“Humans are so predictable.” - Jill

“I am not human!” -V

“Your I.Q. isn’t much higher than theirs, so it makes little difference.” - Jill

***Outer Rim***

***Veronica***

“I don't want to die. I don't want to die. We are all going to die.”

“Stop chanting and crawl, Sis! Someone is bound to hear us if you don't shut up,” my sister snarls while planting yet another replicator, an automated attack-unit which is designed to multiply and sabotage enemy craft.

In their inactive state, they are little, fist-sized balls with the ability to unfold into four-legged robots.

The both of us have them strapped to our grey, one-piece flight suits which hug our figures perfectly, along with several kilograms of equipment that we might need. Although, after a trip of several kilometres, I feel much lighter. Most of the replicators are planted, and the hacking gear is inserted into the ship's systems.

So far it seems like we weren't detected.

My sister keeps droning on about my issues while she catches up to me and slaps my butt. I draw in a sharp breath, trying to restrain the anxiety and fear which causes me to behave like an idiot. “I told you that I am not cut out for a job like this! Flying through an enemy armada and infiltrating their flagship... with a ship that wouldn't survive a single shot... who in their right mind would do such a thing?”

The little fighter which we used to get this far has the latest cloaking technology installed, thanks to our father. Light-Adaptation, Radar deflection, even heat radiation is completely non-existent. The vessel is a black hole throughout the electromagnetic spectrum and most of the visible frequencies. If we move slow enough, we can even imitate the radiation of stars which are hidden behind the ship. But to achieve that, the designers had to do without some functions which are essential in my opinion.

There are no radiation shields, no armour to speak of, and no offensive capabilities. The communication lasers of a larger ship could cut our toy-vessel in half.

“We would do such a thing,” she corrects me. “It's insane, and that's why nobody will anticipate it!” Jill forces me to crawl quicker by yanking on my tail. “And we did a fairly good job at it, I might add. Just relax and lean back. Be along for the ride and let me think of everything.”

I stop at a ventilation vent and peek through the tightly woven mesh. It holds some kind of filter material against dust, but the layer is thin enough to see through if I press my nose against the metal. Outside is a corridor which is filled with a happy assortment of random aliens, working together despite their differences in appearance and mentality. Seeing that, I feel a pang of guilt. A long time ago, I was on their side.

It's a wonder that we got this far, but Jill used her Myriad to spy on the G.S. flagship, choosing a rarely visited part to cut through the hull. But if that part of the plan wasn't already risky enough, we are now trying to get to Ouluk and bring him with us without being found out.

“It feels like we are some kind of monsters who are lurking through a group of innocent civilians in search of prey,” I muse.

Jill nods. “That actually reminds me of an old movie. It's about a poor alien who gets abducted by a group of evil humans. They try to picture the protagonist as this evil monster, but in reality, it's just a misunderstood creature. Who would blame a wolf for biting if the victim jumps into the wolf's cage? Nobody. Try to think of how you would feel if someone took you away from your home while you were still a demonling.”

“Not happy?” I answer while I continue down the shaft.

“Exactly!” Jill answers energetically. “So, the rest of the movie is about this poor baby-creature who fights to carve out a place for itself. It's a story about freedom and fighting for survival.”

“I see... so how does it end?” Somehow I have a feeling that the movie will be quite different when I actually have to watch it. Jill's view of the world is a little... distorted... at the best of times. When she has one of her days, it's actually upside down and inverted at the same time.

“The protagonist dies, but he manages to kill most of the evil humans, safe for one. But don't worry, that one gets killed by the protagonist's child in the second movie.” Jill pats my right heel, just as I arrive at an intersection between four shafts. “We have to go down now, deeper into the ship. That's where the safety cabins for the command crew are. Ouluk is non-essential personnel, so it's likely that he will go there once the fighting starts.”

Once the fighting starts? “I hope that I misunderstood that. Did you just say, once the fighting starts?” I hold onto the shaft's walls and allow myself to slide down when it gets to steep to crawl.

“Didn't you listen to the plan!?”

“Nobody told me about a plan! From my perspective, you are just winging it as you go!”

There is a moment of silence until Jill answers. “Now that you mention it, it's true that I never told you about Antioch's plan. Actually, it's my plan, because it wouldn't work without Myriad, but that's beside the point. You see, it starts with our fleet drawing their attention. They are using the solar sails to flood the space around the planet with so much radiation that it was easy for us to slip past their detection systems. That allowed us to sneak up on them like we did.”

She draws in a deep breath. “Then...”

I wait, but my sister's sharing mood seems to be over. “Then?”

“You know what, just do as I say and we will get out of this alive,” she quips.

“Something is wrong. Why won't you share the plan with me? Are you not trusting me? Is it because of my past?” I ask, trying to find the reason. She had a rather sudden change of heart just now, and that means that she is hiding something. Either she thinks that I won't react well to the truth, or there is something even fishier going on.

“Nonono. It's certainly not that. Hah, we lived together for almost two decades! You are my sister in body and soul.”

“Then why!?” I ask, feeling a little hurt, but still having my doubts.

She sighs. “To be brutally honest, you are too stupid.”

“What!?”

“This is a very complicated plan which requires utmost precision and the ability to adjust some small, but important details on the fly. It's something that can only be done by a Blue, like myself. Haven't I told you that you should just lean back and stay along for the ride?”

This is just too much! “But I am crawling heels over head through a narrow ventilation tube! Heck, most adult demons wouldn't fit through here!”

“That's why I stunted our development!”

She did... what... but... “That's impossible! It would mean that you devised this plan-”

“Twenty years ago.”

I close my mouth and shake my head. It's impossible that she thought twenty years ahead. What kind of mind would... but she is a Blue... can she?

“See, took your speech, didn't it? I didn't want to tell you because I thought that exactly that would happen. Most unaugmented minds think it's too much to see that far into the future, but it isn't. At least not for someone like me. Ah, and before you ask, I am not a god. But the ability to think in multiple dimensions and time frames caused me to get bored. I had to do something, so I started playing through possible scenarios for the future. Other Blue may develop some fancy new quantum-mechanics, while I prefer to edit my future.”

“Edit your future?” I ask, feeling too tired to question the truth of her story.

“Yeah, you know... making the scenarios which I prefer more likely. As an example, a future which includes my permanent death wouldn't be very desirable.”

“Then why don't you avoid all the bad things? Like getting punished by Silith?”

Jill shrugs. “Maybe I am a masochist. Maybe avoiding all the bad things isn't possible. Some things simply happen, and there is nothing I can do about it. It's like there is a higher power who wants to humble my perfect mind.”

“Jill?”

“Yes?”

“Let's just forget that we ever had this conversation.” I reach the bottom of the shaft which widens into a small alcove with little blast doors to be sealed off in case of a hull break. Two more narrow corridors are going out from here, but they are too small for us. “This is a dead end. Where do we go from here?”

Jill drops down from the shaft and lands next to me. Now that we are kneeling, the space is just big enough to sit next to each other without any restriction of movement. Nodding, my sister sits down. “Now we wait until Dad’s fleet attacks and wrecks this ship.”

I just look at her. “We wait here until the ship – the very ship we are aboard right now – gets attacked?”

“Yes.” She smiles as if there is no problem at all.

I try to get up. “I am going to find Ouluk right now, and then we are out of here. Before anything gets shot up!”

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But Sis pushes me back down again. “Hell, no! Attacking their command centre could go all kinds of wrong. We certainly wouldn't get off the ship. This is what we are going to do: We are going to sit right here until the chaos starts. We are not going to attack this vessel’s bridge which is – aside from the engine room – the heaviest defended spot on any starship. We are going to wait right here until the situation gets hot enough for the vessel’s commander to send non-essential personnel to their designated safety areas.

“We will wait until the ship’s crew has other concerns than to concentrate their full attention on two infiltrators.” She pats the wall right in front of us. “On the other side of this wall is the corridor which connects the ship’s bridge with the quarters of the command crew. Incidentally, that’s the most likely path Ouluk will take when he is thrown off the bridge. That’s when we burst through the wall and grab him. Then we make a run for it.”

She pulls a disintegrator out of one of her body-suit’s pockets, showing me an evil grin. My eyes widen at the sight of the T-shaped device. Disintegrators are a practical adaptation of the molecular disassemblers which come naturally with most of our nano-tech. They are brute-force devices, capable of destroying the atomic bonds in any material.

“Those things are dangerous!” I warn her, which is most likely futile because she clearly knows what a device like this one is capable of. The problem with atomic bonds is that they hold a lot of energy. Normally, that's not an issue... as long as the physical laws of nature apply. A Disintegrator does away with some of the cumbersome stuff, like the electromagnetic force. In metals, it's possible to deny them the ability to form an electron cloud, sharing their atomic hull. It's probably easy to imagine what happens when a lot of potential energy that used to hold the atoms in place, is suddenly free to convert to radiation and heat if the device isn't properly calibrated.

“I borrowed this out of one of our laboratories. Ah, and don't worry. I know how to use this thing.” She looks speculatively at the metal wall in front of us. “The reach of disintegrators isn't far, just a few metres at most, but it should be enough to burn a hole through this wall.”

“We will be roasted!” I complain. “We are much too close to the wall!”

“I won't disintegrate all the metal. Taking in the efficiency factor of the device, four percent conversion rate should be enough to turn the wall into molten slag. We will be fine if we activate our nano armour and move quickly.”

“Quick-”

I abruptly shut my mouth when the whole ship shudders, causing the emergency lights in the ventilation shaft to flicker. The ship bucks beneath me, throwing me against the wall. By now it's clear that someone is shooting at us, making me wonder what has enough punch to make a leviathan like the G.S. flagship feel the blows. More importantly, isn't Dad's fleet still close to the sun? I expected that we would have to wait for hours until our forces arrive.

“No more time for talking.” Jill turns away from me, just as another impact shakes the ship. “Let's switch our communication to the tactical web.”

Feeling dread in my stomach, I accept the link which is offered to me. Finally, I get a little more information about what's going on, as a map of the ship appears in the top right corner of my vision. “You could have shared this sooner!”

“But it was nice seeing you struggle through the ship. It's so adorable to watch when you are upset.”

I ignore her and concentrate staying upright as the ship is hit yet again. This is so upsetting. And I feel the fear returning. Why didn't Jill bother to train me appropriately for this venture?

“Now!” Jill shoots the disintegrator at the wall in front of us, green light fanning out in a cone.

The next moment it's so hot that most of my hair is singed. The molten wall slags and flows to the ground. Jill is through the opening and outside almost immediately, while I try to follow to the best of my abilities.

Unlucky as I am, a drop of molten metal lands on my shoulder and I yowl in pain, flailing wildly to get the droplet off my nano-armour. The armour which is inbuilt into my body is sturdy but very thin and a part of me. It was meant to improve our bodies against the vacuum of space, not to withstand being rained upon by molten metal.

Stumbling and flailing like a maniac, I enter a wide corridor with several people of various races. They were watching Jill with dumbfounded expressions, but my rather unique entrance allows them to re-evaluate the situation.

Still flailing, I knock two of the aliens over, hitting one on the head and sending him into his companion. Surprised at my own strength, I stop, noticing that I accidentally broke them like toys. The head of the one who I hit is caved in like a melon which was hit with a bat.

Most of the remaining spectators turn to flee, while others try to engage and restrain Jill and me. The first is a strong looking fellow with huge paws. He steps forward and tries to encircle Jill with his arms, but my sister just places a hand on his furry chest and shoves.

I wince when I hear the cracking of ribs, and then the alien flies away on a flat trajectory, barrelling over three people until it hits the wall with a soft 'thud'. It slides to the ground and doesn't get up.

“Sorry, you aren't my type.” Jill looks around until her eyes land on the retreating form of a little, violet-skinned humanoid. “V! There he is! Go and get him while I distract them!”

I spotted Ouluk at the same time, and start running without questioning Jill's orders. The both of us are nowhere near as augmented as our parents, but we got one or the other point over the years. Not to mention that a base-line demon is already faster and stronger than most purely organic beings.

Ignoring a group of startled aliens, I kick off a wall and bound over them in a single leap, instinctively correcting my flight with my tail. When I round a corner, I run directly into a group with weapons, security personnel. There wasn't enough time for the ship's crew to organize a response, so this seems to be a regular patrol, a part of the ship's security system during a battle. They are so startled that they just look as I rush through them and after Ouluk. Their slow reaction allows me to consider my options, but just for a moment, then battle instinct takes over. Since I am not much of a fighter, I tried to compensate my weakness by using skillpoints for an instinct upgrade.

Seeing no other solution, I drop an egg-sized grenade and continue onwards, followed by an explosion moments later.

“I am so sorry!”

Seeing the little violet alien in front of me, I feel instinct taking over again and bound forward.

Then I finally reach my prey and catch Ouluk by the back of the neck. His little legs are still working when I lift him up, feeling strange for doing this. But a feeling of accomplishment rushes through me. Ouluk is a large male for the people of our... his race. Suddenly, I am strangely aware of how different my new body truly is.

Ouluk isn't much bigger than my arm, and I am not even considered an adult.

His manic screams shake me out of my stupor, and I look up and down the corridor. It's still empty, as anyone who wasn't a part of the security forces fled. In the distance, I hear the sounds of fighting. Jill playing distraction seems to work, but it won't stay like this forever.

“Ouluk, stop screaming!” I shake him, feeling bad for doing so.

He finally shuts up and looks up at me with a hateful expression. “What do you want!? How do you know my name?”

At that moment, it suddenly feels like my heart sinks down into my belly and I sway slightly. No matter what, I can't do this. Seeing the hate in his eyes, I realize that the two of us aren't on the same path anymore. Not for a long time.

But I also can't abduct Ouluk, knowing perfectly well what Antioch will probably do to him. Worse, there will be no coming back for him... or maybe there will? Dad is a nice guy and a good father, but he has a mean side for people who wronged him. He may force Ouluk to join our race, just so that he can kill him again and again.

For a long moment, I struggle with my feelings while I try to rationalize what has to be done.

If I learned one thing about the V.C., then it's that they are about freedom. What will the system do if Dad finds a way to hold another personality captive? Maybe even torturing it? They won't stand up for it. Prolonged imprisonment and mental slavery are the only things the humans truly punish among their own kind. But that's exactly what Antioch will do if he gets a hold of Ouluk.

Making up my mind, I approach a nearby trashbin, not so much as to betray Dad, as to protect him. And what I am about to do is certainly a mercy compared to what lies ahead of Ouluk otherwise. “I am sorry.”

“N- No! That hatch is for waste disposal! It ejects directly into space!”

Manhandling him, I shove Ouluk through the automatically opening hatch. It screams a warning when it registers that a living being is inside the disposal chamber.

Using a mental upgrade which I took years ago, I override the lock and Ouluk vanishes into the dark hole. Sucked up by a slurp of depressurized air. The opening is much too small for me, but it was just the right size for him. I frown at the funny coincidence of having suitable hacking software readily installed in my mind.

Slowly, I regain my wits and start running, thinking about my own survival. On the map, I can see that Jill is taking another way out of the ship. Legs pumping, I follow the escape path which the map indicates. Left, straight, up a maintenance tunnel and out of a hatch. Thankfully, I encounter nobody.

The ship shakes several times while I flee. Once, the impact is strong enough to throw me to the ground.

The indicated path flickers and changes, forcing me to double back a few metres. Jill updated the map with new information, probably to lead me around security forces or a closed off hatch.

Five breathtaking minutes and another hacked lock later, I step into a room with a worker inside. It's some kind of repair-station, and the many-limbed, black spider-thing scrambles to get out of my way when I approach a large tube which is embedded in the wall. A split-like hatch allows entry into the narrow space and stepping inside, I follow the map's instructions to activate the escape-pod.

The hatch snaps shut, and the next moment I feel myself ejected out into space with incredible force, the escape-pod not much more than a coffin.

I expect one of the G.S.'s ships to shoot me down, but nothing happens. As I spin, a little porthole grants me a hint of what's happening outside. I get to watch a silent light-show of the ravaged planet beneath us, and countless bright stars lighting up the sky. Just that they aren't stars, they are dying ships.

Then the scene vanishes and is replaced by a red-lighted airlock. Faster than expected, I feel gravity returning, and then someone opens the pod's hatch.

Jill's grinning face greets me. “Hi!” In the background, I recognize the familiar walls of our small cloaking ship. Over the last days, I got to know the small vessel's insides perfectly. After all, there is just the cockpit, sleeping accommodations with sanitary installations – one of them an improvised cell – and a small medical facility.

I sit up, opening and closing my mouth without making a sound. Only now, I realize my actions. I betrayed my family, while I was trying to protect them. At least that's what I am telling myself. What I did was inexcusable. Jill explained that Antioch sent us on this mission to confirm my loyalty, and I kind of betrayed him. I purposefully failed the mission, killing Ouluk.

“Don't pull such a face. Didn't we do a great job!? We went into a situation which seemed impossible to anyone but me, and we came out alive! Best of all, we achieved our objective.”

Feeling numb, I stare at her with a blank expression.

“That was some quick-witted thinking, Sis!” She slaps my shoulder in a jovial manner. “They locked down our escape route, but you vacuuming Ouluk out into space allowed our ship to pick him up! If you would've had to carry him, they would have caught you for sure. I knew that you would be able to do it!”

So... she manipulated me the whole time? She wanted me to space Ouluk?

I get out of the pod and leave the airlock, heading down the short corridor and straight into the medical bay. Sure enough, Ouluk's body is lying on the only bed in the room, hooked to several automated machines and cared for by three spider drones. He is bleeding profusely out of all of his orifices, but he is clearly alive.

Jill walks past me and studies a medical hologram in front of his bed. “He is alive for now, but it seems like your former species is very fragile. If he stays like that, he will break in no time when he meets our Dad.” She stops to think for a while, then she walks over to a locker and retrieves several injectors and a vial with a silvery substance inside.

I recognize it immediately as the nano-tech which we developed to add other species to our race, but the label says that it's one of the first iterations of the nano-virus. A direct sample from the system generated artefact which supposedly turns any life-form into a demon.

“We should enhance him a little.” Carrying the items on a tray, Jill returns to Ouluk's bedside. “But he won't be much of a demon if we leave his body like that. Everyone will laugh if we take a mate like him.” She calls up a character screen, much like the one which we designed for the victims of my nano-weapon.

With a few changes, she quickly ends up with a virile-looking Demon. It doesn't even surprise me that his type is exactly like the specimen who my eyes always tend to follow when I spend time on the colony's plaza.

When it comes to a certain part of his anatomy, Jill puts the slider to maximum length, which looks ridiculous, almost like his tail grew out the wrong side. Sliding it back, but still far too large, she sighs. “You know, I am not picky at all when it comes to looks, but I just can't decide on what size it should be.” She plays with the length and thickness, musing, “They always say that size doesn't matter. That the personality is what counts. Hm... but if you ask me, a man like him needs some damned impressive equipment to make up for his flaws in personality. Besides...” She gestures at Ouluk. “Look at that! It's a joke! Don't be mad, but nature did something wrong when it comes to your former species genitals.”

I swear! If she doesn't stop talking now... I'll space her too!

“Jill?” I place a hand on her shoulder. “Why don't we talk about this before you do something which neither of us can take back?”