by Greg Ramsay
Lia stood over him abruptly, letting her armour recede over her side so he could watch as her kynari emerged on tendrils from within the black abyss of her innards. Where the skin parted, it bled a familiar red, like a bad joke. “IS THAT HUMAN TO YOU?” she screamed as her body instantly healed. Her tendrils seamlessly sewed the gap, replacing it with skin. “I am this monster you made. I am this horror made for her benefit. I am this murderous joke... I KILLED OUR FUCKING DAUGHTER!” Lia yelled, her thoughts disjointed by too much devastation.
James just sat below her shrivelling under the pain in her voice which resonated with his own like a symphony of depression. He just sat there in tears, slumped over, wholly defeated. “What now James, do you still wanna tell me we’re transcendent beings or some shit? Some amazing upgrade to humanity? Shall we go outside and tell the whole damn world of monsters who don’t give a shit? Hey, maybe we’ll find some humans who will just hate us for what we really are so we’ll have to kill them, wouldn’t that be FUN? Well... what now? You always said I’m the brawn you’re the brains, tell me transcendent genius, what the fuck now?! SAY SOMETHING!” she demanded in tears, hitting him over and over into the cracking wall while he just calmly took it. His emotions hurt more than anything she did.
“I don’t know,” James finally said quietly.
“What do you mean you don’t know?” Lia seethed, slamming her fist into the wall and forming a crater.
“I don’t fucking know!” he yelled, violently pushing her away so he could get to his feet. Slightly shocked, Lia stood quietly. “There’s nothing left for us here!” he screamed at her angrily, more bothered by their situation than her aggression. She’d been military raised, served long before joining Spec Ops. Aggression based environments influenced her to think aggression first, which she did well to restrain, but he was used to the mindset. “What bothers me is there is nothing we can do!” he exclaimed sadly, finishing his trip down memory lane aloud for no one’s benefit. “Nothing left for us here...” he repeated to himself in a whisper. Lia stood there crying as if she was on an island; she barely had the room in her mind to care what he said.
James’ eyes lit up. “There is one option!” he said with optimism. Lia eyed him curiously. Sensing her curiousity he continued. “Space!” he exclaimed. Lia’s eyebrow raised. “In the years of healing that Tory symbolized, humanity’s drive to explore space increased exponentially. We’d long since abandoned pretending to care what we did to Earth, and the advances brought about by alien technology – not to mention the horrors we experienced thanks to them – drove us into a new space race.”
“Cut to the point,” Lia said coldly.
“While I was tasked initially with weapons research and then found my calling in biological science, my colleagues were colonizing the moon and Mars, a dream humanity had failed at for decades. The threat posed by early shifted, coupled with the biological dangers of living on Earth, prompted the wealthy to establish a colony ship in space. As shit really started to hit the fan when my strain warped our entire species irreversibly and our militaries could no longer keep the balance, institutions deemed to be essential to humanity were equipped with egress launch ships. One-way escape pods off Earth. Luckily, the one for MiraiCorp headquarters was hooked up before the genocidal riots and the eventual apocalypse that decimated our staff. By that point, it’s possible no one was left alive in government to care if we still deserved a pod or not so...” James rambled excitedly.
Lia cut him off there. “So, we have the potential to leave Earth to maybe find a colony ship, which is maybe still populated by our surviving essential humans – assuming they even survived this long aboard that vessel. Which may include people with the power to launch us out of the airlock out of spite. Since you’re the one responsible for creating the apocalypse that marooned them in space in the first place...”
“Well... yeah,” James said deflated. He shrugged. “Ultimately it comes down to one of two choices: remain here and spend our lives essentially mercy killing all the shifted that were once people on this violated planet, or take our chances in space. Maybe we’ll be able ingratiate ourselves with the survivors so that we can begin life anew.”
Lia huffed indignantly. “From my viewpoint I spent countless days wandering this big blue shithole hunting already. So I say we go to space, but I leave the ingratiating to you. Kissassery isn’t my specialty,” she said.
James chuckled. “Indeed not. Very well, if you’ll follow me I’ll show you to our way outta here.”
“Thanks Jeeves,” Lia said jokingly, following along as if nothing happened.
They took a quick detour to retrieve James’ kynari where they both absorbed them into their bodies, then they continued. Lia couldn’t shake all the thoughts rolling through her mind. She reflexively held her gut. Inwardly she felt like without her armour, the guilt would cripple her, and she had no one to blame but herself. Blaming James accomplished nothing; his typical over-honesty just took the drive out of her.
“So when was this convenient ship so graciously put in for us, and why?” Lia asked as they jogged through the massive complex eager to leave it all behind.
“During the time you were trapped in PsychoLife recovery, but very early on. MiraiCorp hired the best scientists and engineers in the world. Despite how things turned out, my work initially saved this species so that must’ve left me with just enough influence to not be blacklisted. In a cruel bit of luck, my colleagues dying before they could escape left us this opportunity. Part of me still wishes they’d opted to remain here rather than take the risk outside, but most wanted to be with their families. That or they just didn’t care anymore, or didn’t feel being stuck in a confined vessel in space was much different than being stuck down here.”
They navigated their way through several security doors, keenly aware the shifted had found Lia’s tunnel. Neither Barton cared, at this point shifted were just snack food. A small annoyance to be diced up and served.
“Would you care if we’re the only humans left? Would it bother you at all?” Lia asked coldly, aware of his lack of remorse at the deaths of his colleagues from the tone of his voice.
“No, not as long as you’re safe,” James replied sincerely, ignoring the implication of her question. She was looking for a fight to distract herself and he knew it.
Eventually they exited out of MiraiCorps main facility through a sheltered back exit with a massively extended shade roof held up by equally large concrete pillars. The architectural style certainly isn’t less flamboyant in reality, Lia thought to herself. She was heartened slightly by the fact her thoughts were always her own, but otherwise distraught internally. James set about guiding her into the pod. It wasn’t much of a pod by typical standards, more like a small plane that looked to be carved out of one piece of silver metal. She boarded quietly while he did the pre-flight check then engaged the auto-piloted launch sequence.
“Do we have a plan if these pre-programmed coordinates aren’t accurate anymore? Or if the ship is destroyed?” Lia asked.
“Fair. I don’t know, hope our power makes us immune to space?” James said jokingly. Lia gave him a dirty look. “Well it’s that or get really good at entertaining each other with stories till we’re dead. I don’t know about you, but I’m a shit storyteller,” he said still trying to sound funny, but they both knew it was a one-way trip. It had to work.
If this doesn’t work, it’s not like we deserve to live anyway, Lia thought to herself, her anger slowly fading into a deeper darker depression. James hit the launch button and the pod burst to life. Shifted gathered around them menacingly like a hateful send-off team. Lia waved mockingly, whispering dramatic goodbyes as if they were family. For whatever reason, the shifted didn’t attack. Instead they prowled around, inadvertently destroying everything they touched. Lia surmised they were either expecting her to come out into their ambush, or were simply weary of her at this point. Regardless, it didn’t matter because their pod blasted of
f its track at amazing speeds, thanks to its alien-upgraded EM drive.
“No big fireball? That’s boring,” Lia said. James smirked.
“EM drives propel with radio waves, no combustible fuel required for thrust. Instead we’re powered by a self-sustaining nuclear hybrid cell.”
“Fancy,” Lia said, not versed in the technology of it all.
“Out-dated though, or at least it would be... I heard rumours from RnD teams down south that the alien tech helped us crack harnessing dark matter. No clue what came of that though, if anything. That was just around the time shit really hit the fan.”
“You guys sure accomplished a lot fast,” Lia observed, slightly more interested. James laughed.
“Not really,” he said, “we basically just threw everything into ripping off our not-so-friendly-ETs in a desperate bid to get ahead of the Crimson Alliance.” Lia was perturbed.
“The Economic Wars were still going after all this time? I thought there was a cease-fire!” she said frustrated.
“There was, for a time. Then the aliens started becoming more prevalent and both sides saw them as an opportunity to get ahead of the other.”
“Goddamit, all that time spent in that festering base in China and you fucks went right back to it,” Lia said, shaking her head.
He knew her anger was fed by a deeper cause so he tried to make a joke. “This fuck had nothing to do with it... unless you count the time I spent half-heartedly pretending to design weapons which never got fully approved,” James said with a proud smile. Lia sighed.
“So we went to war for years with China, Russia, and North Korea over all the debt western powers owed. Which the brilliant US presidency decided to arbitrarily not pay into anymore. Finally, we came to a begrudging cease-fire, then just decided to destroy each other with alien toys for fun?” Lia asked rhetorically, not hiding the disappointed look on her face.
“Well it was more because our Freedom Front thought it pertinent to secure those advancements first so they could hold monopoly over the Crimson Alliance. While the Alliance wanted it first so they had one more thing to own us with,” James said like a tired professor.
“I still think those names are retarded, but hey, it’s just one more war I’m proud to have been part of,” Lia said with unhindered sarcasm. “Our country never should’ve bothered spending all those decades loyally helping the US like puppies, even before they annexed us.”
“In terms of the annexing, it was that or have our country rebranded, our identity lost,” James reminded her.
“I know it just pisses me off,” Lia retorted angrily, regret in her eyes.
“You did all you could against them, and for us, regardless of who was really in charge,” James said.
“You know I hate it when you say stuff like that,” Lia remarked irritably.
“Success or failure, there is no try,” James said repeating her mantra in a mocking tone. “The only exception being for Tory,” he finished with a smile.
“She was cute, that’s why she could try!” Lia said, taking his bait to change her focus.
James’ smile faltered. “That she was,” he said.
Lia’s sadness was once more interrupted by the violent force of the remaining atmosphere on their small vessel. Fire raged over the precisely darkened windows which made her think they were riding a flaming crimson arrow into space.
“You think this thing’s nose is reinforced and pointy enough to penetrate the colony ship if they deny us docking?”
“Uhh no...” James said with a mixture of curiosity and concern upon looking at her determined smile.
“But we could totally come crashing through, give them uppity high-society bitches a fun wake-up call; it’d be cool!” Lia said with joking aggression.
“Uhh no...” James repeated.
“You’re no fun,” Lia said turning away from him, hoping that would be enough to erase the guilty look on his face for referencing Tory.
“That’s why you married me, pretty war child,” he replied sarcastically.
“Okay, first I married you cuz I wanted a gravy train and second you know I hate that stupid nickname!” Lia said joking, but frustrated, a smile forcing its way onto her face.
“Hey, I didn’t give it to you, your mama did. I just like how it bugs ya. You’re the one who was bound and determined to enlist young since they’d changed most age-of-majority laws, and you were so sure your mama would understand... once she knew the real reason why... I suggested you marry me just before then so I could pimp you out instead!” James said, barely holding back his self-satisfied laughter.
Lia laughed in mock annoyance. “Ya cuz that would’ve been so much more fulfilling...” she said sarcastically, punching him in his dumb smirk when she finished. In hindsight most things would’ve been more fulfilling, she thought to herself, trying to ignore all the sad memories of war. “Mama never was a big fan of the law changes, but people were getting weaker with diseases even before the super cancer, so people matured faster... I think she just didn’t want me to become a disposable war machine like her. Hence the stupid nickname to annoy me into changing my mind” Lia said retrospectively.
“Ya, she was all for the pimpin’ plan. If it weren’t for the terrorist attack, I’m sure we could’ve convinced you to go for it!” James said. Lia laughed, despite his reference;
They both knew no mama would be intrigued by that idea. Thinking about her mama reminded her of her slow death by skin cancer, just one of the common after-effects of a damaged ozone layer. “I still wish we’d gone to couples counselling after the attack rather than you just running off to join Spec Ops while I hid behind work.”
Lia gave him an angry defensive look which quickly turned to sadness. She didn’t want to rehash that, regrets aside. Her face remained a stoic statue, her eyes sad. They spent the rest of the trip in an increasingly thick silence. James could tell he’d said one thing too many so he focused on finding their destination. The system was autopiloted so he mostly just played with the interface to kill time.
Chapter 4 – Utopia Prime
Hours later they arrived at the vector previously programmed into their pod. The colony ship wasn’t there. Lia was dismayed, but unsurprised. Undeterred, James found a hailing broadcast coming from something called Utopia Prime. He piloted them the rest of the way to it manually.
“Is that the ship?” Lia said with quiet amazement.”
“I believe so,” James said with a somewhat relieved smile.
In front of them was an absolutely massive vessel that made the old International Space Station look like a tiny toy. Its exterior was covered in large, somewhat rushed patches of muted grey military spaceship armour. Designation codes, section labels and the ship’s name had been hastily stencilled on in typical military fashion. This combined with the giant thruster ports and tacked-on exterior weapons, served to make what was once an all-inclusive pleasure vessel for the rich, into an overly gaudy war machine, a last bastion for an unknown number of people. For Lia is was an uncanny sight, having not been to space before. What she saw looked like an over-sized pleasure cruiser had a baby with a modern armed marine aircraft carrier – then they randomly duct taped some tank turrets at strategic points for added boom.
“What a hot mess that is,” she remarked to herself.
“Yeah, it was a bit of a rush job on the United Nation’s part. Despite the war, all sides could see we needed an exit strategy since the planet was failing. My wonder drug was slowly becoming a concern; the alien guerilla invasion was becoming a higher level of threat than a stupid money war, and our foothold in space was being gradually besieged by the aliens.”
“The rush job’s been having a tough time,” Lia observed, still reeling slightly from the amount of chaos she’d missed. As they got closer she could see scarring and pockmarks marring the ship’s hull. Then she noticed many of those damaged points being automatically filled in slowly by an unknown substance that re-hardened to form the s
urrounding metal.
“Seem familiar?” James asked rhetorically. “I helped develop that during my time in military RnD, figured a defensive project couldn’t hurt. Ironically it’s based on alien tech similar to what you found.”
“So the ship’s a living hybrid monster too?” Lia asked incredulously.
“No, our armour only has similarities...” James said, unsurprised she caught onto his irony reference. He continued, “That self-replicating repair effect has to be triggered by a commanding officer with specific parameters, not to mention supplemental metal. Which means we’re not alone up here!” James said, hoping his positivity would reach her.
“Great,” she said somewhat coldly.
They approached the imposing vessel; its initial haphazard modified appearance soon gave way to an impression of awe.
“Is everyone from Earth, the Moon, and Mars in this hulk of a thing?” Lia asked, estimating the possibility.
“Last I heard, yes. The latter two colonies were mostly indefensible novelties that get abandoned seasonally. Everyone that survived the maelstrom of chaos our species has been subjected to over these last years will be aboard this ... Utopia,” James finished, testing the fit of its name, finding it satisfactory.
Suddenly their comms crackled to life. “Incoming vessel, you’re showing as MiraiCorp facility 013, please confirm occupants.”
James hit the talk button. “This is Dr. James Barton, head of installation 013, and my wife Emilia. Requesting permission to board.” A long tense silence followed, Lia was beginning to wonder if they’d be shot down.
“Permission granted, please re-engage auto pilot as we’ve already uploaded docking parameters,” the man said.
“Thank you,” James said before complying.
Slowly their pod chauffeured them to a nondescript docking area with a very utilitarian design. They docked seamlessly with no issue though the large locking clamps that held their pod in place unnerved her. What if they see us for what we are? Now we have no way out. She thought to herself, passing James a look. He returned her a confident smirk. They marched down a long metallic hallway starkly lit by LED spotlights, leaving nowhere for them to hide; the obvious cameras had full view of their arrival.
