| Generated by Pollo AI text-to-video AI software |
Waldemar was being dramatic last year when he promised Sevara that he would
make big changes to the ship. He is smart enough to know that jumping right
into his endgame will get him kicked out of the captain’s chair. He can’t
let that happen, not in his first term. Yeah, he’s calling them terms. It
never made any sense to say that they were shifts. A shift is
something you do for a matter of hours at a time, not the entirety of your
role. It’s little things like that that he’s changing first. They’re also
officially calling the place you go when you’ve been bad the brig, because
that’s what it’s called! It’s been filling up. Some people think it’s wrong,
but for too long, the passengers have been getting away with doing whatever
they want, and that stops now. There are cells here. There are so many cells
in the brig on this ship. The ancestors obviously anticipated more crime.
The fact that they mostly stand empty is a point of pride among most, but
from Waldemar’s point of view, it just looks like the bar has been set too
low.
Silveon has become Waldemar’s personal steward, which should have been the
case from day one. He doesn’t care if it looks like he’s playing favorites.
That’s the whole point of being in power. Cronyism is supposed to be a dirty
word, but it is a well-trusted Earthan tradition. If you’re loyal, you’ll be
rewarded. Anyone who thinks that disloyal people should be rewarded
instead—based on this stupid concept called merit—is an idiot.
Loyalty is everything, and it’s time they recognize that. Not everyone
agrees. Silveon doesn’t. Which is ironic, but that’s okay. Waldemar isn’t a
crazy person, who thinks that no one else should have their own opinion.
Silveon’s perspective is not only not a problem, but actively helping. He
doesn’t just want to be surrounded by sycophants. He needs to understand the
other side of these issues, so he knows how the people will react to
his changes...so he knows how to fight against them. Silveon is the most
important person in his career, but not in his life. For that, he needs
another.
Waldemar and Sable have grown closer and closer by the week. It started out
as only sex, but he’s starting to feel real feelings for her. At first, he
denied them, because he doesn’t have those, but maybe he was wrong about
that. Most of how he understands his own psychology comes from his mother.
Even though he hated her, and she’s gone now, it’s not like those lessons
went away. She raised him using a certain—evil—method, based on what she
thought he was, from his birth. How does he let go of the damage
she’s done? Well, being with Sable helps. They’re lying in bed now. He’s
idly running his fingers through her hair. It doesn’t even feel like he’s
putting in any effort. His hand has become a perpetual motion machine. They
are one.
She’s looking at his chest. “You were shot.”
“What?” The wounds completely healed a long time ago. He didn’t even suffer
permanent internal injury. She shouldn’t know anything about it, unless
Silveon told her, or Sevara before she met her quite timely death. “What are
you talking about?”
She props herself up by one hand, and looks down at him with a kind sadness.
With her free hand, she places her finger where one of the bullets went in.
“Number one.” She moves on to the others. “Number two, number three, number
four...A.” She reaches under his back. “Number four B.”
She knows too much. Lying about it now will only serve to ruin the special
thing they have together. So he might as well acknowledge that she’s right.
“How do you know about those? Did Silvy say something?”
Sable makes a face. He may not see emotions, but he understands coinfusion.
“Who? Your steward?”
“Yes, and your mother’s late friend’s son.”
“He and I are not friends. We see each other occasionally when mom invites
him over for a meal. No, he didn’t randomly tell me about how you got shot
five times.”
“I thought maybe there was a chance that you and he were...”
“No!” she argues. “I’m with you. Only you.”
“It would be okay if you weren’t. You know that Audrey and I are still
active. She doesn’t know about us, and I still love her. I’ve been honest
about that, and I’ve never told you that you couldn’t have a life outside of
this room.” This is a special room. When you’re captain, you can take
whatever you need for whatever you need it for. This is only for the two of
them. It’s located in an otherwise not-yet-populated sector of Extremus.
They don’t even have to walk here. He granted her teleportation privileges
for this reason. He doesn’t think she uses it for much else.
She gets on top of him again, and kisses him passionately. “I’m only here
for you. I don’t have a problem with you going home to Audrey. I don’t mind
sharing.” She kisses him again. She smiles like a villain. “In fact, I get
off on the thrill.”
They’re not going to have sex again. He only has so much sexual stamina at
this age. Waldemar hasn’t figured out how he’s going to convince the ship to
become immortal. It goes against everything everyone believes in. There’s a
big difference between conforming the crew’s job titles to a more cohesive
convention, and completely dismantling generational indoctrination. Speaking
of which, he has to get back to the grind. He is more free to have a
personal life than past captains, but that’s because he’s so efficient. He’s
had to fire people, but now he can delegate work to others, confident that
they’ll get it done, or else. Still, it’s not like he doesn’t have anything
to do himself. At the very least, he needs to be seen to maintain his
control. “I wish this didn’t have to end, but—”
“But you’re trying to save our people from themselves. I get it.” One more
peck on the lips, no tongue. “Get back to the grind.” She hops off of him,
and heads for the head to brush her teeth, and then shower. That word. He
used it in his own thoughts. It’s weird that she came up with the same one.
It’s not entirely crazy. It fits the situation, and he’s probably said it
before. That’s why they’re so perfect together, because she knows him so
well. Then again, she knows about the bullets...
Waldemar begins to gather his clothes. “Think about what I asked you
earlier.” He blows a final kiss to her.
She catches it. “‘Kay.”
He disappears.
Sable typically prefers to take a traditional shower with real water,
instead of just a sonic misting, but she doesn’t have time. She usually
doesn’t anymore. Ever since Silveon took a job working with the captain,
they don’t have a ton of time to talk. Each time Waldemar leaves Sable, it
means that he’ll be expecting Silveon to return to his side rather quickly.
There’s a very short window here. She jumps straight to his office.
Silveon shoots up from his chair. “Are you okay? Did he hurt you?”
“I’m fine, why? Why would you think he hurt me?”
“Well, you’re practically naked.”
She looks down at herself. “Yeah, I’m in a hurry. You don’t mind, do you?”
“It just looks bad, okay? If you were violated, this is exactly how you
would show up. I’ve told you before, I’ll—”
“Oh my God, I just told you I was in a hurry! Stop talking.” She knows what
he’s gonna say anyway. She can back out of this assignment at any time. If
she doesn’t feel safe, they can relocate her to Verdemus. It’s fine, she
doesn’t need this. If Waldemar were gross, it might be harder, but she does
technically enjoy being with him physically, which makes faking the love
part easier.
“Sorry, go ahead.”
“He wants me to paint him. He wants me to sit there behind an easel, and
paint him while he poses, like the ancients did.”
“Oh, he told me about that. He’s going to hang it above the fireplace in his
office.”
She stares at him blankly. “He has a fireplace?”
“He does now. He had the synthwrights install it. It vents to the fusion
torches.”
“It’s a working fireplace?” She shakes it off. “Doesn’t matter. Why
didn’t you tell me he was going to ask me this?”
“I didn’t know he would ask you. He said he wanted a portrait. I thought he
meant a blown-up photo, not an oil painting, or whatever.”
“Well, I don’t know if you remember, but I’m not actually good at drawing.
The album I carry around isn’t actually mine?”
“Yes, thank you for reminding me,” Silveon retorts. “It’s not like I’m the
one who gets you those pictures from the real artist.”
“What are we going to do about it?” she questions. “Are you going to
teleport in while he’s mid-blink, and switch it?”
“I don’t know what we’ll do, but we will figure this out. If he asked you,
he’s not going to ask anyone else. You have to say yes...unless, of
course...”
“I’m not quitting!” she snaps back. “Stop suggesting that. I’m not a little
baby.”
“I’m sorry, it’s hard not to see you as young. I was there when you were
born, and even back then, I was an old man.”
She didn’t know about that. “Gross. You saw my mom’s wrinkly old vagina?”
Silveon looks away in disgust. “Jesus, no! I didn’t mean I was in the room!
Why is he so obsessed with you? You’re kind of an asshole.”
Yeah, he likes assholes. “I think you just answered your own question.”
“That’s not how Audrey is. She’s nice.”
“Yeah, and he’s cheating on her, with me. So...”
“Good point.” He checks his watch. “I should probably get back to the
bridge. We’ll talk more about the portrait. We’ll freeze time, or you’ll
tell him you prefer to draw from photos.”
“That won’t work, he’s already said he doesn’t want to do that, because
that’s not what kings did in the past. But okay. Thank you, I just wanted
you to start thinking about it. It’s not urgent. I’m sorry that you had to
see me in my bra.”
“It’s fine,” he promises in the most professional way possible.
“Oh, really?” she teases.
“Just get out before he shows up. He usually calls first, but we can’t be
sure.”
“See ya later, Uncle Sil.” She disappears.
To get ahead of it, Silveon calls Waldemar instead. “Need anything, Cap?”
“Nah, just the usual,” Waldemar replies. “Take the rest of the day off.”
Silveon knows that he means the opposite of what he’s saying. Waldemar is
calling a meeting with his secret police, and knows that Silveon wouldn’t
approve, so he keeps him out of it. It’s annoying, but also an impossible
situation. He can’t just tell Waldemar to disband the force. Their
relationship has never worked like that. He’s never been able to tackle it
so bluntly. It takes finesse. “Okay, thanks. You’re a good boss. You’ve
gotten better at knowing what others deserve.” That’s not wholly relevant to
the secret police problem, but it will hopefully help in a more general
sense.
“I agree.”
Silveon shoots a quick message to his contact in the police. She thinks that
the information she’s providing Silveon is helping to keep Waldemar safe.
His reasoning is that if it’s leaking to Silveon, it’s less likely to leak
to someone else. That’s kind of ridiculous, but Waldemar didn’t hire the
best and brightest for the job. He hired followers. She knows that Silveon
is smarter, so his plan must make sense. Silveon sends another message, then
immediately teleports to the rendezvous point.
Audrey is somehow already there. “It took you long enough.”
“How did you beat me?” he questions. “I hit send just before my
jump.”
She holds up her watch. “New model. It sends you backwards in time, just a
little bit; not enough to make any meaningful changes. It only works at long
enough distances, so you can’t interfere with your own past self.”
“That’s time travel, it’s illegal.”
“Oh, and we wouldn’t want to break the law, would we?” she jokes. “Anyway,
what do you have for me?”
Silveon tells her about the painting problem. “Can it be done?”
She massages the back of her neck. “Well, I know of one way, but it’s risky.
I think you might like it, though, because it takes Sable out of the
equation entirely.”
“How would that work?” he presses.
“I would just dress up like her, and wear a hologram. We’re about the same
size.”
Silveon thinks through it a little. “You’re right, that is risky. We
would need an uninterruptible power source, and you would have to learn her
mannerisms. Waldemar doesn’t recognize people that well. He’s learned to
tune to things that others don’t notice, like gait and chin tilts.”
“I think I can figure that out. I know Sable. I know how she moves. I’ve
obviously never tried to impersonate her before, but I have time to
practice, don’t I?”
“Yes, you’ll have some time, but you should get started.”
“Will do, boss.”
He shakes his head, unable to hide his smile. Everyone’s giving him attitude
today. “How are you doing? Any domestic issues?”
“Nope. We still have sex. The guy’s insatiable, but I don’t mind.”
“All right. You know your options, so I won’t bother repeating them. I’ll
leave you to it.” He disappears.
Audrey teleports to Sable. “Don’t you worry. I always knew he might ask to
watch you, and I’m locked and loaded with an idea. I just need to watch you
walk and eat.”
“What? Why?” Sable asks. “Wait, you’re the real artist? Why keep that
from me?”
Sable’s mother, Lataran stands up. “She’s gonna pretend to be you. Before
you volunteered for this assignment, that’s how we thought we would do it.”
She looks at Audrey. “But if it goes well, he’ll ask her for more. Holograms
won’t work long-term, or maybe not even short-term. We need that
consciousness-transference tech.”
