Marie Sanders: Oasis, third cycle, Oasis’ age 4205 Corwala years
Marie returned to her Oasis. Maybe for the last time. She was nervous. She needed to make an important decision, but first, she had to lie to her master’s face. She tried her best to alter her memories. Jay wasn't the Exonerated in her new version but was the only survivor from Nordis polis. She flinched a little when Adjuster appeared wearing Jay's face. She could feel it scanning her mind. It failed to detect she had changed some of her memories. So far, so good.
“The mission?” it asked without hesitating.
“It happened to be rogue weaponry. Combat drones, machines, I had to destroy them all.” Marie responded. She hoped sensing fear was not one of the skills Adjuster had.
“Regrettable turn of events. What of the natives? Can they be of any use?” it asked coldly.
“Yes. I think so. But the natives are currently facing a great peril. Their sun is dying, and it’s making their planet uninhabitable. I would suggest relocating them to another planet.”
“Ah yes, noted. Considering the other matter of the recruit you’ve provided. You’re to wait in your Oasis until we deliver him to you. It’s on you to train him, as you are the one who chose him.“ The Adjuster finished and disappeared as abruptly as it appeared. Marie just nodded and relaxed her clenched fists.
Marcus damn it, I forgot about him.
She tapped her armor to de-energize it, and it turned into black dust. She checked the place where Jay kicked her, and her Elemental already healed her skin scraps, her stab wound and bones too. The only memento of the fight she lost was her clothes stained with purple blood. Marie knew that some Exonerated were more powerful than others, and it was all determined by two factors: combat experience and the type of Elemental they bonded with. Skillful warriors were famous amongst the Exonerated, so it bothered her she never heard of Jay.
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Marie felt someone opening the slip gate into her Oasis. It was the Adjuster wearing the face of one of the Tarayan generals she saw back in Aegis. It was dragging Marcus over the concrete path toward her. Marcus' bonding wound was freakishly massive, covering almost the entirety of his abdomen with a mix of red and purple blood seeping out of it. The Elemental was working hard on rewriting his human genome. Hemoglobin was the first to go during that process.
“He’s yours. Train him well.” The Adjuster spoke, perfectly imitating the general’s voice.
“Your first mission together will be supervising the extraction of the Taraya’s natives,” it added.
Marie swallowed a lump in her throat before asking.
“I’ll need a small ship capable of longer subspace jumps.”
“Reason? Why not travel using the slip gates from your Oasis?” Adjuster asked.
“I want to go somewhere slip gates wouldn’t work. It’s the planet my recruiter trained me on.” Marie responded.
The Adjuster stared into blank space for a second and then spoke
“Stileta is in turbulent space. I will not allow it. Go somewhere else. That’s all.” The Adjuster finished and vanished as they all did. It only used the gate to enter her Oasis because it had to drag Marcus in.
Marie knew Adjusters monitored the destination of every opened slip gate from every Oasis. She had to find a ship if she was to visit Soultra incognito. Also, she still wasn’t convinced Jay was telling the truth. She didn’t want to get on the Adjusters’ naughty list by going to Soultra directly using a slip gate and burning bridges behind her. She never heard of Exonerated rebelling before, but she was seeing some people she was often sent to missions with less often lately.
She thought about contacting Commander Steven Thrace and asking him for help, but he was the most hardcore Exonerated warrior she knew, one of the top ten in the order for sure. She couldn’t risk involving him in this mess. They were friends, but she was sure Commander Thrace valued his service in the order over any friend he had.
Marcus interrupted her mental scheming with his pained groans. Elemental puts nerves to sleep last. Marcus will be in pain for at least a month before that.
“How are you feeling?” she asked him.
Marcus turned his head toward her. His eyes were glowing purple, but his sclera was all black. She had never seen that happen before to anyone after the bonding.
“Sowra sal.” he said with his raspy voice.
“Huh? That sounds like the Adjusters’ language.” she said while trying to hide her confusion.
“Ah, sorry. I hear this voice in my head, constantly blabbering. Everything is so jumbled up. I hurt all over.” he responded.
Marie’s brain malfunctioned. She couldn’t come up with anything to say. It was that kind of day when all the weird stuff decided to happen at once. Marcus grabbed a handful of dirt and clenched it in his fist. A sword appeared in his hand, made out of a material she had never seen before. No Exonerated could ever do that without prior training. She could feel destiny dragging her into something she shouldn't have been a part of.
Damn it, Marie, why do you have to be at the center of this shitstorm, Marie thought to herself before she started explaining to Marcus about Oases, Exonerated, and Adjusters.