Microstory 2196: Countless Calls

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I’m pleased to report that everything went great today. As you know, my assistant and the logistician already started a while ago. Three new people had their start date today. I wasn’t able to say this before, but the social worker that I had while I was having my issues is in the process of moving to another state. He was training an apprentice to replace him, but before she could take any cases on her own, the chance to work on my team came up, so she applied to that as well. Since she didn’t yet have a caseload to work with, she was able to start with us right away. As per usual, I won’t be able to tell you her name, or divulge any details about her, but I wanted to say something about it right away. There’s going to be some criticism for this decision. It may seem like she doesn’t have very much experience, but you have to understand that social workers go through some of the most rigorous training curriculum of any job. Only doctors and lawyers have it harder in this respect, and even that’s debatable. She’s been working in the industry for nearly ten years now, and has handled thousands of cases to one degree or another. She’s just never been on her own yet, having gone on countless calls with her mentor who was in a supervisory role, or a partner. Unlike how it is in my world, social workers are often called to the scene of a conflict along with police. They sometimes arrive prior to police, or even instead of. So, they are extremely experienced before they officially graduate from the program. She will be running the Social subdepartment, and we’re very glad to have her on the team. The other two people who began today will work in the Psychology subdepartment. One is a former Jail Counselor, and the other a Job Counselor. Both of them have actually worked together before, helping guests cope with their situations inside, and also preparing them to become contributing members of society once they’re released. The six of us went on a tour of the jail facility together, learning about how the system works currently. We met a few of the intermittent guests. This was an important thing to do, so our new staff members get a feel for the vibe here. We’ll do this sort of thing again as the team begins to fill out in the coming weeks.

The Advancement of Mateo Matic: February 15, 2399

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“Do you not recognize me?” the stranger asks. “We met once...when you killed my superior officer, and drove me from my home.”

“You’re gonna hafta be more specific,” Leona jokes.

“Rorkele Mast.”

“Is that your name, or your boss’?”

“It was his.” The still unnamed man turns back around and gazes out the window. He was a brilliant tactician, a powerful leader...” He faces her once more. “And someone I was proud to call my friend.”

“Still nothin’.”

“You killed him in a coup for the detachments, along with several other people.”

Leona thought back to that event. They were trying to stop a war, and the people in charge of it weren’t listening to her, so she felt she needed to just steal control from them. Nearly all of them decided to select champions to fight in their stead, and—believing that it would dissuade her from going through with it—chose Leona’s friends. The only person she killed was Mateo, which was fine, because all they had to do was upload his consciousness to Ramses’ lab on their ship, the Suadona. That’s what they did for Angela, Marie, and Olimpia as well. They were all killed by, “Rorkele Mast. He was the original leader of the Dominion Defense Detachment, right. I remember.”

“Yes!” He’s relieved that she finally remembers.

“I didn’t kill him, my husband did, and then I killed my husband.”

“Yes, we were surprised by that, to say the least. Of course, now the survivors know about cloning, consciousness transference, and all that stuff, but it was a harrowing time in our lives. And anyway, we still blame you for this, because you are the one who issued the challenge. Your husband was as much of a victim as my boss.”

“This is what this has all been about?” Leona questions. “You’re here for revenge? You’re just an action movie sequel villain? Oh my God, wake me up when cliché day is over already! He chose to fight. He could have chosen his own champion. He could have chosen you, in fact.”

“Rorkele never asked anyone to do anything he wasn’t willing to do himself.”

“You’re preachin’ to the choir, buckaroo billy. If you’ll recall, I fought for myself as well. I don’t understand why you’re all butthurt about this. If you thought your boss was going to win without question, what did you think the point of any of it was?”

“You still have to follow through,” he reasons.

“It doesn’t matter. He lost.”

“You cheated!”

“How the hell did I cheat?” Leona questions.”

“You uploaded all of your friends to new bodies!”

“So the hell what! Rorkele still died, and nothing would have changed that!”

“Yes, it would. If you hadn’t been capable of switching to new bodies, you wouldn’t have even considered challenging the detachments!”

Leona goes quiet. She’s right, but so is he. This man’s mentor may be alive today if Team Matic had not been able to subvert death in the way that they did. They would not have even considered the challenge as an option. She breathes deeply, and decides to take a page from her late husband’s book. “This is true. I’m genuinely sorry for your loss. I was trying to end a war, and I wasn’t thinking about the collateral damage.”

“That sounded sincere.” He shakes his head. “You continue to surprise me.”

“Friends?” She extends her arm. “Most of my enemies are my friends now.”

He takes her hand, but doesn’t shake. “Not on your life,” he mutters in disgust.

Leona pulls away when something stings her palm, leaving a tiny bloody mark.

He smirks and waves at her, but only to display the pinprick that’s coming out of his ring. “I didn’t want to take any chances. You’re dead, and there’s nothing you can do to stop it. He takes a deep breath, and collapses into his chair. “It’s finally over. You have no idea how hard I worked to get to you. I found out that the time machine in my reality was a bastardized, partially working replica of an incredibly ancient version that was once on what you would call Earth. It was reportedly still there, so I scoured the land, and finally found the Constant. It was there that I met an intelligence aptly named Constance. We hatched a plan that would see her getting whatever it she wants from this world, and me getting my revenge on you. It was tough. There were so many moving parts. But she figured it out, and while it was not without its obstacles and complications, I’m happy to say I’ve finally done it. Did she get what she wanted too?”

“How long do I have?” Leona asks, ignoring his question.

He’s still reveling in his victory. “What? Oh, uh...a day, maybe two.”

“I’m going to survive this.”

He leans forward to place his arms on his desk, and rest his chin upon his knuckles. “Oh, because of the extraction mirror? Yeah, no, that was part of the plan too. You didn’t think I knew about the other Leonas, did you? Nah, we knew you would eventually find yourself in that body, so that’s where we have forced you to stay. The extraction mirror is gone, the loop is over. When you die, your body will jump back to that reality, where you’ll be declared dead on impact. There is no getting out of this.”

“I always get out of it,” Leona argues. “I beat Rorkele, I’ll beat you too.”

He’s still smiling. “In the meantime, why don’t you save your energy?” He presses a button on his phone three times. “My man will take you too your deathbed. Don’t worry, I’m not a savage. It will be a comfortable place to end your life.”

Leona follows the guard who comes into the room to her new quarters. A feast has been prepared for her on a cart. They put everything here, including breakfast, lunch, and dinner foods. They probably just didn’t know what she would like, so they threw it all in so no one would have to come to her door later. She eats a little of almost everything, then goes to sleep.

When she wakes up the next morning, the door is open. It’s not just unlocked, but ajar. Either someone is helping her, or the boss man just doesn’t care. She is sorry for what happened in the Fifth Division, but this guy murdered her immediately after she apologized, so she holds no sympathy for him. She starts to wander around. The last time she was here, she was mostly in the Nexus chamber, so she doesn’t know where she’s going, but who cares? The guards apparently do. Word got around that she doesn’t like to be touched, though, so they escort her back to the top office at gunpoint only.

“How did you get out of your room?” he asks when she arrives.

“I have my ways,” she answers vaguely. “Hello,” she says to a man sitting in one of the guest seats, but her face drops when she sees who it is.

“Yes, I believe you know Summit Ebora,” the boss says gleefully. “You abandoned him at the time machine, and he vowed to assist me in my quest.

Summit had a slight look of embarrassment when they locked eyes, but he replaces it now with an evil grin. “You should have figured out how to take me with you.”

The boss comes around the desk, and places an affectionate hand on Summit’s shoulder. “He’s the one who first gave me information about you. He sparked my curiosity about your whole team.”

Summit places his own hand upon the boss’. “I barely did anything.”

“Oh, don’t be so modest.” The boss goes over to the bar. “Would you like a drink?” she asks Leona. “I have the best bourbon in five realities.”

Summit follows him over to the bar to help make the drinks. He playfully tosses the chain that’s around his neck over the boss’ neck too. Leona assumes that he’s symbolizing their bond.

The boss giggles. “What are you doing?”

That’s when Summit twists around, and holds their backs together. He leans forward, holding the chain away from his own neck, and preventing the boss from doing the same. The victim gasps for air, but he’s running out quickly. Summit continues to lean forward, picking his once-lover up off the ground. His strength increases at the same rate that the boss weakens. In one final motion, Summit drops to his knees, and ends it once and for all.

Leona helps gently turn the both of them to their sides so Summit can remove the chain from his neck. “Why did you do that?” she asks him.

“The war ended, Leona. What you did for my reality worked, and I’ll never be able to thank you enough for that.” He scowls at the dead body. “He was weak and selfish. All he could see was what you did to his mentor. He couldn’t let it go, and I couldn’t stop him. My only option was to stay by his side, and keep him away from you as much as possible. I hoped that it would never come to this.”

“Do you know what he poisoned me with? Is there an antidote?”

He laughs. “I’m not sure if there is an antidote to saline. Maybe...river water?”

She’s confused.

“I’m the one who provided the poison. Trust me, you’re fine. I tested your blood last night, just in case he suspected me of being a mole, and you’re clean.”

“Great. Well, that solves that problem, but do you have a way out of here?”

“I have a way to take back the base, but I’m gonna need your help.”

“Help with what specifically?”

“I need you to bring my mother here,” Summit requests.

“Your mother? Ya know what? Doesn’t matter, if that’s what you need, you got it.”

He leads her into a secret passageway, all the way back down to the bottom of the facility, and into the Nexus chamber. They sneak up to the control room, but no one else is here, so it’s okay. “After a fraction of the DDD army came through, Coronel Zacarias managed to lock the computer. Only one person has the code, and it’s not him. I’m the only one who realized that it must be you. I need you to unlock the system itself, and then I need you to open travel from all addresses, starting with this one.”

Leona accepts the slip of paper that he hands her. “Wait, I recognize this term sequence. This goes to Flindekeldan in the Parallel.”

He nods. “You’ve heard of the Sixth Key, right?” Summit asks rhetorically.

“Yeah...?” she answers anyway.

“I’m the Second Key. My mother is the First.”

Extremus: Year 22

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Olindse Belo and Yitro Moralez were two of the middle of the roadest candidates on the captain’s track. They weren’t great, but they weren’t bad, which made them perfect to serve as Interim Captain and Interim Lieutenant until the first shift ended in four years. Neither of them expected to be chosen for a permanent position on the executive crew, which means it will be easier to expect them to step aside once former Captain Yenant’s real replacement begins the second shift. They understood the situation when they accepted their new positions. They aren’t radicals or tyrants. They’re not particularly popular, nor divisive. They’re fine. They’re just fine, and they should continue to be this way until it’s over. The problem is they’re only good as peacetime leaders. If they find themselves having to make the hard decisions, they may struggle with it. Halan has to take his admiral duties quite seriously, so things don’t fall apart when the True Extremists make their move. And that is coming, there is no way it’s not.

There was a larger reason why Halan and Mercer were asked to abdicate that both of them should have seen coming. As Halan’s parents, and the other elders, were coming up with the plan to form this mission, they decided upon a rule. This would be a generation ship. It was very important to them, and it’s unclear why, but it excluded a lot of hopefuls. People who never wanted to die ended up not being able to come, because they wouldn’t be allowed to undergo longevity treatments. Omega was an exception that they did not foresee, and everyone was very aware that it was the fault of no one on this vessel, so they didn’t complain. Valencia definitely broke the rules when she joined him as a transhumanist, but as a temporal engineer, she enjoyed a level of respect and adoration that would make any captain envious. People just sort of let it go, and when both of them disappeared for a secret mission, they stopped bringing it up.

Old Man broke the rules as well, and turned both Halan and Mercer into transhumanists without them even knowing it. It was their staterooms. He secretly modified their rooms to absorb their consciousnesses in realtime, even when they weren’t in those rooms. Had either of them been in a relationship, and invited their partner to spend a significant enough time in their stateroom, the same would have happened to that hypothetical person. When the two of them were murdered by Ovan, their minds were automatically uploaded to the ship’s computers, preserving them until Dr. Holmes could clone their bodies, and download their minds into them. She claims to have not known this was happening, and only received an alert about their survival a few weeks after they were declared dead. She should have been punished for having gone through with it, but political conversations not even Halan was privy to saved her job. Perhaps she has something on the Consul that has insulated her.

So none of this is Halan or Mercer’s fault, but it doesn’t change the fact that their survival threatens one of the first rules of the Extremus mission. It’s not that the people don’t trust them. It’s more that the executive crew, the legal department, and the civilian government, don’t want people to trust them. If the passengers start getting the idea that maybe it’s okay to break the rule, and become transhumanists, it will cause whatever problems they think could result from the transition. The two of them couldn’t be allowed to remain in power, whether the government and crew thought they were still fit for duty, or not. Belo and Moralez would have to do...for now.

Even after sixteen months, it’s still weird, being on this side of the desk, but Halan has accepted it, and there is no going back now. As the Consul agreed, he’s been much more involved as the Admiral than he let Thatch be. Captain Belo has been incredibly gracious and grateful for it. Her main character flaw is that she lacks self-confidence, and constantly questions her own decisions. The crew and passengers need to see someone who believes that what she says to do is the right call, even if she’s in the wrong. Surprisingly, from a sociological standpoint, people would much rather see a leader who apologizes for their mistakes than one who doesn’t make any, but always plays it safe. On a psychological level, they’re disappointed, but people don’t giveth or taketh away their support based on their personal opinions. They tend to stick with the crowd, and the crowd says take risks.

She’s been doing well, listening to the Admiral’s advice. She relies on it a bit too much, though, and that should probably stop. “I’m glad it’s Friday. I really need to talk. My Second Lieutenant has been so infuriating. He just can’t accept that he’s not in the running for captain anymore. He still thinks he has a chance. I mean, he’s not interim, like me and Yitro, so his job is safe. Not that I feel like I should keep my job. I’m fine with stepping down when it’s time. But he just keeps holding that over my head. So he’s mad that he’ll never be captain, but he basically thinks that he outranks me, because my shift is shorter. It’s like, yeah, it’s shorter, buddy, but it’s still higher. You report to me. I mean, right?” She’s a pretty fast talker too, which some might consider a character flaw, but Halan just sees it as a cute quirk.

“We have to talk.”

“Oh, no,” Olindse says. “Last time you said that, we changed from our daily meetings to these weekly meetings. What, now you only want to hold them once a month? There aren’t enough hours in the day for us to discuss everything that happened from the last month.”

“No,” Halan answers simply.

“Oh, good.”

“We need to stop having regular meetings altogether.”

“What? No. What? No. You can’t abandon me, Not now, I need you. I would have voted for you to stay as captain, if we voted for crew members. I think we can all agree that you’re still pretty much in charge, and I’m just carrying out your orders. I can’t do this without you. I have no clue what I’m doing. I don’t know why my parents put me on the captain’s track. They shouldn’t have done that. It was stupid, it’s stupid. This is stupid.”

“Captain...”

“Please don’t leave me.”

“I’m not leaving you.” He can’t help but laugh a little. “I said we need to stop regular meetings; not meetings, full stop.”

“But you said regular meetings altogether. I heard you. You said—”

“I know what I said, Captain.”

“You don’t have to call me Captain. Just call me Olindse. I keep telling you that. Friends call each other by their first names. We’re friends, right? You said we were friends. I remember that too. You said—”

“Olindse.”

“Right, motor mouth.” She zips her lips shut, and throws away the key.

“I misspoke. I want you to come to me when you’re having problems, but I want you to use better judgment for what qualifies as a problem that you can’t solve on your own. We shouldn’t need to talk every week. I trust that you can handle most issues without assistance now. Last year, Consul Vatal—”

“Consul Vatal.” She spits it out of her mouth like it’s poison. A lot of people were not happy at the announcement that Halan and Mercer were relieved of their positions. The transition would not have been smooth had they selected an interim captain that didn’t agree with the majority on this matter. Both the crew and passengers follow her because she’s genuine and real. When Halan gives her a look, her eyes widen in horror. She starts scanning the floor.

“Don’t look for the key, that’s only a metaphor. Just listen.”

She nods respectfully.

Halan returns to what he was saying, “when Consul Vatal told me he made a short list for backfill, I was concerned. To tell you the truth, I didn’t know if I could trust his judgment. Before I even looked at the list, I figured he probably pooled from the civilian population. I thought he would try to merge the government and crew. The law does not specify who is eligible for the job. Hell, he could have appointed himself. Every single person on that list was studying to become captain, or join the crew in some capacity. I was impressed, but I was most impressed by the order. You and Lieutenant Moralez were literally at the top of it. It’s one of the few things that he and I have actually agreed on over the last few years. You..belong here. You deserve this, and we all believe in you. All you need to do is believe in yourself. Neither I nor he would have allowed you to sit in that seat if we didn’t think you could fill it. When you rely too much on my advice, it’s a bit of a paradox. By not relying on yourself, you’re questioning my decision to appoint you, but if you question that, why are you listening to me at all?”

“Well, when you put it like that...”

“Olindse, I’m here for you, but not every day; not even every week. You never told anyone that you requested these periodic meetings, correct?”

“Yitro knows. Everyone else thinks they were your idea. I call it my apprenticeship.”

“Good. I’m glad that has held up. So what you’ll do now is tell them that you put a stop to it. You made the decision to stop coming to me weekly, and I accepted it. This is important, because it would be rather odd if you were still an apprentice while you had your own apprentice.”

“What do you mean?”

Admiral Yenant presses a button on his teleporter. He retained full teleportation rights when he was promoted, but he technically should have lost his summoning abilities. Only the captain should be capable of transporting someone to their location against that person’s will. The Consul partially let him keep it because he didn’t give it much thought, but also because, in the nineteen years he was captain, Halan never used it once, so he probably wouldn’t abuse it now. Besides, Kaiora knew this was coming. “I’m not sure if you two have met. Captain Olindse Belo, allow me to introduce you to Future Captain, Kaiora Leithe, Third of Ten.” She was supposed to be Second of Nine, but everything changed when Halan became a clone. The whole interim thing has thrown off the math, and this is the change that Halan insisted upon. It was an unpopular choice, but Olindse should feel that she really is an actual captain, and not simply the closest thing they have. It’s about respect. There will now be ten captains, unless something else like this should happen, at which point, it will fall to that day’s leadership to make their own choice.

“Captain,” Olindse says.

“Captain,” Kaiora echoes.

“I didn’t realize the choice had been made.”

“Ehhhhhh,” Halan begins awkwardly, “people don’t really know how we choose captains. There’s been a lot of confusion about it, but in the end, I get to just decide whoever I want. Again, I don’t have to source from the captain’s track. I did, but it was all up to me. Consul Vatal and I—”

“Consul Vatal,” Kaiora says with disgust, mirroring Olindse’s attitude from earlier, even though she wasn’t here for that.

“I think I’m gonna like you,” Olindse says.

“Consul Vatal and I,” Halan repeats himself, “weren’t sure whether the decision should be up to the Interim Captain, or me. We had a long discussion about it, and determined that I was still more qualified.”

“That’s true,” Olindse admits, “but just so you know, I would have made the same decision.”

“I figured.”

“Future Captain Leithe will be shadowing you for the next three years, and that is her official rank. The crew will be expected to show her just as much respect as they will come transition day in 2294.”

“Understood,” Olindse says. “Happy to have you.”

“I appreciate your support,” Kaiora replies.

“Great. Now come in close, the two of you.”

The three of them huddle together, and then Halan teleports them to the mess hall, which has been once again restored to its rightful place as a respite for the crew from the passengers. No one was left to argue against it. Right now, the room is full of key crew members, including Eckhart Mercer, who transitioned to the Bridger section last year; Consul Vatal; Dr. Holmes; and Second Lieutenant Lars Callaghan. He really is annoying. Even now, while everyone is smiling, and congratulating Captain Leithe on her appointment, he’s bitter and scowling. Fortunately, unlike Ovan, Halan doesn’t get the sense that he’s a threat to the safety of this mission. And he does his job well enough, which is what’s really important. After the clapping and hugs are over, the party gets underway, and it goes all night.

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