by Jack Adams
“Let's see,” he said as he lifted the note she had passed to him.
“That will be enough, won't it” Jubilant asked. “I can get it set up in escrow right away.” Finder flipped the card over and upon seeing the offered figure, mused briefly about the possibility of fate actually possessing a sense of irony. He took a final swig of his drink and rose from the table, “twenty-one thousand cred is more than enough.”
Chapter 3 – Sultry Senescent
Jack Finder was not an expert in computer programming, but in his travels there were two things he was certain about artificial intelligence. He knew that an AI was incapable of displaying genuine emotion. They could be programmed, of course, to mimic human feelings, but by design and definition were actually incapable of legitimately experience an emotional sensation. They also didn't, or at least weren't supposed, to challenge their owners. Ephemris, however, had certainly brought that last certainty into question.
“Are you sure about doing this, Captain?” Ephemris asked in her unusually human tone. Finder had never liked being questioned by an AI. Of course, prior to acquiring Ephemris with the Ace he'd never been second guessed by an AI. Initally, Finder found the trait detestable and a sign of poor programming. However had originally quirked Ephermis' program must have, Finder thought, been a lonely shut in, desperate for some kind of conversation, even if it was just with an artificial mind. However, as Finder transitioned between one perilous job to another, he had found that Ephemris' questionable nature had on more than one instance forced him to reevaluate his plans and opt for a more rational course of action.
Along with that, despite how deeply haunting the voice occasionally sounded, Finder found that the slight hominal touch to his crafts support intelligence seemed, in way, comforting. The uncannily natural sounding vocalizations with a slight feminine bent in combination with often challenging words, made Finder feel almost as if he could trust Ephemris. Almost to the same degree that life-long friends hold a deep rapport with one another.
“Yes, I am sure about taking this job,” Finder casually answered while his mind once again checked through a list of possible complications. “But it seems like you have concerns, Ephemris. What are they?”
“Nothing specific other than what you've already considered. You're a human going to a restricted moon in the heart of the Nestle worlds without clearance or any form of permit. My real concern isn't so much the job as it is your client.”
“What about her?”
“She's another human being who knows your past and inexplicably doesn't care. Keep in mind this is the first human you've done business with face to face in three years, and unlike the others she doesn't care about Nadir. Clearly there's more to this job than what you've been told.”
“All of that had occurred to me as well. Do you have anything more concrete that I should think about or be alert to? Better question; why are you so concerned about my well-being?”
A small pause hung in the air before Ephemris responded in a manner that almost seemed to display a flash of compassion, “I'm programmed to preserve this ship and act as a virtual assistant to whoever owns it. Just be wary, Finder.”
–
In a hazy vista wrapped in motley hues, with only the sound of his breathe reflecting of off the front of his helmet, Finder had found himself in a most curious trance. Maybe I should've injected a stimulant to keep myself particularly alert before leaving the Ace, Finder pondered as a soft gale picked up and seemed to carry his mind with it, while leaving his body firmly rooted to the ground. What a truly strange world upon which to start an adventure.
Although he had spent most of his life traversing the Refuge, hoping from one space station to an alien world, Finder had never been to Nubilous. In fact, about a literal dozen humans had ever stepped foot on the strange Effulgent homeworld. Besides the Faux's world, Vertex, Nubilous was the most heavily guarded of the Nestle worlds.
Naturally, this was not the first instance Finder had covertly landed on a moon for a job, but even so he felt unease. Humans, and most other species, never had much motive to do business with the Effulgent. Since they were gas-filled spheroidal beings with anatomy radically different from most lifeforms in the Refuge there were few goods with which to trade. They didn't need textiles or jewelry or other consumer goods; they didn't require foodstuffs, or at the very least what most species would consider to be edible matter. They were reclusive with mild xenophobic tendency's, and most other beings thought that rather than come from another world, perhaps they emerged from some other dimension.
Perhaps that was the reason why Finder felt so uncharacteristically uncomfortable as he stood on a spongy hill, over looking an outre valley. In the distance lavender, lime, and pastel hues danced in the sky forming brilliant new patterns. All around him amorphous, piebald growth's seemed to surge out of the ground with textures that resembled lichens or mold, but subtly shifted in place in a pattern that didn't follow the breeze. As with most species, those who had the opportunity to settle the Nestle worlds used the remnants of Apocryph technology to reshape their designated moon to resemble their home planet. Finder had heard that, wile they had tried very hard, the Effulgent still hadn't developed a perfect recreation of their homeworld. Such a consideration both intrigued and repulsed Finder as considered what truly alien landscape these creatures had originally come from.
Finder shook his head to refocus and eschew the pervasive, almost hypnotic spell, Nubilous' enthralling and eerie features had placed on him. He blinked hard and scanned the horizon for any Effulgent patrols or structures, only to see more rolling hills covered in mottled vegetation. With another careful study Finder reached a conclusion; he didn't need extensive experience to determine that Nubilous seemed to be gripped in a moribund state.
“Finder are you ready?” Jubilant's voice sounded over a comm link. Finder pivoted to look back at the shuttle he had come from and noted Jubilant briskly walking towards him while juggling two hands of equipment. Finder noted that for a woman who seemed so bookish and sheltered she maneuvered well in a pressure suit. Even in this soupy atmosphere Jubilant seemed to glide through the hazy air, all while focusing on her equipment readings. He tapped his helmet twice in acknowledgment. “Yeah, I'm ready,” Finder said as he turned to observe a steep hill to his side. “Do you have the exact location of the fragment?”
“I've got its location within two meters. We're lucky the scepter is so close a strip of turf we can land on. It's right this way.”
“You go ahead, take point,” Finder said as he walked uphill. I'll stay with you, but I want to be at a higher vantage point as you enter the valley.”
“Why? Are you afraid to get to close to me,” Jubilant quipped with a light chuckle.
“No, it's not that,” Finder responded in a stern, even tone. “Something's different about this place, something sinister lingering in the air.”
“I thought you had never been here,” Jubilant said as her pace appreciably slowed.
“That's right, I haven't. But if you're in my kind of work, if you've been a Vigilant, you develop a keen awareness for precariousness.” Finder rubbed the pistol strapped the right leg of his suit. “It's all right for now. I'll climb this hill and track you visually from the ridge over there. If there is a danger, I'll be able to spot it and snipe it before it intercepts you.”
“Okay, if you say so,” Jubilant said with a renewed bounce in her step. “Thanks for your concern.”
“Hey, I don't want my meal ticket dealing on an alien world humans are forbidden from being on,” Finder quipped and immediately after he did, he wondered why. It was unusual for him to jest with his clients, especially one's he'd just met.
“Haha, well we wouldn't want that now, would we,” Jubilant laughed. “Alright, the fragments less than half a klick away. I'll head into the valley and you watch from above.”
“Okay, if you say so,” Jubilant said with obvious detachment. It was clear that her giddiness prev
ented her from seeing the warning signs all around her. While Finder truly never had been Nubilous he knew the signs of death and decay, even on an alien world. Vascular plants with once lush leaves had all begun to crumple. Huge fungal forms which had bodies which stretched into the sky bore signs of both external and internal rot. The only living things which seemed to be thriving appeared to be black, slimy growths, and they were everywhere.
“Zoom,” Finder said as he tapped the side of his helmet. Within an instant a small window popped up in his helmet displaying an image of the landscape from two kilometers away. There too the same evidence of organic corruption. Finder turned in a circle and again the same signs of death. “Ephemris, sync.”
“Syncing with you.” Ephemris said. “How can I help you?”
“Everything's dying here. I don't know why.”
“Have you been effected?” Ephemris asked with what almost seemed like panicked concern.
“No, our suits are functioning properly and I feel fine. I'm going to send you some images and other data readings and I want you to figure out what's causing this.”
“Understood. I do recommend you return to the shuttle, though until I've determined the cause of your observations.”
“No, not until I've got reason to leave. Not until my client has what she needs,” Finder trailed off as he began cruising the ridge to keep an a vigilant eye on Jubilant. “Not until she finds something that could make her life, our life worth living.”
–
Jubilant's eyes darted feverishly over a tangled mess of wines and fungus. According to the Shard the fragment should be here, somewhere in this vegetative chaos. As her hands tore through the brush on auto-pilot, Jubilant's mind speculated wildly as to what the first fragment would look like. After so many centuries would it still function as a symbolic and literal tool just as it once did for the ancient Apocryph, or would it be a corroded mess of metal? Despite the adrenaline raging through her nimble frame, minutes passed like hours as Jubilant dug into stripped soil. And she it was! The first fragment, after all of these years of searching.
The fragment was overall, well-preserved. Shaped like a rod and with a reflective exterior which resembled obsidian, Jubilant felt a sense of regal power flow through her as she lifted it. Jubilant twirled the Scepter over her head, mesmerized with how the shining jet object caught the light of the Refuge's two stars. As she did, Jubilant marveled at the significance of the artifact she possessed; not only proof of the Apocryph, but a tool of their supremacy of the worlds around her.
“It's so pretty, so beautiful,” she said aloud as her body warmed, by either passion or extreme heat she was not sure. “Jack you must see this. You must, you must” Jubilant echoed again and again until her conscious mind became aware of her incessant repetition. Normally, she would be worried, about her odd behavior, about the heat tingling across her skin, about the rotting corpse of shrub bubbling from decomposition next to her. But none of that mattered, not any more. Now that she possessed one of the Seven Scepters, all other cares could fade away. Her worries about her safety, her professional relationship with Finder, her deep desire to make her late father proud, everything else faded away in the Scepter's reflected light.
“What am I thinking,” Jubilant exclaimed in a clear voice. She felt her body being drawn towards the earth, as if her head were a made of metal and the ground a powerful magnet. She noticed her voice becoming increasingly dreary, but managed to say with a trace of urgency “Jack come quick.”
Jack Finder was accustomed to stress, and handling it well. His entire career he had found himself, either as a Vigilant or a gray market trader, in positions which would cause immense, disorienting panic in most men. However, Finder had learned to suppress such discomfort. He was in control of his actions after all, and thus in control of his anxiety, but being responsible for someone else was something else entirely. Taking responsibility for someone else's life and safety conjured a level of mental pressure so overwhelming it became almost paralyzing, and with the exception of Nadir, it was something Finder was almost completely unaccustomed to.
“I ask again, Jubilant where are you?” Finder implored as he accelerated his pace. “Jubilant please respond, so I may locate you.”
“It- it's so beautiful, Jack,” Jubilant said with a queer voice. She sounded even more excited, yet muddled and mildly panicked, and her breathing had become almost labored.
“Jubilant, are you okay?” Finder asked urgently. Silence. Finder vigorously tapped his helmet. “Jubilant can you hear me?”
Another spell of silence. Finder quickened his pace as he strained to hear anything from his compatriot.
“Captain,” Ephmeris began. “I've had sufficient time to determine the probable cause of your observations on Nubilous. A majority of the planetary radiation from Nestle is normally dispersed by the moons magnetosphere. However, Nubilous' magnetosphere is weakened relative to what it should be based on my data stores.”
“Jack,” Jubilant slowly said. “Finder, I feel so- so hot. I think I need to get out of this suit.”
“Hang on, Jubilant. How bad are the radiation levels, Ephemris?” Finder asked desperately. “How sever the threat of exposure in this region?”
“Radiation exposure varies from one sector to another. In yours it is nearly negligible, however in Jubilant's it is nearly fatal. I recommend you return to the shuttle and vacate Nubilous immediately.”
“Can that, Ephemris. Where is Jubilant?”
“I will not give you data which puts your safety at risk. Return to-”
“Damn it Ephemris, give me the exact location of Carlina, now!”
For a few moments Finder endured another uneasy spell of silence.
“She is two hundred meters at twenty-three degrees from your present location and heading.”
“Thank you,” Finder grunted as he lifted himself on to a moss-covered knoll. As a burning drive lit in his mind to rescue Jubilant an intense fiery sensation began to permeate his pressure suit. With the suns setting and Finders body and mind on fire, he charged across a necrotic valley, like a fierce conflagration through a dry prairie, all the while hoping that Jubilant's light had not yet gone out.
Chapter 4 – Riddles and Risk
“I still cannot believe you did that,” Ephemris chided as Finder jabbed an uncomfortably large needle into his arm. “Why did you do that, you could've died. This mission has already been far more costly than what this women is paying you.”
“Maybe I just really enjoy treating myself for radiation exposure, mother,” Finder sarcastically quipped as he withdrew the needle and casually tossed it at a waste receptacle.
“Very funny,” Ephemris responded with an equally dry sarcastic tone. Then with extreme severity asked, “Do you know why I possess such great concern for your safety? Do you even consider that an AI like me is capable of experiencing concern?” Finder looked up at the walls of the Ace, in the direction of Ephemris' computer core. It...she always did seem to have an almost maternal quality to her. At first, Finder thought that Ephemris was programmed to be so anxious and protective as some kind added safety feature. Something that the original owner's of the Ace had installed as part of a life insurance protection plan or something similar. But over the years Finder had begun to think that her attitude was something she had picked up, not originally a part of her programming.
“Yes, why is that, Ephemris?” Finder asked. “I saved the girl because she was a client and because, despite my behavior, I value human life. But you're a clever combination of heuristic algorithms and parallel logistics software designed to aid operations on this spacecraft. Why do you seem to have particular interest in my well-being?”
“Even artificial intelligence's have their Nadir moments.”
“And what is that?” Finder asked as he rested his chin on his fist. He never knew he'd be bonding with a computer program. Then again, given his seclusive nature, it only made sense that he might.
&nb
sp; “Well-” Ephmeris began with a degree of reticence.
“Well, I can't work here,” Jubilant interrupted as she barged into the room. “The equipment we have on board is limited. I need better instruments to study the fragment.”
“The equipment 'we' have,” Finder asked with obvious annoyance.
“I borrowed some of the things from your repair station,” Jubilant answered casually, as she advanced towards him. “If I can study the scepter, it'll make finding the other pieces easier. Plus, I should be able to find out how to actually wield them.”
“You mean you don't know how these things work now?”
“Not really. Hey, these things are ancient after all, are ancient regalia buried all over the Refuge. They didn't exactly come with a set of instructions.”
“Where do you propose we go?”Finder asked as he rubbed the bridge of his nose.
“I have a contact who specialize in xenoarchaeology who could help me. He's a Wisp and he's very friendly, especially with humans.” The manner in which Jubilant spoke made it sound like she was attempting to soften the blow before delivering an unsettling answer.
“And where exactly is he at, Jubilant?”
“In the Iarc Research Laboratory...on Yllem,” Jubilant said with a shrug.
“What?!” Finder and Ephemris exclaimed simultaneously.
“I will not take Jack there,” Ephemris protested. “That asteroid is one of the most disreputable, dangerous-”
“It's really not that bad.” Jubilant said throwing her hands up defensively.
