Book II: Brinus Helios - From Criminal to Hero

Brinus was clad only in a pair of gym shorts and sat on the countertop. He had a vape between his lips. Simmie had just come into the kitchen to get his morning coffee. Brinus took a pull from the vape, tilted his head back, and blew out a large cloud of white vapor. He smiled with pleasure as the AA nicotine salts hit differently in the vapes than in the cigarettes.

Simmie sighed as he put a cigarette in his mouth and lit the other end after brewing his morning coffee. "Are you vaping now?"

Brinus's pupils were dilated, and he stumbled slightly as he jumped down from the counter. "Dr. Calnori recommended a Navy-issue medical vape. She said I should avoid Earth vapes 'cuz of the metals and only use replicated formulas."

Simmie nodded and leaned onto the counter next to Brinus. "What shop did you go to?"

"Proctor Vapes." He laughed, tilted his head back, took a long puff, and blew vapor out of his lungs.

"That's a proper pharmacy!"

Brinus kissed Simmie on the cheek, almost hitting his neck from the dizziness. He hadn't smoked in a couple of weeks except for a few smokes here and there, so he wasn't used to the AA nicotine rush. "I gotta get ready. Today is my turn in the robotics lab."

Brinus kissed Simmie on the lips after kissing him on the neck, and then Simmie opened his mouth after a moment and licked the inside of his mouth.

He jumped back and yelled out a couple of cuss words. "What the fuck!?"

"I like the taste. What is it?"

Brinus gagged. "In the name of the spirits! Your breath tastes like a cig!" He walked over to the fridge and grabbed a soda. "The flavor is Earth bubble gum and pink cotton candy. Don't ever do that again without my permission!"

He took a deep breath and then closed his eyes for three seconds. He kept his hands by his side, with his eyes narrowed and pupils dilated at Simmie. He opened the soda, swished out his mouth, and left the kitchen with a stiff body posture and dilated pupils.

He walked out of the kitchen and thought, That was gross! In the name of spirits, I can't believe I used to smoke! Fuck that shit! Brinus took a deep, calming breath and went into his bedroom. Now is not the time to get angry. I'm high, and I've got to give an efficacy report at 10 a.m. to my commanding officer.

Twenty minutes later, he was dressed in his day-to-day uniform. It had a midshipman's rank ribbon, as well as ribbons from the Battle of Alpha Centauri and the Battle of the Caliver System, and a Sector 22 campaign ribbon.

He approached Simmie, who was sitting on the couch in only gym shorts. He read a datapad titled "Advanced Robotic AI Theory."

"See ya' later, hon," said Brinus, kissing him on the head.

"Bye, love. See ya tonight."

An hour later, Brinus worked in the robotics lab on shielding a walker leg from radiation. He melted a tungsten, titanium, and rhenium alloy plate and welded it with a TIG welding torch and a metal patch.

He wore his welding equipment and had a pair of steel-toed boots and leather shin guards. He also listened to gangsta rap from the Saffron City Planetary Prison as part of their music program. Music programs in prisons were designed to help prisoners earn money and build a following, so after release, they would have something to fall back on. The music was loud enough to fill the room but not be obnoxious. He sang and danced to it when his commanding officer walked into the room.

Brinus said, "Fish! Cut music!" flipping up his welding mask.

Brinus removed his welding gloves and mask. "May I help you, ma'am?"

She smirked and crossed her arms. Something was off about her body posture. "Tell me, do you think this is funny?"

Brinus scrunched up his nose and eyes and furrowed his brow in confusion.

"You know what you did. Don't try to act innocent." She pulled out her TriQuarter and began recording him. "Confess. I'll it between us."

Brinus took a pull from his vape and just started her, blowing the white vapor into Aura's face. The familiar tick in his throat irritated him more than usual since it was a new formula. What the fuck is she talking about? He thought. Does she mean that missed acquisition order from last week? I sorted that out with her.

"Confess, and I won't go to the commander. We can keep it within the robotics department."

Brinus scoffed and crossed his arms in front. "And yet you've gotta phone in my face recordin' me. What the fuck do you want?"

She laughed nervously. "Confess!"

Brinus took a second pull from his vape, blowing another massive white cloud into Aura's face as she coughed. "Really, Brinus? In my face?"

He put the welder down to the side and said in a voice that was loud, deep, and raspy from years of heavy smoking. "Lieutenant, ma'am! Wouldn't it be a shame if I had to go to the commander 'cuz you were targetin' me for dismissal? Ya' know? Cuz of my felony status? I wonder what would happen to you?" He gave his classic screw-you smile.

Aura put her hands on her hips and snapped, "Are you threatening me, Smokestack?"

Brinus smiled. "Fish! Read the email transcript sent by Lieutenant Smog on star date 22.6.32."

Lieutenant Aura: I hate that smug asshole Brinus. I don't want felons in my department!

Lieutenant Smog: One of my favorite tricks is to falsify claims against someone, go to your superior with the information, and then we can get rid of the criminal. Criminals don't belong in the military.

Lieutenant Aura: *laughing emoji.* *laughing emoji.* *laughing emoji.*

Lieutenant Smog: You are too good, precious.

"Fish! Cut audio!"

Aura crossed her arms and went into Brinus' face. "Why the hell is Lieutenant Smog sending you my private messages?"

Brinus gave another screw-you smile and adjusted his welder's apron. "He didn't. I became friends with the Ship's AI; his name is Fish. He's like a teenager and a bit loose. I read somewhere that the Navy was experimenting with sentient AIs." Brinus waved his finger in front of his face. "Oh you naughty girl you've been caughty. He knew what you were doing and sent me a full copy of the messages. I've got the unedited DMs with timestamps and I've got a voice recording of you plottin' with Lieutenant Smog my downfall." Brinus grinned like a madman and jumped down off the platform on which he stood. "Oh dear, you deeply offended Fish you naughty girl." Brinus laughed for a moment from the belly, teasing her.

She went so close to Brinus that he could smell her vanilla cream perfume on her uniform over the stale smoke in his workshop. "This violates privacy laws. I demand you delete those messages with an apology!" she screamed, putting her hands in her pockets.

Brinus's smug smirk became an evil smile. He stepped back a couple of steps and sneered. "No, I won't, and if you take this further, I'll go directly to Commander Theodore." Brinus flashed his teeth in a malicious ear-to-ear grin. "You see, according to section 10 of the Data Privacy Act, unless you wrote the messages on your custom-built computer on an app you designed, the data is not yours but belongs to the company. In this case, the data belongs to the Navy. Fish is Navy property. You wrote those comms on a Navy computer terminal using Navy OS as the chatting app. Therefore, your data belongs to Fish, who belongs to the Navy, so your data is not yours."

"No, it doesn't! It's my data! You're Lying! Delete those messages!" shrieked Lieutenant Aura as she lunged toward Brinus.

He stepped aside, and she lost her footing, crashing into the floor. "I can send you a copy of the law if you want?" Brinus laughed smugly as he pushed Aura back, keeping her at arm's distance, as she tried to grab the data pad in his hand. Spirits, it feels so good to win, he thought.

"The commander will hear about this!"

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

"Good 'cause he'll be mighty interested in your antics." Brinus pulled up a datapad and handed it to Aura. "Commander Theodore was already sent this here email."

"Command accepted. Email sent! Hehe. I love it, Bri, the pettiness is awesome!"

"What the fuck did you just do!" Aura threw the datapad at the door, cracking it. She began crying hysterical."

"Fish, activate music from the previous playlist! Go with song: I won Bich! He returned to welding while Lieutenant Aura begged him with tears in her eyes to unsend the email. He simply turned up the music to drown out her fake crying and begging.

One hour later, Commander Theodore met Brinus. He had furrowed eyes pulled close together, pursed lips, and a hardened expression of annoyance. "You wish to escalate this? You have a legitimate case for discrimination if I ever saw one."

Brinus shook his head and looked his commander in the eye. "No, sir. I don't want to be a bitch boy. If she continues, I'll escalate it. Fer now, I don't want to be a snitch. But I want her gone."

"Well, you don't get a say in this. I'm gonna bring this to the first officer's attention and see if we can't secure a captain's mass after I asked the chief security officer to investigate. For now, I am going to reassign you to the workshop as second officer. I think with your grades, you earned it."

"Sir." Brinus saluted and left.

Lieutenant Aura entered the office after Brinus left.

She stood at attention and saluted. Commander Theodore stood behind his desk and shouted in a military voice. "What the fuck were you thinking? He's the Son of the Duke of District 12 and the firstborn Son of the First Lady of the Admiralty! Were you brain-damaged? Do you need a medical assessment? Do I need to order a psych eval?"

She said nothing, but after a moment, shook her head.

"Damn you! This could threaten this academy's funding! I'm gonna remove you from active duty and recommend your transfer. I'm gonna request a captain's mass as well as order a full investigation."

She saluted and left.

Theodore knew it must have gotten bad between them if Brinus had done something like this. He never complained. It was one of the things he admired about him. Even though he had his objections at first, Brinus was a valued team member and would regret his loss. He and Simmie were unstoppable during fleet battles.

After military tactics class, Brinus waited for the class to empty. Once the classroom was empty, he approached Professor John and saluted. The room had that familiar smoke and vapor smell; however, the lights were turned off, so only the night lights shone and created an ambient fog. The silence between Brinus and Professor John was deafening and prolonged — growing more awkward by the moment. it lasted a few seconds until the Professor finally looked at Brinus, who stood in front of the podium, shuffling his dress shoes on the blue carpet. The professor cleared his throat, trying to invite conversation.

Professor John shuffled some data pads on his podium and then disconnected the projector. He then looked at Brinus after the silence became unbearable. "You obviously need something. Just say it."

"I wanted to talk to you about something that happened today, sir."

Professor John rolled his eyes, sighed, and then snapped his briefcase closed. "Really? Shouldn't you discuss it with your mentor?"

"How did you know, sir?"

"Come on, Brinus. Everyone knows. That officer had it coming for a long time. Did anyone tell you how she ended up in the robotics department?"

Brinus shook his head.

"She was a commander and first officer under Captain Saz and would've been a captain in six months of a light cruiser, which is a very good first command for a new captain. She threw her captain under the bus during the Third Pirate War and was demoted to lieutenant commander after lying under oath in a court-martial." He looked off to the side and sighed as if wondering if he should continue. After a moment, he said, "After being reassigned to Excalibur, that woman was caught yet again discriminating against catpeople because 'I hate those furries.' She couldn't articulate a valid reason and was put on medical leave and given counseling." He looked at Brinus with a neutral expression and dead eyes like a tired man. He then continued. "She had three more postings until she was finally demoted to Commissioned Lieutenant for repeated incidents involving cat people. You were just her latest."

Brinus looked down at his feet, mumbled something incoherent, and then looked his professor in the eye. "I still snitched. I should have dealt with this on my own."

Professor John sighed and rolled his eyes as they approached his office. "This isn't the syndicate anymore, kid. Some people don't want to be captains and will do anything to sabotage their careers." Professor John looked down, breathed in and out, and looked up at Brinus. "She was a good officer with a promising career and could've retired at the rank of commodore with an admiral's pension. She refused help at every opportunity, and now she will be cashiered at the rank of master chief petty officer." He snapped his briefcase closed with a sharp clip of the clasps as if to say there was nothing more to say. "I have to go to my office."

Brinus shuffled out of the room with his head lowered and his posture slouched. Damn, that woman was troubled. It sounds like she just snapped. I hate snitchin', but I guess it needs to be done sometimes. I don't know, maybe I should've tried to solve it myself, he thought, shuffling down the hall, looking at his feet.

Professor John watched Brinus leave his office, looking defeated.

Brinus made his way to the promenade, where he went into a bar/cafe. I'm gonna get shitfaced and fight someone tonight.

Captain Plato shuffled some datapads and looked at Aura files. They were in the officer's meeting room along with Theodore and Commander Norrington.

Commander Norrington spoke after a moment. "So we are here to discuss Lieutenant Aura. "

Commander Theodore cleared his throat and slid a datapad across the table to Captain Plato. "Sir, I wish to put in a request to make Helios the second officer of the Workshop. I also wants to perform a captain's mass on Lieutenant Aura and transfer her to a combat post."

Captain Plato laughed until he realized the commander was serious. He leaned forward and crossed his hands on the desk. "Whatever, I'll approve the request for a captain's mass. I'll have to check my appointment book for a date." Plato scrolled through the data panel and then snapped, "I don't think Helios is ready for that high level of command. He has the grades, sure. But he gets a write-up every week for something it looks like, and is banned from two bars for fighting." Captain Plato continued and then sighed. "It looks like he has three Article 15s for bar fight-related stuff. I'm gonna order a psych assessment on Brinus for alcoholism. For the most part, he needs to improve his behavior before we give him a command. For starter, he needs to go at least a week without a write-up before he's considered for a promotion.

Commander Norrington crossed his elbows on the table and crossed his legs. "Sir, half this ship has some kind of alcohol use disorder."

"And do they get into fights constantly or get drunk to the point they have three Article 15s for alcohol related stuff?" Everyone was silent, so the captain made a cat Hiss before he continued. "I'm ordering Brinus into a psych assessment and alcohol treatment. End of story." Captain Plato pulled out his TriQuarter and scrolled his calendar app. "I have an opening for the 1330 hours 12th of Letterday on Suntempber. Does that work for y'all?"

Commander Norrington and Lieutenant Commander Theodore Nodded.

"Good, add that date and time to your schedules. I'll have my secretary send notice to Lieutenant Aura by tomorrow. believe that covers all of the matters on today's agenda regarding engineering. Dismissed!" Captain Plato made a shooing motion with his hand.

Commander Norrington and Commander Theodore saluted and left the office.

Brinus came home after stopping at the pharmacy to buy a new vape pen. He wanted a backup when the old one was charging. He stripped down to a pair of gym shorts and walked into the kitchen. Simmie was not cooking supper. A note on the stove that said he would be back in three days after a seventy-two hour training exercise on the planet's surface. Brinus secretly wondered when he would be invited to a training exercise. He had been to two thus far, but they were paintball exercises in urban training scenarios.

It seems like no one wants to do live fire exercises with me anymore, he thought. Brinus knew what the cause was; he just didn't like people judging him based on a moment of weakness.

Someone knocked on the door. After checking his doorbell camera, he walked up to the door and saw that it was Godfrick.

He opened the door, and they both slapped hands together. Brinus snapped his fingers, and they both laughed. Godfrick embraced him in a bro hug. "Are ya here fer the raid, Godfick?"

"Sure."

Brinus went into the game room up to his console and booted it up. Godfrick removed his shoes and socks at the entrance.

"I heard your boyfriend is on a mission, and I heard what happened with Lieutenant Aura. I came to check on you and keep you company."

Brinus laughed and said, "Yeah. I just found out."

Godfrick was jumpy, like an addict needing a fix. "Hey, you got any cigarettes? I forgot mine at home."

Brinus shrugged and looked off to the side. "Simmie's the smoker; I'm a vaper. There is a cig vending machine down the hall to the right."

Godfrick left Brinus's quarters for a few minutes and came back. He put a smoke in his mouth and lit the other end. Brinus's mouth curled in a slight look of disgust. He was hoping to have a weekend without having smoke in his face, but whatever.

"You wonna get started on the game? Or do you wonna finish that first?" Brinus pinched the bridge of his nose and curled his left lip. Since he started vaping, cigarette smoke irritated his sinuses if a room was too smoky.

"Sure! Let's get started!"

Brinus walked into the game room and booted up his console. He opened a co-op game he played with Simmie sometimes and started a new game with Godfrick. After an hour of character creation, Godfrick created a lawful-good paladin. After replicating a controller, Brinus went to the main menu. They played the game together for hours. Since he didn't have a second headset that fit Godfrick, Brinus routed communications and sound through the AI comms.

Brinus created a chaotic-neutral pirate gunner's mate, and Godfrick created another lawful-good mage character. Since Godfrick was not a gamer, Brinus showed him various concepts he had mastered by the age of five, such as holding a controller, basic concepts of collision physics, and inventory systems. He also explained side quests and battle passes.

After what felt like an hour, Brinus looked at the clock on his timer; it was zero six hundred hours, and the Plant's main sequence star began rising over the east side of the planet.

Godfrick looked at Brinus and whistled. "Is it really sunrise?"

Brinus smiled and slapped Godfrick on the back. "I guess we had fun."

Godfrick laughed and gave Brinus a bro hug. "Damn, It just felt like three hours."

Brinus ruffled Godfrick's hair, and they both laughed. "To me, it felt like one hour."

Brinus walked up to the console and turned it off. "Yep. I need to charge my vape and get ready fer bed. I think we both have the day off today. You wonna do this again next week?"

Godfrick nodded and then gave Brinus a fist bump. "I never played a game before. It was a lot more fun than I thought it would be. So next Friday at six?"

He walked into the kitchen and plugged his vape into the charger. "Sure. Next Friday at Six."

He walked into the shower and activated the sonic head. The sound waves melted the dirt and dead skin off of his body, and it felt good. As he basked in the sound, thoughts of how Godfrick came out unsolicited to check on him occupied his mind. Wow, that's weird. He ain't got no agenda in his mind. I've never had friends like that before