I stepped out of the gravity lift onto the ship’s middle level, where most of the important rooms seemed to be. Without Unity by my side I was largely ignored; I did still get the occasional surprised look from my so far entirely (aside from Tau and Laurie) terran crewmates.

It had been something I was looking forward to, getting to meet other genodiverse people. The only bast I’d met since leaving home had wanted to kidnap me, and the only titans had both misgendered and tried to kidnap me.

“Hey!” a man in red said sharply. He was tall, and had an intense gaze. “Where are you supposed to be, kid?”

“Oh, um, I’m on the reactor crew?” I replied unsteadily.

“No shit. Why are you standing in front of the lifts?” he demanded, eyeing me up and down.

“Oh, yeah, I’m looking for Nova,” I answered.

“She’s on second deck showing the new blood how to clean the plasma flux converters.” As the man eyed me suspiciously, I recognized him as one of the exo-skeletoned workers who’d been loading cargo when I slipped aboard. “What’s your name again?”

“Uhh, Rook. I just got here.” I offered him a tight-lipped smile. The way he was looking at me was familiar; I’d seen it before, on those who looked down on other genotypes. I slowly stepped back into the lift. “I’m gonna go find Nova. Nice meeting you though!”

I allowed the lift to whisk me away from his questions, and down another floor just to be safe. When I stepped out onto the second floor from the bottom, I quickly found Nova and Tau. They had removed one of the metal wall panels, and were working on the machinery within.

I didn’t announce my presence immediately, opting instead to silently observe.

“Right, just like that,” Nova praised. “See? Told you it would be just like training. Wait, before you do that you have to purge the internal plasma ducts.”

“Sorry,” Tau muttered, his brow furrowed with concentration. He twisted three dials in sequence, and the machine beeped twice. “There, purged right?”

Nova nodded. “Now we can remove the outer casing.”

Tau unscrewed three bolts at the corners of the machine’s cover with a ratchet from a nearby toolbox. Before he could make it to the fourth, the cover began to tip backwards, and Nova had to catch it before the heavy piece of fitted metal hit him in the head.

“Always start with the lower bolts,” Nova warned, her voice strained. “The lower bolts are shorter, and a lot of them are broken.” As she set the cover aside, the tattoos on her arms rippled with exertion.

Beneath the machine’s outer skin, there was a long, clear pipe coiled through its interior, snug against a charred back plate. “Nasty,” Tau remarked.

“Right?” Nova agreed. “Sometimes dust and other organic matter can get in there and form carbon solids, which reduces the energy transfer rate. We just have to clean it off, and-” Nova turned to pick up a brush, and spotted me. “Good morning, Rook. Nice of you to join us.”

“I had to meet with Unity to sign my contract,” I explained. “I’m here to help now. Can I clean off the carbon?”

Nova beamed at me, nodding enthusiastically. “First, you have to ground the back plate. Take a wrench like this and connect it to the ESD grounding cable on your toolbox, then just tap it gently.” A bright spark leapt from the device to her wrench as she demonstrated, but she seemed fine. “Okay Rook, go ahead.”

I took the wire-bristled brush, and stepped in front of them, then started scrubbing off the char. It loosened up easily enough, and I accepted a rag from Nova to wipe it off. My fingers were soon stained black with carbon, and my right arm ached with the exertion, but I pushed on. I had to push on.

“Make sure to get between the coils and the back plate,” Nova instructed.

“What’s this?” I asked, then thought for a moment, and clarified: “what’s a plasma flux converter?”

“I’m so glad you asked!” Nova gushed. “So the core reactor produces huge amounts of power, right? All that power gets packed into these ducts in the form of plasma.” She indicated the glowing purple pipe that ran along the corridor’s bottom edge. “We can’t easily use plasma to power the lights and devices on the ship, so we use power exchangers like these to transfer some of the energy from the plasma into usable electricity. The Clover has fifty of these boxes for its thirty individual circuits, with redundancies for critical systems. They range from fairly small units like this one to power the doors and lights, to huge, robust systems for high draw areas like the mess hall and bridge.”

I pulled back from the converter, confident in its cleanliness. “What kind of electricity does it convert to?” I asked.

“Either alternating or direct current, depending on the subsystem,” Tau chimed in.

“That’s correct,” Nova praised, and I smirked as Tau tried to hide his reaction to the praise. “Alright boys, let’s get this thing back together and move on to the next.” She looked down at her PDA, and sucked air through her teeth. “Shit. It’s the damn fusion thruster again. Can you two handle the next one while I go look into this?”

“Yes ma’am!” I chirped dutifully.

Nova jogged away, leaving the two of us alone in the deserted hall. I wondered what facilities were on this level, but didn’t feel like asking my grumpy roommate.

“So,” Tau said when she was out of earshot. “You’re subcontracted through Unity. I knew you were weird.”

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

I rolled my eyes. “What exactly is that supposed to mean?”

“Nobody in their right mind signs on with the Unity corporation. It’s like some kind of cult. The people who work there... well, I guess you’ll find out.” He smirked knowingly.

My tail lashed frustratedly. “Why are you like this?”

He shrugged. “Guess I don’t like to share intel with people who threaten me. I’m just quirky like that.”

I gestured to the cover panel. “Let’s just put this thing back together, please?” I suggested. “I’d like to have some actual work done when our boss gets back.”

Tau glared at me a moment longer, then easily hefted the metal plate and held it in place for me to bolt it back on. We turned the dials, and the machine beeped once. Tau took a magnetic clamp from the tool box and used it to pick up and replace the missing wall panel, and our first job was done. “Come on,” he said. “Next one’s this way.”

The second power converter was much the same as the first. I helped Tau remove the wall panel with the magnetic tool, then we purged the plasma from the interior to avoid getting electrocuted. Next I unbolted the cover with my good hand while he held it in place. I started with the lower bolts, and found that one of them spun freely; it must have been stripped out. Tau set the cover aside, and I began scrubbing away at the carbon.

“I’m sorry I threatened you,” I said quietly. “It wasn’t okay.”

“It’s whatever,” Tau replied dismissively. “Was that real blood on your fingers?”

I hesitated, then shrugged. “I’m not sure what I’m allowed to say still.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

I paused in my scrubbing to sigh wearily. “It means I don’t really know what’s going on. I’m confused and a little bit scared.” I still didn’t know how I felt about everything that happened, let alone how to explain it to some prick I just met.

Tau snorted. “Come on, dude, don’t get emotional. I’m sure a rich kid like you will be fine.”

I shot him a withering look. “Can you not right now? I’m trying to be sincere with you.”

“Maybe try being less cryptic first, how’s that?” he retorted. “You’re one weird dude. You haven’t even told me your real name yet.”

“Because I don’t remember.” I continued scrubbing.

“Sure you don’t. Until you do, I’m just gonna call you gay boy,” he said with a self-satisfied grin.

“Why do you keep calling me that?” I groaned.

“You haven’t denied it?” Tau shrugged. “It seems to piss you off? I dunno, pick one.”

“I’m not... my sexuality is none of your business!” I snapped

He laughed mean-spiritedly. “Yeah, you definitely hate that. Look how flustered you’re getting! Now I’m never gonna stop.”

I bared my teeth, and the bristles on the brush bent from the force I put on them. “That’s fine, Taumiel.”

He abruptly stopped laughing. “It’s just Tau,” he growled.

I shrugged. “Carbon’s all cleaned off. Let’s put it back together.”

No more quips were exchanged; an uneasy silence stretched on as we completed our task.

As Tau was fitting the wall panel back into place, I spotted Medina walking towards us. I was happy to see someone other than my reluctant roommate, hopeful that she might have something to say that wasn’t a thinly veiled insult. “Good morning, Sister!” I called cheerfully.

Good morning my child!” she replied with equal warmth. “How are you liking your position?”

“I’m learning new things already!” I tried not to take notice of Tau gagging behind me.

“That’s wonderful, dear! When you’re done here I was wondering if you might provide me with some assistance?” she suggested.

“How may I be of service?” I asked dutifully. I did, after all, owe her my life.

“There are a few books in my cabin that require cleaning. I thought perhaps in exchange for a consultation you might help me with them.”

“Oh, thank you sister, but I would have helped you even without the consultation,” I replied awkwardly.

The priestess looked me in the eye and shook her head seriously. “Nothing is free, my child. Nothing.” Something in the way she said it gave me the chills.

I cleared my throat awkwardly, unsurre how to take her warning. “Right. Well anyway, sure, I’d love a consultation. What does that mean exactly?”

Medina smiled demurely. “Answers, child. I can give you answers to many of the questions I’m sure are rattling around in that head of yours.”

That was certainly enticing. “That’s... thank you, sister. I have so many questions!” I had to bite my lip to keep from shouting them out right then and there. I would have to be tactful with when and how I asked.

“Conclude your duties here, and meet me in cabin Epsilon on the upper deck. I’ll prepare some tea.” With a genial wave, she was off.

“Looks like I’ll be having a lot of firsts today,” I said to myself excitedly.

Tau scoffed. “Did you see the way she ignored me? You should stay away from her, crusaders are bad fucking news.”

“Forgive me for wanting answers to my questions,” I snapped. “Maybe she likes me because I’m polite and pleasant to be around.”

He rolled his eyes. “Yeah right. You’re a bitch and we both know it. But fine, it’s your funeral, and I won’t be there.”

“Good! I don’t want mean people at my funeral.”

“How’s the job coming, boys?” Called a voice from around the bend. Moments later, Nova jogged back into sight. “Oh good, you finished the first one! Did you learn anything, Rook?”

“Yes ma’am!” I chirped.

“Suck up,” Tau mouthed, though with his back to Nova she couldn’t see.

“Good, ‘cuz there are three more junctions to check on this floor,” Nova bent forward to catch her breath briefly before continuing. “The faster that’s done, the faster we can all get some slop and take a break.”

“I think I’d be ready to handle one on my own,” I said confidently, ignoring the faces Tau was making at me. “But my arm is... yeah.” I held up my busted arm demonstratively.

“How about you two keep working together for now. Seems you could use the practice.” Her eyes wandered from me to my partner her smile fading. “Tau!”

He snapped to attention. “Yes sir?”

“Are you being a brat?” Nova demanded.

I giggled as his ears flattened sheepishly.

She shook her head tiredly. “Finish the task,” she ordered. “When it’s done, notify me so I can come inspect your work. Dismissed.”