Because why else would it not show up when the Nexus first contacted humanity. When Pilot 1 was harmonized his soul returned to humanities universe and now serves to protect it from any intrusions from manaspace
For me the first thing that comes to mind is some sort of thermos. Either for keeping water cold or soup warm. Pair it with some sort of a filter that can be made from common materials so it's as cheap to buy as possible.
And as a trinket for the upper class, a music box. Simple music produced by a non-magic trinket would be quite a novelty item
Just playing around with combat scenarios for war between Earth and Nexus. Scenario in this case being Earth invades Nexus with absurd amount of cheap infantry droids. Assume Earth opens a sustainable portal in the academy and is able to march in 20,000,000 droids per 24 hours of continuous marching. Assume all relevant supporting forces are there to maintain logistics, including command driods for command, tactical, and super tactical driods for CNC. Assume all technology is a reasonable GUN equivalent, i.e they don't literally have to be made of durasteel and using blasters. Assume they speak the local languages so the Nexians are subjected to the delightful B1 personality.
How far do they get? Do the Crownlands get Roger-Rogered? Will Thamlin earn the c-word pass?
As we are made of living metal, I am unsure if the properties of this "Mana" would harm us. And I need more data.
I'd like to think this is probably an intense training session for the royal family + knights
(Note: I haven't read the lore document so I may not know all the things GUN is capable off. I'm writing this post because I don't wanna go through that long doc thats still being updated lol)
Throughout the story, we've been shown the capabilities of both GUN and the Nexus. While the technological capabilities GUN has demonstrated through Emma have certainly impressed the gang, most of what we've seen so far either consists of technologies we've had since the 21st century that are primarily impressive to the gang and the rest of the Nexus because they can be accomplished without the use of magic in a larger scale by non-magical people. They aren't necessarily things that the Nexus itself would be completely incapable of reproducing through magic. They even have a form of internet and virtual world of their own using magic.
Meanwhile, we've seen the absolutely insane magical capabilities of the Nexus that GUN just can't match. They can create portals that seamlessly cross enormous distances, manipulate space itself to make areas appear larger or smaller than they actually are, create bags of holding, and even construct weapons that can literally consume the space around them like some kind of fantasy black-hole bomb.
Given the absurd and potentially reality-breaking capabilities we've seen from Nexus magic compared to the relatively mundane technological capabilities GUN has demonstrated so far, does GUN actually possess any equally insane technologies of its own that can match the Nexus in terms of sheer impressiveness and absurdity?
For example, since GUN's soldiers are either humans equipped with power armour or robotic soldiers, are their standard infantry weapons essentially Warhammer 40K-style bolters—rifles that fire rocket-propelled gernades which can be modified to have different capabilities like programmable ammunition, with computerized targeting systems capable of turning an ordinary soldier into an almost literal aimbot?
Do they possess Von Neumann probes or grey-goo-style nanomachines that can be deployed alongside generals or ordinary soldiers behind enemy lines, allowing them to manufacture infrastructure, weapons, and entire armies from local resources and then command those forces against the enemy, essentially letting a single soldier play Planetary Annihilation or Command & Conquer in real life?
Because, given the insane, reality-bending magical capabilities we've seen the Nexus wield through its mages, GUN would need some similarly absurd technological capabilities to genuinely level the playing field without relying on allied realms like Thalmins. Otherwise, can GUN really be considered an equal rival to the Nexus, as Emma claims it can be to Thalmin and the rest of the gang?
Either at the warehouse or when he was giving his tidbit back at the academy when they were speaking to eachother.
What would happen?
we are slowly getting there... we are slowly finishing the first day!!!
still feels weird making 1k+ chapters, no less 2k+
_____
"Right, so, seeing as we have two bedrooms, and five of us, we can divide this in one of two ways. By gender, or by random chance." Prince Thalmin started, moving closer.
"No, we shouldn't divide this by gender." I voiced, surprising the group with my presence. My interruption earned a glare from the prince. "I recommend dividing it to luck, at least for me." I clarified myself. Seeing the prince's glare fade reassured me.
"Why not by choice?" Cadet Emma offered.
"Who would want to stay with the Vunerian, Earthrealmer?" Prince Thalmin deadpanned.
"You have a point."
"In any case, I’m more than willing to take the sacrifice in staying with the Vunerian." The prince laid out his selfless offer to the group, looking between the cadet and me.
"Thanks, but you know I’m also more than willing to like, leave this up to chance. Fate works in weird ways, so let’s see what fate has to say about our room assignments." Cadet Emma shrugged.
"Alright then, how do you suggest we play this game of chance?" He smiled, crossing his arms in casually.
"I know you guys more than likely have your magical equivalents of determining chance. My kind, however, has perfected the game of chance. With advanced mathematics, statistical analyses, and a bunch of other fields I’m more than likely going to butcher, determining true random is something that is vital to some of my world’s scientific and technological fields." She fished a small item from one of her pockets and kept it hidden in her closed fist.
Odd boast.
"However, I’m not about over-complicating things. I like to keep things simple, so, let’s do this the old-fashioned way." She flung the object into the air with a metallic ring, before catching it back into her palm.
"But first." She turned to me. "How do you feel about sleeping in the room with Ilunor?"
I blinked. It isn't true randomness if I had a say in it, but it would be idiotic to discard this open hand under that pretense. I cast the question to anyone else in the armor with me.
"Kid, you're the pilot! We're not the one who has to be roommates!" Naci hastily threw it back at me.
"If you want my input, while a true gadfly, I do not think the lord is to be a physical danger, but he has a shifty air. We may be careful to hide sensible information from prying eyes. Ultimately, it is your role to pick, Pilot." Tirim added. The feel the room started to change as I took time to answer.
"We would accept it, if it were to happen." I finally blurted just before impatience settled here.
"Ok then!" Cadet Emma showed off the object, a small brown metallic disc. "It’s a little game back in my world called Heads or Tails. If I flip this coin, and it lands heads up, I’ll stay with Thalmin. However, if it lands tails up, I’ll stay with Thacea; and repeat for Enyl. And for the record I’m deliberately picking this method to remove the Vunerian from the equation. I don’t think it would be in our best interests for me to be rooming with a puntable chew-toy." We all nodded in understanding.
"You can confirm there’s no funny business going on with that coin. No weighted sides, no enchantments. It’s just a solid piece of zinc, nickel and copper." She passed the coin to Princess Thacea.
The princess analysed its form and flipped it around her fingers. "I’ve looked it over. I detect no enchantments or magic on this copper-piece." She handed it back to the cadet who grabbed it with a nod.
"Alright then. If there are no objections, I’ll do the honors." With a practiced hand trick, she flicked the coin far upward with her thumb and catched it on the way down before slapping it on the back of her other hand. "I’m not one to keep everyone in undue suspense, so here goes nothing." She showed the coin, reveling it's worn face.
"Emma, what the hell is this?" Prince Thalmin narrowed his eyes.
"Erm, it’s tails." She looked back at the faded engraving.
The prince leaned closer. "That’s a building." He finally let out.
The cadet looked between the prince and the coin seemingly as confused as the lupinor before stopping and barking out a laugh. A genuine laugh that spoke more to the Person than to the Titles, which went for a bit too long before being stopped by the growing unnerve of the princess. "Emma. Is there something the matter? Is everything okay?" She placed a hand on her shoulder plate.
"Sorry, I… That was inappropriate of me. I apologize." She came back down and bushed her laughter away. "Back in my world, tails is what we call the side of the coin opposite of the face or main feature of the coin. This penny here for instance has the Lincoln Memorial, a monument built to commemorate the leadership of one of my state’s ancient leaders who abolished slavery." She explained, a bit sheepish.
"Right, so, this means I shall be sharing my quarters with Ilunor." Prince Thalmin let out a resigned sigh.
"Oh joy, my roommate is a Mercenary Prince. May my throat remain un-slit, and my purse remain untouched, or by the Goddesses may your house be struck by the wrath your kind so deserve." The lord let out, barely putting in the effort to enunciate it clearly.
"Careful, Vunerian. You said nothing of bites or slashes." The prince responded, not letting insults pass without comment, even after such a long day.
"Right. Time for Enyl's throw now." This time, Cadet Emma put in less fanfare. In three movements the result was out. "Heads." The coin was too worn to see the figurehead's face, but their profile was still discernible.
"Flat face with no major protrusions on the head, similar to Nevos, Humans, Morphs and those 'Elf'." Naci layed out the major observation.
"So, we'll stay with Prince Thalmin and Lord Ilunor?" I looked at both of them. The prince was waiting for an additional remark. The lord was starting to doubt his fate.
"Do I have no say in this? Why do I have to be with the one with the malfunctioning manafield?" The lord faced away from me, pleading to an unimpressed crowd.
"If you had any weight on this, you should have complained before giving your fate to chance." The prince snap back, which the lord responded with some grumbles.
"Right, so I assume it’s time to move in?" Cadet Emma moved the conversation along after a bit of silence.
"Yes, we just have to see which bedroom has the appropriate number of beds and move our luggage in." Princess Thacea nodded as she picked up her luggage. The prince followed suite.
The lord was about to call the slave porter in before being glared down from the intimidating presence of the cadet.
I turned to grab my own cases but remembered they didn't arrive yet.
"Where is our own-" I stopped as someone knocked on the main entrance door.
Both the cadet and I turned at the sound, but it was Prince Thalmin who opened the door.
An elf dressed in a finely golden version of the students’ uniform was waiting at the entrance. Behind said elf, was two armored beings that looked uncannily like the Gargoyles of home, but with bodies of flesh instead of stone. Based on their scant clothing, they may also be slaves. They pushed giant ornate carts containing Cadet Emma and I's luggage, with Emma's being precariously balanced.
"Emma of Earthrealm, Enyl of Teracirarealm. Your luggage has arrived." The elf spoke as both of us approached the door.
I, unfortunately, stepped out before the cadet and became stuck in a position mirroring her and the gargoyles. Her gaze hardening was further proof that she did see this as an attempt on her authority.
"Thank you for the service." I offered a small nod and broke eye contact, side stepping out of the narrow doorway to count my luggage. It was the cadet's turn to be glared at.
"Thanks. I appreciate you bringing it all the way up here. Must have been quite a journey hauling a cart like that up a maze of staircases am I right?" Cadet Emma spoke to diffuse the tension, only to be met with cold silence. "So… I’m assuming all my stuff arrived in one piece?"
"I am afraid it would be disingenuous of me to answer that question, Emma of Earthrealm." I paused at that answer.
"Disingenuous, how?" Cadet Emma didn't emote while talking to the elf, unlike with the peer group.
"I wouldn’t know if all of your luggage arrived successfully, Emma of Earthrealm. It is the responsibility of your own people to ensure that is the case. However, given the primitive nature of your trans-realm portal methodologies, there is a high likelihood a few of your belongings may be missing somewhere in the ether between our realm and your own. It is to be expected of course, no realm does it well on their first try." I look at the cart with Emma's belongings. It is very full. Either the cadet brought an absurd amount of possessions to the academy, or her world wasn't so bad with portals. "This is why it would be disingenuous of me to speak on behalf of your realm’s own shortcomings. I simply wish to be as candid and earnest as I can in any discussions with our esteemed first-year peers."
"You know, you’d make for a great customer service agent for Trans-United Spacelines. I’m just waiting on when you’re going to push the extra baggage and handling insurance that inevitably comes after this spiel." The cadet let out tersely, causing general confusion. What does space even mean in this context? "Fine, alright, let’s just get this over with." With a sigh, she moved to grab one of her crate, only to be blocked by one of the porters.
"It would be rude of me to not have my assistant carry your luggage for you." She clarified with a malignant smile. The cadet silently pushed past the porter and grabbed a crate.
"I insist." The gargoyle grabbed her arm in turn. The cadet helmet snapped towards the elf, both glares locking.
As they were deep into a staring contest, I picked all of my mixed matched cases up at once with my telekinesis. My porter had no warning as they all lifted and moved behind me, the elf being none the wiser of this happening.
"Ma'am, can we move this along? The night is growing old." I snapped both the cadet's and the elf's focus, both suddenly remembering that I existed. I could help but smile seeing the elf peering at my levitating luggage, shock faintly visible on her face. I held my stern posture.
Emma used this opportunity to fully lift her crate, causing even further trouble for the elf's composure. "Yes ma'am, are we done here?"
It didn't take her long to stand down and leave, letting Emma pick her pile of crates. This situation left me with my spearlimb slowly fading from numbness into pain. Emma turned to me with a nod. From the door, the rest of the peer group watched. Prince Thalmin looked at Emma with a contained smile. On the other hand, Lord Ilunor looked at the cadet in fear, glancing at her crate she held. Thacea looked between Emma and me with a slight frown.
No further comment was added to the scene as everyone started bringing their luggage to our assigned rooms. The lord, the prince and I ended up in the bedroom to the right, as it was the only one with three beds.
I stopped momentarily as I entered the bedroom as I was faced with another general living space. Desks were set on this floor with a recessed tea corner, completed with a low table and low lounge chairs. Above, on a balcony, was the space for sleeping. Three square-mattress bed were set in curtained alcoves, each paired with a closet the size of a small room beside it. The place was too big. Three reasonable one-occupant bedrooms could be built within this space, although I admit I am biased toward a life far from the ones of royalty or other high titles. But I wonder if they would also prefer a more private space at the cost of spaciousness.
"Yes, yes, marvel at the beauty of a true bedroom, newrealmer, gawk at how advanced it is from the patches of moss and the sleep piles of your realm, but please close the door before we go to sleep, you are bringing in light." The lord called out between moving in outfits into his closet, his eyes not leaving his task.
I made my way to the remaining bed, the one furthest from both the stairs and the lord's, with Prince Thalmin set up between the both of us. I placed all of my cases inside the closet without mush care, only taking two of them with me; the box of charms and the med kit.
"Prince Thalmin, Lord Ilunor, please be advised that we will use the bathroom for some time. If you have anything to do there, please do it now or wait until we're done." I stopped at the staircase, waiting for and answer.
"I'll go later." Prince Thalmin called from within his dressing room.
"Urgh! Newrealmer, be sensible now. You can’t just scream everything that pass through your mind out loud!" I stopped listening as the lord continued to rant.
I opened the door to a bare room of marble. While certainly way odd, I shrugged it off as it fitted my current need more than I expected. With the door shut, I barred it with a rune lock.
Hey everyone!
It’s time for something a little bit different, but very much familiar! :D
To change things up a bit, we’re now diving back into the human side of things! More specifically, a commission for a uniform/character art reference combo depicting one of our major supporting cast members back at the IAS! :D
We’re looking at Dr. Laura Weir this time around! The head of this whole operation, and the stubbornly tenacious legend who turned a fringe fever dream of a science into a reality.
There’s a lot to say about the dear Director. Quite a bit of it unfortunately treads deep into spoiler territory, as quite a lot of her backstory ties into a whole other layer of plot threads and lore on the human side of things; the likes of which will open a whole other dimension of the story, but I digress.
I’ll have to try tread lightly, if only to ensure I do not incur the ire of my editor haha XD
Right so!
Let’s start with her age then! If I did my math right, Laura is currently 64 years old by 3047!
That’s not necessarily old by WPA standards, with the average life expectancy averaging somewhere in the ballpark of 150 - 200 years! :D
This thankfully makes Aunty Ran’s age for more agreeable, since she clocks in at 77 years old. A number that might seem old to us, but by Emma’s time, is looking more like the sort of age where you’d expect to see a mid-life crisis rather than an end-of-life panic XD
Aside from that, there are a few more major takeaways we can infer from Laura’s character here based primarily on her uniform! With the first and perhaps most eye-catching to those in academia and civil service being the discrepancy between her rank bar and the medals pinned on her chest. Or more specifically, her distressing lack of them.
This simple discrepancy is emblematic of the very unconventional career path she took, embodying the sheer one-track mindset she had as she consistently placed all her eggs into one single unproven basket — the portal project. Contrary to this, most civil servant academics would’ve accumulated a greater number of personal and group decorations at this point in their career, aligning with their seniority in rank. All of this is to say, Weir stubbornly stood her ground and refused to budge from her niche field and seemingly dead-end passion project, up until she finally got her major break in the portal project, and thus meriting her both the Secretariat (through the United Nations Science Advisory) civil service rank of Director, as well as the Acting Authority/Administrative Level/Tier of 2 (Managerial).
This segues nicely into our next topic of discussion — her rank bar. Let’s start from the top. The very top of the rank bar shows her parent department; the stylized atom belonging to the United Nations Science Advisory. Beneath that are two curved gold bars, denoting her acting administrative authority level/tier, this being Tier 2: managerial. Finally, we have the three diamonds/rhombi that denote her civil servant rank (3 Diamonds/Rhombi: Director).
The department symbol probably needs no further explanation! :D
However, the actual acting administrative authority tier indicator probably does! To summarize and to avoid talking too much about this, ‘acting administrative authority’ is a temporary designator of authority given to Secretariat (essentially the ‘commissioned officer’ levels of the civil service) ranked members of the civil service for the express purpose of designating the degree of their authority within their given command/jurisdiction. This is because of how power in the civil service is exercised, as authority is only extended to individuals when there is a cause and a case for said authority to be exercised in the accomplishment of a given task.
Thus, civil service ‘rank’ and authority are clearly delineated, preventing jurisdictional overreach and unnecessary and inappropriate use of authority.
Simply put, the civil service ‘rank’ denotes an individual’s seniority, experience, ‘paygrade’, and most importantly — eligibility for assignments.
Meanwhile, the tier indicator indicates an individual’s management and command authority over a given operation, department, work group, assignment, etc.
For example, you could technically have another ‘Director’ ranked scientist at the IAS, but they’d be serving in an advisory capacity within their specific field, rather than ‘outranking’ Weir.
This is similar to how you might get certain situations in the military where you’d have Colonels serving on a staff but with very little direct authority in direct command whereas other Colonels exist who are in direct command of an entire regiment. One is acting in an advisory capacity, whilst the other is acting with assigned authority.
But yeah! That’s the rank situation sorted! :D And as you might imagine, Weir’s medals really don’t mesh well with her current rank and seniority, which would turn quite a few heads around the water cooler as it were whenever she heads up to GOV Station XD
The other major thing to note are the square pips on her chest beneath her medals.
Those are there to represent her years serving in the civil service and her years spent in academic tenure. Now, typically, in other GUN departments (such as say, the Department of Transportation for example), you wouldn’t include your years in academic tenure as a part of these pips. Things are a bit different in the more academic/scientific adjacent departments however, such as the United Nations Science Advisory, as they choose to include years spent in academic tenure as a sort of visual representation of the State-Academic apparatus and its unique, constitutionally entrenched advisory obligations to policymakers and legislators. But I digress haha.
Anyways, each golden pip represents 10 years in service/tenure, silver would be 5, and bronze would be 1. Weir here has 5 golden pips which represent her 50 years in both academia and civil service, seeing as she got her first tenure at around 24/25 years old.
The culture around the pips is also quite interesting, because some people after getting their first few gold pips don’t really bother adding silver or bronze pips until they just hit another solid 10. This started out for aesthetic reasons but later became unofficially codified in various unspoken rules and social conventions. And since the civil service is generally quite a lot more lenient in terms of their uniform codes than the military, this discretionary attitude to pip wearing just became a part of how you expressed yourself within the service.
This has, expectedly, resulted in the formation of personality stereotypes that are based on how you wear your pips.
For instance, if you have someone who’s been in the civil service for 29 years, who’s adamant on putting on 2 gold pips, 1 silver pip, and 4 bronze pips, they might be seen as someone who has a pretty intense/rigid/perfectionist personality/command style. This is opposed to someone who’s likewise served for 29 years but only decided to put on 2 gold pips. The latter would be assumed to have a more laid back, chill personality as it were.
But yeah! That’s about it for the uniform.
I guess the other thing to note is that there are various ‘jacket’ styles as well, Weir just so happens to be sporting the more casual ‘cardigan’ style of jacket, rather than a more formal suit jacket version of the uniform’s outermost layer.
There are even some uniform variants that do away with the jacket layer entirely, going exclusively for a shirt and tie with the rank indicators worn on a lanyard or pinned onto something resembling a pocket protector and then worn on the shirt breast pocket instead.
But yeah, that’s it for the uniform then! :D
Next up is Weir’s civvie outfit! As I said before, the civil service is allowed a great deal of flexibility when it comes to their workwear. So outside of official meetings, conferences, and ceremonies, you’re actually allowed to go full civvie, but whether or not that’s ‘acceptable’ relies entirely on the local culture of your Department, Division, Office, and even the culture of the specific locale your office is located in. So yeah, it varies greatly, but Weir here often goes for a middle ground with her preferring some form of uniform, but allowing civvies to be worn alongside that.
She’s sported her civvie outfit more than once on base after all, so it’s only fair on her part to allow it on base XD Also, as you can see, she’s a huge fan of browns and turtlenecks XD Her lanyard more or less has all of her credentials too so on-site ID is not that big of a deal as long as you carry that with you.
The last thing to note about Weir’s outfit is the pendant she wears. It’s a family heirloom that’s been passed down for generations. She’s never seen without it.
But yeah! That’s about it! :D
I really hope you enjoy the artwork and the lore dump above haha.
This artwork was actually finished quite a few weeks ago, but unlike a lot of other pieces, this required a bit more time in the editing room as it were to get right. Especially since I had to curtail a lot of details that would’ve otherwise spoiled some stuff down the line. This is not to mention the time I spent trying to condense certain bits of lore into something that actually flows well and doesn’t sound too dry XD
Of course, I have to once again express my deepest gratitudes to re11arts for the incredible work on this! Weir and both her civil service uniform and civilian outfit came out amazingly! :D
I also have to thank my mods for helping to design the rank bar concept I had, as that was deceptively tricky to get just right! :D
So thank you everyone for the hard work, and I hope everyone enjoys both the art and the lore blurb haha! :D
Artist Reference: re11arts on instagram
CRASHLANDED
CH9
[Welcome back ladies and lads and other pals! How are ya doin? hope you are doin well and ty JCB for makin this amazing universe! Anyway let's get into this chapter!]
LO: Below the UTSTS PROMETHEUS's stern, 12 miles away from the Academy, Time: 8:45 PM Day: March 23rd Thursday 2590 AD
Combat droid A20 ‘Iron hu- error new objective.
Scout droid A11 ‘Man in the woods’:
-NEW OBJECTIVE-
Scouting, recon, collecting native foliage, and field research.
CODE C11: Turn off non-essential weapon systems and turn most power to scanning and sensors.
-AFFIRMATIVE-
‘Opening droid pod now’….
The outer front armor of the pod slowly detached from the walls of the pod, slamming down onto the grassy ground in front of it.
The sound of hydraulics adjusting and armor plating clanking together as they shifted and relaxed, then the sound of metal lightly scraping against metal was heard from the pod.
Slowly a hulking skeletal droid came out of the pod, it's bulky frame seemingly adjusting as it's armor plates shifted down it's heavy arms.
The droid's metal humanoid feet softly walked down the pod's front armor before stopping at the end of it.
Soft whirling could be heard from it's hull grade plated spine as the short tri-barrel gauss gun on it's shoulder was lowered to it's lower back, the sounds of motors and gears grinding was heard from the chest plating of the droid as the plates shifted underneath each other.
From it's triangled head came a medium size light that briefly flashed the colors of blue, yellow, and red before turning to a neutral glowing grey.
Slowly the droid moved it's head side to side as it scanned it's surroundings, in front of it were multiple other pods which were already open.
Multiple of it's kind marched in unison to a mostly flat field that was surrounded by thick walls, like a well oiled gear.
The sound of powerful hydraulics fill the camp and field as they march towards the field.
After a few minutes the droid entered the debris filled field, it then stopped for a moment to look at it's sisters and brothers.
Each one started to fill a small grid in the field as they lined up in a square formation.
The droid then hastily followed it’s factory new brethren as it quickly found a place in the formation and snuck in with a soft sound of metal rubbing against metal.
20 droids silently stood still, all of them ready for their mission as the sounds of motors filled the field and surroundings.
Each equipped with enough firepower to take over a large town.
But that was not their mission now, their mission was surveillance, recon, and fauna collection.
And as they all stood steadfast fast ready for orders, all at once they turned their camo on.
One after one, droid after droid they became nearly invisible to the Terran or Nexian eye.
At the front of the field was a massive gate blocking the way. Slowly it began to open wide but before it could finish the droids vanished.
Their signatures moving faster than a speeding bullet.
Each droid separates from the grid into separate squadrons, 1 going deep into the forest for collecting organic samples, 2 scavenging and scanning the fields for exposed ores and parts that broke off the ship.
Each had their own different ways of collecting samples, squadron 1 had small to large containers dotting their back for collecting both complex fauna and DNA extraction because of this they were the quickest squadron.
2 had mining grade scanners as well as small scale mining equipment, on their back was a magnetic pack that forced magnetic ores to clump up, but for non magnetic ores they had a large tube connected below the magnetic pack for non magnetic ores this however made them the slowest.
After a few hours of scans, sample acquisition, and stuffing deer into capsules too small. One of the droids in squadron 2 acquired something unknown, at first it seemed like a piece of the ship. But after a few deeper scans it found out the metal was a mix of uncompounds and containing a high amount of code name ‘hyper beta’ radiation in the lower part of the metal.
As it's scanner lowered it saw a gleaming gemstone, without a second reaction it placed the metal object in it's tube on it's lower back before simply running off in the direction of it’s comrades.
A droid from squadron one while running to another grid for sample collection stopped by something peculiar, it's scanners scanned over a natural dirt trail..
But upon further scanning.. it was not natural, there were odd tracks in the soil, in curiosity the droid decided to follow the trail.
After about a quarter hour it ended up at a strange site… upon arriving it saw something that should be impossible..
It's head clicked to the left and right as if trying to figure out what it was seeing, the structures in front of it were not natural..
On the horizon were many structures and new sounds it had not heard before… The place from the droid's internal database had many similarities to old Terran structures.
Buildings made of brick tightly compacted together in many rows, a rock street connecting to the trail.
Another detail it had noticed was… Terrans? That code and the inconsistency was boggling to it, it curiously walked forward into the place.
As it got closer it saw more of them, overalls, simple tunics and other old Terran outfits dotted the Terrans…
Upon focusing it’s lens.. it noticed peculiar mutations.. long ears, odd facial structures that were not even seen in gene mods.
Another thing it saw was… animals standing upright? It stopped for a moment as this confused it.. it didn't know how to react nor what to do..
So it did the only thing it could do, it first stood still as a long antenna extended from it's back as it's front light turned a color off as it was now on standby.
‘Reporting to UTSTS PROMETHEUS… Unknown structures..”
LO: Droid compartment and overseeing room on the UTSTS PROMETHEUS, 12 miles away from the Academy, Time: 9:31 PM Day: March 23rd Thursday 2590 AD
Mzult Alcomary:
“Yawwwn.. Watching over these droids is hell.. least it's somewhat entertaining” I said to myself as my eyes wandered to the trash can next to my bionic leg, it was filled to the brim with Star type energy drinks..
‘Yeesh maybe I drank too ma-’ before I could even finish thinking a bright light blinked on the holoscreen in front of me as my eyes snapped towards the screen.
“The hell? Why is one of the droids reporting already? It hasn't even been a few hours yet” I'd say in confusion as I press the droid reports section on the screen.
Immediately one report came up, under it read ‘Unknown structures of non Terran make.’ That made my eyes open up..
‘Maybe one of the mining drones-’ that thought however, was cut short as I noticed it was from a foliage droid..
Immediately I clicked on the report and listened to it. After about 25 minutes, nothing was really happening besides collecting..
But towards the end of the report my heart skipped a beat… it was a dirt trail.. common on greenery worlds or non fully developed colonies..
Still it could have been animals that paved it over time.. as the report played I suddenly noticed something..
Immediately, I paused the report and skipped back a few seconds when the droid was scanning the trail..
Along it I could see a few stumps along the side of the trail.. but I didn't see any trees knocked down and the stumps were way too clean cut..
Curiously, I then skipped a few seconds ahead. In the trail itself, I could see a few tracks, most looked like ones you would see from an animal..
But close up to the middle of the trail were two sets of lines across from each other, both in the same length and width.
Both went the same way as if something drove on this trail.
‘What the actual fuck? That's not a natural phenomenon.. Unless some.. Who am I kidding? This might be evidence of a civilization.. or..’ I thought to myself as I began to grasp at straws..
Quickly I unpaused the report as I intensely focused on the screen.
“Hey Miz? You okay man?” I heard from behind me as I felt a cold metallic hand on my left shoulder.
Almost immediately, I jolted up a little before turning around and looking at who touched me.
“Jeeez man you nearly gave me a heart attack!” I'd say to him with a sigh.
“Sorry man, you look like you've seen an Unbidden! Are you all right?” My friend Jex asked as his visor turned a hue of gray.
“Y-yeah I'm okay man.. I'm looking over a report’ I'd say to him as he then tilted his head and sat at an adjacent seat.
“Already? That was fast- he'd say as he looked over to the report still playing.
“The hell?” He then said as his visor turned white.
Curiously, I then spun back around and what I saw made my eyes light up…
Structures.. not natural ones.. actual structures made of what seemed to be brick.. Metal frames as some sort of scaffolding.
“Are… you seeing this?” I heard Jax say as I then stopped the report and looked at it closer…
The report was saying that it was detecting a Terran presence… but that couldn't be right, from what happened to the Terrans that were outside the ship’s field should be dead because..
Terran originated-life could not survive the radiation……..
The realization then hit me like a train… Advanced organic life.. But.. we have never seen any advanced organic life… only simple and complex incapable of intelligence..
Quickly I focused on the background before then enhancing the image, I could see humanoids..
Some had long elf-like ears and others looked like straight up dogs or even damn fish!
“Jax?” I then said to him as his visor was in the middle of changing colors. He seemed to be in a state in disbelief and his hands were shaking.
“Y-yeah?’ he’d say nervously as I hear some bits of his synthetic voice cracking…
“Get a hold of the Captain and the science division now, I’ll tell the droid to keep going!” I'd say to him as he quickly ran over to the end of the room by the holocom the sound of metal feet filling the room.
Hastily I exited out of the report and navigated to the command icon, as I opened it up I clicked on the command HUD and typed in Beta 2.
Almost immediately I was met with a list of commands and a selection of droids, hastily I scrolled down the many droids before ending up at the droid that submitted the report.
I then clicked on the droid and activated the surveillance mode before being met with a short loading screen and then was met with what the droid was seeing as it began to walk deeper into the collection of tight structures.
A few of the structures were nearly ready to topple over, their walls caved in and windows completely shattered.
The road was heavily damaged, rocks everywhere and even cracks in the rocks themselves.
As the droid moved farther from the beginning of the street the damage became less and less severe, though broken windows were still common.
I could see some of the humanoids doing their best to rebuild…
Some others were simply sitting on rubble of what remained of their home, many of them were wearing damaged and ripped overalls and tunics that were ripped up to the point of almost being rags.
Another detail I had noticed was some of the humanoids were walking up and down the street wearing bright clothing with metal armor on top, as well as brandishing primitive looking weapons.
As the droid kept going deeper into the winding street I saw another one of the humanoids except they were sitting on the ground begging to the armored humanoids.
My heart sank as I realized why they were begging as I saw a smaller humanoid next to them…
As what I presume to be the mother tried to touch the armored one, his face contorted with disgust as he waved his hand to cover over her face as almost immediately like there was some sort of invisible force she was then pushed hard onto her back.
Confusion filled my face at first but was then replaced by anger as my nails dug into my left hand.
‘How in the hell could someone see a person begging like that and not help!?’ I thought to myself before sighing as I kept watching though the droid's eye.
The mother looked back at the armored one, he didn't even look back at her as if she wasn't worth his time..
I was just about to punch the monitor out of anger from that alone. I didn't understand how someone could be so unsympathetic.
The droid kept walking deeper but as it went further in the more armored guards there were, suddenly an idea popped up in my head as from the corner of the screen I could see an alleyway.
Quickly I punched a command into the HUD as the machine in a near millisecond ran into the alley.
It was pretty dark and filled with trash and pieces of debris, luckily it was enough so no one could see the droid.
The droid then slowly scanned it's surroundings as it got multiple unknown DNA signatures, from it's view I could see the end of the alley.
My focus was then ripped away as I heard the sound of metal feet clanking against the floor, quickly I turned back to see my friend Jex with his hand rubbing the back of his circular head.
“T-they will be here in a few minutes, the Captain said to keep an eye o-on what's happening.” He'd say nervous as his visor switched colors.
“What else happened while I was on the holo Miz?” he then asked with a more curious but still nervous tone as he sat down next to me.
“From what I could gather, they seem to be a sort of early Victorian era tech. And from the scanners themselves there is a high level of hyper beta radiation in some areas… Another thing I noticed was the guards patrolling the streets-” I say as I suddenly pause for a moment, thinking if I should mention that unknown force..
I decided not to as it could have been just a hallucination from caffeine over consumption.
“Hm I guess we'll need to tell the Captain and some of the science team when they get here.” He'd say as he looked back at the screen.
Quickly I turned back around and faced the monitor before clicking the HUD again and choosing to move out the alleyway and into the street.
“Holy hell.. How far away was this place from the ship's crash?” I hear Jex ask as the droid begins to walk down the street as it keeps far from the guards.
“I believe 10 miles or less, this is damage from two days ago from when we crashed. The shockwave seems to have damaged the outer buildings severely. Luckily the shockwave didn't hit hard enough and the rest of the buildings had only shattered wind-” As I was speaking a sudden loud BOOM could be heard from the screen.
Almost immediately both of our eyes moved to the screen as we saw from the droid’s eye.
The guards we saw from earlier were running somewhere but we couldn't see exactly what as the droid then luckily enough began to follow them.
“What the hell is happening?” I thought out loud as we saw a small perimeter of guards around an unsuspecting broken down building.
Their faces were filled with panic except one, they were from my best guess spouting orders in their still unknown language.
As the droid got closer we could see more detail of what was happening, upon closer look the building was bigger than any of the homes. The walls were brick and framed steel, despite this some of the walls were broken like they were forcefully busted open by a powerful force.
From the broken walls themselves a thick viscous fog came out, barely from view the silhouette of a thin humanoid lurked in it.
The humanoid then turned around to face the terrified guards.
The eyes.. the same ethereal light they had.. brightly glowing like supernova, it's form was cracked and was like it was struggling to exist in this world.
It's arms were a few inches away from it's thin shoulders, the legs far from the hips as it floated above the ground like a ghost.
It's thin head was suspended above the neck with nothing holding it up.
The only explanation that appeared was impossible.. but the shape, the looks, and the light..
It was an Unbidden..
My bionic heart was now beating heavily as it walked out…
Only to be met with.. Air? No, not air…. from it's shape and size it should've been something physical.
The Being looked like it was made of gas, not energy like the Unbidden.
The eyes floated along it's body, they were glowing but weren't physical either and the color of them was bizarre. A tint of blue surrounded by gray.
This… puzzled me completely, it was something straight out of fantasy.
The Being stared at the brave guard in the middle, like a predator picking which part of its prey to tear off first.
The Being's head slowly tilted back, a low screech tore its way from its gaseous body rising by the second, the panicked guards seemed to be about to simply run away from the screen shattering noise alone as I saw their knees bend.
The middle guard was steadfast and kept his pike aimed at the Being without fear..
Slowly the Being lifted up it's arm as it pointed at the guard its head coming back down to lock eyes with him again staring...screaming, hateful, damning screaming
“W-what the hell is it doing?” Jex said as I could practically hear his nervousness in his voice..
At first the Being simply stood there, it's arm arm outstretched still screaming no need for breath, however...
The guard himself looked to be fighting something, stabbing his pike into random places in the air as he tried to back away.
A leg buckled, he fell to the floor and the Being advanced towards him but just by an inch.
Upon the rock road the guard suddenly began to convulse and shake, his hands went flying to his neck.
He was choking.. constantly gagging and gasping for air before finally going limp...
The other guards look at each other for a moment before dropping their pikes and running in random directions.
“What the fuck!? is it… doing that?” I heard Jex say as I turned around to face him, his visor was now a mix of orange and yellow.
“I… I don't know but whatever it is doing or what IT is, all I know is that we should hope the Captain comes here quickly.”
Suddenly the sound of an autodoor automatically opening could be heard behind us, almost immediately both me and Jex got off our seats and turned to face who it was.
My eyes went wide as not only the Captain was there but the chief of security!
“R-reporting C-Captain!” I'd hear Jex bellow out as he slammed his fist against his chest saluting them.
I then quickly followed suit, “Reporting Captain!”
The Captain had her arms behind her back as she slowly looked around the room.
"At ease Cadets, so what have the droids found? Cadet Jex certainly seemed excited enough about it, called on the holo and started yelling about 'Advanced organisms, possibly sapient life', right?” She'd say with a monotone voice as she looked at us.
“Yes ma'am! I-I was the first one to notice it after one of the droids reported early!” I quickly answered her.
“I see, may we see the evidence?” She'd say as her visor moved to look at the live footage that was happening on the screen.
“Ye-Yes ma'am!” I hear Jex say as both her and the Chief of Security walk by us and look at the screen.
The Captain, despite her unflinching tone, tilted her head at the screen.
“The hell? Why is there screaming?” The Chief of security said as they moved to face us.
“Before you both came in, some sort of attack happened during observations of the structures the humanoids inhabit, whatever it is, it is extremely dangerous and from the footage you can see now..” I say as the Captain pulled a cord out of her arm and hooked it up to the bottom of the monitor.
The Captain's visor turned a few colors for a few seconds, on the screen itself the live footage paused so the downloading could go easily.
After about another few seconds the Captain moved her head to look at us as her visor suddenly turned to blue to show the footage was done downloading.
“They are right, the Master Officer was saying she saw structures but I didn't believe her until now.” The Captain said as she unhooked the wire as it went back into her arm.
“We should have the droid observe and not interfere in any way, we don't know who they are.” The Chief said as they looked at the now resumed footage.
“I agree with the Chief, this is not of the Technocracy's concern. Although it is sad, we can't jeopardize our mission to get back home.” The Captain coldly agreed with the Chief.
It was true that it was outside of our concern.. But I couldn't just ignore people dying.
“I'm sure whatever they have is enough to defend themselves, we don't need to exert resources more than we already have.” They'd say as their bionic frame shifted a bit.
As the Chief finished talking I couldn't take any more…
“I'm sorry to interrupt Chief but.. don't we have droids out there collecting samples? And the Dragoons scouting out the areas near the ship, why can't we use them to help them?” I shot at the Chief as their chrome colored eyes turned yellow as they narrowed at me.
Despite the eyes of authority beaming down on me I opened my mouth to speak once more.
“During the last days of the Unbidden war my homeworld's supply chain was cut off by harvesters and was unable to get supplies and access to communications, the world was barren with few colonies and even fewer supplies. When the food ran out and people began to fight each other for scraps, my grandfather set up a hydroponics plant with the few credits he had. He used it to help people in need of food till the fleet contacted us, we help our own in times of crisis, not abandon them!”
"Our own yes. And if it were our own out there facing a true Unbidden I wouldn't hesitate to smash our precious few resources against it. But that's not an Unbidden it just looks like one, and even during the war with the Unbidden this exact scene played out thousands of times. The soldiers get scared of the enemy, they break and run, the superior comes in to rally them and they turn the rout into a victory. When they get home there's medals and stories commemorating the Valor on the battlefield, and oh look here they come now."
They said as a series of portals opened up on the battlefield robed warriors stepped out and like prophecy foretold began to bring the scattered soldiers back into order while a scant few held off the pseudo Unbidden.
"See that's the difference in the situation cadet? We're cut off but they aren't THEIR own will come to save them because whatever species this is, this is their land. Jex make a note of those portals that's important Intel and I'd love it if r&d could have a crack at it.”
That coldness.. that unwillingness.. ignoring why the Technocracy helps THE people..
At that point I didn't even care..
“You saw the footage and what was happening! You can't just throw away what made the Technocracy! So what that they aren't our people!?”
I barked out at them as they then approached, their hydraulic legs shifting and compressing.
"We'd only be adding more chaos to the situation cadet. They see our dragoons and droids approaching and then what? They decide they have to fight on two fronts and die anyway?”
They barked back out as their synthetic voice got louder.
"Then we show them we are not enemies by helping them! Show them we mean no harm!" I bark back at them with my teeth clenched.
"Oh by marching our soldiers into town and firing artillery rounds over their head? look at them the most advanced weaponry they have is that spear that first soldier was holding and...Whatever they're doing with their hands to make those explosions pop up"
They said momentarily distracted by the video screen again more monsters had begun to crawl out of the broken down warehouse by this point clashing with the reformed line of soldiers, a cat person was dashing up and down the line barking out orders and jumping into the fight anywhere the line began to buckle.
"Regardless they're tightly packed in there, we go in and start firing recklessly; they're not going to be able to tell what we're aiming at. Then they turn on us, we lose droids, they lose men and the whole situation spills into the town. We don't have the supplies to spare on missions that won't work cadet not when we may have to defend ourselves from the same people we'd be trying to save.” They'd say as their eyes became a bright red color.
"How long will they hold!? You see their weapons, it's clear they won't survive against the horde." I'd say with venom in my throat,
"We distract the beasts and redirect them so we can take them out without hurting anyone else!”
"How are you going to redirect them? they're beasts, do you even know how to herd cattle let alone..." They gestured to a random creature on the screen that was using its feathers to unleash a storm of small cuts onto the soldiers.
"...Is that a griffon? Do you even know how to herd a griffon alongside a few dozen other types of creatures into the same direction? or did you plan to open a can of wet food and hope for the best?” their synthetic voice was amplified a bit as if to drive the point.
I paused for a moment as I tired thinking of what to say before suddenly remembering something,
"The top lights of the Dragoons! They are used for lightning or scaring off light sensitive megafauna, we could use them to annoy the beasts and redirect them so we can shoot them and not hurt the humanoids." I argued to them,
"Maybe...Is that a guarantee that they'll work though? no. I see atleast 3 creatures in there without eyes. one of them just looks like a blob of slime with no sensory organs at all. And that can also provoke them into attacking the dragoons rather than scattering them like they would with mega fauna back in the technocracy. Are you going to take responsibility if one of the sapient AI dies from a monster attack if it did provoke them?” They said as the sound of hydraulics adjusting was heard from their body.
My teeth then clenched hard...
"Yes, I'd take full responsibility for every death, waste of munitions, and destruction of military assets.. Just so innocent people wouldn't suffer.. you did the same.." I'd say to them as tears flowed from my now puffed eyes.
"Why would you need those implants, in the first place? If you didn't give up everything to save lives..”
The chief hummed to themselves, straightening. Something in their eyes readjusted, no reassessed what they were looking at. Over to the side Jex called out to them in the quiet moment, "Ma'am the line is buckling I count three of the robed warriors down and something big is starting to come up!" They didn't react to it though, just kept staring drawing out the moment.
"Chief...please" I said as the last of the fight was starting to leave my voice.
Finally after a long moment of unflinching eye contact she came to a decision, closing their eyes creating a break in the solemn moment they nodded to themselves, "You'll do." with that they opened their eyes again a formal serious and more ceremonial look overtook them. Solemness was replaced by sacred ritual as their hand flicked up grabbing onto the data patch on my uniform which marked my rank. Before I could react she had ripped it from my chest and tossed it across the floor. Jex's eyes widened in surprise and horror but the Chief's eyes told a different story.
"You are out of uniform soldier" They said reaching into a pouch on their belt and pulling out a new data patch pressing it into my chest briefly rubbing it into place so the velcro could stick, and then with the same arm they had sacrificed to save lives, punched the patch into place activating its personnel lock to interact with the rest of my uniform marking it as mine.
"Do not let it happen again, I expect you at the strategy meeting in t-minus 5 minutes. I know it's last minute but your attendance is mandatory." With that they and the captain about faced and began to walk out of the drone bay but at the threshold she lingered for only a moment not looking back at me or Jax.
"Congratulations on your promotion droid commander Mzult.”
[Thank you everyone for reading this chapter and I hope y'all have a nice week, oh and ty so much Trackerunused for helping me out!]
CH1:
https://www.reddit.com/r/JCBWritingCorner/s/xt3qcIdelY
Prev CH:
Escape From Mars, featuring Jimi the kid from Mars. Chapter 1, act 1.
Journal entry: 3rd Araru, 23195 CME (Current Martian Era).
"Couldn't sleep all night. Could barely eat breakfast. My stomach is all flutterbugs. I'm too nervous about today's tournament.
I stayed up late practicing my Antipossible Flips. But I've never done one in front of anyone.
Why did I put it in my set? I'm having 2nd thoughts about it. Is it too late to take it out?
But it's my last chance this year. And I failed at everything else. I better not mess up. Again."
***
It was mid-morning. The first day of the school-week (a Monday by our reckoning). In the first week of the Martian month "Araru". We might call it May. In the year we call 4,997,991 BCE. A clear rainless morning. Though Mons Olympus was acting up again. And the customary weather alerts went out about it. Causing concerns for scattered ash-snow showers later in the day. And there were just a few weeks left in the school year...
***
The Cydonia Middle School hallways were bustling with the usual morning chatter. Rowdy Martian students swapping parleys of their weekend shenanigans. Filing one by one into their respective classrooms. Only a few minutes till the 3rd period bells would ring.
(Most quite human looking, aside from slightly bigger eyes, weirder ears, and other personal quirks.)
A lone student took a right turn down the West hall. Over his right shoulder, he slung a tristrap backpack, emblemed with a crab symbol, and his name "CHUKI". And tucked halfway into his left back pocket, a slingshot.
Chuki wove his way through the crowd, strolling past a long row of students foraging through their lockers. At the hall's end, he crossed paths with a boy wearing a "GO CRABS" hoody, and gave him a fist-bump.
The "GO CRABS" kid joined up with a couple others waiting for him in the corner, and the three of them together ducked into a nearby classroom.
Meanwhile, Chuki himself took another right turn at the corner, and continued the long stretch down the back hallway, past the last lingering stragglers, and a few random teachers. All the way to the last classroom on his left.
A teacher stood watch there by the door. Chuki took a hard left, and dipped into the open doorway. The teacher gave him a soft pat on the back as he passed by. Then followed him in.
The sign above the door read: "Grade 8, Interplanetary Biology, Mr. Scranjo"
***
The classroom was bustling with rambunctious 8th graders. The air filled with their random babel as they took their seats around different lab tables.
Six rectangular lab tables altogether, each seating four students. Scranjo's desk sat against the front wall. Assorted shelves lined the walls, stacked with peculiar specimens.
Chuki took another sharp right after entering, and passed by a row of shelves stacked with vivariums and aquariums. Each containing assorted specimens, quite weird looking in their own ways.
The first vivarium on his right held a big speckled crab-like thing. It looked almost a foot wide, with triple-dactyl chelae (claws). Chuki knocked on its vivarium as he passed. The crab clucked, and swiped a claw at Chuki, hitting the glass. But Chuki ignored it.
The 2nd vivarium Chuki passed contained a creature resembling a large butterfly, with four pink and black wings, and a wingspan over a foot wide. It slowly flapped its floppy wings.
Chuki lunged with his teeth open, and feigned a chomp at it. The butterfly bore its own fangs, and snarled back. Then its color changed to transparent, becoming almost invisible. As its body assumed the coloring of its background surroundings, in a type of camouflage.
But as soon as Chuki was gone, its old coloring returned, and it became visible again.
When Chuki reached the back corner of the classroom, he turned left. There he passed behind a boy and girl standing by another vivarium.
The boy and girl stood there looking into it. It was filled with big purply leaves, and a creature resembling a huge snail.
With a shell over a foot high. And with only one antenna (ocellus), with a big googly eye on the tip. And an oddly shaped shell, with spiral rainbow stripes. and what appeared to be extra openings on both sides, currently closed.
From within the vivarium, the snail's single eye watched the boy and girl, as the girl dangled a purply leaf. It nipped hungrily at it.
The boy then reached into the vivarium, and pet the top of the snail's shell. It purred softly, and its stripes spiraled through all spectral colors, as it munched away.
But it stopped chewing, and withdrew into its shell, once it noticed a man's belt buckle come up behind the boy and girl. And up behind them strolled Scranjo, as he swat the petting boy's hand.
"Don't pet the snail," Scranjo chided.
Scranjo pointed up at the sign posted on the wall above the vivarium, which read in bold letters: "DON'T PET THE SNAIL".
"Aw." The boy and girl both turned and went to their seats.
***
Once Chuki reached the center back lab table, he took off his backpack, and hung it on the back of his chair.
Already seated there were two other boys and a girl. The boy to Chuki's left wore a t-shirt with "BOSS VINI" on it. Chuki pulled the slingshot from his back pocket, and tossed it onto the table. Then he gave Vini a fist-bump, and took a seat. Vini picked up the slingshot, and checked it out.
At the next table over, a boy with a bandaid on his forehead took a seat. It was Jimi.
Jimi took a seat at his assigned lab table, in the back left corner. His three fellow lab-tablers were already seated and ready for Scranjo's lesson. He set his backpack on the floor, and pulled out his Thrum (Martian smartphone). He noticed some new Q-texts. They were from his mother.
{The real Martian name for his phone is a "Thrum". But for the purposes of our story, we'll just call it his phone or smartphone. (A glossary can be found at the end of this work.)}
Jimi hunched over so to not text too obviously. He swiped and tapped on them.
Incoming text from:
Mom: "Jimi are you okay? The nurse told me you had an accident."
Jimi felt the tiny bandaid covering the huge welt on his forehead.
He texted back: "I'm okay. Just fell off my gyroboard." Then waited for Mom's reply.
Mom: "Are you hurt?"
Jimi: "No. Just bumped my head."
Mom: "Okay. I packed your lunch and gave you change for some Marzdrinx. Please don't blow it on hologram games."
Jimi: "I won't."
Mom: "I also charged your quantum bank. And stuck in your hoody in case it snows. Mons Olympus is acting up today. Don't forget to pick up your sister after school."
Jimi: "I won't."
***
The 3rd-period bell rang, signaling the start of class. Class was now in session. Student jabber dwindled, as Scranjo pulled the door out from its wall slot, slid it shut, and twisted its latch locked. He began his morning lesson.
"Okay class, remember, the Cerean tardifrog is the only surviving life form from Phaeton, the planet which used to orbit between Mars and Jupiter."
Sundry students turned to view the slimy green specimens situated on trays in the center of each of their respective lab tables, as Scranjo continued.
"Phaeton exploded over a billion years ago, leaving millions of tiny asteroids behind."
Scranjo strolled between the tables as he spoke. Some of the students at the front center table seemed giddily intrigued by their specimen. It lay there on its back, its eight legs poking up. A boy poked curiously at it with his finger, and it made a squeaky sound. Another boy and girl chuckled. While another girl looked away, mildly repulsed.
Scranjo strolled up behind the curious boy, continuing.
"The Cerean tardifrog's skin contains a natural protection. A sleep-inducing toxin, which puts all would be predators to sleep..."
The boy poked the tardifrog's stomach again. As it squeaked, Scranjo turned and sternly swatted the boy on the back of his head.
"Ow!" the boy cried.
"...and should NOT be touched with bare hands. So put your lab gloves on first... Tobi," Scranjo scolded.
A boy with thick goggle glasses at the next table raised his hand. "Where did we find them?"
"Inside Phaeton's former moon Ceres, Kevi," Scranjo explained.
An orangey-haired girl raised her hand. "Did people from Phaeton really build the pyramids?"
"We don't know that for sure, Suzi," Scranjo answered back. "That's just a theory. And that's a question you should really ask your Interplanetary History teacher about."
***
Jimi tried to pay attention to the ongoing discussion, and scribble some notes, while finishing his covert chat with Mom. He huddled over his Thrum as he texted. He knew Scranjo didn't like texting during class.
Luckily, Scranjo had his back turned to Jimi, and didn't notice. But neither did Scranjo notice the stealthy fumblings at the next table over, right behind Jimi.
"Splat!" A tardifrog suddenly hit the back of Jimi's head. Jimi's eyes blinked with dumb surprise.
The tardifrog just stuck there for a second. Then slowly slid down the back of Jimi's neck, and onto his left shoulder. Jimi turned his head to see what it was. His shocked face became a scowl.
Lori, the girl seated to Jimi's left, watched with disgust. "Ew, it smells."
Jimi turned around to see from where the projectile tardifrog flew. The specimen tray on the table behind him was empty. Vini, Chuki, and Marki just sat there, grinning back obliviously. And Vini had his lab gloves on, and was still holding the slingshot.
Scranjo turned to see. Vini tried to hide the slingshot under the table. Assorted giggles broke out around the classroom. But Scranjo said nothing. He walked over and yanked the slingshot from Vini.
"That's mine," Chuki mumbled timidly.
"Bad move Vini," Scranjo grumbled. "That will be another detention for you."
"But he was Thrumming during class," Vini protested.
"That's no excuse," Scranjo retorted.
Scranjo walked up to Jimi. Jimi sat there frozen, with the tardifrog still on his shoulder, afraid to touch it. He looked up pleadingly at Scranjo.
"Didn't I tell you to stay off your Thrum during class, Jimi?" Scranjo asked.
"Sorry," replied Jimi. "It was my mom."
Scranjo pulled his lab gloves on tighter, and carefully lifted the tardifrog off Jimi's shoulder. He held it up to inspect it for damage.
Then Scranjo carried the tardifrog back to its original table, and plopped it onto its specimen tray. The girl there mumbled "yuck".
Scranjo turned back to Jimi. "Jimi, go hurry up and wash off in the lavatory. And be careful not to touch any of the slime with your bare hands."
***
Jimi obligingly folded up his Thrum three ways, stuck it back into his backpack, slung that over his shoulder, and headed for the door.
"Cool bandaid," yapped someone as Jimi passed by.
"Thanks," mumbled Jimi. More random snickers echoed from the class.
"And hurry straight back," Scranjo added. "You're still getting graded for today's lesson."
Jimi turned the door handle, and started sliding the door open. But before he could walk out, the intercom above the door cackled with static.
Then the emergency alert sounded. Jimi froze there immobile, staring up at it. As did Scranjo, and everyone else in class.
After the beeping subsided, a woman's urgent voice spoke.
"Attention all students, teachers, and staff. This is a code red emergency alert. A dangerous asteroid storm is incoming. Everyone must report to the shuttles for transit to the evacuation site."
There was a brief pause, then the voice added, "Immediately!"
Gasps and shrieks erupted from the whole class. Along with murmured exclamations like "oh no!" and "asteroids?".
Scranjo's anxiously pulled his lab gloves off, as his expression grew more worried.
"Okay class, you know the drill. Get your backpacks and line up at the door, alphabetically."
A random student asked, "where are we going?"
"To the city pyramid," Scranjo answered grimly.
"Zmathel H'kazron?" someone whispered.
Jimi watched the intercom above the door, until the voice faded. On the wall above the intercom, was a map of the solar system. All eleven planets aligned, so nice and orderly.
Jimi stared up at the map, still holding the door handle. Should I go wash up first?, he wondered. He turned to Scranjo, unsure of what to do.
"You too Jimi," ordered Scranjo. "Get back in here, and get in line with the rest."
