Arriving at the Skii ship was instantaneous and induced a slight feeling of stress once my gaze settled on the long row of stasis boxes awaiting us. Truthfully, I had never really considered the Skii to be all that important before, that is until I learned that they were Time’s offspring and that they somehow were linked to his last action before he died. I had no clue what to expect besides the fact that they oddly wanted to come with me and had ended up here of all places.
I stood there for a second while my body manifested from the swarm making up the walls and floor, my body quickly coming together like an inverted explosion. Nurse had taken care of all of the storage and supplies that the Skii might need, creating container bays around the large stasis boxes for any raw materials and technology that they might require upon waking up. Much of it was stuff that came with the Skii as well as basic elements from this dimension.
Had I known what was coming, I would have decked their ship out to be a fortress that would easily dominate the system and handle any threatening presence like Magus’s Solar Citadel. As it was, it was the barest of necessities meant to protect and transport the Skii while in hibernation until I got around to them.
Oh well. We would have to make do.
To my right, George manifested as well. On hand to act as the resident engineer in case the Skii required something built.
“Alright, let’s get this show on the road. You start on that end and I will start at the other.” I said as I moved to the far left box and pressed the button clearly labeled to reverse whatever process they had subjected themselves to slow their bodily functions down to be nearly inanimate.
“Have any idea what we are in for or how long their revival will take?” I asked George as we both walked to meet together in the middle of the room again, pressing each of the large box’s awaken buttons as we walked past.
“Not a clue. The Skii weren’t very high on the radar of the Tela, being seen more as living trees that somehow gained sentience. Sure, they were studied, but their physiology is so strange that nothing much could ever be profited from any research conducted.”
“Research? You mean dissection?”
“Sadly, yes. Besides their strange biology, the Skii have an acute weakness to light and practically zero incentive to dominate other races, simply seemingly doing whatever everyone else does to exist. This allowed them to easily fly under the radar all this time. They were just seen as weak and not worth the time.”
The boxes hissed for a second before the lids all segmented and rolled away into hidden compartments.
“Neat,” Was all I managed to utter before limbs started to reach their way out of the box. The Skii, each like black stick bugs with leaflike flaps adorning their bodies at strategic locations, peeled themselves out of the boxes one after another without any hesitation or any sign of distress from having been as close to a state of death as a creature could come.
“Ah, crap. I forgot to ask what that guy's name was in the store.” I mutter as identical Skii worked their way out of the boxes and started to stand around like statues. I had no way of identifying the one that I had mistakenly made an agreement with. They don’t move like normal beings and it was starting to bother me as I tried to figure out why. No one stretched to ease any kinks that they might have had from being folded and stacked one atop another and they didn’t even move to peer around as well, probably because their whole body saw by using the light provided. Their lack of movement was creepy.
George walked around behind the boxes, peering into them as more and more Skii just kept popping out like magically packed clown cars.
“That's the last of them. Wait, no, there is one more.” George said as he peered over the edge of one of the boxes. He waited a second before frowning. “Ah, Kevin. I think we have a problem. This one appears to have died in transit.”
“That one is and has been broken since sprouting. It only seeks the darkness.” One of the Skii said in response, stepping forward to finally take the place of one with whom I could associate to get this event rolling.
“He has spoken to Father. You have ten. The time to delay and permeate has come.” Spoke a childlike voice from the box that George was peering inside. George quickly backed up as the Skii inside quickly bounded out of the box like a cocaine addict running from the cops. The Skii jumped and flailed, crashing into the far wall and pressing its fingers as high up as it could go along the wall before spinning and doing the splits, kicking various parts of the wall as each of its hands tapped at other random locations. To me, it looked like it was having a seizure, except for the odd fact that the other Skii moved each time it tapped, creating gaps between their bodies.
The hair on the back of my neck stood up as I felt the Skii’s insanity radiating from its movements.
No, not insanity… it's surety. It knew something was going to happen soon.
“Incoming!” I shouted as I instinctively raised my arm to defend my face.
Gold cr, moving at incredible speeds punched holes into the swarm protecting the outer hull of the ship. Much of the initial blast was absorbed by the outer layer, shredding the larger swarm bodies and inflicting serious wounds, even effectively killing several if their brains and heads happened to sustain too much damage. Those were quickly devoured by their neighbors, lest they heal and create mindless copies like I had accidentally made in the past. The other stray bullets that didn’t get absorbed and that had managed to slip between legs and necks found the inner layers of my swarm and quickly started to act like Plinko balls as they bounced around inside the walls of the ship, tearing through the smaller swarm layers with ease.
Several bullets even managed to make it into the inner core of the ship, blowing through the exact points that the crazed Skii had touched on the wall. Nurse must have been paying close attention because she quickly bunched up piles of swarm across from the locations that the Skii had marked, protecting the technology that would have been impacted had she not intervened.
Through all of this I, physically, didn’t get hit, yet I felt each pellet as though someone had blasted buckshot across my skin. I couldn’t help but hiss through the pain, knowing that my swarm was getting shredded and would continue to get hurt until backup arrived. I could have turned off the pain completely but had decided to keep it on, using my swarm as a physical indicator of how much damage the ship was taking. The pain quickly went away, only staying so long as though I had accidentally touched a hot plate for a second, letting me know that my swarm was actively healing itself in preparation for the next salvo.
The environment was charged, it felt like needles were prickling my scalp as I watched the swarm rapidly repair the walls and refill the minute amount of atmosphere that had managed to leak out. It didn’t seem that the Skii needed that much air or whatever the gas was that was slightly pressurizing the area. As I was, I didn’t need to breathe but for some reason the air in front of me seemed to ripple for a moment, causing me to wonder if I was seeing something.
“Two roads split. Pretend to die and take less pain or defend and suffer with greater victory. You have five for the first and many for the second.” The odd Skii said before it stilled, taking a finger in its mouth and biting off the end, spitting it out to the side as its stump sputtered dark blood.
I left reality and stepped into my personal VR space, totally stunned at what I had just witnessed.
“What the heck is wrong with that thing? Is it insane?” I yelled as I felt George join me a second later. He had a thoughtful look on his face and was holding an image of the frozen moment that we had just left, the finger fragment flying off toward the far wall and the splattering tar-like blood spreading outwards from the shortened remaining length.
“No, I don’t get the feeling that it is. I think when it says a number, that is how much time we have before something happens. That means that we now have less than three seconds to decide whether or not to break our ship apart and to pretend to be utterly destroyed by General Magus’s initial salvo.”
“Yeah, I figured that out as well. The number ten set me off when he first spoke.” I said as I stared off into space, the travel disk area fading from my sight as I looked off over Invicta’s tree-lined path.
“So, can it somehow see the future? None of the other ones have demanded anything yet or tried to get me to do anything for them. They all seem to be waiting for something.”
“As crazy as it may sound, it does appear to be the case. I would love to study it further and see if the other Skii also have the same ability. Based on what it has said, the only thing that stands out is the phrase ‘The time to delay and permeate has come'. This could indicate that the words delay and permeate are two abilities. It could mean that it has both abilities… or it only has one and the other Skii can do the other. This is all just guesswork at this point.”
“I am not sure how much there will be to study if it keeps chomping parts of its body off though. That was crazy.”
“Indeed. Nurse is already sending swarm to stem the blood flow once we exit VR.”
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“Good. So, are you thinking what I am thinking? To aim for a greater victory? What do you think Nurse?” I asked, having her pop into existence next to us.
"Based on that first little spat of projectiles from the General, normally I would say no. I get the feeling that he only used one shell and expected us to all die. If we don't break apart and instead demonstrate that we can stand up to his attacks, it will only invite him to go all out against us. With a weapons platform of that size, he can shoot us from multiple angles whenever he wants." Nurse stated as she brought up a display of our tiny craft compared to the grand scheme of things happening out in the theater of war. General Magus's triple threat of his divided Solar Citadel taking up a huge portion of space off in the distance, almost like three invading armies sneaking up in the dead of night.
"But..." she said as she considered for a moment. "This Skii's ability changes things. If it can keep this up for the duration of the conflict, then I think that we can simply deflect most of his attacks our way," she said as the animation gradually got more complex, showing volleys coming at us from ever-increasing angles as the other two parts of the Citadel joined forces.
"Until we can't and all of the Skii die." she finished as the General's attacks quickly turned into a hellstorm of bullets, clouding out the visual.
The last visual was very troubling, it gave no estimation as to how long the attacks would last or when our backup would arrive.
“How is growing the swarm and condensing them down using manifest going?”
“Well, I have learned a lot about that. Of the swarm that we lost to this first volley, consuming them before their bodies restore themselves is harder than normal. It is almost like trying to eat bricks.”
“Yeah, their atoms are more tightly packed. Makes sense with how manifest works. And the rest?”
“It worked wonderfully. Without it we would have lost a lot more swarm, practically been cored straight through even simply due to how low we are on swarm. Every second that passes allows me to refine our defenses just a little more. Soon we might have as near to a bulletproof swarm as possible. I just need to find the balance point. You were right about using manifest with caution. I had several reach a certain limit and simply shatter, without anything touching them. Healing and regeneration also slow down after a certain density is reached. The slow healing was the saving grace that allowed those that died to be consumed, seeing as it takes so long to do anything with the increased density. Once the higher limit is surpassed it is as though they become solid glass.”
“Yikes! Good thing you experimented first. It makes me wonder if there are other dimensions where the only way to exist would be by making the swarm exist in a more compact form. Find the limit and be careful to stay well underneath it,” I said before her expression turned dark. Her opal eyes changed colors, the green and blue shine fading, being replaced by deep red. I felt her emotions, her anger through our connection. It was the powerful all-consuming rage that I had experienced before with the swarm in those moments that I had lost control of it. “I plan on devouring his Solar Citadel once the bulk of your swarm arrives.”
I gave her a thumbs-up before changing the area around us to resemble the bay that George and I were standing in; preparing to return to reality. “I know. If you don't destroy him, then I will.” I said. I had grievances with his clones and now being attacked unprovoked by the General had guaranteed his fate. Nurse reached out to squeeze my arm softly before vanishing back to her work. Leaving me and George alone again.
“They seem to be waiting for something…” I muttered after a few moments as I thought back to what the one had said in the store. The drone’s perfect memory made it easy, I could practically feel the very moment as though I was there just by bringing up the memory. Out of that memory, there were only two things that stood out to me. The first was the question "May this one join you in the light?" and the second was "Please accept the light of my clan and aid us in seeking more freedoms like this.” The brightest source of light nearby just so happened to be the focus of everyone’s attention beyond the hull of the ship. Everyone in the theater of combat was practically bathing in the light emanating from Time's arm. It might just be the solution to getting this ball rolling.
“George, can you hook them up with…” I started to ask as I noticed the odd Skii already turning towards the side wall where the epicenter of the event was located. “a clear line of sight to the outside?”
Without responding, swarm started to shift around, grabbing at stores contained in the surrounding bays and quickly going about constructing a massive window to the outside. “It is a periscope design,” George said as light suddenly blasted into the room. “It is routed through the ship’s squirming shielding and should prevent a lucky shot.”
The moment the event scene was visible through the massive viewport the Skii all standing around jerked into motion.
"Well, would you look at that?" George muttered as some of them rushed to the bays and started to unload equipment and large printer forges while others began to hustle to pull out metal powders.
"Indeed..." I said as I felt my hackles rise. Something was knocking at the edge of my attention. Ordinarily, I wouldn't have noticed it but after spending countless days trying to summon the remaining six into my domain, I was really sensitive to any form of intrusion. I looked around the bay, searching for the source, and found it lying in a corner. The severed digit had fluffed out a little and had sprouted what appeared to be tiny roots.
I walked over towards it, intent on picking it up and having a word with the strange Skii who had created it. Was it supposed to infect my swarm or something with its tiny roots?
The closer I got to it, the more I noticed that it was slowly shuffling in my direction. Roots? No, it had made dozens of tiny legs and was trying to approach me.
I bent down to inspect it, just noticing an odd spatial anomaly around its edges, like a heat shimmer that moved as it moved. It crawled to within a foot of me and then angled itself upwards on one end, as though it was waiting for me to pick it up.
"I am not even going to ask what you are doing over there," George said from the other side of the room. "But when you get a chance you have to check out what is going on in the building bay."
"Sure, just a second," I said before scooping up the severed fingertip. The tiny roots grew suction cups and anchored themselves to my palm, making it so that they wouldn't easily fall off my hand as I stood up. I wasn't afraid of it, seeing that I could easily squish it before it could harm me. I was just wondering what the heck was going on.
"Hey George, how do the Skii reproduce?" I asked as I turned my head to glance over at him, finding a totally unexpected change having taken place in the few moments my attention had been diverted.
"I guess like that?" He said as he kept his eyes on the Skii working like mad to build a machine from the ground up. I could tell that he was observing the little entity in my palm as well as studying the growing contraption in front of us, he just didn't bother to physically take his eyes away from the rapid actions lest he miss something. "No one has ever observed it happening before so I guess an age-old mystery has just been solved."
"Thirty. Extensive attacks and damage. Ten. Probing. Thirty. Constant." The crazy Skii said as it pointed at locations all over the walls and ceilings, its hands flaring for each point that would take damage.
"You got that Nurse?" I shouted as the little digit in my hand started to vibrate like a cell phone on silent mode. "What the heck now?"
"Yes, Kevin, I got it and will prepare for attacks incoming in that timeframe and order." Nurse said in my ear before hesitating. "Kevin, Meditati wants me to tell you that you have a call incoming from the Blidda ship you boarded at the Yelvos Trading Station. It seems that they would like to talk to you."
"Don't worry Kevin, I got this from here. Go ahead and take that call. The Skii seem to just be building an oddly modified all channel broadcaster. Nothing weapon-related, sadly." George said as he held out his hand towards me, letting me offload the little clingy digit.
I stared long and hard at the creepy little thing before handing it over. "Alright, I will be back as soon as I can," I said before letting my body return to the surrounding ship. They needed all the extra swarm they could use for defense anyway.
---
Things had changed. I could tell immediately when I arrived. The first and biggest clue was the presence of a toy doll sitting just inside my view. The doll, obviously supposed to represent a Blidda, what with the odd coloring and slender fingers, was fully hidden underneath one of the control consoles inside the room that my body was forming. The only reason that I happened to spy the little doll was due to the fact that my manifestation started with my head and continued with my neck and chest, allowing me to have such a low view as my swarm cannibalized the old and obsolete Alpha cube.
“Hmm… looks like this version of me will be a little spread out,” I muttered as I looked down at my forming body and the quickly shrinking cube. “I either have the option of looking slightly ghostly, foregoing legs, or badly emaciated.” I said as I looked around for an additional option.
“Aha! That will do.” I said as I spied several space suits netted to the wall through an open door. I floated over to them, picking the largest one and instructing my swarm to flow inside it, allowing me to manifest my head and neck in a solid form. When the process was done, I moved my body around, checking out the slender suit that would have belonged to an adult Blidda. “At least I found a suite that belonged to a male.” I couldn’t help but comment as I noted the different attachments that would normally have been used inside the suit when someone had to make an extended spacewalk away from the facilities in the ship.
I stretched and tested the suit out, finding it to be impressive in its flexibility and durability. I didn’t turn on any of the electronics, not wanting it to waste any of the gasses or to have it start pinging at me to secure the hood in place. It would work as a stand-in for a body until I helped the Blidda with whatever they needed.
“By the way, where are they?” I asked as I floated over to the lost doll. I bent down, retrieving it from its unfortunate prison, and turned my head as I heard the very high-pitched cry of a child coming from off in the distance.
“I didn’t mean to! I only borrowed it to help me find Ginny.” the little voice said as I heard it rapidly coming closer. I could easily hear the breathing of several individuals and the rapid pattering of hands and feet kicking off the hallways as the group of Blidda made their way towards me through the ship's long hallways.
I rolled my eyes and had had a little bit of my swarm grab ahold of the doll and to attach to various points along its body, effectively giving it a resemblance of life. "Just don't scare the little girl ok? Act as her protector," I instructed the swarm before putting the matter out of my mind. The little doll nodded its head as its soft hand grabbed at one of the straps on the space suit for support.
“She said she was playing down here in the auxiliary purification section.” Another more adult Blidda voice said as they rounded a distant corner and sped the last distance to the room I was in. I had a rash idea of jumping out and scaring the approaching group, something that I was fond of doing to my brothers as a child, but seeing my history with scaring Blidda had gone so badly the last time I was here I quickly shelved that idea and simply chose to wait. After a second of thinking I decided to add the sound of breathing to my body, if only to make it so that the super sensitive ears of the Blidda had something to latch onto.
“Someone is in there!” A younger female Blidda voice said just as the group came bursting into view of the doorway.
“Tell the captain that the alien Kevin is here!”
“Ginny!”