The exhilaration of sitting across from Sagua hadn’t worn off, as I made my way to the corner of the lounge to await Keensty’s return. It didn’t matter how I felt about the alien, one way or the other; she still was so far removed from us and our experiences, that it would be impossible for her to take our side. What was I going to do: stay here and see if the Watchers pulled the plug? I didn’t belong in all of…this. I wanted my normal life back, not to spend a million tomorrows here!
General Hrothl joined me on the couch to await Keensty’s findings, having heard about our intelligence gathering efforts. I kept some of the more panic-inducing things Sagua had told me to myself, but mentioned the gist of our distraction effort. The general would be vital to crafting a plan and determining what to do with that intelligence, to benefit all of Treysyl kind. We had to give the others up here a chance to escape too. He also had connections that’d give his fantastical claims more credibility than random infantry,
What secrets is Sagua harboring? What does she even do in her free time? Create universes? Teleport race across a hundred solar systems? Make floating art out of nanobots like it’s clay? She’s unknowable, when her job is so far-fetched; my life is drab and boring compared to what she must enjoy.
“I’m back!” Keensty announced, giving the general a cursory glance. “You filled him in?”
I cleared my throat, trying to focus. “Yeah. We’re loyal to our people. Anything that might help us gain control of the station or counter the aliens, the man in charge should know.”
A wicked amusement glinted in his eyes, and he slapped me on the back. “Alright then! Look at you, Lucren! What was she like?”
“She was…I don’t even know where to begin. Wonderfully inviting, but carrying a heavy burden of responsibility. It was like she’d bare her soul for a morsel of kindness from us! Her intentions are so profound that you can’t doubt them, when she explains it all. Sagua talked about her family and honoring their legacy, her childhood, and you could almost forget that she’s…immortal. Powerful. Very naive though: she has no idea who she’s helping in the Pelsyl.”
Keensty chuckled. “You sound starstruck, Lucren. You know you were supposed to charm her, not the other way around?”
“I just…she listened more than I thought, even when I was being genuine. We can reason with her. Trust me, we need Sagua’s help; she’s going through a lot of trouble to prove to her people that the resurrected Aratas are worthwhile. The Watchers are overwhelmed.”
“Then they’re vulnerable,” Hrothl murmured. “We should offer our assistance. And you should keep your foot in the door and get closer to her at every opportunity. That’s what she wants to hear, and when the Pelsyl remain unruly, she’ll realize which half of the station are above the others.”
I flexed my frills, feeling uncertain that Sagua would differentiate us from those mongrels. “Sagua wants to speak again. I’ll try to bring her around. I do like her, you know. She’s really trying to save everyone.”
“The alien’s a bleeding heart then? Those types are very easy to play with sympathy, son.”
That comment didn’t sit well with me, but I bit my tongue. “Yes, sir. I tried to get Sagua to understand what we’ve been through. Was the honest truth, and she has plenty of empathy. She’s not some heartless monster toying with us, nothing like I thought. But this plan wasn’t about our chat. That was all at your insistence. Keensty, please tell me you found something.”
“Oh, I sure did!” My best friend pulled out a sheet of paper that looked like a blueprint, marked with strange glyphs, unrecognizable writing, and isolated structures. “I can’t tell what it says, obviously, but this is a map of the station. The more words and symbols we can figure out, the closer we are to understanding their language. I…think the blue circles with dotted lines going to other boxes are portals? Hidden portals? That’s how I found the one to their sleeping quarters.”
“Then the aliens have secret areas that exist between spaces,” Hrothl responded. “That’s how they get around and keep to themselves.”
I gawked at Keensty, who seemed to be having a grand time with all of this. “Hang on. You just stepped through a portal to a hidden area you knew nothing about, were okay with losing it and not getting back, and wandered around?”
“I thought it was all pretty cool. I’m exploring an alien space station? Everything I find tells us more about them. The way they live is fascinating,” he gushed, sounding far too thrilled. “These super-old people from other planets just chill out and sleep here. I recognize some of their stuff, and it’s eerie how much it’s like an Arata’s living space! Imagine the new kinds of…everything they have.”
“How does this help us, Keensty?!”
“The map helps,” he stated simply, grunting like it was obvious. “The rest is info about her. It’s easier to charm someone when you know what they like. Especially if I need Sagua to be distracted for extended lengths of time. The other ones should be asleep, for the most part, if they didn’t just get off work. They were when I peeked in the windows!”
“You looked?! Keensty, are you trying to get caught?”
“I had to know where they were before I went too deep in. Couldn’t walk in the wrong room. I had no clue which one was Sagua’s, but it’s pretty easy. I’ve heard lots of people describe her. She has a bunch of printed photographs of herself taped to her door: some in crazy places, others with people. The kind of stuff you’d see on social media.”
“They like capturing snapshots of their travels?” It was bizarre to think of Sagua as a sightseeing tourist, but it sounded like her travels had been incredible. It would be intriguing to hear what she thought the most fascinating places in the multiverse were; the allure of her mementos wasn’t going to help us escape though. “How curious. When we spoke, she seemed to be able to scan her memories back like video footage.”
“The photos must be decor to show what’s important to her to others. The first impression. Or who knows, maybe she just likes photography. Everyone likes to see a good still of themselves!”
I pressed a hand to my head. “Right. The three-million-year-old alien likes taking selfies. I’m sure she has hobbies that are right up our alley. We’ll show her our nanobots next!”
“If our tech level changed tomorrow, Aratas would still like the same things. It wouldn’t change our appreciation for our favorite songs, stories, or whatever!” Keensty fired back. “I poked around her quarters, you know. She has a bunch of horned instruments. I figure she must play them, and maybe that tells you what type of music she likes.”
General Hrothl leaned forward, giving me a stern look. “Lucren, you should tailor your interests to hers. The more common ground you have, the more susceptible she’ll be to your overtures.”
“What…what are you saying? I don’t like the word overture at all,” I spat, taken aback. My favorite Arata songs were with skipping horns, throaty percussion, and multiple vocalists forming a chorus. Keensty knew Sagua and I had that in common, but there was no way I shared any interests with a… “I genuinely like horns! I don’t need to pretend.”
“Even better. Authenticity will make your job easier. Perhaps you could convince her to play for you, somehow. Remember, compliments.”
“I’m sure it would be incredible, with all of the musical experience Sagua must have. She’s had lifetimes to practice. I can’t imagine what their horns would sound like; it’d probably put ours to shame. Arata music must be…simplistic child’s play by comparison.”
Keensty whistled. “You have quite the high opinion of these aliens and their capabilities. Don’t put them on a pedestal too much! What did she even say?!”
“You didn’t hear how casual she was about eternity. Her voice was as playful as a summer breeze rippling across your shirt collar. She knows the way she wants to live and the things she enjoys.”
“She has fluffy pink curtains by her window.”
“Okay?”
“She has reminder sticky notes all over the place. Especially by her mirror.”
“That’s a good organization system. She has a lot to keep track of. Your point is?”
My best friend snickered. “I think Sagua’s more relatable than you’ve made her out to be in your head, however old she is. She seems to want companionship, and she doesn’t seem that different from Arata women. It shouldn’t be that hard for you to win her over, Lucren; you know how to be a genuine likeable guy. You two could be thick as thieves in no time.”
“I think there’s a lot of potential avenues to form a connection and exploit that to our advantage,” Hrothl agreed. “We figure out her social and emotional needs, and target the person behind the tech. This is fantastic work, soldiers! Keep it up, and keep searching the rest of the station for an escape route. Was that all there is to share? I was hoping to piece together more of how their tech works.”
“Hm, well, General, that actually does bring me to the last thing I found. Wait, I found a few messages from her family on some sort of computer, but I accidentally closed out of them. Couldn’t understand them either. I think it was her family though? It was a woman with a big head, no hair, looked like she would kick your ass, Lucren. She’s in a lot of the pictures.”
“Ahem. What’s the last thing you found, soldier?”
“Right. It was these metal bracelets she had on her dresser. They were simple and gray. I wondered why she’d wear them. She seems to have good fashion sense, but these would just blend right in with her skin. I tried them on because I was curious, and…I felt this weird pull in my wrists when I focused on anything.”
I squinted at Keensty. “What do you mean?”
“It’s like that feeling when you have sunglasses on your head long enough you forget you’re wearing them. Like there was this…energy reaching out from me, that was a part of me. I accidentally knocked a metal box onto the floor, without touching it. I couldn’t control it, but when I focused on it, I could move it. I think I discovered the source of her power!”
My brain began working at rapid speed, now that I had a partial explanation for how her fantastical abilities worked. “Everything she does. It really is just machines.”
“Machines that we could learn to use, the same as her,” Hrothl stated. “Keensty, did you bring the bracelets back?”
“No, of course not. She would’ve noticed they’re gone! I tried to put everything back like I found it, then get the heck out of there, in case the noise drew any attention. I didn’t know how long Lucren’d keep her occupied either,” Keensty explained.
I blinked several times. “Well, that’s a start at defending ourselves and understanding how their powers work. We need to find a pair in a less conspicuous place, and learn how to use them. It could be very useful to one-up the Pelsyl too. I doubt they can exist without attacking us for long.”
“Of that, I’m certain.” The general stood and gave us slow nostril twitches that communicated respect. “Gentlemen, I’ll take my leave. You know what you have to do next. We need that tech, and we need Sagua eating out of Lucren’s palm.”
“Yes, sir!” I forced myself to match Keensty’s enthusiastic response, though I was uncertain that betraying the alien was the right idea. I should at least see how she reacts after researching the Mainbeam. I plan to talk to her again, but to persuade her of how sinister our brethren are.
Finding myself lost in thoughts, I bid Keensty farewell and retraced my steps back to my room for some much-needed shuteye. I was uncertain how to feel imagining Sagua setting some…alien frillhorn down to write herself a sticky note that read “Greet the dead.” I could picture her just as she described, as a child taking deep whiffs of the fresh barbecue her dad was making; the scent of the ribs lingered in my nostrils. She must look out that pink-curtained window and think of home.
Did Sagua take any pictures of her time with the Aratas, when there were no good memories to save? Will she want to remember our people for a million years?
I cursed and shook my head, trying to snap myself out of it. It was dangerous to think of Sagua like any other person, when she’d lived a life that was radically different to an Arata’s wildest imaginings and had boundless power at her fingertips. She didn’t frighten me that much anymore, but I didn’t want to assume her motives were so simple; we had to escape because we were subject to the Watchers’ whims and patience. My goal was to get out of here, not to feel truly close to a human.
Whoever Sagua was in actuality, I couldn’t allow myself to get confused or to let my perplexing liking for her as a person distract me from the mission.
A/N - 5! Hrothl wants Lucren to get Sagua wrapped around his finger, while Keensty has discovered a lot about Watcher machines and technology that can be co-opted. Will Lucren knowing Sagua’s powers? What happens if the Aratas get their hands on Watcher tech?
As always, thank you for reading and supporting!