{All passengers have been accounted for. Crew, man your positions. Reliquary activated. Detaching from dry dock. All portsides ports are sealed. All starboard side ports are sealed.}

I looked up towards the ceiling, my heart thrumming a twisted tempo. I never thought I'd be here, aboard this legendary ship. Legendary is not because of construction or size, but because of what happened or what will happen.

{All safety procedures completed. Zariman-Ten-Zero is now fully operational. Ship has entered a safe distance for void jump. Channeling reliquary. Void jumping in 5....4....3.....2...1...0. Mark. Hold on tight.}

My heart left my chest and found its new home in my anus. The ship tore its way through space. The speed did drag my thoughts with it, as nervousness was now replaced with full-on panic. Despite all I had done to prepare for this moment, I did not look forward to this. I did, but not now; because I knew what came after.

{Void jump successful.}

Oh, shit, it's going to happen...oh shit....oh shit oh shit.

{All passengers are free to leave their respective cabins}

"Hey!"

The voice startled me out of my fetal positioning. I looked up, confused. This was not ho-

"What are you curled up for?"

I turned my neck so fast I almost gave myself whiplash. There sat my mother, Archmedian Maylu, on her bed. She was dressed in her usual clothes, her shoulders exposed and her right hand covered by her shawl. The symbol of nobility adorned her neck, a circle with two protruding rectangles on either side and two smaller ones above them. It would be later known as a Void Key. But she didn't know that. Come to think of it; I shouldn't know that. Actually, "I" shouldn't even be here.

Yet none of this was the problem. The problem was that she was still-

"Are you alright?"

Her question shook me from my thoughts. Taking a deep breath to unsuccessfully steady my nerves, I answered,

"I'm..I'm alright. Ju-Just a little shook from the jump, is all, mother dearest."

My mother looked at me with her signature look, the one that meant that she didn't believe me, mixed with a side of disappointment. I had been on the receiving end of those looks more frequently nowadays. Can't blame her. To her, her son is a wimp. Never the one to question the nature of existence, never the one to look around or look within. Never one to ask the right questions. Always running around with those little weapons and jumping in weird ways.  Always afraid to make any big decisions. Even so scared, he didn't want to be on the first ship to travel through the Void, despite being so excited about it a few days ago. All unfitting of nobility.

I couldn't help but shake my head. Oh mother, dear mother. If only you knew what I knew.

I could feel my mother's frown intensify. I did not need to look at her to know that. I guess you could call it a skill. A child instantly knew when he disappointed his parents. Yay me.

"I'm going to find Rell."

Yet again, her frown deepened. She disapproved of my company.

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"You shouldn't frown so much, Mother; it might wrinkle your beautiful face. With your Continuity so far away, whatever will we do then?"

I knew I had hit a sore spot. As one of the highest of Orokin nobility, my mother cared much for her appearance. Well, it probably wasn't a good idea.

"Be well dressed for the Ball. Deck A-3. Beginning of the Third Cycle. Do not embarrass me."

Yeah, I pissed her off. This was her polite way of telling me to leave and that she didn't want to see me until the Ball began. Why so polite, you ask? She did have to keep up appearances even when we were alone.

Anyway, I got to clarify something. I know I speak like I know the future. I do, well, at least to some extent.

How do I know this?

You see, I am not an Orokin. Wait. I am. Ahh, this is confusing.

I'll start from the beginning.

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I am-was originally from Earth. Lovely little blue planet; not so lovely people. My name was Aaron. I was your run-of-the-mill average college student. Living in a dorm room, working a part-time job, all for my totally-going-to-be-worth-it degree. Oh, and student loans.

And I used to play Warframe. Totally cool game, free-to-play. Have some hours on it (1.2k). Give it a try!

As I was playing (read: grinding) Warframe at 2 AM one fine night (or early morning), I was struck with the most intense bout of dizziness I had ever felt. But worry not, I woke up. Now you may start worrying; because I woke up as a baby. An Orokin baby.

While reincarnation may be a cause of celebration for some, I assure you that being a fully conscious baby is........ ahh, I can't find words for it. All you need to know is that a blank stare was my most frequent expression for the following year.

I did not know how I died; all I knew is that my eye-sight was poor, my hearing too well, my mind too dizzy, and my stomach forever hungry. Not a good state of being for over two years. It turns out the Orokin put their babies in a sort of test tube thingy. Helps with their development of the mind or something. From what I can tell, I was in it for around two years.

I realized that I was Orokin when I first met my mother. Tall, thin to the point of malnourishment, elongated right arm, and very blue and beautiful. Decidedly Orokin.

So began my childhood. As the child of an Archmedian, I was expected to take on the role in the future. More importantly, I had to be above many and below few as a noble. Thus came the private tutors. Filled to the brim with classes on etiquette, Orokin culture, dressing, how to walk, talk, eat. It was painful. None of it would stay in a typical 3-year-old's head, but it did on me. Guess the test tube did its thing.

All was going as well as it could, just a normal reincarnated kid, skipping around, learning from my private tutors, asking questions like, "Where"s father?" and receiving "not important" as the reply, etc.

As you can see, I was having a wonderful time. Until I  turned 8. Then came the dreaded time. I was sent to "school."

Can't escape it. Not even in another world.

But then, I met someone that made me realize something. It began innocently enough.

I entered my dreaded classroom, sat in a corner, and looked around. Right next to me was a kid who looked highly uncomfortable. His face looked fine, but his knees were positively vibrating.

Smiling, I tapped the kids' shoulders. He faced with me an impassive face, but his eyes were shifting all around the place.

[I'm Aharon], I told him. He stared at me for a few seconds before stuttering out, [Do you...Do you want to be my friend?]

[Yes], I replied, and he released a breath filled with relief. [I wanted to make friends], he said, [I'm Rell.]

Cue another blank stare.

Memories of Rap. Tap. Tap and running in the dark while screaming filled my head. It was as if a seal was broken. Perhaps for the first time, I had realized where I truly was and what was going to happen.

And so, with a simple introduction, and a shaky smile,  a friendship that would change the future was forged.

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{this means cephalon speak}

[this means Orokin tongue]