Lying still seemed to make the nanobot-induced twitchiness worse, and I didn’t want to waste any time. I had to regroup with the others of my kind; they might know how to get rid of these blasted machines. It was as if the portal I’d stepped through to read the lounge was never there; some of the rooms seemed to be rearranging themselves as I walked. Even if I figured out a path to escape, this place was a maze that Sagua could redraw on a whim. Manual locomotion took me to a ballroom filled with Treysyl.
I looked for the gruff military man who’d been taking charge back in the cafeteria. There were a lot of people here, but that fellow seemed as good of a guy as any to buddy up with and figure out what was going on. Anyone who was planning how to take the Pelsyl’s heads off for all that they’d done was an ideal ally in my book. Besides, it’d be nice to talk to someone who had an idea what to do. I could use some marching orders right about now.
By the confidence he showed even in a situation like this, he must be an officer. I wonder why he thinks we died though? Because the aliens said so?
“Sir!” My eyes finally picked him out of the crowd, and I hurried over to him while trying not to swat at my pelt like a madman…and hoping the sickening eyes I’d seen wouldn’t put them off. “It’s me, from the cafeteria. I’m Private Lucren Aftasia from the Ninth Lateral Regiment. I was at the Battle for Laskwoods, um, and I really need answers. A briefing, please!”
“I don’t blame you for being frazzled, son. Come and join us.” The Treysyl officer gave me a friendly gesture, and while his eyes were clear, I noticed many of his comrades had the telltale black gazes and rocked with familiar discomfort. Seeing the injectees heal must’ve persuaded a lot of us. “General Becimi Hrothl. I’m the highest-ranking officer we’ve found here, so I’ve set up an impromptu command post.”
Shock rippled through my fur. “General?”
“That’s correct. It’s vital that we get a working chain of command and assess the aliens’ threat level. We have no clue what they want with us, but the surveillance network they must possess is alarming. My men are trying to gather intelligence and find a way out of here. With that said, our options are…limited.”
“Yeah. I saw what that…Sagua did out there. Sir, forgive my directness, but I need to know. Why are you so sure you died, and that the aliens didn’t just abduct us all to stop us from fighting? I was about to shoot as many Pelsyl fucks as I could. Next thing I knew, I was here. Nothing happened to me! How can you be so sure?”
General Hrothl chuckled. “Because I was sickly, son, from a cancer that spread quickly to almost every part of my body. I felt the life fade away, surrounded by my family, and saw my life flashed before my eyes. Unimaginable peace and oblivion, then I’m zapped back: in a much younger, healthier body. I know I was dead. What I don’t know is how they fixed it.”
A different body? Younger? What the fuck? Is this guy an impostor? This is my body, right? Am I me? Does any of this make fucking sense?!
“Not everyone here is military,” a female voice offered timidly. “I’m a civilian. I was in a car crash, and I remember the paramedic in the ambulance saying to stay with him.”
I blinked in sheer, abject confusion. “Why are they taking civilians?! Then their motive can’t be just to stop the war. It’s everyone. They…can’t be watching everywhere all the time. They just, what, supposedly know the second anyone dies? They make it seem that way, maybe, but…”
Another soldier gave me a sympathetic nudge. “I remember looking down the barrel of a gun, feeling pain in my chest after it fired, point blank. It was so cold.”
“Okay, so…they abducted you and healed you!” I attempted. “There was no light or anything. They must step in, like, right before death. I’m not dead!”
“Sorry, but you must’ve died quick, buddy. That’s a mercy. Found some of my buddies up here that I…felt their pulse go. Saw the light leave their eyes, sent them home in a body bag. They’re here, alive, like nothing ever happened. Resurrection ain’t out of their power. They’re…I don’t know, man. Shit’s wild.”
I slumped over and thought hard about what that final click I’d heard was, if not the aliens’ abduction technology. The light had burned my retinae for a split second, and I had felt my very consciousness slip away into a single moment of time, where nothingness seemed to reign eternal. It was more than being knocked out; I’d been to the other side. How did I begin to accept that?! I really died in battle, but that meant my family back home were mourning me for no reason. I was fine!
That also means the aliens saved me, and I would be dead without their intervention. Should I be grateful? They brought me back, but then keep us all from our homes as prisoners. What the fuck?! I’m not prepared to deal with this, fuck! Death is supposed to be the end, not…the beginning of insanity!
Dazed and overwhelmed by the undeniable realizations, I scrambled to think back on Preston’s introductory video. He’d said that his people found Teska recently, by a random happenstance of fate, but how could they have the wherewithal to establish this level of technology and surveillance so swiftly? That meant that every other Arata before they arrived wasn’t brought back; this was all recent and new. We were the first of our people to go through all of this!
I found myself hyperventilating, as I thought of the metal pipe shattering against Sagua’s head without her even flinching; she hadn’t cared about anything we might try, because it was out of our capacity to hurt her. There wasn’t any hope of fighting back against these aliens, whatever their intentions were! Wait. This Treysyl soldier said he’s seen friends of his who died, perfectly fine. Keensty was on the way out; he should’ve passed over by now. There was no saving him, not with our tech.
I hoped that I could find my best mate, if there was to be one clear positive about Aratas being revived, and screamed at the top of my lungs. “Keensty!”
I kept bellowing his name and running all over the place, ignoring confused looks. My legs couldn’t carry me fast enough, as I asked any gathering of soldiers in the room if they’d seen my best friend. I got a lot of negative responses, though I didn’t waste any time before moving to the next one. If I had to, there was no question that I’d sprint down that unending hallway and pound on doors until I found him. Goodness, I needed a familiar face here, and he must too if he was going through the same thing.
“Keensty!” I screamed, skidding past a sitting area in the back corner.
A Treysyl that I’d recognize anywhere stood up from a couch, and stared back at me. “Lucren?”
I rushed over to embrace him, beyond relieved by the miracle that was us being reunited; it’d been unbearable to watch him slip away. “I’m so sorry for leaving you!”
“It’s okay. I understand, brother. If we knew we’d just wake up here, maybe it wouldn’t have been so hard. I didn’t hang on much longer after you left, but dying was…a strange experience. I didn’t expect to find you, though. I’m, uh, sorry. What happened?”
“I…I don’t remember much, but I guess I died to some kind of explosion? One second, I was holding my gun, then the next, I was switched here in a flash of light. I didn’t get the detailed post-mortem view that a lot of folks did.”
Keensty glanced upward and chuckled. “It was such a wonderful peace that made me feel…small and at home at the same time. It was tough to adjust to being alive for the first few minutes back; it’s something that’ll stick with me. Don’t come back from that the same. Anyway, whatcha think about them aliens?”
“I think they’re to be avoided at all costs. We have to get out of here, Keensty. They want to keep us here, away from home, away from everyone we ever knew! You have no idea what I saw her do.”
“Her?”
“Sagua. Watcher Sagua-svran Carter was how she introduced herself. She could incapacitate an entire room full of dueling Aratas with a single thought, and seems invulnerable to any kind of physical damage. They’re fucking immortal for a reason, and I’ve seen how quickly they can heal even if you do scratch them. There’s damn near nothing they can’t do. We can’t fight ‘em, so what’s even our plan to escape?!”
Surprise flashed on Keensty’s face. “They’re immortal?”
“You didn’t watch the intro video?”
“No. I’ve only heard other people talk about the aliens, and seen the whole…space station.”
“This guy named Preston, with creepy black eyes, introduced himself as a human. He claims they just found us, and that they’re giving us eternal life for some reason. He then…proceeded to say that they were understaffed and not set up, like I’m just supposed to accept that while I’m freaking the fuck out. This is just Sagua’s fucking job?!”
Keensty’s eyes glazed a bit, but his nostrils flared in acknowledgment. “I…see. Her job is a ‘Watcher.’ Watching us and making sure we don’t cause trouble? But if it’s just a job to her, maybe you can earn her favor. Maybe the play is not to avoid her at all!”
I gawked at him. “What? Did you hear a word I just said about how powerful she is?”
“We can’t fight her. Nothing says she can’t be charmed, buddy.”
“She is a levitating immortal from another planet who can reverse death itself and speak inside of your eardrum! She didn’t seem keen on negotiating when I told her to release us. She issued a warning not to test her…and there’s a wait of 108 days to even speak to a Watcher. How would I even find her without killing a few Pelsyl?!”
“It’s not that hard. Look, I heard from the first people I chatted with that there’s an administrative part of the station. They figured out where this Sagua goes in her downtime; I suppose a lot of Aratas want to figure out how to remove her from the picture. I think they mentioned her by name even. You can keep her distracted and talking, while I sneak through the private section of her quarters. I just need time to find information and a ship, and figure out how it all works. You can handle that.”
“What?! Absolutely not! She’s really fucking scary and authoritative! What happens if she figures out I’m tricking her, huh? She warps me into outer fucking space?! I don’t want to try dying again! You walk up and have a conversation with her, if you think that’s such a great idea.”
“Lucren, you don’t know the first thing about breaking in anywhere. Do you think you’re better off doing the stealth part, when you’re not the least bit furtive?! My role’s a fuck ton more dangerous, getting caught actually snooping. You have plausible deniability.”
I rubbed my head, flummoxed. “Shit, man. Do you really think that’s worth the risk?”
“I want to go home, not be ruled over for time immemorial. Our place is there. It beats staying here.”
“Fuck. I guess there’s not much choice then.” Defeat sank into my bones, like increased gravity was weighing them down again. Keensty was right; it was our only hope to try anything, and it was a lot ballsier to go snooping around than to try to make conversation. “What do I even say to…a being like that?”
“I don’t know. Maybe she has a good side, like any normal person? In her world, she’s just doing her job. Be polite and sympathetic to that. Apologize for giving her trouble. Make general friendly conversation and be a good listener. Perhaps even a few compliments; one way to find out if she’s receptive to charm.”
“Okay,” I muttered, sucking in a sharp breath. “What if she doesn’t want to talk to an Arata on her downtime?”
“Then leave, obviously, but you have to give it an honest try first. It might work. I can’t risk her stepping out early or monitoring some kind of security. At least, not if I don’t have to. Are you in?”
“I can’t fucking believe this. It’s a crazy enemy we’re making here,” I sighed, before slapping him on the shoulder. “Yeah, Keensty. I’m in. Just tell me what to do.”
“We go tonight, before anyone else makes a move. I’ll keep an eye on the time, and you head over there around when they said she clocks off. I’ll point you to Sagua, then we go our separate ways. You do your job, and I’ll worry about mine. Okay?”
“Okay. I’m the distraction for the alien that views us as little mites. I’m sure it’ll be fine. She probably won’t put me back to being dead, right?”
Mischief flickered in Keensty’s eyes. “That’s the spirit! I’d wondered where your sense of adventure went. You and me, watching each other’s backs in our new space life. Some things never change.”
“I’m glad you’re here. You’ve given me…something to do. Some kind of plan—hope. I just hope you’re right, for both of our sakes. This has to work. I’m trusting you.”
“I don’t know anything about aliens either. I’ll do my best, and hopefully, that moves the needle. Now go get some rest. You can meet me back here afterward. You look like shit.”
“Gee, thanks. That’s not nice to say to someone who just died.”
Keensty chuckled and bid me farewell, while I heeded his advice to rest up; the stress of my ordeal had left me exhausted. I had to be at my sharpest if I was going to intrude on Sagua’s free time and not just survive, but ingratiate myself to her. Having discovered that my best friend lived again and having a plan in my back pocket, I felt a bit more calm than I had after my close encounter. There was a slim chance of escaping the Watchers, and I intended to do everything in my power to make it work.
A/N - 3! Lucren meets up with a Treysyl general and is forced to accept his own death. He then runs off to locate Keensty, who is alive and well. Keensty hatches a scheme for him to snoop around the Watchers’ Station, while Lucren tries to charm and distract Sagua.
How do you think Lucren’s attempts to find, interact with, and trick Sagua will go over? Will his opinions on her change? Do Aratas have a hope of escaping the station?
As always, thank you for reading and supporting!