We didn’t appreciate our utopia, mistaking it for ordinary life until the day it was stolen from us forever.

----------------------------------------

An aelixi patrol spotted us before we made groundfall, but I relayed a coded distress signal instead of risking voice communication.

I had hoped to avoid direct contact with any aelixi settlements, stuck-up, self-absorbed, and arrogant the lot of them. Unfortunately, that ‘copper sawblades’ quest required I either find a source or learn to smith, so I let the patrol guide me in to the spaceport.

I’m not opposed to picking up new skills, but I don’t have that kind of time. I already wasted years drifting in space, my enemies growing strong while I stagnated. My goal now was to unlock my powerset as quickly as possible, whatever the cost.

On the way down, Doom replayed their voice queries to me so I could practice imitating their accent. I'd spent enough time around aelixi on Earth in my younger years, growing up alongside them in school, working with them right up until the day they all walked away without a word; I could speak Aelix fluently. Just had to spend a few minutes acclimating to the local dialect to avoid standing out too much.

Before long, the capsule was safely settled into a berth, Doom and I ready to set out and collect local materials.

“Old model Z239?” The port officer circled my capsule, frowning. He had paler skin than me, green-tinted, and looked like he had some selkie traits judging by his ear shape, but clearly was more interested in the ship than its pilot. Suited me just fine. “Looks like it’s seen some action. Need any repairs done?”

Yes. Yes we do.

I held up a hand. “Give me a few minutes to run a diagnostic.”

“We can do that here.” The officer sounded put out, as though I were suggesting that he were incapable of doing his job, but I ignored the tone.

I stepped back inside and closed the door. “We don’t have access to the banking network.”

Give me an hour and we will.

“Enough to justify any upgrades?”

Doom responded with a bright window full of shifting sparkles.

I laughed softly. “If you’re confident you can get us in, then just send over a wishlist. May as well take what we can from this place while we can.”

List printing now.

Flipping through it I noted a few esoteric additions, but let them go without comment. Doom knew the capsule better than I did, so if he said we needed to increase bulkhead thickness by two millimeters, then I’d have the bulkhead reinforced by two millimeters. Most of the rest was obvious. Engine upgrades to newest model, integrated warpgate detection, weapon ports…

I exited the capsule and handed the list to the port officer. “We’ll be in town a few days. Get as many of those done as you can, but prioritize finishing each one rather than starting all of them.” It may take us a few planets to get through them all.

He read over the list, eyebrows going higher and higher. “I’ll need payment up front for some of these materials.”

“Then start on the others. I need to visit the bank today, I should have what you need by morning.”

He nodded and waved a hand, robotic assistants swarming out to begin scanning the capsule.

“Everything secure?” I whispered.

Of course.

“Local System?”

Unavailable. I need a physical port.

I flexed my right hand, the one with metal tracery running down its length and three bionic fingers. “Keep an eye out, I’ll get you in.”

Understood.

Please collect shamanleaf.

Doom nudged at my mind and I granted access.

A pale blue overlay lit up a cluster of weeds growing between sidewalk and port wall. I gathered it in one hand and tugged the whole plant up by the roots, stuffing it into my pocket.

Observers.

A faint yellow outline showed over a trio of aelixi youths loitering by a neon-silver tavern, one seated on a sleek glidecycle of a model I’d never seen before, the others standing to either side and speaking softly.

“They’re good.” I wouldn’t have caught the subtle glances they stole toward me if not for Doom’s warning. From casual observation, they seemed entirely innocuous.

I limped past, letting them slide by out of the corner of my eye, keeping my return observation equally innocuous. I was almost out of sight when the shrill hiss of a glidecycle engine spinning up cut through the ordinary urban babble.

“Threat assessment?” I murmured under my breath.

High risk. Unknown adversaries.

Also, more shamanleaf.

I had to look around a bit to find the plant this time, but eventually spotted it nestled in a collection of flowers in a window box and tugged it free.

The whine of the glidecycle slowed, as though they were maintaining distance with my pause. Any thought that the trio’s actions were coincidence fled.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

I cursed under my breath. “Anything you can do?”

Doom didn’t reply immediately, which meant he was doing a lot of serious calculating. He may be a horrible tease at times but he knew when to be serious.

95% estimate of open system. Please form a physical connection to verify.

With an imperceptible nod, I turned and bustled down a side alley as quickly as my mismatched limbs would carry me, stumbling and pushing off the walls to keep myself moving. I should be able to adapt to planetside movement with time, but having spent years in a capsule with barely enough space to take five steps meant my distance running abilities were... rusty, to be generous.

I made it to the far end before the glidecycle turned the corner, revving up as my pursuers abandoned any subtlety, and I just caught a glimpse of all three of them packed onto its blue dragon-leather seat before I spun myself around the corner and dropped to the ground.

Counting silently, I waited. The hiss of the glidecycle grew nearer. The moment they reached the end, I pushed myself up and slammed my bionically-enhanced hand against the side of the glidecycle.

Maintain contact. 3… 2…

The vehicle ripped past, friction burning my hand. I heard the shout of the guy in the middle, waving his arm to turn them around.

I wouldn’t be able to outrun the vehicle so I remained crouched where I was, waiting for them to come to me. No point wasting energy. We were isolated enough here to not be concerned about being observed. Unlike the main street, this alley was dim and looked abandoned, the backs of businesses with only emergency exits and grubby trash receptacles. Yes, for all their glorious shining front, even the aelixi had ugly back corners.

The trio jumped down from the vehicle, leaving it to come to a hovering stop behind them. They quickly surrounded me, as though afraid I’d run again.

I slowly straightened, meeting the eyes of the middle guy who was clearly the ringleader. “Why are you following me?”

He didn’t answer, standing with a faint crooked smile while the lackey on the left spoke instead. “You’re new around these parts, so you may not be aware of the rules. But according to our records, you’ve neglected to pay your spaceport entry fees.”

There are no posted fees in the spaceport.

“Of course there aren’t. I know what this is.”

Form a connection?

“I’ll see what I can do.”

The trio of thugs - that’s what they clearly were at this point - appeared confused by my one-sided conversation and lack of paying attention to them.

“Hey, stranger, we’re talking to you!” shouted the guy on the right. “You’ve got to pay the entry fee for the city.”

“Pardon?” I held a hand up to my ear. “Did you say something?”

The leftern thug stomped close, sucking in a huge breath as he readied himself to bellow his shakedown directly in my face, but he never got the chance. My enhanced hand darted out, wrapping around his enhanced wrist.

Connecting! :)

The thug twitched as his System control was interfered with, Doom flooding his implants with incompatible requests. His hand convulsed as his eyes grew wide with alarm, then he jerked back, breaking the connection. He stumbled and fell backwards, landing on his butt to the incredulous scowls of his fellows.

Remote connection established. Downloading access keys. 8…7…

“Oops, my mistake, you wanted money, right? How much is the fee?”

3…2… control confirmed. Transferring…

Transfer complete!

Current balance: 5309.31

“Two hundred fua. You should be grateful it isn’t more for your disrespect, but around here we play by the rules.”

"And whose rules are those? Your own? Or do you kids have a big boss somewhere you report to?"

Threat assessment updated: low risk.

Please connect with others to verify assessment.

I drew myself up and took a step forward. The thug whose life savings we'd just snatched backed away a step, while the others frowned and closed in.

"We're port registrars," said the ringleader in the middle, speaking for the first time. He had a very smooth, polished accent, like he was from one of the major worlds. It made me wonder why he was out on a minor outpost world like this. "Just pay your entry fee and you can be on your way. No need for this to get... complicated."

I mentally prodded Doom for an update on unlocking my powerset, but he replied with the same list of quests. I might be able to take on one of the trio hand-to-hand, but they were all enhanced so I wasn't confident of that. I certainly couldn't handle all three if it came to a fistfight.

Which left more nontraditional forms of conflict resolution.

"Of course, of course. I apologize for any confusion." I held out a hand to the middle thug, stepping forward as I did, and he took my hand with a look of uncertainty. "Doom?"

Connection established.

Security level: high. Remote access locked. Maintain physical contact.

Attempting access... 40... 39... 38...

Threat assessment updating. Risk: moderate.

"Transfer 200 fua."

Transferring.

Cancel access attempt?

I shook my head, keeping my grip on the thug leader's hand. He began to look concerned and tried to tug away. A futile gesture. I may not be flexible, but I was very strong.

"That's enough," growled thug 3. "Step away."

22... 21....

"Just give it a minute, I need to be sure the transfer went--"

A blur of motion out of my peripheral vision was all the warning I got, as Doom flashed a sudden urgent alert. I dropped, crouching beneath thug 3's fist as he flailed out at me.

Connection not established.

"That's fine. I have a better plan."

I ducked beneath the next attack, then pushed myself toward the hovering glidecycle. I all but fell against it, slamming both hands against its shiny silver exterior.

Maintain contact. 3… 2…

Control established.

Mentally relaying my instructions to Doom, I pushed myself away from the vehicle and continued to stumble further away down the alley, my gait even more exaggerated than before.

"Should we chase him down?"

"Nah. He paid. Wait until he comes back through to leave."

I kept moving, listening intently for the rev of the glidecycle, waiting until I was sure they were all aboard and heading back to their lurking post.

"Now."

Overload in progress. Safety limits overridden.

Energy buildup critical.

Bye-bye~

The rising whine of the glidecycle's engine cut off in a sudden explosion. The brightness reflected dazzlingly off the metal of the tall buildings on either side, making me squint even though I'd been expecting it.

Subquest unlocked: Earth's Vengeance - It's Personal 1

Annihilate aelixi adversaries on an individual level: 3/10