Waterstrider

Otan, Tseludia Station, Pantheonic Territory, Fourthmonth, 1634 PTS

Normally, I thought, this was something I would be able to delegate to Ran. At the moment, however, she was recovering from her wounds in a hospital, along with Kein and Cinto. This left me with a lot of work to do in the aftermath of the mission. After all, we had to handle the large number of escaped martial artists who had wished to join the sect, as well as the need to handle the Pantheonic Government’s investigation.

I had placed Jihan and Eli in charge of the sect for the moment, while I myself made my way to Otan by way of aero. The sect currently had extremely high liquidity due to the attacks we had made against the neighboring gangs the other day, but I feared it would not be enough. I needed to acquire a lot more money, very fast. There were a few methods of achieving this, all of which I and Rachel had discussed in advance.

Firstly, we could attempt to get loans from either the Hadal Clan or the Venin Group. However, we already owed both forces multiple important favors, and I was wary about what requests would be brought up in exchange.

Secondly, we could attack even more forces, and attempt to steal more money. However, this would increase our profile, and create more enemies for us. It was a very risky decision for the present circumstances.

Finally, we could acquire a loan from another force. Of all the bankers and loan sharks on the station, there was only one who would give out loans of the necessary size without asking questions. The interest rate would be extortionate, but our choices were limited. Ultimately, this had been deemed the best choice, and so here I was in the fourth district: Otan.

I had yet to visit this part of the station before, and I found it to be rather dreary. Tall factories loomed over the cityscape, some of which were so large they took up several entire stacks. Worker Exid were everywhere, scurrying around past my feet as I made my way to the heart of one of the Queendoms. Occasional passerby of other races gave me odd glances. A Seiyal wearing such fine robes in a dingy district such as this one was an uncommon occurrence, but I had felt that because I was on official business with another underworld organization, I needed to uphold the dignity of my position. It would hurt the face of the Redwater Sect for the sect leader to walk around openly wearing dingy clothing.

I, of course, knew little of the insectoid race, nor did I have much hope of communicating directly with most of them. After all, I could hardly even speak Staiven, much less whatever language it was that the Exid spoke. I vaguely remembered Rachel having told me that the Exid could not actually speak the languages that the humanoids did, and relied upon machines to turn their chittering and pheromones into comprehensible language. I had come to the territory of Queen Heissix, because according to Rachel, the Heissix Corporation’s website claimed they spoke seiyin.

Rachel had woken up late last night from what I only then learned was slumber. Apparently, she had overtaxed her mind fighting against the enemy Shade, and had fallen asleep. I was shocked to find out her suspicions that after she lost consciousness, said enemy Shade had willingly aided us in completing our egress from the facility.

The motivations of the Shade would have to wait for later, however, in my estimation. The matter of keeping the Pantheonic Government off of our backs would have to be dealt with first, and that meant speaking with Queen Heissix.

The Heissix Corporation’s headquarters was a vast, multi layer structure, located above a stack filled entirely with layers upon layers of factories and housing for the workers. I couldn’t guess how terrible the living conditions were for the workers, though I knew it would assuredly be destitute in nature.

Unlike the factories and housing, the headquarters was palatial, composed of a smooth, gleaming material of a brilliant white hue that mimicked the shade of the Exid’s own carapace. As I walked through the open hatch that was the main entrance, it was as if I was entering into the gaping maw of a vast insect.

The interior of the corporate headquarters was actually quite finely decorated, though in that same odd manner that mimicked the appearance of the Exid themselves. Was this their aesthetic taste, or simply that of Queen Heissix, I wondered?

There were fewer worker drones moving around in the lobby, though one of them stood behind a desk. There was no visible terminal interface on the desk, merely a number of buttons. As I approached, the worker pressed one of the buttons, and a voice spoke out in seiyin. It was androgynous, and clearly machine generated.

“Welcome to Heissix Industrial Corporation, heart of the Heissix Queendom. Please state your identity and business.”

I wondered whether the drone would understand what I was saying, or if a machine would be the recipient. Either way, I chose to look in the Exid’s compound eyes as I replied. It was hard to tell whether it was meeting my gaze or not.

“My name is Cyrus Yu, Leader of the Redwater Sect, and I am here to discuss business with Queen Heissix. I have an appointment.”

There was an extended pause, just slightly longer than a person would have taken to parse my words, and then I heard some faint clicking noises and a hiss, as if a puff of gas had been released by the desk. The Exid pressed a sequence of buttons on its console, and the machine’s androgynous voice returned.

“Greetings, Mister. Cyrus. Yu. The Great Queen will see you shortly. A guide will show you the way.”

The drone extended one of its forelimbs, pointing at a hatch that opened on a wall to the side. The hatch had been painted white, and blended in quite well with the smooth white surface. The door closed behind another worker drone, who moved to stand before me, made a clicking noise, and then walked off. I began to follow it.

“What do you think?” asked Rachel, her voice suddenly manifesting, though her projection was nowhere in sight.

“The oddness of this species puts the Staiven to shame,” I replied, lowering my voice, even though I knew the worker would not be able to understand me.

“Yes, insectoid races are often like this. I find them almost as strange as cephalopod and floral species.”

“There are plant races?” I asked, very surprised. I had never heard anything of the sort.

“Not in the Pantheonic Territory. We’ve found a couple of them in the Frontier, and I’ve heard that there is at least one inside the Shalthen-Qatath’s Territory. Their cultures tend to develop very differently than humanoids, as you would expect. They tend to advance more slowly, and even the most advanced one we’ve found has no desire to expand past their home system. They have a very interesting religion focusing on their home star.”

In a few short sentences, Rachel had already told me more than enough to sate my small amount of curiosity about the matter, so I shifted the conversation back to the matter at hand.

“How do you recommend I approach this?” I asked. Though I suspected she had never spoken to an Exid Queen herself either, Rachel had likely already studied all books ever written about interspecies relations with the insectoid species.

“In all honesty, I think you’ll be fine. Just use your sect leader aura and she’ll probably deal with you as fairly as you can expect an underworld loan shark to. I’ll keep you updated on the quality of the terms she’s offering.”

I nodded, and continued to follow the worker drone. We had gone down a series of hallways, and it had rapidly shifted from looking like a stark yet elegantly put together corporate lobby to what looked more like the interior of a mine. Struts of a moist looking gray material appeared to be holding the stone walls up, though I knew this was just an appearance. Was this what Exid hives looked like, back on their homeworld? Presumably the lobby was designed to cater to the sensitivities of other races, while the interior of the building was to those of the Queen herself. It made sense, after all it was extremely rare for an Exid Queen to ever leave her hive.

We turned another corner and I found myself in a cavernous room filled with the sticky gray substance. It sort of felt like I had entered a monochrome world, myself the only presence in the room not painted purely in hues of black and white. At the center of the room was a vast monster that reminded me of the fiends of my homeworld. It had an innumerable number of limbs attached to its torso, from which extended a vast, bulbous abdomen that extended for almost fifty feet in length. The creature, who I knew must be the Exid Queen Heissix, was surrounded by round black spheres, one of which was slowly emerging from the very end of her abdomen. The upper part of her body was shrouded in a thicker version of that same white carapace that all Exid retained, and a large head sat atop her thorax. Two vast compound eyes watched me, and her mandibles twitched and chittered, as if she were speaking. I was taken aback by the sight, but my bodily control was more than enough to protect me from making any obvious breaches in decorum.

Suddenly, that same androgynous mechanical voice spoke in seiyin, emerging from a speaker embedded into the room’s ceiling.

“Welcome, Sect Leader Yu. I am Queen Heissix, true inheritor of my bloodline, and heir of the Exid Queendoms. I was told you wished to take out a loan from me?”

I nodded, and gave her a slight half-bow, the sort one would do to an equal.

“Indeed, Great Queen. I would like to request to borrow three quarters of a million serite, to be paid back by year’s end.”

The vast organism shifted, and I was curious how she avoided mashing any of the hundreds of eggs which surrounded her. She chittered again, and I waited for the machine to translate.

“That is quite a lot of money,” she said. “I see why you have come. Your organization is likely reputable, but you are very new. I find it hard to trust you. Three months, seventy percent interest.”

After waiting a moment for Rachel to tell me what I already knew: that this was a terrible deal, before making my response.

“I’m afraid I cannot accept such a deal, Great Queen,” I replied. “How about six months, at twenty percent?”

We had known before coming here that we would be gouged on the rates and return period no matter what. All I could do was minimize the wound so that it was survivable. Otherwise, we would be paying this debt off for decades. Given the way the Justice Office functioned, it was also likely that they would side with Heissix rather than us if she decided to take up the repayment issues with the courts.

In response, there was a puff of gas as a thick smell filled the space. Even that was translated by the machine.

“Emotion: Disdain. Twenty percent- ridiculous! It would not even be worth loaning at such a low rate of return. I could offer you a rate of forty five percent, for four months. That is final, however.”

Again, I paused to hear what Rachel had to say about the matter.

“I think we’ll have to take it,” she said. “The Exid care very much about their word, so if she says it’s final, that means she will not go any lower. They know that only the desperate are willing to take loans from them, and take advantage of this.”

I sighed, trusting that Rachel knew what she was talking about. I could think of no feasible ways to gather that much money up in a mere four months, but we would have to figure something out. For now, surviving the current crisis was our priority.

“I can agree to that, Great Queen.”

She rumbled, and a different scent filled the air.

“Emotion: Smugness. It is a pleasure to do business with you, Sect Leader Yu. I hope we can make many more such transactions in the future. I will have the guide bring you to the contract.”

I gave her another half bow, but before I left, I had a thought, and decided to ask a question.

“By the way, I was surprised you were willing to meet me in person,” I said. “It speaks much to your bravery, and I am curious about your reasoning.”

There was an audible puff, and a pungent scent soon thickened the air. The translator spoke again.

“Emotion: Pride. Even a martial artist cannot escape this place alive if I do not wish it, and a man such as you would not throw his life away needlessly. You would not do anything, Cyrus Yu. I have no reason to fear you.”

I was curious about whether she was right or not. I doubted anyone in the station was better at escape than I, unless there was a hidden immortal or ascendant that I didn’t know about. But the Exid were not weak, and their swarms were very capable of taking down superior foes. But as she said, I had to admit, I had no reason to test it. I bowed once more, bid her goodbye, and followed the guide back out to the lobby.

Exid Queens: [Unlike most races, there is little racial camaraderie among the Exid. Each Queendom considers itself a fully separate culture, and most Queens claim that they are the true inheritor to the ancestors of the Exid people, and that all other Queens should rightfully be their subordinates. Such claims are even made at times by Queens who have themselves been subordinated. However, as they find other races inherently untrustworthy, the Queens still tend to work together just as much as they connive against one another for superiority. In addition, despite their naturally extremely high intellect, the Queendoms would likely never have achieved spaceflight on their own, as a great deal of technology belonging to a Queendom was often historically destroyed upon the Queen's death to prevent their rivals from discovering it, vastly hindering their capabilities. However, they achieved a technology boom after making first contact which allowed them the capacity to expand, so that even the weaker Queendoms could, in theory, develop their own territory away from others. However, there are only so many places close enough to advanced civilizations to learn more advanced technology from, yet still a place where they are allowed to set up their Queendoms. They are, after all, unable to compete for territory with even the more powerful mortal civilizations, much less the Osine and Ascendants. For this reason, many Exid Queens have set out blindly into the vast expanse of the Frontier, never to return.]