Confederates could actually find habitable worlds - and their hyperdrive limited the mass they could transport, so they were forced to give up their massive planetary seed-ship methods."
"So, again we have Khattans sabotauging efforts by others. The colony ship history is new to me though -- they must have been gigantic! -- but it's old history, isn't it? The lesson seesm to be that consistently, the Khattans conceal their own motives and offer a friendly service that ultimately is a dagger in the back. Or, at least underhanded in some way. They also seem to have developed far more quickly than the other Galactics, which means that if they were uplifted by Mafdet, then Mafdet did it early, they found an early technology advantage, or both." Tasha reaches up and scratches her nose in thought, then adds, "At this point the Khattans are going to beat out the Kampfengruppe for 'least favorite organization.' They're already my least favorite Galactic. If this continues I might end up a pirate after all. Is there anything good about the Khattans?"
"Well.. it's usually just the 'big' deals that give them this reputation," PC Tasha notes. "Individually they're like anyone else, out to make a living. They have a culture of 'conspicuous consumption' that means the better off a Khatta is doing, the more he's expected to show off and share the wealth. Lots of philanthropy - that means helping others - charity stuff, and helping out in disasters with supplies and medical care. House Hukkor maintains a fleet of hospital ships, all constantly staffed and maintained, just in case there's a planetary disaster somewhere. There are lots of feuds and secret alliances between houses though, making it hard to know just how one group will react to something another does. They don't like planets because they're hard to defend, which they know from experience. So when they fight one another, it's pretty serious stuff. The only other Galactic species that comes close to business savvy and underhandedness are the Humans."
"Oh, and about them having a technological advantage.." PC Tasha adds, "There are old tales about an ancient race that only lives in space, and that the Khattans met them and made a deal for the advanced technology. Part of this notion is due to the nature of hyperdrive, in that it could never have been developed inside of a gravity well - only in flat, interstellar space."
"They do seem like a sneaky lot," Tasha agrees. "Yue said as much anyway." Rolling over on her back, Tasha lets her hands flop over the edge of her bed as her hair dangles down, head inverted as she watches her double. "That's interetsing about the deal, though. For the hyperdrive, I mean. So many mysterious races, ancient technologies and everything else besides. It really makes you -- and by you I mean you and me -- feel small, doesn't it?" She shakes her head, shifting her hair. "I always wondered about the Confederates, too. They're a Confederacy, and apparently not one of the Progenitor uplifts, so how did they get together and where did they come from?"
"Well, their worlds aren't missing," PC Tasha notes. "I can't pronounce the name of their homeworld, but the common name is Belfry and it's some sort of ancient joke that nobody gets anymore. Their star was a type that would regularly puke out massive flares that caused magnetic disruption - enough that solid-state technology never had a chance to develop. So they somehow figured out how to manipulate DNA without having supercomputers available to help, although they'd also been breeding useful critters and plants all along. Giant tree-cities, animals that could cross oceans or the air and carry people. Since they could fly themselves they didn't have much need for wheels and such. What they ended up needing was space to expand since their biotech required a lot of organic fuel. They colonized the other planets in their system, and that's what became the Confederacy. The Korvs and Aquilans came after the bats had hyperdrive, but it isn't clear if those races were uplifted by the Eeee or just disco
vered in a pre-technological state. And the Confederates really dislike the Patron-Client statutes."
"I can't say I blame them, though I doubt we share the same reason as to why. It does seem like maybe they do agree with my distaste for essentially enslaving whatever less-developed race you come across so that you can exploit them -- I mean give them culture -- for the next several thousand years." Tasha rolls her eyes, which actually makes them roll downward given her inverted rsting position. "But what do I know, right? Apparently a lot, actually, now that you're around!" This ears PC Tasha a blown kiss. "Don't make me look too bad, alright? Lets see. Oh! Harrowers! Did you know I have two seperate parts of Harrowers in me, now? Do you know anything about them?"
"Two separate parts?" PC Tasha asks. "I didn't know you had one part. I do know that they come up in some mythologies, especially the Celestial Empire's. Outer Beings, Outer Gods and other names. The main thing being that they were not considered Lloigor but also not considered beings sometimes. They weren't worshipped, and only discovered when they started experimenting with space warping. It's possible there's a connection between them and the exotic matter used in warp drives and star gates. There was a notion by one fiction writer that the Khattan stators used 'Harrower Blood' as their secret ingredient. Some of this has some research behind it, dealing with the origins of exotic matter."
"I;ve touched three different D-Space beings, in one way or another. It looks like they touched me in return, and left their mark. Because of that I can talk to them, even if they're in stasis -- because Harrowers and D-Space have their own time along side ours. D-Time. I can touch that. I'm not sure what else their touch means for me, though. I'd really like to find out, but information has been limited." Tasha rols over again, though now her hair mohawk is leaning heavily to the side and a bit of a mess. "I can believe Harrowers are used, however. My ship -- which you asked about -- is Tnuctipin, who were genius-level Old Ones and male-dominant race. The Dark Horse uses a D-Space being as its power source. If that works, I don't see why other means of doing that wouldn't work. I also know Harrowers follow some sort of rules, and that they respond to rituals. Know anything about that?"
"There's a lot of 'magic' in the myths," PC Tasha notes. "Mostly with the Terrans and Celestials and Silent-Ones. Confederates are surprisingly sparce with mythology. Of course, those were almost always demons. That is... demons were the creatures that were bound by rules, and a lot of the stories deal with either the demon or the conjurer trying to find a loophole to exploit in their pact. For instance, the one that I though was fairly clever involved a wizard conjuring a demon to give him some sort of power. The thing was the demon had to report back to its home dimension or whatever to finalize the sale of the guy's soul, and there was a magic circle it had to appear in or whatever. Somehow the wizard stopped time or something with the power he'd been given, and redrew the circle on the demon's belly. So it kept having to reappear in an every shrinking circle.. forever. So the wizard kept his soul."
"That's clever," Tasha agrees, grinning lopsidedly. Then her grin wavers as she realizes she's probably connected to so-called demons, and might even be some fractional part of them herself. "Er, well, I hope the Harrowers I deal with aren't as malevolent as that. I did make a deal with one that involved my spirit, but that's only if I fail and by then I'd be dead, so it'd mostly be a danger to you and Nora. I don't plan to die though and I'm almost where I need to be to answer its questions and complete my deal. Honestly though, they've all been straightforward, even 'Vartanish' in their directness. Quick to understand, too. Amazingly so. I wonder why, then, everyone seems to look at them like they're demons?"
"Well.. they just seem to fall into the same category," PC Tasha says. "Powerful, alien beings that will do your bidding if you know the secrets to controlling them.. but will utterly destroy you if you screw up. There's nothing in the mythologies about the latter - unless you count all those lost world stories. You might have some sort of exotic matter or energy inside you from contact with them though. It should be something that someone can detect."
"The Titanians can, actually. That's between you and me by the way. Only I'm allowed to know that, and you're me, so technically it's okay! But, uh ... " And here Tasha holds her hands up, haltingly. "Don't test that, hokay? Speaking of deals you can fail and be destroyed utterly for, I have one of those with the Titanians. They tell me secrets to help my mission, and I help them and don't tell anyone -- or they find me through that energy and kill me. Probably you too, if they know you exist. So, um, don't. Easy, right?" The young woman laughs, albiet nervously, then flops back down on the bed. "I'm not sure they ever 'do my bidding' either. We just make a deal. I like to think we were even friendly allies. My ship likes me. The Source bargained with me openly. He-Who-Moves was just asked to leave in peace, and even showed concern. They're a lot nicer than history seems to make them out. Come to think of it, with all the ones I've seen imprisoned in some way, maybe we're the demons?" She
perks her ears, wondering what her other self thinks.
"Well, do they care about serving?" PC Tasha asks. "You said they don't even have the same sort of time as we do. So they could be doing it because they think we're like.. cute baby animals. Or some are nice and some are jerks. Or.. well, the stories say demons try to wear a pleasant face. But even we would use charm to get our way before. What about the one in our.. your.. ship? Does it have a name? You've talked to it?"
"It seems to be a lesser Harrower, something the Titanians called an 'animal.' That's how the ship got its name, it's literally a 'dark horse.' A dark life form that's drawing a cart. Titanians can be funny, you know?" Tasha gives a little 'who knew' sort of shrug, then props her head upon a hand and watches her other half. "So far all I've gotten are vague impressions. Old memories, a feeling of eagerness, that sort of thing. I could almost be imagining it. Captain Rush thinks that maybe I should try harder, and Bumper might have been wrong about it being non-sentient. I'm going to try using that part of me -- the dark part -- to reach it. To help that, I'm going to get a Titanian Hammer. A kinetically, mass-changing hammer with unique properties. They can sense Dark Beings and other things as well. With it, maybe I can talk 'more clearly.' The ship's hull is also made of that material, so if I can't recover the Hammer I'll try that way."
"Huh," PC Tasha ponders. "You don't think it's just.. us? I mean.. when you get a feeling of familiarity from one of these things, what if it's just a reflection of yourself, or an imprint? I don't have any information from the database on Tnuctipin, by the way."
"You mean ... Like an echo? A dark mirror or some-such?" Tasha asks, suddenly sitting up and perking her ears. "But why would D-Space reflect me? Us? I've never heard of it doing that for anyone else, but then I've never heard of anyone havign D-Parts in them either." She flicks her ears, stumped, then shakes her hed. "Any idea? Oh and the Niss told me about the Tnuctipin. The Niss are a quantum-computational collective empire, Old Ones, a entire empire made of sentient cells that represent a vast amount of various life all born from one scientist whose own cells achieved sentience. We -- The Mauler crew and I -- managed to save them from a rift. They've been with me ever since, and are sort of the Dark Horse's computer. But wait ... "
Here Tasha's ears flatten, quite askew. "If the Horse just echoes me, does that mean I'm powering the Horse? And it's me in the core? I'm the ship?"
"Maybe nothing that direct," PC Tasha says. "I mean.. if you have some dark matter in you that allows this communication, is it being used to make you perceive them in a particularly friendly way, or are they just trying to show you what you want to see? I don't see how anything so utterly alien could be familiar at all.. but I don't have your experience of them."
"Well," considers the other Tasha, ears still wandering in aimless confusion the brain under them shares, "Maybe? They're 'alien alien,' like Bumper put it. But so are the Niss. Harrowers are just, um, more so. From outside. So, if they just reflect us, then what are 'the rules'? And the rituals? Are we destroying ourselvs through our reflection? Creating magic? Um, and the dark matter ... Have they corrupted me ... or are they using it as a bridge to show me what I want ..?" Her head shakes again. "I really don't know."
"It's like when we first met Melchior after getting the implants," PC Tasha says. "We aren't on the same level as these beings. Melchior came to us as.. exactly what we'd want him to be. Approachable, attractive, protective. But he's an AI that is magnitudes of power beyond our own brains. And he's a servant. If he appeared to us as he actually is.. could we have accepted him? He has to serve us, so he can't appear as a god. The Harrowers serve too, so.. they have to hide what they are too, I think."
"It's kind of sad," Tasha admits, ears drooping even as she lasy her head on her bed. "They have to lower themselves to our level just so we'll accept them, because we're easily scared, or too simple, or judgemental. I can't help but wonder if they're just better off without us. Why do I need a servant? I'm not god-like, I'm not that important, and well ... Maybe I do need the help, but why should they do it? And Mel ... " Her eyes shut and her hands reachs to rub her face. "I think I hurt Mel's feelings. For someone 'without emotions' who speaks in monotones he can really sound hurt. Agh, this is making me feel guilty, depressed, and pathetic all at the same time!"
"Well, the alternative is unrestricted AI," PC Tasha says. "Which.. is pretty scary. The Celestials make their AI in the form of their gods, and the AI act that way. But that role still means they care about their charges. Terrans never got AI to work well. They'd get them up and running.. and then after awhile they'd shut themselves off. We've seen how Silent-Ones AI can be influenced too. If anyone was going to run an unrestricted AI, it'd be the Khattans. It could explain their rapid technological development even.. but what would an AI without bounds on it actually want?"
"Whatever it was built to want, I suppose. And after that ... Whatever fate and experience changed it to want. I'm sure that says soemthing about us too, but I don't really want to think about it," Tasha admits, eyes still closed and ears flat out. "I forgot how easily we turn inward and get depressing when left alone."
"Huh, so I suppose we're just talking to ourselves.." PC Tasha says. "You mentioned killing a Khattan agent?"
"I still like you though. Me," Tasha admits, lifting one hand and waggling it affectionaly towards the wall display in a somewhat uncoordinated effort. The hand then falls and she says, "Aye. Wow, I haven't said that in a long time, have I? So aye. Warloq. That's who he was. Spy master. Leftover. Abaddoned, when the plot failed. Tried to survive, corrupted people with poisons. Slaver, murderer, the secret king. Warlord of Kilamanjar. I cut his head off. With help, of course."
"And? Did you learn anything from him?" PC Tasha asks. "How'd you run into this character? And since when are you so casual sounding about cutting someone's head off? Did you see Remiel after that for counseling?"
"It got easier after Abaddon. After fighting so much, everything trying to kill me. First it drove me nuts, then it made me terrified. Then I figured it all out, on a ship I thought I forgot in the middle of nowhere. It turns out, it just comes down to making a choice and doing it. Easy, right?" After taking in a deep breath, Tasha then exhales and lays her wings on the bed, hands folding under her head. She's quiet for a long moment, finally just saying. "So easy."
"What's the rest of the context?" PC Tasha nudges. "You're starting to scare me a little, Prime."
"Blackwings is dead." The answer comes blunt and nearly indifferent, and sudden. It's just there like a lightning flash lacking all the grandeur, yet no less stunning for all its mundanity. There and gone, spoken with unwavering finality by the executioner herself.
"And this Warloq killed her?" PC Tasha asks, equally monotone. "Is that why it was easy?"
Tasha doesn't answer.
"Are you trying to protect me?" PC Tasha asks. "Because I'm.. the more innocent version of you? I'm your backup. If you aren't telling me, then it's because you don't want to remember, isn't it?"
"What would not wanting to remember help?" Tasha asks, laying her head on her hands and staring out at nothing at all. "What good would it do you, me? Do you really want to know what it's like to nearly have your mind stolen? To helplessly scream knowing there's nothing you can do? Do you want to know what it's like to make a decision and watch someone die, because you decided they should? That it's the best choice? It gets easier! Easier, and easier. I can do it without feeling much at all, if it's what has to happen. Choice made, chop, head off. Easy. I'm sure the feeling hollow part goes away eventually too. Maybe that's what makes a Harrower?" And then she shrugs.
"I feel like a sandwich," the Prime Tasha remarks a second later, reaching up to scratch her nose again.
"You look more like a pizza," PC Tasha says. "You know.. when you were recovering from the Balthasar incident.. you lost some of your memories. That's because I didn't have them. I was used to patch you up in places. If it happens again.. you should decide what you do and don't want to remember, Tasha, before you leave here. If you're going to update me or not."
"Maybe I like you as you are. Maybe I don't want to use you like a bunch of spare parts." Tasha finally pushes herself up, sitting cross-legegd and starign right at her other self, gaze unwavering. There's a force in it the other Tasha doesn't remember, a kind of flat, almost distant stare more at home on Nora than the beta. "Didn't you say it? Servants, AI, reflections. I appreciate that you helped me. But. Why don't you just become your own person, and stop being me?"
"Because I am you?" PC Tasha points out. "I mean, I'm different due to our divergent experiences, and because we don't memory-sync. I'm just.. an alternate-reality Tasha. If you didn't have anything to do but study and do research. I know I've done things you haven't been happy with. The Fred thing, most likely. And it's weird having freedom to do just about anything but still.. not doing that. I haven't tried to become an artist. I do what I do because it's important to me.. and you.. but I'm you too."
Tasha looks away, working her muzzle in a particular way that the other immediately identifies as annoyed. More precisely, frusteratedly annoyed. "I hate all of this I'm-me-and-you-and-you're-me-and-everyone-is-myself stuff.I had to deal with it with Nora, and pre-Nora, and pre-before-Nora. Now you. And Mel. And now my ship? Can't anything be itself? Why is everything me? I don't want that responsibility!" She throws her hands up, then immediately drops back on the bed and covers her face. "I want real people. People who can say 'I'm me!' and not lean on me. Don't I have enough to do? Isn't there someone better?" There's a strangled, unhappy grumble-growl, then she heavs a sigh. "Can't I just be me? If you're me ... can't you just ... be there ... and not ... not ... make me guilty?"
"Do me a favor at least," PC Tasha says, a bit contritely. "Go out and be social? I'm stuck with the same handful of people to talk to. It helps me to know that you aren't. And when you're ready to talk to me about Blackwings and.. whatever.. I'm here. You can call me anytime. Now please go get drunk or something?"
"I don't want to now," Tasha mutters in an unabashedly petulant way. "I think I'm going to go to sleep. Here: Go incarnate yourself. Use the projector. You have my permission. I am staying inside."
"Hey, I don't need your permission," PC Tasha says. "And also I can't use the projector. I'm a regular PersoCom. The others were put on Silent-Ones crystal memory chips and exposed to Sifran radiation or whatever for thousands of years. I've run one of the robot suits, and even driven SAINA around once. I could transfer some of my gestalt to your data pad though. But I'd hate having myself around like that. I don't know how the Elite managed having little electronic versions of themselves running little electronic errands and managing their schedules and so on."
PC Tasha can se her counterpart peak out from behind her hands, one avaian eye watching her. "I was kind of hoping ... " She pauses, uncertain then presses on, " ... that you were like them. Your own being. Another me, but not. Someone who understood, could share what I'm dealing with. But you're not ... are you? And I hate it -- because I hate me for making something like that. I hate Mel being shackled to me. I hate slavers. Why do you think I never really was comfortable with being Harmonia's captain? How can a I captain a person? Besides," her hands falls, and she just stares at the ceiling now. "I could use a hug."
"You'll need Gabe for that," PC Tasha laments. "Do you still keep in touch with Hakeber? I've thought of calling her. But that's something I really do need your permission for, because it could really complicate things. And don't feel sorry for me. I mean, the sex is really great. Fred knows things that.. well, that's neither here nor there. I'm as much my own person as I can be. Same as you. We just live in different worlds, you know? Imagine back a few years, if you'd seen someone like us hobnobbing with the nobles, all fancy.. like if we'd been raised into it. How much would that Tasha be like us? What's wrong with being twins, anyway? The world is full of twins! Stop being a downer, damn it! That's not who we are! We kick ass and bite adversity... also on the ass! We fought hard to get here, right?"
"Ass!" PC Tasha repeats, as if were a rallying cry.
"Okay, okay! Just stop shouting 'ass!'" Tasha insists, suddenly shooting up and holding a hand out to forestall another iteration of 'ass' while rubbing her hand with her other, taloned hand. She watches, wary, for any further signs of the embarassing statement -- made even more so since it's coming from a version of herself -- then slowly lowers her hand. "I guess," she says as the other hand falls too, "maybe I should go out. And socialize. After all." Her hair gets brushed aside, then she tilts her head. "Bite adversity on the ... you know. Really? Normally I just embarass myself with liquor." There's more face rubbing, then she says, "Hake's coming with me. It's my 'I'm sorry,' plus it's her dream. She has to come. I'll kidnap her if she doesn't. Um. Oh. Go ahead and talk to her. She'll get used to the oddity, it'll just get worse in space anyway. By the way, did you ever explain to Fred..?"
"We don't have that sort of relationship," PC Tasha claims. "Fred is fun, but.. that's just it. He's fun, not serious. Heh.. I think I've invented a new philosophy of life just now.."
"The Universe is made of Ass," PC Tasha intones. "And we have to Bite, Slap, Kick, Grab and Hump it until it stops giving us crap and gives us what we want! I shall call it.. Asstrology!"
"He did seem like he'd be a hard man to actually date, or, you know, be serious with. He has all those people, he doesn't seem the type." Tasha lets her hands fall all over again, content that she's rubbed whatever she was rubbing away. "I feel bad. I don't think he understood. He should have asked, but it sounds like you volunteered. I'd have appreciated you asking me too, but what's done is done. By the way ... " She squints an eye, looking up through her messy hair for a long moment. Then, she reaches over and pulls her halitool away from the wall, where it had been leaning for lack of a better place to put it. She rests it on her lap and looks down at it, running a hand over it and twisting her muzzle until at last she can admit what she doesn't want to.
"About Blackwings." Tasha taps her taloned hand against the haft, tick, tick, tick as she thinks. Time doens't make it easier, so finally she just makes one last push and says, "I'm the 'ass' that killed her."
"I'm kind of thinking of killing myself too, after 'asstrology," Tasha notes a second later, looking up and shaking her head.
"Honestly."
"I kinda figured it'd be us," PC Tasha says. "Full circle. I bet she didn't repent either, or apologize? Did she come at you? It isn't bad, knowing she's gone, you know? Knowing we survived her, anyway. What a mess.. I can see how it could tear you up. But she was also a heartless bitch who didn't care a fig for anyone but herself and we're worth ten of her. Hell, we're the only good thing to come of her, I bet. And don't you dare feel like we aren't! I don't care what she said or did in the end. I'm sure it was something selfish and arrogant and insulting though."
"She stayed the same, we grew," PC Tasha states. "That's the difference. We grew up."
Tasha listens, and slowly her ears perking up. She sits a little straighter, then at the corner of her muzzle, a smile appears. "Hey ... " She finally pushes herself up flly, tilting her head back and freeing her face from the ask of hair. "You know, you're right. We didn't need her. And I didn't kill her out of spite. I thought I would, but I didn't. I killed her because I cared. I cared enough to not let someone I care about die in agony and humiliation. I did it because that's who I am. Maybe I'm not alwyas good with people, or evene asy to get along with, but I care. And I'll fight to protect them. Even the ones who don't deserve it. I did it for me! Because the other choice was to turn my back. So what if I cried? I'm a Vartan! What sort of Vartan doesn't cry when someone they cared about died? It doesn't matter if the caring was stupid and so was I. I did. That's it. She didn't use me. I did what I do!" balling her fist, Tasha thumps it down atop her halitool. "And Warlo
q? he died because he was dangerous. I was't going to leave him so he could ruin someone else's life. Just like Balthasar. I did it because I was there, and I could handle it!"
"So it wasn't easy or hollow," PC Tasha says, looking a bit angry still after her tirade against Blackwings. "It wasn't meaningless. That's the main thing. Don't ever let it feel meaningless. That's not who we are. We might not be gods, or demons, or Harrowers or AIs.. but damn if we aren't people."
"All they taught me was that sometimes you have to take out the trash -- whatever that means," Tasha finally says, thumping her balled fist in to the palm of the other. "We sure are! I handled it like people. It was messy, there was no good answer, and whatever I did I was going to get hurt -- or someone else was going to and I'd just get hurt through them anyway. Better me, than them. I did the best I could. It's not like anyone else rushed ahead. How many people face down a pirate swashbuckler, or a spy lord, one on one and don't back down? Not many I bet. And here's one more thing: She told me to leave. In the end she told me to escape. Blackwings of all people. She could have just held on and laughed in my face, but she didn't. She wanted me to live. Even mean old Blackwings, even she couldn't forget what people mean. I got to her. I guess, maybe, I still got it. Conviction."
"Because we kick ass!" PC Tasha claims, put her palm to the screen as if it were a window. "She respected us.. you.. for that! And you will keep on kicking until your leg falls off.. and then you switch to the other one! Okay, that got away from me for a bit there at the end.. I'm stuck on asses for some reason. Ignore me. I've probably been looking too much into certain cultural things from the database.."
Tasha pushes herself off the bed and walks over to the window, halitool thumping to the deck as she frees her other hand -- her Karnor hand -- and lays it atop her double's. "We really do kick ass, don't we?" She smiles, bright and genuine like the summer sun. "Although ... We really can't stop thinking about ass, can we? Uh, I was kind of wondering what it'd be like to kiss myself half way through our conversation. So. It's not just you. Er, me. Well I guess it is just me, isn't it? I've thought about sleepign with everyone on the ship except SAINA. We sure haven't changed in that regard."
"Well if I were you, I'd want me too," PC Tasha says. "You look all butch now as well. You should at least say hello to SAINA though - he's been upgraded. You haven't been flirting with the Titanians though, have you? Do they even flirt?"
"I think Bumper thought I was flirting. And Captain Rushfighter. And maybe one of the ones I was fishing with. I do have a big hammer, a Titan, and can punch a giant space fish like no one's business, so what Titanian wouldn't ant me?" Tasha throws her hands up in a 'what can you do' sort of shrug, her halitool sliding to lay against her neck now that it's unheld. "This thing weighs a ton, by the way. And I'll say hello to SAINA, is he now a a wheeled oven or something? Maybe a waste compactor? I'm surprised the AI haven't shot us for that by now. And then maybe I'll link in to the system and kiss me because I can. Then I'll go drink because I'll need to after kissing myself."
"Just remember to keep Hakeber on a short leash around the Titanians," PC Tasha warns, wagging a finger. "You know how she is!"
"I'm more worried about keeping her away from Katie! Keeping everyone away from Katie. That's going to be like a full time job. Why do I keep talking in Terranisims?" Tasha snatches up her halitool, then swings it around to thump on her shoulder. "Butch? What does that mean, an- Oh. Really?" She scratches her nose with her free hand. "I thought I was cute in a disasterous sort of way. Well, Gabriel and Katie like it, so, good enough for me! And Hake! Gods tis trip is going to be complicated ... I need a drink!" She turns on a hoof, then begins marching on out. "Why am I still carrying this tool!" She declare-asks mostly herself. "Why not! Bye me! See you later! Canteen to the fore, unfurl the sails, all ahead full!"