| Generated by Pollo AI text-to-video AI software |
Hrockas Steward stops at the door and waits. Renata just spent nine months
in her chrysalis, but she wasn’t sleeping. It was a taxing and tiring
ordeal, so she has had to sleep for nearly a day. She agreed to let Telman
monitor her vitals constantly for the time being, and it is showing that she
is awake again. He’s not sure if he should knock, though. Quidel’s tracker
is showing at this location too, so they’re probably together. According to
Telman, nothing is indicating that she’s undergoing strenuous activity the
likes of which two people might do together in private, but it’s only been a
day, so they’re still trying to establish her baseline.
Renata opens the door. “You know I can see you on my doorcam, right?”
“Sorry, I just didn’t wanna disturb you.” He can see inside her room, where
Quidel is stretching, in a way that makes it look like they were only
sleeping.
“It’s fine, I’m feeling much better now. What’s up?”
“I just wanted to give you a gift,” Hrockas explains.
She looks down at herself. “Isn’t my new substrate the gift?”
“Uh, no, that was ethically compulsory on our part. We destroyed your old
one, and even if we hadn’t, they’re free.”
“Oh. Well, I don’t need a gift. I just wanna figure out what my life looks
like now.”
“That’s what this gift is for.” As Renata steps off to the side, Hrockas
looks over at Quidel. “Mister Jesperson, you’re welcome to tag along. It
might affect you too.”
Quidel sits up with a yawn, then sticks his tongue out like he’s just tasted
something unpalatable, but he’s really just still tired. He shuts his eyes,
and falls back on the bed.
“I have a bit too much, uh...stamina for him,” Renata discloses.
“I see,” Hrockas says awkwardly.
She throws on a shirt and some pants. “Let’s go.”
Hrockas teleports them both to a hangar, about fifty meters from her gift,
which is covered in a tarp. They start walking towards it. “Some friends of
mine are upgrading their shuttles. There’s nothing wrong with the old ones,
but the technology doesn’t quite fit their intergalactic missions. Instead
of trying to cast yourself to another world, or spend extensive periods of
time on cyclers, I thought maybe you would like a way to take shortcuts.” He
snaps his fingers. The pulley system engages, and moves the tarp to reveal
the purple beauty. “Renata Granger, may I introduce you to...The Aerie.”
Renata admires it. “This is for me?”
“I have no use for it myself. I’ll be on Castlebourne ‘til the stars burn
out.”
“You said something about shortcuts?”
He nods. “Mm-hmm. You could reach Earth in about two months.”
A hatch opens, and a woman climbs out. “It’s called a reframe engine,” she
says. She approaches the two of them. “Hi, I’m Brooke Prieto.” She shakes
Renata’s hand, and then looks over at Hrockas. “Unfortunately, due to its
small size, it can’t go at full reframe speeds. If you try to get back to
Earth, it’s gonna take you about five years. It’s still better than a
hundred and eight, though, right?” She grimaces a little.
“It’s fine with me.” Renata looks at Hrockas too. “I’m apparently immortal
now.”
“That you are,” Hrockas agrees. “Anyway, I’ll let you two get acquainted. I
have some other business to take care of, but don’t leave without saying
goodbye.”
“Thank you, Steward Steward.”
He smiles. “No. Thank you.” He teleports away.
“Did you get everything squared away with Ren and the boy?” Azad asks.
“She’s got her ship. I think she’ll leave to explore the real world for a
change. Castlebourne is a symbol of her entrapment, even if she isn’t
conscious of that. I can’t imagine he won’t go with her.”
“That just leaves the Marshal,” Azad points out.
“Samani is a soldier,” Hrockas reasons. “He’ll fall in line. I don’t think
he’ll be a problem. I don’t trust him enough to read him in, but if we ever
have to use the thing, I doubt he’ll cause us problems.”
Azad nods. They’re silent for a moment.
“Did you figure out where the next component is?”
“Not for a fact, but all signs are pointing to Underbelly.”
“If we can’t get the people to vote to move the sun to a new location, we
may need it, but we still have time before the Exin armada arrives.”
“Ya know, there would be a benefit to us keeping the Granger girl around. If
she can shut down entire simulations with nothing but a thought, she could
be of use to us. Not even you have that power.”
Hrockas shakes his head. “I don’t have that power by design. It raises too
many questions. I’m still fending off reporters who want to know what
the hell happened in the Spydome Network.” He shakes his head more
aggressively. “No. These domes stay as they are. We follow
their rules, and we let the stories play out naturally. As I said, we
have time.”
“We don’t have infinite time, though,” Azad reminds him.
“Yeah, I know. Just keep looking for the other components, and do it
quietly.”
“Okay.” Azad’s watch beeps. “Superintendent Glarieda needs something again.”
“Go ahead,” Hrockas encourages. “Assure him that we’ll make sure the votes
go our way, one way or another.”
“You want me to say it like that?”
“Obviously not.”
“What should I do with this thing?” Azad asks.
They both look down at the device sitting on the table. “Granger still has
access to the lab, and might need to return there for check-ups while she’s
still on-world. She can’t know that we didn’t destroy it. She went through a
lot to prevent her own mother from using it. She won’t approve of us using
it either. Take it to Delta Outpost. But that can wait. See what Dreychan
needs first.”
