­­­­Building Better Worlds VI

I'm Your Slave (Ken Ashcorp)

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I wanna be wanted.

I wanna be loved.

I wanna just fall asleep at night and pray that you're making it up.

I'm living the nightmare /

'cause I'm living the dream.

It's not about anything I want;

It's about what I need.

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Cloud Drift Colony, Oel Island Network

Planet Sidele (Zu-7), Zuun System

08:25, 19/2/2, 26 XP

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“Again."

Four gambeson-clad soldiers synchronously raised their swords to ready. “Y-Yes, Huntress!"

“And don't ease up this time. I want all you've got." The uncharacteristically soft voice of Flux echoed through her full plate armor as she raised her own weapon, a pike made of dimpled black stone. After a moment of silence that, pike sparked against a steel blade, deflecting a chopping swing from above the small-statured Gnome. “Harder!"

“Eyah!" The next attacker stepped forward as his predecessor's weapon nicked the concrete. His choice of attack was a lunging thrust, which the Gnome parried with the mid-staff of her long weapon.

“Better! Good form, Thomas!" The pike dropped to a level hold quickly, Flux using the stout weight of the stone to her advantage. As the next attack came, she was already moving, the pommel clashing against the side of the sword with another spark and halting the push before it gained proper strength. “Faster, Nemur! If that were my blade, you'd be dead!"

“Yes, H-Huntress!"

“Nex—!" The last of the four attackers came in low, his weapon slicing at Flux's head level from an uncomfortably close range. She dropped her body down and pinned her pommel to the floor, using it as a pivot to roll the attack off her armored shoulder. The evasion placed her on the opposite side of the attack with her weapon in a neutral vertical position—the perfect conditions for a riposte. The counter began easily enough with the bladed end of the pike swooping toward the backside of the sword. However, rather than popping the weapon free of the attacker's paw as intended… instead, her pike splintered into a dozen pieces that peppered the concrete below. “Ah… Well damn. Another failure."

“Huntress, such a blow could never be a failure. Amazing."

“Oh, you're lucky your wrist isn't burning right now. That was a weapon failure, I meant." Flux sighed as she brought the fractured pole closer to her helmet's slit. “Thomas, tell me where that went wrong for you."

“I… had my timing off and didn't want to commit to the swing?"

“No, that was a finely executed setup." The Gnome took a knee to inspect the rest of her broken weapon in more detail. “You were only using your arms. If you'd have put your waist and shoulders into that, I'd have lacked the time to evade. Understood? You were rigid enough that you'll need an armorer…"

“I'll be damned…" The bear checked his own weapon, gawking at the large ding left near his guard. “I see. Thank you for the lesson, Grand Huntress."

“I believe that's all for today, men. I'll work on my weapon so we can push a little harder tomorrow. Practice amongst yourselves today." Flux picked up the larger pieces of her pike and stood upright, the soldiers already greeting her gaze with salutes. “Dismissed, soldiers."

“Yes, Huntress!"

“…Another one? Wow." Tesem inched closer from his vantage point and heaved the pointy-pike-blade-turned-dagger for an inspection. “I knew you were ridiculously strong but not rock-strong."

“I had to hold back from breaking their wrists, Sem. This shouldn't have broken from the force I put into it." Flux took back the tip of her broken weapon with a slight groan. “I know black rock is supposed to be brittle, but how are all my castings getting these flaws as well?"

“You're trying too hard, Flux. Just take a step back and let it rest a bit."

“I've got more ideas, and our armies need better tools. This isn't about me."

The emperor flicked his mate's helmet and cradled her jaw from beneath. “Yes, it is. I may not be able to read your mind, but I still notice your mood. Need to talk about it?"

“…I need to live up to my family legacy, not talk. My grandmother had made a master work by my age."

“You're not your grandmother though. Why not just—?"

“I need this, Sem. I… I just need to have something I can call my own, okay?" The Gnome lugged herself back to their shared quarters, halting at the door to drop the pieces somewhere safe. “I can make a vorpal weapon, I know it. I just need to… simplify…"

“A spear is pretty basic already, isn't it?"

“And it's all the more insulting to say that out loud, Sem."

“But—"

“Be nice to your mate, Hunter." Erin gave the otter a soft smack to the back of his head as she forced herself into the conversation. “She has it rough enough already, right?"

“Ah… Yeah, I guess you're right. Sorry, Flux." Sem rubbed his head solely out of gesture while he took a psychic survey of the area. “And sorry I've been blowing you off lately, Candy Cane. It's… busy, lately."

“Yeah… Hm…" Erin took a slow breath as she checked the area, soon offering a change in subject. “How's that charge of yours? Haven't seen Liu for a hot minute."

“She had a hard time adapting to something on this planet. Poor thing has her nose in textbooks on the ship while the rest of us enjoy these great sights." Sem groaned and let out a deep sigh as he remembered the girl's state. “I think I'll go check on her. Want to tag along? Got a bit of downtime before I get tackled with stacks of papers."

Erin perked up at the offer, but then her gaze settled on Flux pondering her failed creation. “Thanks, but I'll pass for now. We can catch up before the wedding. I have something I need to finish up before then, anyway."

“Oh… Okay. Well, I'll be on the Arbiter in my office if you want to save me from my duties." The otter stretched his arms a bit before heading out. “And Erin… Thanks."

“Oh, uh... Yeah, sure." The confused tinkerer finally caught onto Sem's apparent mind reading and shook her head as she closed the gap toward Flux. “You look like you need some inspiration. Want to go bang on things until they work?"

“I doubt you'd be able to help much. Salt forging is a bit different than mechanics." Flux took hold of the spear tip and sighed as she tossed it back into the pile. “I guess it doesn't hurt having more eyes on things."

“Good. I'm really just trying to get into your super-secret workshop anyway, hehe."

“Did I just hear someone say 'secret'?" Cassie adjusted her shorts and leotard bottom a hint as she approached. “There room for another? I'm intrigued."

“I'm more curious why you're still wearing the same clothes as yesterday. Juicy." Flux giggled with a slight resonance in her armor. “Sure, let's go have a little party. I suppose it's better than sitting in silence."

Cassie ducked her head into her shoulders as she was called out, diverting to, “Then lead the way. I'm down to explore."

“Well, there's not much to explore. In fact, it's probably best not to touch anything if you want to keep all your bits and parts." The Gnome stood up straight, got her bearings, and began marching back to the shuttle depot. “Let's see what we can cook up, shall we?"

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I wanna be wanted.

I wanna be loved.

I wanna pin all my hopes on you, that I stay true /

and I pray it's enough.

This world is a nightmare.

That's what I believe.

I wanna vent all my anger out there but I can't find no reprieve.

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Cargo Logistics Deck, The Archon

Sidele (Zu-7) Synchronous Orbit

9:01, 19/2/2, 26 XP

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“Just how big is this ship, anyway? Holy crap…"

Flux chuckled at Cassie's bewilderment and shrugged her shoulders as she led the way through the sixth docking bay along their path. “Beats me. I don't think I've been everywhere yet, and I practically live here now."

“5,575 feet long with everything retracted and about two and a half million tons of state-of-the-art engineering." Erin nodded as she took in the busy cargo hauling happening around them. “She's a beauty, alright. Elegant in a few ways, even."

“Not exactly the best armed or armored for the weight class, though." Sable idly craned her gaze all over the place, herself quite curious of the restricted access internal bays. “I suppose the Archon is more of a command carrier than a skirmisher, though."

“That's what the frigates and cruisers are here for. We keep them running, and they keep us safe." Flux nodded her helmet to a guarded checkpoint, the two in position saluting and opening the next security bulkhead. “Almost there. I've taken over the less-critical half of the engineering bay on this level for my workshop."

“Don't you need a lot of maintenance and stuff on this floor?" Cassie points to a skunk in overalls working on a leaking hydraulic line of a forklift-type machine. “There's a lot of heavy equipment getting banged up, right?"

“Ah, sort of. They really just need a staging area for larger repairs. Since we have good power and room for raw resource storage on this level, we managed to install a matter printer instead."

“Oh, so you just fabricate parts and install them in place. That's pretty cool." Sable scanned around and smirked. “Explains why there's no junk littering the bays like military ships."

Cassie quirked her head as she tried to build a link between those statements. “Um… What, now?"

“It's a pain in the tail carrying crap to the recyclers. Way easier when you can just chuck refuse into the printer and break it down into raw goods." The marten nudged her snout to an android gathering the broken pieces the mechanic had discarded. “Even easier when you guys can afford ship assistant systems. Bots don't complain much about keeping their bound ship clean, anyway."

“The non-sentient drones, maybe. You obviously haven't met a proper android yet." The group passed an internal bulkhead into the larger space of the bay and Erin's eyes lit up. “Well, I'll be damned. They actually managed to fit it without taking it apart."

“Fit wh—?" Cassie nearly froze as she gawked at a truly massive vehicle barely fitting into the large, thirty-foot-tall storage bay. “Why is that tank so big!?"

“Oh, that's no tank. You know that golem I built with Carbon?" Erin smiled proudly as she slapped a treaded front module… which easily was solid metal considering the lack of a reverbing response sound. “I thought it might be cool to make an industrial version. You know, for building stuff or clearing areas."

“But…"

“Is that a hardlight projector?" Sable joined the mad inventor in appreciating a lensing system poking out the odd module that now very apparently held a balled fist with fingers the size of a person. “That's definitely industrial scale. For scaffolding or something?"

“Framing, actually. We can't print proper wood fibers, but concrete comes out fine. Need a way to make molds and supports for it." Erin walked over to the other forearm module and gave it a slap as well. “This baby can print two cubic yards of raw in one go and supports decomposition directly into the cartridges."

“It has a printer, too? Holy cow…"

Flux sighed as she reached the next bulkhead by herself. “Guys? The, uh, workshop?"

“Oh, sorry. We're—"

Cassie walked up to the sensors below the cockpit and caressed the armor nearby. “Marpat…"

Erin raised an eyebrow at the sudden fascination of the scout. “Mar… pat?"

“Can I get one in marpat forest camo?" Contrary to everyone's assumption of a deadpan joke, Cassie turned back with serious inquiry in her expression. “How long would it take to make me one?"

“I'm… not even done this one. It's a prototype." Erin looked over the various flaws in the design through her skilled eye. “I mean, it worked well enough that I thought it might see some good testing if we needed to build landing pads and stuff on Hunter's little adventure."

“Good. If you need a test pilot, I'm volunteering." The firefox waved her ringed tail about as she contemplated the potential of such a venture. “You see a construction crane. I see a pathfinder."

“I mean… maybe? I just don't think—"

Sable joined her commander in appreciating the features, especially an encased winch under the cockpit. “Make bridges, clear trees, move boulders… Yeah, I can see that solving a lot of problems."

“Might make a good viewpoint, too." Flux nodded to a guard, and he started clearing a lane through the next checkpoint. “How tall is that thing when it's standing?"

“Uh…" The numbers in her memorized blueprints crunched in Erin's head. “thirty-nine feet, give or take? The cockpit is, um… thirty-six."

“Yeah, that clears most young forest canopies we've been through so far." Cassie gave the machine a few parting pats and headed for the next bulkhead. “I'll treat it right. Just give it consideration, okay?"

“That's fair. Yeah, let me think it over. There're a few safeties missing and all that, so it isn't even a sure thing." Erin joined the others, a new concept on her mind. “I was going to use constructs or remote control, but a pilot might actually be doable…"

“I can already see the cogs spinning. Gods help us." Flux saluted the guards and finally led the others through the checkpoint, then with a confirmatory nod the bulkhead sealed behind them. “One big-ass printer, ladies and gents. My place is around starboard."

“Wow." Sable let out a low whistle as they walked past a floor-to-ceiling matter printing matrix. “That's walk-in sized. Is that the biggest model out there?"

“There's one that makes vehicles on Ventura VI." Flux waved a security bracelet near a locked door and waited for the surprisingly heavy panel to slide open. “I only know that because it built most of this ship and Sem wanted my dad to oversee that."

“Still, this is pretty impressive." Cassie's eyes went wide and then immediately squinted as she walked into the sealed room and the room pushed back with a wall of heat. “Jesus! Do we need suits or something?"

“Sorry, I like it warm in here. One second." Flux looked around for an uncommon control panel and tapped out a number on it. “Give it a minute and the vents should cool things off for y'all."

Sable tapped a stone working surface and reeled back from the heat. “I expected it to be hot in there, but wow."

“Yeah, don't touch anything just to be safe." The Gnome at once went against her own words and picked up a chisel, the moisture on her hand boiling away in mere seconds. “I don't mind you guys watching, though."

“About that," inquired Erin, “What exactly is it you're trying to accomplish? I'd try to help if I had an example."

“Hm. I don't ever know how to explain it right." Slowly Flux paced along a wide table, the tip of her spear clattering onto the surface as she found her phrasing. “If I made this just right—and I mean perfectly—it wouldn't be this speckled black. It would look more like dark glass… obsidian, maybe. It would also be damned near impossible to damage the edge. A perfectly deadly item, that's what we call vorpal tools."

“Interesting. So, it's a processing problem, not the materials themselves." Erin stood straight as she prepared to brave the heat, then crossed into the workshop and gave the spear tip a closer look. “Have you ever made it the right way? Like, do you have a sample of the finished style? It can be scrap—I just want something examine."

“I… haven't been able to even make basic blocks. I just don't have the skill yet."

“If it's a procedure thing, how about you start by showing us what you think should work." Cassie stayed on the threshold of the doorway; her sensitive nerves were completely unable to manage the environment still. “We could try making a block or whatever and maybe we'll notice something you haven't."

“That… might actually work. Sure, yeah." Flux took her chisel over to a basin of sorts and used it to chip away at a block of corroded amber and gray material that shone silver beneath. “Could one of you do me a favor and verify the forge is drained? There's a button over—"

“Got it." Sable walked over to a recessed table-shaped crucible and smacked an industrial button on a control pad. A gurgling then announced a drain opening, letting some sort of molten material drain out the bottom and into an adjacent basin. “So that's salt, I'm guessing? How's this thing even work?"

Cassie finally managed to brave the heat with a lot of help from the cool air flushing through the vents. “You probably float molds inside the stuff, right?"

“Not exactly. More like… Uh…" Flux craned her head a bit, then changed her mind and nodded at that assessment. “Well, actually… I guess that's what happens in a way. Traditionally you make a positive, cake it with coke, and then burn away the positive. I guess it's sort of a mold after that, yeah."

“Okay, I'm starting to get an idea how this works then." Erin looked around a bit and found what appeared to be coal powder. “Gotcha. So, what's the positive made from?"

“This here." The Gnome tossed over a decent chunk of material she sliced free. “That's… thallium, I think? We have a few names for it. 'Sad-stone' is my favorite."

“Sad… stone?" Erin tried to derive that reference, only understanding when Flux took a shaving of the metal and twisted it quickly—producing a crying squeak. “Oh, it's like tin then. Yeah, you bend it all sorts of crystal bonds break and stuff. Means it's easy to shave down, too. Hm."

“So, you make an object, coat it in that coke stuff, then melt out the metal. I think I follow." Cassie walked over to check the container of dust and cringed as Erin bent her piece of thallium. “That's… freaky. So, what goes in that mold afterward?"

“Yeah, right. We get blackrock out of this somehow, right?" Sable picked up the spear tip and admired the speckled surfaces. “Reminds me of some kind of polished granite."

Flux pulled out a container near her feet and easily set it down on the work surface with a resounding thud. “This sand from the caves of Darius is what makes it. You melt the sand, and it turns into stone, but it's only able to be cast the one time for some reason."

“Only once? That's… illogical. If it melts, it can always be re-melted." Erin walked over and held a device on her wrist near the sand. “Try to identify that, please, Aura."

“What's Aura?" Cassie perked up at that action and moved closer to watch a few lasers probe the dark granules. “Some kind of scanner, huh?"

“More than that. She's a… quirk. Started as a personal assistant core, but along the way she's developed into a construct of her own." The ottkat smiled as her watch lit up green around the edges. “What you got for me, Aura?"

“Eight percent silicon. Six percent oxygen. Eighty-four percent germanium. Other minerals below accuracy threshold." The device flashed a rotating amber circle. “I suspect sensor malfunction. Total concentration of germanium beyond theoretical limits of one planet by a factor of three."

“What does that mean?"

“Simplifying… One moment…" Aura spun a blue dial for a moment before returning. “The total amount of germanium in this container exceeds the typical total of three planets in known space. I would normally expect a result of less than four percentage points of germanium unless it was purposefully concentrated from multiple planetary sources. This amount is improbable and likely due to errors."

“Well, I calibrate you every morning, so that's unlikely." Erin tapped her temple a bit, then asked, “Do you have a mineral record for the planet Darius?"

“Gnomish customs prevent exact records on subterranean operations. So no, then."

“Huh. I guess it's… theoretically possible you have a lot of germanium on your planet. Bloody statistics isn't my strong suit." Erin said a quick thanks to Aura and tossed back the thallium. “Now I'm curious to see what the readings are after forging. How can I help?"

“Close the vents on the forge so the salt builds heat." Flux stuck the slug of metal into her bag of coke and started pressing a mold around it. “We'll make this as it is, so you can see the process."

“On it." Erin found the controls for the salt well and blinked a few times before realizing it was labeled in Gnomish. “Or… maybe after some translating. So, I'm guessing the molten salt is heated in a furnace or something?"

“It heats itself, actually. The right mix of ingredients will react and output loads of heat."

Erin found the correct button and gave it a hard slap to engage the sealed state on the bath. “So that's how it works. I assumed it just held heat well and something else did the heating." She held still for a moment in thought, then pulled out a data chit and plugged it into her watch. “Aura… framework P-22, please."

“Sure! One moment."

“What's that?" Sable moved over and tilted her head as a visual representation of the data projected over the watch face. “Is that a magazine of some sort?"

“Add W-823 to that as well, please." A moment later the watch chirped, and Erin yanked out the chit. “Here. Go pop this into that printer and run both files. I'm pretty sure it will complete on a standard material load."

“Oh, more gifts for people? Fun." Cassie smiled and nodded to the tree weasel that it was alright. “I hear you've been handing them out like candy."

“And this one might be a good gift for you, actually—after Flux gives a thumbs-up on the power source. I need her to check my work and see if it's safe." The ottkat closed the distance to the Gnome in question and watched her place the coked-up mold into the output of the salt bath. “While that runs, though… Care to show us the rest?"

“Well, the next part is easy enough." Flux took the powder mold and scooped a tiny hole in the crust, leaving only the thinnest amount of coke possible at the bottom. “You must give the positive a path to drain out. This should hold just long enough for the lining to form before cracking." She then placed the assembly on the dry bath bed, grabbed the controls, and smacked the fill button. “Now we let the salt do the work."

Sable returned as the molten salt poured into the basin, her eyes widening in interest. “I didn't miss anything, did I?"

“Not really." Cassie stepped a little closer for a good look, then backed against a table to avoid burning her sensitive nerves with the heat. “So, we get to wait as this works? I might just—"

“It should be done in a few seconds." Flux reached into the salt with a set of stone tongs and the change in temperature cracked the drainage hole. She tilted the assembly over an ingot mold and poured out the molten thallium, recovering most of it cleanly. “Drain that again, please. And clear that workbench, Cassie."

“Oh, sorry." Cassie stepped out of the way as the empty mold was set on the cool stone slab surface of the table. “That seemed fast. Maybe you need to let it sit longer? Like there might be residue or something…"

Erin hit the drainage button and watched until the basin was empty except for heat mirage fuming from the surface. “That stuff is about four thousand degrees, Cassie. It certainly melted all of it."

“Oh, that's conservative. When you let that stuff heat up in a contained space it gets way hotter." Flux somehow didn't think twice about smacking the mold with her gloved hand, verifying the material had fused. “That should do it. Seems like a clean mold. Solid as stone… Take a gander… just don't touch it."

“Aura, you're up." Erin held her watch close to the mold and more analysis lasers fired off. “Ah, I see the hole you made. It looks shiny inside. You don't know any of the science behind what happens there, do you?"

“Nope. We learn by doing where I'm from."

“Kinesthetic learners. Neat." Sable reached out for a fist bump which Flux graciously declined due to searing hot gauntlets. “Bit of one myself."

“Scan completed. I'll assume you want the easy version." Aura lit up her watch face with various numbers. “Carbon tetrahedrons litter the external shell. Many of these have formed as diamonds. Lining the inner layer is a sheet of graphene with nanotube dendrites extending to the core. In other words, the mold is latticed with nanocarbon formations, not hollow. The structures are… irregular, even if the materials lend to regular patterns."

Cassie let out a low whistle. “That was the easy version?"

“She used to be almost raw with her output. We're working on that…" Erin nodded as she processed that information and slowly cleared some room for Flux to work. “Alright, I might have a guess what's going on now. Give the next step a go. Oh, and check the printer—those prints should be quick on that industrial matrix."

“Got it." Cassie took her leave to cool her nerves a bit. “Gonna go open my gifts, hehe."

“We'll save the cracking for you." Flux flipped the mold for filling, placed a funnel in the drainage hole, and started sprinkling the black sand inside with the occasional shake to settle the material. “There's not much more to this. We mostly redo the last step but with the final materials."

“All the same, I can probably spot what's going wrong afterward." Erin grabbed the control panel, then after the mold was placed in the basin, she pressed the fill button. “This takes a little longer since we're melting stone, right?"

“Not too long, but yes."

“In that case, I want to see this print of yours while we wait." Sable started for the door, then caught herself and cleared the way as Cassie returned with some sort of rifle. “Woah. You printed a gun? I thought that was unsafe?"

“Normal guns, yes. You can't temper and harden metal with a printer alone." Erin grabbed the muzzle of the weapon and held it up, allowing Sable a better view of a large lens where the barrel normally would be. “A solid-state weapon doesn't need hardened parts, though."

“It's a laser? Those are… mounted weapons, right?"

Cassie nodded to the marten. “Can't power them with anything shy of an oxydium power plant in the field. This has me a little curious."

“Well, that's why I brought it up. The power source is… experimental." Erin took the second print, what appeared to be some sort of magazine box. She found a screwable plug on the bottom, extended it a few twists, and then slammed the base against a stone table. A loud crackling noise permeated the device for a moment, then several dormant lights on the outside lit up in green. “This here is a salt pack battery. It's a binary compound that goes molten when you mix them."

Sable looked at the pack and then the long gun. “Then… the laser runs on heat? I'm confused."

“No, that's just one part of it. The top section is the electric engine." The ottkat tossed the pack back to Cassie and motioned for her to load it with a twist to secure it in place. “That's a culmination of my studies on vulkanum. Your pressure suits you're wearing already under those uniforms use it to turn body heat into the power they require."

“Interesting. So, if we up the heat, we up the power output?" Cassie snapped the pack into place where you'd expect an ammunition magazine, then with a slight twist the whole weapon lit up and a status display engaged. “Hm. It only says twelve percent power."

“That's expected. It'll take a minute for the salt to stabilize. Should still fire fine that way, if slower between shots."

“Well, I don't feel like making my arm sting today, so maybe we can have some fun in the morning." Cassie checked for a safety switch, then realized it was in the grip itself as she handed the weapon to a giddy Sable. “Unless you want to give it a go. We have a safe place to try it?"

“There's a training range two decks up," noted Flux as she drained the basin again.

“We don't need one, technically. You can control the output to the point it just singes things. There's also no recoil, Cassie. That's why I thought it might be nice for you."

“Oh, well that's cool."

“And this is certainly not. Watch out." Again, with the aid of tongs, Flux moved the superheated diamond mold to some form of press mechanism in the corner. “There we go. Need to give it a minute to cool now."

“Here…" Erin tapped a decrement button several times on the gun's display until it stated 'Ready to Fire' on the top section. “Let's find something appropriate outside, shall we?"

“Oh, definitely." Sable grinned ear to ear as she walked out to the printer staging area with the weapon low-ready. “What's the safest kind of thing to hit on a ship with this?"

“Anything rough and dull. Shiny things can cause… issues of a disco ball variety." Erin looked around until she found a material she liked, a block of what appeared to be marble stone. “This should work. Just stand back from it."

Cassie did exactly that, giving the block several yards clearance while Sable readied to shoot. “Alright. Anything else we should know first?"

“Technically, this fires pulsed lasers. It's not so much the laser that does the damage as the explosion of the powder it vaporizes from what it hits. It's a photon ablation weapon." Erin pulled out a set of safety goggles she apparently always carries and slid them over her eyes. “In other words, it makes your targets explode if they aren't reflective."

“This is sounding better by the second. Firing…" Sable took her final aim and gripped the paw guard of the weapon, causing a set of holographic sights to emit atop the hard irons. She nearly squealed in delight at that touch, then squared her grips and pulled the trigger. The laser itself could only be called barely visible at first, but the impact and resulting explosion of the marble's surface left a powdery haze in the air that revealed the presence of a probing laser if the foregrip was held. “That… did, uh… something."

“How did it feel?" inquired a curious commander.

“You could feel the thing vibrate more than any recoil. You could literally never get tired of firing this thing if it feels this way at full power…"

“Good. It should suit you well then, Cassie." Erin waited for the laser to point downward, then inspected the damage to the block. A crater that could easily be mistaken for a battle rifle bullet impact precluded the cleaving crack going through the entire block. She waved away the marble dust in the air and played with some powder and granules on the floor with her paw. “The explosion is quite powerful on rough stone. I didn't expect the lowest setting to do this much damage, however."

“Heh. If this is my gift, I can't wait to see what kind of mayhem Sem is gonna come up with." Cassie took possession of her laser and grinned. “What did you make for him, anyway?"

“I, erm…" All of a sudden Erin guarded herself, retreating back into the forge. “I-It's nothing special… I'm just being g-generous…"

“Oh, we hit a soft spot?" Even in the more scientific area of the forge, Flux grinned and offered no quarter. “You have a crush on my mate, do ya'?"

“I d-don't mean to take him—!" Erin immediately shut her muzzle and lit up bright red. “I-I-I m-mean…"

“It's okay, hon. It isn't like he stays true to me anyway. You can… have your fun, I guess." Flux tapped the mold with a small pick and listened for the reverb inside. “Ours is just a marriage of convenience, anyway. We're bound by some voodoo magic crap my ancestors cooked up, not by… actual love…"

“That's not true. I see you trying, Flux." Cassie removed the salt pack from her laser and set the devices on a table. With her paws freed, she gave Flux a hug. “He has to feel something too or he'd have made less of a show of it."

“He feels guilty. I think he's treating me nice just to make me feel better about being a slave to this curse." Flux placed the mold into her stone roller press, clamped it down, and shut a safety shield around it. “If we ever did find a remedy for it, he'd be out the door the next day."

“That's not true. Hunter is better than that." Erin moved closer to watch the press crack open the mold, sending shards of diamond dust everywhere. “He's a good guy at heart. He's just… preoccupied."

“I'd be a little all over the place too if I had an empire to run." Cassie peered into the safety shield and stared at a jewelry-grade waste shard in disbelief. “Once we get the federated parts finalized, I think he'll have more time for you."

“Pretty…" Sable smiled as she joined the now-crowded area to inspect the work. “At least you have hobbies to hold you over until then."

“Not if I keep failing…" Flux opened the safety shield once the dust had settled, then wrangled the remaining pieces of mold from the cast part. “Agh. I need to hear something positive for once or I'll go insane!"

“Well, if we're on the topic of crushes…" Sable smiled for her commander and giggled. “Someone didn't return to the bunks last night. There a story behind that, Cassie?"

“Ehh… I was… on a date… I guess…" The firefox slinked back and occupied herself with the laser. “We just got to talking and… passed out somewhere cozy."

“Cozy, eh? I knew you had some fun last night." Flux held out a warm blackrock slug, making sure to tug it away when Erin moved to touch it. “Good for you. You seemed like you needed to get laid after that long search."

“We didn't… I mean, I respect her more than… that…"

“Her? Well that just got my interest even more now." Flux sighed as she read the room, then placed the slug on the bench and pointed to Sable. “Then what about you? I bet the ladies can't keep their paws off a strapping young man like you. And all these crews are full of soldier fangirls, hehe."

“M… Man…?"

Cassie joined Sable in questioning the baffled faces across from them. “Uh… guys? What do you think Sable is?"

Flux kept up her line of questioning, hoping to find some truth there. “Oh, is she a… trans-woman, then…?"

“I'm just a woman. Damn." The marten shook her head and took a few good breaths. “I swear… You like military stuff and camping, and people think you can't possibly be a woman…"

“It's not intentional, I'm sure. You do sort of have an androgynous look going." Cassie shrugged and gave Sable's shoulder a slap. “Even I had to question that until I saw your file. Nothing wrong with a tomboy in my book."

“Yeah… Sorry, Sable. I didn't realize, and this armor isn't helping." Flux tapped her helmet's thin visor slit. “At least now I don't have to question why a guy decided to tag along with a bunch of girls, right?"

Sable let out a clearing sigh. “Yeah, I guess that's true. At least we cleared it up, anyway."

“And?"

“And… what?"

“And do you go looking for company when you get shore leave?" Flux held back a chuckle that boiled over into a shared laugh. “We're all airing out our laundry here after all. If there's anywhere you can spill the beans, it's here."

“Well sorry to disappoint, but I'm more focused on my job at the moment. Still figuring a few things out."

Cassie nodded knowingly and added, “This planet was her first deployment."

“In that case, may your hunts be fruitful." Flux smiled and finally shared a fist-bump with the soldier. “And you seem to have gotten eerily quiet over there, Erin. What's up?"

“Oh… just keeping my muzzle shut and trying to figure this whole thing out. The blackrock, that is." She produced her Slate and the various scan results contained on it. “The silica glass fused with the diamond and broke away, it seems. What's left is all kinds of germanium crystals held in place by nanotubes. It's, uh… like rebar in concrete, but this concrete is more like… quartz-heavy granite?"

“So that's why those weapons of hers hold up so well to impacts, I take it?" Sable reached to pick up the slug and immediately regretted it as she burned her paw. “Ow. Hot as fu~ck."

“It did just come out of death lava, dear." Flux grabbed the object without care, her Gnome physiology granting her far better heat resistance. “That said, if all goes to plan it should be black and mildly clear. It also wouldn't eventually crack or crumble, but I'm not sure why exactly."

“I have a thesis." Erin reached into the safety enclosure and pulled out a large piece of the former mold. “There're two factors here that I can see. The first is that there is silica glass forming. That graphene layer is probably a key factor, but it's mostly stuck in the silica and gets left behind."

“Right. That makes sense." Sable nodded along, then snorted as she had to explain for the uninformed Gnome. “Graphene is incredibly strong in two dimensions. If it covers the outside of your castings, it'll probably be what keeps sharp edges best."

“Oh, okay. So, we need to keep the graph stuff." Flux eyeballed the laser and then the test slug, a test coming to mind and bringing her a smirk. “And what's the other thing?"

“Well, the second is just a hunch. Those irregular structures Aura found? I think if you could make them all regular, you might make one consecutive crystal structure instead of a bunch of different ones just glued together with carbon." Erin looked over to the thallium block and pursed her lips in thought. “I think there's key geometry you need to put into the positive; maybe there's shapes or mistakes that need to be fixed as well. With some careful scanning, I think we could figure that out in time."

“So, you're saying it's partially a craftsmanship issue." Flux went still for a moment, then took a slow breath. “Good. I was concerned you'd say it was something that couldn't be honed. I can improve, if only we could figure out how."

“Awesome." Cassie smiled as she noticed the slug being compared to her weapon. “I'm glad we got to help a little. This was fun."

“…Let's just shoot it, already. I know you want to."

“Got me. Yeah, let's try it on the planet since we don't know how this stuff reacts."

Erin chuckled and shook her head a bit. “You'll want to print a capture box, first. Don't need sharp shards of blackrock littering those nice Oels' islands."

“Agreed. If we can keep it tidy, we… should…" Cassie squinted her eyes as she noticed movement in the darkened rear of the room. “Is there someone else here? Near that anvil?"

“Not again…" Flux groaned as she reached for the lights, then again as Liu appeared out of nowhere balled up in the corner when the light hit her. “I thought I told you this place wasn't safe, Liu. Sem is going to be upset again when I tell him."

The girl leapt upward and clung to the ceiling with her bare hands and feet. She shook her head and started crawling toward the door. “No. Like friend of papa."

“Sem's friend, eh?" Flux looked at both Cassie and Erin for a moment. “You could have made yourself known and been friendly. What if I tripped or spilled something and didn't know you were there? That shadow thing you do can get you in trouble sometimes."

“Liu go." Liu fell from the ceiling and landed on her two feet, then pounced out the door. “Sorry."

“Wait! I… never really got a chance to meet you." Erin followed with a quick jog. “I know about you, but Hunter and I… are still working on things…"

“Papa says… Erin nice." Liu let her guard down a bit and leaned against a large tank of helium. “Liu wanted… to… uh, meet…"

“Still learning Common Terran, I see. Hunter does say you're always studying." Erin settled against the marble block they'd shot earlier and scooped up the mess with her paws, tossing it into the matrix as part of cleanup. “So, you call him papa, then? He doesn't seem the fatherly type."

“Papa… busy, but good." Liu nudged a canister and panicked to settle it.

“Careful, Liu. If the valves break off those someone could get hurt." Erin finished cleaning up the bulk of the mess, then tapped the recycling mode on the control display of the matrix, hoping to solidify the marble as a small cube. “So, you're curious about Hunter's friends?"

“Liu helping papa." The girl diverted her gaze to her bug lantern. “Liu wants… family again…"

“You poor thing. I can't imagine how it must feel to lose everyone you know." The ottkat triggered the process and turned her attention back to Liu. “You have a nice papa now. Hunter won't treat you badly."

“Papa makes Liu happy. Liu want papa happy, too." Liu dropped her lantern to rest on her belt but hit a small oxygen bomb in the process. “Papa happy with Erin!"

“With me?" Erin's face flared up red with blush at that statement, distracting her from the canister tipping over slowly. “Did… Hunter said that? He's happy around me?"

“What word…?" Liu barely started talking when the canister hit another, cracking the regulator valve on an argon can. “Love? Papa lo—!"

“Liu!" Erin's embarrassment drained to horror as she saw the argon bomb shoot its regulator across the room, the tank propelling the opposite direction into the remaining tanks. Acting on instinct, she reached forward and yanked Liu over to her with all her weight. “Gotch—ACK!" Suddenly Erin felt lightheaded and strangely numb, which made much more sense when her proprioception kicked back into gear. “Well… sh-shit…"

“What was th—?" Flux leapt out the door to her forge and quickly tackled the argon canister before it thrashed its way into a chain reaction. “What happened!?"

“Acci… dent…" Erin released Liu as she slid down the side of the MPM, leaving a trail of blood on the frame. “Damnit… That'll ruin th-the batch…"

Sable practically scurried out the forge next, then shot her eyes wide and sped over to Erin. “Medic! Someone get a kit!"

“My… bag…"

Cassie nearly tripped over the door frame as she ran out to the others, then nodded and picked up Erin's bag from the ground. “Shit. I've got this. Sable, get word out to the EMTs."

“But… Yeah. Yes, ma'am."

“I see it. Here." Cassie pulled out a small can, popped open the cap, and placed it in the void where once existed Erin's right arm. “This is gonna burn."

“Do it."

“Sorry…" Cassie depressed a button on the can and a clear, purple gel pushed out of the nozzle. She made sure to cover the whole area that was removed, ignoring the screaming until she confirmed the bleeding had stopped. “That… That should hold. Yeah."

Erin faintly huffed and panted over the burning in her nerves. “Th… Thank… y… ouh…"

“Ah, shit." Cass dropped the canister and reached for a small bandage pouch above her tail to more securely patch up the now unconscious ottkat. “A polyfill suit patch. Good thinking, Erin."

“Erin… hurt…" Liu watched as the matrix finished deconstructing the bones of Erin's arm, then watched in disbelief as Flux wrestled two more gas bombs on the floor. “Saved Liu…"

“Yeah, that looks…" Cassie looked over to Flux, noting the hard time even the armored Gnome was having. “That looks like it might have been worse than someone losing an arm."

“Liu… s-sorry."

“It's alright, Liu. It was an accident."

“Liu hurt mama!" The girl blinked a few tears from her eyes, then turned into a blob of shadow that zipped across the room. “Liu bad!"

“Wait! Liu, hey!" Cassie sighed as the child ran away in terror, hoping to at least calm her down so she wouldn't be scarred by the event. “Damn."

Flux finally returned with a fist stuck through a canister of argon. “Holy crap. What happened?"

“The machine took her fucking arm off." Cassie looked into the MPM and found only a perfect cube of marble. “I think? What happens to organic matter?"

“Well…" The Gnome rolled her eyes to the side at the thought of the proper answer. “Maybe… don't eat from the food printers for a little while."

“Is that… so…?" Cassie twitched a hint as she understood the connection. “Ew."

“Yeah. Ew."

---

---

Please,

Protect me.

I'll love you if you let me.

I know there's something there to save.

So sign my life away.

Moments on my lips like cabernet.

I'm okay when I'm your slave.

---

---

Aft Medical Station, Operations Deck

The Archon, Sidele (Zu-7) Synchronous Orbit

10:22, 19/2/2, 26 XP

---

“Nn…" Erin slowly opened her eyes, her gaze resting upon an unfamiliar ceiling affixed with dim lights. An ache at her side caught her attention, forcing her to realize her proprioceptive state and the fact she laid in a reclined bed. Then she noticed the weight in her lap, soon revealed as Tesem laying over her… Is he… praying? She reached to wake the otter, only introducing fresh confusion when her paw never came into view.

“Ah?" The young emperor shot upward suddenly, then nearly lost his balance from his seat as he shoved his right arm forward against the medical bed. “Eh!? W-Wait!"

Flux caught her mate from behind and steadied his posture. “Careful, idiot. What are you trying to do to the poor girl?"

“That was…" Sem hissed and gripped his shoulder in pain, yet through the burning nerves he still managed to meet Erin's gaze. “Damnit… Gah…"

“Hm. Nice to see you too." Erin groaned and rolled her sore arm… and then Sem's arm moved instead. “You in my head, Hunter? It's making me dizzy, you know."

“That's… probably the painkillers." The otter grimaced as Erin moved his arm around even more. “Erin, s-stop… F-Fucking… ouch..."

Flux sighed as she restrained her mate's arm. “She's on meds, Sem. You don't need to do that."

“Why are you even…?" The expression of absolute pain and doubling over his arm suddenly drew attention to Erin's own, the ottkat snapping her head around to witness her missing limb. “Ah, bloody hell. That wasn't a dream, then?"

“What? No." Sem carefully settled his arm loosely to his side, then brought the other to caress Erin's jaw with his paw. “When I heard what happened, I thought it was just a tiny accident. But to lose your whole arm like that? Candy Cane…"

“Should you even be worrying about me? I'm sure Liu needs you more right now."

“She's doing… alright. Next on my list." Erin shifted to check her bandaged shoulder better and Sem doubled over in pain. “Y-You n-n-need-ded h-help."

“Are you stopping the pain? You damned fool, Hunter…" Erin tried to give him a smack the typical way, then had to settle for her other paw—which ended up hitting him harder than she intended due to unfamiliarity. “Stop it. I'm not helpless, dummy. I can own up to my missteps."

“But—"

“Hunter…"

The emperor took a deep breath and slowly exhaled it through his nose. “Okay, but only half. It's worse than you think." He eased off his mental redirection, relaxing for a moment until he heard Erin squeak in hiding her pain. “See? I couldn't leave you like that."

“Yeah… Well, I appreciate it, but I need to take my licks all the same."

“This isn't a dumb mistake. You…" Sem shot his eyes to the door, sensing his subject on the other side. “Liu could have died. You saved her, Erin."

“Aye, damn near took my own arm off. Oh… sorry." Flux held up her left arm to showcase a series of deep dents in her armor plating. “Those gas tanks are no joke."

“They're, uh… not called 'bombs' for nothing…" Erin chewed on her lip to fight the pain until her conscious mind surfaced that fact. “Everyone's really alright? I'm the only one harmed?"

“In terms of people, yeah. There's minor damage to the storage area and we won't know if there's other health risks until the containment team okays things." Sem squeezed his fists as he and Erin both adjusted to their shared pain. “That and… well, they said there probably won't be a biological risk with the manner your arm was removed."

Erin adjusted her bed so she could lay more upright. “Nah, I'd imagine not. Surprisingly sanitary, those matter matrixes."

“Speaking of sanitary, time to change those bandages." A koala in a white uniform knocked on the doorframe as he carried a tray of supplies. “Lucidity is a good sign this early. Blood loss is hard to gauge when things are vaporized after all."

“Thanks, doc. I owe you one for cutting your leave short for this." Tesem took the tray and placed it on a nearby side table. “Need a paw with this?"

“I can manage. I wouldn't mind nudging you lot to the waiting hall soon, though. My patient needs to sleep to replenish red blood cells."

“Can do." Flux walked to the door and signaled it to open, holding the sensor for her mate. “Sem?"

“Once I know the pain is manageable, maybe."

The doc checked an IV pump and the bag of painkillers attached to it. “How is the pain, miss? I wasn't sure how that kind of wound affected the nerves."

“I can deal with it." The ottkat stared down Sem, and even in his mostly blind state he managed to get the hint and slowly ceded control over the pain back to her. “I'm a little nauseous, I think. That normal?"

“It can be, from both the pain and the morphine in fact. I'll find something to ease the nausea for you." The doc gingerly tugged at the bandage clips on the wound. “This'll sting a bit. You ready?"

“Do it."

Flux stepped through the door, not wanting to see the bare wound again. “I'll… just be outside."

“Actually, don't go too far. I've got something to discuss with your scan results, Lady Flux."

“…'Lady'…"

Sem chuckled at that response, rising to join his mate. “I'm sure it's nothing serious. Glad I had everyone get a checkup now, in any case."

“Hm. Not immediately important, no." The koala used the distraction to tug the start of the bandages loose. “I just don't want you running off before I can warn you of a few things. I hear you gnomes like to drink off stress, after all."

“Ah, shit. I can't drink? Calling me out, doc…"

The doc took a moment to focus on the least painful way to unravel the wound, then paused as he took note of the present company. “Actually, I suppose if your mate is here, I could share things now. That is, if this young lady is okay with knowing things as well?"

“Well, I don't mind, I guess." Sem looked over to Flux, who in turn shrugged her shoulders and cast her hand out to the others to signal sharing. “Right, then. What's up, doc?"

“It's nothing bad, I swear. The tech actually noticed it randomly on the edge of a CT image." Finally, through the top layers, the koala set the first bandage down and reached out a paw for a shake… that he then lowered in favor of a more sterile bow. “You're pregnant, my Lady. Congratulations."

Flux nearly fell to a knee until Sem caught her. “Wh… What?"

“You're with child, to the best of our knowledge. We're not accustomed to gnomish pregnancies so we'd like to do some more specific tests, especially with a specialist if we can find one."

“I don't… uh…" The gnome regained her composure and slowly looked between the doctor and her mate. “That's a… good thing? Shit, unless my damned curse passes on…"

“Flux, just relax. We'll ask your mom how that works later. Alright?" Sem stopped a mild laugh as he realized he was going to be a father. “And I need to talk to mine. I didn't even think we were compatible, but to have a kid…"

“Y-Yeah… I mean…" Flux shrank into herself a little as she hid around the doorframe. “You mean, you actually… wanted to…?"

“Well, I wasn't planning on it, but now that it's happening, I feel sort of… happy, so yeah!"

“Um… C-Could you…" Erin took a deep breath and offered her shoulder more prominently to the doctor. “Could you finish, please? I… think I need to sleep."

“Ah, sure. I bet the lot of us could use a little rest after the commotion." The doc peeled away the final inner bandage and reached for his supplies to apply a sterile replacement. “Let's plan to talk in the morning after I've researched some specifics. Xenobiology isn't something they taught in med school yet when I was there."

“The kid's not going anywhere. Do what needs doing, doc. Just send a summons to one of my attendants when you're ready for us." Sem suddenly felt jittery with nervousness of many varieties and followed his instincts in leaving the room with Flux. “Rest up, Erin. I'm glad you're still with us."

“Y-Yeah. Um…"

“Shoo. And tell the others out there visiting hours are over, please."

“You, uh…" Sem hesitated a moment, holding back the urge to probe Erin's mind. “You got it, doc. Erin."

“L-Later." Flux stumbled as Sem tugged her away from the patient room. She got the hint and overtook the emperor's lead, taking enough control to stop him in the hall. “What was that about?"

“I just… felt like if I stayed there any longer…" Tesem sagged on his feet and sighed deeply. “I would have done something I'd forever regret."

“Rough words." The Gnome took a controlled breath as she reached the door to the waiting area. “Want to talk about it? I might not look it, but I do want the best for you."

Sem straightened upright and wiped his expression for a slight smile—a practiced response he'd gained as a public figure. “Soon, but not now. I need to settle my thoughts first, anyway."

“Then we can think about… what to do with this… child…"

“Yeah. Should probably make room for that surprise." The emperor readied himself and opened the door, promptly greeted by his meerkat bodyguard. “You didn't waste any time."

“Can't tell me to take some time off this time, Sem. Not until I'm satisfied."

“I wasn't even on the Arbiter when the accident happened. It's not an attempt on my life." The panthott set a paw on Dani's shoulder and made his point clear. “Investigate all you want. Just don't miss out on helping your own needs while you can."

“What…?"

“Your date went well, I assume?" He checked around and felt the familiar presence of Cassie on the far side of the room. “Worry about her, will ya'?"

“W-W-What?" Dani's face flushed with blood, and she sank into herself a bit. “I-I can… Um…" She finally managed to look Sem in the eyes and her nerves settled. “Orders accepted. I'll make it a… priority."

“I'd never lead you wrong. Trust me. And trust in yourself." The emperor squeezed that shoulder as he passed to the others. “Time's up. Erin needs her rest."

“She's going to be alright, yeah?" Sable took a step forward and saluted. “Emperor, sir."

“Yeah, she's stable. Just exhausted herself quickly, that's all." Sem tapped two fingers on Sable's wrist. “And none of that. We're not on camera or anything. I'm just a person."

“Ah… habits, ya' know? I did just get out of training…"

“We're all a little tense. Not every day a friend goes through a life-changing accident." Cassie found a seat and slumped into it. “How's everyone else holding up? You alright, Sem?"

The emperor nosed about in the sea of thoughts flooding the room, where he realized Cassie's empath ability must have been subconsciously doing the same. “Maybe we should all get some sleep. Emotions are high and… damn, I hate having to break the news to Erin's moms…"

“Crap. They were looking forward to their ceremony." Flux sat beside Cassie, her armor clanking as it wedged into the small waiting room seat. “Mistress Caitlyn was genuinely happy to have the event somewhere so beautiful. We're not coming back here for a long while, right?"

Sem nodded in agreement. “We're overstaying our welcome as it is. We should be continuing our hunt."

“Then we figure out how to make it work out." Cassie stood and began walking to the patient room, then halted and looked directly at Tesem. “You're distracted, aren't you?"

“Me? Yeah, I run a whole empire and had to make time for this. Of course I'm distracted."

“Well, you're Erin's closest friend, so we need you thinking of her if we're going to get her out that bed tomorrow." The firefox spun around and refocused her efforts. “How can I help relieve that burden? What's bothering you most?"

“The politics and policies I can manage myself." Sem glanced over to the well of emotion that was his mate. “A more recent issue closer to home is on my mind. Not sure there's much to do about it, though."

“Really, Sem? I thought you two were finally doing better!"

“We're fine…" Flux tugged on Cassie's belt. “I'm just… uh… We're worried about my curse." She finally managed to look up, a seed of truth germinating in her. “We were talking about… our future together, and I got worried about how my curse would impact that…"

“Right. Okay, but you said it was genetic or something, right? Or is there a cure?"

“It's not a disease. It's a curse. A ritual of my people."

Cassie grunted in frustration. “What? That's not how you explained it to me!" She tapped her lower lip repeatedly as her mind kicked into high gear. “So, if it's a ritual, would that be magic? Or is it some kind of fate thing?"

“We already dug into the wizardry side of things." Sem reached for Flux's hand and eased it off Cassie's sensitive self. “As far as anyone can tell, once that ritual is complete nobody knows how it binds to the subject. It sets known conditions, but not what or how the enforcement of them is controlled. Then somehow Flux split the binding with her mother, so apparently the unknowns are complex themselves…"

“Superstitions…"

“What?"

Cassie realized she was thinking aloud and snapped back to reality. “It's like a superstition. Or like a scary story, you know? And you know what else seems to run on superstition?"

“Subjects of power." Sem's line of thought clicked with Cassie's perfectly. “So, the ritual is a spell that creates… maybe people of power? Or maybe some other threshold?"

“Time? Or could it be a concept as specific as… family, or lineage?"

“The conditional subject isn't important. What I want to know is—"

“—Can I find the source of power with my magic?" Cassie slowly grinned for Flux as she pulled out Dani's old dagger. “Let's find out."

“What?" Dani frowned at the sight of her dagger. “Don't injure yourself again. You've been slicing that paw of yours a lot lately."

“It's fine. Just a little prick." Cass put her paw in Dani's, turned the chipped tip to her palm, and poked it quickly. “See? It's not bad when I'm calm."

She took a moment to adjust to the disorientation, but eventually Dani realized she'd been drawn into slip space without her knowledge. “Yeah, well I don't like you bleeding." She looks around, finding ghostly echoes of the former company in the room. “Is it always like this? Just a distorted version of reality?"

“Eh, not always. I'm not sure what triggers some of the other locations, except Sem sending us to the Trove." Cassie carefully adjusted her grip on the special dagger as well as her unharmed paw's grip on one of Dani's own. “Woah. Lots of threads here."

“Yeah? I don't see a bloody thing."

“Maybe if you keep visiting with me that'll change? I'm not sure." The fire fox led the pair over to where Flux had been standing, carefully pointing out invisible threads Dani needed to avoid touching. “Let's see now… Oh! I might have figured something out! Check it:" She brought the dagger tip to Flux's abdomen and traced a bundle of threads heading for Sem. “They're definitely linked by something. Feels like I'm defusing a bomb looking at this mess."

“That so? Yeah, still nothing here." Dani couldn't spot the threads, but she did notice a distinct glow to Flux's midsection that didn't match her aura in this strange place. “That's different, though. Anything in this area?"

“Over here? Um…" Cassie leaned in for a closer look, finding several unique blue threads spreading all over Flux from that point, as well as a few headed to Sem. After realizing where she was focused, a rush of blood flooded her face and she lost some of her balance. “Sem… Oh, wow. That's…"

“It's bad, isn't it?"

“No! That's… Sem and Flux are expecting!" A smile beamed across her muzzle as Cassie spontaneously broke her grip and hugged Dani in celebration. “You're gonna be a super-nanny or something, aren't you? Exciting news, eh?"

“Uh, y-yeah." The meerkat hid a hint of blush herself as she peered into the glowing aura… then tilted her head to the side and reached to pick up a discarded dagger from the floor. “Oi, isn't this supposed to send us back if you drop it?"

“What?" Cassie furrowed her brow in confusion even after spotting the dagger in someone other than her own paw. “Uh… Shit. That can't be good."

“Right, ditto that then." Dani placed the former weapon in Cassie's paw, then broke the embrace to observe nothing happened. “What does that mean for us? What next?"

“I don't know. Shit. Maybe…" Cass pricked herself once more, then dropped the dagger onto the ground with a clatter and no further effect. “Not a fluke. It's reproducible, then. Maybe it's because we're in orbit? I haven't done this in space before."

“And I'm assuming you just forgot instead of recklessly putting us into unknown territory?"

“I didn't mean to. It's normally really safe, I swear." A crouch to grab the dagger and the fire fox went back to square one. “Let's see what else we can find. It's got to be some kind of element of power at work here. That's the only stuff that fucks with my—" As she threw out her arms to emphasize her point, Cassie nicked a thread with the dagger and immediately coiled herself around it to check the damage. “Shit! I didn't mean to do that! Please, be alright!"

“That's what I get for neglecting knife handling lessons with you." Dani moved closer and placed a calming paw on her love's back. “Keep your mind steady. You know how this place works, so you should know how to fix things, too."

The thread spindled and tore slowly, all while Cassie's paws tried to keep it together. “Once I cut one, the threads can't be fixed! This is…" She noticed the bundle connects Flux and Sem, forcing a meep of worry as she verified the affected threads weren't the baby's blue ones. “I've never seen ones like this before, though. Red threads? Shit, I hope those are the curse because this might be bad…"

“Calm. Down." Dani took a deep breath and tossed her arms around Cassie's sides. “You can't solve everything. Damage control, then. What do we do?"

“Nothing. We don't touch a damned thing and we get out of here… somehow." Cassie collapsed into the meerkat's embrace, anxiety overwhelming her. Her trickle of blood dropped on the floor and drew her attention, calming her mind in a strange way. “I'm lost. Without the dagger to control things…"

“And what if it's not the dagger? What if the knife is just your excuse for something?"

“Like a focus, or… No, an object of power we don't understand?" Cassie gripped the weapon and focused on the sole point of pain in her small punctures amid the sea of relief this place brought her. “It's the pain. That's the trigger."

“It's okay, Cass. Just relax and focus."

“Yeah." She took that advice to heart and shut her eyes, letting the tingling numbness instilled by this slip space drown out the pain in her palm. When she opened her eyes, she had to blink a few times until her brain put together the fact that they'd somehow moved to a new location, the Trove. “My safe place…"

“Well, that was… different." Dani pointed behind them to a shimmering hole in reality that appeared to be lined with floating droplets of blood. “Whatever you did, keep doing it more. You've got this, love."

“That's… how Sem makes me feel when he's helping my pain. So that's why we arrive at the Trove together." The fire fox peered through the portal and noted the threads from earlier. “So, I made a tunnel?"

“And it moved around us, yes."

“I did that…" Cassie recalled the tingly sensation and the portal grew wider, along with moving a few feet. With confirmation that her subject of focus was the key, she then began remembering the constant pain her nerves normally withstood. “If that was the feeling of the Trove, then could that be the feeling of reality?" Sure enough, the portal flashed white and then blinked the normal world into view. “There! Crap, let's—"

“Already hauling arse." Dani lifted the couple to their hind paws and stepped through the portal, tugging her partner now-painfully back to reality with her. “You alright, Cass?"

“I… think so?" She looked herself over a bit, then turned back to find the portal had disappeared entirely to leave a few drops of blood on the floor. “Yeah, we're definitely fine. But what about Flux?"

“I'm fine? I dunno." The Gnome shrugged her shoulders in confusion. “I take it you discovered something?"

“More than you know. Or I know, for that matter." Cassie inspected the talking suit of armor as best as she could manage, ultimately concluding the thread probably didn't sever entirely if everything was alright. “There's something linking you two. A lot, actually, but part of it was different than I'm used to finding. Might have been the curse. I need… time to process that."

“Well keep me apprised. I'd love to break this curse if possible. Soon, too."

“Yeah, you have a time limit, I guess…" Cassie's eyes shot wide and met with Sem's groaning expression. “I can keep a secret if need be. We'll figure all this out, Flux."

“So... there's nothing wrong for now?" Feeling the honest emotions of the firefox as he connected to her mind, Sem connected himself to the camera network and started walking to the main hallway doors. “Then let's all leave Erin to rest up. She'll need her energy for the celebration."

“Cele…" Cassie shared a knowing smile with Dani, then with a nod she followed the young emperor. “Glad to hear it, Sem. Let's give her a reason to smile."

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Take hold of my chains and lift me up when I'm not strong.

Take what remains, at your call's where I belong.

I'm on my knees but when it's you I know that it's not wrong.

I need you.

I miss you.

I love you.

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