Origins of Hope

by Anastasia Drapievsky

  Celes frowned but understood why Ayzize got nervous. Many people from Valen had been displaced to Beir, previously living boring yet peaceful lives until seven XIK-Rs had attacked. The tendrils of that sunny morning with the smell of iron seeped into her mind, and she pushed it away. “OK,” she said, “but I want details later.”

  Ayzize nodded, though he looked resigned to do so.

  A few minutes passed as they chatted about other things; Celes’ grades, Ayzize’s other jobs that didn’t involve ripping XIKs apart, and ended up in current events by the time the chefs delivered their bowl of noodles.

  “No one is at war, right?” Celes continued to grill Ayzize, slurping her noodles with small pieces of squid in it. The chefs had claimed that the squid came from Krshk III, but Ayzize said it was a regular squid shipped from Yuri.

  “Not officially, no,” Ayzize said, eating his own vegetarian noodles, a copy of an Aphin Selyn dish. “There have been some skirmishes on all sides; the only ones who have done nothing to anyone—publicly at least—are the Chilao and the Selyn, though if the GA and The Ascendancy go to war, that will likely change for both of them.”

  “The Chilao are a part of the Independent Nations, though…” she said, frowning. “Why would they go to war?”

  Ayzize scoffed. “The Nations just have trade treaties to make it harder for them to go to war with each other. That’s all that’s stopping them, really.”

  “Is it true the Levan might join The Ascendancy, then?” she asked, remembering a news report she got to watch two weeks ago when her father had passed out in his room rather than the living room.

  Ayzize paused for a moment. “Doubt it,” he said, sucking in some noodles. “The Rym treat the Levan just as bad as the Iaiedal do, so the Levan don’t really like either of them. The Prism are also too severe for anyone but their allies to tolerate them.”

  “Have you met a Prism?”

  “Twice,” Ayzize grimaced. “We had one in Raxdrýn—not sure where it is now, since it has been several years ago. It worked the security sector—and then I met another somewhere in Ascendancy territory a while back. The one in Raxdrýn wasn’t too bad; it just talked very mechanically, though it did attempt poetry several times. Poems were actually pretty decent.”

  “And the one in The Ascendancy?”

  “Met it on one of the Prism’s newer colonies. Whole bunch of Kath’laka were there too since they had that…issue.” He gave her a poignant look, his eyes glancing to their neighbors. “Kath’laka are pretty big—”

  “I know; I met one,” Celes said, her eyes downcast.

  “You did?” Ayzize turned in his seat to survey the market as if expecting a Kath’laka to walk amongst humans. “Oh… right. Aorírdal.” He fell silent for a few seconds. “I’m sure they take care of the kids there.”

  Celes nodded slowly. It still hurt thinking about how much she missed Zander. “I found out as much as I could about them before Prior Matoskah Minkko called me. Dad couldn’t help Zander, so I was kinda… worried.” She honestly had felt scared since the trigger for their father’s rage had been over things that Zander did on accident, like staring at the grass outside and making it change different shades of green, and voicing everything in their father's head aloud. No matter what Celes said or did, from explaining that Zander could ‘help’ plants, or attempt to teach their father to put up a mental barrier against Zander’s weak telepathic abilities, just made their father angrier. She could hear her father’s thoughts turn to her mother frequently during the times Zander used his abilities. While Celes had learned to never use her psionic abilities in front of her father, Zander didn't know how to restrain his abilities yet. “But Aorírdal is full of psychics, and no other college wanted to take him in…”

  Ayzize’s eyebrows went up as he took a sip of his water. “You didn’t tell me that part.”

  “Oh… no.” Celes drank the broth in her bowl. “I net-mailed some of the other colleges and didn’t get to all of them. The Earth colleges said he didn’t ‘qualify’, and the ones on Yuri thought I was lying. I had net-mailed a guild on Promessa when Prior Minkko called me. After the other ones said that Zander wasn’t good enough, I had no idea that Aorírdal would even want to know about Zander.”

  “Did the Prior say why?” Ayzize mimicked her by drinking some of his own broth.

  “Said… mom had contacted him several years ago,” she stated, using her chopsticks to stir the noodles around the bowl and not looking at him. Ayzize sucked in a breath. “Prior Minkko said something along the lines they were ready to take Zander. I was just happy that Zander could finally get away, that I really didn’t think of anything else at the time, but now… I dunno.” She paused, then looked at Ayzize. “Do you think it was weird that mom contacted them and then they said they were ‘ready’ for him?”

  Ayzize shifted in his chair, not meeting her gaze. “I don’t know, Celes. Aorírdal is unknowable, and probably for a good reason.” At Celes looking back down at her bowl, he added, “But your mom was a caring person; I could tell that immediately when I first met her. She wouldn’t have contacted Aorírdal if she didn’t feel that they could take care of her son.”

  Then why am I still with dad? She thought, anger rising in her chest before she quelled it down. It wasn’t her mom’s fault; she couldn’t have been able to see everything. “Yeah, you’re right,” she sighed. “I miss him a lot, and I’m just… maybe a little jealous of him since…” she gestured around, as if their surroundings explained the corrupt school, her alcoholic father, and a dead-end future. “I’m stuck here. Kinda wish I was good enough too…” she mumbled. She slurped her broth again in hopes Ayzize had not heard her, before catching him wearing a frown of guilt on his face. “What?”

  He narrowed his eyes. “A kid your age shouldn’t think like that.”

  She frowned. “Well, I do,” she said, perhaps more aggressively than she intended, and downed the rest of her broth and noodles. “But it’s OK. I’ll get outta here somehow.” She put down the bowl. “Dunno how yet, but I will figure it out. Maybe I can practice telekinesis by bouncing more balls off Elliot’s head…” she smiled at the memory. “I’ll walk up to a college and wow them with my ball-head bouncing skills!”

  This time Ayzize chuckled, a genuine smile on his face. “Let me know when that happens, because I want to see it.”

  “Come to my school tomorrow, and maybe you will,” she grinned. “I only got detention this time!”

  After Ayzize finished eating his noodles, he ordered some food to go, and they walked down the sidewalk together. The street lights glimmered, some fizzing in and out, and most not working at all. While she normally didn’t like walking outside at night, she felt a little safer with Ayzize, sticking close as they headed down the street.

  “So,” she looked up expectantly at him as they passed several alleyways, teenagers leering at them from the depths, “you gonna tell me about the Karaxes virus?”

  Ayzize eyed their surroundings, following the movements of other pedestrians. The faint glow of the Tristat covered his eyes; he said once he became gene-spliced with Iaiedal DNA, he couldn’t see well in the dark unless he had the Tristat on. “You said the Verakas Virus earlier.”

  “Same thing.”

  “ ‘Same’—no it isn’t,” he shook his head. “They are related but… not the same. Maybe. Have you heard of the Xyren at least?”

  Celes wrinkled her nose at Ayzize being vague. Out of the sixteen space-faring species she had heard of, the Xyren were not one of them. “No.”

  Ayzize muttered some bad words about her school and government before he said, “Well, a promise is a promise.” >>But we are talking like this for now, since I’d rather not spook anyone who overhears us,<< he continued telepathically, openly meeting passerby’s looks as they walked down the sidewalk.

  >>OK,<< she replied, excited that she got to learn new information about an alien species and could practice telepathic speech.

&n
bsp; Not looking at her and keeping his eyes around them, he said, >>I’m going to condense a very long and complicated history lesson into a few minutes. Try to keep questions to a minimum; otherwise, we’ll be here all night and I have to leave early tomorrow. Also, I only know enough to help me in the field. Going into the virology of it is something I don’t know, so don’t ask. Hopefully, one day you’ll get the longer version, but this will have to be good enough for the time being.<<

  Celes nodded, grinning. >>OK, I won’t ask a lot of questions.<<

  Sighing, Ayzize cracked his neck. >>The Karaxes virus became the Verakas virus… or the Verakas virus originated from the Karaxes virus. Not sure which.<<

  She stared at him. >>Uh, what?<<

  He fortunately didn’t give her an irritated glance at her question. >>Best I can summarize it. For a bit of background, about six millennia ago, the Xyren were the newest species to join the Galactic Accord, but their health methodology—or knowledge about it—was just as advanced as the GA’s, if not more. They were natural experts in biology, chemistry, medicine, you name it.<<

  >>Where are they now?<< Celes asked, frowning. They sounded important, but as much as the news talked about their GA allies, it never mentioned the Xyren.

  >>I’ll get to that.<< His mental voice sounded exasperated. >>Anyway, maybe a millennium or so ago, the Xyren found a virus in one of their remote colonies. It wasn’t dangerous or lethal, or even out of the ordinary—viruses happen all the time on all habitable worlds. The Xyren studied it and kept it contained, calling it the ‘Karaxes virus’. But then, somehow Karaxes started spreading colony to colony. This was strange, since the Xyren were very careful about keeping diseases contained. The virus was very contagious in their species despite them trying to stop it, and Karaxes eventually jumped species. Few viruses can infect three similar species, let alone all of them, so it was very alarming at the time.<<

  Celes scratched her chin. The current Verakas virus could infect all the species, so it made sense that the earlier version of Karaxes could, too. >>But it wasn’t killing anyone, right? Did something make it dangerous?<<

  Ayzize didn’t respond for a moment, though he wore a dark frown. >>In a way. The Karaxes virus could mutate very quickly and became unstable as it adapted; some people at the time thought it was bio-engineered, but not even the Xyren or The Omni had the knowledge or technology to make something like that. It made people sick, irrational and resistant to treatment, and then people started dying. After a few centuries and several dozen strains later, it had killed almost a third of the infected.<<

  >>A third doesn’t sound too bad…<<

  >>Doesn’t sound a lot to a kid, but the final death toll from the Karaxes virus was in the billions. Imagine if every single human in the galaxy and more died, just like that?<< He snapped his finger, and she gaped at him, horrified. There were thirty-five billion humans in the galaxy, and to have them all disappear? >>A very infectious virus that jumped species and could kill that many people? Oh yeah, all the alliances got desperate.<<

  >>What happened?<<

  >>The alliances made vaccines, but it would become ineffective once the virus mutated again. The Xyren then made and tested a vaccine that seemed to work—something about the antivirus being able to evolve along with Karaxes—and I guess for a while it worked. The death toll went down, the Karaxes virus halted in its tracks, and the alliances could focus on recuperating after dealing with this virus.

  >>Then something happened, and I don’t know the details, but the virus suddenly mutated faster than the vaccine—maybe adapted again—and became worse. The previous symptoms—paranoia, aggression, loss of memory, and irrationality, along with the pustules, cracking skin, and tumors—increased a hundred-fold and turned people into ‘Selexi atla Veryn’. The Fallen Ones, translated from the Xyren’s dominant language.<<

  Celes silently took in the information while staring down at the sidewalk but not really seeing it. >>So the Karaxes virus became the Verakas Virus.<<

  >>Yes.<<

  >>I thought the infected people were called ‘XIKs’, not ‘Sel’ whatever?<<

  Ayzize nodded. >>When several independent organizations got involved since the alliances couldn’t handle it—another explanation for another time—the Iaiedal had another name for the victims: Xyren-ie-Kraal, XIKs.<<

  >>What’s that mean?<<

  >>Mistake/failure of the Xyren.<<

  Celes shivered. She had figured that the virus that transformed people into monsters—monsters that had killed her mother—would be horrifying, but she hadn’t known it would be so sad. >>I guess the Xyren felt bad about it.<<

  >>I wouldn’t know.<<

  >>What do you mean?<<

  >>Their entire species—despite all their knowledge and care—was infected. The virus hit them the hardest, and they isolated themselves to find a cure. They’ve been gone since then, and from the few stupid enough to poke around their old territory, only a few thousand Xyren remain.<<

  >>… That’s horrible…<< She had found out other species had gone extinct after becoming space-faring, but this seemed just as bad as a fate that The Ash had. The Ash had built an illegal Liet wormhole gate in their system, and when something went wrong and the wormhole became a black hole, it sucked the surrounding system into it.

  Ayzize nodded, his expression grim. >>There is a lot more to it, but that is the gist of it. Also, I want to make sure even though I know you have more sense, do not shirk getting vaccines. The one we have now works well and the last thing we need is a bunch of anti-vaxxers flooding the net with more of their bullshit. That’s partly why we still have some XIKs running around. You also can’t go to space unless you get vaccinated. Do I make myself clear?<<

  Celes bounced her head quickly up and down under his watchful gaze. >>Yes, sir. I already got the vaccine, anyway.<<

  He stared at her for several seconds, before he said, >>Good.<<

  As they continued down the sidewalk, the conversation shifted quickly into less intense things, a little to her relief. By the time they reached the park by the apartment complexes, Celes slowed down. Ayzize slowed down with her, giving her a puzzled expression. “What’s wrong?” he asked aloud.

  Celes chewed on her lip. “You always leave by nighttime, and you’re just dropping me off with the food, right?” At his nod, she continued. “Besides earlier today, I had fun and kinda don’t want it to end. But I know you’re busy, and gotta fight some XIKs especially since you told me about… yeah,” she finished lamely.

  Ayzize sighed, stopping and gesturing for her to as well. “I am busy, but I think I’ll be coming back in the next couple of weeks. I might have time to see you and your dad again—no promises though, since I don’t know what my boss wants me to do next,” he added quickly when Celes’ face brightened.

  She nodded, reminding herself to keep her expectations low. “But even if you don’t visit again this time, next time you come to Beir, please visit?”

  “Sure, Celes.” He paused for a moment, and when she cocked her head at him, he said, “You’re starting to look like her a lot. You’ll probably take after her more now.”

  She blinked for a second, then smiled at the thought. “Good.” Better than him, she thought as she glanced towards her apartment.

  As they made their way to the complex and walked up the stairs, Celes voiced something that had always made her curious. “Ayzize, did mom say anything before she….?”

  He continued to walk up the stairs, but his EmTel felt panicked and jittery. “Besides asking to make sure her family and patients were safe? I don’t think so.” He didn’t meet her eyes, and Celes looked down to the floor in guilt. Ayzize had been the one to find her mom at the clinic after she had fended off four XIKs long enough for her patients to escape, and he was the last person she had spoken to. While he rarely minded regaling Celes of tales of other XIK attacks, this one he never talked about.

  “Sorry, was just curious,” she said, keeping her e
yes on the floor.

  Ayzize stopped her again once they reached a landing, motioning for her to turn to him. Surprised, she lifted her head as he knelt down at her eye level. “You don’t need to apologize for it,” he said, his eyes weirdly gentle. “You lost your mom, and any kid would want to know what she said, too. I just never said since… well… not a lot of people go through what you did and come out well adjusted, and I didn’t want to make it worse for you. But despite everything you’ve gone through?” He waved his hand around. “Your spirit hasn’t broken. You’re a fighter, Celes. With all the trillions of beings in the galaxy, that is a very rare thing. Your mom knew that, I know that, and some day, your dad will realize that too. Hopefully sooner rather than later.”

  Celes’ face turned red, grinning sheepishly at his praise. “Even if I get into fights at school and talk back at teachers?”

  “Well, that is in a more literal sense, but yes,” he smirked. “Don’t take that as encouragement to do so, but you have my stamp of approval in dealing with bullies.”

  “I’m telling the whole school you said I can punch people in the face,” she grinned mischievously as he got onto his feet, both of them walking up the stairs.

  “You know that is not what I said; don’t twist my words.” He rolled his eyes but kept the small smirk on his face.

  “And then I’ll read their minds and repeat everything that they think about!”

  “Invasion of privacy. You could go to jail for that.”

  “That’s only if I am a teenager and repeat things like test answers three times in one month, political contribution figures, and blackmail for at least a thousand credits.”

  “That is… oddly specific. I am a little worried about you knowing all that.”

  “Don’t worry; colleges won’t take people with a criminal record, and since that is my only ticket outta here, I’m not messing it up.”