Evie found herself in a small bare room with a single large window. Through the window she saw the inside of an even larger room with ancient looking architecture. She didn't know why, but she knew it was deep underground somewhere. She looked around in amazement. It felt like she was actually there! She then heard a familiar voice say, "I'm sorry, this is the only way to stop them." And with that the room seemed to stretch before her. "How did I forget this!?" She thought to herself. "This changes everything!"
Suddenly she awoke on the floor, head cloudy and her face in a puddle of blood and drool. Her nose hurt, so she gently touched it. Not broken, but tender. She groans.
"What the fuck just happened?"
She slowly stood to her feet. Making sure not to fall again, she shambled to her window and braced herself against the wall. The sun was high in the sky, and the townspeople were busy with their day. Last thing she remembered she was in her chair, it was night time... and...
She turned. There it was, the empty bottle that once held the culprit.
"That little bastard lied! This shit is nothing but a sedative!"
The previous night she had swallowed a rather nasty tasting liquid she bought from the local drug dealer, began walking to her bed, but must have passed out on her way there. She touched her nose again, and flinched from the pain.
She sighs. "I guess it's time to go demand a refund."
Evie cleaned her face, put on her boots, slipped her dual axes into her belt, and headed out.
As she started down the street she realized it must have been late afternoon on her current home planet of Ryke. Ryke was an Earth-like planet that wasn't too far from where Earth itself used to be before her grandfather somehow managed to make off with the whole damn thing 10 years ago.
A lot of theories swirled around the remaining colonized world of the solar system, most of them painted her grandfather in a bad light. But there were a couple that seemed to think he did it for a good reason. The general consensus, though, sided with the former. It was for that reason that she tended to not mention her family name. It was also the reason she decided to live here, on this semi-primitive colony founded by a bunch of Human fantasy nerds soon after Earth's arrival to the solar system about 100 years ago.
Those nerds found their chance to live the boring lives they dreamed of on their own half-medieval, half-modern planet. They wanted to live their dreams in their own fantasy world, with all the comforts of modern life. After all, no matter how much they wanted to live in the olden days, some even to live their adventuring dreams, they refused to give up plumbing, electricity, and of course, internet and videogames. There were a few villages in the area, but most people preferred living in the capital of Camelot. It seemed the founders weren't the most original of thinkers.
In the center of the city was a castle. It didn't house a king, however. It housed the machinery people used to go between the solar system's planets. The machine was first developed by the Humans on Earth before its arrival. It harnessed Dark Energy to open worm holes to the other planets. The same Dark Energy people used for their power. It was dubbed the Dark Energy Portal And Return Transporter, or, The DEPART System. Evie, being a "Null" as others liked to call her kind, had to be careful with her power when walking near the castle so not to disrupt the DEPART's daily services.
She enjoyed keeping a sort of bubble around her to keep the energy away. Most people enjoyed using their power as they went about their days, so they hated feeling of losing it. This let Evie make sure nobody would bother her so she could go about her business dealing with as few people as possible.
The city was home to a mainly Human population that liked to believe they preserved the ways of Humanity's Middle Ages. This drew in some of the existing inhabitants of the solar system to see a part of Humanity's faux history. Around the castle was the market, full of tradesmen, traders, and of course many places to get drunk. This was where Evie could find 'King Arthur's Pub', one of the more popular drinking establishments. The owner of which was her dealer "Arthur" though she knew him as Dud.
Dud was actually a part of the local system's "mafia" of sorts. They were widely known to be drug dealers mostly. Their work may not have been illegal, but it also wasn't entirely legal. Most drugs, both Human and Alien were legal given some regulation to make sure it wouldn't kill someone from normal use. This meant nothing to the newly combined knowledge of each race coming up with new drugs faster than the Solar Government could test.
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
Evie entered the pub and searched the room. The main portion of the pub's patronage was Human, but there were a few aliens scattered about. She immediately singled out the tall blonde Human man chatting up a pretty Human woman at the bar.
"Dud always was a sucker for Human chicks..."
As she walked through the pub toward him, the patrons using levitation that she walked by found their floating drinks fall into their laps and onto the floor.
"Fucking Null," she heard one of them say under their breath.
At the noise of a glass shattering on the floor, Dud looked away from the beautiful woman to see what the commotion was. As his eyes set on Evie they went wide with fear. He said something to the woman then ran off to the back of the pub.
Evie followed.
Dud ducked into a door, but as he tried closing it, Evie burst through, knocking Dud back and onto the floor. As she slammed the door close, the tall man on the floor had already begun melting down and shrinking.
"Fuck's sake, Evie, what the hell is your problem!?"
"You're my problem you little blue goblin!"
Dud was an alien from the planet of Tarn. A rather small, mainly ocean planet permanently covered in clouds. The Tarnan race were particularly good at changing their form, Dud was one of the best. He was also one of the rare Tarnan individuals that wanted to leave the isolation of their planet. When Earth first arrived and settled into orbit around their new sun, they used the original DEPART system to visit each planet they deemed habitable to life. Tarn held the least receptive populace to be found. They eventually accepted a DEPART system as all the other races had, but only to trade goods.
Dud hopped to his feet and padded over to his desk. As he got out of Evie's range he began changing back to the tall man he had been moments before Evie's rude entrance. Tarnans didn't enjoy people other than family seeing their true form.
"How many times do I have to tell you to keep that Null shit out of my pub!?"
"Well, Dud, that depends. How many times do you insist on lying to me about the drugs you give me?"
Dud squirmed in his seat and pulled out a notebook.
"I told you, my stuff is fine, its just, uh, untested on Humans for the most part... And will you stop calling me Dud!? I finally found out what that word means in your language, and I'm very upset."
Evie rolled her eyes. "Well I refuse to call you Arthur, I'm not going to play pretend with you. I care very little for the theme of the tourist trap you're running here."
"Fine, but it makes no sense. You know very well my name is Dudakiis. DOO Da Kees. At least call me Dude, you Humans love that word."
Evie took a step forward, Dud reacted by pushing himself back from his desk. "S-so what happened?"
"I drank it, then next thing I knew I was on the floor hours later. You said that shit would help me tap into my subconscious!"
Dud began writing. "And do you usually remember your dreams after waking from being put to sleep?"
"What? No, what does that have to do with anything?"
"Well it gave you a dream. It tapped into your subconscious and you saw what you had hidden deep in your mind... and uh... then you forgot it."
"What!?" Evie clenched her teeth.
Dud pushed farther back, hitting the wall. "Its not my fault you Humans are broken! It works fine on everyone else!"
Evie walked over to a chair opposite of Dud and pulled back her nullifying bubble. She plopped down and slouched. She didn't seem angry anymore, she had only a sullen look on her face as she pondered something to herself for a moment. Then she snapped out of it.
"I want my money back. All of it."
"I already heavily discount you per our agreement, and I even told you not everything works on Humans."
He put his notebook away and pulled out a different one. "Anyway, I have a job for you."
When Evie had first met Dud 7 months ago, it was after a rumor she had heard of a dealer in town who had all sorts of new mind altering drugs. She was definitely one for pubs, but never the popular kind that tried cashing in on the Camelot/King Arthur mythology. There were pubs circling the castle named after round table knights, and Evie found them all despicable.
She didn't know this Arthur she was meeting with was a Tarnan, and he didn't know she was a Null. He had heard of some crazy Human chick that liked getting her hands dirty for money. Where most people who could fight relied on their power, this girl preferred weapons. He was interested in new muscle, so he agreed to a meeting. He assumed she must have some kind of strength altering power. He was wrong.
When they met he had planned on trying to woo her. Human women loved his tall handsome Human form, and he loved the exotic Human women that found their way into his very reputable establishment. He never had the chance though, because as soon as she came in the room, he was reduced down to his small, blue, and, at least to Humans, ugly form. She became the only person to see him in his true form since he left his family on Tarn to make money with the Aliens.
He momentarily pondered having her killed, but decided against it. She seemed capable of killing her best men, being a Null. Not many people were good fighters without relying on their power. So instead he made a deal with her. She doesn't tell anyone that Arthur, the most handsome man in town, is really a Tarnan, and in return he gives her work and discounted drugs. Despite this deal, she still insisted that...
"I don't work for you."
"Fine," He sighed, "I have a temporary one time contract job for you. And this time, I'll let you keep whatever money you take."
Evie sat up straight and crossed her arms. "OK. So who am I beating up this time?"