The full story of Glorbulon. This story was run from April 8th 2020 to June 16th 2020 and was originally posted on the MTU Huskies Discord server.
This story is 23 updates long, spread over 54 standard pages with a total of over 19000 words.
Note that some reaction counts may not be exact, as voters may have changed their reactions between the close of voting and the time this story was scraped from the server.
Note that some reaction counts may not be exact, as voters may have changed their reactions between the close of voting and the time this story was scraped from the server.
Hello once more! I'm preparing to start up the next story at the end of the semester, so here are the four scenario choices this time around! Three are ones that weren't picked last time, while one was cooked up fresh and shiny new. Please note that all starting scenarios will expire after four times on the docket and will be retired. The number of times each scenario has been listed is indicated. Vote for the one you'd like to see turned into a full-fledged story!
(4) A Dream of the Void 
️
Atmospheric / Cosmic Intrigue
The Dream Realm
You were once a normal person living a normal life. That all changed when you fell asleep one night under the baleful glare of a demon star and woke into a dream more real than ever before. The ravenous ocean is calling to you, as is the burning sun and the unknowable void. Which call do you heed, if any? Is there a fourth path, a way to choose another option? What is actually happening in this dream?
(2) Dungeon Delvers 
Action-Adventure
Magical Medieval / Renaissance - Underground Dungeon
A classic adventuring party a la D&D dives into a mysterious and dangerous dungeon in search of treasure, or perhaps something more valuable. What dark secrets lie in wait? What horrifying monsters bar their way? How many will die in the process?
(3) Glorbulon 
Action-Adventure / Comedy
Space - Kronwaë
The recent mysterious disappearance of several high-profile starliners - and one isolated planet - has thrown the local sector into a frenzy. Government agents, adventurers, mercenaries, and corporation employees are all out searching for the cause of these disappearances. Our protagonist is one of these searchers, and they think they’re onto something...
(1) The End of Everything 
️
Cosmic Atmospheric / Horror
Space
The end of the universe has been and gone, and yet life remains. Pitifully inching across the empty, frigid void, a single starship crawls across utter nothingness, its reactor capable of sustaining it for millennia more. But what is the point of living in this utterly dead existence? Is there a way to reverse entropy, to jump-start the universe back to life? You’re not sure, but it’s got to be a better plan than just sitting around in the ship, waiting for the ultimate end.
(Winner: )
️
Atmospheric / Cosmic Intrigue
The Dream Realm
You were once a normal person living a normal life. That all changed when you fell asleep one night under the baleful glare of a demon star and woke into a dream more real than ever before. The ravenous ocean is calling to you, as is the burning sun and the unknowable void. Which call do you heed, if any? Is there a fourth path, a way to choose another option? What is actually happening in this dream?
(2) Dungeon Delvers
Action-Adventure
Magical Medieval / Renaissance - Underground Dungeon
A classic adventuring party a la D&D dives into a mysterious and dangerous dungeon in search of treasure, or perhaps something more valuable. What dark secrets lie in wait? What horrifying monsters bar their way? How many will die in the process?
(3) Glorbulon
Action-Adventure / Comedy
Space - Kronwaë
The recent mysterious disappearance of several high-profile starliners - and one isolated planet - has thrown the local sector into a frenzy. Government agents, adventurers, mercenaries, and corporation employees are all out searching for the cause of these disappearances. Our protagonist is one of these searchers, and they think they’re onto something...
(1) The End of Everything ️
Cosmic Atmospheric / Horror
Space
The end of the universe has been and gone, and yet life remains. Pitifully inching across the empty, frigid void, a single starship crawls across utter nothingness, its reactor capable of sustaining it for millennia more. But what is the point of living in this utterly dead existence? Is there a way to reverse entropy, to jump-start the universe back to life? You’re not sure, but it’s got to be a better plan than just sitting around in the ship, waiting for the ultimate end.
(Winner: )
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2
14
11
The next story will be Glorbulon. Before we get started, however, there are a few questions we need to answer. Let’s start with the protagonist, and we’ll get to the details of the setting and scenario later. Who will be our main character?
- Jack, a human ex-Federation officer who either left the force or was kicked off. He’s pretty reluctant to talk about it. Bold and willing to charge into danger with few second thoughts. Skilled in gunplay and close-quarters combat.
️ - Yev, a maesha artist and musician who has fallen on hard times recently. Maesha in general are a semi-aquatic humanoid species able to breathe both air and water, and Yev in particular is laid back and a little lazy. Still, she’s skilled in music and biology, including medicine for many species.
️ - Nine, an android struggling to find his way in the galaxy after escaping from his programming as a starship technician. Self-interested and has trouble fitting in with organics at times. Skilled in mechanics and computers, as one might expect.
- Jessica, a human corpo agent employed by Lockheed-Bolte, a weapons-and-ordnance corporation that does both design and manufacturing. And, apparently, private investigation. Go figure. She can be a little timid and nervous, but is skilled in piloting and getting people to let information slip.
(Winner: )
- Jack, a human ex-Federation officer who either left the force or was kicked off. He’s pretty reluctant to talk about it. Bold and willing to charge into danger with few second thoughts. Skilled in gunplay and close-quarters combat.
️ - Yev, a maesha artist and musician who has fallen on hard times recently. Maesha in general are a semi-aquatic humanoid species able to breathe both air and water, and Yev in particular is laid back and a little lazy. Still, she’s skilled in music and biology, including medicine for many species.
️ - Nine, an android struggling to find his way in the galaxy after escaping from his programming as a starship technician. Self-interested and has trouble fitting in with organics at times. Skilled in mechanics and computers, as one might expect.
- Jessica, a human corpo agent employed by Lockheed-Bolte, a weapons-and-ordnance corporation that does both design and manufacturing. And, apparently, private investigation. Go figure. She can be a little timid and nervous, but is skilled in piloting and getting people to let information slip.
(Winner: )
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Okay, so Jess will be our protagonist! Let’s learn a little bit more about her, shall we?
Jess works as...
- A courier. Transporter of cargo, information, and people. While L-B isn’t a logistics company, it works with secret enough projects that it needs its own internal distributions network. She’ll start with a small freighter on a relatively well-populated planet home to a major metropolis.
️ - A clerk. Assistant to one of the company’s many higher-ups. Privy to secrets and classified operations like few others, and in charge of taking on “special missions” for her boss. She’ll start with additional funding and contacts on a galactic coreworld.
Additionally, how has she heard about these disappearances? What lead does she have?
- Through her work. For some reason or another, L-B picked her of all people to investigate. Maybe she’s disposable, or maybe she’s got a particular set of skills. It’s hard to know for sure. Either way, some poor expendable intern has tracked down an informant for her that might know something - on the same planet, no less!
- Through a friend or acquaintance. They had heard of the gigantic stir the search was making across the galaxy and, for whatever reason, wanted to get involved. Through a clever application of alcohol and social pressure, they managed to get Jess to agree to help. Unfortunately, neither of them have any idea where to start. Double unfortunately, they’re both too drunk to figure it out right now. Triple unfortunately, didn’t her wallet previously have a pocket in it? Wait, no, the other way around.
(Winners: , )
- A courier. Transporter of cargo, information, and people. While L-B isn’t a logistics company, it works with secret enough projects that it needs its own internal distributions network. She’ll start with a small freighter on a relatively well-populated planet home to a major metropolis.
️ - A clerk. Assistant to one of the company’s many higher-ups. Privy to secrets and classified operations like few others, and in charge of taking on “special missions” for her boss. She’ll start with additional funding and contacts on a galactic coreworld.
Additionally, how has she heard about these disappearances? What lead does she have?
- Through her work. For some reason or another, L-B picked her of all people to investigate. Maybe she’s disposable, or maybe she’s got a particular set of skills. It’s hard to know for sure. Either way, some poor expendable intern has tracked down an informant for her that might know something - on the same planet, no less!
- Through a friend or acquaintance. They had heard of the gigantic stir the search was making across the galaxy and, for whatever reason, wanted to get involved. Through a clever application of alcohol and social pressure, they managed to get Jess to agree to help. Unfortunately, neither of them have any idea where to start. Double unfortunately, they’re both too drunk to figure it out right now. Triple unfortunately, didn’t her wallet previously have a pocket in it? Wait, no, the other way around.
(Winners: , )
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7
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14
Alright! This will be the last poll before the story starts; it relates to the format and style rather than the content.
First, second, or third person?
1️⃣ - First person.
2️⃣ - Second person.
3️⃣ - Third person.
How realistic do you want physics and technology?
- Minor variations. FTL will still be possible because it’s required for the story, but the rest of technology is comparatively lagging behind. Guns shoot bullets and cars don’t fly.
- Science fiction. FTL is possible but relatively expensive, guns shoot lasers, and starships dock in orbital hangars. Forcefields, personal shields, and medigel are available if you know where to look.
- Loosey goosey. FTL is easy and cheap. Starships are as widespread as cars. If you get your head chopped off, don’t worry! Just grow a new one, or inhabit a cloned or artificial body! Anything goes.
Lastly, who’s her friend?
- Jack.
️ - Yev.
️ - Nine.
❓ - Someone else. (My pick)
(Winners: 3️⃣ , , ️ )
- Minor variations. FTL will still be possible because it’s required for the story, but the rest of technology is comparatively lagging behind. Guns shoot bullets and cars don’t fly.
- Science fiction. FTL is possible but relatively expensive, guns shoot lasers, and starships dock in orbital hangars. Forcefields, personal shields, and medigel are available if you know where to look.
- Loosey goosey. FTL is easy and cheap. Starships are as widespread as cars. If you get your head chopped off, don’t worry! Just grow a new one, or inhabit a cloned or artificial body! Anything goes.
Lastly, who’s her friend?
- Jack.
️ - Yev.
️ - Nine.
❓ - Someone else. (My pick)
(Winners: 3️⃣ , , ️ )
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Scene 0
Jess made a good-faith effort to focus on at least one of the two wavering images in front of her. One of them raised their arm to point at something over her shoulder, and the other one did the same simultaneously. This would have been at least minorly impressive if they hadn’t been the same person. She rolled her eyes around like two poorly-behaved marbles absolutely refusing to remain right-side up, trying to bring her friend into focus. She had marginal success. Maybe it would be better to just listen.
“Jess, are you paying attention to me?” Nine asked, his voice somewhere between irritated and smug.
“Ayep...o,” she slurred, turning to face the less-blurry version of him. “Ab-sholutley.”
“Of course you were. That’s why you agreed to help me without even asking what I needed help with, right?”
“Ayep...o.” She giggled. Something about the “o” sound was just funny. “I’ll... help you.”
Nine sighed and shouted something over his shoulder. Jess couldn’t quite make out what he had said through the din. With her obligation to continue listening to him released, her attention started to drift throughout the diner. Everything was a kaleidoscopic mess of shapes and colors with her current level of intoxication, but she could still make out the basic gist of what was going on. She and Nine were seated in a booth against the side wall, while dozens of other patrons filled every other seat and crammed the standing room as well. Most had their heads or other sense organs pointed towards a particular location in the corner of the room, just over her shoulder. Exactly where Nine had been pointing.
Her brain had churned through enough thoughts at that point to arrive at the conclusion that maybe she ought to look over her shoulder, but by then Nine had finished his conversation with the waiter and returned his attention to her.
“Hey, over here.” He snapped his fingers in her face. “You’re useless like this. We’re leaving and you’re going to take a 12-hour nap to sober up. Gimme your keys; you can’t be trusted with them at this point.”
“Ayep...o,” she agreed happily, hands slapping at her pockets and searching for the keys to her starship. Nine got distracted by the waiter again while she was searching, giving her plenty of time to come to the realization that her keys were not in her pockets anywhere. This was problematic. Nine looked busy, though, so instead of getting his attention, she looked over her shoulder at whatever everyone was looking at.
It was an older flat-panel TV, beat up and stained from many years in service. Every eye in the place besides Nines’ and the waiters’ was glued to it. Trying to trick her eyes into focusing, Jess attempted to find out why.
Some news anchor was talking in front of an empty background of stars. Several glowing dots drifted here and there across the void. She focused on his words over the general din and managed to catch a few fragments. “planet in the system... mysterious disappearance... Mega-affiliate starliners... no explanation yet...”
“Keys, Jess. Where are they?”
“Ah!” She rotated in place and almost fell over, giggling at both Nines’ expressions. “No keysh.” An attempted shrug. “Dunno.”
“You don’t know where your keys are?”
She nodded happily.
Nine sighed and slid around to the other side of the booth, shoving Jess against the wall so he could fit. He dug through her pockets himself just to be sure, to which she giggled and ineffectually pawed at his hands, then slid out of the booth and stood up. “Okay, no need to get worried,” he said, mostly to himself since Jess sure as hell wasn’t listening. “Where have you been since we got here? When’s the last time you remember having your keys? Please tell me you remember at least something.”
Jess let herself slowly slide down the bench as she pondered. “I... had them... paying!”
“You had them when we got here and bought food,” Nine translated. “That’s good; they should still be here somewhere. Where have you been?”
Another pause as she slid closer to the floor. “Here... bar... bathroom? Yesh.”
“Great. Stay there and don’t get into any trouble. I’m going to go check.” He stepped away from the booth a few paces, then turned back to glare at her. “Stay there.”
Nine walked quickly away, disappearing into the crowd. Jess slid off the bench and landed in a heap on the floor, her legs sprawling out into the main walkway.
Someone immediately tripped over her and fell to the floor, dropping a soda (which splashed all over Jess’s jeans) and a very familiar keyring. The little plastic panda smiled at her, as if to say “No one here except you even knows what a panda is, let alone has one on their keyring!”
Jess blinked.
“Sorry, sorry,” came a voice from above the table as whoever it was scooped up the keys and quickly darted out of view to the left. Jess scooted out from under the table just in time to see a short, broad figure in a brown flight jacket push its way into the crowd and out of sight, heading towards the door. The back of its head had been bald and an appealing shade of light green. Nine was nowhere to be seen. What should Jess do?
- Chase down the thief! Get her keys back!
️ - Chase the thief, but also leave a note for Nine.
9️⃣ - Wait for Nine to come back and tell him what happened.
[Or submit a write-in choice in #story_discussion!]
(Winner: )
- Chase down the thief! Get her keys back!
️ - Chase the thief, but also leave a note for Nine.
9️⃣ - Wait for Nine to come back and tell him what happened.
[Or submit a write-in choice in #story_discussion!]
(Winner: )
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2
Scene 1
Jess hesitated only long enough to let her struggling mind piece together the obvious clues into a cohesive picture. Once she managed to connect the panda to her keyring to the alien that had just left, she shouted an off-balance “HEY!” and struggled to her feet, soda sluicing from her jeans.
Without pause for further thought, she bounced through the crowd, pinballing off enough people to keep her vaguely upright at the cost of irritating almost everyone in the bar. She managed to dart out of sight fast enough that at least a few of the more heavily-intoxicated patrons didn’t see her and their retaliatory swings hit innocent bystanders. Some of whom then retaliated themselves.
As Jess burst through the doors into the crowded, narrow alley, she could hear the sounds of a fight starting behind her. Nine would not be pleased. Oh well, frag him. He was too practical for his own good sometimes; a little excitement would be good for him.
She glanced in both directions and, to her surprise, actually managed to spot a green-headed alien in a brown flight jacket power-walking away and about to turn a corner. “HEY, YOU!” she shouted, darting forward. Lights burst in her vision and colors spun in all directions, but the center of her sight was clear enough. Assorted bystanders either stepped back out of her way or warily watched her run past, while her target glanced back over his shoulder - revealing a low, protruding brow and two small tusks protruding from his bottom gums - and started to run away.
“GIMME... MY KEYS!” she yelled, somehow keeping pace despite the sickening, lurching motion of the ground as it spun around her. Her opponent turned the corner only a few seconds ahead of her, his frame built for power over speed. Still, he only needed to be a few seconds faster as Jess traced his altered trajectory and guessed his likely destination.
The two had emerged from the alley into a more major thoroughfare. Only about two dozen yards away was a stairway leading up to one of the many hypertrain stations dotted around the city, and based on the rumbling from above, there was probably a train approaching just now. If he could get into the station and onto a train before her, he would be home free. And given that he also had her missing wallet with all her credchips in it (she glared as he pulled it out of his jacket), she wouldn’t be able to pay for entrance while he would.
Jess probably isn’t going to be able to overtake him before he can reach the station. If she can’t catch him, what should she do?
- Get some other metro-rider to let her into the station. [Chance: a chancy challenge.]
- Get some other metro-rider to let her into the station, but less politely. [Chance: a simple challenge.]
- Bypass the turnstile. This will require good dexterity, due to the shock grid covering it. [Chance: a risky challenge.]
- The stations often have cops on duty. Get one of them to arrest him. [Chance: a chancy challenge.]
(Winner: )
- Get some other metro-rider to let her into the station. [Chance: a chancy challenge.]
- Get some other metro-rider to let her into the station, but less politely. [Chance: a simple challenge.]
- Bypass the turnstile. This will require good dexterity, due to the shock grid covering it. [Chance: a risky challenge.]
- The stations often have cops on duty. Get one of them to arrest him. [Chance: a chancy challenge.]
(Winner: )
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Scene 2
The thief darted to the right and slipped into the hypertrain station, tapping the wallet on the reader. There was a brief delay as the system considered the credchips inside, but after only a second the light flashed green and the barrier unlocked. The thief glanced back as he slipped through the turnstile, eyes widening as he realized Jess was not slowing down as she charged up the steps. He turned and tried to squeeze through the turnstile, but was an instant too late as she crashed into him and sent them both sprawling to the floor of the station platform.
“OCCIFER! OFFI-” Jess’s yelling was cut off as the green-skinned alien socked her square in the jaw, adding an entirely new set of disorientingly swirling lights to her vision as her face blazed with pain. She struggled to sit up, raising a hand to her mouth to wipe away the blood trickling from her split lip.
The alien had fought his way through the crowd onto the train and slipped into the car as she watched. An armored cop - a Mechanized Civil Protection Officer or MCP, technically - was already on the scene, however. Its opaque visor reflected the station lights as it glanced between Jess lying bloody on the ground and the car her assailant had disappeared into. Before she could blink, whatever was inside the suit made up its mind and darted into the car after him. Nervous commuters spilled out of the train, making way for the cop. Some short, grey alien with near-colorless eyes wordlessly held out a hand and helped Jess up before melting back into the crowd.
There was a scream and a loud two-note siren familiar to anyone who had spent long in the Tagantu system: the noise made by an MCP suit transitioning from patrol to combat mode. Jess winced, both at a fresh spike of pain from her lip and at the harsh cracking sound from inside the train. She felt a little guilty about getting CP involved, but how was she supposed to know the cop on duty would be in a fraggin’ mech suit?
Another loud two-note siren sounded as the suit transitioned from combat back to patrol mode. The MCP emerged from the train, dragging the green-skinned alien by one clearly-broken arm. The thief grunted in pain with every step, one eye squeezed shut and the other glaring at Jess.
“INCIDENT HAS BEEN RESOLVED,” the cop intoned, its speaker system blaring the words across the station. “CONTINUE WITH YOUR DAY.”
After a brief hesitation, most of the commuters did as instructed, shuffling around Jess and the MCP to make their way back onto the train or out onto the streets. A few stragglers stayed, recording the aftermath on their comms.
The cop lowered its speaker volume to a more conversational level and handed Jess her wallet. “CONTAINS YOUR ID. LIKELY STOLEN. ARE YOU MISSING ANY OTHER ITEMS.” Whatever vocal synthesizer the suit used didn’t seem to have a “question” mode, or indeed any sense of pitch or tone. At some point she had known this was a deliberate design choice to de-humanize (de-alienize?) the cops who patrolled the toughest sections of the system, but staring down a faceless, toneless robot, Jess felt fear overwhelm her knowledge.
“Y-yesh-” She stopped herself, trying to enunciate clearly through her split lip and intoxication. Nothing would stop her from ending up like her assailant too if the cop felt like it. “M..y keysp. Havea... p-anda on th’ring.”
The MCP’s grip tightened. “RETURN STOLEN PROPERTY.”
“H-here.” The thief growled and dropped a keyring onto the floor. Jess bent down to pick it up, nearly braining herself on the MCP’s armored knee, and returned to a standing position with something that at least looked very similar to her keyring in tow.
“IS THIS SUFFICIENT.”
“Y-yeah. Than.. yoffic-er.”
“INCIDENT HAS BEEN RESOLVED. CONTINUE WITH YOUR DAY.” The MCP turned quickly and stomped down the platform steps, dragging the thief down so he knocked against every one of them. Just before the two disappeared around a corner, the green-skinned alien raised a thumb to his neck and, in a very human gesture, slid it across his throat. Jess gave him the finger in return.
She flopped down onto a bench. That had gone well. Mostly. Sure, she was now officially on the record as having been on Tagantu IV today, which she wasn’t supposed to be, but at least she had gotten her keys and wallet back. Briefly, she tried to work out the consequences of her little blunder, but couldn’t bring enough of her brain cells in line to think more than a few minutes into the future. Now what?
- Take the train back to the spaceport where her ship is docked.
- Return to the diner, triumphant.
- Double down on trying to remember. Why wasn’t she supposed to be on record? What was she doing on this planet in the first place? [Chance: a modest challenge.]
- Sleep it off right here, right now. [Chance: a risky challenge.]
9️⃣ - Call Nine and give him a status update. [Requires 7 votes and can be combined with any other option.]
(Winners: and 9️⃣ )
- Take the train back to the spaceport where her ship is docked.
- Return to the diner, triumphant.
- Double down on trying to remember. Why wasn’t she supposed to be on record? What was she doing on this planet in the first place? [Chance: a modest challenge.]
- Sleep it off right here, right now. [Chance: a risky challenge.]
9️⃣ - Call Nine and give him a status update. [Requires 7 votes and can be combined with any other option.]
(Winners: and 9️⃣ )
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Scene 3
Jess’s attempts to remember what she was doing were rudely interrupted by a burst of music in her ear: “Mr Roboto,” one of the few songs she had managed to save from her time on Earth. It had seemed funny at the time, but nowadays the novelty had worn off and she was just too lazy to change it to something not vaguely racist (specist? android-ist?). She winced and brought a finger up to tap her earpiece, silencing the ringtone as she accepted the call.
“Hell-”
Nine cut her off midway through her first word. “Jess, what have you done this time? Where are you?”
She closed her eyes and lay down on the bench. “Train... shtation. Go-t m’keys.”
“Stay there. I’m on my way.” Jess could hear yelling and the sound of shattering glass in the background. “Why did you go to the station?”
“Therewasssa guy ‘n shoda ‘n pannndas ‘n a cop ‘n... thief.”
“Someone stole your keys?”
“Guessho.”
“Jess, you have got to be more careful. I know I’ve said this before, but I mean it this time. No more k-dust, period. I’m sick of having to clean up these messes. You are a perfectly reasonable person when you’re sober and I’d prefer if you were sober more often.” There was a loud thwack and Nine grunted, then the background noise dropped significantly. “I know you won’t remember any of this, so we’re going to have this conversation again when you wake up.”
“mm..kayyy...” Jess trailed off, the hard metal bench almost feeling like a bed. Someone nearby grumbled something about ‘goddamn hoboes’ in a pointed manner. Presumably they hadn’t been around a few minutes ago. That was a funny thing about train stations: no one really stuck around for too long. Jess half-grinned as she thought about that. Maybe she was onto something deeply important about the functions and social purpose of train stations. Maybe there was a cosmic balance to the transit industry that required people to only spend so long in a station before they must move on or be overcome. The ebb and flow of people and goods moving through cities, planets, systems. Was it all just an elaborate construction? A ruse? Maybe-
“Hey, get up.”
Nine roughly shook her shoulder and hauled her off the bench. Jess opened her eyes, one at a time, noticing the color had started to drain from the world. There was only one Nine in front of her and he was hardly spinning at all. She was starting to crash. “Mmhpmh,” she murmured, trying to remember how to speak without much success.
“Alright, come on. Let’s go.” Nine tried to get her to walk by supporting her with an arm around her waist, but Jess was quickly moving towards the “pass out for hours” stage. Eventually, he gave up and just slung her over his shoulder like a misbehaving child. In some respects, she was.
A little over fifteen minutes later, Nine carefully set Jess down on her bunk and slid her cabin door closed. He walked back to the cockpit and sat in his chair, pressing his hands against his temples in a human gesture he had learned from her. He sighed. She could be a real lunatic when she indulged just a little too heavily in k-dust packets. The drug was a favorite among slightly less-than-legal types such as those who frequented whatever rundown dive bar they had just left. Although he had never experienced it himself - androids were partially organic, but not in the right ways to be affected by most intoxicants - he had certainly heard plenty of her vivid descriptions of the stuff.
Well. He’d be without her company for at least eight to ten hours as the worst of the aftereffects wore off. It was getting close to midnight, local time, and he was feeling a vague sense of paranoia. What should he do while waiting for her to wake up?
✈️ - Pilot the ship. Leave the planet and go to...
- 
- The system’s corkscrew gate, required to travel to other systems.
- 
- A nearby orbital station or lunar outpost. Somewhere less visible.
- 
- A less-urban planet in the Tagantu system. Not quite deserted, but much less exposed.
- Search the ship for her stash of k-dust. Hide or get rid of it. [Requires 7 votes, can be combined with any other option]
- Do some more research on the disappearances.
- Rest, recharge.
(Winners: ✈️ -> , )
- The system’s corkscrew gate, required to travel to other systems.
- - A nearby orbital station or lunar outpost. Somewhere less visible.
- - A less-urban planet in the Tagantu system. Not quite deserted, but much less exposed.
- Search the ship for her stash of k-dust. Hide or get rid of it. [Requires 7 votes, can be combined with any other option]
- Do some more research on the disappearances.
- Rest, recharge.
(Winners: ✈️ -> , )
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Scene 4
Before doing anything else, Nine locked the ship’s external door and turned off all the lights. He could see in the dark, of course, and Jess was currently too asleep to mind. He felt a little bit safer after that, but there was still an itch at the back of his mind that kept him glancing over his shoulder at even the most innocent noises of the ship maintaining its basic functions.
Did he have a reason to be feeling this way? As Nine worked his way through the ship, combing it for any spare packets of k-dust Jess might have hidden away, he considered the possibility that he wasn’t being irrational. The two of them were on Tagantu IV in the first place to deliver a slightly less-than-legal package to one of Lockheed-Bolte’s local shell corporation subsidiaries. Because the specific goods - in this case, a pallet of neutrino capacitors - could be used in moderate concentrations to sterilize a planet, the Tagantu system had decided to ban them. The block of n-caps Nine had helped unload just this morning wouldn’t be enough to cover the entire planet, but there was certainly enough there to sterilize every organic being in the city.
Jess hadn’t had a chance to explain exactly what had happened, but Nine didn’t have a computer for a brain for nothing. If there had been a cop involved, odds were good that she had been scanned. Normally not a big deal, since she was a licensed freighter pilot for L-B; nothing surprising to see there. But if someone decided to poke into her itinerary a little further, they might discover some inconsistencies. Maybe they’d assume she had just finished her deliveries early and was enjoying some downtime. Enjoying it a little too much, Nine grumbled. But maybe not. Maybe if some lucky CP happened across a pallet of n-caps registered to Totally Legal Inc, or whatever stupid name L-B had given the shell corp this time, they might start to put some pieces together.
He glared at the assortment of plain white packets stacked on the galley counter as if he could hold them personally accountable for this mess. Twelve in total, scattered throughout the ship in three separate caches. She really was addicted. Oh well. If she couldn’t make the decision for herself, Nine would make it for her.
He popped open the airlock and tossed the packets a fair distance into the darkened hangar, landing underneath some other craft. That would either make some junkie’s night or land whoever was the owner of that ship in some lukewarm legal water. Oh well. Sucked for them. Shouldn’t have parked there.
Something shifted in the darkness, out of the range of his night vision. Nine darted back into the ship and slammed the door, locking it quickly. He could feel an internal coolant pump sluggishly spin up to cope with the additional overhead of all the extra clock cycles he was wasting worrying about everything. A brief sigh. He hadn’t felt like this when he had been Bound. Ever since he had escaped, he had felt this continuous sense of paranoia. Maybe that was the defining trait of intelligent, independent life: cripplingly constant anxiety.
Sometimes he almost wished he hadn’t taken the opportunity back then. Life had been much simpler when his only purpose was to clean and repair starships. Now he had to deal with legal issues, bar fights, freight schedules, and the well-being of an entire additional person. A two-tone note, as if from a siren, passed faintly through the hull and Nine flinched. Frag it, we’re going. He couldn’t just sit here all night with nothing but his thoughts.
He started priming the ship’s systems for flight. Pressure. Engines. Drive core. Shielding - wait, not yet. Comms. Next... was it hydraulics or the APU? When did he cut over to the reactor? Goddammit, Jess, how do you make it look so easy?
Though he had spent years while Bound as a service technician on starships, he had never actually piloted one. And though Jess had taught him at least the basics, she was still the designated pilot and flew most of the time. He had a general understanding of the flight controls and a vague sense of how to prime the craft for takeoff, but he was absolutely no expert and always had Jess to step in if anything went wrong. The distant siren sounded again and he swore, pushing aside the idea of waiting for her to wake up. He had to get them out of here, now.
He managed to keep a reasonably even tone when requesting clearance from the tower controller, who sounded bored and more than a little tired. He managed to navigate the ship through the hangar without scraping against any other craft, though not without several close calls. He even managed to line up on the runway without falling off the concrete. Newer, fancier, more expensive ships often had grav thrusters that allowed them to take off and land vertically, but older models like this one still flew in-atmos like normal airplanes. And that meant building up a lot of speed to avoid falling out of the air. Which meant he had to figure out how much thrust to apply, when to rotate, what speed to maintain, and a hundred other things.
For a brief moment, speeding down the runway at over 200 kph, time seemed to slow down and Nine wondered if he would be the one to kill them both. He had always assumed Jess would claim that honor with some impulsive decision, but here he was, thrust lever held at maximum, about to slam straight into a concrete embankment. The feeling lessened, but didn’t quite pass, as he pulled back on the yoke and the ship gradually lifted into the sky. It lessened again after receiving clearance to leave the atmosphere, then transformed into something else entirely as he heard a series of metallic tearing sounds and the ride suddenly became much smoother.
A warning light immediately began to flash and Nine’s gaze settled on the landing gear lever, still innocently set to the “down” position. Well fu-
What should he do about that?
- Pretend nothing happened. Let Jess discover it later. It’ll still work fine in space, after all.
️ - Attempt to fix it before she notices. This won’t be cheap.
- Admit he broke it, but say it was during an escape from thugs or something.
- Tell her when she wakes up. Come clean.
(Winner: )
- Pretend nothing happened. Let Jess discover it later. It’ll still work fine in space, after all.
️ - Attempt to fix it before she notices. This won’t be cheap.
- Admit he broke it, but say it was during an escape from thugs or something.
- Tell her when she wakes up. Come clean.
(Winner: )
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Scene 5
Jess woke up with a pounding headache. She groaned and rolled over, pawing at her face in a vague attempt to wrestle her eyes open. A few minutes passed, during which she dozed off again. What woke her up the second time was the shuddering jolt of the ship attaching to some sort of docking clamp.
Wha...?
Okay, it was time to get up and figure out what was going on here. Jess stumbled out of bed and opened the corridor door, squinting against the lights. She headed down the hall towards the cockpit and swallowed a few times to try and get her voice operational again. “Hey Nine, what’s going on?” she said, leaning against the doorframe and covering her eyes against the harsh floodlights of the docking bay. “Where are we?”
She could only barely make out his silhouette as he guided the ship into dock, but she could still tell he immediately flinched at her question. “Jess I’m sorry I thought CP was coming for us and I flew us up here to hide but you know I’m not very good at flying and I think I forgot to raise the landing gear and it broke off and now we’re on Fain Tagantu and I don’t know what to do about... this!” He waved his arms at the general situation.
“Hold on, what? Slow down. I’m not...” She chuckled self-consciously and slumped into her chair. “We’re on Fain? The station?”
A nod from Nine as he completed the docking.
“And... you broke the landing gear?”
Another nod and a quiet “I’m sorry...”
Jess sighed with relief as the landing lights cut out and left the cabin in semi-darkness. “Don’t worry about it. I’ve done worse to this ol’ thing before I met you. One time, I was late for a delivery and wanted to take a shortcut. I made it there on time, but missing half a wing!” She half-closed one eye, her head still pounding. “Anyway, it’s fine. We’ll get it fixed up. We’ve got a bunch of money from something anyway,” she teased in a singsong voice, remembering his objections to the n-cap shipment.
Nine stared at her for a second before chuckling and clapping her on the shoulder. “Sometimes I really don’t understand you.” He paused briefly. “But I think that’s okay.”
“Aw, love ya too. Now can you give me like twenty minutes to get clean and into some pants that aren’t starched by soda?” She knocked on her jeans to demonstrate the stiffness.
“Yeah. Yeah, I’ll just... postflight.”
She giggled as she left the room. “Make sure to do the landing gear checklist!”
...
About a half-hour later, Jess and Nine wandered through the entrance corridor of the Fain Tagantu station. It was of fairly moderate size, as space stations went, maybe a few kilometers from end to end. Plenty of room for dozens of tourist traps (as the closest satellite of the main planet in the system, it got its fair share of gawking first-timers), but also plenty of room for actually useful stores. She knew there were a few repair shops around here, at least. Somewhere. Still, she wasn’t looking very hard, as she was a little distracted by what Nine was telling her.
“So you’re saying three whole starliners and an entire planet just... went missing? That’s absurd. This isn’t the stone age; someone would have had a comm or an escape pod or- or, something!”
“That’s what they said on the news. Two long-haul starliners, one battlecruiser, and the entire planet of Tagantu VII. All within a few hours of each other. And... all in a line pointing from interstellar space... to here.”
“Here? Fain Tagantu?”
“Well, not here here but the center of the system, at least. Everyone’s more than a little worried that Tagantu VI will be next, then Tagantu IV. V’s out of the way on the other side of the sun, but the other two are right in the path of whatever’s doing this.”
“But... we’re on Tagantu IV! Uh, sort of. How long- do you think it’s actually gonna destroy the planet?”
Nine shrugged. “Seems possible. I’d be a lot more worried if we hear that VI goes missing in the next few hours. They’ve got ships all over the Black between VII and VI’s orbits, but no one’s reported anything yet. They’re asking for any willing and able pilots to help investigate, just to cover more space.”
“And that’s what you wanted my help with back then,” Jess filled in. “Sounds, uh, kinda dangerous. What if we go missing too?”
“Then at least we won’t have to pay for these repairs.”
Jess gaped at him for a moment. “Who are you and what have you done with Nine the humorless android? That could almost have passed for a joke!”
“It’s the truth.”
“Well, okay. Apparently I already agreed, and it almost sounds like it could be fun! If we don’t get eaten by some sort of giant space monster. So, uh, why are we just walking around this mall instead of heading to the ‘screw gate?”
“Provisions. As you said, we’ve got a lot of money. I don’t know what kind of equipment we might need on this adventure, but I’m willing to bet we can buy it here.”
Jess has $1200 left over after accounting for the landing gear repairs and Nine’s share of the profits. What should she buy? [Vote for any number of options. Choices with more than 6 votes will be purchased, in descending priority based on votes until she runs out of money or items.]
- A small fusion cell. Emergency power source for a starship. Good if the reactor fails or you need a little extra juice. Can start fires. ($100)
- A laser pistol. Good for shooting things, or people. Also starts fires! ($200)
- Medigel and a few lightweave bandages. Good for not dying after being shot. Difficult to start fires with, but not impossible. ($300)
️ - A personal shield. Good for not getting shot. Can start fires, but probably shouldn’t. ($400)
- A hardsuit. Good for surviving in space for more than a minute. Thrusters sold separately. Definitely should not be used to start fires. ($500)
- Microthrusters. Rocket boots, but cooler. Good for flying in space or jumping high in gravity. Space suit not included. Can absolutely start fires. ($600)
(Winners: , , for $1200 total)
- A small fusion cell. Emergency power source for a starship. Good if the reactor fails or you need a little extra juice. Can start fires. ($100)
- A laser pistol. Good for shooting things, or people. Also starts fires! ($200)
- Medigel and a few lightweave bandages. Good for not dying after being shot. Difficult to start fires with, but not impossible. ($300)
️ - A personal shield. Good for not getting shot. Can start fires, but probably shouldn’t. ($400)
- A hardsuit. Good for surviving in space for more than a minute. Thrusters sold separately. Definitely should not be used to start fires. ($500)
- Microthrusters. Rocket boots, but cooler. Good for flying in space or jumping high in gravity. Space suit not included. Can absolutely start fires. ($600)
(Winners: , , for $1200 total)
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Scene 6
It took over an hour or shopping to track down the items Jess wanted for the price she was willing to pay, but eventually the cogs of capitalism aligned and she managed to land precisely at the intersection of supply and demand. Which is to say she spent all of her money. Not particularly out of character for her, and being flat broke wasn’t a new experience, but it was never exactly a welcome one. Still, the gear she had picked up would be worth it, hopefully.
Jess clomped back to the ship, straining under the weight of the heavy fusion cell - the size of a car battery but weighing what felt like twice as much - and the equally unwieldy hardsuit that she had decided to wear since she couldn’t carry it and the cell at the same time. Supposedly it would be much less of a burden in zero-G, where it was supposed to be used. In gravity, she felt like a kid drowning in her mother’s coat. If the coat had been made of cement. At least the microthrusters didn’t get in the way. True to their name, the thrusters were in fact very small - only about the size of a deck of cards and with a powerful liquifoam adhesive to bind to her shoes. Briefly, she wondered how much fuel they could possibly hold in such a small package, but reasoned she probably wouldn’t need them anyway. All this was just insurance in case something terrible happened and she was left stranded in space.
... But maybe the microthrusters could be fun even in regular gravity. She’d have to play around with them once she got back on a planet with real ground and off of a station with a highly-flammable atmosphere. Still, for now, she just activated the adhesive and pressed them to the boots of the hardsuit, hanging the assembled flight suit in a storage closet close to the cockpit. It was way too bulky to wear during normal flying. She dumped the fusion cell in the engine room and tied it to a shelf with a few handy zip ties. Hopefully it wouldn’t fall into the reactor at some point during a fancy maneuver. It would probably be fine.
Nine returned to the ship a few minutes later, holding only a plain black box. Jess leaned closer to look at it. “Whatcha got there?”
He clasped his hands over the lid more tightly. “Something I would prefer not to show you.”
“Aw, why not?”
“It is required to be a surprise.”
“...Why?”
“Because.” Nine slid it into his cabin and shut the door, returning to his seat next to Jess. He didn’t say anything further on the subject, and something about his demeanor discouraged further prodding. “Anyway, shall we get going?”
Jess shook the muffled ringing out of her ears. Probably nothing to worry about. “Sure!” She quickly powered up the engines and disengaged the clamps while Nine called for clearance. With permission quickly obtained, the ship drifted free of Fain Tagantu and hung motionless against the twinkling void of space.
“So, uh, where are we going?”
- Straight for Tagantu VI, the next planet in the line of disappearances. Join the rest of the searchers.
- To the corkscrew gate near the star Tagantu. From that gate, they can get anywhere in the system near-instantly, or travel to other systems. Wait for a bit to know where to go.
️ - Back to Tagantu IV. Research or gather information.
️ - Slingshot around the star or use the screw gate to head for Tagantu V, the one planet out of alignment with the rest.
(Winner: )
- Straight for Tagantu VI, the next planet in the line of disappearances. Join the rest of the searchers.
- To the corkscrew gate near the star Tagantu. From that gate, they can get anywhere in the system near-instantly, or travel to other systems. Wait for a bit to know where to go.
️ - Back to Tagantu IV. Research or gather information.
️ - Slingshot around the star or use the screw gate to head for Tagantu V, the one planet out of alignment with the rest.
(Winner: )
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Scene 7
“Jumping in 3... 2... 1... let’s go.”
Jess slowly pushed the lever forward, feeling the subtle shudder of the hyperdrive as the core engaged and pushed the ship out of phase with the normal universe. Fain Tagantu quickly leapt away from them, followed by the planet it orbited. Before long, the ship hung seemingly motionlessness against the now slightly-transparent background of space. Occasional streaks of light or color shot by, the only things lending any credence to the idea that they were moving slightly faster than the speed of light.
Jump drives like this one could boost starships to speeds up to around three times the speed of light without any relativistic effects. Jess had very little idea how they worked and she didn’t care to. However, even at 3c (which her ship wasn’t capable of due to its age), it would take hours to get anywhere of interest in the system. The corkscrew gate, however, could push ships much further out of phase and thus boost them to hundreds of thousands of times the speed of light. Once they arrived at the gate, they could jump to pretty much anywhere in the system almost instantaneously.
“Should be about half an hour before we arrive at the ‘screw gate. You want to keep an eye on the news; see if anything pops up? I wanna go double check the zip ties.”
“I’ll keep an eye out. But you’re not getting out of a conversation that easily. Come back soon.”
“What conversation?”
“Go check on the zip ties. I’ll be here.”
Jess gave Nine a sidelong glance, then headed back to the engine room to double-check the fusion cell. A loud clattering noise greeted her as she slipped into the room, carefully navigating around the visibly-glowing drive core casing. Some engineers refused to work next to an operating drive core. Some people called those people “smart,” “sane,” or “following workplace health and safety regulations.” Jess called them cowards. The dose of ionizing radiation she’d get from the core wasn’t much more than a few hours in the sunshine thanks to the shielding, and the deep, penetrating heat almost felt pleasant sometimes. Like she had stepped into a microwave.
Sometimes Jess wondered if she took her own safety too lightly.
Anyway, the zip ties were holding up fine, but she added some tape and twist ties just in case. The reactor was holding up fine and still had plenty of fuel. The drive core was obviously functioning or she wouldn’t be getting this lovely internal tan. “Beauty is only skin deep” - hah! Thrusters were fine - no misalignments or stuck valves. Dang. She didn’t have anything that needed her attention for long enough to delay whatever conversation Nine wanted to have. This was never good. Oh well. Better let him talk. She could always get blitzed again afterwards.
She shut all the doors and wandered back to the cockpit, checking her watch. Still around twelve minutes to go before they’d drop out of hyperspace. He’d have plenty of time. “Okay bud, what’s on your mind?”
Nine sat perfectly upright, in that eerily robotic way he acted when he was uncomfortable. “Jess, I’ve gotten rid of all your k-dust.”
She gasped. “How did you-”
“You hid one of the caches in the fridge under a pile of drink mix. I don’t know what you were expecting with that one. Anyway, you need to stop. This latest debacle was the last straw. You’re perfectly reasonable when you’re sober; it’s just that you never are. And since you can’t seem to make that decision yourself, I made it for you.”
She stayed quiet for several seconds.
“I’m not doing this to be mean, Jess. I’m doing this because I care about you. You don’t need to be out of your skull to have a good time.” He paused, considering. “... Why did you start, anyway? What do you get out of being basically nonfunctional for hours on end?”
Jess looked down. “I... I don’t-”
Suddenly, she was interrupted by a screeching alarm from the control panel. Oh thank god. Wait- A second after the alarm started, before she had even had a chance to turn and look at the alert, came a sickening lurch as the ship abruptly dropped out of hyperspace. “Collision alert. Collision alert.”
Jess gasped as she quickly glanced between the control panel and the view outside. A moderately-sized starship, maybe a couple dozen feet longer than her own, floated nearby, cold and dark. A strange red-orange substance coated much of the exterior. On the sensors, however, the ship registered as an enormous gravitational object, so large it had tripped the failsafe built into the hyperdrive meant to prevent her from driving into a planet or star. The readings were all wrong, however. The area of effect was tiny, and there obviously wasn’t a miniature black hole inside of it. Her ship wasn’t being pulled in. Something incredibly weird was going on here. What should they do?
- Scan the ship from afar. Hail the crew. Investigate remotely. [Requires 7 votes; can be combined with any other option.]
️ - Get close and try to dock with the other ship. [Chance: a straightforward challenge.]
- Use the hardsuit and thrusters to fly over to the other ship. Investigate in person. [Chance: an almost-guaranteed challenge.]
- Ignore it. Fly at sublight out of the anomaly’s range, then jump back to warp and continue to the gate.
(Winner: )
- Scan the ship from afar. Hail the crew. Investigate remotely. [Requires 7 votes; can be combined with any other option.]
️ - Get close and try to dock with the other ship. [Chance: a straightforward challenge.]
- Use the hardsuit and thrusters to fly over to the other ship. Investigate in person. [Chance: an almost-guaranteed challenge.]
- Ignore it. Fly at sublight out of the anomaly’s range, then jump back to warp and continue to the gate.
(Winner: )
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Scene 8
“Collision alert? With what?” Nine grumbled as he extricated himself from the controls, having been flung into them by the sudden deceleration. “Also, when are you planning on replacing the inertial compensators? I think this panel is starting to dent.”
“Shh, hang on.” Jess waved a hand at him, almost crouching behind the controls as she slowly turned the ship to face the wreck. “The heck is that thing?”
“It’s a starship. Probably disabled and left to drift. Apparently covered in some sort of moss or fur.”
“Yeah, but what is it doing out here in the middle of a flight path, broadcasting a really strong but really tiny grav signature? You wanna get on the comms while I run some scans?”
Nine brushed a hand over a panel and unclipped a handheld microphone. “What are you expecting to receive? This is clearly a derelict. If anyone were onboard and capable of operating the comms, they would have been noticed by now. We’re not that far away from either Tagantu II or the corkscrew gate.”
“I dunno, but I’d feel weird about just going over there without hailing them. Y’know? It’s like breaking into someone’s house without asking if anyone’s home first.”
“But you’re still going to break into their house.”
“Well, duh. How cool is this? Look!”
Nine leaned over to read the screen Jess was excitedly staring at. “You’re getting... residual charge? Am I reading that right?”
“Yeah! Somewhere in that ship, there’s a jump drive that hasn’t spun down properly, which means one of two things. One! It still has power and it’s keeping it partially spun up for whatever reason. Or two! Uh...”
“I don’t know where you were going with that either,” Nine agreed. “For it to have charge, it has to have power. Maybe there’s something in that ship powering this gravity field as well? I wonder how long it’s been here.”
“Maybe... I wonder what that stuff is on the outside, though. I can barely get anything to penetrate through it. Everything just... bounces off. I wonder if there’s a better angle on the other side?”
Jess cautiously maneuvered up and over the other ship, bringing her freighter around the other side. Nine halfheartedly hailed the other vessel on a handful of standard frequencies, but to no one’s surprise, there was no response. The other side of the ship had just as much red-orange substance coating the outside, but there was at least something interesting: an open airlock. Thin tendrils of the substance hung out the door into space, utterly still.
“That’s pretty creepy, but hey, free airlock! Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”
“Are you really wanting to dock with this thing?”
“Look at how cool it is! I’ve never seen anything like this! What if it’s related to the disappearances? Wouldn’t we just be kicking ourselves if we left now and didn’t poke around a bit?”
“Look, Jess, this is clearly a significant anomaly. It could be dangerous. I know you rate your own safety fairly low among your priorities, but come on.”
“Well what else do you want to do? Just leave?”
He thought for a moment. “Didn’t you just fix the railgun?”
️ - Dock with the other ship. Board and explore. [Chance: a straightforward challenge.]
- Use the hardsuit and thrusters to board the other ship. Nine can come too since he doesn’t need to breathe. [Chance: a simple challenge.]
- Use the hardsuit and thrusters to board the other ship. Nine will stay behind on the railgun, ready to fire if needed. [Chance: a simple challenge.]
- Blow it up.
(Winner: ️ )
️ - Dock with the other ship. Board and explore. [Chance: a straightforward challenge.]
- Use the hardsuit and thrusters to board the other ship. Nine can come too since he doesn’t need to breathe. [Chance: a simple challenge.]
- Use the hardsuit and thrusters to board the other ship. Nine will stay behind on the railgun, ready to fire if needed. [Chance: a simple challenge.]
- Blow it up.
(Winner: ️ )
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Scene 9
“No, we’re not gonna blow it up. That’s a waste! Plus, what if something weird happens if it gets shot? I wanna see what’s inside.”
As Jess slowly maneuvered the ship to drift alongside the derelict, Nine stared out the window quietly. He only spoke once the ship was in position (though with a little more adjusting than normal due to the odd little movements of the other ship) and the docking umbilical had been deployed. “What’s the backup plan?”
“Hm?” Jess was distracted with the almost claw machine-like controls for the umbilical. It was always a nightmare trying to get it to line up properly even when there wasn’t orange stuff in the way.
“If something goes wrong. If there are hostiles on that ship, or if the drive core explodes, or if any one of a dozen other problems occurs. What’s the plan? How are you going to stay safe?”
“Oh Nine, you’ve been friends with me for long enough. You know I don’t deal in ‘plans.’ I deal more in hunches propped up by guesswork and improv. If something goes wrong, we’ll figure it out.”
“You mean you’ll figure it out. I’m not coming with you on such a risky excursion.”
“But-”
“Nope. Not happening. Not unless you’ve got a better plan than ‘we’ll figure it out.’”
...
A few minutes later, Jess drifted down the umbilical in her hardsuit, feeling very silly as she tried to push her way through the zero-grav tube linking the two vessels. Nine had at least convinced her to wear the suit in case the other ship’s hull had been punctured at some point. She had reluctantly agreed to this, agreeing that suffocating to death when she had a perfectly good spacesuit would be a very lame way to go.
The microthrusters helped a little, but she was still very new to controlling them and kept going into quick, tight spins as she misaligned one of her legs by just a few inches. Nine floated behind her in his standard synthweave jacket and trousers, unwilling to let her fly off alone despite his posturing. He had clipped the black box to his belt and it drifted behind him, just as mysterious as when he had first presented it.
After a few undignified crashes into the (thankfully quite strong) walls of the umbilical, Jess finally made it over to the opposite airlock. Curious, she brushed against one of the motionless orange-red tendrils. It scraped against her suit and gently rippled with the inertia she had given it, moving almost as a frond of seaweed. It left a faint dusting of orange-red powder, like rust, on her arm.
She slapped the rest of the tendrils out of the way and stepped into the airlock and the ship’s still-functioning artificial gravity field. Her boots sank into a thick carpet of orange-red moss that coated the floor, walls, and ceiling. She waved Nine in and he gingerly touched down next to her, raising a hand to activate his radio.
“This stuff feels highly uncomfortable.” His voice was tinny and low quality, a side-effect of the vibration-sensitive throat mic capable of interpreting sound from vocal movements even in a vacuum. “Let’s hurry up.”
“Aye sir.” Jess wiped off the airlock control panel and slapped the button. The doors slowly cycled, though no air pumped into the chamber. Eventually, the opposite door creaked half-open before jamming on something and stopping. A dark hallway leading in both directions loomed quiet and empty. Jess clicked on her flashlight. Suspended particles of orange-red moss sparkled in the beam. “This feels like a scene out of a horror movie.”
“We can still turn around. I know you love explosions. We can still blow it up.”
“No. This is important. I feel it.”
Where should they go?
- Left, towards the bow. Head for the bridge.
️ - Right, towards the stern. Head for the engine room.
️ - Left, towards the bow. Search the crew quarters.
- Right, towards the stern. Search the common areas.
️ - Right, towards the stern. Search the cargo hold.
(Winner: )
- Left, towards the bow. Head for the bridge.
️ - Right, towards the stern. Head for the engine room.
️ - Left, towards the bow. Search the crew quarters.
- Right, towards the stern. Search the common areas.
️ - Right, towards the stern. Search the cargo hold.
(Winner: )
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Scene 10
“Come on, let’s go this way. Maybe something on the bridge is still functioning.” Jess was whispering, even though there was no way her voice could carry through the suit and vacuum to any listeners besides Nine with the radio. It just felt like an appropriate time to be quiet.
Slowly, the two made their way through the ship’s dark corridors. Glittering spores of the orange-red moss still hung motionless, suspended until brushed aside by Jess or Nine. The carpet-like coating on the floors and walls began to thin, eventually becoming only a few wandering strands crawling along the metal paneling. The rooms they passed - crew quarters mostly - were either locked or empty. The locked doors often sported dents or scratches, as if from some powerful creature slamming against them. The open rooms were ransacked, furniture and belongings ripped apart and strewn across the floor. No corpses or skeletons were visible, but Jess wasn’t sure if that was a good thing. Despite her normal bravado, she was getting more and more nervous as they approached the bridge.
The bulkhead door was shut and scratched, but the heavy tristeel alloy seemed to have resisted the worst of whatever creature had attacked the vessel. The locking lugs were very slightly bent and scraped against the doorframe as Jess strained at the wheel. “Help me out with this. It’s stuck.”
Nine folded his arms and seemed about to say something, but then just grasped the wheel alongside her. “Fine.”
Together, the two of them managed to turn the wheel past the point of obstruction. After a few more turns, the door silently creaked open. Jess angled her flashlight into the bridge.
The room was only slightly larger than the cockpit on her freighter, maybe fifteen by eight feet. A long control console took up much of the front wall beneath the wide, curved window looking out into space. A dozen errors blinked dull red on the console, alerting the long-dead crew of the multitude of problems the ship faced.
Three humanoid figures sat slumped in chairs on the bridge, all nibbled clean of skin and flesh. As Jess crept closer, her flashlight hand growing shaky, she noted that even the bones had little tooth marks. The only things holding the skeletons together were a few strained tendons and the tattered and ripped uniforms. The species of these figures was beyond guessing at this point.
“... God. What do you think happened he-” Jess was cut off as Nine urgently keyed his mic.
“In the corner! Get out of there!”
Jess turned, stumbling back towards the door as she stared into the corner of the room. Two wide, reflective eyes gleamed in the light under a decorative strut supporting the console. She gasped, reaching for the door, as something small, furry, and round rolled into view. “... Wait, what?”
The creature was about the size and shape of a soccer ball and covered in wavy orange-red fur the same color as the moss. Its two eyes each seemed to have two pupils, and all four were focused on Jess. Its tiny mouth opened and the entire creature hopped a centimeter off the floor in what could have been a little squeak if not for the vacuum. It was shaped like a friend.
“Aww... Look at it. It’s not gonna hurt anyone.”
“Jess, get out of there, now. We don’t know what-”
“AaAH!”
The tiny ball of fur launched off the ground, propelling itself at shocking speeds for something without any obvious appendages. It smacked Jess in the forehead, ricocheting off the hardsuit’s visor, bouncing off the ceiling, and finally rolling down the hallway to come to a stop almost twenty feet away. She almost fell from the heavy impact, but Nine caught her and helped her upright. There was a brief pause. What should they do?
- Get into the bridge and close the door. Check the controls.
- Try and punt it off the ship or into somewhere it can be locked away. [Chance: a risky challenge.]
- Abandon the investigation; get out ASAP! [Chance: a chancy challenge.]
❤️ - Pick it up and snuggle it. It looks so inviting! [Chance: a modest challenge.]
⬛ - Open the black box. [This can only be used once in the story.]
(Winner: )
- Get into the bridge and close the door. Check the controls.
- Try and punt it off the ship or into somewhere it can be locked away. [Chance: a risky challenge.]
- Abandon the investigation; get out ASAP! [Chance: a chancy challenge.]
❤️ - Pick it up and snuggle it. It looks so inviting! [Chance: a modest challenge.]
⬛ - Open the black box. [This can only be used once in the story.]
(Winner: )
8
4
1
3
2
Scene 11
The creature swiveled upright and rolled forward. Nine shoved Jess into the bridge and slammed the door behind them. A heavy impact slammed against the metal a moment later, throwing him away from the portal and onto the floor. The door, now sporting a large additional dent, settled back into place and thankfully remained closed.
Jess stared at it for a moment before helping Nine to his feet. “Thanks. What is that thing?”
“Don’t know. They probably didn’t either, based on, well, you know.” Nine gestured to the skeletons. “We should be safe for a little while here, at least long enough to check the ship’s logs and systems. At least it can’t get onto our ship because of the airlock.”
Another red light blinked to life on the control panel. Jess glanced at it; some structural compromise indicator. Nothing unexpected, given the holes in the craft. “How is it surviving in space? Do you think it could be mechanical, or synthetic?”
“Maybe. Who knows? Let’s see if these folks knew anything more.”
The two of them spent several minutes poring over the logs and alerts populating the control panel. Apparently this ship had been transporting some sort of food stock according to its logs, and had just jumped from the corkscrew gate towards Tagantu VI only a week or so ago. The logs from that point on made very little sense, consisting only of scrambled characters and fragmented warning messages.
The diagnostic alerts weren’t much better. There were several hull breaches and integrity failures towards the rear of the craft, mostly around the engines, drive core, and cargo bays. Beyond that, there seemed to have been a cascading failure of the electrical system, originating from somewhere around the drive core as best they could tell. The core itself was still energized, drawing power from who-knew-where with the reactor completely offline. The controls were still running off the backup battery, but the drive core should have run through that power in a matter of minutes. It was about a quarter spun up and holding relatively stable, though nothing here explained why it was still active or why this ship had dropped out of hyperspace right here, suffering such catastrophic damage. Or where this moss had come from, and presumably these creatures.
Another red light blinked on. A rear bulkhead had failed, exposing even more of the ship to the void. Not like it mattered at this point. None of the systems were still operational from the controls, given the ship-wide electrical failure. All that still worked was the passive monitoring.
Which...
That was odd. Well, this whole thing was odd. But...
“Nine, am I seeing things? Wasn’t this at 24% earlier?”
“It definitely was. The core is charging. Are any jump coordinates locked?”
“Gimme a minute.” Jess sorted through the scrambled computer, trying to locate the hyperdrive parameters. After a minute, she found something. “Yeah, it’s... Tagantu VI. That makes sense, given that’s where it was going previously. 28%.”
“Do you think we should exit this ship and disconnect our umbilical before it jumps?”
“...Yeah, that’d be real smart. I don’t really wanna get stuck on an hours-long journey with demon-furby out there.”
“Demon-what?”
“It’s an Earth thing. You really have to visit sometime.”
“I’d love to, if only we weren’t fugitives there.”
“Riiight. I’ve already apologized about the baseball incident. At least three times, probably more.”
“And yet here we are, still barred from returning.”
“You try telling the UEN it was an accident! They don’t have much of a sense of humor down there and we’re getting off topic!”
“Right.”
30%. At this rate, it would only be a matter of minutes before the drive core was fully charged. What should they do?
- Make a break for the airlock and the umbilical. [Chance: a modest challenge.]
- Try to get rid of the thing first, then escape. [Chance: a risky challenge.]
️ - Disable the drive core in person, then take all the time needed to do something else. [Chance: a chancy challenge.]
⬛ - Open the black box. [This can only be used once in the story.]
(Winner: )
- Make a break for the airlock and the umbilical. [Chance: a modest challenge.]
- Try to get rid of the thing first, then escape. [Chance: a risky challenge.]
️ - Disable the drive core in person, then take all the time needed to do something else. [Chance: a chancy challenge.]
⬛ - Open the black box. [This can only be used once in the story.]
(Winner: )
6
3
3
1
Scene 12
“Okay okay, here’s the plan. We’re gonna open the door and run for it.”
There was a brief pause. “That’s it?”
“I just told you I don’t do planning very well; come on!” Jess cranked at the bulkhead wheel ineffectually. It was very stuck. “Uh, Nine?”
Wordlessly, he joined her at the wheel. No effect. The latest heavy impact must have bent the lugs completely out of alignment; there was no longer any way to get the door open.
“Okay, it’s stuck. That’s fine. There are other options, right? What are the other options?” Jess glanced at the hyperdrive readout as she paced anxiously, averting her eyes as she caught a number with a four in it. She didn’t want to know. “Nine, what are the other options?”
“Well, if we can’t get out the door, there is a window.”
“Oh sure, let’s just break this reinforced starship-grade transparisteel window with our bare hands. What could go wrong?” She paused briefly to breathe. “The hell is wrong with me? Gotta calm down. Been in worse situations than this.”
“Jess, when was the last time you’ve been sober for more than an hour?”
“Shut up, don’t want to talk about it. Having a panic attack here.”
“I’m just saying it’s probably related. You’re going through - well, I wouldn’t really call it ‘withdrawl’ because it’s been maybe a few hours since you woke up - but something similar. It’s nothing to worry about.”
“You think there’s nothing to worry about? When we’re about to be flung at more than lightspeed towards a planet that’s probably gonna disappear in the next few hours? In a derelict spaceship populated by a fluffy ball with FANGS?”
“Well, I didn’t say there was nothing to worry about. I just said you were focusing on the wrong concern. Anyway, if you’ll just stand back for a moment...”
“Where did you get that g-”
The window shattered instantly, broken fragments of weakened transparisteel spinning off into the void. Nine fired again, breaking an even larger hole in the destroyed pane. He paused, considering the damage, then gestured to it. “After you.”
Jess hesitated only a moment, then glanced at the hyperdrive - 51% - and carefully started to climb out the window. “That was some pretty terrible glass. Normally it’ll stand up to at least four or five shots before even cracking, let alone shattering like that. You think that gun’s got enough charge left to get us back in so I can release the umbilical?”
He turned the gun, looking at the charge readout. “Nope. Completely empty. Only had two shots left. Honestly, we’re lucky it had any at all.”
She clung onto the outside of the cockpit and reached back in to help Nine clamber out without slicing his hands open. Before too long, both of them were gripping the hull tightly, shuffling along the uneven metal exterior and desperately careful to keep hold. Losing purchase on the hull wouldn’t be fatal, at least not immediately with Jess’s microthrusters, but it would sure be an inconvenient way to lose what little time that had left and strand them in space as the ship jumped away.
Jess’s freighter only had one airlock, and it was currently covered by an umbilical - they wouldn’t be able to get back in without being inside the plastic tube. There were the cargo doors at the rear of the craft, but those weren’t designed to be operated from the outside and so didn’t have any opening mechanism on the exterior. On the derelict ship’s side of the umbilical, the airlock itself was covered tightly by the tube and surrounded by red-orange moss. There were no openings to allow entry into the ship (besides the one Nine had just created) nearby, either. There had been several structural failure alerts near the rear of the craft that could spell potential ways in, but they’d really be stretching the time. Plus, floating around near the engines as the craft jumped to hyperspace would be an easy way to get atomized instantly. But maybe that was preferable to it jumping away with the freighter still attached and leaving the two of them to slowly die in the vacuum.
What should they do?
- Go back inside and brace for the jump. It’s the only sure way to survive, though traveling through hyperspace for hours with a broken window isn’t going to be fun...
- Try to cut into the umbilical or the derelict hull around it in order to get back to the freighter in time. [Potentially deadly. Chance: a modest challenge.]
- Get to the rear of the ship and try to get in through a breach before time is up. [Potentially deadly. Chance: a straightforward challenge.]
⬛ - Open the black box. [This can only be used once in the story.]
[Or suggest some other course of action in #story_discussion!]
(Winner: )
- Go back inside and brace for the jump. It’s the only sure way to survive, though traveling through hyperspace for hours with a broken window isn’t going to be fun...
- Try to cut into the umbilical or the derelict hull around it in order to get back to the freighter in time. [Potentially deadly. Chance: a modest challenge.]
- Get to the rear of the ship and try to get in through a breach before time is up. [Potentially deadly. Chance: a straightforward challenge.]
⬛ - Open the black box. [This can only be used once in the story.]
[Or suggest some other course of action in #story_discussion!]
(Winner: )
2
4
9
1
Scene 13
“Come on, there are some holes near the back that we can climb in. Maybe get back inside and across the umbilical before it jumps out.”
“This seems like a poor plan. Do you really believe we’ll have enough time?” Nine was already moving as he voiced his objections, following Jess as she picked her way across the hull towards the rear of the craft.
“I don’t know. It’ll be close either way. This is gonna be better than trying to cut open the umbilical, though. That’s not gonna happen.”
“We could just go back into the bridge and wait out the jump.”
“And get liquidized by hyperspace over a few hours? No thank you!”
“So you’d rather be vaporized than liquidized.”
“Sure, we’ll go with that. Come on, hurry up!”
The two of them moved quickly across the hull, silently shuffling forwards bit by bit, occasionally slipping and almost tumbling into space. Once, Jess did actually fall and had to waste precious seconds engaging the thrusters and clinging back onto the ship. They were getting close now, but there were no obvious tears in the metal plating. The four enormous engines protruded from the back of the craft, blue energy crackling in their depths as the ship prepared to jump.
“We’re not gonna make it,” Jess realized. “It’s too close. Nine, you got anything?”
“Yes. But you probably won’t like it.”
“I don’t care; it’s better than being dead. Do something, please!”
“Alright, please hang on.”
“Hang on to what?”
“Figure of speech. Keep moving.”
A few more seconds of urgent shuffling passed as the two of them moved over one of the enormous thrusters. Even through the suit, Jess could feel the heat radiating and almost scorching her. The crackling blue energy condensed and withdrew into the engine, pausing briefly. She glanced to her right. There was a rent in the hull large enough to get inside only a few meters away. She glanced to her left. Nine had opened the black box, revealing two six-foot long strings or cables connected to what looked like two syringes. He jabbed one into his arm, then urgently reached towards Jess and the auto-injector port on her suit.
The thrusters fired and the craft leapt to hyperspace. The atomizing pain lasted only a fraction of an instant before boiling away completely.
...
Jess came to an unknown amount of time later and urgently brought her hands to her mouth. Her eyes widened as she choked, expelling just a little more air into the vacuum of space. Her suit was almost entirely gone, and the clothes she had worn under it were scorched and tattered nearly beyond recognition. Nine was nowhere to be seen. She was floating in space, tethered to the same engine that had just atomized her by a thin black cable jammed into her arm. The engine, however, was no longer attached to the ship.
Jess had to do a double take, despite her limited air, as she took in the scene. An asteroid or moon-sized object, covered in the same orange-red moss from the ship, dominated her view. The engine had crashed into the surface and embedded itself in the object’s crust. Scattered metal fragments dotted the surface, some still glowing with incredible radiating heat. Three little furry creatures identical to the one she had seen on the ship were visible, rolling around on the ground and launching themselves at each other.
The entire planetoid shuddered and gravity shifted. Jess shouted in pain as she was roughly tugged downwards by the new gravity, her entire body weight supported by the cable jammed into her arm. She desperately grabbed it with her other hand to hold some of the weight before noticing she could hear her shout. Cautiously, she breathed in. There was some gas present. Maybe it was deadly poison, but it was better than nothing. Maybe it even contained oxygen. That would be a significant improvement.
One of the furry balls rotated in her direction, scrutinizing her with its terrifyingly adorable eyes. It slowly started rolling forward. She was about ten feet off the ground, still tethered to the engine and hanging by one arm in an incredibly painful manner. The engine was still cooling down, radiating enough heat to be nearly-painful on her back. She had no suit, no items, and even barely any clothes. But she was alive, somehow. What the hell should she do?
⏫ - Climb the cable to get on top of the engine, away from the furry creatures. Try to get the tether out of her arm. [Chance: a straightforward challenge.]
⏬ - Try to get the tether either out of her arm or out of the engine. Drop down to the ground. Then...
- - Try to fight off the furballs and search for Nine. [Chance: a modest challenge.]
- ❤️ - Make friends with the furballs! [Chance: a modest challenge.]
(Winner: a tie between ⏫ and ⏬ / ❤️ . ❤️ won by a coin flip.)
- Try to fight off the furballs and search for Nine. [Chance: a modest challenge.]
- ❤️ - Make friends with the furballs! [Chance: a modest challenge.]
(Winner: a tie between ⏫ and ⏬ / ❤️ . ❤️ won by a coin flip.)
5
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Scene 14
Jess felt her arms shaking as she hauled herself up to loosen the tension on the cable. She never would have been able to do this in gravity similar to Earth’s; it felt like she weighed about half as much as normal here. Still, that was an awful lot to support on just one arm as she struggled with the mechanism with the other. It seemed almost barbed, like it definitely wasn’t supposed to come out. Whatever, gotta get down from here somehow. I’m not hanging around like this forever.
With a painful ripping sound and a splatter of blood, the cable tore free from her arm. Jess fell the ten feet or so to the ground in slow motion before collapsing in a dusty heap on the mossy floor. One of the little fuzzy creatures was close now, with the other two not far behind. It was making high-pitched chirping squeaks as it rolled and hopped, seeming almost curious.
“H-hey there, little guy.” Jess pushed herself back a few steps and started to get to her feet. A few more squirts of blood pumped out of her arm. Hopefully nothing to worry about. Probably not a major artery. Things had been worse. “Are you friendly? Maybe we just got off on the wrong foot on the ship.”
The ball in the lead squeaked and blinked at her. Something twitched in between its eyes and mouth.
Jess retreated another step, her back now to the hot metal of the thruster’s casing. “When’s the last time something so cute was dangerous? Never, right? You’re just a - aaAAA!”
The little ball in the lead launched itself off the ground with a battlesqueak and slammed into Jess’s torso. She bounced off the burning-hot metal of the thruster and fell to the ground, squeezing her eyes shut against the inevitable agonizing pain of the thing ripping her limb from limb.
...
Being torn apart kind of tickled.
“Wha...?” Jess opened her eyes and looked down at the creature. It was lapping at the still-bleeding wound on her arm with a rough, almost sandpapery tongue. Blood coated the wide interior of its mouth. The other two balls had rolled close and were licking at the droplets that had fallen to the ground.
“Ohhhh... You like blood, do you? That’s, uh, still very bad, but at least it’s a step above trying to eat me, I guess.” She hesitated, glancing around for anything else nearby, then roughly shoved the ball off her arm. It landed in the midst of the other two and quickly lost interest in Jess herself as it scraped the moss-covered ground with its tongue.
“Okay, okay... Just a little more for dessert, then I’m gonna just head out here.” She squeezed her arm, trying not to think about what she was actually doing, and allowed another thin trickle of blood to drop to the ground. Hopefully that would keep them busy for a while. Without further ado, she turned and booked it over the lip of the small depression the engine had either landed in or caused.
The red-orange moss stretched away into the distance in a gentle curve, following the planetoid’s surface. Clearly this body wasn’t much more than a handful of miles in diameter. But what was it? Where was it? Where was Nine? She didn’t have answers to these questions. At least she could still see the sun, which was the right color and size to be the star of the Tagantu system, probably from around the fourth, fifth, or sixth orbits. Some sort of smoke or steam rose from the ground maybe a half-mile in front of her, while there was a wide protrusion - the size of a medium hill - to her right. To her left and slightly behind her, there appeared to be a large depression or lake of some variety. It was hard to make out from here. What should she do?
- Check out the smoke.
️ - Examine the hill or protrusion.
️ - Investigate the lake or depression.
(Winner: ️ )
- Check out the smoke.
️ - Examine the hill or protrusion.
️ - Investigate the lake or depression.
(Winner: ️ )
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2
Scene 15
Jess took one final glance back at the three furry creatures still lapping at the ground around the engine, then set off in a jog towards the hill rising into the sky to her right. Maybe she could get a better view from there. Ugh, so primitive. Wish I had my comm. Or, you know, anything, really.
It didn’t take her long to reach the hill - maybe about three or four minutes. In that time, several things changed. First, the planetoid’s gravity shifted again, lessening for several seconds before returning to its normal strength. Second, a huge rush of air blasted out of some enormous source just on the other side of the hill from her. Wind whipped across the surface of the planet, sending scraps of moss and what might be a few more of those little furry creatures flying. It was too far away to be sure, though. Lastly, the entire hill wiggled like a jello cake that someone had slapped with a fish. Jess slowed down for that one, staring at the rippling mossy rock in confusion for several moments before carrying on as it stabilized. She didn’t have any better ideas and the galaxy was a weird enough place already. Maybe wiggle-rocks were normal wherever this thing came from.
On approaching the hill and starting to climb, Jess grimaced at the feel of the moss on her hands. It almost felt like a light coating of fuzz on top of a warm, moist, slightly sticky and squishy substance beneath. The jello comparison is gaining merit, she thought, debating trying to lick it. Probably not, she decided. Think I’ve pushed my luck a little too far today, given where I am already. Better not push it too much farther.
The hill was about eighty feet high and at a steep incline, so it wasn’t exactly easy going. Still, Jess was relatively fit and the malleable ground and lower gravity helped a lot. She was able to make it to the top without too much issue and stood tall to survey the landscape.
“Oh.” She took a long, slow blink, just to make sure she had seen that properly. When the landscape steadfastly remained unchanged, she felt like circumstances called for another expression of surprise. “Oh,” she settled for a second time, shuffling her feet on the giant nose she was standing on.
The lake to the left was no lake; it was an enormous eye, sunk several dozen feet into a mossy socket. Another eye slowly blinked to what she decided to call the south, for lack of any better ideas. The nose pointed mostly north-east, and in the distance, where the smoke had been rising before, a jagged, canyon-like mouth split the landscape. Dozens more furry creatures rolled around the mossy ground, bouncing and squeaking.
“... What.” She paused, blinking one more time just in case everything would start to make sense if she gave it one last chance. No luck. “It’s a giant face? What the hell is a giant face doing here? And what...”
She trailed off as she spotted something else in the middle distance. A humanoid figure ran across the mossy ground, pursued by a pack of four of the furry creatures. Given the circumstances, even though she couldn’t make out much detail from here, Jess decided to assume the figure was Nine and plan accordingly. He was perhaps midway between the mouth-canyon and the nose-hill, running south towards the side of the nose. The creatures rolled behind him, keeping pace and occasionally launching forward in a poorly-aimed leap that missed and sent the creature bouncing across the ground.
What should she do?
- Hop down off the nose and hide in one of the nostrils. Try to get Nine to notice.
️ - Stay on top of the nose and try to get Nine’s attention. Bring him up here too.
- Run over and help him punt the beasties. [Chance: a modest challenge.]
️ - Head with him to the nearest eye. Try to outrun the beasties. [Chance: a simple challenge.]
- Head with him to the smoke. Try to outrun the beasties. [Chance: a simple challenge.]
(Winner: )
- Hop down off the nose and hide in one of the nostrils. Try to get Nine to notice.
️ - Stay on top of the nose and try to get Nine’s attention. Bring him up here too.
- Run over and help him punt the beasties. [Chance: a modest challenge.]
️ - Head with him to the nearest eye. Try to outrun the beasties. [Chance: a simple challenge.]
- Head with him to the smoke. Try to outrun the beasties. [Chance: a simple challenge.]
(Winner: )
2
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Scene 16
Without pausing to debate whether or not this was a bad idea, Jess hurled herself off the nose and slid down the side. The mossy surface was slick and she gained speed rapidly, hurtling towards the ground at a probably not deadly but definitely painful speed. Wait for it... almost... Now!
At the last moment, she kicked off and spun into the air. In the lower gravity, this trick worked a lot better than she had hoped and much of her downwards momentum was converted into sideways force with only a few probably unimportant pops from her knees. Jess arced gracefully through the sky, wishing she had a blaster or something. Smoking a few of the fuzzy critters as she flew through the air would have been incredibly badass. Oh well.
Nine looked up in surprise as she descended. “Jess, what are - where did-” But by then she had already passed him, coming in for a landing more or less on top of one of the creatures. She extended a leg, ready to punt it into next week, but instead completely whiffed the landing and tumbled across the landscape to land in a disorganized heap a couple dozen feet away.
“Meant to do that!” Jess called out as she untangled her limbs and struggled to her feet. Nine had stopped and the little furry creatures were squeaking and rolling back towards her, leaving him alone. “It’s called a distraction! Help me out here!”
“How?”
“I dunno, beat ‘em up or something!”
Nine shrugged, darted forward, and punted one of the furry creatures. It vanished from view with a squeak, arcing gently towards the canyon nearly a mile away. It seemed that, especially in the lower gravity, these creatures were incredibly light and easy to send flying.
“That works! Get ‘em!”
The next few minutes were filled with a stressful series of kicks and dodges; she and Nine danced back and forth on the mysterious planetoid and sent seven more of the little devils flying off into the distance. Now that Jess had shown up, the creatures seemed completely uninterested in Nine, only attempting to dodge out of his way and never actually pouncing. Jess, on the other hand, sustained several more injuries in the fight. A particularly fast creature with orange and white striped fur managed to latch onto her arm where it had already been bleeding and tear away a mouthful of flesh before she could get it off. Another chomped onto her thigh and left a semicircle of pinprick wounds before Nine yanked it off and drop-kicked it over the horizon. A third actually managed to get its mouth open wide enough that it swallowed her entire foot as she went to kick it. That incident was quite harrowing as she truly thought she was about to lose her foot before she managed to stomp the rest of the creature hard enough with her entrapped leg that it opened its mouth. Her right ankle stung and wouldn’t support her weight.
But finally, every nearby demon furby had been dispatched. Jess collapsed to catch her breath, while Nine stood guard protectively and scanned for any more. “I am glad to see you made it in one piece. Have you discovered anything of use?”
Jess exhaled and coughed. “The whole planet’s a face.”
“Excuse me?”
“Eyes, mouth, nose. I was standing on the nose, actually. This whole place is a real big face.”
There was a brief pause. “Alright. That seems unexpected.”
“I’d have to agree.”
“But I think I may have slightly more pertinent information. I have located our ship, as well as pinpointed our approximate position based on the arrangement of the stars. We are approximately 400 thousand kilometers (or one and one third light seconds) outside the orbit of Tagantu VI, and headed in that direction very quickly. Our ship is located approximately... that way.” He pointed into the canyon. “You may have seen the plumes of smoke earlier. Part of it has been on fire, but I believe it not to be critically damaged.”
“Fire and not critically damaged? That - okay, hang on, we’re a little past the orbit of Tag VI? You mean, we’re out with whatever that planet-eating... thing is, on a planet?”
“Yes. But consider this from another perspective. We are standing on a highly unusual object located in the approximate area where a mysterious planet-vanishing object is purported to be. It is entirely possible we are standing on the very source of these disappearances.”
“...A face?”
“Why not?”
“You got me there. Okay, how long do we have?”
“We are moving at a little over a tenth of a percent of the speed of light, so approximately 20 minutes.”
“Right. Here’s the plan.”
What’s the plan?
️ - Charge! Punt every beastie in the way and get to the ship. [Chance: a straightforward challenge.]
- Be a little less overt. Try to avoid getting noticed. Head for the ship. [Chance: an almost guaranteed challenge.]
- Okay, this might sound a little weird but hear me out. Enter the nose.
(Winner: ... . Apparently.)
️ - Charge! Punt every beastie in the way and get to the ship. [Chance: a straightforward challenge.]
- Be a little less overt. Try to avoid getting noticed. Head for the ship. [Chance: an almost guaranteed challenge.]
- Okay, this might sound a little weird but hear me out. Enter the nose.
(Winner: ... . Apparently.)
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Scene 17
“The plan is to do the opposite of what any planet-eating giant face would expect. We’re not gonna go for the ship, we’re gonna go into... the nose.”
Nine stared at her blankly. “Are you sure you didn’t find any more drugs I didn’t hide properly? I believe you are usually more sane than this.”
“Look, it doesn’t have to make sense if it works, right? That’s how hyperdrives work.”
“Actually, the principles of hyperspatial travel are fairly well-kno-”
“Yeah, yeah, no one asked. What would getting on the ship accomplish? We haven’t finished exploring this place yet! There’s bound to be something exciting and potentially important on this face - or in this face.” She wiggled her eyebrows for emphasis.
“With the ship, we can scan the entire planetoid from orbit. We won’t have to defend ourselves against any more rampaging creatures.”
“Yeah, but we can’t fit the ship in the nose.”
Another moment passed as Nine stared at her. “Would you want to?”
“Look, this is important! I know it. When’s the last time one of my hunches went wrong?” Nine opened his mouth. “Don’t answer that,” she cut him off, turning away to face the nose. “Now, are you coming with me or not?”
“... No.”
Jess spun back around to face him. “What? You’re... not coming with?”
“No. Back when I was Bound, my captor would routinely place me into significant danger without a care in the world. Anything to make money. When I met you, I thought things were different. Maybe it is different; at least you place yourself into danger along with me. But there are limits. Both of us have already died today. Does that mean nothing to you? If you can’t make a sensible choice for yourself, maybe I can make one for you. I’m going back to the ship and I’m leaving. I’ll fly back over here before leaving for good; if you’re here, I’ll pick you up.” He turned away. “If not, well... goodbye.”
He walked away as Jess stood frozen on the mossy ground. He had never spoken to her like that before, comparing her to his captor and tormentor from years earlier. How long had he been feeling like this? Just today? Longer? Guiltily, she remembered him trying to talk to her in hyperspace. She had tried her best to get out of the conversation - or ignore him entirely - and had been beyond grateful when the anomalous ship had yanked them into yet more danger.
Earlier, she had ignored his ideas, blown off his concerns, cut him off when speaking, and generally treated him poorly. Perhaps... as something less than human? He had needed to rescue her from her own drug-induced coma that she had only felt comfortable getting into because she knew he would get her out. She had been using him. Still was, perhaps. Was all this a game to her? Toying with her life and his for fun? Choosing the least sensible options laid out before her just for the thrill of it?
Was...
Was she the bad guy?
- Run after Nine and apologize. Go with him back to the ship. Figure it out from there, together.
- No time for him. Enter the nose alone. She can find what’s hiding there and be back out in time to catch the ship.
(Winner: )
- Run after Nine and apologize. Go with him back to the ship. Figure it out from there, together.
- No time for him. Enter the nose alone. She can find what’s hiding there and be back out in time to catch the ship.
(Winner: )
11
1
Scene 18
“Wait wait wait!” Jess yelled, scrambling to her feet and running after Nine. She caught up in less than thirty seconds; he hadn’t gone far. He slowed, but didn’t stop and didn’t turn to face her. “Wait... hold on,” she panted, still out of breath from the fight only a few minutes ago.
“We need to keep moving,” he replied, still not looking at her. “There isn’t much time left.”
“Okay, okay. But hold on, how long have I - have you been... feeling like this?”
“Long enough.”
“Agh - that’s. Okay. Alright. I get it. I’m the bad person here. I’ve been treating you badly for... I don’t even know how long. Long enough, I guess. I don’t know what I’ve been doing. I don’t... I don’t even think I would have noticed until right now. It’s all just been... sort of a game. I...” Jess was surprised to hear a tremor in her voice, like she was about to sob. That was highly out of character for her. “I’m sorry.”
He still didn’t look at her. “This is not the appropriate time to delve into the problems with our relationship. We are still in danger and on a time limit. I would be ecstatic to discuss this with you, say, tomorrow.”
“You’re right, I’m sorry. I’ll just...” She trailed off, feeling like he had just slapped her. Not even looking back. Fuck. “Just kind of... drop it. For now.” The last few words were barely audible even to herself. Nine didn’t respond.
It took seven excruciating minutes to walk quickly across the slightly slippery, mossy ground to the canyon. Jess counted every second, as Nine was certainly in no mood to talk and she didn’t dare break the silence herself. Twice, a round furry creature bounced along nearby, but none of them ended up coming close enough to make trouble. Several gathered behind them, lapping at the occasional droplets of blood Jess was still leaving behind. She was starting to feel a little dizzy. Hopefully there was still some medigel on the ship. She wasn’t sure if they had replenished the supplies since the last delivery, and she didn’t remember buying any on the station earlier today. This could be bad.
“Well, here we are. How do you propose descending from here?” Nine half-glanced back at her, but she still couldn’t catch his eye.
She took the opportunity to focus on something else temporarily and stepped forward to examine the chasm. It was relatively long and jagged, stretching on to the horizon on both sides and maybe one to two hundred feet across, depending on the particular location. It seemed to be about three hundred feet deep, with a bubbling black river flowing at the bottom. The cliff edges were jagged with plenty of handholds, and seemed to be made of a red-orange, chalky rock rather than the otherwise omnipresent moss. Occasional bone-white protrusions jutted occasionally out of the rock; they looked serrated and razor sharp.
About a quarter mile away to the left, the freighter stood on its nose in the river. The ship rested against the near canyon wall, its belly scraping against the rock and bone-white protrusions, while black liquid bubbled around the comms dome on the front. Smoke still billowed from a scorch mark on the left wing, but based on its location, it probably hadn’t been a critical system. Maybe a fuel tank or something. It would be very hard to get the ship upright and flying again from this position, but maybe not impossible in the lower gravity. But how to get down there...? Climbing, maybe, but that would be difficult and dangerous. The gravity probably wasn’t low enough to just jump. Out of curiosity, Jess scratched at the ground to see if it was loose, but she couldn’t make a dent. Hmm...
- Climb down to the ship. [Chance: a simple challenge.]
- Walk further along the canyon. It looks like it gets shallower past the ship.
- Jump. [Potentially deadly. Chance: a risky challenge.]
(Winner: )
- Climb down to the ship. [Chance: a simple challenge.]
- Walk further along the canyon. It looks like it gets shallower past the ship.
- Jump. [Potentially deadly. Chance: a risky challenge.]
(Winner: )
3
8
3
Scene 19
“It’s too steep here to be safe. Let’s go a little further along and see if it gets shallower? It looks like it does just over there.”
“Oh, taking the safe option now, are we? Never seemed to bother you before.”
Jess felt her jaw tighten. She took a breath before responding, trying very hard not to shout at him for being unfair. This wasn’t the time. “Yep. That’s my idea. You want to try something else?”
“Oh, no. This is a refreshing change of pace. Unfortunately, we still do not have much time. We must hurry; come on.” Nine set off at a light jog, with a speed seemingly almost designed to be just a little too fast for Jess to be able to manage with her injured ankle. She gritted her teeth and jogged after him anyway, feeling hot pinpricks of pain shoot up her leg with every other step.
What was his problem? She had apologized and was going to talk with him and work on her problems as soon as they weren’t in danger. He had even said that this was not the time for relationship issues, and to hold off until they could escape. So why was he being such a jerk? He had his share of problems too, but Jess wasn’t complaining (at least not at the moment, and at least not audibly). God, what a mess. She thought back to just last night, when everything had seemed so easy and simple. Deliver items and have some fun with her friend afterwards. No planet-vanishing mysteries and (more importantly) no interpersonal conflict. How had everything gone so wrong in just under a day?
“This seems shallow enough. Do you agree?”
Nine was gesturing down the side of the canyon. They were a couple hundred feet past the ship, and the river below had risen maybe fifty feet up. The side of the ravine was now less “vertical cliff face” and more “steep, gravel-covered slope.” It still looked incredibly dangerous, but they were out of time. Plus, she wasn’t about to look like a baby in front of Nine, not after he had just sniped at her for even suggesting not jumping off the cliff or whatever.
“Yeah, this should be fine,” she said aloud. “Who wants to go first?” He’s going to make me go first. I’m going to fuck it up and fall all the way down and die on impact and he’s going to be sorry about-
“I’ll go first.”
“Wha?”
“You’re injured. I’ll go first so I can help you if something goes wrong. Maximizes our chances of making it to the bottom.”
“I - okay. Be, uh. Careful.”
Nine turned to get his feet on the cliff and actually met Jess’s eyes, if only briefly. She couldn’t read his expression, but then again she hardly ever could. At least he wasn’t avoiding her gaze entirely. “This surface is loose and could collapse with too much weight. I would advise you to stay put until I am close to the bottom.”
She gave him a weak thumbs up and a halfhearted grin.
“See you below.”
Jess sat down on the top of the cliff and exhaled. She was tired and in pain, but she also didn’t want to watch him. She didn’t know what she would do if he fell, and she didn’t want to see any close calls. The moss was so soft and the substance underneath so squishy it almost felt like she was sitting on a waterbed. What was this planet’s deal? Where had all those furry creatures come from? If they ate blood, how did they survive without any intruders like herself crashing down? She hadn’t seen any prey animals around. Everything was so weird here.
Jess blinked awake what felt like a few seconds later. She had collapsed onto the ground at some point. Her head hurt. She pushed herself back into a sitting position, rubbing her temple and grimacing. “Ow, ow. The hell?” she whispered to herself. “I’m not that far gone. Am I?”
A distant battlesqueak became a nearby battlesqueak very quickly as a furry creature rocketed through the air towards her. Jess flung herself back down to the ground, falling prone again and watching the creature sail over her body and into the ravine. She stood up, vision greying temporarily before recovering, and took stock.
Five furry creatures rolled ominously towards her in a semicircle, trapping her against the cliff edge. Nine was about halfway down the cliff, moving slowly and careful to avoid disturbing the orange-red gravel. He was currently watching the creature that had just flung itself into the ravine as it slowly floated downwards, looking almost like a balloon in the low gravity. What should she do?
- Screw it; he’s far enough down. Start climbing. [Chance: a simple challenge.]
- She can take on five of them at once. Hopefully. [Potentially deadly. Chance: a chancy challenge.]
- Leap of faith. Slide down the gravel slope, do some cool acrobatics, and beat Nine to the bottom while dodging the furry creatures as well. [Chance: a tough challenge.]
(Winner: )
- Screw it; he’s far enough down. Start climbing. [Chance: a simple challenge.]
- She can take on five of them at once. Hopefully. [Potentially deadly. Chance: a chancy challenge.]
- Leap of faith. Slide down the gravel slope, do some cool acrobatics, and beat Nine to the bottom while dodging the furry creatures as well. [Chance: a tough challenge.]
(Winner: )
5
4
5
Scene 20
The furry creatures were closing in. Jess didn’t have a choice. She couldn’t fend off all five at once. “Nine, I’m coming down!” she shouted. “I’m surrounded up here!”
He looked up quickly, pausing in his descent. “No, wait! You can’t move fast! It’s too-”
Jess wasn’t entirely sure exactly what caused the rockslide. It could have been her foot, moving clumsily due to panic. It could have been the nearest furry creature launching itself off the cliff and glancing off her shin to go tumbling into the chasm. It could even have been Nine’s shout. Given how sudden and violent the collapse was, she wouldn’t have been surprised if the root cause had been a molecule of air getting too excited and bumping against the wrong pebble.
The entire cliff face detached from the underlying rock and slid down the slope in total freefall. Rocks, ranging in size from loose gravel all the way through head-sized stones, crashed down the cliff in an avalanche. Nine vanished from her view beneath a crush of boulders, but she didn’t have time to be concerned about him. Her own life flashed before her eyes as she cascaded down the cliff with the gravel, spinning end over end and smashing against solid rock.
Something slammed into her back and sent her flying away from the cliff, temporarily out of range of the rockfall and almost free-floating in the middle of the canyon. There were a brief few moments of respite as time seemed to slow and the enormous noise seemed to dampen. The furry creatures bounced down the cliff along with the rocks. Nine was nowhere to be seen in the choking dust and flowing gravel. The river sprayed pitch-black liquid into the air as boulders and pebbles alike spilled into it and choked its flow. The entire scene was almost like a painting. A deadly, terrible painting.
Jess fell back down to the ground like a shooting star. She didn’t remember the moment of impact, but rather transitioned instantly from freefall to lying on the ground with a nauseatingly splitting headache and no sensation below her waist. Ohhhh fuck, that’s not good.
The rockslide seemed to be almost over at this point. The cascading rumble of thousands of rocks crashing to the ground had been replaced by the slow trickle of dust settling and gravel trickling into place. “N-Nine?” Jess called out, weakly clawing at the ground and trying to move her legs. Nothing. No response, from Nine or her lower body.
She could hear her heartbeat, thunderously loud in her head. She was breathing too quickly. Oh god this is bad. What to do what to do what to d - no!
A slab of rubble shifted and a round furry creature rolled to the ground, bouncing once with a traitorously adorable squeak before shaking the dust out of its fur in an incredibly strange whole-body vibration. Its eyes focused on Jess, the pupils dilating. She glanced between it and herself. That’s too much blood. Too much. Oh no. oh g... od.
She had been flug quite a distance. The ship’s nose is only a dozen or so feet back. She could probably reach it, even when crawling. There’s a distant planet, about the size of Earth’s moon, in the sky. What should Jess do?
[All options are potentially deadly.]
- Search for Nine. Defend herself against this thing as best she can. [Chance: a modest challenge.]
- Try to kill it. It won’t be easy in this state. [Chance: a risky challenge.]
- Board the ship. Try and get away from that thing. [Chance: a straightforward challenge.]
(Winner: )
- Search for Nine. Defend herself against this thing as best she can. [Chance: a modest challenge.]
- Try to kill it. It won’t be easy in this state. [Chance: a risky challenge.]
- Board the ship. Try and get away from that thing. [Chance: a straightforward challenge.]
(Winner: )
10
2
2
Scene 21
Weakly, she smacked the furry creature away. It didn’t seem to mind very much, given the large and still-spreading pool of blood she had so politely left for it. The little ball vibrated and squeaked as it lapped at the ground. Jess grimaced and hauled herself away, legs dragging uselessly along behind her. I can still salvage this. Probably. As long as I can get off this planet and back to civilization, I can still make it. Where’s Nine? Gotta... get him and get... out of here.
The lower gravity helped a lot as she dragged herself over the boulders and gravel towards the spot she had last seen him. The dust had mostly settled, but he was still nowhere to be seen. She called to him again. Still no response. Fuck... did... did I kill him?
That couldn’t be true. He had to be around here somewhere. She wouldn’t accept it if he wasn’t.
She kept looking. Dug into the rock, uncaring as she cut her hands on the rough stones, tossing them aside and searching for any sign of him.
Nothing. The field was too big to search. Though she could still mostly move around in this gravity without her legs, the blood loss was getting concerning. She didn’t have infinite time. That planet in the sky was also rapidly getting closer. It now filled an eighth of the hemisphere and was still growing. She could see the cities and lights on its surface. It was inhabited. Must be Tagantu VI. Assuming this thing was the planet-vanisher, the vanishing was going to have to start very soon.
She punched a rock in frustration and guilt. It didn’t accomplish anything except adding to her ever-growing list of injuries.
The ground shifted.
It’s time.
The walls of the canyon shook and started to move apart. Little twinkling lights began to gather around the ivory-white spikes. The black-ichor river sprayed over the rocks as it gained speed and power. Nine...
Nine was still nowhere to be found. Dammit dammit dammit I can’t - what the fuck do I do? I can’t leave him here! But - this is crazy! It’s too dangerous to stay! He’d understand. Right? Maybe? Her internal monologue dissolved into one long, drawn-out scream as she glanced towards the ship, which had fallen into a less vertical position as the canyon widened.
[This is a branch point. Choosing any option here will lock out at least one ending to the story.]
- Stay. Find him. She can’t leave him behind.
- Leave. Escape. Come back later, if she can.
(Winner: )
- Stay. Find him. She can’t leave him behind.
- Leave. Escape. Come back later, if she can.
(Winner: )
10
2
Scene 22
I can’t. I can’t. Not again. We leave here together or... Jess lifted her head to gaze up at the planet hovering far overhead. I guess we don’t leave at all.
And so she searched. As the ground shook more and more violently, as the canyon walls tilted further back, as the river burst forth in fury, and as the bone-white spikes glowed with blinding radiance, she searched. Rock after rock was overturned and tossed aside. The furry creatures were nearly forgotten, but they seemed to hardly be relevant at the moment anyway. A grouping of them writhed and licked at the blood she had left, but none of them accosted her. There wouldn’t be time for them to bother her. Not anymore.
Wind howled and lightning flashed from somewhere. This atmosphere was too sparse to support thunderstorms and there were no clouds anyway. Droplets of black ichor from the river were ripped from the surface and fell as rain. This was what the apocalypse would look like, she felt. It was only missing some volcanoes.
Quite suddenly, there he was. The latest boulder was removed and gravel was wiped away to reveal a damaged torso. The translucent blue-white liquid that formed his blood pooled around several crushing injuries, as if someone had crumpled a tin can.
No. Nonononono.
She flung away more fistfuls of gravel as the ground erupted behind her, uncovering his face. Eyes open, unblinking. No response to her shouts or cries or shaking. It was too late.
Jess collapsed to the gravel next to him, mouth open in a silent scream. None of this had been his fault or his idea. She had caused this. Ruined everything. Killed her best friend. It was all over. She cried out to the chaos around her, begging it to take her too. There was nothing left.
- Die. [This choice will lead to an epilogue, then the end of the story.]
- Leave. Or try to, at least. [This choice will lead to an epilogue, then the end of the story. Chance: a high-risk challenge.]
(Winner: )
- Die. [This choice will lead to an epilogue, then the end of the story.]
- Leave. Or try to, at least. [This choice will lead to an epilogue, then the end of the story. Chance: a high-risk challenge.]
(Winner: )
4
11
Scene 23
Seconds passed as the ground shook with more and more force. Black liquid from the river sprayed across the area. It smelled sour, like bile. Slowly, Jess turned away. More rocks had fallen on top of Nine at this point; she wouldn’t be able to do anything for him anymore. All that was left was her own life, or what little remained of it. As she crawled across the jagged, slippery rockfield towards the starship, she considered the chances that she would survive this. Get to the ship in time? Maybe. Manage to crawl to the cockpit? Possibly. Get everything running? Doubtful. Somehow un-wedge the ship from the canyon and fly it out without crashing? Highly unlikely. And do all that and get back to civilization before bleeding out?
...
She had to try.
The first step went well. She made good time crawling across the rocks, sliding down the gentle slope easily with the assistance of the putrid, acidic liquid. The furry creatures still followed behind her, lapping at the trail of blood rather than chasing down Jess herself. The ship was still in one piece and she could reach the door, clambering in and locking it behind her with significant difficulty as the entire vessel vibrated like a washing machine.
The second step went fine too. Even off, the starship had good inertial dampers and the earthquake outside was hardly noticeable. If she survived, the suspension would be absolutely shot, but it was definitely doing its job admirably right now.
The third step was where things started to go wrong. Despite Nine’s optimism, the ship was not in very healthy shape. Fuel was leaking out of a wing tank, the comms array was pulverized, several electrical systems were down, and all the flight controls on the wing that had recently been on fire were destroyed. Still, the generator turned on, the thrusters fired, and the drive core was intact. Even the shields still had some cohesion, though several projection nodes had been sheared off.
Come on, come on...
Systems began to come to life around her as the ground finally gave way and, with an almighty thundering crack, the canyon split in two. A rift suddenly opened just in front of the ship’s nose, leading down into a dull pink light glowing at the planetoid’s center. Jess leaned back reflexively, though there was nothing she could do until the thrusters had spooled up enough.
Somewhere, deep in the core below, even though all this chaos, she thought she heard a sound. A heartbeat, slow and rumbling. Quiet music trickled into her mind, the tempo matching the overwhelmingly powerful beat.
... There was a consciousness there. Watching and scheming and speaking to those who might listen. Jess could hear it now, but she didn’t understand what it said. At least not fully. There had been another, once, and there would be more in the future. Cycles and spirals. Guardians and heralds of... something. What did it mean?
Not the time for a crisis of faith right now, she told herself. Gotta MOVE before I fall in!
The thrusters weren’t spooled quite far enough, but she was out of time. Jess pushed the yoke forward, held her breath, and plummeted into the core. The ship’s hull vibrated in time with the heartbeat as she hauled on the controls, trying to recover from the dive and pull up. There was nothing but the yoke in her hands and the all-encompassing musical beat. The ship’s nose began to turn and she could see stars out the viewport, rather than the pink glow of the core.
I’m going to make it.
But... do I want to?
As it turned out, that didn’t matter. As the freighter blasted out of the rift and rose into the canyon, the blinding radiance surrounding the bone-white projections flared into unbearable brilliance. Enormous sheets of chalky orange rock sloughed off the rims of the ravine and tumbled down in hundred-foot-wide cascades. One particularly symmetrical sheet slammed into the freighter’s already-weakened shield and broke through. Several tons of rock crashed into hardened starship-grade hull plating and, shockingly enough, the plating won. The rock broke apart on impact with no effect on the ship besides a heavy jolt.
An instant later, the reactor exploded.
As the back half of the starship separated from the front half and both began to fall, Jess thought back to the zip ties securing the highly explosive fusion cell to the rack just opposite the reactor.
Ah.
...
Epilogue
Sam looked away from Anya and back down to the table, as if to re-confirm the number etched into the topmost side of the metal icosahedron lying innocently on the mat in front of her. It hadn’t changed since the last time she had checked. ‘4.’
Patrick chuckled from the other side of the table. “Serves you right for ditching me! Getting smacked out of the sky by your own zip ties.”
Anya tried to laugh evilly, but it morphed into a more normal giggle halfway through. “I’ve been holding onto those zip ties since an hour into the session, just waiting for the perfect opportunity to use them!”
Sam gave up trying to be upset and leaned back, letting herself grin. “Oh, fine. That was pretty funny. I had totally forgotten they were even there!”
“Ooh, I’m Jess and I know what I’m doing! I’ll use zip ties to secure basically a bomb right next to the one place on a ship a bomb should definitely not be!” Patrick spoke in a higher tone, imitating Sam’s “Jess” voice. “What could possibly go wrong!”
“Okay, okay!” She laughed again. “Fine, you got me. I’ll play someone with higher wisdom next time!”
“No, no! By all means, keep it up! You don’t get this kind of shenanigans with high-wisdom characters.”
There was a brief lull in the conversation as Sam and Patrick settled back into their chairs. “Man, that was kind of a heavy twist at the end, though. I didn’t expect to be roleplaying such heated interpersonal drama in a oneshot. You really thought your backstory through.”
Patrick leaned forward. “Here’s a secret: I didn’t. I was just playing off what you were doing with Jess. Thought it was intentional.”
“I was playing her in kind of a stupid way, yeah, but I thought this was supposed to be a silly oneshot! Anya, where’d all the seriousness come from? What happened?”
The GM twirled a strand of hair around her finger. “You guys know I don’t plan these things out too far in advance, especially for oneshots. I don’t know; it just kind of turned out that way? I - I’m not sure. It made for a better story, I guess. And you guys seemed like that’s the way you wanted to go, as well.”
Sam and Patrick glanced at each other. He spoke first. “Maybe we’re too trained by our main campaign that we don’t know how to be silly.”
“Well, that’s alright! I think it turned out fine today anyway. I had fun, at least.” Anya paused as the other two agreed. “See, that’s what matters! We got together for a few hours and told a fun little story together. And next week we’ll be back in the main campaign, assuming Landon and Charlie don’t screw up their schedules again.”
Sam nodded. “One thing, though. We never got this explained. What... was up with the moss face-planet and the little furby things? Were they eating planets?”
Anya gave her trademarked mysterious smile and Sam groaned. “Oh come on! This is a oneshot! You don’t have to keep us in the dark like this!”
“I think you might find that the games I run tend to have... common threads? Between them. Yeah. There might be some things in this session that apply to the main campaign, and I’m not about to go spoiling that for you.”
“Ugh, fiiiiine.”
“You’ll thank me later, when all is revealed.” She wiggled her fingers for effect.
“Anyway, guys, we should probably start cleaning up.” Patrick glanced at his phone as he continued. “I’ve got to be at the spaceport in an hour, and you know how the lines are.”
“We’ve got this; don’t worry about it.” Sam shooed him away. “Go catch your flight. Have fun on Strilia!”
“Fun? This is a business trip. I’ll be lucky if -” he cut himself off with a chuckle. “Yeah, you know me better than that. I’ll have fun. See ya next week!”
<3
Conclusion
Hey, thanks for playing! I’m going to be honest, I think this is probably the weakest story I’ve written out of the ones I’ve done for #story_updates so far. I think it turned out... okay... but not great. Part of that was due to the tone kind of wobbling all over the place. I had intended for this to be a comedy story, but that... uh, didn’t end up happening. Obviously. I hope the ending can restore a bit of the lighthearted tone, but there’s also the risk that it’s a bit too out of left field or is too close to the overdone “it was all a dream” twist. Anyway, while Glorbulon isn’t my favorite story I’ve done, it’s not bad, so I’m fine with how it turned out. It’s certainly been a welcome break from the much more complicated and serious novel that came before it. Plus, there are some references to other stories I’ve written in this one that might help bring together some loose threads that have been left dangling. Maybe? ;)
Blah extended cinematic universe confirmed
Anyway, what’s next?
To start with, if you have questions or suggestions, or if you just want to discuss the story, feel free to do so! I can answer questions about the world, the characters, or the writing process (though probably not too much about the connections to other stories). After that, I’ll be archiving the current #story_updates channel and creating a new one. Fair warning: this next one might be the last story I run through the MTU Huskies server; I’m not sure yet. I’m graduating soon, and depending on how long the next one will be, I might graduate before I finish it. I don’t intend to stop writing these, though, and I’ll probably run a poll asking how I should continue. If you have suggestions, please let me know (since I’m not sure how I want to run this yet)!
The next set of starting prompts will probably be up within the next week or so. We’ll go through a few rounds of decisions to create the world and characters, and will probably start the next story sometime before July. I’d be open to a more novel-length or shorter story, or somewhere in between. I’m feeling refreshed and ready to go!
Thanks a lot for your support and engagement, and I hope you stick around for the next one!
~ Shaun / @Blah
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