On the plus side, I had the honor of being the first patient in the new medical wing. Yay me.
I still needed about five weeks as Metal Mask for my face to heal, but the medics finally let me out of my pod, with a regimen of physical therapy to stretch out my back. It was good to be walking around again, and I was excited about the prospect of heading out into space.
Umbilicus Space Station was bustling with new activity. More and more people were out and about in the wide corridors now that there was a plan to settle into the station for good. The compromise was to encourage social distancing. They used fear as the motivator.
Periodically, as I walked down the hall, I would hear a little voice making announcements. One of them was …
Please maintain a safe distance at all times. Remain six feet apart. You never know when the person next to you might turn into a zombie. You don't want to be next. And while you're in the area, stop on by Habanero Grill. Enjoy our lunch special: an entree, chips, and soda for 20% off. Habanero Grill, the best tacos in the intermediate asteroid belt!
I wanted a quesabirria platter. My stomach growled at the thought of a yummy, cheesy beef taco with consomé broth for dipping.
"Damnit!" I cursed. I had been summoned again and didn't have time to stop for food.
I stopped anyway.
They were way too messy to eat while walking, so I hurried the rest of the way to my meeting. People were already staring at my liquid metal face, so rushing along the corridors with a bag of delicious-smelling food didn't bother me at all.
I was surprised by how quickly Umbilicus had sprung to life. Evacuations must have started in earnest. Umbilicus was next to 15 Eunomia, which served as a bridge, almost, between the Solar Union and Outer System Alliance. We had the large asteroid Ceres. They had the large asteroid Vesta, which was closer to Mars. And we sort of shared 15 Enomia now, in between the two larger asteroids.
A number of the restaurants weren't ready to open yet, but shops were making do with whatever they could scrounge together. I found a book shop, of all things, with real books, slick looking pamplets, and simple handcrafted zines. If I wasn't in a hurry, I would have stopped for sure.
There were countless supply shops, scrapper joints, and electronics stores. You could find a pharmacy, marked with green signs, just about every four or five corridors down, mainly along larger intersections and near the elevators. Bars and cafes were littered among the businesses. I made a note of the ones that were enforcing social distancing and the few bars that I would avoid for not taking it seriously. Wait until they had an overtaken trying to sing karaoke. That would change their tune.
Ha ha ha ha … ha.
My HUD indicated to go up to the 15th floor. The elevator I was approaching had gathered a mass of a few dozen people with suitcases, crates, and large rolling bins. More people moving in. I dashed away and up a slanted stairway that would take me up three levels. It offered a brilliant view of one of the large atriums in the space station. This one was 11 floors tall, with a miniature park at the center, featuring a small pond surrounded by an enclave of trees and benches.
I scooted up the stairs as quickly as I could, dodging a few surprised aiways who were paying more attention to the scenery than Metal Mask and his yummy lunch.
I had to jog to the other side of that level to catch the next set of stairs. Two more flights, and I was slowing down, catching my breath, as I walked toward our meeting place. This was a quieter part of Umbilicus, tucked away where people wouldn't wander, but still close to all the amenities.
I placed my hand on the sensor and stared at the door while it took my biometrics, hearing my stomach grumble. I was absently aware of the mask absorbing drool.
Come on. Let me in. I'm hungry.
"Please remove your mask," a computerized female voice recited.
I triggered the mask to peel away from my face and smiled for the hidden camera. There must be a hidden camera, right?
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
"Your face is not recognized," the voice chimed. "Access denied."
I banged on the door with my fist while the mask slid back into place. "Hey! It's me! @kittyboy!"
The door opened, and I waved casually at the group that had gathered, taking the first seat I could find and ripping open my lunch container.
"Sorry," I said. "I didn't think to get you anything. Have you caught him yet?"
I stuffed a load of napkins between me and the table, grabbed a taco, letting some of the chopped onion spill out as I dipped it in the consomé, and jammed it into my mouth, letting the mask flow up over my nose so I could gorge myself.
Then I looked around me to see who was there, chewing happily.
The speechless group was comprised of @spaceglider, @rainygrove, and @pixel_princess. I knew why @clairevoyant wasn't there. Evil bitch. I didn't know why @hangintough and @roilapex weren't here, but I was glad this was a smaller group. It felt less like an inquisition this way.
"No," @spaceglider responded. "With this many ships, you'd think it would be easy, but we don't know what ship he boarded, and as the fleet searched, some of the ships that were part of the search disappeared as well. We are assuming the ships that disappeared are aligned with @bronzelion."
I was surprised that he normaled me back with his voice.
"Off the record?" I mumbled with food still in my mouth.
"Mmm," @spaceglider gruffed. "We don't know who might access discussion logs."
I nodded. "Understood." I dipped my taco again, watching it drip, obsessed with the melted cheese, and bit in again. "So what's going on?"
They looked at each other.
"We're trying to figure out who to trust," @rainygrove said. Her voice was high-pitched, on the cusp of annoyance, but somehow she made it sound pleasant and authoritative. "We can assume those who left are now our enemies, but we can't assume that those who stayed are our allies."
I smiled and blotted my chin with a napkin.
"But you can trust me," I said, with a sense of great satisfaction. "I'm actually the one person all of you can trust. You know what side I'm on. @bronzelion made that clear."
They looked at each other, and I would like to think they felt a little ashamed of themselves for the whole trial-like thing they pulled on me, but I couldn't blame them.
"It's fine," I added. "I mean, you had a good reason not to trust me. Whatever. Fine. What's next?"
"We need to save those we can, but we need to be prepared for sabotage and betrayal, unfortunately," @spaceglider said, and hearing it aloud was like casting a spell of silence.
We all had an idea of who we could trust.
I suspected our lists were different.
I decided to change the subject. Dwelling on it wouldn't solve anything. The obvious thing to do was to investigate every person registered among us. We had the compute power to do it and do it quickly, but I had no doubt our enemy had the compute power to make sure we didn't find anything. The silence in the room didn't help my suspicions.
"He mentioned two other people, besides fucking Claire," I said. "His exact words were, It's time for phase 3. We're prepared for this. Racecar will pick us up. Tell Thimble to meet me there. Get to your ship. Was there another ship?"
"A new ship, you mean?" @pixel_princess clarified.
She was so cool. She was strong physically and strong-minded. I knew I would follow her into any battle. She was definitely on my list of people to trust. Hell, anyone who puts an underscore in their name deserves a medal, in my opinion. I wouldn't dare go with @kitty_boy. Are you kidding me?
Pixel Fucking Princess, I said in my head, as she went on.
"No, but one of the ships that's missing is a Valkyrie by the name Darkness." @pixel_princess pressed an imaginary button, and a very dangerous ship appeared in the middle of the table where we sat, a holo-projection of a thing that kills other things.
"It was the only other Valkyrie here," @pixel_princess continued, "other than his ship and your ship." She pointed at @spaceglider, referring to his ship, Omegaton, and she nodded at me, referring to my lovely companion, Oblivion.
"The captain of Darkness is @sidewinder," @spaceglider interjected. "It's possible this Racecar person is her."
"Power and money," I said, echoing what @horus had told me. "If anyone has power or money, we shouldn't trust them."
@pixel_princess jumped back in. "We do expect it to be someone powerful, like @sidewinder." She stared at me as I scooped up some of the fallen onion, packing it into the shredded beef and melted cheese. "But it could be anyone. For all we know, Racecar could be the lowest-ranked person on a basic cargo ship."
I mmmmed at them, shaking my head. "No. If there is one thing they have, it's ego."
I looked around the room while I wiped my fingers on my napkin. "Make sure your algorithm accounts for ego. These are not humble people. They believe they should rule. Because they have money. Because they have power."
I tossed my napkin onto the table.
"This is not a zombie outbreak," I clarified. I wanted to make sure that what my futurecasting told me wasn't stuck in my head alone. "That's just a distraction, a tactic, something to keep us busy."
I looked around the room, taking in the fact that each of them was as nervous and scared as I was.
"Is this about power?" I asked.
Silence. They were waiting for me to make my point.
"Yes, it is," I said. "But is it just about power?"
Silence again.
"No," I answered. "This is about eternal power. This is about immortal dominance."
I looked each of them in the eyes and continued. "This is way bigger than forking yourself to try life as a pianist, or a gardener, or a bartender, or a lawyer, or a dentist, or a pirate, or an investor." I laughed, reflecting on the 773 times I had died. "Or a Wavepilot."
"This is about making sure that you can always do whatever you want, forever, with no consequences." I picked up some cilantro and sprinkled it on my taco. I dipped it in the consumé and took another bite, chewing and enjoying that moment.
"This is about who gets to be god," I concluded.
It was the first time it had occurred to me, but I knew it to be true. This is about who gets to be god. I let that hang in the silence for a moment.
"By the way," I added, "Habanero has the best quesabirria in the solar system."
https://habanerotacosgrill.com/menu
Quesabirria Plate
Grilled taco shells stuffed with shredded beef, shredded cheese, onion, cilantro. Served with Consome (mexican beef au jus for dipping), salsa, and lime.