Inside the ship, Aubrey was greeted by Petty Officer Skadi Mokos, his name, rank, and vital statistics floating in the air near his face.

He was a member of the Istaran race, strange octopod creatures that had four long arms which each split into four boney tentacles with sharp claws. Two smaller tentacles hung from his armpits, and the only visible facial features were two yellow eyes.

Tubes filled with a brown tinted liquid ran into his neck, and his entire body from the chest down was robotic, giving the creature a humanoid torso and two powerful legs.

“Welcome aboard, recruit. Please follow me,” he said in a tired monotone.

Aubrey followed him through the twisting, dingy passageways of the ship interior, past glowing control panels and low-hanging electrical wiring. Several times Petty Officer Mokos had to stoop to avoid a cross pipe or broken ceiling hatch that hung carelessly in the way as they passed the other Istaran crewmen, each looked vaguely dirty and exhausted. The smell of oil was overpowering as they made their way to the passenger chambers.

Inside were five rows of glass chambers, roughly eight feet tall and three feet in diameter. Long spiraling tubes appeared from hatches in the ceiling, and extended down to connect to them. Each had a metal cap that glowed a soft blue, giving the room an eerie atmosphere. Petty Officer Mokos marched up to one of them and, tapping his fingers on the side, opened its door.

Aubrey watched him. He turned and looked at her mutely. She stared back.

“Well?” he asked, tapping his robotic foot impatiently.

“What?”

“Get in.”

Aubrey hesitated, but seeing Mokos’ impatience quickly turning to annoyance, she stepped into the tube. He shut the door behind her and wandered off deeper into the ship without another word.

“Alzar?”

“Is there some way I can be of assistance, Aubrey?”

“What is this thing?” she asked, pressing her hand into the glass. It flexed under the pressure, but felt incredibly strong.

“A kyphosis chamber,” Alzar answered matter-of-factly.

“I see,” Aubrey said, holding back sarcasm. Would an A.I. even understand sarcasm? “And what is a kyphosis chamber?”

“An organic body like yours can only withstand so much force as a ship accelerates to the necessary speeds for travel within the solar system. Accelerate too quickly and the blood can no longer flow freely, bones break, the heart stops, the brain shuts down, and you die.”

Aubrey swallowed hard.

“The kyphosis chamber will fill with a thick oxygenated impact gel that will saturate your lungs and allow your body to withstand much greater forces without damage. This protective enclosure is designed to flex and bend to ensure that no harm comes to the biological organism contained within.”

“So I’m going to breathe water?”

Alzar chuckled. “Well, yes, I suppose that’s one way of thinking of it. Most people find the first time rather unpleasant. But it’s something you’ll inevitably have to get accustomed to.”

“Great…”

“I assure you, it is perfectly safe.”

Aubrey watched as more creatures were loaded into the other kyphosis chambers. Several of her fellow travelers looked like Amaslei, which Aubrey now knew were a race known as the Abu; several more were the fat, beanbag-like Faro race, and there was a single Divona, the lanky, elegant creature she had bumped into earlier.

Next to her, a Heruka, roughly her age according to the computer readout that floated near its face, sat in his chamber tapping in the air with a pair of aglets on its two thick, boney fingers and thumbs.

His head resembled a tortoise, its thin, wrinkled neck barely able to support the large leathery head that was pocked and held two oversized black eyes. Its face bulged like a frog’s air sack as he sat reading his HUD.

He glanced over at her and, noticing her obvious stare, grimaced, revealing a long mouth filled with large square teeth. His head sack inflated sharply, bulging his eyes so dangerously Aubrey worried they might pop out of its head altogether, causing it to deflate like a balloon.

Gasping, she looked away, but from the corner of her vision, she could swear she saw the creature chuckling before his attention returned to his HUD.

The ship’s crew were made mostly of Istaran, who buzzed around, their mechanical feet clanking rhythmically as they made their way through the room.

A female voice chimed in her head, “All crew and passengers, please prepare for launch.”

“Alright, here we go,” Alzar said.

The base of Aubrey’s chamber began to fill with an orange tinted liquid. As it passed her ankles, she pulled her foot out and watched the stuff sticking to her shoes like syrup. She glanced around, and none of the other passengers seemed to even take notice as their chambers filled, each of them chatting with the air in front of them, or typing with aglets.

It wasn’t until the liquid reached her stomach that panic bubbled up in her chest. The thick liquid pressed in on her, and though on an intellectual level she had understood what Alzar had explained, her visceral, animal instincts told her to escape or risk suffocation. Her palms began to sweat and her hair suddenly felt itchy.

As it reached her neck, her breathing became erratic and she thrashed in the liquid.

“Aubrey, calm down. It might help if you try taking some deep breaths,” Alzar said.

She inhaled sharply through her nose, and exhaled through her mouth, her face twisted. It wasn’t helping.

Glancing around, she again made eye contact with the Heruka next to her. He was already submerged in the liquid, though his was a softer green color. He watched her, concern in his large eyes. Reaching out, he touched the edge of his chamber, his other hand working his aglets.

“He’s telling you to relax, that you’ll be fine,” Alzar said, speaking for the creature.

Aubrey craned her neck, gasping for air as she stretched to keep her head above the rising liquid.

“He says if you snort it in through your nose first, it makes it easier, but if you fight, it’ll just hurt more,” Alzar continued his messenger service.

Eventually the liquid won, and Aubrey was buried in it, enveloped by thick silence. She held her breath, slapping her hand against the glass wall in frustration.

“Don’t hold your breath, just give in. The longer you wait, the more out-of-breath you’ll feel. It’ll be okay.”

Aubrey’s lungs felt as if they would burst; they burned in desperation.

“I’m going to count to three, and then just exhale as hard as you can, okay?”

Aubrey made eye contact with her neighbor. He nodded his head, his fingers continuing their dance.

“Okay?”

She nodded.

“Alright, one… two… three!”

It took all of Aubrey’s willpower to exhale, everything in her body screamed that it would be the end of her.

“Good, now breathe in deeply through your nose.”

She did, slowly at first, the thick liquid pulling through her sinuses and down her throat. Braced for pain, she was surprised as her lungs slowly filled, and she felt precious oxygen finally reaching her bloodstream. The stars that had begun to cloud the corners of her vision receded. Her body relaxed.

She waved her hand through the viscous fluid as she breathed more deeply, allowing the liquid to fill her mouth and throat. It tasted slightly of sweat, faintly of pineapple. As she burped up the last bubbles, she turned to her new friend, smiling.

He smiled back, his hand again touching the side of his tank.

“There, see, I told you it wasn’t so bad.”

She nodded. She wanted to thank him, but couldn’t speak. Instead, she kissed her hand, and held it up to the side of her tank.

“No aglets?” he asked.

She shook her head and shrugged.

“Our name is Ado. Ado Muk Mu,” he said in Alzar’s voice. “The girl’s name is Aubrey Ryelle,” Alzar interjected.

“Nice to meet you, Aubrey.”

Once filled, the kyphosis chambers lowered into the floor.

“We’ll see you when we arrive,” Ado said, just before disappearing into the ground.

“You should get some sleep now, Aubrey. I’ll awaken you when the journey is over,” Alzar said.

She nodded.

“Pleasant dreams, my dear girl.”

The liquid that filled her lungs became tinged with a slightly bitter flavor, and she felt her eyelids grow heavy. Just as she drifted away, the ship’s female voice intoned “engaging funicular engine in three, two, one.”

She briefly felt the pressure of speed before dozing off.

#

“Aubrey, we’ve arrived.”

She opened her heavy eyes, blinking to orient herself. Her kyphosis chamber had surfaced again, as she floated lazily in the orange broth. Blinking the sleep from her eyes, she turned and saw Ado doing the same. He stretched his limbs, inflating and deflating his head sack several times. She grinned and waved, and he returned the smile.

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Glancing around the room, she noticed most of the other kyphosis chambers were now empty.

“The liquid is going to drain now, and you’re going to cough it up.” Alzar explained. “I’m afraid it can be unpleasant if you fight it, but if you relax your throat and exhale as hard as you can, you won’t experience much discomfort.”

She nodded her head.

“Make sure to exhale all the way. When you think you’re done spewing the stuff up, you aren’t, keep pushing.”

As the drain opened at the bottom of her tube, she felt herself pulled downward with the liquid, until her feet touched the ground. It drained rapidly, leaving a thin, sticky coating on her skin and clothing, her hair a matted mess on her neck and face. She doubled over and exhaled as hard as she could.

“Good, good, that’s it. Harder, keep going,” Alzar encouraged her.

She exhaled until her lungs hurt, spewing the orange goop into the shrinking puddle at her feet. She gasped for air and coughed, hard. Her throat retched.

“Oops, looks like you didn’t exhale quite enough.”

She hacked for several minutes, spitting more and more of the liquid that her lungs seemed to endlessly produce. Finally, she wiped her eyes and opened them.

“Now what? I’m an absolute mess.”

“Now you strip and shower.”

“What?” Aubrey blushed, glancing around as she saw the other passengers either already undressed or in the process.

“My dear, still with the modesty? You need to remove your clothes; they most certainly won’t let you step outside the chamber in your current state,” Alzar teased.

She swallowed hard, and glanced over at Ado who watched her, smiling.

“Can you… can you tell him to look away?” she asked, her skin turning a deep shade of crimson.

“Certainly.”

She watched Ado as he talked to the air in front of him. He looked over at her and bowed his head before turning his back to her. She smiled, but quickly turned away from him as he removed the last of his clothing, holding his arms out as his shower began. She noticed a strange scar that seemed to have been burned into the ruddy brown skin of his back, just below his right shoulder blade. It looked like two squares, offset and intertwined to make an eight sided star, in its center, a circle.

“There, now you must hurry along, my dear. Being late is not, in my humble opinion, a great first impression,” Alzar said.

“Oh, right.”

She peeled off her clothing, which was sloppy and thick with the orange liquid, and slapped heavily to the floor. The clear cleansing gel ran up and down her body, cleaning her skin and hair, and removing the gel from her clothes that lay in a pile on the ground.

She dressed awkwardly, still trying to hide herself behind her hands. Once dressed, the chamber door opened with a hiss.

Ado waited for her. She held out her hand, which he stared at for a moment, puzzled.

“What is this?” he asked, smiling politely.

She glanced down at her hand, feeling suddenly foolish.

“Oh, it’s a custom that, um… you shake hands when you meet people where I’m from.”

He reached out and grasped her hand, and they shook. He smiled.

“We like this custom.”

She smiled back.

“Come with us,” he continued as they made their way through the ship.

“The Heruka have two brains, with two separate consciousnesses, one within the head sack, protected by a set of small flat bones similar to a ribcage which is surrounded by the air sacks themselves. This brain processes light, nerve, and auditory stimulus. The second is housed within the chest cavity, and is more akin to what you’re more accustomed to thinking of as the intellect. The two brains communicate via nerve impulses sent through the spine. Hence the thought patterns and speech of the Heruka can be difficult to understand on occasion, as they frequently refer to themselves as ‘we’ or ‘us’,” Alzar explained.

“Interesting,” Aubrey replied.

“What is interesting?” Ado asked.

“Oh, well, nothing. I just- my A.I. was explaining about your species.”

Ado grinned his toothy grin, which caused Aubrey to suppress a giggle.

“You must be a time recruit.”

She nodded her head.

“We’ve never met one before. How far did they pull you?”

“Three hundred and fifty years.”

His eyes bulged. “Wow! So long! They must have been saving you for something special.”

Her eyes fell to the floor as she shrugged.

They stepped out of the ship. Aubrey’s mouth went slack.

In front of them a monstrous cathedral loomed. Built from black and red stone, Aubrey estimated it stood at least a half mile tall. Covered in archaic carvings that formed astonishingly complex fractal patterns, it looked entirely out of place in the center of the bustling technological city that surrounded it. Despite its impressive size, the cathedral was dwarfed by the neighboring buildings.

Overhead, enormous skyscrapers stretched through the clouds and into what Aubrey could only assume was the end of the atmosphere and the beginning of the vacuum of space. The buildings almost looked like vast rivers of glass and light flowing upwards, the massive spires glinted beautifully in the sun as ships of all sizes and shapes flew in channels and lanes, darting between the behemoth structures. The effect was disorienting and breathtaking.

An elderly man, his bent frame bubbling along, approached them. He wore the white formal robes of a High Priest, deep purples and reds colored the edges, his triangular hat slightly askew on his mottled scalp.

“Hello, hello, my young friends. Come, come with me.” He croaked, his voice dusty and dry with age.

Ado looked at Aubrey, who shrugged. The old man turned, gesturing for them to follow.

“Come, hurry.”

The two quickened their pace to catch up to the old man, who moved quickly despite his advanced age. They passed through the ancient, heavy wooden doors that creaked and groaned in protest as he pushed them open. Inside an open chamber yawned, at least five hundred feet tall by Aubrey’s estimation. The slate gray stones were beautiful, their craftsmanship beyond anything Aubrey had seen, with ornate carvings so complex her eyes had difficulty following them. The effect was striking.

The chamber had six huge walls, forming a perfect hexagon. In the center of the chamber a large throne sat on a series of platforms, each larger than the last. Each platform had additional opulent thrones, although these were nowhere near as imposing as the single chair at the center of the room.

Each wall had an enormous statue that reached all the way up to the ceiling. Each statue’s base was a jumble of disorganized, chaotic carvings that slowly cohered into a human form. These nude giants stretched upwards, their arms reaching towards the heavens. At the base of the statue a single word was inscribed in what looked like Hebrew to Aubrey.

“What are those?” Aubrey asked.

“Why, these statues represent the Five, of course,” the old man replied.

“Who are the Five?”

The old man stopped, turned, and squinting through his good eye, looked her up and down.

“The Five are our gods. The only gods with which we have anything to do.”

“Gods?”

“Yes, gods. All-powerful, all-knowing. If you please them, their rewards are limitless. If you disappoint, their punishments just and eternal.”

Aubrey frowned. This was all very odd.

“Come along, we mustn’t delay.”

The old man took them past the thrones, through a small door that led to a side chamber. The room had several windows through which thick beams of light painted the floor, the dust danced and sparked in the sun.

Seven black robed figures whirled around the room; each wore metal masks in the shape of a horribly twisted and deformed human face. The hunched, burly figures limped and twitched, mechanical whirs and loud clicks emanating from deep within their vestments as they moved. It seemed as though the clicks were a language, though Aubrey’s translator seemed unable to decipher what they were saying.

“Techno-priests,” Alzar chimed cheerfully. “Elite servitors of the Five. The chosen of the gods, their most devoted followers, willing to kill or die in their most holy of names. They speak a language only other Techno-priests can interpret. It is said it is the pure language of the Five.”

In the center of the room sat an altar made from a brilliant white metal with blue marbling, its complex latticework mirroring the stone walls from the impressive throne room. From the top of the shrine several robotic arms protruded, whirring and dancing as they removed bizarre syringes with long, sharp needles from a hidden chamber at its base, giving it the appearance of a spider resting on the flat of its back. Aubrey couldn’t shake the strange feeling this place gave her. It felt out of place, this mixture of the ancient world with the technological wonders of the future.

“Alright, which of you would like to go first?” the old man asked, raising his bushy white eyebrows.

“First for what?” Aubrey ventured.

“For the love of the Five, are you daft, girl? For your genetic prophecy, of course,” he replied, more than a little annoyed.

“Genetic Prophesy? I don’t-“ she started, but the old man cut her off.

“I apologize, I didn’t realize you were a time pull. My blasted A.I. is nearly as old as I am. Forgets to tell me things,” he smiled at her kindly. “You see, by studying your genome and quantum patterns, the Techno-priests here can predict the life and potential of each individual within the Alliance. While generally reserved for those who can afford to pay for such a service, all students accepted into the Academy are read, and a prophecy given.”

“Why?”

“Why?” he asked, smiling. “Well, to find out what you’ll be good for. To discover your weaknesses so that you can compensate for them. To find out what the Five have in store for you. It’s a life-changing event, one you’ll not soon forget, I can promise you that.”

Aubrey watched as the Techno-priest chittered around the altar, clicking at one another. She felt her skin crawl as she glimpsed their grotesquely long and sharp metallic fingers which twirled with nervous energy. She took an involuntary step back as one approached her.

“Don’t be afraid, it won’t bite,” the old man turned to the altar, which reached out towards her with its long grasping fingers. “That thing, however, is a different story altogether.” He grinned at her, baring his crooked yellow teeth. “So, who wants to go first?”

Aubrey glanced at Ado whose head sack had gone limp. He turned to her, and seeing his fear echoed in Aubrey’s face, cleared his throat and spoke.

“We’ll go first.”

“Good, good,” the old man took him by the hand and led him to the altar. “It’s not so bad, just a quick prick with the needle and then you’re all done.”

Ado nodded as the altar took his arm and forced him to kneel before it. More clawed arms shot out of the altar, two grasped his wrists, two on his shoulders, and two held his hips. Now immobilized, he glanced over at the old man who continued his unsettling smile. “This part is going to hurt.”

A seventh arm extended, a syringe gripped in its mechanical fingers. With a sudden blur of motion, it stabbed Ado in the center of the chest. He yelped in pain as the needle bit into his thick skin and withdrew a pink fluid.

Mercifully, the old man hadn’t lied, and the ordeal was over as quickly as it began. The mechanical spider released him, its arms withdrew into the square altar. Grasping his chest, Ado returned to his new friend. Aubrey reached out and squeezed his hand reassuringly.

“It’s not so bad, just a bit of pain and it’s over.”

She tried to smile, but her face wouldn’t quite cooperate.

A halo of light appeared over the altar as Ado’s complex, three helix DNA and genomes were mapped and analyzed by the system. The Techno-priests clicked at one another as their glassy eyes stared at the river of data, but they otherwise stood as still as statues. After several minutes, the data stream stopped. The Techno-priests turned and in unison bowed their heads to the old man.

“Alright, son, your genetic prophecy is complete and is being uploaded to your A.I. system. The Prophecy will be archived here should you ever need to retrieve a backup. I should tell you, your prophecy will teach you things about yourself that you never knew. I recommend reviewing it frequently, pondering its message, and seeking guidance from the Five as you live your life and fulfill the measure of your creation. Be judicious about sharing it with others, as it will reveal both your strengths and your weaknesses. Weaknesses that could be used against you.”

“We will. Thanks.”

The old man turned to Aubrey. “Your turn”

Aubrey swallowed hard, then stepped forward. The altar’s many arms grasped her as she knelt, pinning her in place.

Again, the seventh arm withdrew a syringe and plunged it into the small of Aubrey’s back. She whimpered in pain as it slid expertly between her vertebrae and pulled out some of her clear spinal fluid. And just as quickly, she was released.

Aubrey slumped forward, catching herself against the keen edge of the altar before pushing herself to her feet. She touched the small of her back. She could feel a small bump where the needle had done its work. But she was otherwise unharmed beyond a dull ache that was even now dissipating.

The light reappeared over the altar, her DNA and genomes beginning to map as a jumble of digital data again whirled and blazed in the air. The Techno-priests clicking became faster, more pronounced, and they began to wiggle their clawed, metallic hands, which snapped like scissors. Slowly their clicks stopped, until the group of Techno-priests stood in complete silence, staring at the data as the minutes ticked by.

Even the old man watched them, a curious expression on his face at the sudden stillness of the room. He cleared his throat.

“It uh… usually doesn’t take this long,” he muttered.

The room burst into chaos as the Techno-priests rushed towards Aubrey. Gripping her arm painfully in their metallic claws, they yanked her towards the altar, screeching and clattering frantically. Aubrey’s eyes were wide with terror in the confused chaos.

“Well, now, hang on a minute,” the old man said, trying to regain control of the room. But he may as well have been shouting at a tornado to quiet down as the Techno-priests swirled around her, gripping her soft skin in their cold mechanical hands, pointing at the stream of data that hovered over the altar.

“I don’t understand. What’s going on?” she asked.

Finally, the Techno-priests released her, and formed a tight circle as they conferred, their voices having apparently calmed to a soft rapid ticking, like a hundred clocks running simultaneously.

Aubrey glanced at Ado, who only shrugged. A few minutes later, one of the Techno-priests turned to Aubrey and spoke, his voice sounded like two pieces of rough metal being rubbed together. It made the hair on her arms stand on end.

“We’re sorry, there appears to have been an error with your reading. We have your sample, and will have to process it again at a later time, using a different unit.”

Aubrey shrugged, rubbing her skin where there would surely be bruises from their iron grip. “Okay.”

The old man watched the Techno-priests with a raised eyebrow as they continued to click in their circle. His gaze fell on Aubrey, his narrow eyes looking her up and down. He rubbed his chin for a moment before smiling. “Well, I guess that’s that.”

He led them back through the cathedral to their ship. There were no warm goodbyes with the old man, a simple grunt and a nod as he turned and slowly made his way back to the temple. Aubrey and Ado shrugged, shaking their heads as they entered the ship.