Chapter

Jai’s words were terse, but I knew he meant it when he said it. “You will have my full support when the time is right. I won’t argue or hold you back.”

I held out my hand and we shook.

CONTRACT EXCHANGED

COMMAND WILL BE RELINQUISHED AT THE RIGHT TIME.

BIT VAGUE, KYLE. LET’S HOPE IT DOESN’T BITE YOU IN THE ASS, RIGHT?

I turned to my console, and placing my hand to it with just one thought I opened up my interface and turned Shade Brain off.

I heard Naylar gasp then, and I looked to her. “Kyle?”

I pulled it up onto the main screen for them to see in all its glory. Everything I was.

Name – Kyle Ranz – Human

Age ?? = Level = 25 TRAINEE

Name - Hiroto Toshiaki - Human

Age 27= Equ Level = 35 TRAINEE

Name – Xirob Veti – Denti

Age 44 = Equ- Level = 111 MASTER

Respawns = 2

Memories = 96%

Internal AI chip = X Class

Nanites x 271,229

Body Type = Model 7812 A Class

Structural Integrity = Camite Silver Integration

Skin Strength = 49

Blood capacity = 48

Healing Speed = 52 TRAINEE HEALER

Health = 79%

Mana = 140

Strength = 72

Dexterity = 58

Intelligence = 336

Wisdom = 35

Charisma = 20

Luck = 94

Stat Points - 0

Quick Points - 0

Chosen Specialty

Battle Mage = Rank 56

Nanite Engineer = Rank 52

Kenosi = Rank 0 Sparked

Skills =

CAD Tech = ??

Foot Soldier = Rank 45

Merc Sniper = Rank 50

Mech Pilot = Rank 40

Negotiator = Rank 10

Shuttle Basics = Rank 3

Animal Handler = Rank 4

Deception = Rank 2

Special Traits Awarded -

Healer - Internal AI chip X Class – Crystalline and Silver metal chip, with integrated healer nanites led by Xe Aria. + 10 to ALL STATS

Intelligence - Internal AI chip + 100 to Stat.

Shade Brain – Bonus level attained – no one but a controller can see your true nature.

Spells –

Minor Healing - Requires BATTLE MAGE RANK of 12 and x 1 Mana per second

Medium healing -Requires BATTLE MAGE RANK of 27 and x 10 Mana per second

Intensive Healing - Requires BATTLE MAGE RANK of 44 and x 100 Mana per second

Lightning Fury – Cost 10 mana per second – Damage increased by 30%

Jai was the one who spoke again after they’d all been silent for a while. “So, the three names?”

“Tyto knows some of this.” I looked to him and he nodded. “I spawned on Tolsa with Hiroto inside my mind already, then I died at the hands of a prospective team member, and then once again by Tyto’s hands himself. It was that time it was into a live denti hiding in a vat that wasn’t hooked up.”

“Holy crap, a live one?” Rei said. “How’s that possible and look at Xirob’s overall level! Shit, Jai!”

Xirob, you never said….

You never asked. Besides what would it have accomplished telling you my level?

That was true, nothing really, we couldn’t use it. At least it didn’t seem like we could. But then again, I thought back to the times he’d actually had control of parts of me. We were using your expertise on a lot of things though. I just didn’t realise it.

“So, you have three people in your head?”

“Technically four, with the Lead Nite, Xe. But yes, I have two very prominent voices in my head. It’s annoying as fuck, but I got used to them,” I added, “mostly.” To the guys chuckles.

“This is…” Jai sat in the Captain’s chair. “This is huge… I’ve only met one master in my time here so far.”

Do you want to tell them anything, Xirob? I asked him.

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Would you let me take vocals? His concern for that one act was very noticeable as I felt him tremble.

Of course, please do. If you have something to tell them.

It was strange when he started to speak then. I actually didn’t feel anything different. His voice sounded strange in my ears, it clearly wasn’t me. It wasn’t in English, but the translation coming through to me so I could understand what he said was fascinating.

I stood straight under Xirob’s control and looked to each of the team on the bridge as he spoke. “My name is Xirob Veti, I am in command of the denti rebellion.” His words hit home. I mean I had my suspicions, but this was confirming it all. I felt him squirm a little at my thoughts. But he held their attention and mine with his next words also. “Yes, I am level one hundred and eleven and I master in four specialties, Mech Warrior, Ship Command, Kenosi, and Nanite Engineer. I was upset that being discovered on Tolsa could have led to my death with repercussions for many more generations for my kind. But it was instead a blessing, to meet Kyle and Hiroto. I do not think my journey would have led me to do any of these things we have accomplished.”

Jai moved to stand before me, he placed his palms together and bowed to Xirob. “It is an honour to meet you master Xirob.”

“Thank you. It is my honour to meet all of you.”

“Do you still have access to your Character Sheet?” Naylar asked.

He felt my head shake, “No, I do not. But I have levelled once while Kyle has been in control.”

“That’s really interesting.” Naylar walked around me. “You’re in control of the body, right now?”

Xirob nodded. “Yes, I am.”

“Can Hiroto take over too?” Jai asked.

“Each mind can, and we can split control.”

“That’s amazing,” Naylar said, “almost like a mech merge. This would drive Denn crazy knowing all this.”

“Put Kyle back,” Jai said.

Thanks, Xirob, I know that was actually really difficult for you. I knew it because I felt it, it was awkward being back in full control and knowing it had to end.

“Let’s get this ship into real space.” Jai said to me. “I think we should head towards a friendly but open location.”

I turned to the controls, “Yes, General.”

“Captain is fine, in fact all of you get used to it, ranking slips will get us blasted out of any friendly encounters.”

A resounding, “Yes, Captain.” Echoed over the bridge.

Jai moved to swipe my character sheet from the viewer. He hesitated, stared at it a moment, longer. “That’s some miracle, never in my life…” Bringing up a map of the area we were in, and where he’d wanted us to head. “Travel in space isn’t quick, especially in a ship like this. We’re going to have a lot of time to get to know each other, get used to the way she works think on the upgrades we want, what we need, what we can aspire to.”

He then looked to me. “You need to learn from Xirob. That’s your task for the next few weeks. I am taking a leap here, but have patience and let him teach you, you should be able to level up from him.”

I didn’t need to understand how, but I knew I already had been over the last few months there was no way a 0 level in anything could get to become a Trainee. With everything Xirob had been doing for me, I’d been learning and so had Hiroto they’d both been teaching me via example. Things I just seemed to know how to do now were essentially because of them. My rankings were so much higher, so much stronger because of them and that made me proud I had them with me.

I looked to my console, saw the complicated side to it and then watched as it moved and morphed into something which was semi coherent. I have a lot to learn Xirob. I spoke to him. Hiroto, you can help as well, right?

Yes, we’re both going to help.

I noticed two feet appear at the side of my console and looked up into Rei’s eyes. “Will you ask Xirob if he’ll help me with my Kenosi?”

I repeated Xirob’s, “I’d be honoured.”

“For now, though, Kyle you need rest. Go with Naylar to the mess deck, eat, refuel and then sleep. I’ll put your duties on hold till your health is at full strength.”

I nodded and stood. “Thanks, Captain.” I followed Naylar then off the bridge, listening to the whistles from Tyto and Rei behind me.

“They’re not going to forget this very quickly are they?” I asked her.

She beamed at me, “Kyle I’ve never met a master, so for us to be in the presence of one as high up as Xirob, this is something really big for us, even if he’s not human.”

It didn’t take us long to get down a level to the Mess. It was a large room with galley and tables. Easily capable of serving a hundred men and women. “We’re vastly under manned,” I stated taking in the small bots as they were also scooting around cleaning.

“I know, but I’m not sure we have enough friends to join us.”

I nodded, I didn’t know a lot of people. Only those I met with Rytin and at HopeCity. I know some who would have loved to join this expedition, but bringing them out while the ship was nowhere near ready to hold them would have been disastrous. To take it to Tolsa as it was, would mean we’d be easy targets for them to blast us out of their airspace, despite Jai’s reputation.

Naylar moved to the galley and pulled out a few things, before popping them into what looked like an oven. “It’s pretty basic food groups. But we’ve enough in here for the six of us for quite a while.”

The oven pinged less than a few seconds later and she pulled out the trays and carried them over to a table. I sat down and she moved to a fountain where she then got two cups and filled them with liquid out of a dispenser there.

When she set them down I realised it was coffee, and I mean real smelling coffee. I picked up the mug and took in the aroma, it was deep roasted and smoky. I raised it to my mouth and sipped. It was heaven. “This… is what I missed. This is amazing.” I picked up a fork and she grinned tapping the side of the table.

“Cargo is really easy to watch over, but I have to be wary of what space we have, what resources, and what we physically need. The Nites can of course do stock control but my first job is serious physical check over. The ship itself was a drifter so the resources need a date check too.”

Xirob spoke in my ear, it means her crew perished, she was adrift. Not quite junk but for some it had bad karma.

“Any ideas what happened to the crew?” I asked, wondering if I needed the truth.

“The logs say they ran into engine trouble over in the Messina Sector, there was no one around. Once their engines stopped producing power, hydroponics started to fail. Something else was going on before then. Seems the crew were getting sick, doc logged everything too. But the crew started to forget basic things, and it just exasperated things so they perished.”

“Ouch,” I dug into my food feeling a little on the sick side. “So, what are we going to do to stop that kind of engine and energy failure?”

Naylar patted my hand, “That dear, Kyle will be our first major task. At present this ship’s not running at full capacity at all. This gives us a lot of leeway in what we do, how she functions. But to get her up to speed, will take some thought, and a lot of mis-matched hopping from project to project. Everything’s a priority and it could be one minute and then not the next.”

Yeah, there wasn’t any real amount of us to complete a ton of upgrades, this was going to take time. I nodded, and bit into the meat on my plate. The rich flavour exploded on my tongue and I think I actually grunted.

“That good?” she asked.

“Yeah, feel like I haven’t had real food for a long time, I am grateful for you feeding me don’t get me wrong but it wasn’t the same as Tolsa’s canteens.”

She laughed. “No, it’s not, but at least it made you appreciate some of the finer things. Not everything will go to plan, as we well know.”

“Yeah, I still have no idea how I actually ended up on your planet’s surface.”

“We have a couple of theories,” Naylar said. “But let me tell you what happened from my perspective first before we tackle those.”

“Oh, sure, share away, I’m all ears.”

“The day we found you we’d been tracking for most of the morning. The shuttle had dropped us off and the best way in was on foot. As you know the weather was evil and most of the morning had been a fog of cold mist where we could barely see in front of us and then acid rains that lasted for a few hours, doing damage constantly. I’d been arguing with Rei about hitting the main pass later that night, I wanted us to rest up and recoup for the following day.” I listened while Naylar ate and talked, and I managed one plate full and then went back for another. She smiled as I sat down two more full mugs. “Jai was adamant we were pushing on, but then Rei saw a drop flag, and then a ship in the skies. The fog was clouding most of what we could see, but we did hear it coming in. Having requested another tech head we expected something so this was good. It meant for us someone was paying attention, to our mission.”

I didn’t know how I’d gotten there, but this was interesting. If they dropped me, that was some scary shit, so glad I wasn’t awake for that. “But I wasn’t what you expected…” I sighed. “Sorry.”

“It’s not your fault.”

“I still feel bad.” I sipped more of my drink and then sat back while she carried on. I was full now and my health was nearly full.

“But yes, when we reached where the target flag had said we’d find our mark there was a naked denti.”

“It must have been odd,” I put the mug down once again empty. I daren’t have another though in case it really was coffee my body would need sleep soon, and I felt it creeping up on me.

“Yes, it was, I don’t think we’d expected it, and that first night we got you to sleep using the main sleep setting was a whir for us, we talked a lot about the consequences of having you with us on the mission. The thought we could lose… everything.”

“How did you think the mission went in the end? They must have watched it, right?”

“I think they will have, yes, they knew you didn’t do exactly what they said that’s for sure, that information you got out with… you decode it yet?”

I shook my head. “Maybe Denn can help at some point, I don’t know.”

“We need the information, it could be vital, they were willing for us to live or die trying. We were giving them everything.”

I reached for her hand, and she let me hold it. Her skin soft, her eyes teary. “I understand your consequences now, I’m sorry I put you in the position of mission failure to that degree.”

“Thanks. It means a lot. We did have some hard decisions to make that night. But, Denn was adamant you were something else. I am glad we listened to her. She was right you are definitely more than you first appeared.”

I let out a yawn. “So I don’t need to set the sleep setting then to actually sleep?”

She shook her head, her hair bouncing around her shoulders. I noted her beauty there then, “No, sorry, that was the best way for us to get some serious privacy.” She pushed upwards and stretched out. I couldn’t help but watch her, she was stunning. Her strong physique here in better and clean clothes stood out. Inside though I mentally shook my head. She was not only with one of the most amazing women I’d met here, I respected her too much. “Not the most comfortable place to chat for so long.” She checked the time, then motioned for us to leave. “I’ll take you to your quarters, then head to the cargo bay, it will take me some time to do this.”

“Need a hand?”

“No, you need your rest. It will be good for me to do this, keep me occupied.”

We left the mess and she took me up another section. “How is Denn? Will it be much longer before she’s up?”

“I don’t think so, she should be awake now…” her voice trailed off and then I heard her sob.

Oh crap. I had no idea what to do with a girl that started to cry. This totally freaked me out. When she stopped walking, and put a hand on the wall, I knew I did need to do something though. Carefully I wrapped my arm around her and tugged her into an embrace. She was solid muscle under her uniform and when she turned into me I just hoped she didn’t squeeze.

She didn’t cry for long, but she held onto me for a while buried into my neck. This felt so different than what I had experienced with Saskia, it wasn’t sexual at all and surprisingly I liked it. I found I’d really needed it myself. Just the contact from someone who had been through some of the shit you had.

When she moved away, her eyes met mine. “Thank you, Kyle.”

“For what?” I asked like the dope I was.

“For doing as much as you did for her, for us. You may not have the levels we do, or the time here, but you’re already a valued member of Trix.” She leaned in and kissed the side of my face. Then she waved to a door just beyond where we were. “There’s a lot of rooms, but we’ve got the forward section, meant for officers. The main bunks are fit for crew and maybe we’ll fill them one day. Good sleep to you, you deserve it.”

I watched as she walked away from me, her hand trailing along the wall as she did so.

I looked to the door, it flagged up - TACTICAL LEAD and I grinned. I loved that title.