Waterstrider

Little Celah, Tseludia Station, Pantheonic Territory, Fourthmonth, 1634 PTS

The Leader of the Heirs of Ottrien rested on a comfortable chair, a book in hand and a nice cup of warm coffee on the table before him. He had always enjoyed nature. When he had lived in Opportunity, his had been one of the finest gardens in the entire city. In Tseludia, he had even fewer competitors, though unlike when he was a young man, the Leader cared not for showing off.

He had become used to a quiet, solitary life, interrupted only by occasional meetings where he directed his subordinates. He couldn’t help but sigh and take another sip of his coffee as he thought of recent events. His life had been placed on a timer. One more decade… Well, that was fine, in his opinion. He had lived quite a long life, and given all the suspended animation he had been under, he was likely one of the very last of his generation who still remained.

He couldn’t help but snort at the thought, the air emerging from the thin orifices that Korlove had on their central body in place of a nose. In truth, he wanted to live. He may have grown to enjoy quiet and isolation in his old age, but that did not mean he wanted to die. He wouldn’t have worked so hard to survive the fall, to build himself back up again if that wasn’t his priority. He felt that he had grown calmer in his age, and only failure goals and risks to his life could anger him, now. Not like in his youth. Back then, he had been a true firebrand.

Internally, he cursed the incompetence of his subordinates, as well as the rashness of the magister. He had a brain, so he knew very well that the organization’s failure would not get Triezal killed, but killing the representative would.

The man was clearly hiding something, and the Leader suspected that the others knew of it as well. Deuvar, Astna, and her spawn were family, and though in normal circumstances the Leader would have believed them perfectly loyal, these were no normal circumstances. The magister was close friends with her son, and Astna was nothing if not a loving mother, as much as she avoided overt displays. He ultimately decided to put the matter off. Whatever Triezal’s true reason was, if he really did have Astna’s assistance, the Leader knew that it was very unlikely to cause any problems for himself. The larger issue was the Shade.

Given his background, the Leader knew more than most just how dangerous Shades were. In a technological civilization, they were a threat that bordered on the realm of ascendants. He shuddered as memories of his past rose to the forefront of his mind. The Leader considered himself to be extremely composed and reserved, and only in the privacy of such moments did he allow himself to display his emotions in such a way. He hoped Astna could succeed at her mission. Knowing a Shade’s purpose was the most important part of dealing with them, whether as an ally or an enemy. Even for a Shade who had overcome their programming, or escaped its bounds, the purpose for which it had been originally designed still affected their fundamental nature. It was similar to learning the attributes and culture of a people or species, in order to know how to deal with them. When he had first awakened from slumber in this new part of the universe, the man who would become known solely as the Leader had done extensive research to learn such details about the various races present on the station and time had proven his efforts worthwhile.

He took another sip of tea, and refocused his mind on the book before him. While the Leader did feel the pressing nature of his next steps, he also knew that he had no action to take himself for the moment. He had long delegated all but the most important decisions to his capable subordinates.

A chime sounded, startling him. The Leader shifted his mandibles in surprise, and lifted his glyph slate from its perch at the table’s edge. The symbols displayed upon its surface told him that he was receiving a call from Deuvar. The Leader accepted it, and Deuvar’s squarish face appeared from the slate’s surface as his hologram formed. The Leader stroked his beard with a third limb as he took another sip of tea.

“Report,” he said, curious about the matter that his most loyal subordinate felt needed to be brought to his attention.

“Sir, there is a very urgent event that requires your attention. It relates to the Shade Rachel.”

The Leader clicked his mandibles together. This was no particular surprise other than how quickly the situation had changed. He remained silent, allowing Deuvar to explain.

“We have reason to believe these channels may be compromised, so I am already heading to your location to discuss the matter. I would like to request entrance permission.”

The Leader nodded, accepting the request. While he did not trust the man implicitly, he knew that Deuvar would not betray him easily. They were all in the same boat, anyway. Deuvar was too intelligent to make such a foolish choice at a time like this, and the Leader knew his ambition was not too strong, unlike his sister. While this was an odd occurrence, and seemed slightly out of character for the man, the Leader chalked it up to the unusually pressuring nature of the current situation. He had seen the man appear with slightly more gray hairs every time he saw him, over the past few weeks, after all. After receiving the go ahead order, Deuvar quickly dropped the line, presumably to make his way to the Leader’s abode. Knowing that he had plenty of time to relax until his arrival, the Leader set his slate down, and continued to drink his tea. The book was just starting to get interesting. One of his back limbs lightly caressed a flower off to the side.

Barely a few minutes later, the Leader was surprised to hear the chime of the alarm he had set before his entry hatch. It was extremely rare for him to receive an unexpected guest, or even guests at all. He lifted his slate from the table before him once more, inspecting the footage from the entry hatch’s camera. The feed displayed Deuvar. The bulky Jobu stared firmly into the camera, eyes displaying a trace of concern and perhaps fear.

The Leader pursed his lips. The man was here much faster than he had anticipated. Had he sent the call from within an aero, and rushed down the steps? That was likely the case. Just what had happened, he wondered? He painted a command into the slate’s surface, and heard the sound of the hatch opening before the Jobu man. Deuvar slowly made his way through the hallway, quickly emerging into the Leader’s sitting room.

“Report,” he said again, impatient to discover the issue that was this pressing. But his words caught in his mouth as Deuvar revealed a smile that was quite unlike himself. His form shimmered slightly as his body began to shift, slimming down and his skin growing a bit darker as his hair lengthened to fall down to the center of his back. His features softened, and his wrinkles faded. In mere moments, a beautiful woman whose ethnicity could have easily been either Jobu or Merris stood before him. The Leader trembled, recognizing the individual who stood before him.

“You-” he said, voice catching. “How can you be- ho- why are you here?”

He felt like he was a young man again, standing before the terrifying figure of the woman he had once served.

“How long has it been, Kadeki?” she asked.

Instinctively, he leaned down into the seat of his chair in horror.

“How… you can’t be here,” he said. “The representative was… we killed him. It wasn’t you.”

She smiled, her skin shimmering again with an almost metallic sheen as she slowly closed the distance between the two of them. Her steps carefully avoided the potted plants scattered around his floor.

“You always did love your plants, Kadeki. From my perspective it’s been almost a century and a half, but from yours… probably only 40, 50 years?”

“Are you here to kill me?” he rasped, the age in his body becoming more apparent. Had she faked the message from Deuvar, he wondered? Or was his most trusted lieutenant soon to reach this place, entirely unaware of the threat that lay inside? Perhaps the matter he had wished to inform about was her presence on the station.

“Now, now,” said Janottka, a Shade from an age before his people even existed, “Is that any way to speak to your employer?”

Kadeki chuckled.

“I suppose punishment for my sins is not a matter you wish to perform. It wouldn’t make for a good story if the one who gave the orders did it herself, no?”

The ancient machine laughed mockingly at his words.

”How conceited, Kadeki. It seems you really believe I came to this station for you. No, you are not the main focus of this story. Nor are you the villain. Not this time.” Her smile warped slightly, appearing almost as if she were baring fangs at him. “That would be my role, because no one is better suited to it.” She sighed dramatically. “It’s a shame, truly it is. You know me well, Kadeki. I truly do hate having to take the spotlight. And you… have something I can borrow.”

”Just tell me what you want,” he said, willing to capitulate to any of her demands. Though he had dared to stand against the Epon when they were a distant decade’s round trip away by starship, he was not so foolish as to defy a being like Janottka right to her face. He knew her purpose, but for a Shade as odd as this one, that still did not give him the information needed in order to predict her actions.

For a moment, the woman’s eyes flashed red. It was a show, he knew. One intended to intimidate him. It had worked when he was a young man, and it still worked now.

”I want you, she said.

”Of course. I can serve you again, I still do. Triezal was the one who killed the representative, I would have stopped him if I-“

She reached a finger out to cut him off.

”You misunderstand, Kadeki. It is not that I want your service. Do you know what an effective way to show the power, the threat of a new villain is?”

He was afraid that he might know the answer, so he kept silent. There was no point in embarrassing himself before his death. Janottka grinned at his tense form, leaning towards him.

”The greater villain proves their strength by killing the lesser one and taking their place, you see.”

Kadeki couldn’t help but laugh, not daring to move even in the face of his imminent demise. He had always been a coward, the sort to take out his emotions on those around him. In the past, like now, when threatened by a higher power, there was nothing he could do but what he was told.

”Just make it quick,” he said, fully resigned to his fate.

Janottka smiled, reaching her hand out to touch his body. Gleaming metallic flakes spilled out of her faux skin, digging into Kadeki's body and deconstructing it piece by piece. He screamed in agony as he died. As he breathed his last, a part of him thought that this was simply what he deserved.

Little Celah, Tseludia Station, Pantheonic Territory, Fourthmonth, 1634 PTS

Deuvar approached the hatch, finding it sliding away as he drew close. He entered, quickly making his way through the hallway into the jungle-like sitting room. Resting on the same comfortable chair as always was the Leader. He glanced at Deuvar, and said a familiar word.

"Report."

Deuvar quickly bowed, and explained his presence.

"Something happened in the first district last night. An entire neighborhood is under lockdown by the Justice Office, and there are rumors that martial artists were at fault."

"I see. And what was the reason this could not be explained over the call?" asked the wizened figure of the Leader.

"This is a second piece of information," replied Deuvar, a bead of sweat dripping down his forehead. "My sister has found evidence that she believes is proof that someone has been listening in on our communications over the past several days."

"And you believe this to be the work of this Shade... Rachel?" he asked.

Deuvar nodded.

"Yes, sir."

The Leader rubbed his beard as he considered the information. For a moment, Deuvar thought he saw an odd metallic flash on the surface of the Leader's hardened grey flesh, but when he rubbed his eyes, it had disappeared. For some reason, he couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong.

Kadeki: [Many civilizations make sure to teach their children well about their history. Part of this often takes the form of moral tales told using historical figures. Some are idealized into heroes, while others are demonized into villains. For some of these villains, little exaggeration is required to achieve this. Kadeki was an official of the city of Opportunity, in the final great age of Celah. His parents had been very rich merchants, and their deep connections had led to him achieving a fairly high position even in the young age of his mid twenties. As the sparks of rebellion continued to flicker into the kindling of the city's slums, it was Kadeki's idea to spread a pathogen in the slums to cull the dissenters, and raise the government's image after they 'miraculously' created a cure. His plan resulted in the death of tens of millions of innocent civilians, widely considered the second greatest genocide in Celan history, losing only to the scourge of Celah by the Khalak'Ora. A leak which released information about this action resulted in riots and uprising. Records about Kadeki in the aftermath of the uprising which destroyed the city's government have been lost, and it is believed he lost his life in the chaos.]