jordanabina
***This is a rough draft of the second chapter from my Sci-Fi novel Treska Vorn. Ignore Grammatical Errors. Copyright @jordanabina 2021
It’s been said that Rivix city has a pulse and that if you concentrate hard enough you can feel it. Like a rhythm of sorts, a pattern coursing through the veins of every living thing on the tri-moon system. Rivix city, although not an organic entity, does in fact seem to be alive and for those who can hear it, she even speaks. There are three main levels here on Rivix. Starting from the top is the Sky Level. The sky level is home to the elite society of Rivix, mostly technology dealers, engineers, scientists, Rivix securities, and all of the Leaf Council members and governing authorities. There is a wide variety of entertainment available and the housing units are some of the most incredible fusions of architecture, nature, and science you can find on Vorn. There is an obsession with the old world and many of the buildings, towers, and plazas are designed after the old forests and plains of ancient Earth. There are even digital rivers that flow through the streets of the sky level that in all but two of our senses communicate the reality of flowing water. There are no restrictions to anyone in Rivix from traveling into any of the three levels, but you don’t really see too many from the lower levels drifting into the sky level. Weyland himself has only been there a handful of times to make a work delivery or to pick up a higher-ranking employee of VornCorp.
Weyland lives in the middle of the three levels, called the Centrum. Most of the population of Rivix lives here in the Centrum and almost everything that takes place here in Rivix, takes place here. It’s home to the students of Helix University, VornCorp, and all of the general housing, which makes the Centrum the place where normal life happens. Weyland has made this walk from his building in south Rivix to Kat’s plot in the northern sector of the city hundreds of times and his muscle memory leads him there blindly. Kat has been his closest friend and companion these last few years, and the journey to and from his flat has become habitual. There are countless scanners on the streets in the centrum, tracking movements, advertising to citizens, and recording data. This is a well-known fact on Rivix, the Leaf Council is always addressing street crime, the spread of Slik, and the countless hackers trying to make a name for themselves. There are rumors of revolutions and whispers of defiance, but nothing ever comes of it. As Weyland walks past Kat’s favorite place to get Ramen, the owner spots him from inside.
“Weyland!” cries the owner Tsuki Soup.
Oh God, I don’t have time for this. Weyland thought.
“Weyland, take off your headgear and come have some food!” the owner cried again.
“Not today, Mr. Eizō, I’m off to see Kat and I’m late,” responds Weyland.
“I know that you fool, Kat sent me his order for you to pick up. He said you’d pay,” Mr. Eizō said while laughing and proceeded to walk into the back of the kitchen and out of sight.
After all these years I still fall for the same crap. I got to hand it to him, he knows how to get what he wants, thought Weyland.
At that very moment, Weyland received a message on his scanner, it was from Kat. Weyland read the message to himself. Thanks for the grub friend. Love, your favorite person.
This guy, Weyland thought with a smile.
Weyland reluctantly found himself walking inside the shop to pick up Kat’s order. The shop is busy today with many people crowding around tables and a full bar. Weyland can hear many voices, even through the vision plat in his helmet, more than usual to be sure. There is no denying it, once you get Tsuki Soup in your mind, it’s almost irresistible. Weyland has ordered from here multiple times in a week before, and Kat knew it. His usual table was occupied with two young women who seemed to be laughing about something while drawing the attention of the table of Helix students behind them. The bar was full of roughnecks, pulse bikers who work the light towers of the Centrum. These guys keep the city powered up but they also have one of the toughest jobs out there. For many of these workers, it was a job issued by VornCorp instead of criminal punishment. Needless to say, they’re a shady group to mess with. But one thing is for sure, when you’re at Tsuki Soup, you’re family.
“Mr. Eizō seems to be doing well these days, don’t you think?” Weyland asks.
“There are 38 people inside of Tsuki Soup today, which is 27% more than his average customer average at this time. Also, seven overcapacity,” replied Ora.
“That’s exactly what I was thinking Ora, percentages,” Weyland said sarcastically.
As Weyland reached the counter, Mr. Eizō was nowhere to be seen. When suddenly, as if pushed, Mr. Eizō appeared, stumbling over a box of empty produce. There were two members of Leaf securities talking with him in the back of the kitchen area. The conversation seemed tense, it look more like an interrogation. Mr. Eizō was leaning backward as if he was being pressured or yelled at, but Weyland couldn’t make out why. As far as Weyland knew, Mr. Eizō was an old man who had been making Ramen in the Centrum for years.
Why would any Leaf personnel care about Tsuki Soup?
“Ora, do you see that?” asked Weyland, “Can you pick up what they’re saying?”
“Capturing audio now,” replied Ora.
As Weyland zoomed in with his scanner, Ora picked up the conversation and patched it into the audio feed of his helmet. This was a feature Kat installed into his headgear, the eavesdropping feature is frowned upon and can be picked up by those who have the right gear. Ora assumed these Leaf security officers would be able to track it so the feed would only last about 30 seconds.
“Do you have it?” asked Weyland.
“I have it,” replied Ora, “we have 30 seconds.”
What do these idiots want? Even if Mr. Eizō wasn’t paying his bills or didn’t have the right business documentation, there would be no reason for the council security to be here, that’s not even what they enforce.
“There have been reports of Slik shifts happening in this area, reports that illegal shifts have taken place in or around Tsuki soup on the verge of the tally,” said the lead Leaf officer.
Slik shifts are devices that can mask and hide the amount of Slik found in the bloodstream. For many, Slik is a part of their daily lives, small doses here and there to give them an edge. And these are not some low-life first-level dwellers, these are the everyday people of the Centrum. A Slik shift is a device that attaches to the body, usually the arm or leg, for one hour while it injects a type of cytoplasm which coats each blood cell with a masking agent, hiding the Slik from any test. The results last almost up to a week.
“There has been no activity of any kind here, you are free to search my shop, but please, I have a full restaurant today. Could we please finish this conversation at the close of the Centrum today?” replied Mr. Eizō.
“The tally starts tomorrow Eizō, we want to know about any type of unusual activity as soon as you see something. Got it?” asked the joining Lead officer.
“15 seconds left,” said Ora.
This isn’t some sort of random check, Mr. Eizō is hiding something, thought Weyland.
Although Weyland and Eizō had never spoken about anything other than Kat, Ramen, and the weather, seven years of that had at least given Weyland enough relationship to know if Eizō was not acting like himself. Something was off, something was happening here that was outside of Weyland’s ability to see.
“10 seconds,” Ora reminded.
“Leave it,” replied Weyland sharply.
The officer took a step closer to Eizō, leaned in, and opened the face shield of his white helmet making his face visible. No one in the restaurant seemed to hear the commotion. Weyland could only see the left profile of his face which revealed an eye tech that he’d ever seen before. There were also three green stripes underneath the left eye that must have signified his rank. He grit his teeth as he spoke.
“There has been an increase in sightings of the prophets insignia all around this part of Rivix,” the lead officer said without blinking, “would you happen to have any idea about that?”
“5 seconds,” warned Ora.
“Leave it,” whispered Weyland.
“Can I help you?” interrupted a Tsuki waiter behind the counter who had just noticed Weyland standing there.
The signal began to become distorted as the waiter stood in between Weyland and the Lead officers. Weyland tried to maneuver around the waiter but could not quickly enough.
I can’t miss this. What was that about a prophet? Weyland thought.
“Sir?” asked the waiter.
“Cutting the feed,” said Ora.
“No!” yelled Weyland.
The waiter was visibly startled as he had thought that Weyland had yelled at him, as was the rest of the restaurant and silence followed. The second officer grabbed the lead officer and said something into his ear. Their gaze shot out from the kitchen and right at Weyland.
Blitz.
“Sir, would you please remove your face shield and order something, or I’m going to have to ask you to leave,” demanded the waiter.
“Cutting feed.” Said Ora.
There was a deafening silence that had spread through the Tsuki soup shop. One by one people began to notice something going on at the counter. Mr. Eizō also noticed the gaze of the officers turn from himself and onto Weyland, and was noticeably concerned. Before Weyland could open his face shield the officers were standing next to him.
“Open your shield citizen,” said the second officer to Weyland.
“I’m just ordering some soup, sorry if I interrupted,” replied Weyland.
This is not what I need right now, is Ora tracking my vitals? Has the glow from my face dissipated? One look from these guys and I’m finished.
“Interrupted what?” asked the officer, “Were you listening to our conversation?”
Mr. Eizō now busied himself behind the counter, pretending not to listen, but the restaurant was silent. Although no one dared to look, all attention was on Weyland who had yet to open his face shield.
“I’m recording, and tracking vitals,” whispered Ora.
“No sir, I didn’t mean anything specific, just apologizing for getting in the way,” replied Weyland.
“Open your visor citizen,” demanded the lead officer without looking at Weyland.
How did this even happen? Thought Weyland.
“Vitals check out. Opening visor” said Ora.
Without giving a chance for Weyland to respond or think Ora had opened up his face shield completely. Normally, when a person enters any establishment, they would open any face shield engaged by their helmets. It isn’t required, at least not by all, but encouraged. Weyland had never not opened his face shield before, he tried to remember what had changed his routine, but his thoughts were preoccupied. The shield opened and Weyland felt the fresh Rivix air on his face and involuntarily embraced the erupting smell of soup.
“Sorry officers, starting off slow today I guess,” said Weyland with a smile.
The lead officer examined Weyland’s face, no doubt using the tech in his left eye. Thanks to Kat, they’ll be nothing there to find but his Helix test scores.
“Weyland Lykaios. South Rivix. TriCity building. Floor 423rd,” said the lead officer still staring at Mr. Eizō, “eight years launched from the RHYM program.”
Weyland’s heart sank into his feet. That information should have never been accessible to a Leaf officer. The address to his living quarters was no concern, neither was the information about the RHYM, which is the Rivix Home for Young Men, an orphanage for those without parents. It was his name.
What? What is going on? Did this guy just say Lykaios? No one has ever called me Weyland Lykaios, that name is written in only one place. Wha—
“This information isn’t coming from us, there has been no breach in the firewall. This is accessible to him from an outside source,” said Ora.
Weyland was doing everything he could to not allow his face to show his emotion, which was becoming increasingly difficult. It was like the feeling of being completely outnumbered and completely outsmarted by an enemy but still being forced to fight. Weyland felt small. All the pride he had in his tech vanished and only one feeling remained, fear. Ora was silent, the sound of his own heart became deafening.
“Hey, that’s me!” replied Weyland with a sort of tone that he immediately regretted.
The officers didn’t reply. Instead, the lead Leaf officer turned to the restaurant and gave a surprising and sinister smile.
“Tomorrow is the tally everyone. Please remember to check in to the nearest tally station for counting. The Leaf Council is excited to announce this year’s collective health data and it’s all thanks to you and your willingness to be a part of the annual tally on Vorn,” announced the lead officer.
The annual tally on Treska Vorn. There are many theories about why this takes place, but the official statement of the Leaf Council is that the tally on Treska Vorn enables invaluable research on the health and progress of all citizens on our Ghroskan moon. Through this research, we will be able to continue to study the growth and evolution of our people and ensure the wellness of our present and future citizens.
The officer continued, “If for some reason you are unable to make it to a tally station, please inform a local Leaf security officer or a VornCorp representative, such as our friend Weyland here.
Do these guys know everything about me? How is this possible? And what, I have no authority in VornCorp, I’m no representative. These guys are not typical Leaf security officers, I need to get out of here.
As they said this, Mr. Eizō was gathering up Weyland’s food order and beginning to package it up. The Leaf officers finished up their remarks and the restaurant began to slowly get back to its normal hum of conversation. As they turned back to Eizō, now behind the counter, their smiles turned into something else, disgust. The officers gave Eizō a look and then began to exit Tsuki when the lead officer put his hand on Weyland’s shoulder.
“Thanks for your cooperation today.” The lead officer said quietly still without looking into his eyes.
After a short pause, he continued, “enjoy your soup.”
Either this guy knows more than he’s telling me, or he is trying to scare me. I hope it’s not the latter. Blitz! I hate this guy, who does he think he is?
“Uh, thanks,” Weyland replied.
Weyland felt the officer’s hand slightly increase in strength on his shoulder, like a vice grip. After a moment, they were out the door. Without turning around Weyland waited until they were gone. Once he heard the sound of their pulse bikes fire up and the trailing sound, he turned to Mr. Eizō who met his gaze with a certain look of his own. Before this moment, there was nothing really linking these two outside of food and small conversation, but now because of the preceding moments with the Leaf officers, there were questions that needed answering.
“Here’s your order for Kat, and it looks like something for you as well,” said Mr. Eizō without looking up at Weyland, “that will be 62 cube.”
Weyland slid over his cube disk to be scanned but pulled the card back as Eizō was about to grab it. They both stared down at the card for a moment, waiting for the words to come.
“I understand you may think you saw something here today Weyland, something that seemed unusual,” murmured Mr. Eizō, “but I promise you it was all a misunderstanding.”
As he finished his sentence, he met Weyland’s gaze with a smile that both held relief and fear in its grasp. It was an unfamiliar face to Weyland and a sign that his presumptions about today’s events were correct.
He’s terrified, thought Weyland, what could a simple old soup chef be doing to get the attention of a lead Leaf security officer? If I ask him, he’s sure to shut it down, but maybe he won’t.
“Eizō…” said Weyland.
“No,” Mr. Eizō interrupted sharply but in a hushed tone, “that’s all there is and that’s all I’m going to say.”
His face changed from the old man who had served Weyland and Kat soup for years to a man who had seen something that he cannot unsee and was forbidden to share. He painted a face of a protective father or a mother guarding her children. Although he looked into Weyland’s eyes, he seemed to be staring past them and into the distance of his own thoughts. Weyland noticed his hand shaking. Mr. Eizō noticed this too and quickly went on with the transaction. There were still some eyes of customers on Weyland as he gathered himself and the food that had been given.
“Ah, napkins,” said Mr. Eizō, “I’ll be right back.”
Mr. Eizō retreated into the kitchen to fetch new napkins and his composure. The normal sights and sound of the food kitchen had finally returned and there was a sense of exhale in the room. It wasn’t unusual to see Leaf security in the Centrum, so these people wouldn’t have given it a second thought, but something was out of the norm in this situation.
I’m going to kill that Kat, always messing around and getting me into trouble. For someone who has enough talent and skill to change things or at least make a lot of cube, he really doesn’t take anything too seriously. How am I even going to explain this to him? How did I even get myself caught in the middle of this?
“Weyland,” said Ora.
I bet he doesn’t even believe me, he’ll just laugh and complain that I didn’t get enough sauce or something, Weyland thought to himself, ignoring Ora. How long have I been in this place anyway? Feels like hours, but my time count is only at 9 minutes. This is such a weird day.
“Weyland,” demanded Ora startling Weyland in the process.
“Blitz Ora! What do you want?”
“Something is not right here Weyland,” said Ora.
“Well aren’t you quick,” replied Weyland sarcastically, “did you just pick up on that?”
“No, look Weyland, right in front of you,” she replied.
Weyland looked down to see, not one foot from where Mr. Eizō had been standing, a stack of hundreds of napkins. Weyland shot his gaze up to see if Eizō had retreated through the back of the store, suddenly feeling caught in the middle of a story he had not intended to read. But to his relief, Eizō was rummaging just on the other side of the kitchen, well within view.
Why would I even think he was running? What is he to run from anyway? My God, I need to get out of here, I’m starting to freak myself out.
Mr. Eizō returned with a fresh stack of napkins in his hands which he quickly put into the bag filled with the soup bowls.
“Thank you so much for coming in today,” said Mr. Eizō with some urgency, “see you next time.”
Weyland stared at Eizō for a moment, half smiling, half asking a nonverbal question. But seeing as Eizō was not going to be moved, he proceeded to leave. Eizō had already moved on to the next customer in line before Weyland even turned around.
“Goodbye Mr. Eizō,” replied Weyland, “sorry for any trouble.”
“No trouble,” replied Mr. Eizō without looking back at Weyland, “be seeing you soon I hope.”
The doors slid closed behind Weyland as he stepped out back into what made sense, Rivix. The green and purple lights reflected off his helmet and clothes, the smell of a recent rain infiltrated his senses, and his mind began to replay the moments that had just passed. His outerwear changed hues as the light had shifted since his arrivals. Thousands of people were living in the Centrum with hundreds of places to eat, and somehow Kat picked this place, at this moment. By this time Weyland had almost forgotten the reason for leaving his flat in the first place, the glow. The weather was cold and Weyland realized he’d been standing still for too long and began to walk towards the electram. Three stops to North Rivix, three stops to Kat.
The tram was crowded, and the air was muggy. At one end there was a group of about seven teenagers all linked into an interface, sharing a consciousness while riding. Most of these kids came from the lower level of Rivix, known as the sink. They often never had a place to get off, they would ride and tap into the power supply on the electram with their interfaces. When Weyland was 17, he would and the other boys from the orphanage would often ride these routes for the same reasons, but that was nearly ten years ago. There was a couple riding with a child, a VornCorp engineer, and a few other Centrum neighbors, each minding their own business. Weyland had yet to reactivate his face shield since Tsuki Soup and was met with an unfriendly look by the couple. He snapped out of it and disappeared behind the shell.
“Ora, what were those Leaf officers doing?” asked Weyland.
“As to their motivations, I cannot say. But here’s what I’ve found out about the lead officer,” replied Ora.
An assortment of pictures and information covered the inside shield of Weyland’s helmet, visible only from the inside.
“His name is Ferro Hyxx, a Leaf Security officer. What’s interesting is his record is only 6 months long.”
“What do you mean?” Asked Weyland.
“I mean there is nothing on this guy that goes back longer than the last six months. This is it. His name, his ID number, and his Leaf position.”
That’s impossible.
“What about his markings,” asked Weyland, “the three lines on his face?”
“There’s nothing,” replied Ora, “he’s a ghost.”
“He had tech in his left eye that I’ve never seen before, did you get a look at that?” Asked Weyland with concern.
“Yes, I got a few image scans,” replied Ora, “we should have something to look at once we get to Kat’s place. But if I had to make a guess—”
“He’s not from Vorn,” interrupted Weyland.
“Exactly.”
The electram had arrived at the third stop, north Rivix. Weyland entered the mob of exiting passengers and tracked his way through the crowd, still holding the lunch from Tsuki soup.
“Ora, will you check to see what I’ll be eating today? I’m not sure what Kat ordered me,” said Weyland.
Ora ran a scan from his helmet and brought the item list and images up on the left side of his helmet screen. As the scan commenced, Weyland noticed something strange in the bag.
“Ora, what the heck is that?” he asked.
“I see it,” replied Ora, “pulling it up now.”
I can’t go back to that place, this better just be an extra utensil.
Ora pulled up a scanned image of the item in the bag. It was a small disk, known as an info disk on Vorn.
“Is that an info disk Ora,” asked Weyland, “is that what I’m seeing?”
“Yes, it was in the middle of the stack of napkins,” Ora answered.
Eizō, thought Weyland.
“Open it Ora,” said Weyland with a hurried tone in his voice.
Weyland had not noticed that he had already arrived at the lift to Kat’s place. He’d navigated through hundreds of people, crossed an air bridge, and actually conversed with a pedestrian all while having this conversation with Ora.
“I can’t,” said Ora, “it’s not letting me see anything but the imprinted title message, and even that was difficult to crack.”
“What does it say Ora?” asked Weyland.
A moment passed.
“Ora?” Weyland asked again with nervousness in his voice.
“I…I don’t know,” replied Ora in a voice of concern, “but from what I can retrieve from my scan it is mostly organic but has traces of digital information, but I have never seen such technology”.
Weyland dialed Kat through his helmet, he was standing at the tall metal door to the lift of Kat’s apartment complex. After a few moments, Kat answered.
“What took you so long? I’m starving” Said Katsu jokingly.
“Kat, let me in, I need to talk to you,” replied Weyland, “and hurry up”.
The sound of locks disengaging, a lift firing down from above, and doors opening. As the door slid open Kat was waiting in the lift. Digital tags filled every inch of the walls of the lift, the smell of old cleaning gas still hovered, and someone had left the remnants of an energy hit wrapper on the floor, the fast-food of choice in the Centrum. The lift doors opened; Kat was waiting with a playful smirk.
“Hey Weyly, how’s it going?” asked Katsu taking the food from his hands.
Weyland disengaged his face shield but Katsu was already diving into the soup bowls talking about something he found on the mainframe. Kat’s brain seemed to work twice as fast then anyone Weyland had ever met, it was never focused on just one thing at one time. This included his wardrobe, which at this point was only a pair of VornCorp shorts and the movement gear on his legs.
“Is Ora with you?” asked Kat without turning around.
“I’m here,” replied Ora.
“What’s up auntie?” asked Kat with a smile.
“Good to see you again Kat, looking good as always”, answered Ora.
“I try”, replied Kat.
Ora seamlessly jumped from the helmet interface to Katsu’s living space. In seconds she was actively updating as well as uploading all information to Katsu’s hidden storage units. Kat took his food to his sofa and restarted the feed he was streaming, illegally no doubt, from a paid entertainment stream. He was yammering on about why he thought the entire storyline of the program he was watching didn’t make any sense when compared to the real issues that the moons of Ghrosk were going through. Weyland was not listening.
This guy is going to be the death of me, he has no idea what’s happened and doesn’t seem to care at all. How did I even come to be friends with this kid, he’s nuts.
“This guy jumped a lower-level hard disk and then just gives it over to a dealer for more cube,” Kat complained while aggressively pointing at the screen, “He doesn’t realize that the info on that disk is more val—”
“Kat!” interrupted Weyland.
“What the…”, said Weyland spitting soup out of his mouth, “blitz man, you almost made me spill my soup”.
“Turn that off Kat, I need to talk to you”
“Listen, I’ll pay you back, I knew you were coming and just needed to get some food…” replied Kat.
“No, it’s not about the food. Put that away for a second and come look at this”.
Weyland cleared off a counter in the corner of a small kitchen area and placed the thin round object that Mr. Eizō had placed inside the stack of napkins. From the corner of his eye, Katsu could see Weyland moving items off the counter and onto the floor.
“What are you doing Weyly, let’s eat”, said Kat, “I thought you’d be hungry”.
“Ora, play the recording from Tsuki soup”, said Weyland.
In an instant, Kat’s viewing screen began to play the recording from Weyland’s helmet of the moments in Tsuki soup. Kat, irritated at first didn’t seem interested until the Lead officers came into view.
“What are they doing there?” Asked Kat.
“Just watch”, replied Weyland.
The recording played from the entrance of the restaurant all the way to the discussion in the kitchen. Ora recorded the conversation and Katsu watched with great intrigue, his soup already spilling onto the floor. Kat didn’t notice.
“That’s it Kat,” interrupted Weyland, “the waiter started talking to me and we lost the feed, I don’t know what he said after tha—”.
“No Weyland,” said Ora, “I never stopped recording, I’ll go back a few frames”.
The recording sifted back through 10 seconds of the feed and began playing again, Ora cleaned up the audio and added captions for clarity. Weyland’s heart sank as he realized the part of the conversation that had been stolen from him because of the waiter was now being returned.
If Ora didn’t stop recording, did they know we were tracing them? If they did, it could explain how they accessed something like my last name. But that would be nearly impossible. But that also means they purposely didn’t say anything. If they didn’t know we were tracing them, Weyland thought, it’s not possible that they didn’t. Unless they were offline on purpose. If they turned off their trackers, no one could know where they were unless they were as close as I was, but it also means they would never know if they were being traced.
The feed buffered and began to play again.
“There has been an increase in sightings of the prophets insignia all around this part of Rivix, would you happen to have any idea about that?”
“It is true, I have seen the sign of the proph—” replied Eizō.
“There are no signs!”
“Yes, I have seen the insignia as well, but I cannot tell you who is responsible,” Eizō responded nervously.
The officer leaned into Mr. Eizō’s face.
“We know all about your daughter Eizō, we know she wears the insignia, and when we find her, she will make her tell us everything.”
The officers then shoot their gaze to Weyland as the commotion between him and the waiter is noticed. The feed ends. Katsu shot up to his feet and shot Weyland a look that resembled surprise and wild excitement.
“The prophet huh?” asked Katsu while staring into the distance.
“That’s it, that’s all you can say? Who were those officers and why were they in there?” Demanded Weyland.
Katsu didn’t answer, he stood with his arms crossed mumbling things to himself. This was a normal occurrence for Katsu, who went somewhere else in his mind for a few moments at a time then promptly returned having worked out whatever problem was presented.
“Kat”, said Ora.
“What is that on the counter?” asked Kat pointing to the object Mr. Eizō had given Weyland.
This dude doesn’t even respond to me, I have to remember to leave Ora at home next time.
“I was hoping you could tell me,” said Weyland.
“Blitz,” replied Kat with a wide-eyed smile, “tell me everything, there must be more.”
Just then Weyland remembered the glow, the dreams, and all that had led him to Kat’s house in the first place. Kat sat back down on his sofa, picked up his spilled bowl of soup, and stared eagerly at Weyland.
“Ora, record everything to the offline drives please,” said Kat.
“You go it”, replied Ora.
Weyland sat on the floor with his back to the counter, his first moment of relaxation since he left his sleep pad just a couple of hours before. He could hear his pulse and feel the blood moving through his body. He noticed the lights of Rivix again and craved darkness.
“Where do I start?” sighed Weyland.
