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May 18, 2578
Location : Planet Kyasumeni
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On rare occasions, Karga'te found something on the market that he could get drunk on. This has philosophical consequences, he would then try to teach Kirindi things he'd otherwise claimed to not care for. For example, the puzzling difference between animals and people. The Auton talked about the difference between sentience and sapience instead.
Mother had been higher life, Kirindi knew that much. A dinosaur was not higher life, though some were close. But how were Odygos and Eliath? They were not like the prey she and Karga'te hunted, they were higher. Yet they were not like her and him either.
This sort of thing she wouldn't think much about, but now, it was because Karga'te started to notice. Not in anything that he did or how he treated her and Ti'chai-di, but they could feel it. At first he had believed she had changed because her sister had come, but as time passed on and Karga'te had gotten to know Ti'chai-di, he started to suspect there had to be something else they responded to.
The whole hiding parts of their minds did not help the situation. Kirindi didn't not telling everything the same as lying, but it felt the same, now. Truth for her was that she had no idea what was to come next. They were here, these drones, her other family, why? She couldn't even begin to explain anything to her father.
Sooner or later, Karga'te would ask her what was going on and she would be unable to lie. She didn't know how to. What would happen then ... she wanted Eliath and Odygos to be able to speak too — convince him they were people and not mindless hardmeat — but they were stagnant. He wouldn't see them as people.
Sarah sometimes floated into their shared dreams, but she was always blurry and rarely really spoke. She didn't answer either. She couldn't help her make the drones capable of speech. Sometimes she hoped for one like Lemura, but that was in vain. Her sister had a womb like any queen, but without the perfection.
Ti'chai-di always wanted to be alone when giving birth, so the drones always left, while Kirindi stayed half way between river and nest.
Eliath entered the underground lake, mind open for Kirindi to read. Always the same. He had no need for greetings but she greeted him anyway, first mentally. When he drifted to her in a neat curved arc, she ran her hand over his dome and shoulder. Her physical greeting. He did not return it either, but let his tail float by close. Taking hold, she climbed to his back and held onto the spikes. She nestled closed to his back, both to avoid friction and because it felt nice to be close to someone.
Karga'te just tolerated hugs and Ti'chai-di could only appreciate mental gestures. She was too large for real hugs too. Eliath was just small enough to put her arms around and seemed to always like it when she was close.
Underwater he had much more elegance than on the dry. His sharp build suited the water well, taking only a short time to reach the heart of their nest.
He slowed down before they reached it, careful as always. Kirindi let go and went ahead, while Eliath let himself sink to the floor.
Eliath had timed her arrival well enough to just be in the final throes.
Ti'chai'di had holed up in a spherical form created from stands and hive material, sealed from the inside by sticky yellow resin. Kirindi entered through one of the smaller holes.
Kept low at first by the cocoon itself, once inside Kirindi was exposed to the full extent of Ti'chai-di's emotions. While she wasn't the best emotional reader, the pheromones and other chemicals filled in more than enough. If not for the water all around, the tears would have too.
Kirindi swam to the bottom of the cocoon, below her sister anchored above. Little bodies were scattered all over it, humanoid, malformed, ill, dead. Remnants of a quickly grown womb floated around Ti'chai-di's tail in the currents, the fleshy shells of incomplete eggs still attached to it.
It hadn't been able to decide, again. Eggs, womb, live birth, chestburst. The DNA did not know what do, receiving conflicting messages all the time. Ti'chai-di did not know either. Her desire to reproduce was as strong as that of any queen, but she could never succeed. Kirindi did not share this biological trait, but it did not withhold her from feeling the effects of it.
She reached out to one of the few infants that had survived, took it up gently. It had a tongue, arms, and looked human in many ways, but was still xenomorphic enough to be able to live without oxygen. Its limbs had grown through each other, it had no chance of long term survival. Kirindi smiled sadly and had mercy, crushing its head with her fingers, then let the dead body sink. She did similar to all the others that managed to hold onto life in pain.
Ti'chai-di no longer complained. The first time she had attempted to give life she had screamed, tried to let them live, had not understood ... now she did. There was no use. Kirindi ended their agony, her agony right away. When the last one was killed, Kirindi went up to her sister. She softly brushed past her forehead and then went to dislodge the strands that held her up. Ti'chai-di, exhausted by the birthing and her mental turmoil, made no efforts to come free on her own. Once Kirindi had finished she sank to the little bodies on the floor.
In a while she would be calm enough to tolerate Eliath and Odygos to clean up. Till then Kirindi kept her company, curling up aside her head and taking her into an empty mindscape.
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Far into the afternoon, most traders were asleep except those used to the brooding heat. Karga'te found it greatly enjoyable and highly annoying at the same time. The heat meant he could have a good time relaxing on a nice outcrop up the pillars, but it also meant he was probably gonna get a call soon enough to interrupt that. Hardly any trouble brewed during this time of day, sure, but sometimes a species less used to the heat would engage in negotiations with those that were used to it. Climate differences were a great way to get people fundamentally worked up in a trading zone like this. If something did happen, it happened big. Such as the cargo carrier that had just collided with a dock and was threatening to fall down any moment, all thanks to pilots distracted over arguments in the back of their cabin.
Yep, there it was, Hguthreeit blaring in his mind about where the hell he was putting his brainwaves.
Come on, it wasn't like he knew when he was supposed to prevent property damage or not. Ti'chai-di wasn't around to enhance any psychic shit so how was he supposed to guess just from the situation?
Hguthreeit loudly hoped she'd get those kids for a change so they'd have more effective city guards. Karga'te couldn't agree less. Ti'chai-di was enough of a problem as it was with her size and utter lack of consideration, while Kirindi's incessant tendency to try get into other people's social business was its own brand of trouble. Enough the lethal telepathic children already.
In no particular hurry, Karga'te got up and climbed down the wall. He had a small aircraft tied to a balcony, the swiftest local transport as far as things he could hop off easily went. Highly advanced tech with a complicated name that required a pilot's permit, which Jake had just called air bike and said he expected Karga'te to crash it a lot. He wasn't wrong, though today Karga'te got where he needed without ram course.
A quick glance was all he needed to estimate. Right. Wires now. Long ago he'd replaced his net with hooked wires, far more useful for stray animals or situations like this.
Karga'te ignored the predictable chaos. Same with the fools that tried to tell him what to do with the anchors he placed. As if they'd know better. He did have to resort to snatching an extra cable from a shop, much to the irritation of the owner, but otherwise it was the same usual boring event as every other time he dealt with machine trouble. He'd much rather deal with animals.
For as far as Karga'te was concerned, his job was over as soon as the thing was secured from falling. He'd leave others to deal with the tangle and went to the nearest food shop that hadn't been deserted.
He had money now, such a ridiculously simple and useful practice that the yautja were oblivious to. It was quick, much quicker than hunting after already being tired, let alone dragging a dinosaur home. Not that he was slacking off, but tracking tended to require the patience he often lacked. Besides, why kill something fresh when other meat was already dead?
He took the bundle of food to a rooftop and ate it there, watching the chaos below him with mild amusement. There was Hguthreeit on his little hovercraft, frantically engaging in negotiations about everything both his business and not. The flawed dock and Karga'te's less than eloquent way of dealing with it, for example. Karga'te expected to be put on the spot for it. Bastard. Karga'te knew very well the worm would end up striking more cash out of it. This city had the concept of insurance, too.
Sure enough, he was called for telepathically to come down. He didn't even consider.
Some others else called as well, them he didn't ignore. He confirmed that the noise and panic they'd heard corresponded to his location.
Ti'chai-di made their way hopping across the lower roofs towards him. Nowadays Kirindi would simply seat herself on Ti'chai-di's back, as the larger sister had gained quite some agility ever since her release. Unlike the always fit xenomorph, she needed exercise as a human would to stay mobile. That she'd gotten plenty on this planet.
After climbing up the pillar and damaging the walls, they settled next to him. More out of practice than need he handed them some of the food, weird cookie-like things made of herbs and some fruit. As Ti'chai-di took the fruit with her tongue, he noticed her scent. Quietly, he asked them how it had gone.
Kirindi shook her head, her expression depressed. "It was both, this time. Both eggs and children. And egg that was child inside. All gone now. She's so sad again."
He briefly bowed and paused eating in acknowledgment of the deceased.
That he preferred them not to survive he kept to himself, as he did of how he couldn't exactly feel sad for it otherwise. Trouble aside, he couldn't imagine caring for someone who had never even lived.
Ti'chai-di would soon enough readopt her neutral mindset, though it'd take a little longer with Kirindi to forget. It always went like that, the two would retreat somewhere for the queen sister to fail at giving birth. It never worked out well and Kirindi would mentally retreat during such phases for a few weeks.
Before her sister had come she had never been like that, she hadn't even really known sorrow. Maybe a vague hint of sadness, but nothing close to this depressive feeling. She'd never grown up and didn't know what to do with it, he guessed. He didn't either.
Kirindi finished her cookies and put her arms around her legs, rolling onto her side. "I wish she could stop having them. It hurts."
Karga'te softly pulled her tail. "She'll get better when she gets older."
Unfounded belief, yet Kirindi still brightened up. "You think so?"
"It's what you monsters do, isn't it? Take the traits useful, discard that which isn't? That DNA Reflex thing ... it'll figure something out." As if he knew anything about that.
Ti'chai-di didn't speak and never listened to specific definitions, so she could not notice this little exchange. All she could tell was that her little sister had another one of those strange moments of formless hope. She nudged Karga'te in the back to join her in that, not understanding that emotion wasn't like a controlled action.
Karga'te got irritated by it, till he turned and put his hand on her forehead, doing a similar thing as Kirindi would do that soothe her.
"You wouldn't understand," he said. Hell, he didn't understand himself, all this mushy stuff.
Another mental call came, once again it was Hguthreeit.
Strangely enough, the worm didn't even bother with scolding him for his sloppy work, though Karga'te could just hear the foul names the worm was muttering under his metaphorical breath.
"~ Karga'te, listen up. Anudjan contacted me a few minutes ago. The Auton have detected a spacecraft from a certain Enigma order heading this way. They are unable to find out its purpose. Head out into the jungle cloaked and retrieve the stray traders, now! The Auton will assist, they are at the city's edge. ~"
He froze.
Here it was. This is why he wouldn't have had Kirindi get involved with the Auton, now the humans were coming after his monster spawn! He didn't care how that Enigma thing had found out, he wanted to decapitate some Auton today.
"~ For once we agree, ~" said the Supervisor. Karga'te tried to give the worm a mental sear, but Hguthreeit only brushed it off mockingly and told him now was a time unit that meant starting to move.
Climbing on his hovercraft, he steered in the direction Hguthreeit had given him. Kirindi went on Ti'chai-di's back and followed, so he kept low to the roofs.
"~ What is wrong? ~" Kirindi asked.
"~ They're coming for you! ~"
"~ Enigma? ~"
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Kirindi clammed down on her thoughts. She'd gotten much better at not automatically sharing everything exciting with her father, it was her external excitement that had to be contained. The next stage was here and this meant she could meet Sarah again. She just needed things to not go wrong till all the right talking could be done. That was Sarah's job. So she kept her face the same as well as she could and said nothing.
In fact, it would be a lot easier of Karga'te wouldn't notice the psychic silence for a bit. A diversion would be good.
Upon arrival at the outer perimeter, most Auton had already moved out along with Hguthreeit's workers. Jake was there, unwilling Karga'te handler for the Auton.
All other rescued humans from Enigma II had been integrated in the Auton part of the society, but Jake and Shadhahvar had escaped this due to Karga'te sort of 'claiming' them. The Auton had let it be exactly for situations like this; Karga'te didn't readily decapitate things he considered alive, most definitely not things that were part of his proverbial property (he considered 'family' to be a stupid definition).
Jake had gotten used to facing irritated yautja on regular base, so when Karga'te came seething onto the outer dock and demanded more information, he just shamefully grinned and said he had no idea.
"Anudjan claims he already told Hguthreeit everything he knows. Nothing more than that a spacecraft from Enigma II is coming here."
Karga'te felt like roaring his anger out at said Auton, except said Auton was horribly absent and Jake had gotten so used to that it didn't make him flinch anymore. So Karga'te just kicked over a nearby pile of Auton stuff for the sake of venting.
"Eh, Karga'te, you're supposed to go help'em gather tourists, I think. Persephone's getting you a wrist map as we speak."
"I know, I've been told," he snarled.
"She said it could be a coincidence?" Jake suggested.
"Oh yeah? How far away is that ship landing?"
Jake shrugged. "Haven't got a clue."
The yautja kicked over another pile of Auton equipment and paced around the dock.
When Persephone finally joined them, he wasted absolutely no time clarifying just how pissed off he was. The usual means. Kirindi always wondered whether they really felt being hit across the place or were just programmed to react that way.
She landed a few meters aside of Jake, who reached down to help her up.
"Okay, Karga'te, that was a bit uncalled for. What if they really don't know what's going on?" he said with a scowl.
"As if! Those humans from that station are here so the Auton screwed up!"
Jake sighed, but when he addressed Persephone the doubt was clear on his face too. "Where are they landing?"
She still winced from the fall, but without any sound of distress said, "They're 243 miles distanced from the plateau at one of the planet's most convenient landing spaces."
Karga'te calculated for a moment to understand what about 243 miles meant in his measures of distance. "This isn't a coincidence, they are too close to this plateau!"
"Close? The market is on this area of the planet exactly because it is one of the most geographically convenient. They may have simply figured the same. It's not like there haven't been humans on this planet before!" the gynoid snapped.
It was true for a part at least. As the planet was littered with dinosaurs, it was a tourist attraction for more than just the visiting traders and shoppers. Humans liked the place too for very similar reasons and would pay richly for illegal adventures. But, those humans were tourists. These were scientists from coincidentally that one place they'd invaded in the last few months. The humans knew this planet was owned by another species and going here on any official business was risky.
Karga'te didn't buy the coincidence thing one bit, and at Kirindi's best guess, he was either very insulted they expected him to or very afraid of the consequences.
He kicked Persephone's legs from underneath her and glared down at as she scrambled away. "Quit the jokes, get me that map."
She cast him a foul glance, but pulled a small wrist band from a pocket and tossed it at him.
Ignoring her furthermore, Karga'te looked over the information of the area he was to clear. He then said, "Ti'chai-di, go home."
Kirindi put both hands on Karga'te's lower arm and stood up a little, a pleading look on her face.
"Why can't she come? She has a cloaking system," she said reflecting what her sister felt, disappointment. The actual reason Kirindi kept to herself, though. Ti'chai-di had some stake in meeting Sarah because she hoped she would be able to help her children survive, like she had done with Lemura.
"You're too large, Ti'chai-di. If we need to hide from a scan, where would we put you? You can't fit in any caves in that area." He was right, the queen chimera was a giant even when compared to him. "You'd scare the traders we're supposed to gather anyway."
Ti'chai-di did not feel like being left behind right now, still at loss over her failed children, but after Kirindi comforted her a bit, she agreed to go home.
"Why don't I go with her?" Jake suggested. Grateful, Kirindi smiled at him, eagerly nodding. "Will do."
Ti'chai-di allowed him to climb up and he stayed there despite poor balance. He did almost fall off again when she stood up too early, to brush foreheads with Kirindi once more.
As they took off and Kirindi waved after them, Karga'te brought out another hovercraft and shoved it in Kirindi's direction. She caught it and fiddled a bit before she managed to turn it on.
They were about to set out when Anudjan finally decided to show his face.
"~ Please not now. Getting too cold for stupid androids, ~" Karga'te thought. When Anudjan reached his side, he picked the Auton up, turned him around and shoved him a little too close to the edge of the dock.
Anudjan managed to catch his balance. "But I just needed to say that—"
"Whatever you want to say, I knew about it before you did. Now get lost," Karga'te said in deliberate poor English.
"I just needed to say that Mary Sue Mckenzie went the wrong direction moments ago. I'd like you to get her away from there first."
Okay, he knew everything around except maybe that. Shadhahvar's head was so chaotic and sugary happy that he tended to subconsciously omit it by proxy.
"~ Just what we could use. Disturbed humans running around without a leash. ~" Kirindi laughed at the mental image.
"~ Jake, Karga'te says you should take better care of your pet! ~" she then telepathically told Jake with a huge grin. "~ We have to catch her again! ~"
Jake replied with mock distress, "~Oh, and I just tried so hard to get rid of her. ~"
Ti'chai-di wondered why would anyone want to get rid of someone they cared for? Kirindi didn't quite understand the sarcasm in it either, but just shrugged it off.
"Let's go!" Karga'te called. "I'll go get the damn human, you start with the traders."
Kirindi aired her hoverboard and did so, though she had no intent to meet traders any time soon. Instead, she quietly eased up on the direct contact with him. With Shadhahvar soon hogging mental attention, it was be all the easier to disappear. It was so convenient Shadhahvar could be given ideas to act on so easily.
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Sarah plastered herself against the window, desperately trying to catch a glimpse of the planet despite being in a side room. But when the shaking began, she had to give up. Window was on the wrong side of the ship. How wonderful. She had pictured herself standing dramatically before the window as for the first time in ages she'd see green again, like how it happened in those movies she used to watch.
"Millions on a new engine, but with something to stop this bumping? No, to greeeee-yaugh!"
She sailed across the room, turned in midair to brace herself against the opposite wall and failed to do so. Her nose might as well have shot through her brain as she slammed against the wall. Her life, always with the falling and missing and what not.
"Ouch. Should've ... stayed ...friggin cryotube." Jonah had warned her when she had messed with the tube's settings before take-off. Since when was she stubborn?
The landing proceeded technically smooth and practically very uncomfortable.
When she stepped out, she took in a deep breath. Even the air was different. She could heard dinosaurs in the distance and the wind filled her ears. It was warmer here than she'd felt in a long time.
The arrival could best be described as a gigantic rock, for as much as she could see in the dimming light. Stretching around it was jungle in all directions but the east, which had a savanna. From here, they might gather a more diverse array of samples than either biome's fauna allowed. As much as she was loath of the purpose, the work had her excited alone not just because anything was better than Enigma.
Behind her, robots unloaded themselves. She resisted the urge to run down the rock and did her job. Checking on robots wasn't unfamiliar work anymore, as she'd done some of it already. They all functioned as they should, though a few had displaced parts due to the landing. Truth be said, she wasn't sure it was all just greed that kept the ship from being perfect. The ship's technology was fresh and there hadn't been much testing of its effects on regular engines.
That done, she accompanied the bot in charge of the radar to the highest spot and sat with it.
While there, it sank in that she recognized the area.
This lands, their vegetation and even the star formations were what she'd seen through Kirindi's eyes. It was disturbing how Utara had not only gotten the planet correct, but also the continent, maybe even the very region, simply by showing her images and measuring her neurological responses. Sure, the planet could be explained with the dinosaurs and all, but this accurate an idea for where exactly to land? She really hoped it was a coincidence. The idea of Utara having this much insight terrified her as much as any human knowing the same.
She wanted to wash the stench of chlorine and anything that reminded her of Enigma off of herself, but taking a dip in a local body of water wouldn't be the best idea. Her guards likely wouldn't allow it. So she just stayed where she was, with her back to the robot and the ship.
Her new sense wasn't as thrilling as she had hoped. Not being a natural clairsentient really did limit her. She got some vague impression of shapes and nearby lifeforms, but no feelings or inclinations. Nothing like actual clairsentients would describe during the rare times they were out of the psychic closet.
Wanting for something more, she dug her hands in the earth before her. How low she's sunken that she now appreciated dirt.
One of the cyborgs came to stand next to her. "It is recommended to avoid contamination and take time to adjust."
The thing stared down at her, making eye contact. It was worse than any decent Auton. Though their skin was more human, they lacked all the cognitive programming to even come close to counting as a mind. With her new
"Oh, screw you!" she said and dropped to the ground.
Sarah rolled on the ground, not caring anymore for her dignity. Let the guys at the station see this and laugh at her or question her sanity. She had earth under herself and they didn't. Their loss.
Or maybe she'd lose something too. A wave of nausea walled up. Just barely scrambled to her knees and vomited. Then she walked a few meters away and slumped down against a small rock wall.
The cyborg knelt aside of her to check her condition. She tried swatting away its hand with the scanner in it, but it didn't budge.
"I am doing wonderful, stop blocking the view!"
Not that that helped. She sat through the checkup, was informed she might be suffering delirium of some sort and told to not over exert herself. She would adjust to the local conditions soon.
Good.
That wasn't her though or feeling. Sarah stayed still while the cyborg walked away, all her focus on the source of that.
A flash of herself from another angle crossed her mind. A human mind, somewhere around, watching?
Who?
She strained her eyes in the direction she guessed it came from.
Far away, on another end of the uneven plateau stuck up half a human head. Black hair, likely of East Asian origin.
Shadhahvar. At the moment of recognition, new information came to mind. Shadhahvar had taken on a very yautja irritating tendency to pretend to be a hunter. She failed utterly at it, and Jake had his hands full trying to keep her in check. Right now she considered herself to be on a top secret mission to hunt down the evil scientists threatening her friends, except she'd found only Sarah.
Careful not to draw further attention to herself, Sarah sat straighter and folded her hands before her to give the appearance of restful. Her mind was anything but.
Shadhahvar must've picked up some psychic potential of her own, because she spoke to her, "Wow, you sure got emaciated."
Then she vanished. Just barely Sarah saw surprised on her face; she would bet she'd fallen down.
Great. Why was this clown the first one she got to meet?
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