Episode 1
=== USER 6545198 NOW CONNECTED TO HIDDEN SERVER “Fall” ===
=== ENTER PRIVATE ENCRYPTION KEY FOR MESSAGE OPERATIONS ===
--- Private Encryption Key: ************************* ---
=== PRIVATE ENCRYPTION KEY ACCEPTED ===
=== MESSAGING OPERATIONS INITIATED ===
--- USER 6545198: Are you online? ---
..
..
---< yes, where have you been >---
--- USER 6545198: Sorry, my assistant wouldn’t leave my office. He was complaining about his boyfriend. Haha ---
---< i don’t care. what is the status of the project? >---
..
--- USER 6545198: We have found a suitable cavern. Isolated, no natural light. I doubt anyone knows it exists except for the official maps. ---
..
---< and you will get it erased from the maps? >---
--- USER 6545198: Yes, of course. We have already set up all of the necessary shill companies. Contracts are being requested. ---
---< who all knows about the larger plan >---
--- USER 6545198: Right now? Only you and me… and you don’t even know the corporate side. ---
..
---< dont get mortally wounded. I won’t try to save you >---
---**---
--- USER 6545198: Reassuring. ---
=== USER 6545198 DISCONNECTED ===
=== AWAITING COMMAND ===
A rusted metal door opened with a groan. The lockpad pulsed green exactly once before flashing back to the same shade of red light that spilled out of the window. A pair of black heels stepped down from the doorstep with a click and a small splash as they hit the wet concrete. Cheap straps attached the heels to bare, slender legs, visible in the faint celestial light. The woman who owned the legs breathed sharply outward into the cold, took a step forward, and stumbled. Relcheir grabbed her gently by the arm to steady her, and stepped down himself into the cold air.
“No more drinks for you,” Relcheir jested.
The woman laughed, sharp and high pitched. Relcheir squinted down the walkway to his left, and looped an infrared scarf around his neck. It was a night cycle. There were roughly three light/night cycles per day on the moon of Lehen. Relchier had been inside the club so long he had no idea which cycle this was. He ignored the thought that what he said wasn’t funny enough to warrant her loud laugh.
I’m not drunk enough
Relcheir grabbed a flask from his jacket pocket, mumbled “Wait one,” and took a deep pull. He grimaced as he swallowed, holding the flask out to the woman. She giggled, and took a small sip. She coughed as she handed the flask back to Relcheir. The woman was young and attractive. She wore a wrapping tightly around her pelvic area, a thin halter top that didn’t come below her abdomen, and a broad shawl over her bare shoulders. Relcheir followed the lines of her legs with his eyes, and felt a tinge of pride that he was the one she chose to be with tonight. The pride was as short lived and hollow as the buzz from his flask. He took another deep pull. He hated everything about his life.
Gods am I glad I’m not as stupid and weak as her and the rest of the people in this sector
He frowned, angrily, at that unbidden thought.
Who am I to judge
To atone, he grabbed the woman by the waist and whirled her around. He dipped her slightly and kissed her, deeply, and with genuine affection. She giggled again. Relcheir returned the woman upright and smiled, flirtily. The smile disappeared as soon as she faced away from him.
I don’t fucking understand myself
“10371305, ‘R. Proce’, you are to report to Sector M in three thousand pulsars”
Relcheir rolled over, reached his hand out, grabbed an unidentified object, and threw it towards the speaker on the wall. The room was spinning. The nearest pulsar rotated about once a second. He didn’t have long.
I hate this job
‘You can’t be a lead because you don’t have security experience’
‘You can’t get security experience without working for Planetary’
‘You don’t meet our criteria… the manufacturing industry is always hiring’
Fuck you
Relcheir sat up, and put his head down into one hand. He slowly tilted his finger upwards. A holographic screen tilted in response to face him. He swiped his finger right, and a mirrored image appeared on the screen. Relcheir stared at his reflection. He traced a hand slowly over his chest. He imagined how a metal shoulder would mesh with his flesh pectoral. He stopped, his face sobered.
I bought the cyberneural because it was the smart thing to do. So what if I could already have a security job if I had a cybernetic arm. This will pay off in the long run…. It has to
He swiped his finger right another time, then quickly expanded his fingers. A screen full of numbers grew larger. Relcheir glanced up to the top of the screen, where his balance was highlighted in yellow. The amount of money glaring through the screen personified, then embodied, his self reflection. small. insignificant. unconnected.
But money was not an accurate representation of stature in Relcheir’s mind. There was nothing that made those who lived in The Design any better than Relcheir, at least nothing he would acknowledge. And yet, daily, Relcheir would check on lottery results, or invest trace amounts in extreme risk/return projects. That was no contradiction in his mind.
Relcheir scrolled his finger a few times, leaned forward and squinted. He swore. He had not won any credits today. Relcheir Proce, 10371305, had to work.
Relcheir stepped into the maglev capsule, and scanned his chip. He had less than a thousand pulsars before he would be late. Only a small part of him cared. He glanced at the screen above him and connected his cyberneural to the audiofeed. He quickly flipped through the channels.
“All inbound shuttles to Lehen need government approval, says First Guardian…”
“Ilana Jaro has been ratified as the newest Third Guardian of The Founding…”
“Win Five Million Credits! All you have to do is find the virtual golden egg in…”
“Lehen increases water exports as prices rise…”
“Three new laws signed yesterday by The Founding’s…”
“Planetary Security is hiring! Get rewarded for keeping…”
Relcheir pulled his head away, severing the wireless connection. He was always tired, no matter how long he tried to sleep the night before. The landscape outside the window flowed quickly by Relcheir’s blank eyes. Tall, metal buildings turned into short, concrete compounds. A lone tree passed by, then another. Concrete compounds turned into wooden warehouses. Clusters of trees passed, a few at a time. The warehouses disappeared, and Relcheir subconsciously leaned toward the window. Treed hills grew out of the ground as the capsule hurled down the track. Recognition returned to Relcheir’s eyes, and he tracked the hills.
One of the only benefits of working at the factories
There wasn’t much nature in The Founding. No one had much need for it. All of the trees, algae, moss, and other terraforming oxygenators had been planted far from the city. But they always caught Relcheir’s attention when he travelled to the manufacturing district, as this route was one of the few maglev lines out of the city, and thus one of the few opportunities he had to see trees and hills and green living things.
Relcheir caught his reflection in the window, and became self-aware. He turned, stoic and sullen, and observed the other passengers in the capsule. Most were silent and aloof.
At least three with cybernetics, four definitely without
Relcheir shifted his gaze and held it on one of the indeterminate passengers. Light skin, shaved head on one side, an illuminate-tattoo up the neck. Relcheir guessed it was female. She shifted her weight, and Relcheir moved his attention onward. She had a cybernetic leg. He could tell by the way she moved.