1y11m BV
Carpe Aeternum, en route to the Desolate Oasis
Whitecrest Associate Hiron
Enough stalling. The time had come to administer Thalias’ loyalty test. The more time he had to study Chuck’s reponses, the greater the precision of his resulting conclusions. Thalias’ instructions had been simple; Deliver the intelligence, scrutinize Chuck’s activities, and report. Yet still he hesitated, pacing back and forth.
Hiron had little doubt in Chuck’s ability to pass the test. It was just, well… directly violating a contact’s trust was simply not something he was entirely comfortable with. Concealing information or possibly even some half-truths? Sure, no problem. But direct fabrications? That just seemed so… unprofessional. Not, however, as unprofessional as disobeying direct orders.
Hiron found Chuck in the ablution chamber. As he approached, he heard a curious sound roiling from beyond the door. Perhaps some meditative ambiance from the ship’s audio systems? If so, it was a strange selection. He could hardly think of an experience less relaxing than being caught in a fierce downpour, and this one was far stronger than any he had had the displeasure of experiencing.
He moved a claw towards the scratch plate, stopping just shy of it. He took a deep breath and paced for a bit longer, pondering his approach once more. He needed details, what he was going to do, how he was going to do it, which persona was he to wear? Perhaps an informal approach? No, this would be a professional conversation, and no amount of subtlety could hide that from a being such as Chuck. But even so, a courteous or even submissive stance may be appropriate given the nature of his request.
Thalias, of course, would disapprove; This interaction was supposed to appear as a gift of knowledge. But Chuck wasn’t stupid; He would see immediately through at least part of the deceit. But just how much would he see? How many ablative covers would he need to stack this time? His prior experiences with Chuck led him to the conclusion that any attempt at cover was likely futile. Each cover took concentration and effort to maintain, weakening the full stack, and with the rate that Chuck had torn through them… sigh.
Hiron continued his pacing. Perhaps he was approaching this the wrong way. Keep it simple. Only two covers; a friendly, helpful persona backed by his professional guise. He doubted that even Chuck had seen through that second one. Though, if Thalias had… he shook his head. Even if Chuck could see through his more basic cover, he should be unsurprised to see it in the context of this conversation. No sense in ‘rocking’ that particular ‘ship’ at this time.
Hiron turned again to the door. Scratch that, skip the script. Chuck never seemed to need one, why should I? His path decided, he confidently scratched on the doorplate.
“Yes Hiron?” Chuck yelled through the torrential downpour.
Hiron cleared his throat. “May I enter?”
“Sure! But before you do, do you think you could grab me some soap?”
Hiron tilted his head in confusion. “Soap?”
“Yeah, soap. Even Gaoians must have some around here somewhere.”
Hiron pondered a moment. “Yes, Chuck. There should be some in one of the medical cabinets. I shall return.”
Hiron quickly returned with a bottle of soap and stepped into the wash area. Before he could complete his delivery, the sight before him stopped him dead in his tracks.
Hiron had been right there beside Chuck on the Desolate Oasis as he had torn through the Hunters with terrifying grace; Fluid motion that only pure brute strength could produce. But only now after seeing the human without his garments could he truly appreciate the the source of that absurd physicality. Enormously powerful musculature stretched across Chuck’s broad, bald, smooth abdomen, interrupted only by a small indentation near its center. He couldn’t help but stare.
“Uh… Hiron, I understand that there are cultural differences at play here, but… Could you stop staring at my dick? It’s kinda weirding me out.”
Hiron shook his head, diplomatically neglecting to correct Chuck’s misinterpretation. “I apologize.” He carefully avoided any downward glances as he handed the bottle to Chuck.
Chuck squirted a large dollop onto his hand and began working the soap into a lather. Hiron watched, intrigued, as Chuck spread it all over his muscular body. Gaoians rarely made use of surfactants. Sure, surgical preparation or direct toxin contamination warranted its use, but little else. Yet here was Chuck, using such a powerful chemical as a general hygiene agent. Perversely, it was almost fitting; A Deathworlder unleashing chemical warfare against his own body, simply because he could.
Hiron shuddered at the thought of standing in Chuck’s place, as the human stepped under a cascading stream of water.
“So, what did you need to talk to me about?” Chuck called as he began to massage his scalp.
Oh… right. Back to the topic at his claws. “I’ve received confidential information. Information that I have been authorized to share with you. Now, before I continue, I must be clear. This information risks compromising one of our informants. Absolutely no sapient outside this room is to be made aware of any part of this conversation. Do you understand?”
Chuck nodded and responded with a harsh, professional voice. “Yes.” He continued rinsing the soap out of his headfur.
“Confirmed.” Hiron cleared his throat. “In the course of monitoring your accounts, Whitecrest has detected an unauthorized withdrawal of an amount equal to the value contained within.”
Chuck stood still for a moment. “You’ve been monitoring my account?”
“Of course. We required access to deliver your royalty payments.”
“And that access… does not require my permission, or even knowledge?”
“Well, no. That would make access inconvenient.”
Chuck shook his head. Clearly agitated, he raised his voice. “As inconvenient as being robbed dry?”
Hiron was careful to stone himself, he could not allow himself to show weakness just yet. “A… valid concern. However, Chuck, we are not responsible for your account security. That account is managed by the Corti Directorate.”
Chuck sighed. “Alright Hiron, spit it out. What’s going on?”
With careful timing, Hiron gulped. “We have traced the currency to an account owned by Brrtklklk Nk’tntnrkk.”
Chuck held himself quite still for a few moments. Then he turned and glared at Hiron. “You are telling me that my money was stolen… by Bart?”
Chuck’s responses indicated clear disbelief. Wait… clear? By Fyu’s whiskers! Chuck was an absolute master of only letting his implant transmit exactly what he intended. Such an obvious signal meant that Chuck was either no longer in control of his emotions, or had intended to indicate his incredulity. Still, disbelief came in many scents; It would be unwise to presume anything just yet. “Sadly, that is indeed what our sources have confirmed.”
“Rather convenient, isn’t it, that the one being who could clarify this situation is one I am forbidden from asking.”
Chuck knew. Oh, he knew. This most recent statement all but confirmed it. Chuck’s earlier disbelief was not simply a sign of grief; It was a complete dismissal of the possibility of Brrtklklk’s involvement! That wasn’t all, though; there was an even a larger wealth of information present if one knew where to look. Sure it was subtle, and Chuck had tried to keep this to himself, but Hiron had seen enough sarcasm and wordplay from Chuck to identify it here. He now knew that Chuck could see right through Thalias’ scheme, even if he refused to admit it. Two could play at that game. It was time to employ one of the fun little human concepts he had learned early in his research; playing dumb. He suppressed a chitter as he realized that Chuck had already been doing the same Keeda-damned thing.
Focus, deliver response. Hiron nodded sadly. “I know that it can hurt to have your trust violated by someone so close to you.” He involuntarily winced as Chuck let out an amused and disappointed grunt. “But, I assure you, it is imperative that you not disclose this information to Brrtklklk, lest you risk the ire of those who could be harmed by the release of such information.”
Chuck’s gaze tore into him. He spoke calmly and authoritatively. “Did Thalias put you up to this?”
One of Hiron’s ears ticked, another involuntary response to that rather absurd leap of logic. After this little exercise was through, he would have to pry further into the human’s mind. Stop. Put that aside for later. What next? Chuck knew that Thalias was involved. That meant… What? Hmm, stall for time. “Yes… He is, after all, Whitecrest’s primary contact when it comes to human relations.”
Chuck produced a tight lipped smile. “Good. Will you tell him to track down my money? I’m sure he’ll be able to find it and return it to me.” He turned to Hiron with a downright cruel grin. “Right?”
Ah… that’s what it meant. He was hoping that it would take Chuck at least a minute or two to figure everything out. But, perhaps not all was lost; Maybe Chuck did not know, that Hiron knew, that he knew, that he was being tested. “Uh… yes, of course. Whitecrest’s resources are at your disposal.” In hindsight, Hiron couldn’t even guess as to why he had thought this test stood a chance of yielding useful results; The flaws in Thalias’ proposal were so blatantly obvious that he should never have even considered this approach. Brrtklklk? Seriously? Hiron could hardly think of a being less likely to be the perpetrator in this staged heist. And if that failure of logic was obvious to him-
Chuck interrupted his thoughts. “Thank you, Hiron. I do hope you find my money.”
Chuck’s kind words did not match up with his belligerent smile. Even though his translator conveyed a positive tone, Hiron knew what he was looking at; Chuck was angry and it was time to go. That man was getting to be far too proficient at abusing his implant. “I’ll contact Thalias immediately!” Hiron cried as he scampered out of the room.
Once safely outside, he finally recovered his breath. The test, as written, was a miserable and, in hindsight, predictable failure. Mercifully, he could now improvise, as Thalias’ instructions had been followed to the letter. His objective remained. A new test would have to be built, preferably one that didn’t require him to outmaneuver a Keeda-damned Deathworlder. He pondered this fruitlessly for several hours.
later that evening
Carpe Aeternum
Chuck
Fuck, he hadn’t felt this good in, well, a long time. Did no one in the Dominion shower? Well, obviously someone did; His ship did have a shower after all. It was, however, a feature completely absent from any of the Gaoian facilities he had visited. He spent a minute trying to decide if it was likely to be a Whitecrest or Ironclaw addition. Clearly someone had done their homework.
After his shower, he was almost in a sufficiently high spirits to overlook Thalias’ unsubtle shenanigans. A quick look at his account was enough to verify that at least part of the accusations were accurate; His accounts were indeed empty. Chuck sighed. This was not the sort of shit he wanted to deal with. Well, there was nothing that could be done now; External communications would not be available until they approached the Desolate Oasis.
He grabbed his pack and meandered over towards the overhead windows in the living quarters. Opening the pack, he carefully extracted Milt’s gift. A quick inspection of the package revealed a small data card. Chuck plugged that into his datapad. A message from Milt was contained within.
Greetings Chuck,
I cannot think of any suitable way of expressing the thanks I owe you. I only hope that this device can help you in a time of need. Rather than create a replacement for your own devices, I endeavoured to create a device that would supplement your own tools with functionality that your own devices may lack. It is a tool of my own design, built with elements inspired by the principles of your own ‘Swiss Army Knife’. Quite an interesting idea! A set of underpowered, yet versatile tools; None of them ideal for any given task, but compact enough that you always have something available when you need it.
The device itself uses physical controls for basic activation of each tool. I understand that most beings prefer digital activation, but I, myself have always prefered rapid access over smooth contours.
Chuck sighed. The differences between Milt’s written and spoken confidence were profound; quite a problem for a race so socially connected. He’d have to work on that.
He set aside the pad and pulled out the… Milt’s Army Knife? MAK. It’s now the MAK. There was nothing inelegant about it. Several switches were peppered across the surface, but they were integrated so smoothly into the aesthetic of the device that they almost appeared as ornamentation. Also, unlike most of the alien devices he had used, this thing had heft. Chuck began to realize that he may have underestimated the wounded Gaoian. He set the MAK down and continued reading.
What follows is a list of this device’s functions and equipment.
Reactor: The core of the system is the on-board micro-reactor. It is a small, but powerful device, designed to power all necessary subsystems. It features a small force-field emitter for more effective cooling, allowing for extended use of the more power-hungry systems.
Flash/Illumination device: This device has two modes of operation, similar to your own digital torch. It is capable of emitting a rather absurd quantity of incandescent spectrum radiation. I have it tuned to a more reasonable level of intensity, but that can be adjusted, if you wish. The illumination device can also utilize a programmable strobe function. As an aside, this feature was rather fun to develop and test. One of my Brothers in the lab was rather perturbed when I inadvertently hit him with it. He tried to attack me, so I, less inadvertently, hit him with it again. I think you humans may be on to something here. Addendum: I now have first hand evidence that your stun gun is also rather effective. In retrospect, I deserved that, though I could do without the concussion.
Chuck chuckled slightly as he reviewed the pictorial instructions and tested the stated functions. The flashlight’s physical controls provided five separate programmable brightness options, each of them conveniently accessible through a nifty two dimensional shift-pattern. The strobe… worked. Even the reflection of the light against the window was enough to involuntarily force his eyes closed. He moved on.
Low temperature illumination device: Humans have the uncanny ability to view temperatures nearly as cool as molten aluminum. As this adaptation is not common among sophants, exploiting this advantage may prove valuable to you. I must say, I envy you. The smallest, dimmest stars must look absolutely spectacular when you can see their primary emissions spectra.
Check activated the function. A brilliant red light illuminated his surroundings. Interesting.
Plasma torch: The device has a small on-board air tank that is filled via pass-through forcefield whenever the device is in non-vacuum conditions. This feature allows the air to be superheated and released as a small stream of plasma, useful for cutting or small repairs.
Chuck held the MAK at arm’s length and turned it on. A brilliant lavender stream extended roughly three inches from the near end of the device; He quickly flipped the MAK around. He waved his hand near the side of the stream. It was hot.
Utility blade: This is a compact, retractable fusion blade. Useful for welding, soldering, that sort of thing.
With a click of a button, a three inch switchblade extended and was quickly ignited with white-hot fire. Chuck retracted this; He was familiar with fusion blades.
Diagnostic scanner: I am not sure that you are familiar with this technology. You wouldn’t believe how… odd it is to say something like that. It is one of the single most useful devices in my toolbox. A simple click of a button allows a nearby object’s specifications to be recorded and stored for later use. Essential functionality for any modern design methods. I’ve included my own design software with this subsystem.
Intrigued, Chuck activated the indicated switch. The MAK beeped. Underwhelming. He tried the other button listed in the instructions. Immediately, a volumetric display sprung into existence around him, displaying design and materials documentation detailing the sofa in front of him. A quick browse through the menus showed a wealth of information, and further exploration allowed him to quickly make gross adjustments to the couch’s specifications with a few simple gestures. This… this alone could be what he needed to get his product design underway! Essential functionality indeed. He returned to the manual.
Emergency force field: The reactor’s cooling system utilizes a force field to dissipate waste heat. I have adjusted that field to surround the device and its user. Unlike any other force shield systems that you have likely encountered, this one is not strong enough to block kinetic pulses; Any pulse strong enough to injure a human would easily tear through the feeble power this device can generate. As such, I have tuned the field towards a different purpose. After any sudden drop in external air pressure, the field will ‘shift’, blocking nearby air from escaping. This should buy you a few minutes to get to safety.
Micro-kinetic thruster: Upon reviewing the above system, this system was added. The kinetics in this device can provide about sixty-and-five hundred millinewtons of thrust. Enough for gradual microgravity navigation, but, admittedly, little else. Yet, it is compact.
Additional equipment slots: Additional room has been set aside for further expansion. A pawful of other devices can be added as needed.
The instructions continued downwards for several pages, discussing the basic operation of the MAK’s scripting and adjustment systems. He began playing with the settings. God damn, the Gaoians knew how to design an interface! Within a few minutes, he had a quick script set up and tied to one of the flashlight’s switch positions.
With a smile, he flicked the switch and dropped the MAK. The light turned on and its kinetic thrusters whined briefly before settling into a controlled hover. Hands-free flashlight, hell yes. He tapped the hovering light a few times, each gentle tap countered by the MAK’s thrusters.
Chuck retrieved the MAK and aborted the custom function. With a few quick changes, he closed his eyes, held his breath, and clicked the device on once more. Even with his eyes closed, he was still nearly blinded by the light. He quickly shut it off. Maybe he shouldn’t turn the flashlight all the way up. He opened his eyes and saw small wisps of smoke fleeing a few of the more flammable objects nearby… whoops.
Chuck set the MAK down and opened its box once more. There was one more object within; Milt had helpfully provided a matching satchel. Chuck threaded the holster through his belt and slid the MAK into its sheath.
Chuck opened his pack, preparing to stow the case, when something peculiar caught his eye. His pack contained more tomahawks than he had left in there. Two extras, to be precise. A quick perusal revealed the presence of an extra stun gun and two extra pepper spray canisters; all items that he had traded to Ronovin.
This was clearly a message. If there had been only one additional device, he may have assumed that his items had been returned. This… this was Ronovin telling him that he had kept copies of these items, or rather, the originals.
As he considered Ronovin’s reasoning, his eyes were drawn to a small tuft of fur in the bag. He carefully picked the fur up and examined it. After a few moments study, he pulled out the MAK and engaged the scanner. Apparently, the fur was Gaoian. Helpful, that. With a sigh, he set down the tuft.
Let’s see, what else? Two of each device that Ronovin took… but only one stun gun. Curious, he carefully unpacked his bag, setting each item carefully aside. In addition to the ‘missing’ stun gun, several of the smaller tools were missing, or simply had their packaging damaged.
After painstaking inspecting every inch of his bag, he managed to collect dozens of samples of fur. Some samples in small clumps, some only single strands. With all of these samples, the scanner was finally able to provide a meaningful result; The samples originated from somewhere between five and fourteen unique Gaoians. DNA analysis in a freaking CAD program. At times like this, he recalled just how far ahead Gaoian technology was of Earth’s.
With a sigh, he began repacking his items. Knowing how careful Whitecrest operatives tended to be, it was all but certain that many more Gaoians had searched through this bag. Apparently Thalias had been quite literal when he said that Whitecrest would not search his belongings in front of him.
1y11m BV, late evening
Electronics Laboratory, Whitecrest Clan Enclave, Wi Kao, Gao.
Associate Sennar, Whitecrest applied research
Sennar yawned and checked the time. Time to retire for the night. He had spent the better part of the afternoon testing the device that Sermil had delivered to him. The Corti receiver component had been carefully isolated and put into deep stasis storage, replaced with a controller of his own design.
That left the transmitter as the only part of the device that he did not fully understand. He had studied it, of course, testing various signals and inputs, but the best he had managed thus far was to either turn it on or turn it off; No other effect had yet been generated. Well, at least he had made some progress.
He disconnected the reactor and controller from the foreign transmitter and disabled the RF shielding surrounding the workstation. With one final, quick visual scan of the EM station, he verified all sources were unpowered and opened the heavy steel cage door. Just before leaving the station, he opened a Vault access request and submitted the necessary credentials. He powered down the lab and left, carrying the EM device with him.
As he approached the Vault he muttered a few quick passcodes. The stasis field shut down, and the door unlatched and slid open. Pre-authorizing these late night deposits made the process so much easier. He set the device on a shelf, next to a Corti fusion blade from the same initial source. Sennar had a feeling that this… event would generate many more objects of interest, and had thus saved plenty of room on that same shelf for future acquisitions.
With a quick shake of the shoulders to relieve a cramp, he exited the vault and left towards his nest-room.
Something caught his ear as he left. He turned around just in time to see the vault’s door close… a few heartbeats slower than it usually did. With a system as impeccably reliable as this vault locking system, even such a simple disturbance was worth investigating. Sennar perked his ears as he carefully and slowly approached the Vault. He glanced at the control panel. The stasis field was off! That field should never be off… unless someone was in the Vault! He glanced around cautiously before digging into the panel’s menus. The console’s programming had been changed! That was… not good. He would have to fix that, but first, the Vault must be secured.
Sennar drew his pulse pistol and very carefully opened the Vault’s door, stepping back to give himself some room to maneuver. He slowly approached the Vault, weapon ready. He saw nothing out of the ordinary as he approached, even as he entered the Vault itself. As he glanced around the room, the shelf he had just visited caught his eye. The test device was missing! As he approached the shelf he felt a slight gust of wind, and the Vault’s door slammed closed. Yelping, he ran to the door and quickly opened it. He glanced quickly up and down the hall, but did not see the perpetrator of this disturbance. At his feet lie the transmitter, sitting just outside the Vault’s doorway.
Hesitantly, he glanced up and down the hall again. He picked up the device and gave it a quick inspection. Nothing appeared missing or added. He set the device back on the shelf and stepped outside the Vault. He inspected the control panels logs, seeing absolutely nothing out of the ordinary, not even the changes he had seen earlier. Could this be enemy action? Surely not. This device was only a simple, though admittedly loud, RF transmitter. Someone was probably having a laugh at his expense. Oh, payback would come. Once he filed the report tomorrow, that someone would suffer as they deserved. As he walked back towards his nest-room for the evening, he glanced out the window… and stopped. It had not been this dark earlier. He quickly fumbled for his datapad. It had been ninety minutes since he had left the lab! How? The logs would have sho… oh… By Fyu’s hairy nutsack! That report clearly needed to be filed tonight! Sennar hurried back to his laboratory station.
1y10m3w6d BV, the next day
Carpe Aeternum, en route to trade station Desolate Oasis
Chuck
As the credits began to roll, Hiron was the first to speak. “It amuses me to no end that that beings as powerful as a humans see the need to present themselves as weak. ‘Incredibles’? As if humanity isn’t incredible enough without these…” He waved his paw dismissively towards the holo-screen “augmentations.”
If there was one thing that could bring out the real Hiron, it was human movies. Anything even remotely resembling fantasy or adventure genres would infuriate him to no end. Chuck quietly chuckled to himself as Bart interrupted his rant.
“I am of the belief that the depiction rather accurately conveys many subtleties of human nature, among them, the triumph of using one’s own abilities to their fullest potential against overwhelming odds.”
“They’re humans. They don’t need anything else.”
Bart shuffled around, moving his neck to get a better look at Hiron. “I do believe that you are mistaken, Hiron. Humans, much like any other sapient, do indeed have their own weaknesses.” He settled back down. “These stories often provide valuable insight into the intricate nuances of human nature. Learn from them.” Bart shot an accusatory glance at Hiron. “Or do you believe that your own ‘Keeda tales’ are too, a literal depiction of Gaoian psyche?”
“Those are different! Keeda tales are fables for cubs! They teach important life lessons!”
Bart waved an arm towards the holo-screen. “Teamwork? Achieving true potential? Overcoming adversity? Protecting those that cannot protect themselves? Are these not noble efforts?”
“But… this story is intended to be entertainment.”
Bart let loose a blender of a laugh. “Deceptively weaving moral lessons into an entertaining story? Are you too embarrassed to admit that Dollywood is yet another way in which humans have shown their enormous prowess?”
Hiron’s ears fell flat as he turned away.
Bart turned to Chuck. “I wish to watch another, Chuck. Would you kindly select something interesting? Perhaps something… whimsical?”
Hiron perked an ear. “I have a challenge for you, Chuck. Pick a movie that isn’t about humans being the best at everything.”
Chuck nodded and began navigating through his rather deep list of pirated works. He found the perfect piece. “I think this will do nicely. It’s an old movie, one of our first animations. Kinda like an old fashioned music video. I think you’ll like this one, Bart.”
Hiron sighed in disapproval.
“Don’t be like that, Hiron. If I remember correctly, this movie hardly depicts humans at all!”
Hiron sat still for a moment before speaking. “How is it that you keep doing that, Chuck?” Hiron keened and shook his head. “One simple statement lays bare the… inconsequentiality of my concerns.”
Chuck smiled. “That’s one way to look at it. I, instead, prefer to look at it as opening a path of self-discovery. How can you improve if you do not know your own weaknesses?”
Hiron winced. “Of course you would say that. Keeping such a short list memorized would be trivial.”
“You’d be surprised.”
Hiron perked an ear, intrigued. “Do go on.”
“Nope! Not tonight, we have a movie to watch.”
Bart interjected. “Hiron, I believe that one of Chuck’s own weaknesses is his inability to rationalize his own shortcomings. You will likely find difficulty in that line of questioning.”
Chuck glared at Bart. “Now, just what makes you say that?”
Bart rose up to his full height, just barely shy of brushing his hair on the ceiling. “Call it a ‘hunch’ if you will. There is no shame in admitting weakness, Chuck. You would hardly be the only sophant present that has done so.”