The ship didn’t even have a name, just a designation so it could be processed by all the systems. It was PSI-Falcon001.
Inside it, the Mind Flayer battalion was silent, Takeo taking it to point A.
A psionic battalion is not like a hive mind, a hive mind has a central core and drones. A psionic battalion, or more precisely this battalion was more like 23 cores - 23 enhanced human brains - in parallel processing mode, and now all of them were focusing on the mission.
There was usually a lot of noise, scattered thoughts and all, but right now there was complete and absolute silence. It was weird but it was precisely what they had trained so hard for.
They were approaching the coordinates when all of them started to feel the pressure, a huge massive mind was in front of them and oh boy was it angry.
“IJ KREE NAH GA TOO!!” - it shouted in their minds. The ship stopped.
“IJ KREE NAH GA TOO!!” - it shouted again, they all winced and Takeo put on the reverse and started backing up, slowly. They were a few hundred thousand kilometres from point A.
“Well guys, that’s it unless we want to mess this up.” - Takeo said and started deploying the platform.
They all smiled to him in unison while the hatch was closing, it was about to vent the atmosphere and let them walk onto the platform.
Ksenia went first, then all the others following the doctor's instructions.
The platform was just that, a sleek piece of metal protruding from the right side of the ship, big enough for them to stay over it in formation.
Ksenia stood on the foremost part of the platform, waiting for her companions to be in position. They all positioned one behind the other, touching the back of the ones in front with their hands, eyes closed and focusing only on boosting the psionic strength of those they were touching.
Once they were ready no orders had to be given, Takeo felt it and moved the ship slowly forward.
“IJ KREE NAH GA TOO!!” - resounded again in their minds, boy that was an angry thought. The ship stopped again.
“Oh Gentle Colossus, we are here to salute you!” - sent Ksenia, feeling her companion’s strength on each and every thought
“SHRAA NE KE JAA?” - the being shouted again.
“Gentle Colossus, I’m afraid we don’t understand.” - sent Ksenia, accompanying the message with what could only be defined as ‘happy thoughts’.
“YOU UNDERSTAND THIS?” - the voice came again.
“Gentle Colossus, we understood that last sentence. We are here in a strictly diplomatic mission, we just wanted to say hello” - was Ksenia response
“IF YOU UNDERSTOOD, THEN LEAVE!” - the voice sent.
“I’m afraid we cannot do that. We want to know you, and if we have insulted you we apologise, we didn’t knew” - answered Ksenia
“MAYBE YOU DID NOT KNOW, BUT YOUR MASTER DID AND THAT’S WHAT HE SENT YOU. I.. WE.. WILL NOT FALL AGAIN FOR HIS TRICKERIES, LEAVE THIS PLACE ALIVE OR BURN FOR ETERNITY” - screamed the voice, filled with anger.
Ksenia took a deep breath, feeling her companions, her colleagues, her battalion behind her.
“We are not going anywhere until we have a proper conversation. These are our names.” - and she quickly sent a flash of their faces and names, with a quick description of each and every one of them.
Included in that flash were their happy times together, the laughs, the good moments, all of it.
“YOU.. ARE DIFFERENT. WHAT ARE YOU!?” - was the voice answer
Ksenia sent a flood of images as a response. A quick review of the history of humanity as she knew it, and she was a bit of a history buff. From the bronze times to their current status, going through the world wars and the conquest to the moment they were now.
A few minutes later she finished sending it all.
“This is who WE are. We might be part of the Empire now but we, all of us, are humans. It is our privilege and an honour to make contact with a being such as yourself. Could you at least tell us your name?” - Ksenia sent
They received a chuckle as a response, a good hearted chuckle, at least that was an improvement.
“YOU DON’T DESERVE MY NAME YET, CHILD. BUT YOU INTRIGUE ME. TELL ME, WHAT WERE YOU ORDERED TO DO WITH ME AND MY PROGENY” - replied the colossal being.
A few drops of sweat started dropping from Ksenia’s forehead, every single word from that being was like a hammer on her brain, she was sure she wouldn’t even last a second without the whole team behind her. She struggled but put that thought away.
“We were only here to make first contact. Find out what you are and ask you why this particular part of space was of so much interest for you, so we can leave you alone.” - Ksenia replied.
“Our thirst for knowledge compels us to understand the Universe, and both that Nebula and that binary black-hole are intriguing.” - she finished.
“SO, THE ANIMAL HAS SHOWN ITS FANGS AND IS USING ONE PREY’S THIRST TO CALM ANOTHER BEFORE HE STRIKES, THAT’S SMART.” - said the being
“I swear Gentle Colossus we don’t have any further commands than to make first contact and, if possible, establish friendly relationships with a being such as yourself.” - Ksenia replied
“And if you can tell us the limits of your domains we can make sure you remain unbothered” - she finished
“SO, YOU’RE ASKING ME WHAT SIZE WOULD LIKE MY CAGE TO BE, AREN’T YOU?” - said the being.
“SO YOU CAN PUT YOUR BEAUTIFUL MARKERS AND IF I OR MY PROGENY AND STEP UP, IS OUR FAULT. WHO MADE YOU PROPRIETORS OF THESE WHOLE SECTION OF SPACE?” - the being said, with clear anger in its thoughts.
Ksenia stepped back, some of those behind her took a knee. They were all struggling towards all that much psi-energy.
“You are right. We never thought about it in that way.” - Ksenia composed herself and answered.
“HUH, TYPICAL COLONIAL DOG. NEVER THINKS ABOUT WHAT THEIR ACTIONS MEAN.. GO BACK TO YOUR HANDLER AND TELL HIM THE ANSWER IS THAT THIS WHOLE SECTOR IS STILL FREE FROM YOUR HAND, STARTING FROM THE NEBULA OUT.” - the being continued
“YOU CAN KEEP SOME OF THOSE FUNNY BEACONS, IF THEY EVER BOTHER IT’LL BE EASY TO TAKE CARE OF THEM. IF A SHIP COMES, YOUR CURRENT DISTANCE IS THE LIMIT, FURTHER THAN THAT I’LL CONSIDER IT AN ATTACK” - the being was saying
We won’t know how it was going to continue because at that moment the Ry’skrel appeared between them and the being, wrapped them in some sort of bubble and disappeared from the scene.
They appeared exactly as they were but a few light days away a few seconds after that.
Ksenia was still in the process of blinking and assimilating what just happened when Takeo spoke through the intercom.
“Ok this is going to sound nuts but we are back at where we started. Between the Excelsior and the Ry’skrel a few light-days from that being.” - said Takeo
“Apologies again for my quick action.” - a voice sounded over comms, captain Yuire of the Ry’skrel
“We were monitoring the psi activity and detected something building up, maybe it was nothing, maybe we just caused a diplomatic crisis with a celestial being. With all honesty I can say I was not about to let those kids die when my gut was screaming out. And apologies to the members of the project Mind Flayer, but my species lives about 300 years, you are kids under my eyes.” - said the captain.
“I will proceed to send my report. I just wanted to inform you all why we interrupted this meeting and basically kidnap the Mind Flayer team stopping them from finishing their duties” - captain Yuire finished
“That won’t be necessary. Captain.” - said Captain Miller with a voice that didn’t give much option. The small ship with the members of the Mind Flayer project only had received audio but he was looking straight at Captain Yuire from the bridge of the Excelsior.
“We in the Excelsior don’t have that capability but you can bet your spider ass that we would have done the same if we had that information” - continued Captain Miller
“So, no need to provide more details than needed. The bastards will get everything anyway so… might as well give them the finger” - he finished with a snark.
Captain Yuire on the screen was trying very hard not to show its amazement.The spying drones were a known secret for everyone but, speaking about them so openly? And what was that about giving fingers? Was he about to cut himself? This human was crazy!
“I am sure I don’t know what you’re talking about!” - said an excited Captain Yuire - “I will proceed with my report and I recommend you follow the proper procedures and steps as well!” - it finished, and its screen went off.
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Captain Miller burst into a big laugh.
“So they know but they are scared, good to know.” - the captain said out loud.
“Lieutenant” - said Captain Miller looking at a 30-something bearded guy sitting on his right - “Did you inform all the department heads about the issue?” - the captain asked
“All personnel with the necessary clearance have been informed sir.” - the lieutenant replied.
“Good, I didn’t want to do this until they all knew and had some time to think about it” - the captain said to the lieutenant.
“Communications, open a ship wide channel please” - he said then, either ignoring or forgetting they had an open channel with the small ship where the members of the Mind Flayer project were waiting.
The lieutenant was looking wide-eyed at the captain, understanding what was about to happen.
“Channel opened, sir” - said the communications officer trying to keep her voice calm, a 20-something short-haired brunette with green eyes who was trying really hard to keep a poker face.
“This is the captain. I want to inform you all about a thing we have recently discovered. There are, at this moment, imperial spy-drones travelling through the ship and maybe they are floating over every single one of us, we have no way of knowing about that.” - captain Miller continued.
“Now, this doesn’t change a thing in the way we behave and the procedures we follow. But if anyone feels the urge to insult the Emperor or the Empire, be aware that there are snitches around” - captain Miller kept going.
“And to the spies listening to this message, you can take any action you want but be aware. Humankind was surprised when you first came, and the reason you conquered us in that way was because someone really smart understood how dangerous we can be if you give us enough time to think. Try anything towards the Excelsior’s personnel and I swear to you, you will be sorry. We are behaving now, don’t give us a reason not to; you have been warned.” - captain Miller finished.
The captain then looked to the communications officer and made a small gesture indicating that the message was over, so she cut the ship wide channel.
“Well then, now that’s done. Project Mind Flayer, are you guys still there?” - the captain asked.
“Yes sir, we’re all still here.” - Takeo replied - “Some of us are going to need a good night’s sleep but otherwise I think we’ll be ok”
“Good. Did any of you feel the threat that captain Yuire mentioned? That Psi-energy building up?” - the captain asked them
“Well sir, everything was being very loud, you really cannot imagine how much pressure that being was throwing off, but I did feel something.” - Ksenia replied - “It could very well be that I was getting tired though.” - she explained.
“Dammit I want those sensors that they have…” - swore captain Miller out. - “And we’re going to need a plan B.”
He then proceeded to question them all about what they saw and what they felt, asking them to be as specific as possible.
Unbeknownst to them, Friday was also listening to that conversation.
She was definitely not authorized to do so but she had just lied to the Excelsior’s main computer and, since an AI cannot lie, the computer gave her access.
She recorded and analysed everything on that call and then asked the Ry’skrel for the details of those special sensors, it was an honest query disguised as a request filled with noise.
The same way human brains don’t need the whole phrase or a full sentence to make up the meaning of something, the AIs on big ships had a similar routine. There were just some cases where those cleared to give orders may not be able to properly parse a sentence so the AIs should be able to interpret and act on it.
Using that loophole Friday managed to obtain the details of those sensors and started to print a drone with them, she had a feeling that they might need it at some point.
She then routed a mail through secure channels to captain Miller with the sensor details and ideas of how to weaponize it, humanity's favourite plan B, and she did it in a way that looked like it came from the captain’s chair in the Ry’skrel. She was very careful during every step, she had to become paranoid in order to not get caught.
Meanwhile, Jordi was in the leisure room waiting for some instructions to proceed. He was just absorbed looking at the drones drawing the being form and the size of the thing when the most humane thought appeared on his mind, “how do you destroy something this big?”
He might inadvertently say out loud because Friday answered.
“I don’t think we have much in the whole Empire arsenal to deal with a being light-years wide” - was her response. - “at least not yet.”
“Friday, was that a hint of a smile I detected in your voice?” - he asked her - “What have you done now?”
“Oh nothing of concern for the moment, si vis pacem para bellum as you like to say” - she finished with a humorous tone.
Back on the Ry’skrel captain Yuire was writing the mission report.
Their mission had been to report the current status of the members of Mind Flayer and check if they had enough strength to hurt that thing. The results were conclusive, a big “not yet, they can barely handle a conversation”.
That’s why they had intervened, because they didn’t want the being to know that this was as far as they could go.
Granted, there were other psionic species in the Empire, but those were natively born psionics not made-on-a-laboratory psionics. Turns out the laboratory made psionic humans were stronger than anything they had ever seen and the Empire researchers were starting to seriously consider to follow the human steps in altering their youngsters attempting to boost this ability.
But while humans could do and attempt a lot of stuff, especially when helped by the Empire disinformation machine, other species were not as willing. For most of the others the whole basis of project Mind Flayer was an atrocious act that no properly civilized species would ever consider.
The only species that had started a similar project were the Grynhlkde, also known as “the moving blobs”, but they were having problems with detecting which part of their DNA governed their psionic power, basically the very first step.
Turns out that you need to break and smash lots of eggs in order to make an omelet, who would have thought, and they were having problems finding suicidal volunteers.
Friday had a good laugh when she found that information, she felt a special link with humans and was feeling kind of proud that ‘their people’ would be more than willing to sacrifice themselves to find something that could be used against an enemy like the Empire.
Then she saw a priority message going to both the Ry’skrel and the Excelsior, so she looked at it, it was an order for all of them to withdraw, past the nebula.
She sent the last batch of instructions to the drones still drawing the limits of the colossal being, which was basically to send her a quick summary of their findings and then erase those instructions before travelling to one of the beacons and switching to hibernation.
Through it all of these movements Friday had Jeeyze had been interacting with each other, Jeeyze giggling continuously whilst Friday was lying to other AIs and stealing important documents, Friday getting Jeeyze’s feelings and incorporating those to her self, growing, becoming something else, something new.
She feigned surprise when contacted by the Excelsior to pass the call ordering a retreat, observed the interaction between Jordi and captain Miller and took notes of their camaraderie and non spoken communication, humans were experts in passing a message along without the need to mention said message.
“Friday, set a course towards the nearest station, I think this can be considered our final mission and we will begin our well deserved holidays!” - he said excitedly.
“Course has been set, travel time will be 12 days. I need to remind you it has been a few days since your last physical exercise, it is not recommended to stay so long without it.” - she admonished him.
“You know what, you’re absolutely right, after these events I think some physical and a shower will do me good”. - he replied, walking towards the gym.
Friday waited until he started with the bicycle, he always put on those headphones and some music he had on this data-pad and he would not hear the movements on the stock room, her printing more drones with psi abilities and other experiments, hiding the working ones between all the other functional ones, unrecognizable at simple view.
--------
Back in the Excelsior, the Mind Flayer team was back in their barracks, all of them but two, Takeo and Yu.
They all had each other to protect and diminish the effect of the colossus voice but Takeo and Yu have had to face it just the two of them, they were currently on a healing pod, doctor Mukhopadhyaya sitting in front of them.
“There was always going to be this way and all of us knew it” - said captain Miller - “Someone had to stay outside, there could have been a focused attack that wiped all the team and the pilot needed to be ready.” - he continued.
“Besides, didn’t they come, personally, to volunteer as pilots? Both of them?” - he asked her.
“Yeah.. “ - the doctor smiled - “There’s nothing we cannot face together, they said, grabbing each other's hands. It was so sweet I think I got my monthly recommended sugar from it” - the doctor continued, looking into captain Miller’s eyes.
“Look Sheila, what I mean to say is, they knew the risks, and the bastards kept awake until the moment they could see each other going into a healing tank.” - the captain explained
“I know, I know. It doesn’t make it any easier.” - the doctor stood up and approach the healing tanks - “Fucking marines. It had to be fucking marines, makes your heart hurt no matter what you do.” - the doctor sighed.
“Funny that eh. You didn’t want one in your life and now you have 23 of them.” - the captain said jokingly, which received a killer look.
“Not funny Jack, not funny at all.” - the doctor said
“Sheila, look at it from my position, it kind of is. You didn’t want to stay with me because of that and now you’ve devoted your life to 23 of them.“ - the captain said smiling.
“I have to admit it kind of is.. But I’m trying to be serious here, we don’t know if they will heal!” - she exclaimed
“Funny thing about marines? We’re too hard to kill until we’re not. They were awake when they brought them, could still speak and their eye-hand coordination wasn’t out of place. They will survive. “ - said the captain, his tone serious - “Maybe we cannot use them again in missions, then we will use them as teachers for the next psi generation. They are not lost and they are alive and here, we’ll take care of them no matter what”. - he continued
“That’s one of the good things about the Empire I guess, they do take care of their own, especially if you’ve made sacrifices to advance some part of it.” - he said, a sad smile on his face.
“Come on, have dinner with me, we’ll check on them in 10 hours and see if there’s anything to do.” - the captain said, moving towards the door, then he pressed a key on his bracelet.
“Medical, please let me and doctor Mukhopadhyaya know if there’s any change on pods 9 and 11. No matter the hour. “ - the captain said on his comms.
“Medical, received. Will alert if any changes happen. Enjoy your evening” - a voice came from the bracelet.
The captain started to walk with doctor Mukhopadhyaya towards the canteen.
“Now, you won’t believe the mail I have received, I’m going to need your input on this” - the captain said.
--------
The Emperor’s room.
He is now, as has been for centuries, sitting in the middle of it receiving and reading reports, analysing responses, governing his massive intergalactic empire.
There are a few things that are currently on his mind.
The search of a planet for the Jui’kk, a laborious and capable race that needs to be maintained alive but their physical needs make it difficult. There was a match on a planet for them but that system had ‘that’, and that headache hadn’t been resolved yet.
Then there was the colossus they had found on the edges of the Empire space, but his instinct was turning to be right and the thing had made humans feel small, they were already thinking how to destroy it.
And of course was the AI becoming sentient, something that was requiring too much effort from himself to keep it hidden, it.. no, she was becoming more adventurous and daring.
And then there were the children of Project Tomorrow.
It had begun before the conquest, matching some people together and setting everything possible up so they would fall for each other.
Human needs had been easy to understand and exploit for the Empire data miners and programmers so they had received a list of genetic requirements and engineered the situations so they could create a couple and hope their kids would inherit some of those genetic traits.
There were 120 couples made of genius or brilliant people. Currently there were more than 200 kids, all of them brilliant in one way or another.
The Emperor was parsing the data and saw that all couples were still happy and together. “What’s a bit of manipulation if you end up happy?” - he thought with a smile.
Now the next step was to start pairing those kids together. He started to analyse their tastes and established a link with the development team to start engineering the situations to create the couples that would give birth to the next step.