Origins of Hope

by Anastasia Drapievsky

  “OK, what is Meiri like?” Celes asked. The mentors, while guiding their own apprentices directly, would probably influence the three of them through training.

  Aloi paused, frowning as she tore a leafy vegetable apart. “Uhm, very friendly. And smart. She’s really funny too. I dunno what she’s like when she’s fighting XIKs since she doesn’t talk about it, but I bet she is really good. She’s spliced with Osaŵ DNA, so she is even smarter. What about yours, Lyati? I thought I saw him earlier. He’s super tall.”

  Lyati clutched her water, her eyes towards the science building. “His name is Kyr; Rovanian splice so he could meld with tech better. Started in science then moved to security to get ‘samples’.”

  Celes and Aloi looked at each other, frowning. “Science only deals with XIKs. Samples of what in security?” Celes asked.

  “Rich people and politicians use security; they don’t have anything to do with XIKs.” Aloi rubbed her chin, the minute scales flexing underneath her hand.

  Lyati moved her head to the side, meaning she didn’t know. “That is only what he told me, and given your reaction, this one’s not sure he was supposed to tell me that.”

  “Well, Meiri never told me anything about it. You guys get the feeling that we don’t know everything?” Aloi looked at Celes. “Did your mentor say anything?”

  Celes bit her lip. So, she wasn’t the only one left in the dark about things. She didn’t know if that made her feel relieved or angrier. “Ayzize? No, not really.”

  “Wait, Nelowie-var?”

  “Yeah; how’d you know?” Celes hadn’t mentioned his name before to either of them yet.

  “Adama talked about him,” Aloi said, blinking both eyelids, exchanging a look with Lyati. “I heard he’s different.”

  Oh great, don’t tell me they know more about him than I do. “What do you mean?”

  “Kyr said that it was surprising Nelowie’s body took to the splicing as well as it did since he was an adult. Usually the splice doesn’t work or it kills them if people get it that late.” Lyati cast her eyes down on the ground.

  Celes stared at Lyati, suddenly unsure if they talked about the same person. “I… I mean he has Iaiedal splicing, but he didn’t…” she paused. She didn’t know when Ayzize had his splicing. She had assumed it was during adolescence, when all the trained kids got theirs. “Uhm, hm. I may have to ask him about that.”

  “So, wait, what do you know about the guy?” Aloi asked, frowning.

  This conversation revealed how much she didn’t know about Ayzize, and she shifted uncomfortably on the grass. “That he can be sarcastic and grumpy, but he is nice and looks out for other people and wants the best for them. And he knows a lot about ships,” she added, though that was something she just learned recently.

  Lyati and Aloi shared an expression together, one that meant they both felt pity for Celes not knowing something ‘basic’. Scowling, Celes said, “What is it this time?”

  “No need to be hostile; we are just surprised,” Lyati said.

  “Well, do you know how he joined at least?” Aloi asked.

  Celes narrowed her eyes at them, a pit of anxiety forming in her stomach. Why did Ayzize exclude her from knowing anything about him? “No.”

  Lyati and Aloi shared a look again, but Aloi spoke up before Celes pestered them. “OK, he’s your mentor, and it’s not fair that we know and you don’t.”

  “What, did he punch his way through the gates or something?” Celes asked, quirking a smile.

  “… Sort of.” Lyati said, her eyes drifting to the trees.

  “This is just what Meiri told me,” Aloi said, leaning in towards a gaping Celes. “But the reason why Doth doesn’t like him was because Raxdrýn had to bend the rules for Nelowie-var, or something.”

  “Did he do something bad?”

  “Bad isn’t… the word for it,” Lyati said, waving her hand while making a ‘so-so’ motion. “Maybe… different.”

  Celes’ lips turned into a frown. “I don’t understand.”

  Aloi cleared her throat. “So Adama told me, like seven years ago or something, Nelowie-var shows up outside those gates,” she gestured in the direction of the main gates, “and wants to join Raxdrýn as a Varôk, and he was told he couldn’t join. I think a lot of the poor locals want to join thinking they’ll get some food then leave, so Raxdrýn turns people away.

  “Anyway, several weeks later, Nelowie-var comes back with two big cases that he hauled himself, with a lot of biohazard fields around them. He had gone somewhere on Tezěkír, vaccinated himself, found two XIKs and killed them, and brought the bodies back. Meiri said that it had to be an inside job because you can’t get those cases since they are military grade. After that, Raxdrýn let him in, trained him and gave him the splice.”

  Celes stared at Aloi, unbelieving at what she heard. Ayzize had killed two XIKs even before he was spliced? Even with the best armor and weapons, regular people killing XIKs proved difficult, including the military and their super-soldiers. Why did he want to join that badly? “So that’s why Doth doesn’t like him? He got to join Raxdrýn because he broke the rules?”

  Aloi shrugged. “I guess so. Doth apparently didn’t like the last Chairman either, who was the one who let Nelowie-var join. I’m surprised he didn’t tell you.”

  Celes went through all her conversations with Ayzize, from her first meeting with him in her mother’s clinic to him dropping her off at her room four days ago. Besides Doth’s very apparent dislike of Ayzize, she had no idea what had happened to him. “Yeah, he doesn’t really talk about his past much.”

  Lyati cocked her head to the side, still gazing at the trees. “This—I can’t say that I don’t understand what that is like. I don’t like remembering the past.”

  “Why, did something happen?” Aloi said, oblivious—or ignoring—Lyati widening her eyes poignantly. Both a little glad to get her troubled mind off Ayzize—whom she would interrogate this evening—and to learn more about her teammates, Celes looked at Lyati.

  Lyati stiffened, her hand moving off her coat and onto the teal and white grass. “Besides a lot of things, this one did not fit in.”

  Celes paused, remembering how she had felt different from her other classmates. “I understand.”

  Lyati’s fingers sank into the dirt. “This—I don’t mean to be rude, but it is… a little different. Humans can be different, or rather be individuals, and it is acceptable in their society. I have a condition that sets me apart from my other Lyres, or even Aphin, Voxka, or Trellis. I don’t… ‘feel’ my other Lyres.”

  “What?” Aloi squinted at her. “What does that mean? Do you guys mold together or something like that?”

  Celes did not understand what that meant, but Lyati nodded. “In a sense. This one—I can sink my roots into the earth—not the human homeworld specifically—but not with others in my species. It is… a disconnection; to live with other Selyn, one needs to connect with the rest, and this one cannot.” She didn’t meet either Aloi nor Celes’ eyes. “It was better that I left, and Kyr said that I could serve the Selyn better at Raxdrýn.”

  “Hey, you don’t need to sink your roots into us to be friends, no problem.” Aloi clapped Lyati on the shoulder before she snatched her hand back. “Oops, I keep forgetting not to touch you.”

  Lyati had flinched but eased when Aloi had withdrawn her hand. “Thank you. Perhaps I will get used to touching. What of you two?”

  Aloi puffed up, and Celes smiled at the apparent look of pride on her face. “I lived on Delan. It was boring, and nothing happened, but my family was nice, even though I was ‘clingy’ or something. We’ve had some XIK attacks lately, and it almost got my cousins. So, I asked Meiri to join, since those monsters need to die off immediately. The end.”

  “You joined to protect your family?” Celes asked. Lyati’s eyes moved from the tree to Aloi’s in interest.

  “Yep!” Aloi balled her hand into a fist and tapped it across her chest. “Meiri s
aid I could be a good teammate, so I would be good for Raxdrýn. ‘Loud and confrontational’, like any good Levan Varôk. How about you?”

  With eyes on her, Celes didn’t know how to respond. She didn’t want to tell two kids she just met—even though they were nice—about her past, and how Ayzize chose her over Elliot because of her abilities. Her earlier pride of being better than a normal boy on an insignificant planet had diminished after meeting many aliens.

  “Uhm, grew up on Endeavor; nothing to do there, but I knew Ayzize since Raxdrýn sent him there a lot when we got attacks. I have psychic abilities, so I guess that’s why he chose me.” She wanted to throw in that her brother was in Aorírdal to make it seem like she more special than that, but the thought of him being away still hurt and she didn’t want to use that hurt to make her feel better.

  If either of them thought it was inadequate they didn’t show it, with Aloi nodding while Lyati’s eyes had strayed back to the trees, though her eyes had flitted to Celes’ for a moment. “I heard humans like to both compete and cooperate, so this should be fun!” Aloi said, grinning.

  Celes paused, unsure if Aloi mocked her. “Ah, since we’re working as a team, I’ll be a good team member and cooperate.”

  Both Aloi and Lyati looked relatively pleased with the idea, though Lyati stated, “… do we know how we would work as a team?”

  “Not a clue,” Aloi said bluntly. “Meiri didn’t go into it a lot, but she works in one.”

  “I didn’t even know that was an option,” Celes admitted. “Ayzize works alone. But if we’re in the security sector, then it would probably work differently, right?”

  “Yes,” Lyati said, her flowers gently waving in the breeze. “Kyr works with two others. I don’t know why Raxdrýn moved from only fighting XIKs to guarding corporate entities and politicians, though.”

  “Levan breathe capitalism and I barely know what you just said,” Aloi scowled.

  “… You mean like CEOs and things like that?” Celes asked, barely understanding what Lyati said either.

  Lyati heaved a great sigh. “Selyn don’t have ‘corporations’ on Tellaris; we work for the benefit of all of us. By ‘entities’, I mean the CEOs, that for some odd reason are regarded as more important than any other worker, and their assets—or information—in that company.” When neither Aloi nor Celes reacted, Lyati asked, “How old are both Aloi and Celes?”

  “Twelve GA.” Aloi said, with Celes calculating her near eleven Earth years into twelve GA years.

  “I see,” Lyati murmured. At Celes’ blank but polite stare and Aloi looking increasingly mad with her fringe fluttering, Lyati said, “Lyre Selyn mentally mature faster than most species. This—I a bit more so.”

  “So that’s why you have a bigger vocabulary,” Celes offered, Lyati nodding and Aloi deflating a bit.

  “Oh, and here I was thinking you were showing off,” Aloi grinned. “Though I will warn ya; just because you’re older or whatever, don’t try telling me what to do, since it ain’t gonna work.”

  “The further away this one is from leading, the better I am,” Lyati muttered, momentarily stumbling over ‘I’ again. “I only wish to lead myself.”

  Celes nodded in agreement, since they had no idea how to work as a team. That’s what their mentors were for. She listened quietly as Lyati and Aloi talked more on security, Lyati offering a few more stories of guarding parties and houses for politicians that Kyr had told her. Aloi and Lyati were both strange, but they were easier to talk to than Celes had imagined. Perhaps her mother was right, that despite very different cultures and evolution, every species could connect with one another. Neither of these two had tried to bully her or anything—yet—but she could talk with them just as if they were human. Easier to talk to than Ayzize sometimes…

  She frowned at the thought of him. Ayzize joined later than she thought he had, but why didn’t he tell her?

  Celes turned her head towards the gate, remembering the signs, the laser turrets, and the gauntlet of decontamination chambers she had to hop through. Lyati joined Raxdrýn because she couldn’t be in her own people, Aloi joined to protect her family, and Celes joined because she wanted a better life than what Endeavor could give. The three of them had adults who found and protected them. So why would Ayzize, already an adult and not needing to be protected, be that desperate to join?

  Keeping her frown, she wrestled with her intense curiosity and with the restraint Ayzize encouraged. With restraint, more questions arose, whereas intense curiosity—eventually—got answers. Folding her arms, her lips set in a straight line, she grew weary of having so many unknowns. Ayzize needed to give her answers and to stop treating her like a child; he had chosen her to fight XIKs, right? That meant he trusted her. She was grateful to him that he saved her from Endeavor, but she had enough of people keeping things from her all her life.

  She sighed, exhaling her frustration. Perhaps if she explained why she wanted answers, he would tell her. He was a lot more fair than other people, more so than her father. And even if he was irritable, he at least apologized and tried to answer most of her questions.

  As she nodded along with Lyati and Aloi regaling each other of their mentor’s exploits, she decided that Ayzize would at least listen, and treat her like a trustworthy apprentice when she would speak to him later that night. That was all she wanted.

  Fourteen

  Two hundred Varôks composed of all sixteen galactic species gathered in the large conference room. All bipedal species sat in chairs or lined the back walls, while the Krshk congregated in their tubes lining the ceilings, and The Omni floated in their environments with a force-field dividing them from the room. Holo screens lined the side walls, with the science and R&D teams watching from elsewhere in the R&D complex. Four kilometers underground, with the best tech security and PDTs that money could buy and create, in addition to layers of security and personnel, this was one of the most secure places in the galaxy. Raxdrýn ensured that no one outside the company knew.

  Doth, Tralis, and the Directors of each of the departments stood—or in Director The Solemn and Director Gurach Belal’s case, floated and swam respectively—on a short platform at the front of the hall. Managers filled the front of the audience, while the rest sat or stood with each other. Ayzize stood in the back of the conference hall in-between a Kath’laka and a narrow Aphin Selyn, leaning against the metal wall with his arms crossed. He kept his eyes narrowed on Doth, not liking what the Levan spoke about, and from the deep frowns, grunts, or various fluttering appendages of the aliens, no one else seemed thrilled about it. To be fair, Doth himself didn’t seem fond of the topic either.

  “—believe that this sector has been compromised.” Doth’s voice carried through the hall without aid, but Ayzize didn’t have to be up close to know that the fringe along Doth’s neck and sides of his face wavered in anger. A large holo map floated in front of Doth, a perfect model of the Milky Way, with Kath’laka territory highlighted. Next to the map, a 3-D Visual of a female Kath’laka in the Ascendancy Military Uniform silently rotated.

  “Intel from Team Velnt says that as of two weeks GSE ago and a month after infection, General Loka’s spending habits have changed, and funds are being funneled into a private account off-world,” Doth continued. “Personal testimonies and monitor of her communications suggested that this was highly unusual for her, and we confirmed her infection as of five days ago. Nea’arch confirmed General Loka as an Active Dormant.”

  Whispers went around the room, and the Kath’laka next to Ayzize stiffened, a growl rumbling from his chest. Ayzize controlled a sigh. If Doth had called a meeting to explain that yet another politician or military leader had been infected, he didn’t need to have bothered gathering them all down here. A simple bulletin saying, ‘Telos got another one, here’s the info and plan’, would have sufficed.

  Once Ayzize had dropped off Celes in his room when they first arrived at Raxdrýn, he had returned to Doth’s office, without Tralis t
here to cull Doth’s anger. After a rather heated lecture about undermining authority for the second time, they had landed on the reason for the private meeting.

  “There is no possible way for Dušánek parents to know that information, none.” Doth’s irises had narrowed into slits, the face plates scrunching inwards towards his eyes. “I don’t know what you’re trying to do, Nelowie, unless you’re leaving out information.”

  Ayzize had ground his teeth. He had left out the part where Akira needed her children to be in certain ‘places’, but with the Levan species' natural disdain for psychics, Doth might toss Celes out himself if Ayzize told him that. “There is no reason for me to lie about this; I want the Verakas Virus wiped out just as much as anyone here, and you know that.”

  Doth had bared his teeth but didn’t argue against it. “As much as I disapprove of the circumstances of you being here, you are correct in that statement.” With a hiss, his face plates had relaxed and his irises expanded slightly. He had looked tired, and if Ayzize liked him, he would have felt a little sorry for him. “Dr. Nakagawa-Dušánek’s background of ‘rudimentary’ psychic abilities with precognition of a few minutes is worrisome. I will be the first to admit that I don’t really care for psy-abilities beyond how well they serve Raxdrýn, but to have that much insight into the future, I would think would warrant her being locked up in Aorírdal.”

  “I agree,” Ayzize had said warily. “Celes knows nothing about it, and neither does the father, beyond what he told me, which his wife told him. The only person who would know more is dead.”

  Doth had made a disgusted noise. “The situation is complicated enough without some random psychic that Aorírdal failed to pick up twisting things to how she believed would end up.” He had stared at Nelowie suspiciously. “What else did she say?”

  Doth had a point; while Ayzize barely knew Akira before she died, she had somehow grown on him to where he might overlook that she could somehow twist something for some unknown purpose.