by David Edward
“A necessary inconvenience.
“They never considered us as living beings. Our lives had no value to them.
“They only needed our deaths. Even then, mostly, our deaths were valueless to them as well. But every now and then…” The old woman trailed off.
Odessa motioned to Logan to come in the door as he was still outside, looking in the window. He had heard the entire exchange.
She then walked over to the pile of vegetables and selected one off the top and started to slice it on her bracings. She was very hungry.
Dyoas pushed herself to a standing position and walked over to Odessa. “No, no. Let me show you.” She took another vegetable off the pile and smashed it onto the large flat piece of metal near the fire. “Let it sit near the fire for a few micro cycles. They taste fine raw but heated. Well, you are in for a treat!”
The four sat in comfortable silence for a few micro cycles watching the fire and cooking vegetables.
A quick flash crossed Odessa's face. “E7! I forgot and have left her standing in the alley!
“E7, please come into the building,” she said at a slightly elevated volume knowing that E7’s audio sensors were good enough to have overheard the entire conversation so far anyway.
An odd thing happened when E7 walked through the door. Both the old Machians stopped everything. They gasped an audible sound of amazement and stared in awe with their mouths open.
Odessa looked over at them. “What is it? Certainly, you had etherreals? You are old but not that old.”
The two were not afraid, but they were still looking at E7 with almost divine reverence. They did not acknowledge that they had heard Odessa.
Slowly, Dyamni got hold of himself and walked over to E7. He had his right arm outstretched, walking clearly to put his hand onto the etherreal.
E7 did not make any motion and allowed the man to touch her. He was shorter than E7 by at least a head, if not slightly more.
With his hand on her, he closed his eyes. The room was silent, the only noise the crackling of the fire.
Everything stayed like this for several micro cycles. Eventually, the smell of the cooking vegetables became stronger; they were starting to burn.
Logan and Odessa just watched the scene. It was very strange. Not threatening in any way, almost the opposite.
Finally, E7 spoke, addressing the old man. “Sir, I am finding the situation is becoming awkward for me.”
The old woman responded, “Do you have a production number?”
It was a surprisingly advanced question.
There were only a few of the 7 series. They were produced very sparingly. Their production was different from the other etherreals and certainly from the older androids.
Odessa had used her and Logan's influence as law enforcement officers to acquire the two 7 series units they now had. At the time, four major cycles ago, their clan was much larger, and their production volume could justify supporting the two 7 series etherreals.
It still took some pull.
Odessa said to E7, “You can tell them if you are comfortable with it.”
“A9E279,” E7 told Dyoas.
The old man began to tear up. “A9…Dyoas, what are the odds?”
Logan walked over and took the metal sheet out of the fire as the vegetables on it were burning and starting to produce black smoke.
“Child,” the old woman said to E7, looking at her as one might look at a reunited family member, “how long ago were you produced?”
“Four major cycles,” E7 said.
The old man removed his hand from E7. “Too recent to be one of our clanmates.”
Odessa and Logan both had a questioning expression.
“Wait,” Logan said, “wouldn’t you recognize one of your clan's etherreal units?”
“Oh, we did not have 7 series units. Never even dreamed about them when we arrived here. Of course, we learned about them soon enough,” Dyoas replied.
Odessa was growing confused, and something in her snapped. “Enough with the inferences! Start explaining yourselves now,” she spoke with great authority and weight.
The old Machians understood the tone. They were diggers, after all. They got the work done.
Dyamni said in a calming voice, “Okay, young one, we will explain everything. It is a tale of woe. But I will tell you.
“We appreciate the food you gathered and are grateful to you for it, and we thank you for not begrudging us taking it. You have not mentioned it, which speaks to your kindness and your giving nature.
“Let me warm up enough food for all of us. You are hungry, and we are not used to the luxury of having our bellies full.
“While it cooks, it will give me a few minutes to prepare. There is a lot I choose not to remember. I will need to remember it now.”
Odessa made a face at Logan.
“E7, tell X7 that we won’t be back for a few more hours,” Logan instructed. “And let him know where we are. Make sure all the E2s know where we are as well.
“Just in case.”
The Wheel
E7 stood in the doorframe. The door was closed, but it was the most strategic point of defense in the room, should it be necessary.
Logan and Odessa sat cross-legged in their combat armor on one side of the fire.
Dyamni and Dyoas sat cross-legged on the other side of the fire.
The fire was very low, not much more than glowing embers and low blue flames. It cast long shadows in the dim light it created.
Everyone had eaten several more of the cooked vegetables, agreeing that they were excellent after being roasted by the fire.
Dyamni continued their story. “We came to Alethia under a mining contract. We were given a permit for a two-cycle dig. It would have produced a lot of ore. The entire clan stood to benefit.
“I was digger foreman prime for the heavy equipment. Dyoas was my mechanic prime.
“I can’t tell you how long ago this was exactly.
“We escaped the facility and made our way here to the city. I did keep time for a while, maybe twenty Alethia cycles, so fifty Machi cycles. I didn’t stop so much as just forgot about it. I would say that was forty Alethia cycles ago, but this is just a guess.”
He glanced at Dyoas, who nodded in the affirmative, indicating she agreed with his guess.
“That would mean one hundred fifty Machi cycles ago, or so. Before either of you were even born.”
He gave an ironic smile.
“So, a long time ago.
“We landed and began preparations for deploying the equipment. There was no hurry. The weather was good, and we had been given plenty of time for the work. It was a fat contract, and we all felt confident and prosperous.
“We had a contingent of etherreals, to answer your question. We had X2 models, and our prime was an E4. They were helping us organize the deployment.
“It all happened very quickly.
“The back ramp of the ship was open. The location was a river valley. It flooded in the warmer periods when the frozen water melted.
“The foliage in the area had started to change color from green to brown; it was a beautiful location.
“As we were working, a ship landed to our rear, right behind the open hatch. Androids came rushing out, the military combat models. We were surprised to see them since they had been outlawed.
“The etherreals were no match for them. They tried to stand between the ship and the combat droids but were disposed of quickly.
“The droids used ‘prisoner secure’ to round us up. Do you know what prisoner secure is? It is a damn commercial off-the-shelf product!”
Logan answered, “Yes. Both Odessa and I were civilian law enforcement. We were trained in the technology but never used it.”
The old man smiled. “It is highly effective. They shot it into the cargo hold, where most of us were. It gets all over you. Gets into your lungs, then your blood. Gets in your eyes and ears. Gets into your brain.
�
�Once they flip the switch, the pain is amazing. Staggering. It is just a technology, after all. Little tiny nanotech that attaches to the pain receptors at a microlevel and sends the maximum signal.
“It is so simple.
“Once it fires, your thoughts go primal. The only way to make the pain stop is to follow their instructions. They say stand up. Standing up is the only desire you have, the only source of relief to the most agonizing pain your body could ever feel.
“And it is every cell of your body. One hundred percent inloads and one hundred percent outloads.
“Anyway… They told us to get on the ship, so we got on the ship. A few diggers fought the pain. They were dragged out.
“I supposed they were the brave ones. The dragging and beating could not have felt any worse. The only difference was that it was real, so the wounds and injuries later were real.
“You felt less pain but felt it longer.
“A few they broke. Beat too hard or hit in the wrong places. If you were damaged, they executed you on the spot.
“We never saw the clan guardians again. I don’t know what happened to them. I assume they were either taken somewhere else or killed on the ship.”
“We have been to a lot of ships where the command crews were executed,” Logan shared. “If I had to guess, it happened after some type of field interrogation. We often find the bodies together, usually on their knees with a hole in the back of the head.
“As far as we can tell, they have been doing this for thousands of cycles—Alethia cycles. The more recent the ship, the greater the damage to the ship. The more etherreals destroyed instead of deactivated, the more brutal the command staff executions.”
Dyamni gazed at the fire. “It is worse than you think.
“It was a short trip after our capture. I think you are supposed to deactivate the prisoner secure, but they didn’t. We writhed in agony for several cycles.
“Eventually, the nanotech power supply fades, then dies. It was a slow process of recovery.
“They herded us off the ship and into the underground facility. They took everything from us: our clothes, our shoes—even eyewear.
“They took everything.
“We saw a lot of Fovians, but it was the hunters from Baytor that ran the place. The big brutes were the ones that understood the oldtech. They were clearly in charge.
“The tech in the place was oldtech. Ancient stuff.”
Oldtech was the name for anything left over from the first cycle. The first cycle was the period before the rise of the moons and current civilization. There were ruins and technology left over from a civilization that disappeared millions of cycles ago.
It was spread across the luminary circle, on nearly every moon and planet. Whatever data storage technology that had employed had never been discovered, so no knowledge had survived, but some tech had.
There were earthmoving machines that were deciphered on Machi. Crystal-driven air purification facilities that could still run found on Fovis.
The oldtech largely worked by harnessing gravity, sound, or light. Anything that could be manipulated as a wave. It was dangerous even after how to use it was figured out. It seemed to affect your brain waves and life rhythm somehow. Many had lost their life or their sanity, delving into the arts of oldtech.
The old man was lost in memory, watching the low fire burn. After a long pause, when it was clear he did not want to remember anymore, the old woman spoke, “They had a large room prepared for us. On one side of the room, there were waste disposal units we were to use as restrooms. On the other side were several troughs with a protein-based sludge.
“If you had the will to live, you could eat it. Most of us did at first.
“We were locked in the room for a good while.
“It must have been ten or fifteen daily cycles. Then all at once, all the walls were gone, and a group of Baytorians herded us into an adjacent area.
“We knew right away it was oldtech. After seeing it, we could tell the entire underground facility had been built modern but around the oldtech.
“The room was enormous. It was all a giant machine organized in concentric circles. Golden workers interacted with different parts of the machine. We did not recognize them, as they were not from any of the five moons.
“The machine itself was a nightmare. At its center were two raised daises. On one dais was a sickly-looking golden figure. On the other, nothing.
“Quickly, one of the Baytorians grabbed Santha, who was one of our younger diggers. He carried her to the center of the machine and forcefully inserted several connections into her, then placed her on the second empty dais.
“The machine began to hum. The golden workers were scurrying about. Santha started to scream. At first, it was just a wail.
“Then the scream changed. It became an agonizing inhuman noise. It conveyed so much pain and so much sorrow it made the prisoner secure technology seem humane by contrast.
“A glow developed around her. It started to leave her body and drift to the other dais. As it moved away from her, you could hear that it was making its own noise. It was screaming, too, an even more tormented mournful sound of pain.
“Cold fear replaced Santha’s wail as she reached for the light, beyond terrified.
“I believe it was her spirit. The machine separated her and it. Her body was still alive, but nothing was in it.
“As the light enveloped the sickly-looking figure, it changed. Grew stronger. Looked younger. After a few moments, the light seemed to settle into the figure.
“Santha’s screaming had ended. The renewed figure stood tall and made a motion.
“The Baytorians had their way with Santha’s living body. She offered no resistance and seemed dead inside. After satisfying their carnal needs, they made a show of cutting her throat and dragging her about, mocking us. When they were done, they herded us back over to our cell.
“We never figured it all out, but keeping us in fear seemed to be something they not just wanted to do but needed to do given how hard they worked at it…” Dyoas now, just like Dyamni, seemed to fade away into her own thoughts.
After a while, Dyamni took up the story again, his voice now sounding haunted. There was not much range to it, with very limited, if any, inflection. He was just getting through the story as he had agreed to.
“But up until the first sacrifice were the good times.” He thinly smiled at the fire, not taking his eyes away.
“Unless you require it, I don’t want to go into all the details of what they did to us.
“The general pattern was that we would all be left alone for very long periods of time, then something similar to what Dyoas told you would happen. Many different themes, many different ways of working us all up into a fear frenzy right before the sacrificial transfer.
“After a while, the thing on the primary dais was not a living creature anymore but an etherreal. An advanced model like your E7 unit here.
“It sounds strange, and it was. We lived through many sacrifices where nothing much happened. We would watch the person's spirit leave their body and move to the ethereal, then just fade away, screaming and wailing.
“They went through about half of us this way over, I would guess…maybe an Alethia cycle or two.
“Many of us stopped eating. If we stopped long enough, at first, the Baytorians would come in and force-feed us. They stuffed in more than just the sludge, if you know what I mean. It was such an awful process that quickly we all started eating enough of the sludge to stay alive.
“When there were only a few of us left, the transfers to the etherreals started working. The spirit would move over, and the etherreal would light up, alive. We watched it happen maybe fifteen or twenty times.
“Since then, we have surmised a lot, which I can tell you later, but let Dyoas finish the story in sequence. In the order of events.” He looked over to her.
Dyoas took over, sounding more like her helpful self. The impression was that their ti
me in captivity held many dark events. Now that they were through that part, they felt better about not having to dwell on it.
“The last time we watched the ceremony, we could see a new group of diggers in a different section of the machine.
“The ritual this time was back to the first one we had seen. They took a pretty young female from the other group and, well, you know that story.
“That was the last time they ever came for us. They put us back in our room, and that was it. The rest is how we already told you. We figured out how the door worked, explored, then made our way out.
“Once out, we had to decide what to do. Neither of us were navigators, and we didn’t know where our ship was in relation to where we were.
“We were both also terrified of being recaptured. We have never seen anyone or anything ever looking for us, but that does not matter. The fear is still there…probably will be forever.
“At first, we had hoped to stay nearby and to provide warning should another ship show up. It seems the time between abductions is about two full cycles.
“Since they had just captured a new bunch, we waited as long as we could but never saw another ship.
“Eventually, we found our way here, just trying to get as far away as we could. I believe this ruined city is sufficiently far away, but even after all this time, we remain vigilant.
“There is plenty of food here. There are several more cities like this one nearby. We move between them so we don’t get complacent.”
Logan was impossible to read; he looked calm and stoic.
Odessa had tears running from the corners of her eyes. In an attempt to escape the sadness of the tale, she asked, “So, we have about five more daily cycles before they start sacrificing our clanmates?”
Dyamni, who had also returned to the present, answered, “If the rituals are the same, then yes. Based upon our experiences.”
Logan interjected, “I do have a question. When you received the mining permit and contract, was your clan going through any problems in the luminary circle?” He thought about the process of events that had gotten Odessa and himself to accept the contract.
