Zreeth was seemingly happy with the quarters I led him to. It was just the room right next to mine, so it honestly wasn’t all that different really. Maybe slightly smaller but I suppose he didn’t know the general sizes of the rooms here and so wouldn’t care. He seemed like a decent guy, a bit snobby at times, but then again, he was a prince. And I had met people like him back home so I was used to it really.

Still, it was nice to get away from him. As much as I enjoy company, his constant questions were perhaps a bit grating at times. I answered what I could, simple things like where I was from, where was the crew, yadda yadda. Finally I just couldn’t take it any more and so left him in the care of Intra, who could easily answer the near constant stream of words that left his mouth… beak. It’s a beak, I need to remember that.

I myself, decided I’d had enough for one day, and returned to my bed, but found I couldn’t sleep. I guess I was still a bit riled up from the battle, if it could even be called that. And I suppose having a small group of ships all ready to blow us up at a moment's notice if we did anything wrong didn’t help either.

I left my room in a daze, wandered the halls and found myself sitting in a sparsely furnished room, staring out at the stars. There was even one of those ships in view and I spent some time watching it. It was pretty, a bit beaten up and dented, but still pretty. I wondered what it was like, to be on a ship like that surrounded constantly by other people. It must be like what I already know from my time before Intra. Crowded, but pleasant. Unless the hallways were really thin, then probably not so pleasant.

I don’t… I don’t know how long I stayed in that room, an hour, maybe longer. But I knew some time had passed when the stars started to blur and then became a streak as we jumped to FTL. Which meant that Intra had repaired the drive. That was good. But it also meant that I needed to have a talk with her.

“Intra, you there?” I ask empty air, and watch as she materializes right next to me.

“I am, is everything alright?” She asks, and I nod.

“Yeah I just… I needed to talk with you about something.”

“Oh, of course. What is it?” She is clearly interested in what I have to say, but I can see the hint of worry that she’s not doing so well at hiding.

“Well I just… I guess I feel useless right now. I don’t know how to fly the ship, I don’t know how to shoot the big guns or anything. I just kinda… sit around and let you do everything. So I guess I’m just wondering what I should… should be doing.” I watch as her face twists into a mask of thoughtfulness.

“That is true… Well, I know one job you’re already suited for.”

“You do? What is it?”

“Ambassador.” I sat there, thinking it over. I had some minor experience with that already thanks to the whole relocation thing. But I didn’t hold any sort of official position. And she seemed to read my mind on that. “Granted, you can’t make any sort of deals on the Alliance's behalf, but you can at least leave anyone we meet with a good first impression.”

She was right about that, I’d just have to do a bit of learning… Yay, more learning.

“That’s not a bad idea actually… I think I’m better suited for that than being captain actually.”

“Oh please, you’ll still be my captain. Have some faith in yourself will you?” She chuckled and I grinned softly.

“And I guess it also makes sense if you can’t reliably project yourself down onto a planet or anything. I’ll have to be the face of our little duo.”

“Mhm, but it’s a good face, so I think we’ll do just fine. I’ll whip up some snazzy drone escorts for you, just to really sell the image we’re cultivating here.”

I snort, but nod, imagining it a bit. Me in a somewhat snazzy outfit, flanked by some big, durable and probably very dangerous robots. I liked the idea of it, better than I liked the idea of sitting on the bridge and issuing orders all the time.

“Well… that’s really everything I wanted to talk about I suppose. I think I should try to get some sleep.”

“Probably not a bad idea. Remember, if you need to talk I’m always just one call away.”

“Thank you Intra, I haven’t forgotten. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight, Ula.”

I leave the room and return to my own, feeling much better about things. I knew that this particular job was going to be difficult, very much depending on the species, but I think it’d be far more rewarding.

⫷⟪∞⟫⫸

Ula was rightfully concerned about her position aboard this ship. She wasn’t qualified to even push a button to purge the air filters, but she’d held up just fine, till now that is. But perhaps a change in her ‘job description’ as it were would do her some good. Acting as an ambassador of sorts, mainly just a friendly face and an even friendlier hello could be precisely what she needs. I just hope we’re right about that. I don’t like being wrong. Then again, who does?

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Either way, with her heading back to bed, I can devote a little more of my focus to Zreeth, who’s still talking. I swear he hasn’t taken a breath in the last ten minutes, which is rather impressive I must say. That being said, I do have other things to do so I politely excuse myself and focus on said things.

The biggest of which happens to be keeping the ship from flying apart, my repairs had been quick after all, it wasn’t nearly as structurally sound as it was when we first entered this region of space. The Warden was going to need some time in dock for major repairs. While I was faster than the ships of the Imperium, my guns were on equal footing, but the armor… now that was an entirely different thing. Clearly I needed better armor, and perhaps our new friend the Prince could be of help in that regard.

We just had to stay on friendly terms of course, which I felt Ula would be able to achieve. With a little help from me now and then of course. For now we would wait and see just what sort of people these Eltrani were like, and go from there.

I turned my focus to a different matter, one a bit more mindless than anything else. I started designing the drones that would escort Ula during her time as pseudo ambassador for the Alliance, and I needed them to be effective at their job. I couldn’t do everything, and personally controlling drones was actually a big strain on my systems, so they needed to have plenty of flexibility.

It was hours later by the time I was finished and I may have gotten a bit carried away. Tall, sleek, thin. But the armor on them was exquisite and not just for decoration. It’d take a tank to crack that armor, and the weapons that were built in could demolish a tank easily if given the chance. Then again, I was basing their relative power off already known assets, so they might prove a minor annoyance if the Eltrani decided to try and harm her. But if they did, I had scores of starfighters and heavy cannons to dissuade them of that course of action.

I began the printing process, the drone printers working overtime to make them as I leaned back and rested, off to dreamland as many would say.

I wonder… I wonder what I’ll dream about this time.

⫷⟪∞⟫⫸

Nettal was beside herself. One moment she had been prepared to lay waste to the ship that now sat in the middle of their formation, storm it and massacre the crew, all in an effort to save the Crown Prince. Yet that had not happened, instead things had changed and she could say with reasonable certainty that she wasn’t happy about it. These savages should have been wiped out and the Prince rescued, they shouldn’t be bringing them back to the homeworld for a pat on the back and possibly even a reward for the prince’s safe return.

But what really didn’t sit right with Nettal was the ship itself, and its apparent pilot. With the shields down, with the armor torn in some places and sealed up, scans had revealed something strange and wrong with the ship. Flesh. Ships don’t have flesh, nor blood, or organs. It just didn’t make sense. It was wrong, and she didn’t like it. It was like a living being had been wrapped in metal so as to disguise its true form.

It did explain the ease with which the ship had executed the maneuvers that it’d pulled back in the asteroid field however. And based on the various fluctuations in the voice she had heard whilst in contact with it, the ship itself was controlled by something inorganic. Which meant that it was A.I. controlled, and that was never a good thing. The Eltrani had encountered only one A.I. species before and nearly been driven extinct as a result, so digital life was heavily controlled or outlawed entirely.

But this one… this one was cunning, crafty, and for the moment, friendly, compared to earlier. Like many things that had happened over the past day or two, things just didn’t sit right with her. But she could wait and see how it all played out yet again, even if she didn’t like it. But she was also inquisitive, and her curiosity got the better of her as she entered her private quarters, settling herself down at her desk and sighing.

She took the time to get herself a drink, before punching up the comms system and pinging the alien ship, hoping to have a little chat with this Intra person, if they could even be called a person. The connection was never finalized, and so she grumbled, shaking her head as she turned in for the evening instead. Perhaps she’d get a chance to have an actual conversation when she woke up.

⫷⟪∞⟫⫸

A house stands before me, a simple one made of wood and steel. It’s elegant, yet somehow old fashioned. I don’t know why, but it feels familiar to me, but it’s like a word that I can’t remember, sat on the tip of my tongue. If only I could remember why it was familiar… I know enough to check under the simple red doormat before the door, finding a hidden compartment with the crystalline key waiting inside it that would grant me entry.

Inside the house is cozy, simple but lived in. A living room with a large couch and plenty of soft cushions, there’s even a fireplace, the mantle covered in blurry pictures. Even the walls are covered with pictures, also blurry. I sense a warmth in this place that I know well, the warmth of comfort, of love and affection. This is a happy place… But under the surface, under the warmth I sense a profound sadness, a deep grief that is heartbreaking even now. I was about to explore more, when I heard a sound that was terribly familiar indeed, a sound I knew almost intimately.

The popping crack of a neck breaking and a rope going taut.

⫷⟪∞⟫⫸

I woke in a cold, digital sweat, my reactor pulsing quicker to mirror the racing of my digital heart. It felt too real, this dream. Too real, too terrible. Shuddering I pulled my knees to my chest, rocking in place and trying to push that awful sound out of my head. But it was to no avail, everytime I closed my eyes, I could hear that sound again and again, on a loop. I wanted to scream, to do anything that would drown the sound out, but instead old failsafes kicked in, ones that had failed so long ago, and I was reverted to a calmer state of mind.

It was a temporary measure, it did not erase the dream's impact upon me, but it did give me the time to process things and come up with a simple explanation for what I’d seen. It was just a dream after all, nothing more. It couldn't hurt me, couldn’t do anything really. Just a dream. As for the rest of it, the house, that was probably just some manifestation of a desire I didn’t even know about. Perhaps I would have a house like that when this was all over, i could build it in Neo Requiem. That would be nice.

Shaking my head, I looked at a chronometer, noting that six whole hours had passed. It’d take another twelve to reach the Prince’s homeworld, so I had little left to do in the meantime. I could probably find something to do though.

I sighed, and turned my gaze outwards, to look at the stars as they streaked and swirled past us all.