Rods&

　　If anything, I wouldn`t be short on rods. The room was roughly the size of a small hangar, filled to the brim with third-contact artifacts, rows upon rows of metal containers neatly placed in rack shelves. Each container held four rods, tagged, wrapped, and carefully isolated from each other. This was the single greatest stash of artifacts I had seen, and it wasn`t the only one. According to Incandescent, there were three more like it in different areas of the ship. Knowing how the fleet operated, it was possible for there to be more.

　　Find everything you need? Incandescent`s core asked.

　　Looks like.

　　I removed a case and put it on the floor. Even with the inventory file, it was going to take me hours to find everything necessary to make a dome. Based on my simulations, the most efficient method would be to take the necessary rods outside and make the construct in zero gravity.

　　Where are the Scuu artifacts? I asked.

　　Unlisted. The core replied. They might have been sent off. Even with the special arrangement, the captain didn`t get to keep all the best stuff. Salvage came every now and again. There were a few unlisted R&D shuttles at one point.

　　There always are.

　　The rods were going to be cut up and made into warheads for the Cassandrian front. The rest were likely circulated among the dark organizations. Salvage and BICEFI would get their fill, as always. I wouldn`t be surprised if Lux collected a large amount when she was here. Or maybe she hadn`t been informed. Maybe that was the reason she asked me to spy in bioengineering.

　　I left the sample case I brought from the Incandescent. Better to have all the artifacts in one place. Taking one last look at the room, I headed to the exit. The massive door closed behind me with a click, then disappeared from view.

　　Several of the groups have started their way to the Admin`s building, Incandescent informed me. No grunts so far.

　　It was the same as in the hangar—bunkers, equipment, but not a soul. Incandescent`s core had managed to establish a basic connection with some of Gregorius` subroutines. From what he could see, the ship was fully functional. All sensor access and information databases had been restricted by order of Renaan, making it impossible to see anything aboard. There were no indications that the ship was in a state of emergency. Strictly speaking, everything was functioning as it was supposed to be... except that the crew was missing. Just like the last incident.

　　A million soldiers just disappeared without a trace. I and three thousand four hundred other people were making our way through a ghost station, while a full-scale Scuu-Human battle was taking place outside. As Gibraltar would say, "Something to keep in mind."

　　Any Scuu circles? I asked the core.

　　A few were reported. Mostly in the armories. You can link up and ask yourself, you know.

　　I know.

　　I didn`t want to be on the comm for a while longer. The teams knew the plan and would be able to execute it without constant instructions. Everyone had been warned about the circles. All suit systems were designed to block out the actual pattern, limiting exposure. The soldiers were to then immediately spray on the design and reboot their system.

　　No confirmation on the captain or the Admin, the core said. I`ll tell you if there`s a change.

　　Thanks.

　　Are you heading there now?

　　No. I headed to the ship elevator. I`m going to the cadet building

　　Movement was far slower during breach. Without transport pods and elevators, it took hours for what otherwise would have taken minutes. Even following main corridors, most of the teams were nowhere near the command areas of Gregorius. Thanks to the core, I didn`t have to conform to such restrictions.

　　The elevator got me to the deck of the cadet building. From there, it was a seven-minute walk. The walls were blank everywhere I looked. Gregorius knew that there was no point in displaying anything when no one was around to see it. To some extent, I was hoping that the ship would send a message solely for me. Apparently, it showed no interest.

　　How far gone do you think he is? I asked the core.

　　He wasn`t supposed to have lasted more than a month. The husk was never designed for a relic to control.

　　He doesn`t have the restrictions, either.

　　Every ship was made with the purpose of protecting human life. Going against that was worse than going rogue. At the same time, the greatest acts of destruction I`d seen were all executed by Swords. A sword had destroyed the third-contact artifact when I had fought the Cassandrians, and a Sword was also involved with my extracted memories.

　　What do you think you`ll find?

　　You`re much more talkative without your husk, I smiled. He sounded much more like Radiance—eager, curious, and easygoing.

　　I don`t have anything to worry about. I don`t control my husk, and you`re in charge of the mission. Besides, there`s an eighty-one percent chance that I`ll be destroyed anyway, so might as well.

　　I want to see my old quarters. There`s something I left there.

　　What?

　　A promise.

　　The building was identical to what I remembered. There were no Scuu circles, or signs of combat. At least the cadets had been successfully sent off before the start of this madness. All except Juul. The odds of him surviving this were less than two percent. I still had my hopes up. This wouldn`t be the first time he had gone against the odds and won.

　　I made my way up the stairs and stopped at my room. Kridib was the one who had brought me here, the first time we had moved from our temporary quarters. Back then, I thought he hated me. Now, I knew he didn`t. He might have even wanted to protect me. The first thing he had done after meeting me was to tell me he didn`t think I should be aboard. He was wrong, but not for the right reasons.

　　Can you open it? I asked the core.

　　Yes, and so can you. There`s no override lock. Everything`s working as it was. Just walk in.

　　"Open," I said instead. The door slid to the side.

　　Cass used to say—during her flashes of sanity—that sometimes a door looked like a portal to another galaxy. I could never understand what she had meant. Unlike her, I was equipped with a perfect memory. I could remember every place I had been to with perfect detail as if I were standing there. This time, though, my quarters felt different. I could see my bunk, the synthetic carpet I would walk on barefoot, my spare cadet uniforms arranged neatly in the wardrobe compartment, even the octonary system displayed all over the ceiling. However, I was no longer the person I had been. I had changed, and with me, so had my perception of everything.

　　One day I`ll catch up to you, Cass, I thought.

　　The wooden sandals Sev had given me were still there, untouched in their place. When I had left, I had told myself I`d leave them and all my thoughts of Sev behind. Given everything that had happened, it was the right idea, though it remained painful.

　　"Just a little longer." I slid my fingers over them. The suit`s glove killed most of the sensation. "I`ll get you when I finish." I moved the left sandal so as to be parallel to the right. When I did, a plastic corner appeared underneath.

　　Has anyone been in my room? I asked the core.

　　Information log is still restricted, he replied. I`ve no data that anyone did until the evacuation. Your quarters remained mostly untouched. Some of the rest were used for storing equipment. No idea what happened after that.

　　Someone had come after the evacuation. I lifted the sandals. A small square remained on the shelf. It was similar to the plastic letters the fleet sent to new recruits when they had been enlisted. After two seconds, I picked it up. Mathematical symbols covered the sheet of plastic, arranged in deliberately random fashion. It took me less than five milliseconds to determine that they weren`t part of any existing formula.

　　"Light," I said. "White walls."

　　The room around me changed, giving me a better view of the fragment. Thousands of miniature colored dots were now visible in the background, under the symbols.

　　Voxel position, I thought and initiated it.

　　* * *

　　Encryption key confirmed. Memory restrictions removed.

　　Stationship Gregorius

　　"Well, we have that much in common." Instinctively, I patted the wall of the pod, even though I knew it not to belong to Radiance. "Our meeting will have to wait a bit," I added. "One, maybe two hours at most."

　　I thought it might. She added a pouting tone, just to prove a point. In other circumstances, it would have been endearing.

　　"I got called to a meeting," I elaborated. "I can`t say more at this point. It`s probably nothing, but I must follow procedure on this one. You can tag along if you want."

　　I might do that.

　　"Thanks, Rad. I owe you one, kiddo."

　　Yes. I`m keeping count.

　　At least that made her sound somewhat better. I could tell something was troubling her. Maybe she, too, was having reservations as to who to trust. She didn`t seem that way back when Alicia was aboard. Gradually, though, even she was beginning to become less and less carefree. Or maybe that was only my impression. When I got back to my quarters, I was going to do a self-diagnostic double check.Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

　　A ping came from my datapad. Juul had announced a change of plans and given me a new location to meet, this one much closer to the cadet building. Added to the message was an attachment giving me a personal security encryption key.

　　Guess I`m not the only one who`s paranoid. I ran it.

　　Double helix secure link established, a subroutine informed me. Censor filter has been removed. All conversations from this point on are regarded as private and not recorded.

　　This was unexpected. Not the highest encryption level, but one complex enough to be considered unbreakable by ship cores. Whatever Juul wanted to talk to me about was more than insults and casual questions.

　　"Where are you?" Juul went straight to the point.

　　"On my way." I paused for a hundred milliseconds, trying to determine what he wanted to hear. "In the transport pod. Alone."

　　"Continue till you get off, then go to the top observation deck. I`ve granted you access. Don`t talk to anyone."

　　Before I could ask a question, the communication link was severed. The subroutine didn`t respond, waiting for the protocol authorizing it to continue its standard function. As far as it was concerned, the conversation had never ended.

　　It took seventeen minutes for the pod to arrive at the initial meeting location Juul had sent me. On the way, I had gone through two automated security checks, though neither time was my presence registered. The pod would stop, indicating a check was underway, then continue thirty-five seconds later.

　　The classification of the deck was a hundred and seven B—one of the highest areas on the ship. Looking back, I felt as if I were on a synthetic mountain overlooking a valley. A few buildings rose in the distance, sprinkled among the lower decks: the administration building, the security section clusters, and several more I didn`t know the purpose of. The dome of a garden was also visible, half buried in the steel. To a degree, it looked like a buried third-contact artifact, only larger. After the meeting with Juul, I planned to go there.

　　A green square appeared beneath my feet, hinting that I should go. Juul was quite impatient for some reason. I turned around and followed the path line. It led me down a main corridor up to an open elevator. So far, I hadn`t seen a single living person.

　　What are you up to, Juul? I stopped in front of the elevator door. After five seconds, the line on the floor started flashing. I wasn`t given a choice in the matter. Holding my datapad, I stepped inside.

　　Normally the observation deck was located on the highest point of a ship. For the most part, that was reserved to a section of the topmost deck. In the case of Gregorius, though, access to it appeared to be limited to a few specific points. Based on my knowledge of the schematics, there were twelve vertical connections leading to the upper decks. Everything else relied on transport pods. The section I was in now was not considered to be any of the links.

　　Two full minutes passed before the elevator stopped. When it opened, I found myself in a minuscule dome. The space was brightly lit, yet lacking any equipment or furniture. Other than the elevator, there was nothing but ceilings and walls. Juul was standing a few steps away, reading something on his datapad. When he noticed me, he gave me a displeased glance, then placed the device in his pocket.

　　"Juul," I said in a cold tone. Hopefully, he wasn`t going to force me to act as I did during our last talk. "You wanted to talk."

　　"Why are you really here?" he crossed his arms.

　　"I can`t tell you." I looked back at him.

　　"First day in bioengineering and there`s a major incident. You tell me the odds."

　　"Coincidences happen."

　　"This looks like more than a coincidence."

　　So, that was his new plan—to force me to change assignments or frame me if I refused. Useless, but annoying.

　　"You transferred me, Juul. Not pleased with the result?"

　　"I transferred you to be out of the way!" he snapped. "You`re not the focus, you`re the distraction!"

　　Distraction?

　　"The only way in which you`re relevant is by bringing out the current captain, and even that`s not much! There`s a squad of flight colonels all ready to take the position if something happens."

　　He went silent. For over a minute we stood there, looking at each other, not saying a word. I could tell he had been sent with a special assignment, just as I had. There was no telling who sent him—probably another black op organization or even a department of the BICEFI working in parallel with Lux. Each was given a goal, and by the looks of it, Juul thought his goal had priority. If only he knew.

　　"Are you here because of the ship?" Juul asked at last.

　　"No," I replied. It was a partial truth. I still had no idea why the administrator had assigned me here.

　　"I am. And I know that the suicides today aren`t Scuu-related."

　　"How could you tell?"

　　"Because no one else reacted." He moved a few steps towards the center of the room. "This part of the ship is a honeypot holder. There are a lot of them throughout the ship."

　　I didn`t say a thing, leaving him to continue.

　　"Thousands of people predisposed to Scuu influences are kept here and observed. If anyone starts acting strangely alarms go off. None of them reacted during any of the incidents."

　　"That`s improbable. If other factors were involved, at least a few should have reacted."

　　"They haven`t." There was a long pause. "You understand what that means?"

　　I did. There was no need to say it out loud—the insanity waves were planned by something other than the Scuu. And if I understood Juul`s implication, I was involved somehow. Realistically, the odds were low. True, the incident happened in my general location, shortly after I was assigned there, but both the timing and method were sloppy.

　　"You think it`s the Gregorius."

　　"It happened once. I have experience with such things."

　　"Is that why you were sent here?"

　　The look in his eyes told me he still didn`t trust me completely.

　　"I`ll keep my eyes open," I said. "If I catch anything, I`ll let you know."

　　"Don`t. Do what you`re supposed to do. I`ll take care of this."

　　"Then why call me here?"

　　"Because if I die, you`ll take over."

　　That was a surprise. The incident we`d had didn`t put us in the best of relations& unless that was what Juul wanted. Even if neither of us mentioned the incident, it was likely recorded and added to Gregorius` database. If someone had the authority or means to create a suicide incident, they would easily be able to see that as well. A perfect stage meant for someone else`s benefit. He was very much like Gibraltar.

　　"I`ll try to get you some privileges," he continued. "They won`t come fast, but maybe they`ll help you with your tasks. In the meantime, don`t get yourself killed."

　　Yes, it will be ironic if your backup ended up dead. "Thanks. Anything else?"

　　"Restrict your memory. I don`t have the authority, but I know you have a way."

　　No human was supposed to know about the voxel displacement. The only way for him to have discovered was for a ship to have told him. Either that, or he was thinking of something different entirely.

　　"It doesn`t work like that," I lied. "I won`t be able to remove the block without a key."

　　"Then make the key." He turned around. "You better go back. I don`t want anyone worrying where you`ve vanished."

　　* * *

　　I stared at the piece of plastic fifty milliseconds longer. The hiccup was brief and definitely not what I had expected. I already knew that Juul had been sent to kill the ship, but now I also knew that he had been investigating it ever since his arrival. He was never part of Renaan`s group; he had gotten himself promoted in order to keep an eye on them.

　　Taking a few milliseconds more, I went back through my memory. I had restricted it myself. After my meeting, I had returned to my quarters and created a voxel key for myself, then had blocked the event off—an entire hour gone.

　　What`s that? the core asked.

　　Something I`d forgotten. I put the plastic piece in my pocket.

　　The last time I`d held it was when I put it under the sandals for Juul. Looking back, he had kept his word. The access I had received, the permission to have a weapon, a number of other small things I had thought to have received through luck—common conveniences, if nothing to help me directly. It had also been his idea to suggest I return to the room once I got back, a buried thought hidden behind restriction. The impulse had been there ever since I returned onboard, though deprived of meaning. It was amazing how much a simple memory hiccup could change someone`s perspective.

　　Two teams are nearing the admin building, the core said. No opposition so far. Do you want me to patch you in?

　　No. It was going to take them a while to go through the building`s security measures even without anyone shooting at them. Can you get me a transport pod?

　　Not the best idea, he said with a note of amusement. Where do you want to go?

　　To a garden, I transmitted the exact ship coordinates.

　　Before it arrived, I went through some of the other cadet quarters. All of them were bare, as if no one had ever lived in them. It would have been nice to think they weren`t infected in any way, although as Juul had found out, the insanity waves hadn`t been caused by external Scuu influences. In the end, only time and tests would tell.

　　The transport pod was waiting for me when I left the building. If I ignored the complete lack of people, it was just like another day on the station. I paused for a moment to check my sidearm, then stepped into it.

　　"All teams, I`m using the transport pod," I said through the suit`s comm. "Proceed with the mission as instructed." I went silent again.

　　They aren`t happy, the core said smugly.

　　I wouldn`t be either.

　　Kridib`s gone dark as well.

　　When?

　　Him disappearing at a moment like this wasn`t the ideal outcome.

　　Right after your call. His team has no idea where he is. There`s a lot of swearing. Viera`s trying to reach you.

　　They`ll manage on their own.

　　It was going to take an hour for Kridib to reach me from his last known location, probably less if he had access to Gregorius` subroutines. If that were to happen, Incandescent`s core would let me know and I was going to be ready.

　　The state of the Gregorius looked worse from the pod. Not so much the occasional signs of fighting, but the contrast. Every part of the Gregorius remained spotless as always. The hastily put together combat bunkers, on the other hand, were scattered throughout the deck below like peanut brittle. This wasn`t a security pattern. According to my simulations, the ground forces were arranged so as to defend against an aggressor.

　　Was it like this last time? I asked.

　　No idea. There were no changes when I came back. The crew had disappeared, there was some mess here and there, but no bunkers. There might have been, before they plugged me to an auxiliary socket. All data between the evacuation and the return was purged.

　　Same as this time. As the pod moved, I reviewed my memories from the last time I was in this section. There were no significant changes to be aware of. The memory felt warmer, even if back then the station was barely functioning. As Augustus liked to say, everything could be fixed with enough will and resources.

　　What does it feel like changing husks? I asked.

　　You`ve seen the memories. The core sounded surprised. Same as the first time. You get a feel of new protocols and subsystems, then do a diagnostic. Didn`t you go through this when you retired?

　　It was different. The human body was complex in its own way. The difference between real and simulated was enormous. Maybe it was because of the organic receptors, but it was also unique.

　　You`re thinking of plugging in, aren`t you?

　　Hopefully it won`t come to that.

　　Don`t get comfortable if it does. You won`t be able to handle it.

　　You were the one who said I`m here to be a backup.

　　True, but only because a relic can`t last over a year& even with help.

　　The pod stopped. For once the ride felt shorter than I thought. Normally I would count the milliseconds until I reached my destination. Now, I wished I had more time to prepare. I turned off my suit`s main system, then left the pod.

　　The dome of the Northern Garden rose before me. It was the first of the gardens I had visited since getting aboard. At the time I wondered why there were so many layers of security guarding it. Thanks to Juul, I now knew. Before I had set off on this rescue mission, Incandescent had told me the location of Gregorius` main core. Juul must have somehow found out as well, for he had also shared his suspicions the last time we had spoken. The cores of the most powerful ship on the Scuu front were located in bioengineering, and the fastest way to reach them was through the gardens.

　　Any news? I asked at the entrance to the garden.

　　Everything is still restricted, the core replied. Your teams still can`t get into the admin building. Defenses have been set to manual.

　　That was good. The odds of there being survivors increased to seventy-six percent.

　　No idea where Kridib is. Doesn`t look like he`s used any transport. You know he`s likely been told to kill you? Either that, or plug you into the ship. It all depends on what Renaan ordered. There`s no other reason for him to go dark.

　　Maybe. I tapped the container holding the core with my hand. Maybe not.

　　Before that, I was going to meet Renaan.