Returning to the Hegemon-4, Josh was surprised that it felt like coming home. The Clone had brought them to the BAH they had departed from and left without a word. Josh wasn’t worried. He was sure Daddy Glowstick would be back. Ishan and Lobo nodded farewell, saying that they had to help what was likely a very nervous Vergei with a Techno-Lord’s head in a box.
Sen and Josh raised their brows as they had forgotten entirely about Estra. To Alysa’s confused looks, Josh told her they would fill her in later. Symbal had somehow known they were arriving and greeted them with open arms for his daughter. That night, he threw a welcome home party for all three of them. He also advised that he would be helping with making sure that death-trap of a pirate ship was upgraded with everything the Hegemon-4 had to offer.
It’s good to have friends.
Alysa and Josh knelt in seiza before Senyak as their training ended. Over the last seven days, things had returned to a routine of what might be considered the new normal for Josh’s new iteration-jumping, void-traveling life. Sen had even swapped out his Hegemon-4 onesie with the more traditional saffron robes Josh had met him in. Sen did seem more comfortable in them.
During their training, Sen had been using his bastard sword and Josh another loaner from the ship’s stores. He went through two to three every training session.
Sen had offered his Titan’s short sword, but it hadn’t seemed right for Josh to take it. It was Sen’s blade. Josh just had to get better at holding onto his weapons.
He had previously given over his second and last Titan dory spearhead to Alysa, as she preferred the spear, and Josh was glad he had one to give her. She had again attached it to a ship’s telescoping practice shaft and was a whirling tornado of edges and poles while using it. Josh was grateful he had significantly upped his fighting game during his time with the Sundai. Between the skills he had learned there and his extra level of Attunement over Alysa, he was able to stay on top of their matches, but Alysa was determined to overtake him and he needed to keep working with Sen to ensure he held his lead. Josh felt like maintaining their current dynamic was for the best.
The best for her, of course! She needs a goal to aim for, after all. My pride doesn’t play any part in this decision. None at all…
That was his story, and he was sticking with it.
Regarding Cultivation, Alysa was still working on improving threshold instigation, or just enough to trigger the skill, and partial propagation of her earth shield, to cover only specific portions of her anatomy to both save Essence as well as speed up the skill. The most significant part of the achievement was that she’d gained the skill after only a few days of trying and could activate a full shield in a fight when needed... most of the time.
She was still working on weapon Enhancement, which required a greater degree of externalization of her Essence. It was a skill Josh and Sen both admitted was an order of magnitude more complex to propagate than the comparatively simple shield.
Josh could instigate the growth toward learning the skill of Essence Enhancement with his new tetrahedral level error skill, and he was tempted to do just that. But it somehow felt right for her to try and get it on her own. Alysa was a quick study. With her accomplishments, it was clear that she would get the hang of it quicker than most, and Josh spent time working with her on it every night before he got his twenty minutes with Sophie in their soul space. Sophie could only stay for about forty-five minutes before she got tired and needed rest if she wasn’t pushing it. Josh would never ask for more than twenty of those forty-five minutes. Sophie’s time with Alysa was essential for both of them. Besides, the consistency of seeing her every day felt like more time than he had gotten to spend with her in Jacksonville and Josh was very content with it.
Breathing hard from the past ninety minutes of training, Josh checked his sword skill advancement.
Weapon:
Mundane Practice Sword
Skill Level:
Basic (91% →92%)
Damage:
Mundane, Average
Quality: Mundane, Average.
Activate with 100 Essence to accelerate strike for 250% damage. Allows interface guidance for optimal usage.
100% probability of 3,400% hand-to-hand damage, if the practice weapon’s safety protocols are disengaged.
The days of his sword skill growing in leaps and bounds were over. From now on, he would have to be happy with the growth that could only be found in a daily grind.
Josh looked over at Alysa, who was also breathing hard and dripping sweat. Her Enhanced slashes with the Titan dory were terrifyingly impressive, but seeing the deepening notches the twelve-inch blade was getting from Sen’s sword every session, he wasn’t sure how much longer it would hold up.
Sen sat down and joined them, his role of sensei over for the day. They were just three friends again recharging after a hard workout.
Josh couldn’t help but say what was on his mind. “Wish we could head over to Jorng’a’s smithy and upgrade Alysa’s weapon—something that wouldn’t be bad for the rest of us either. I have a feeling we will need ’em sooner rather than later.”
Alysa shrugged. “Well, why don’t we? We’re going to be privateers, after all.”
Josh cocked his eye at her, clearly lost as Sen thought for a second and then seemed to come to the realization she was right.
Alysa smirked. “You really don’t know what a privateer is, do you?”
Josh gave a chagrined chuckle and gave up pretending he had any idea what being a privateer meant. “No. No, I don’t. We’re short on the details of active void-faring pirate organizations where I’m from.”
Sen bit off a laugh and filled in Josh through their Bond.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
An expression of amazement came over him as he understood the ramifications. “So... uphold the honor of the Kaizuko, raid any vessels they are currently at war with and make a tithe of any plunder. Otherwise, we’re free to do and go where we want? And our Lord Clone is the one who set this up for us?”
Sen thought Josh’s last statement over and gave the same expression he had to Alysa’s recommendation. “Yes... yes, he did, Joshua.”
“We’re free? We can go where we want, when we want?” Josh’s spirits were soaring.
His mind was racing with the possibilities! They could hit the open void. Second star to the right and straight on till morning, Mr. Sulu—
“Stop being ridiculous, Joshua Elias Tanner. I will continue to track and dictate your actions down to the function of every one of your cellular mitochondria. This shall continue until you Transcend into Immortality, or what probability predicts as much more likely—you come to the ignoble end that most of your actions and capabilities deserve. I have only made the Brigantine available to you because freedom of mobility is required for your and Senyak’s continued growth.” The Clone’s wolfishly-smiling visage rippled in all his violet-indigo glory. “However, until your Fate has been decided, as they say in your iteration—I own your ass!”
All the sparring pairs training alongside them nearly simultaneously averted their eyes, struck a knee in respect, and hurried out the door. Alysa fled as well. They had all agreed that minimal involvement with the Clone was best for her and Sophie.
Before she could exit the training room, the Clone held up a hand. “Lieutenant JG Alysa Nang. Please remain. My appearance concerns you as well. Furthermore, it would be the height of folly and obtuseness to ignore that Karma has linked you with these two in an unavoidable way. I possess neither.”
Alysa stopped, faced the Clone with her eyes averted, head down, and nodded.
“Yes, Lord Clone.”
The Clone eyed Alysa, looking her up and down with his azure gaze for a moment before continuing. “It has been just shy of two weeks since the incident with the Savoy Corporation representative. Kotei Stuado has arrived with the Brigantine and your Confirmation of Marque. You three shall meet him on the Man of War in a formal ceremony of recognition.”
And they were gone.
Suddenly, no longer aboard the Hegemon-4. Before any of them could object about the need to shower and change their clothes—or at least put on a fresh layer of deodorant—they appeared on the observation deck of the Man of War.
A large dome of transparent tita-steel above them gave a 360-degree view. The vista took in the Hegemon stretching forward as far as the eye could see, as well as the Brigantine, their new city-sized home for the foreseeable future. They were also surrounded by hundreds of officers from the Hegemon in formal attire and an equal number of what appeared to be formally dressed officials from the Kaizuko empire.
Alysa had appeared, dory in hand, wearing a silver and blue gown of flowing silks with a sheer blue shawl that exposed her shoulders. Sen and Josh were equally well dressed in formal ship uniforms with swords mounted behind them on the mag-harnesses Jorng’a had once supplied them with.
The Clone was nowhere to be seen, but Alysa’s father Symbal, the short chinese Hegemon-4’s Forward Section’s Quartermaster —also in the formal ship’s uniform of a silver and blue petticoat with starched white slacks, was standing with Ishan. Lobo and Katak were similarly dressed. Symbal was speaking with the Kotei, who was also in dress robes of red and white and had donned his crown of gold and a platinum-like metal that glinted crimson sparks.
A fit woman with a kind face bearing a well etched smile-lines stood beside the Kotei, wearing her gray-streaked blond hair long past her shoulders and holding his arm. The Queen was wearing a red and white void-mesh gown with diamonds and rubies sewn in the shapes of constellations tastefully covering it. She wore a tiara crusted with the same stones.
Jishin was also there, one step behind his king and queen. A smile split the old pirate’s face so wide that Josh was sure he had swallowed a canary. Symbal greeted them as though he’d expected nothing less than for them to appear out of thin air and took Alysa’s arm as if they were going for a stroll in the park.
Josh blinked. ~Is it normal for people to appear out of thin air around here?~
~With the Clone involved... yes.~
“Nǚ’ér, I was just discussing with the Kotei the need for the Kaizuko Empire to open formal trade relations with the Hegemon-4. Such a partnership would benefit each of us immensely!”
“Ah, my new danshakus!” The Kotei took Alysa’s other hand, before bowing and kissing its back. Straightening, he nodded in greeting to Josh and Sen. “And I was just telling your father about how his reputation as a relentless negotiator precedes him. The only one fiercer than the three of you in this room is him—though, perhaps on different battlefields!”
Alysa smiled and shook her head, “Not to disagree with you, your majesty, but I still fear facing him on the woven rice matts he trained me on as a child!”
Symbal blushed and bowed to his daughter as they all laughed. The Kotei and Symbal then proceeded to banter their way to a trade agreement between the two space-faring nations.
The ceremony itself was short. All three kneeled and swore to uphold the Kaizuko code of honor: To defend all just Kaizuko in need, if feasible and to honor their benefactor with a tithe of their rightful plunder. The Kotei held his hand over each of their medallions and they changed from the brown-colored metal he had initially given to them to the same glinting platinum of his crown.
Sen and Josh’s interface chimed.
Interface-compatible Stellar Atlas received. Uplink and enable mapping function?
They selected yes, but then pushed any related notifications to the side as the queen handed the Kotei an open wooden box from which he took out three smaller boxes and gave one to each.
“As is custom for all battle leaders who have earned the right to captain a capital vessel of the Kotei, we are proud to bestow upon you three, one of our greatest honors.”
Opening their boxes, they saw a tear-shaped space of darkness with stars swirling in and about it. Josh touched it, and his interface chimed again.
Item of Power obtained: Tears of Nekusassu.
You have not yet attained this Attunement. You have not yet expanded your Core sufficiently to absorb this Attunement.
They all swallowed hard at the enormity of the treasure that had just been bestowed upon them. Josh looked to the top of the transparent dome above him and nodded in respect to the Clone, who he was sure was watching. He had to admit the blue bastard had a lot of game on him—
“And you should forget that at your peril, Joshua Elias Tanner.”
“I ah—I’ll do that…errr …I won’t do that…,” Josh said, clearing his throat. “Um,” he gestured awkwardly to the priceless Item of Power. “Just one quick question, though.”
“Always just one more question with you, Joshua. Though perhaps you have earned one. Just one. Speak.”
“Well,” Josh scratched the back of his head, now in an even more awkward position, because he had planned to ask more than one–
Obviously aware of the mental gymnastics Joshua was performing in his attempt to splice his three questions into one, the Clone interrupted with a raised twinkling palm. “Let me save my time and you a possible rupture of your cortex. The Tear of Nekusassu you three have earned is the item of power for Space/Time.”
Josh pulled his awestruck face away from the shimmering motes trapped in the Tear’s black substrate just in time to witness the flash of the Clone’s departure.
* * * * *
The Clone’s presence floated thousands of kilometers above the Hegemon-4 as he watched his charges clumsily mingling at the Kotei’s reception below. It was more than improbable they were both still alive. Given their inept handling of nearly every situation and across multiple aspects of their recent adventures, their continued existence was commendable to say the least. Reflecting through Zenyak’s memories, there were very few the Clone could draw on to appropriately compliment the two’s achievements. In all his billions of galactic cycles of existence, it was very unusual for Zenyak to find reason to commend the beings in service under him. Those who were lesser were either judged adequate to continue their functions or they were replaced by individuals who were.
Still, despite the man’s many failings, it could not be denied Joshua had brought himself and Senyak very far from that alley. The same had to be said about the probability outcomes of his and Senyak’s Bond. What had begun as a token nod from Zenyak to Karma by tasking the Clone to monitor their actions— because the end result of the one slender thread of potential couldn’t be properly calculated, much less relied upon—has blossomed into an entire branch of possibilities... even some greater Probabilities.
The calculated outcomes had overwhelmingly pointed toward both Joshua and Senyak dying on Mwezi, or on the Brigantine, or on the energy drainer’s Dreadnaught. At one point, it had even been more likely that spontaneous implosion of the two-billion-year-old Hegemon-4 would kill them both rather than Reality continuing to suffer their existence.
Yet, still they remain.
This fact spoke volumes of Karma, Balance, and Reality’s influence upon their Path.
The emergence of such unlikely outcomes required a reordering of priorities and directions toward the Bonded Cultivators. The Clone needed to speak with Zenyak, but the original had missed their last scheduled meeting and had not responded to his follow-up communications. It was unlikely that Zenyak had been scrubbed from existence by Oblivion. It was impossible, in fact. The Clone could still feel the rippling presence of his original’s Immortal Ka through the cuboids.
The Clone continued to dwell above the Hegemon-4, facing what was essentially his own mercurial preeminence embodied in the original’s selfish actions of disregard. Confronted with the absolutely unexpected outcome of his two charges’ continued existence and growth, one thought pierced through his pondering, calculating thoughts.
Where is Zenyak?