Robin couldn’t see anything, darkness reigned supreme and had stolen his sight.

Suddenly a blue wave swept through the void and highlighted each and every powered device 15 meters around him for a short moment. Robin could see cameras in each corner of the room, two sensors that should analyze his body language and one polygraph that could tell if he was lying. However, the meager amount of energy flowing through those three devices told Robin that the UAS actually held word and turned them to standby.

After the moment was over, darkness returned and he once again felt this oppressing feeling on his mind. He would need more time to be completely back on his feet, too much had happened in the last months. It was time to rest…

‘Not now!’ Robin chided himself, ‘I have to get this done, so I’ll be able to leave Rucasur and search for those damn Cetro, TechnoBlood… I’ll find them and even if I have to personally beat it out of their holy priest, they will tell me who killed Jim!’

“Mr. Tulward, are you okay?” He heard Mrs. Hutton’s voice from within the dark.

“Yeah, sorry. I was distracted for a moment.”

Robin tapped into his mutation and concentrated on the table that should stand in front of him. Quickly lines began to form, but this time there were not only blue ones but also black ones, which sucked, as he couldn’t see shit in this darkness. It would have been much easier to see if he could use his enhanced vision. Black lines in a gray image were still better than black lines in a black void. Anyhow, he decided against that as he didn’t want to show all his cards for now.

Robin pointed at the first of the 12 devices in front of him.

“Something I don’t recognize, but powered by normal means. The next one is the same device, but powered off. Then comes something from the Keeper.” He identified the third object, one where he could only feel black lines and saw nothing. The next one he skipped as the energy weapon was not only powered off, but the charge was removed, too. He still could feel some remnant energies lingering in the chamber, but he would definitely not let the UAS know just how extreme his senses had become.

Like that he went through all the devices, finding two more artifacts from the Keeper and one that really was just a blank spot. It was either long dead or something that never held power in the first place. Who knows what they had put there?

“The last is a toothbrush, which, by the way, needs to be charged.” Robin said and took the uncomfortable helmet off his head. He needed some fresh air and it was good to be able to see again, even if everything was still in fucking grayscale.

“How did I do?” He laughed as he watched Mrs. Hutton checking the toothbrush’s state of charge.

"Marvelous!" The woman exclaimed, “Your senses are incredible, better than anything we’ve ever measured. Only the few Class A - Minor Energy Attunement mutations are on this level or above. You really don’t want to let us make some more tests and a little research? The results could help us optimize the G-Anomalies even further.”

Robin immediately stopped to smile and gave her a stern gaze.

“We talked about this already. I told you the rough scope of my changed mutation and even let you confirm the validity with the lie detector and some practical tests. No more insights, besides this test to confirm my ability to work with Keeper tech.”

The researcher sighed with disappointment but gave him a nod.

“You are right, it’s just a shame.”

“It is what it is and I don’t wanna be a guinea pig.”

“You’ve gotten a great deal from the UAS. I’m not talking about the material things they’ll give you, but the fact that they let you run loose without taking you apart piece by piece to find all your secrets after you stayed inside of a Drel outpost alone for some days. No one knows what the AI may have done to you - but many raise these kinds of questions...”

“Ugh... I know and I'd say I'll be careful, but I could hardly do anything if they suddenly changed their mind.” Robin sighed.

“Back to the topic at hand, did I pass?” He asked, now friendlier. He understood her burning curiosity and knew how much she had helped him already. No need to stain their relationship over this.

Right now he was doing this test to prove he was qualified for the job that apparently needed someone to interact with Keeper tech or something - he still didn’t know the details. To build a basis of trust between them, he explained parts of what happened when he touched the pyramid all those months ago. He skipped the part with the map and excused the fact that he didn’t immediately tell them what happened with his failure to notice the changes in his mutations at first.

Robin explained that his senses now were heightened and he and the stitch assumed this to be the result of some kind of overload in his brain, which effectively made him process the responses from his senses more efficiently. It was the truth, even if he didn’t mention anything about his second upgrade he got in the Drel outpost, and the researchers from the UAS also supported his theory of the improved brain capabilities.

Of course he saved that report on his Neuro-Chip to show it to Guard later… having low mental abilities, my ass!

After demonstrating some of his capabilities and explaining a bit of his journey, while at the same time refraining from answering a few questions at all - especially those about his source of information - he made an NDA-like contract with the UAS.

“Oh, yes. You identified all artifacts from Keeper without mixing anything up. I’ll give a report to my superiors and you should be able to go to Gaunus in the following days. There you will get a crash course for UAS regulations and the briefing for your mission. Your team will be assembled there, too.

“Ah, about that. Do I get any say in who will be aboard?” Robin asked, hope rising in him.

“Not for all the members, we will select your pilot and the UAS official, but for the remaining slots you should be able to name candidates of your liking.”

“Great, thanks!” He shook Hutton’s hand and moved towards the door.

“Are you taking me home?” Robin looked at Landom Walzor, the officer from Seka Security.

“Ugh, yeah. That’s what my job has become - the taxi driver for some technocrafter that likes to set on fire everything he touches…”

“Awesome! Let’s go!” He laughed and patted the man’s shoulder.

“It’s my pleasure.” Walzor sighed and led Robin through the door.

* Landom Walzor is lying (87%)

“No shit, make it a hundred…” Robin mumbled with a grin.

One of the things Robin did, before beginning this cooperation with the UAS, was to teach ROMAS some stuff to make it more useful. He stored dozens of studies on ‘lie-detection through body language’, UAS law, a whole fucking database on known ships and their stats, basic profiles of any active races and even some stupid survival and medical books along with a everything else he stumbled about.

His Neuro-Chip now had a huge storage, Robin didn’t even scratch the 10% capacity after all this, and ROMAS could use everything stored as the basis for its calculations and computations. This allowed it to learn new skills like lie detection - not that it was always accurate, but every bit could help.

Robin also took a picture from a color palette and uploaded it. He then observed the palette with his own eyes and ROMAS began to link what he saw with the right color. They did the same with a video from his apartment and one of Seka's parks. It wasn’t perfect as much was lost in the conversion, but at least ROMAS now could support here and there.

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

***

“You have packed all your stuff?” Landom asked Robin when he stepped into the Jingur, a small interplanetary ship from Humbler, with only his backpack a few days later.

“Yup, nothing much to take with me, is there?” Robin shrugged and inspected the 25 meters long ship. Like the Cradle, the ship was angular shaped and had many rough edges. Four VTOL-thrusters powered the ship and in the front was a neat little cockpit. This M-sized ship was still too small for a proper bridge and only designed for short, in-system travel and personal transport.

It had the logo of the UAS research branch printed to its side and Robin squinted his eyes when he tried to guess its color.

* The ship’s color is dark green (81%)

* The logo’s color is white (100%)

ROMAS jumped in and helped him. While it too had to guess the chassis color, it had stored the UAS logos and therefore could be sure on that part.

Inside the ship it was cramped but comfy. Robin could see some doors that probably led to private rooms and was about to ask about some details, when ROMAS once again helped him out - unfortunately Robin still couldn’t ask the AI anything without speaking out loud. Basically that should be possible, as he could control his Interface that way, but something was still missing.

* Humbler Jingur

* 26m in length, 4m in height, 8m in width

* Crew: 1 Pilot, 1 Engineer

* Guests: Cabins for 5 people

* One small community/office area

* No cargo hold

“Wow..thanks!” Robin exclaimed, surprised by ROMAS useful support.

“You like the ship? That’s good to know, we will be stuck here for 6 days.” Landom explained after thinking Robin was marveling at the ship.

“You didn’t bring your friend? I really thought she would follow you…”

“Patience? No, not for this trip. She is still trying to sort out what she wants to do and Jim’s death hit her quite hard. Right now she beats up her teammates at the studio every day, only occasionally taking a break to check if everything is fine at Jim’s Broken Wing. When we finally set out, she has to decide what she wants to do. I’ll come back to Rucasur at least once - the Melody II is still there.”

“Sorry to hear that…” Landom sighed and showed Robin his cabin. “Life didn’t give you a moment to rest over the last months, did it?”

Robin put his backpack on the small bed and followed the man to the community area, lost in his own thoughts and not answering the question.

After a few minutes a man in a UAS uniform walked in. He was still young, maybe in his early 30s, and showed a friendly smile as he shook Robin’s hand.

“Hello, I’m Fengo Hutton, your pilot for this trip!” He enthusiastically introduced himself.

“Hey mate, Robin Tulward, nice to meet you. Hutton, like in Katlina Hutton?”

“Yes, that’s my mother. She managed to get me assigned to this flight as the main crew is already occupied with transporting some super secret stuff for the UAS research department today.”

“Great, please take care of us!” Robin chuckled. He immediately liked the man as his cheerful nature reminded him of Niu.

“We are a bit understaffed right now, but I was told you would jump in as engineer if technical support is needed?” Fengo asked.

“Yup, I should be able to fix most things - but it would still be appreciated if you don’t knock off one of the thrusters while backing out of a parking space.”

“I’ll do my best! I’ll send you the schematics anyways.” He laughed and after exchanging a few words with Landom and disappearing into the cockpit, Robin's Neuro-Chip received the ship’s blueprint.

Shortly afterwards, a strong itch informed Robin that they were about to take off.

***

Robin looked out of the window. Rucasur was getting smaller and smaller behind them and a sense of peace came over him. He then turned his head to the Seka Security official that worked on his datapad.

“At one point I decided on my path forward. The best way to chase after my dream of exploring the universe in my own ship. I just didn’t expect this path to be so rocky, so many hurdles to overcome, so many risks to take… and just when everything finally came together, we lost Jim…”

Landom looked up and needed a moment to realize that he was answering his question from before.

“Was it worth it? I mean taking all these risks and never getting to rest, always the next step to plan for.”

“I dunno… right now, I only have some vague ideas on how to continue, but at least I came closer to my goal. The price I… Jim had to pay, however…” Robin sadly shook his head.

“It wasn’t your fault, you know that, right?” Landom asked, one eyebrow raised.

“I know, but still, it was I who got the ball rolling… Even you are affected, aren’t you? Sitting here, babysitting some technocrafter instead of chasing criminals in Seka. You have a family on Rucasur?”

“Indeed I do, a wonderful wife and two little boys.” The man replied with a smile, “However, even if you are right, as far as my job is concerned, this is a great opportunity as well and my family supports me in this endeavor. When else do we get the chance to leave the planet and see a bit more of the Mereus Cluster?

Try not to only look at the bad things that happened, remember why you took all the risks and what great things you’ve already experienced… and I’m sure there is more to come!”

Robin took that in and thought back to his journey so far. The man was right, it wasn’t all bad, there were many awesome things, too… isn’t he flying in a frickin’ spaceship to another planet right now?

*Ding* - Ship’s comm opened

“Hey guys!

This is the captain, Fengo, speaking.

We left the proximity of Rucasur and are about to activate the QVT.

Please remain seated until we have finished the acceleration phase.

Destination: Gaunus, ETA: T-minus 6 days.

…

Awesome, I always wanted to make such an announcement!

…wait, is this still online?”

*Ding* - Ship’s comm closed

Robin and Landom laughed at the shenanigans of their young pilot, who obviously was the captain of a ship for the first time.

Shortly afterwards however, Robin’s power senses hit him hard once again and he couldn’t suppress a stammer. He looked out of the window, ignoring Walzor’s questioning gaze, and awaited the activation of the QVT with expectancy.

The Quantum Vacuum Thruster, QVT, was the result of mankind's first technological breakthrough in faster-than-light travel . Today there existed many more technologies - either newer developments of humans or inventions of other races - however the QVTs were still the most used models in interplanetary in-system flights. They are easy to build, cheap to maintain, don’t have a need for fuel other than pure energy and are pretty fast.

Robin didn’t know the exact physical effects at work, but the general idea was to make use of the dynamic Casimir effect. At the rear of the ship were something akin to rotors embedded into the thrusters, made out of a special kind of mirror. The rotation then created electromagnetic radiation which is used to transfer momentum from zero-point quantum fluctuations to matter, a ship in this case. [*more in the Author Notes]

Visually nothing much happened however, leaving Robin with a feeling of dissatisfaction. He hoped to see some crazy light effects outside, but everything only turned a little bit darker than before. Rucasur became one with the darkness, even before they left the visual range.

After their curiosity about the outside was satisfied, the two travelers kept chatting for some time. They actually started to become more comfortable with one another, before Robin withdrew to his cabin and Landom checked on Fengo.

Dead tired, Robin immediately fell asleep after hitting the bed. In his dreams he began to imagine different beautiful planets, full of big forests with real animals.

However, fate didn’t want him to relax just yet and he suddenly was jolted awake by a loud alarm that broke the silence. Everything was dark, only dim lights glowed on the ceiling here and there.

“ROMAS, what do we know?” Robin asked while still trying to get a clear head.

* Lights are red (71%)

* Lights reduced to emergency lighting (48%)

* Oxygen level stable

* ...

*Boom*

A loud bang drowned even the blaring alarm and the whole ship shook.

* …

* Lights are red (87%)

* Lights reduced to emergency lighting (94%)

* Oxygen level stable

* Impact detected

* Ship hit an unknown object (6%)

* Ship is under attack (91%)