Gavin cursed under his breath as he weaved his way through the crowd, carrying the package. Ulbricht was traveling along the windows of the buildings, trying to aim a high yield launcher at Gavin but failing because of their undulating form. Hasnacht was trying and failing to navigate the crowd quietly, a stream of complaints from civilians making tracking him easy. Gavin HAD intended to beat them both up and leave them groggy messes in the back alley. But Ulbricht had apparently decided that when you have no bones then you don’t need principles of minimal collateral damage. While he wondered why Tak’Nasi wasn’t getting involved already, he suspected it had to do with what Katsi was trying to get help with. Of course, his only boon right now was Ulbricht’s poor aim.
Fishing through his jacket, he eventually found a tool that would work. Tossing the small rectangular prism towards Ulbricht, he had a hard time not laughing as the amphibian dodged it. The container shattered upon contact with the building covering it in a nearly frictionless lubricant. The toad beast made all kinds of interesting sounds as it fell twenty feet and dropped its launcher on itself. The resulting drop launched a ballistic round high into the air, Gavin snarking, “Have a good fall, champ.” As he finished saying this, the round exploded against the terradome, cracking the shell and sending small shards of metal debris falling to the ground. Hasnacht, distracted from the blast, stared in disbelief as he realized that he could have been caught in that if Ulbricht had missed.
As he stared, slack jawed, Gavin approached him and put an arm over his shoulder as he teased, “And this is why a backbone is an asset. To be fair, that oil was useless for anything else, so he couldn’t have known.” Patting Hasnacht’s shoulder, he sighed, “When you guys wake up from your naps in jail, maybe rethink your profession.” As he went to leave, Hasnacht realized he was right there and tried to follow. The snake man’s attempt came to nothing as he felt a wave of sleep overtake him. “Thermoregulation patch. Great for any weather and disabling the thermally challenged.” As he tried to slip away, a security team of Tak’Nasi caught him pointing various scientific measuring tools at him. He chuckled, “No need to bluff, girls. I’m more than willing to come with you all.”
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The four of them sat before one very exasperated Tak’Nasi. “Alright, Tak’Nasi. I take you at your word. None of your guests were responsible for the damage or heist. And I know for a certainty that the thirty kidnappings were not their doing either because… let’s be honest, they are too quirky to intentionally kidnap that many people. That having been said, you are aware that unless they pay for the technology they cannot leave with the package you gave them.”
Tak was about to speak when Gavin cleared his throat and produced a piece of paper. “Receipt. I always make them for all of my black market deals.” The administrator took the paper and rubbed the bridge of their nose. Tak caught a glimpse of it and seemed visibly annoyed.
Tak’Nasi looked it over, nodded and handed it back. “I know you are hiding something, Mr. Thalheed but this checks out with what we found.” He nodded as Tak seemed to grow even more annoyed with him. Tak’Nasi leaned forward and asked, “Tak’Nasi, you don’t need to confirm the validity of it. Either he is lying and you will cover for him or he is being honest and I would be wasting your valuable time.” Tak nodded and the administrator motioned them to be released.
Anisa stood slowly, smiling weakly, “Thank you.”
When she went to leave, the administrator spoke again, “Not so fast, Zora.” Anisa froze up at this, worried they were going to create issues. “We have a simple request of you, one you can accommodate in your own time. We would like to study the schematics for that fortress of yours. It is an amazing feat of engineering using little more than scraps.”
She smiled and diplomatically said, “We will take that into consideration once the Falos have been defeated. Recent events have shown us how vital that is.”
The administrator hid their disappointment well, but Anisa felt like no was not an acceptable answer. Still, the security team seemed to let them leave with minimal strings. Returning their things, the crew makes their way back to Gavin’s ship in relative silence, all of them feeling a bit uneasy. Like they were a small team of mice marching slowly out of a den of cats. Still, they got back to the cargo ship and quietly left for Ziegfried. Setting the auto-pilot, Gavin pulled out a small device and waved it around the cabin causing a few sections to fry out and smoke. He then sighed with relief. “Okay, that’s all the internals. Wanna give them the breakdown, Tak’Nasi?”
She nodded, reaching her hand out to him and receiving a palm full of parts. She adjusted her goggles and explained, “Gavin had me studying the orange gem and I began noticing that not only did the gem have a signature unlike any other naturally occurring crystal, but was releasing waves of cosmic noise that matched another location in space. These parts were an abandoned bit of tech that I tweaked to meet our needs. It will allow us to be a lot more precise once we are planetside to track not only the stones but also areas they resonate with.” She then stated firmly, “And because you all are new to the cosmos, I want every member of the crew to report for a medical check for your baselines and to spot potential health risks.” Everyone seemed tired and exhausted but Anisa felt genuine dread as to what Tak’Nasi would say about her.”
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Gavin left the office with curses and middle fingers following him out. “Gav, I mean what I said. You have to take care of yourself.” She sighed, holding her head motioning Anisa in. The captain began to wonder what his issue was and Tak’Nasi stated, “Five or five hundred, I don’t talk about my patients. You are the captain so if these become and danger to the crew, I’ll let you know.” Tak looked Anisa over and did a series of oddly familiar health checks that she could have expected from a doctor back home.
Tak’Nasi eventually sat down in a chair and removed her goggles revealing gleaming green eyes. “Alright, so I want to know how much you know about your powers and how they work. No use explaining to you things you already know.”
Anisa cleared her throat, “My stone was given to me by a woman in black who had made a deal with a friend of mine. It seems to pull power from the sacrificial aspect of Hope and when I touched it I remembered an entire lifetime of events that never happened.” Tak’Nasi nodded, as if accepting it for what it was. “You seem oddly accepting of this.”
Tak’Nasi nodded, “Accurate or not, I don’t benefit from correcting you while I’m trying to get a good read of the situation.” Anisa saw the logic and nodded in comprehension. “That said, did you have a run in with a Proktota in these events that never occurred?” Anisa was confused at the term so Tak clarified, “They are insectoid parasites that infuse hosts with some of their DNA to exert their will.” Anisa got chills at the question and almost didn’t answer but Tak’s gentle eyes reassured her. “Ani, no one else needs to know. I just want to help.”
Anisa took a deep breath and said with great remorse, “When I was a kid. My dad found it in a ruin he was digging. Sent it in a present. In the previous world, I cleaned it properly and totally sanitized it. Then I put it in my hair and…” she trailed off. Tak waited patiently for her to continue. “Ten years. My friend finally killed it-“
Tak nodded, “But the residual DNA remained. And that’s why I’m seeing what I am.” Anisa looked at her puzzled and Tak explained, “Crystals with this power have the ability to impose emotions and will onto reality. When you remembered that other world, some of those memories would impose on your subconscious that you are not entirely human anymore. Pair that up with trying to save the friend who spent so long trying to save you, it was bound to agitate the condition.”
“Is there anything we can do to remove it?”
Tak looked at her in surprise before realizing Anisa was serious. “I don’t think you understand. It isn’t an inherently evil race. And having that DNA in you will actually immunize you to mind control as you are now. I can help you to face the trauma so that it doesn’t cause your powers to do anything funky, but this shift in your DNA is a gift.” Anisa growled under he breath, looking at her hands and having another flash of what that had been like. The taste of copper in the air, the screams and panic. When she snapped back, Tak was holding her hand. “Again, I can understand the trauma of having a life forced upon you against your will. We can address that together, but only if you are ready.” Anisa slowly nodded, “Good. And I promise as ship doctor that if you are ever at risk of being unable to perform your duties, I’ll snag you and put you in confinement until we can address the issue.” Anisa laughed at the idea and the two girls proceeded to spend the rest of the visit just talking general health issues and concerns.