Ett paced before her sisters in her own selected attire, a yellow vest over a tasteful turtleneck and business slacks. She began her ‘briefing’, “Thank you for cooperating in full or in part with Mr.Phoenix. While roaming the ship, he has stated he does not care what attire you wear, but if his superiors are to cross your path, you are expected to wear a uniform to minimize any chance of questions or inspections. Those of you with non-combat roles are to temporarily report to your station to familiarize yourself with its location and interface. Once you have done so, you are to work out shifts and schedules among yourselves. Those of you who have chosen to take combat training will report to the hold for your training session when Mr.Phoenix announces it over the PA.” The girls began to mutter among themselves and Ett sighed, “I understand that this is odd. Never have a met a more strictly enforced unprofessional set of orders in my life. But we are his guests for now. So try to behave yourselves for now. He did provide a complaints box.” She pointed to a trash can in the middle of the room. “He insists that he will check it and take them seriously.”
Many of the girls rolled their eyes, but Zwei walked over to it, wrote down a suggestion and tossed it in. Hepta, with a smirk, followed after her and did the same thing. They would figure this out one way or another. As they did this, an announcement came on the PA system, “When you are all done loitering in the lounge, please scatter about the ship and do your jobs. Thank you.”
The clones each went their way, playing with controls when safe, entering various unlocked rooms to get a good idea of the floor plan. Contrary to their expectations, the Phoenix Emperor was nowhere to be found among the unlocked rooms. Still, the pantry was well stocked as well as having a molecular assembler. The lounge was full of old, but very comfortable furniture and a wide variety of music to play over the localized speakers. The common room was spacious with room for easily one hundred people.
Still, he seemed to be in this ship alone. Even the controls seemed to have been modified for him to control all functions from one console. Seeing no other crew, all them began to worry for the mental health of a man this deep into space alone. But he seemed fine. How was that possible? As the word spread through the grapevine, he eventually came out of his room. Some of them looked at him with genuine concern. Others looked on him with fear. But it took one particular woman to truly break the awkward silence… Kuntaret dropped from the ceiling with a kitchen knife, latching around his torso and getting ready to plunge the knife into his chest.
He deflected her stab down and away, causing her to lose her grip and the blade clattered across the floor. Trying not to lose control, she quickly tried to reach to grab her own wrist. Surely she could lock this in and crush his windpipe. He made an impressive standing high jump, clearly going more than four feet off the ground and landed squarely on her back, his elbow digging into her abdomen. Gasplessly, she released him and he leapt to his feet, nodding in approval, “Good attempt, but here is a few critiques. Never be perfectly up to the ceiling. People may not look up often, but when they do it is straight up. Frankly, a lower angle from around a corner is best. Secondly, you can’t get the front of the chest well from the back. Shoulder might have been better. Finally, once you have grabbed a person, they are a wild horse and you have to be able to endure anything they do without reacting. So, good effort. Take notes and try again next time.”
A few of the girls ran up to check on her, but Zwei asked, “Why did you shrug that off like it was normal?”
He spoke happily to her, “Ah, my new favorite pupil. Walk with me and I’ll explain.” She looked between him and her sister on the ground, but did as she was asked as he began walking the ship and observing all of their activities as he passed, “I have been working for the Falos for a long time now. Right hand man to the prince leads to assassinations, fake distress signals, people trying to bribe or threaten me. I’ve seen it all. And all based on a small scale view of a much larger issue. They think I don’t know what I’m doing. Or worse, they think they know what I’m doing and that I don’t care.” He huffed, “Their life is better for not knowing, but it still irritates me.”
“So this happens a lot?”
“Often enough. Probably gonna happen a lot more once I’ve finished my plans.” His face was difficult to read through the helmet but she got the vibe he was a very tired man.
“You don’t strike me as a big schemer.” Zwei stepped in front of him, a glimmer of mischief in her eye. “You strike me as someone who takes life as it comes.”
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
He shrugged before sidestepping Hepta trying to tackle him from behind. “It is hard to explain, but you are right. Still, when something is truly precious, you will do anything, even go against your own nature, to protect it.” Hepta grabbed at his legs and he jumped away effortlessly without even looking, “So I have a lot of very delicate plans, something I hate most in the world, because I am trying to get something truly precious. Once I’ve broken these proverbial chains, I’ll be able to enjoy my work. Until then, I try to make the most of my free time.”
Hepta leapt to her feet and charged him, trying again to grapple him and again he ducked it without much effort and stepped around her. “What does a man like you do for free time?”
He sighed at the next rush and jumped into the rafters, chastising Hepta, “Enough of that. I’m having a conversation.” He continued, “These days, I mostly I visit some old friends, make sure they are okay and having a good one, and then sleep.” He smirked as he produced a small scarlet flame, “Oh, and keep my heart focused and strong.” All of the girls looked into the flame with awe.
Shi asked from the rafter behind him, “Why do you have rafters on a ship, especially as a pyrosapien?”
He turned to her slowly, completely annoyed at the situation. He muttered, “I did not want thirty daughters. This is ridiculous.” Before replying, “I’m not a pyrosapien, though I have met a few. And these rafters are for security reasons exactly because no one would expect or check them on a starship, but also because I like the way it effects the light in the room.”
“Pyrokinesis is very much a pyrosapien thing. What else could it be without a crystal?“ her face was cold and her tone disinterested. Less like she was asking and more that she was explaining his ‘lie’ to him.
He laughed at her assertion, but said nothing to dispute aside from, “Pyrosapiens are not the only beings with natural pyrokinesis. Don’t narrow your perspective, just your approach. If you don’t, you can miss out on so much of your life.” Leaping down and on alert for other violent psychos, he motioned to Zwei, “Alright, Zwei. It is your turn for training. I need a breather from the violet weirdos already.”
She nodded nervously and followed after him. Looking around again, while this place was worn and practically rustic for space faring ships, seeing him walk the halls with such natural confidence she couldn’t help but see it a little different. This wasn’t a ‘house’ to him. This was his office. His place of business. And he was the head of HR. She eventually asked, “How do you do that if you aren’t a Pyrosapien or some equivalent?”
He stated firmly and ominously, “If my data is right, you will probably be among the first to find out.” She shivered with dread, but he spoke like a proud boss to a Star employee, “You can more than handle my training and if I’m wrong you just won’t have to be scared of dark alleys until you are old and grey.” Entering the cargo hold, he sealed the door behind them and pulled out a small device to scan the area. “Secure.” In a crimson flash, he returned to his charcoal headed self. “You know, as two faced as the viziers are, I really keep expecting them to eventually plant surveillance in here. But they never do.”
Zwei got into a fighting stance but froze when he sat on the floor and motioned her to do the same. She did, curious as to what he was doing. He placed his hand on his chest with his eyes closed, slowly moving his hand away as a small scarlet flame floated in his palm. He offered the flame to her, but she hesitated. Pulling back from it.
The charcoal headed man nodded solemnly, pulling the flame back to himself, holding it close but not returning it to his chest. “There are a lot of old myths and legends in the cosmos. Many people wrote them off as exactly that. Crystallized hope, or emotional gemstones, were one of these myths for the longest time. But nowadays? People have found ways to create artificial ones. Use them as power sources. Resonate with a pair of them and someone can use them to talk to you. The fantastical made mundane. But that just means the secrets underneath the surface are still just as amazing. Molecules make atoms astonishing. Atoms make Electrons breathtaking. Quarks are just another layer. But beyond that, think bigger. The nature of each molecule differs because of all these factors too.” He smirked, “Life is made of all the same building blocks as each other, but how they manifest and interact with the world changes with every little part. The world we live in responds to our strength of purpose.”
She stared in disbelief, “So this is magic?”
He looked at her offended and confused before shaking his head and explaining in an irritated tone, “Of course not! I literally told you what it was. The laws of our reality. They respond to and bend to people with strong enough wills and purposes. How it manifests is unique to each person. Similarities can exist, but it evolves and grows to your own personality.” He sighed, “Those crystals are good tools to ground your emotions and help you to focus them. Give enough significance to any object and it gains meaning. Symbology and iconography can enhance the weight of your purpose too. But the big important thing is that your own heart stays strong and clear.” He smiled big at her, “I see a lot of potential in you. I just need you to see it too.”