Memories and Communications
"Do you really think I have that many supplies right now?" the Tallest questioned the Jackers who was on the monitor. "We have to use the subtle approach otherwise they'll vaporize us out of existence."
"So you're just running away?"
"You need to stop calling me. They're smart, so they probably have a way of listening in our calls," Red rubbed his temples and sighed. "Go with what we talked about for now. Once my base team has set up the glove I'll send out the rattaway. Then we'll meet in the next quadraspec during the hignswoon ok?"
The Jacker stared wordlessly at the Tallest for a moment. "...what?" he finally asked.
Red scowled. "Didn't you read the codes I gave you?"
The Jacker frowned as he reached somewhere off screen and brought out a piece of paper.
"You mean this thing?"
"Yes, that thing," Red responded. "Don't put that near the screen. They could have hijacked our signal by now! Just read over what's there and translate what I said ok? Ok."
He ended the call before the Jacker could protest.
Then he leaned back in his chair and stared up at the ceiling for a little while. There were still quite a few calls he needed to make...
"Do you usually use those kinds of codes...?" the Invader's voice rose over the sound of the humming navigational instruments.
Sevai was standing in the corner, away from where he could be seen on the monitor.
The Jackers hated the Invaders more than anything else... they would probably rip one apart if they ever caught one... slowly... and with a lot of enjoyment.
In any case, he didn't want to upset them right now since the Hobos and the remaining Jackers were the only allies he had.
"Your people have been listening in on my conversations for a while, haven't they?" Red retorted before straightening up in his chair.
His gaze wandered over to where Sevai was standing huddled close to himself, grasping one of his arms close to his body.
"Yes... but I wasn't allowed to listen..." Sevai responded, bowing his head.
"I made those ones up a little while ago," Red answered with a small shrug. He squinted an eye at the Invader. "It's fun to tease the Jackers since they're usually too serious. I don't really expect your people to be fooled so easily. Anyway, you can come out of the corner now."
Sevai took a few tentative steps forward, then he abruptly stopped.
"... come here," Red told him more firmly as he pointed at the floor right in front of his chair.
Sevai obeyed, though he was being slow about it.
The Invader was dragging his wings a little. He was probably tired, but he wasn't complaining.
If non-Irkens were actually tired, they usually complained about it didn't they?
"I need you to take a message down to the fifth and seventh floor. Keep it brief and stay away from the drones. Can you do that?"
"Yes..." Sevai responded softly.
"Go tell them it's time for us to leave the Massive."
"Isn't this the largest flagship in your army...?" Sevai asked with a puzzled frown. "Where will you go?"
"Yeah, the one we're in right now is the Massive," Red explained. "I hid it before your people attacked Irk, you know, as a last resort kind of thing. It's got great defences, but its speed is..." He frowned a little in thought. "Really slow... also it's really bad at being subtle, so that's why we'll be switching to the older one; the one before the Massive."
"Who do you wish me to speak to?" Sevai questioned and he squeezed his arm tighter. He was keeping his gaze fixated on the floor.
"Whoever's down there," Red answered, shrugging again. "Oh, but tell them they need to pass the message on. Everyone on this ship should know what we're doing."
"Isn't there a way for you to make this announcement from here..?"
Of course there was, but that wouldn't be as fun as sending Sevai to do it. He smirked.
"Why should I do it the easy way when I can make you do it the hard way?"
Besides, this would be a good way to test how easily an Irken drone's programming could be altered.
"Then... please excuse me," Sevai spoke as he moved to leave the room.
Red watched him go before typing in the next call.
The scouts, who were positioned near the location he was currently having a few of his soldiers set up a new base of operations, had just reported seeing one of the Invader's vessels a short time ago.
Hopefully the Invaders were just passing by and hadn't noticed the Irkens were creating another strong hold... there were very few Irken engineers left, and he didn't want to throw their lives away by sending them all to a place the Invaders were currently watching.
"My Son! Laes!"
Laes wished that voice sounded familiar but it didn't... the two Vortians who were hurrying towards him were probably his parents, so he forced a smile.
"Oh, uh...hi," he tried.
He was very surprised when one of them pulled him down from the cot and into a hug.
"Are you ok Laes?"
"Be careful with him dear," the other Vortian was lightly scolding the first one, though she was hugging him just as hard.
The older male Vortian grabbed him by the shoulders and pushed him away a little so he could meet his eyes.
Laes blinked. He was feeling pretty uncomfortable right now.
"Your Irken friend said you have memory loss!" the louder of the two remarked. "Did you receive a traumatic brain injury?" The guy asked as he suddenly grabbed Laes by the face.
He then began searching for any signs of trauma, probably.
"I don't think it's that kind of brain injury," Laes told them.
There was no point in trying to escape was there...?
His attention switched to Lard Nar who was watching with a smile on his face...it wasn't a normal smile though... something about it seemed... sad?
The older female Vortian grabbed one of the other's hands and pulled him away. "I don't think he remembers us, so let's introduce ourselves."
The older male Vortian, who was likely his dad, stared at him with his mouth open a little. It took him a moment to regain his senses, but when he did he cleared his throat and motion to himself.
"My name is Freedo. I'm your dad."
"And I'm Felara; your mom," the older female Vortian greeted him with a smile.
"She's an amazing mom by the way," Freedo offered with a smile and a wink.
His life-partner jabbed him in the side in a playful manner.
Laes almost introduced himself in return, but he quickly remembered he was the one with the memory loss, not them, so they would already know who he was.
"It's uh... nice to meet you... um..." what should he call them though? He couldn't remember.
"Mom and dad," Freedo offered.
"Ah... yes..." Laes somewhat agreed. It would probably take a little time before he was comfortable enough to call them that. "So uh... do I have a sister?"
"Yes you did," his father responded instantly. "But she hasn't been alive for a while now."
Just then someone else entered the room... a female Vortian with some small tattoos under one of her eyes. She was looking at him, and she approached him with purpose.
"So what's the extent of his memory loss?" the new Vortian asked.
"We haven't started asking him questions yet," Freedo admitted, rubbing the back of his head in a rueful manner. "I can start now if you want."
"Yes, go ahead," her attention switched to Lard Nar. "You won't be needed for this part, so go keep an eye on my work site... Bandeval brought me at least fifty or sixty more Irkens that will need to have their programming altered, so I'd appreciate it if you could begin running the diagnostics."
"I'll get started on it..." Lard Nar responded.
He wasn't smiling anymore. Running that many diagnostics was probably going to take a while...
"Alright, so Laes, son, do you remember when you were really little and you used to come home crying from study-group because one of the little girls kept trying to hold your hand?"
His mom covered her mouth to muffle her chuckles while his dad kept looking at him with a hopeful expectant look.
His cheeks flushed. Why did his dad have to start with something so embarrassing? Also why did this feeling of embarrassment and dread feel so familiar?
"Most people won't remember something from their early years like that," he informed Freedo who was rubbing his chin in thought.
"Hmm... you're right. Oh!" His face lit up. "How about the time in grade school when you-"
"Maybe it'd be better if I said everything I know!" Laes blurted, interrupting Freedo. His eyes darted to Veena. "That'd work too right?"
"Of course." Veena smirked at him. "Then your parents can let you know when you're forgetting something important."
Laes breathed a sigh of relief. It was probably too early to be doing that... everyone was watching him, waiting for him to begin reciting his life story.
"I uh..." he offered an uneasy smile. "Where should I start?"
"Start with your earliest memory," Veena prompted.
Oh gosh... he placed a hand on his cheek as he frowned in thought. What was his earliest memory? Sometime before grade school? He had a vague recollection of playing with someone else... who was it though...? And where...? He wasn't sure.
Hadn't his mom been off work sick for a while?
Because she was pregnant... of course. His sister. How could he forget he had a sister?
And now he was crying.
"I don't remember mentally scarring you as a child, but if I did I'm really sorry about that," Freedo offered, sounding unsure.
Laes let out a small laugh and shook his head. "No... it's just. I remembered my sister."
Just then a few of the medics returned with the results from his brain scan. There was nothing missing, so the Invaders hadn't physically removed any parts of his brain.
He breathed a sigh of relief. It was much more likely that his experience of being captured and possibly experimented on had been stressful enough to cause at least some of his memory loss... if that was the case, whatever was lost to stress or anxiety would return on its own.
There was some abnormal readings however... like parts of his brain had been switched off... Veena could correct this by adapting her current project, but she agreed there could be some complications.
That's why the medical professionals decided it would be best to be patient for a while and wait.
Being in a familiar place surrounded by people he should know would most likely trigger his memory. That's what they were hoping for anyway.
"How's he doing?" Bann questioned the moment Lard Nar entered Veena's work area.
The Irken was leaning against her desk with his arms crossed.
Veena's computer screen was on, and a cable withdrew into the Irken's PAK.
"He's fine..." Lard Nar responded, deciding to ignore the fact that Bann had obviously been going through Veena's files without her permission. "His parents are there... and the medical professionals will make sure he receives the proper treatment..."
Bann nodded as he pushed himself away from the desk. "Good..." he managed a smile though it didn't look very sincere. "That guy always finds new ways to worry me..."
"Sir," one of the Irkens who'd arrived with Bann saluted as he came to stand in front of the other Irken. He lowered his hand. "We just received a report on the Invaders' whereabouts from the Tallest."
Bann's antennae flicked forward then quickly returned to a more neutral position. He let out a sigh and rubbed his forehead.
"There's nothing I can do about it right now... but tell him to keep me updated on their whereabouts whenever possible."
"Yes sir." The Irken promptly left.
"What are you hoping to do?" Lard Nar questioned.
He glanced at a group of Irkens who were standing in a circle nearby chatting among themselves. There were more Irkens gathering in the center of the room. Were these the ones that needed reprogramming...?
"I want to get revenge on them of course," Bandeval answered, keeping his smile. "I won't be happy until all of the Invaders are brutally destroyed."
There was no point in arguing with the Irken virus... Bandeval was very stubborn when he wanted to be.
"Are these all of the Irkens that need reprogramming?" Lard Nar asked, indicating the two groups of Irkens who'd gathered nearby.
"There's more on the ship," Bandeval told him. "I'll have them come here when these guys are finished." His gaze met Lard Nar's. "How long do you think it'll take to reprogram these ones?"
"I'd guess it would take seven or eight Vort days," Lard Nar replied.
Veena was skilled, no one would argue against it, but she was still just one person.
He moved to take Veena's seat, and he began looking over all of the information on the screen. He closed out of one program and open the one for diagnostics.
"I can begin searching their PAKs for abnormalities... if you're ok with me doing it."
"Might as well," Bandeval responded with a shrug. He made eye-contact with one of the Irkens standing in the circle and he motioned him over.
"Yes sir?" the Irken spoke as he approached Bandeval. He stood only a little taller than Lard Nar did.
"Attach your PAK to this," Bandeval stated, indicating the computer.
The Irken did what he was told, and almost immediately the program began picking up alterations to the Irken's programming. Fortunately there weren't many... the coding also didn't seem like it would be too difficult to fix.
Bandeval must have rescued this one in the early stages of being reprogrammed... if the other Irkens only had minimal changes, then fixing all of their PAKs might only take three or four days.
Tallest: Planning actual strategies to win the war ooooor Messing with the Jackers?
/facepalm/
Also, responding to Invader Johnny, Lard Nar is definitely projecting his own desire not to remember things onto Laes.