《Someone to Believe In》


 1 - First Meetings

    When I first met Zander Xino, universally renowned explorer and daredevil, I thought he was an absolute prick.


    To be clear, he warranted that assumption. I was just minding my own business as I sipped a cocktail in a run-down pub whose name I don¡¯t remember on Manira, the fourth moon of a gas giant over in the Brine Galaxy. He was the one who waltzed right up to my hightop with a lazy grin on his face and that silly hat on his head, clearly drunk to the tips of his toes and with no concept whatsoever of personal space.


    ¡°Heyyyy,¡± he drawled, ¡°I recognize you!¡±


    I flicked my eyes towards him and gave him a once-over. Bipedal, mammalian, and vaguely Human in appearance, though his lilac skin and dark blue hair didn¡¯t match any Human coloring I had seen before. I have a near-perfect memory for faces and his was slightly familiar, but I was sure I¡¯d never met him before.


    ¡°Yeaaaah,¡± he continued as he leaned hard against my table. I automatically leaned back and wrapped my tail around one of the legs of my stool so I wouldn¡¯t fall off. ¡°You did a shu, uh, a show last month in the capitol, right?¡± He waved his free arm vaguely in the air. ¡°Was¡¯a weird dance thing, right?¡±


    As a matter of fact, I had been to the planet¡¯s capitol a month before for a performance. I had decided to demonstrate the traditional Lo¡¯sha¡¯mi dance practiced by the Nirians. I liked the style well enough, as emulating the flicks and twists of Nirian tentacles was a challenge for a being like me who only had four limbs and a tail to work with. I had to make do with a special garment made of numerous strands of fabric, each of which could fly into the air if I moved just the right way.


    ¡°Yes, that was me,¡± I told him in a level tone. If he wanted to talk about the traditions of Lo¡¯sha¡¯mi, that wouldn¡¯t be so bad. But I had met many others like this man before, and I suspected that he wanted something else.


    ¡°I knew it!¡± he said triumphantly. Then he pointed at me with one unsteady hand. ¡°You - you¡¯re the Siren!¡±


    Called it. He wasn¡¯t interested in dance. He just wanted to be able to brag that he¡¯d met one of the legends of the universe. Never mind that I had clearly been keeping to myself, and never mind that his too-loud proclamation had caught the attention of several other people in the bar.


    ¡°I am,¡± I told him with a sigh, because what was the point of lying? Then I eyed my drink. I quite liked it, actually. It mixed a local fruit juice with a liquor made of Borothian roots in a way that melded the flavors nicely. Was it worth sticking around so I could savor the drink for longer?


    ¡°I¡¯m Zander,¡± he said as he stuck out a hand towards me. I recoiled slightly from the sudden motion. ¡°I¡¯ve, uhh, I¡¯ve wanted to meet you for a looooong time.¡±


    No, it wasn¡¯t worth it. I took one last sip of the drink, then carefully got down from my stool. I was over a foot shorter than Zander when we were both standing, but he didn¡¯t seem to care; he just angled his hand downwards. I eyed the hand dubiously for a moment before I touched his palm gently with one claw-tipped finger. Apparently that was the wrong response, because he frowned in puzzlement.


    ¡°Nice to meet you,¡± I told him with no sincerity whatsoever.


    Then I turned and walked towards the door.


    ¡°Huh?¡± he said from behind me, clearly confused. Then, more loudly: ¡°Heyyyy, wait! I -¡±


    I lost the rest of his sentence as the door to the pub swung shut behind me.


    ~


    The second time I met Zander was fifty-three years later.


    I was still picking my way through the Brine Galaxy, but this time I was on a small planet orbiting Tsithiles, a star at the end of its prime. The planet was only referred to by an ID in the universal registry, but it was called Mrus by the natives. I had come to Mrus following rumors of a type of light-art the Mrusians had developed, and I hadn¡¯t been disappointed. Their use of colorful crystals harvested from underground caves to redirect beams of light was reminiscent of the light patterns produced by the Cosi people, true, but the intricate displays that the Mrusians built were still fresh and exciting to my eyes.


    I had set myself up in a small community near one of the caves and offered them weekly performances of their choice in exchange for materials and time with their artisans. Everything went smoothly for a few months, and I was enjoying myself. At least, I enjoyed myself until one fateful morning when I went to the workshop to find no delivery of fresh crystals, and no sign of the errand girl who usually brought them to us from the caves.


    I went to investigate, of course, and found a crowd of people gathered around the cave¡¯s entrance. For a moment I was concerned that there had been an accident; technology could only do so much, and cave-ins were still a real possibility, especially on backwater planets like this one.


    Instead I found a humanoid figure who looked distinctly familiar.


    ¡°... a sign that a previous society lived down there,¡± Zander was saying in a pleased tone as I arrived. He was entirely focused on the crowd surrounding him and didn¡¯t appear to notice me at all. ¡°And there were marks on the walls too. It looked like there might have been a mural of some sort there once, but it faded long ago, there¡¯s only a few traces left now.¡±


    I perked up at that and slipped my way through the crowd, taking advantage of the fact that my small body could easily weave between the tall and broad Mrusians. In half a minute I had reached the front, where Zander was holding up a large tablet computer that displayed the images he¡¯d taken inside the caves.


    ¡°And here¡¯s the main part of the ruin! I¡¯m no expert, but I figure this could¡¯ve been a temple, or¡­¡± at that point he noticed me, and his voice trailed off for a moment. I recognized that look on his face: he was puzzled by my scales and stature, so out of place on this world full of large, furry mammals. Then his eyebrows shot up.


    ¡°Siren, right?¡± he asked. I nodded quietly. ¡°I thought you were into arty stuff. What are you doing here?¡±


    ¡°Art,¡± I replied simply. ¡°You mentioned a mural?¡±


    ¡°The remains of one.¡± He studied me for a moment, then frowned. ¡°Didn¡¯t you run off when I tried to talk to you before?¡±


    By that point I had fully remembered the context of our previous meeting, but Zander was acting much less obnoxious this time and he had relevant information. ¡°You were drunk,¡± I informed him. ¡°You seem better now.¡±


    ¡°Thank you?¡± he said, looking a bit taken aback. Then he cleared his throat and smiled at me. ¡°Hey, stick around once I¡¯m done here. I can show you more detailed pictures of the murals. Besides, I still want to talk, if you¡¯re up for that.¡±


    I nodded in agreement and moved off to the side, then sat on the ground with my tail curled up around my body. Zander launched right back into his story, and I watched him with the eye of an experienced storyteller. He was good with an audience; he knew how to play off of their emotions and make each being feel like they had really been there, as if the story was just for them. Normally I would have let myself get swept up in his tale to pass the time, but I was puzzled by something.


    Most mammals lived for one, maybe two hundred years. That put them right in the middle of the lifespan range for sentient species across the known universe. Fifty-some years should have been a long time for someone like Zander, yet he looked the same as he had when I¡¯d met him the first time.


    I discreetly pulled my portable computer out of my satchel and tapped the button on the side to connect it to the main computer on my ship, which was orbiting the planet somewhere up above. From there I was able to run a search on the universal news feeds. Zander archeology, I typed, not that I expected to find much with a phrase that vague.


    Imagine my surprise when the first result was an instant hit. It featured a picture of Zander himself next to the article, casually grinning as he gestured towards a giant rock that had some kind of writing etched into it. I skimmed the article¡¯s description, and my eyes went wide.


    Zander Xino, renowned part-Xinian explorer, has caused a stir in the universal archeology community yet again with a recent find in the depths of the Weastiria ravines¡­


    I looked up from the device to Zander, who was now hunched over as he described how he¡¯d needed to crawl through a natural tunnel to access part of the ruin. I had thought that he looked vaguely Human before, and it was likely that he was half-Human. But the other half was Xinian. And if he was part-Xinian, that meant he was an immortal.


    Just like me.


    ~


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    Half an hour later Zander and I were sitting on the ground in front of my workshop, since the Mrusians weren¡¯t much for furniture. We had spent the walk back from the caves looking over Zander¡¯s pictures from the ruins he had found. The remnants of the mural were unfortunately disappointing; they clearly shared a common ancestral root with the wall art produced by the modern locals, and both forms used the rudimentary broad-strokes, finger-painted approach used by early civilizations across the universe. There was nothing new I could learn from them, and the mural was too long-gone to be aesthetically pleasing.


    Still, hearing Zander talk about his escapades was entertaining. I had assumed at first that he was some kind of archeologist or historian, but it was clear that his real interest lay in adventure, exploring new places and seeing things no one had ever seen before. That was logical. Anyone who lived long enough needed to find something to become passionate about, to keep life from getting stale.


    ¡°So,¡± he said after a short pause in the conversation. ¡°You¡¯re Siren. The Siren.¡±


    I nodded in agreement.


    ¡°Infamous worldhopper and artisan of all trades,¡± he continued. ¡°Dancer, musician, painter, poet, sculptor, lightweaver, texturist -¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± I interrupted before things could get out of hand. ¡°So?¡±


    He scoffed and looked at me with a grin. ¡°So? So I¡¯m curious! You¡¯ve been wandering the galaxies for more than two thousand years now, and from everything I¡¯ve heard you haven¡¯t aged a day.¡± He leaned forward and studied me intently. ¡°Everyone says you¡¯re immortal, but I couldn¡¯t find anything official. So, are you?¡±


    My tail flicked back and forth on the ground behind me as I shrugged. ¡°As far as I can tell, yes.¡±


    Zander leaned forward a little further, and his eyes narrowed. ¡°But you aren¡¯t half-Xinian, are you?¡± he asked in a softer voice. ¡°I know almost everyone on the rolls, and I¡¯ve never heard of you. So, what are you?¡±


    I could understand why he wanted to know. The known universe was full of a grand variety of lifeforms, and some of those forms lived for hundreds of years, even a thousand years, but forever? As far as society knew, only the mysterious Xinians and their occasional half-breed offspring could live forever.


    So yes, it was a fair question. That didn¡¯t mean I was going to answer it.


    ¡°None of your business,¡± I told Zander smoothly.


    He raised his eyebrows at that. ¡°Really?¡± he asked. ¡°Well then, what part of space did you come from?¡±


    I tilted my head and considered him. ¡°Still none of your business.¡±


    ¡°Come on!¡± he said, sounding mildly exasperated now. ¡°I won¡¯t pry into your personal affairs. I just want to go see the world that produced another immortal species, that¡¯s all.¡±


    Ahh, so that was his game. He was an explorer, and I was an oddity. Of course he was interested. Well, he was doomed to disappointment on this front.


    ¡°I can¡¯t help you with that,¡± I told him firmly. ¡°If you wish to share stories to help pass the time, by all means, be welcome here. But my past is my own.¡±


    He sucked in air through the side of his mouth and tugged on the strange hat he wore, large on top and with a wide brim. Some kind of human affectation? Then, after a moment¡¯s thought, he stood up and dusted off his trousers.


    ¡°Thanks for the offer, but now that I¡¯m done here, there¡¯s a little planet in the next system that¡¯s calling my name,¡± he said, all cheerful again. ¡°But hey, take this. If you ever change your mind about telling me where you¡¯re from, you just let me know.¡±


    He handed me a data card, one of the general models that could interface with practically any computer. I took it carefully in one hand and looked over the smooth, glossy surface, then looked back up again.


    He was already walking away.


    ~


    Third time¡¯s the charm, the old saying goes.


    Three hundred and twenty four years had passed, and I was in an entirely different galaxy. The planet that called itself Verdant had recently developed a new form of pottery that used a locally-designed synthetic material to make creations thinner and more delicate than anything that had been possible in the field before. I had decided to stop by the planet for a short time to take a look at some of their designs, and of course to try out this new material on my own.


    Fourteen days into my visit, the planet erupted into pandemonium.


    The new respiratory virus, popularly called Rasping Breath, has now spread outside of Rainforest City, the newscaster said. All the potters in the studio had abandoned their work to listen closely to the audio strip that usually played casual music on the side wall, so I stopped as well to find out what had them so concerned. New cases have already been identified in Canyon Town, Firegrass City, Tallest Spire, and New Landing. The death toll in Rainforest City has risen to 23, with an additional 587 cases across the region. The world governor has decreed a lockdown for the entire continent of Evergreen effective immediately. All citizens must return to their homes and wait for further instructions from their audio strips at 17:00 today¡­


    The others in the room immediately erupted into frenzied discussion. We were in Cove Town, which was less than an hour away from New Landing by speedcraft. If the virus had reached New Landing so quickly, it would be here within a day or two.


    I watched the other artists in the studio and let out a soft sigh. Over the years I had grown used to death, to seeing beings around me come and go in what sometimes felt like the blink of an eye. Yet it still pained me to see the stress that others felt when they were faced with their own mortality.


    I offered my hosts a comforting word or two, the only thing I had to give, and helped them clean and lock up the building so they could all return to their homes. Then I went back to my groundship and settled into the cockpit, switching the controls from land flight to space reentry mode. If a pandemic was brewing in this world, it was best that I escape before I was swept up in it.


    Check the fuel tanks, ensure the gravity meters are stable, program the flight plan - hmm? I paused and stared at the screen that held the navigation information, momentarily puzzled at the bright text that had appeared over the plan.


    EXTRAPLANETARY FLIGHT BANNED.


    I frowned and clicked a claw against the text, and the box lengthened, displaying more information below the initial warning.


    AUTHORITIES HAVE ACTIVATED ANTI-FLIGHT NETS AROUND THIS PLANET. ALL EXIT PATHS ARE CLOSED AT THIS TIME.


    I hissed and curled my tail in a tight coil instinctively. I did not want to be stuck on this planet during a pandemic. I¡¯d lived through that once before over a thousand years ago during the Scarlet Plague on Korai, and I had no desire to repeat the experience.


    There was only one choice, then. I flicked my tongue out into the air in distaste, switched back to the land flight controls, and set a course for Verdant¡¯s DSC office.


    ~


    The universe is full of many beautiful things. Every planet I have seen has something that makes it stand out, something vibrant and unique.


    Despite this, every Department of Space Crafts office I have ever visited has been the same. Dull, slow, and entirely devoid of emotion. Somehow no species, no matter how intelligent or emotionally fluent they are, has managed to create a spacecraft office that can run for more than a few days before it devolves into a pit of bureaucracy and soul-crushing weariness.


    This office was no exception. The walls were painted a bland off-white that didn¡¯t at all fit in with the usual bright pastels that the Verdanti liked to use, and the potted plants were practically wilting. An audio strip on the wall that constantly let out a low-pitched hum repeated to the world that it was Number 74¡¯s turn to come up to the front desk every ten seconds or so.


    I had expected all of the lifelessness. I had not expected to find Zander Xino sitting on one of the chairs, patiently waiting for his turn.


    It took me a moment to recall why I recognized his face, but once I did I walked straight up to him and flicked my tail out to the side in an idle gesture. ¡°You¡¯re stuck here as well, then?¡± I said.


    He stared at me for a moment, clearly not sure who I was; three hundred years will do that. Then his eyes lit up. ¡°The Siren herself,¡± he said with a lazy smile. ¡°And yes, I am. Don¡¯t bother trying to get an exemption to leave. They ain¡¯t handing out any.¡±


    I crossed my arms and clicked the claws of my left hand against the carapace on the back of my right arm in irritation. ¡°That¡¯s irrational. I can¡¯t even carry diseases.¡±


    ¡°Neither can I,¡± he replied easily. ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter. Bureaucrats are bureaucrats.¡±


    The speaker in the background called for Number 75 as I looked around and frowned. ¡°So they told you no already. Why are you still here?¡±


    Zander shrugged. ¡°My sailing crew is under quarantine just like everyone else. I either get to hunker down in my speedcraft by myself for months, maybe a year -¡± he shuddered at that - ¡°or see if I can help shut this virus down faster. I¡¯ll always choose the path of action, if I¡¯m given a choice.¡±


    That was unexpected. ¡°You trained in medicine?¡± I asked, authentically curious now. I had dabbled in rudimentary medicine years ago, just out of curiosity, but I hadn¡¯t gotten anywhere near far enough along to help solve something like a pandemic.


    He laughed and shook his head. ¡°Not beyond the basics, no. But I heard a rumor that the disease started with a scientific team that was out in the jungle.¡± He stretched his arms up high and smiled fiercely. ¡°That smells like adventure to me. I figured I¡¯d find out where this science site is, fly over, do some poking around. I¡¯ll see if I can find anything that¡¯ll help the doctors here wrap up this virus a little more quickly.¡±


    I nodded in understanding, but internally I was already doing my own calculations. Even if Zander sped up the process, I would still be stuck on this planet for quite a while. Well, I had fallen behind in my reading recently. Perhaps I could dedicate a month or two to that. It would be hard to ignore the chaos unfolding in the world outside, though.


    ¡°You could come with me,¡± Zander suggested.


    I paused my ruminations and blinked at him. ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Come with me,¡± he repeated. Then he grinned in a lopsided way. ¡°No way I¡¯ll be able to find a crew with all the locals quarantining, and adventuring alone just ain¡¯t quite the same. You¡¯re safe from the disease, and you seem reasonable. You should come.¡±


    I kept staring at him, momentarily at a loss for words. It had been decades since anyone had proposed such an absurd idea to me. I was an artist! Everyone knew that and expected nothing else of me. The idea of going exploring of all things felt ludicrous, entirely out of character.


    Then again¡­ it had been at least a hundred years since the last time I had tried a hobby outside of art, just to see what it was like. I was overdue for an opportunity to attempt something new. And memories of the Scarlet Plague still nagged at the back of my head. Bodies in the streets from the sheer amount of death, with the usual gray skin stained red from inflammation. Desperate Koraians pounding at my ship¡¯s hatch, begging someone they considered a living legend for medical help that I simply didn¡¯t know how to provide. What if my help could mitigate the disaster this time?


    ¡°Okay,¡± I told him.


    He blinked in surprise. ¡°Okay?¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± I repeated. ¡°I¡¯ll go with you.¡±

 2 - Something Different

    ¡°You want to do what?¡± the Verdanti woman behind the desk asked.


    It had taken over an hour, but we¡¯d eventually been called back to the office of one of the DSC officials. That official had sent us along to another one, who had sent us to the head of the department, who gaped at our request before passing us along to another office entirely.


    Our latest official was a slender green woman who wore a complicated bag over her mandibles, some kind of medical mask I assumed. She mostly looked professional, but the slight tremor in her antenna revealed her nerves.


    ¡°Go to the source of the problem,¡± Zander repeated. ¡°Whatever sciency place the team that brought back the disease had visited. We¡¯ll check it out, see if we can find any signs of what first caused the disease, and bring it back for your people to study.¡±


    The woman¡¯s antenna trembled again. ¡°Impossible,¡± she told us. ¡°We tried sending a team a few days ago. The disease somehow breached their protective suits in a matter of hours. It is too dangerous.¡±


    Zander¡¯s mouth curved up in a slow smile. ¡°Lady,¡± he drawled, ¡°I live for danger.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re both immune,¡± I told the Verdanti woman flatly. She turned to look at me properly for the first time and I saw her eyes widen as she recognized me. ¡°We can go gather samples of whatever is in the site that might have caused the disease. If you give us the right equipment, we¡¯ll even package them in no-contam boxes for you.¡±


    ¡°But the protective suits -¡±


    ¡°We could double up the boxes,¡± Zander suggested lazily. ¡°And we don¡¯t have to bring ¡®em straight back here. Could leave them a ways outside the city, and you could send some robots over to check¡¯em out when you¡¯re ready, maybe.¡±


    The woman held still for a moment, then twitched her antenna in a way I had learned indicated agreement. ¡°Give me a moment,¡± she told us. Then she turned to the audio strip on the side of her desk and started typing in a code.


    I glanced towards Zander as the Verdanti woman talked to someone on the other side of her strip in the native language of her species, the words all buzzing and clicking together. ¡°Robots aren¡¯t a bad idea. Why not send them in instead? You could still watch from afar and offer advice.¡±


    ¡°Where¡¯s the fun in that?¡±


    ¡°This is serious,¡± I told him with a frown. ¡°Lives are at stake.¡±


    ¡°Sure, sure,¡± he said with a sigh. ¡°Still, it wouldn¡¯t work. For these kinds of investigations, you need to be there. Your own senses will pick up on things that a ¡®bot just can¡¯t detect.¡± He pointed at me and grinned cheekily. ¡°There you go, that¡¯s your first lesson in adventuring. Use your senses, especially your common sense!¡±


    I hummed noncommittally and looked back at the Verdanti, ignoring the way Zander grumbled at his joke being ignored. The woman spoke for half a minute longer, then twisted a dial on the audio strip to end the call and looked back at us.


    ¡°You have our permission,¡± she told us in the universal standard language with a decisive click of her mandibles. ¡°I will arrange for you to be given appropriate sample boxes directly. We have decided you must quarantine from our entire population for ten days when you return from the site. This will ensure you do not act as passive carriers.¡± She paused, then waved one of her jagged arms back and forth in a gesture I couldn¡¯t quite parse. ¡°We are willing to agree to your terms. If you find something that can help our bioengineers in their work, and if our doctors can confirm that you do not carry the disease. If these conditions are met, we will grant your petition to leave the planet before the overarching quarantine is lifted.¡±


    ¡°Deal,¡± Zander said immediately. ¡°Now, where is this site?¡±


    ¡°In the middle of North Rainforest.¡± The woman pulled a folder out from under her desk and flipped it open, and we both leaned forward to look. ¡°The place is overgrown and hostile. It has proven extremely difficult to map. The team had been slowly working on it for years and just discovered this particular site ten days ago.¡±


    I blinked in surprise. This entire pandemic had started just ten days ago? That meant the disease was moving unusually fast.


    ¡°The site is¡­ well, you can see a scan right here.¡± The picture itself was grainy and low-quality, but it still clearly displayed a vast structure made of some mottled material I didn¡¯t recognize with a dark opening in the front. It looked natural, almost like a cave, but the way it just popped up in the middle of the forest didn¡¯t fit with the surroundings at all. ¡°We have never seen anything like this before. The scientists tried to sample the cave¡¯s external material to learn more. However, they could not cut into it.¡±


    Zander leaned forward and furrowed his brow. ¡°Huh,¡± he said after a moment. Then, after another pause: ¡°And the crew got sick after going inside?¡±


    ¡°Correct.¡±


    ¡°So whatever caused this, it must be in there.¡± He cracked his knuckles and grinned at the two of us. ¡°This¡¯ll hardly even be a challenge.¡±


    I frowned as I looked back towards the picture. There was something ominous about that structure, to my eyes.


    Somehow, I doubted this would be as easy as Zander thought.


    ~


    Reaching the site was easy, once we were given the coordinates. I landed my ship in the open field that surrounded the giant structure, keeping far back just in case. Zander landed his own speedcraft next to mine, so I looked the vehicle over idly as I waited for him to exit it. The craft was such a garish red. I liked vibrant colors, but red always struck me as too extreme to be used in a casual manner.


    I turned from the ship to look out towards the structure again. Even from a distance I could tell that the material it was made of looked¡­ different. The structure was mostly built of large hexagons, each one a slightly different shade of grayish-green, with one of the hexagons near the top broken into two slabs that leaned into each other. It looked almost like the structure could be made from rock. The whole thing felt strangely familiar, though I couldn¡¯t quite place why.


    A hissing noise came from Zander¡¯s ship and moments later the half-Xinian man emerged, carrying two large rucksacks over his shoulders. He offered the smaller one to me and I settled it over my own shoulders with a small grunt. One of the shoulder straps chafed at the place where the carapace on my shoulders melded back into my scales, but I was able to adjust the strap until it no longer rubbed the wrong way.


    ¡°We¡¯ve got the no-contam boxes collapsed in these, plus some essential tools,¡± he told me with an easy grin. ¡°Just the basics for now. We can go scope out the place for a few hours, then come back and fetch more gear if we need it.¡±


    I nodded and followed him as he set out towards the structure. It was larger than I had expected from the photo, easily ten times bigger than the office building we had been in before. As we approached it I could tell that the material flowed seamlessly from one hexagon to the next, apart from the place where the structure had broken down.


    When we finally reached the structure I put out one hand and gently rested it against the outer wall. It felt smoother than I had expected, but not like metal or glass. Something different, more¡­ alive?


    Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    ¡°This is odd,¡± I whispered.


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Zander said from next to me. I glanced over to find that he was also examining the outer wall, though he was running both hands over the surface slowly. ¡°Doesn¡¯t feel constructed, but it¡¯s way too uniform to be natural.¡±


    ¡°Stranger things have happened,¡± I murmured as I tested a claw against the wall. Hard, the Verdanti woman had said, and hard it was; I couldn¡¯t scratch it at all.


    ¡°Hmm,¡± Zander said with a frown towards the wall. Then he shrugged and took a step back. ¡°Well, this looks more like a puzzle for the material scientists of the universe than for the likes of me.¡± He raised his eyebrows and looked over at me. ¡°Ready to go in?¡±


    I nodded and followed him to the entrance. The opening was hexagonal in shape as well, though part of it was buried underground. I realized as I stepped through the entrance that I was holding my breath, and that made me smile. I was actually feeling nervous about this whole adventuring idea. How quaint.


    At first the floor on the inside was dirt, but it sloped down quickly until we were walking on a material that seemed to be the same as what the outer walls had been made of. The inside of the structure quickly faded to darkness past the entrance point, so Zander pulled a lantern and a flashlight out of his rucksack. The lantern cast a circle of light all around us, and he handed it off to me; the flashlight he flicked on and aimed straight in front of us.


    The broad beam of light showed a¡­ hallway? Yes, it looked like there were walls inside the structure too. Zander swept the beam around to show rough walls to either side, and a rough surface overhead. There was at least one gap in the left wall, though. Perhaps there were side passages.


    He hummed in interest and started walking forward, motioning for me to follow him. I did so, though I drifted to the side so I could run a hand against the wall. It felt¡­ rougher, somehow. Not quite the same material, perhaps.


    We wandered down the main hallway for a while, ignoring the occasional side paths that opened up, until we reached a dead end. I was ready to turn back, but Zander stopped me and pointed up with a mischievous grin. When I tilted my head back I was greeted with the sight of a hole in the ceiling, one that appeared to lead to an upper floor of some sort.


    ¡°Clever,¡± I told him. ¡°How do you intend to get up there?¡±


    He settled his rucksack more squarely on his shoulders and tied his flashlight to his belt with a quick knot. Then he paused, and something shifted. I can¡¯t describe it well. One second he was the same as usual; the next, he was different. Taller, maybe, but all in the legs.


    He crouched down, then leapt into the air to a height that I would normally have considered impossible. He managed to grab onto the ledge above us with one arm, then used that grip to hoist himself onto the second floor with a grunt.


    I watched him the entire time, intrigued despite myself. One does not live in the universe as long as I had without learning a few things, and I knew the legends about the Xinians. Immortal, yes, but that was merely a side effect of their true ability: reality warping. A Xinian could change the world around them to suit their whims, and indeed, most Xinians chose to live on planets that they had transformed to their own liking. No one knew how the ability worked, as the species was not interested in sharing their secrets with the scientific minds of the universe.


    Zander must have warped reality to give himself stronger legs. I hadn¡¯t realized that he would have Xinian powers as well; I had thought the half-Xinians just had immortality. That did raise questions. If he could change the world around him on a whim, why not eradicate the disease with a wave of his hand, or convince the officials to let him leave with a thought?


    My musings were interrupted as a rope ladder fell down from above, the last few rungs clattering against the ground. Zander¡¯s face poked out over the edge to look down at me. ¡°Are you coming?¡± he asked.


    I set aside my questions as I gripped my lantern awkwardly in one hand and started climbing up to the second floor. Zander¡¯s business was his own. As long as he didn¡¯t use his powers on me, I would be content.


    ~


    We had wandered through the upper floors of the structure for almost an hour now, but we hadn¡¯t found anything of interest. Just more walls, more passageways, more occasional holes in the ceiling.


    Well, we had discovered one interesting fact: the strange material that this structure was made of apparently blocked radio waves. Neither of us could access the databanks on our ships while we were in this place, nor could we communicate with the outside world at all. We didn¡¯t need outside data just yet, though, so we¡¯d decided to keep pressing forward until we found something more informative.


    The current passageway we were following felt like it was moving back in the direction of the entrance, though it was several floors up from where we had started before. I tried to mimic Zander and look in every direction as we walked, but as time went on I was feeling more and more out of my depth. I knew myself well, and it was normal for me to feel uncomfortable when I tried something outside of my area of expertise. Still, I probably wouldn¡¯t rush into another exploration like this after we had achieved our objective.


    Zander certainly didn¡¯t look uncomfortable. He was fully alert as he watched the world around him, waiting for any signal that his surroundings had changed in an interesting way. He had already murmured a few observations into a voice recorder that he carried in his front jacket pocket, and he¡¯d even asked for my thoughts about a few patterns we had seen on one of the walls we¡¯d passed. I was fairly certain they were random, not intentional art, but he¡¯d still left a positioning beacon by the markings so he could return to them later for deeper study.


    ¡°Up ahead,¡± he said suddenly, and I blinked in surprise as I realized that I¡¯d been staring at him. I shifted my gaze forward and saw that we had arrived at another dead end. Yet something was different this time.


    Something was¡­ growing out of the wall? That couldn¡¯t be the case, yet it certainly looked that way. A strange scraggly mess of vines emerged from the wall ahead, with tiny purple flowers dotting the vines here and there. To the sides the passageway opened up to reveal a long surface of wall, and I could spot other clusters of vines off in the distance.


    ¡°How are they growing here?¡± I asked aloud, not that I expected Zander to know. ¡°No light, no water, no nutrients¡­¡±


    ¡°Must be something about the strange material this place is made of,¡± he responded. ¡°Anyway, wanna bet this is what caused the disease? It¡¯s always some weird animal or weird plant.¡±


    He had already set his rucksack on the ground and pulled out one of the no-contam boxes. I took a second one out of my own bag to have at the ready, since we had promised to double-box any samples we collected. Personally, I wasn¡¯t sure that the vines were the culprit, but they seemed as good a place to start as any.


    Once the boxes were set up, Zander got to work pulling part of the cluster of vines out of the wall. ¡°Need to get some of the roots,¡± he grunted as he worked. ¡°Never know just what those science types might need, so -¡±


    There was a pop sound and he stumbled backwards, vines in hand. He had only pulled out part of the plant, but the rest of the cluster suddenly went limp as well.


    From in front of us, somewhere inside the wall, there was a rumbling sound.


    I froze and looked right at Zander. He was frozen as well, and his eyes had gone wide. ¡°Uh oh,¡± he murmured.


    Another pop came from further down the wall, and I looked over to see that the next cluster of vines had gone limp. The rumbling noise in the walls increased.


    Zander dropped the vines and grabbed my arm, which made me jump in surprise, but he was just turning me to make sure he had my attention. His eyes were dark and serious - had I ever seen him look actually serious before?


    ¡°Run,¡± he told me.


    Then he took off at a sprint down the hallway.


    It took me a moment to realize what was going on. Then I gasped, dropped my rucksack, and started running as well.


    Zander was ahead of me at first, but I had the advantage of having a body that could run on two or four legs. Once I dropped my lantern and got down on all four feet I was able to catch up to him quickly. Something in Zander¡¯s body shifted again, and suddenly he was leaner, more streamlined. In this new form he was able to keep up with me, even when I ran at my top speed.


    The two of us sprinted through the hallways, passing occasional positioning beacons as we went. All around us the structure was still rumbling and groaning and making noises that sounded horribly ominous. I didn¡¯t have time to contemplate what could happen, though. I was entirely focused on getting back to the entrance as quickly as I could.


    When we reached the final ledge I jumped down recklessly, landing in a tight roll so that my carapace could absorb most of the impact. Then I was off in a mad dash back towards the opening. It hadn¡¯t been that far away. As long as we could get there in time -


    My feet dug into dirt sooner than I expected. I stumbled to a halt and stood there, gasping for breath, as I stared at the wall ahead of me. A wall where there had once been an opening.


    Next to me Zander cursed in three different languages. I might have joined him, but it felt like there was no breath left in my lungs, no way for me to speak.


    We were trapped.

 3 - Searching for Answers

    ¡°No, no, no, no,¡± I whispered as I stared at the new wall that now blocked the only exit from this cavern, at least as far as I was aware.


    My lungs still felt tight and I could only speak in a breathy whisper, but the initial moment of shock had passed. Before I had felt almost nothing; now, I felt everything. Cold chills running up and down my scales, a churning discomfort in my stomach, and pulses of pure panic that kept stabbing through my brain.


    The wall, that was the problem. Maybe there was a way through. I ran the last few feet forward and started attacking it madly, raking my claws against the smooth surface. When that did nothing I reared back and tried the claws on my feet, which were tougher. Still no impact.


    Part of me knew that I was behaving irrationally, but I couldn¡¯t help it. I was trapped. I couldn¡¯t handle that, not again.


    ¡°Hey, hey,¡± Zander said from next to me, sounding concerned. I ignored him as I kept lashing out with my back claws. ¡°Siren. Siren!¡±


    Then his hand was on my shoulder, warm and steady. I jerked away and ran to the side, then crouched down to huddle into myself, tucking my head in so that the hard carapace on my back and limbs could protect me from the world. I was trembling all over and breathing fast and shallow. I could barely string two coherent thoughts together.


    I heard Zander walk closer, but he didn¡¯t touch me this time. Instead, he paused a few paces away. ¡°Hey, it¡¯s okay,¡± he said in a voice I could barely comprehend. ¡°Just focus on breathing, alright?¡±


    I drew in a long, shuddering breath, then let it all out at once. Another breath in, another breath out.


    I kept breathing that way for a minute, perhaps two. Gradually my racing heart slowed its pace and my brain calmed down. Eventually I was able to uncurl my body from its defensive position and look out into the world again.


    Zander was crouched a few paces away from me, arms resting on his knees. He had placed the flashlight next to him, so I could see our immediate surroundings a little, but his face was cast in shadow.


    ¡°Better?¡± he asked.


    I nodded once. My stomach still ached and my scales still prickled, but the feelings were manageable now.


    ¡°Good.¡± He leaned back and studied me. ¡°Claustrophobic?¡±


    ¡°Something like that,¡± I murmured. A brief memory of a brightly-lit room and a locked door flashed through my mind. I pushed it away immediately.


    ¡°Hmm.¡± He kept looking at me for a few moments longer. Then he got up. ¡°No need to panic yet. This ain¡¯t good, but we¡¯ve got options. I¡¯ve got a few tools back in my sack that might be able to break through that wall.¡±


    I nodded in agreement, breathing a little easier now. ¡°And there are side passages,¡± I pointed out after a moment. ¡°Maybe one of them leads to another way out.¡±


    His teeth flashed in a grin. ¡°See? That¡¯s the spirit. Gotta keep things optimistic.¡±


    I got up as well and followed Zander as he started making his way back down the hallway. We had both dropped our sacks when we ran for the exit, so we would have to go all the way back to the place with the vines to retrieve them. I could use the long walk to fully calm myself down and put myself in a rational frame of mind again.


    I didn¡¯t look behind me as we left.


    ~


    The tools didn¡¯t work.


    I had suspected that would be the case given the Verdanti¡¯s claims that their scientists couldn¡¯t sample the external walls of the structure. But it was one thing to be told that, and another to watch with my own eyes as a diamond chisel entirely failed to scratch the surface of the wall. Even Zander¡¯s short-wave laser gun had no impact on the material.


    While Zander attempted to break through the surface, I stood a few feet off to the side so I could examine it more closely. I¡¯d found a magnifying glass in my rucksack and I was using it to trace the details of the material. The more I looked at it, the more familiar it felt. Finally, after several minutes spent staring at the wall without blinking, it clicked.


    ¡°It¡¯s like a shell,¡± I said out loud.


    Zander paused his current attempt, which involved chipping the chisel against the seam between two of the hexagons to see if it would be weaker than the main surface. So far, it hadn¡¯t been. ¡°A shell?¡± he asked, puzzled.


    ¡°Or like carapace,¡± I said, tapping the hard surface that covered the back of my head in emphasis. ¡°It feels more organic than mineral.¡±


    He frowned and looked back at the wall. ¡°That doesn¡¯t make sense. Organic structures are usually weaker than metals and minerals, right?¡±


    I shrugged. ¡°Usually doesn¡¯t mean always.¡±


    He made a ¡®hmph¡¯ sound at that, but his eyes grew softer in the lantern light as he contemplated the idea. ¡°Still, if this is a shell? Imagine the size of the original creature!¡± He tossed a grin towards me. ¡°You ever visited Swoom? Big ol¡¯ planet in the Golden System?¡±


    I shook my head. I¡¯d done a tour through the system before, but that particular planet had escaped my notice.


    ¡°There¡¯s this giant species that lives there, the Dutils. Huge old squid-like beings, easily twenty times the size of me. Big fans of long-form poetry - you¡¯d like them, probably.¡± I smiled slightly at that. ¡°Anyway, the Dutils are the biggest species I¡¯ve ever met, and even they would be dwarfed by this thing! Can you imagine what it must¡¯ve looked like when it was alive?¡±


    I could, actually. My smile grew as I pictured a gigantic creature slowly working its way through the forest, knocking down trees with the kind of ease that I would use when walking through tall grass. Perhaps it would be a little like a cross between a snail and a spotted toyak, mainly using the muscles on its neck to move but occasionally rolling its whole body forward to create a colossal impact. Now, what medium would be best to represent such a being? Oils, perhaps, to capture the shine of the body, though ceramic would be interesting for the shell -


    I felt a stab of disappointment as reality hit me. I currently had no way to access my ship with its deep reserves of supplies. The idea would have to wait until we had found a way out of this place.


    Right now, I needed to focus on practical things. I pulled my portable computer out of the pouch that rested against my hip and checked the time, then flicked my tongue out in contemplation. ¡°Zander,¡± I asked, ¡°doesn¡¯t your species need to eat regularly?¡±


    He had gone back to tapping away at the wall while I thought. Now he shrugged as he kept working steadily. ¡°For regular Humans, sure, and I like eating well enough. But when it¡¯s impractical -¡± he waved at the wall, clearly indicating ¡®like right now¡¯ - ¡°I can set it aside.¡±


    ¡°And how does that work?¡±


    He paused his work properly, then, so he could turn and look at me. ¡°Well¡­ you know how full-blooded Xinians work, right?¡±


    I nodded. ¡°Reality warping.¡±


    ¡°Yup.¡± He held a hand out in front of him and that shift happened again. The hand warped from its usual light purple to a light brown, then a dark green, then a deep black. ¡°I can change any part of my body to be the way I feel it should be. If I get hungry and there¡¯s no food around? I just tell my stomach it¡¯s not hungry after all. Problem solved.¡± His hand shifted back to its normal color as he looked over at me. ¡°How often do you eat?¡±


    I smiled slightly and tilted my head to the side. ¡°I¡¯m similar, actually. I can get by perfectly well without eating. I only do it now and then, for fun.¡± I always made a point of trying the local cuisine in each new world I visited, but in my travels between planets I often went days, perhaps weeks without eating.


    Well. Except for when I occasionally craved something delicious and went on a mint-eating spree. Was it my fault that the universe had developed so many unique ways of presenting such an intriguing flavor?


    This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.


    In any case, Zander¡¯s answer had reminded me of another question I had. I crossed my arms and looked up at him. ¡°So you do have Xinian abilities. Why not use those to tell the wall to be softer?¡±


    He frowned at that and looked back at the wall. ¡°I¡¯m not that good,¡± he said curtly as he started working again. ¡°I can only change myself, not the rest of the world.¡±


    I leaned back slightly. Since I¡¯d met him for the second time, Zander had always been cheerful and warm, a pleasant kind of person to be around. Yet his last statement had been flat and cold. There was history there, I could tell.


    Part of me wanted to ask what was wrong. But what right did I have to pry when I kept my own secrets so close to my heart?


    At least that solved another puzzle I¡¯d wondered about. ¡°I suppose that explains why you¡¯re purple and blue,¡± I said with a slight smile. ¡°I¡¯ve only seen Humans in shades of brown before.¡±


    That made him grin and relax. ¡°Would you believe I started looking this way when I was only four? I thought purple was the best color in the world. Why not make myself purple too?¡± He chuckled. ¡°Though I went through this horrible plaid phase when I hit puberty. I think my father still has some pictures of me from then back at home. Stars, I was an eyesore.¡±


    That surprised a laugh out of me, which made his grin grow even broader. ¡°And that¡¯s not even close to the worst stuff I got up to as a teen. So, this one time, I had gotten really into this ridiculously edgy Erupti band and decided I was going to be just like them¡­¡±


    ~


    ¡°Another dead end,¡± Zander said with a sigh as he shined his flashlight on the rough wall in front of us.


    We¡¯d eventually given up on breaking down the front wall and had started exploring the various passages in the carapace system instead. We were being logical about it, too. Zander had hundreds of little positioning beacons in his bag, so we placed one at every intersection to mark the way back. Our computers were still able to detect signals inside the cavernous system even if they couldn¡¯t receive data from outside, so we were able to make a rough digital map of the space as we explored it.


    I also marked each path that we went down with a bit of chalk that I had dug out of my bag. I wanted a backup system in place in case technology failed us again.


    Now the two of us turned away from the dead end and headed in the opposite direction. We had already mapped out most of the first floor, but we hadn¡¯t found much of interest. Just an old nest that some animal must have created in one of the earlier hallways, and one area where an interior wall had a giant crack down the middle that let us peer into an adjacent hallway. The second one was slightly exciting as it showed that the walls could break down. Yet we still couldn¡¯t even scratch them with the materials we had on hand.


    We were taking turns telling stories as we walked to help pass the time. I mostly told classic folktales that I had memorized long ago, but Zander enjoyed talking about his past escapades. As we walked back to the most recent intersection he told me about the time he¡¯d visited the planet Aerita to learn the sport of skyboarding. Falling through the sky with nothing but an aerodynamic board didn¡¯t sound fun to me, but if Zander¡¯s broad smile was any indication, he had enjoyed it.


    By the time he finished his story we had reached the intersection and turned down the second hallway. I marked the side of the hallway with a bit of chalk as he shifted to look at me. ¡°Your turn.¡±


    I hummed and scratched a claw under my chin. ¡°Perhaps the story of the Lkthy hero Wrgfn? According to their legends, she walked across their largest sea to rescue her lost love.¡±


    Zander wagged his head from side to side in a noncommittal way. Then he grinned in a lazy way. ¡°Honestly, I¡¯d rather hear a story about you. What¡¯s your wildest tale?¡±


    I looked back at him flatly. ¡°I don¡¯t have any wild tales.¡±


    ¡°Ha! I doubt that. No crazy teenage adventures? No wild nights after a local drug hit you harder than you expected?¡± He waggled his eyebrows at me. ¡°No passionate romantic encounters?¡±


    I looked away and scowled at the darkness ahead of us. ¡°Clearly we lead very different lives.¡±


    He chuckled at that and went quiet. At first I was content to keep walking, but after a while the silence itched at me. I had never been one to share the details of my life with others. Yet something about Zander made words spill out of my mouth before I realized what I was doing.


    ¡°I tried my hand at romance in my third century.¡± I could see out of the corner of my eye that he was looking at me again, but I kept my eyes forward. ¡°On a few planets, actually, with perhaps a dozen different species. I kept trying to find someone who could make me feel¡­ different, I suppose.¡± I let out a tiny breath and shrugged. ¡°The physical part never did anything for me, and the connections didn¡¯t feel real. So eventually I gave up on it, focused on my work instead.¡±


    Stars, I could feel that he was still looking at me. How did he do that?


    ¡°How about your own species?¡± he asked. ¡°Ever try with them?¡±


    I shot a glare towards him. Yes, he was watching me, and his brown eyes were filled with interest. ¡°You¡¯re fishing for information,¡± I accused him.


    ¡°Nah,¡± he replied calmly, though there was a twinkle in his eye that cast doubt on his response. ¡°It¡¯s an honest question. Some people just have a harder time connecting with beings that don¡¯t share their species.¡±


    I looked forward again and flicked my tail up so that I could hold it in one hand. ¡°... there aren¡¯t any others like me,¡± I eventually whispered, keeping my eyes forward.


    Zander paused before he replied. ¡°Oh,¡± he finally said in a faltering voice. He rubbed the back of his neck and glanced down at me, his eyes soft. ¡°Do you want to talk about it?¡±


    Bright lights, sterile equipment, and dark red eyes flashed through my head. I shook my head quickly, both in answer and to clear the thoughts.


    ¡°Okay, that¡¯s fine.¡± He reached out and patted my shoulder. ¡°You just tell me if you ever change your mind, Si.¡±


    I blinked at that. Si? No one had ever given me a nickname before, not even the beings I had tried to love all those centuries ago.


    I decided that I liked it.


    ~


    Hours passed. Days passed. I told Zander how I first discovered my love of the arts, when I wandered into a painter¡¯s studio and found myself absolutely frozen by the range of colors and concepts displayed on the walls. He told me about how he taught himself cliff diving as a child, how it was the first thing that gave him the urge to reach for new heights at every opportunity.


    We found a few points of interest in the carapace caverns. An area deep in the center where the walls spiraled into a core room, one that was strangely warm despite the absolute lack of any heat source. A few places where the outer walls seemed to change just slightly in texture compared to their surroundings, though they were still as impenetrable as ever. A giant, gaping room in the back half of the caverns that spanned all fifteen levels of the structure, with strange swirling patterns left behind on the floor and ceiling.


    We found the strange vines again as well. More of them grew all along the sides of the structure, and the further back we went, the larger they got. We didn¡¯t dare to touch any of those vines, just in case, but we did store the one vine Zander had already pulled out in a nested set of no-contam boxes.


    We needn¡¯t have bothered. Because eventually, after four and a half days of nonstop walking, we finished mapping the entire cavern. And we didn¡¯t find a single alternative exit.


    ¡°Dust and ashes,¡± Zander muttered as we stood at the final dead end. The blinking lights on the computer screen made it clear: there were no other paths for us to explore.


    I let out a long, tired sigh. I had prepared myself for this outcome as time had passed and our escape became less and less likely. We were well and truly trapped, and there was nothing I could do to fix it, not this time.


    Still, I was not going to panic. I would behave like a rational being.


    ¡°We¡¯ll have to wait for help from the outside,¡± I said as Zander glared at the wall ahead of us. ¡°If it ever comes.¡±


    He took off his hat and ruffled his short blue curls. ¡°Dust and ashes,¡± he repeated, gripping the brim of the hat tightly.


    ¡°Yes, I know,¡± I replied mildly as I leaned sideways against the wall. ¡°I don¡¯t like our odds either. If the Verdanti team couldn¡¯t find a way to sample this carapace before, and if we couldn¡¯t cut into it? Perhaps there is simply nothing that can be done.¡± I slashed my tail in the air behind me in frustration. ¡°Perhaps we¡¯ll both be stuck here forever.¡±


    I was being flippant as a way to vent emotions, but a part of me was quietly miserable. What if I was right? What if there was no way out, and we ended up stuck in this place for hundreds, no, thousands of years? It was a horrible thought that could not be borne, so I pushed it away quickly.


    Zander grimaced as he turned back around to look at me. ¡°We won¡¯t be stuck here forever,¡± he said with a grumble.


    I tilted my head to the side in a silent question.


    He ruffled his hair again, then slapped the hat back onto his head with a sigh. ¡°My father,¡± he said shortly. ¡°I talk with him, oh, every decade or so. When he doesn¡¯t hear from me he¡¯ll come looking.¡± He grimaced again as he gestured toward the wall. ¡°He could tear this thing apart, no problem.¡±


    Right, reality warping. I nodded my understanding. ¡°So we have a backup plan. That¡¯s good.¡±


    Zander just grunted at that and turned back towards the hallway. ¡°Let¡¯s head back to the entrance. We can set up a camp there and talk over our options.¡±


    I let him take the lead so I could watch him as he stalked forward. He was walking faster than before and his shoulders were hunched down. He was frustrated. But why? He was lucky enough to have a father, and better yet, a father who would eventually come save us from this horrible situation. What was so terrible about that?


    Well, I supposed I would have time to find out. Even if the Verdanti could find a way to free us, they had their hands full with the pandemic at the moment and had very good reasons to avoid this place. They wouldn¡¯t focus on freeing two wayward immortals until their own problems had been solved. Even in the best case scenario we wouldn¡¯t get out of this cavern for another year, perhaps two.


    I kept my eyes on Zander as I flicked out my tongue contemplatively. We were stuck together for the long haul, then.

 4 - You and Me

    A day had passed since our discovery that there was no other exit from the carapace caverns. I had decided that I would begin a new project.


    My canvas would be the section of wall at the back of the first hallway, which curved around a vaguely circular room. The rope ladder that gave us access to the second floor still dangled into the middle of the room, but that was actually convenient; I could tie the lantern to various points on the ladder to shed light at different angles while leaving my hands free.


    My medium would be the chalk I had used before to mark the passageways. There was plenty still left, and though chalkwork had never been my favorite, it would do in a pinch. I did have to sigh as I ran the ridged pads of my fingers over the chalk. It would have been nice to have varying colors. If only I could tear through the walls and escape to my ship, oh, the options I would have¡­ but what was the point of wishing?


    The picture was clear in my mind¡¯s eye. From a distance it would be the creature who had once inhabited this shell in my imagination, steady and stalwart. But up close, the shell would be filled with intricate patterns that hid careful designs and mysteries. Simple or complex; it all depended on your point of view.


    I was still carefully outlining the outer shell when sounds from above alerted me to Zander¡¯s return. I paused my work and watched as he climbed down the ladder. We had rested the night before, though sleep was optional for both of us, and he seemed happier now than he had been when we found the last dead end.


    ¡°I got a rubbing of that swirling pattern in the big room,¡± he said as he took the last step off of the ladder. He flashed a grin back at me, then turned back to the ladder so he could start twisting it around. ¡°Not the whole thing, obviously, but enough to get a sense of it. You want to take a closer look at it, Si?¡±


    ¡°Maybe later,¡± I told him as I turned back to my work. ¡°Why a rubbing, though?¡±


    ¡°The computers will run out of power eventually. We¡¯ll need to move anything important from them into physical notes before they do.¡± A whirring noise came from behind me and I glanced over my shoulder; he had twisted the ladder up tight before releasing it, and it was now spinning its way back to its original position. ¡°I don¡¯t have much paper, but we can write on the walls. Well, unless you need all the chalk for your fancy project there.¡±


    A smile twitched my mouth up as I looked back at the wall. ¡°You can use some of the chalk.¡±


    ¡°Oh, good.¡± He wandered up next to me and peered over my shoulder at the line I was drawing. ¡°Are you planning to tell me what this is gonna be?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not the point,¡± I said, still looking straight ahead. ¡°My understanding of the mural may differ from yours. Seeing how others react to what I create brings me just as much joy as the act of creation itself.¡±


    ¡°No pressure, then,¡± he muttered, which made me smile again. Then he backed off to make his way back to the entrance.


    At least, that¡¯s what I thought he had done. Five minutes later I realized I was wrong when he spoke up again from the back of the room.


    ¡°Have you ever wondered what it would be like to die?¡±


    He had timed the question well; I had just lifted my hand off the wall so I could move to the side again, so I didn¡¯t have to worry about marring the drawing with a sudden movement. I lowered my hand and turned around completely to find that he was sitting against the passage¡¯s wall, looking down at where he held his hat in his hands.


    I took a few steps towards him and settled down in the middle of the room, next to the lantern. ¡°Yes,¡± I said as I crossed my legs and tucked my tail around them. ¡°Many times.¡±


    He nodded and looked back up at me. ¡°You ever try to?¡±


    That made me pause. Many species had cultural stigmas when it came to talking about death. Most had strict social norms regarding discussions about ending one¡¯s own life. There were a few exceptions, of course, but it was still odd to hear the topic be brought up so casually.


    ¡°Yes,¡± I finally said in reply. ¡°A few times.¡±


    Nothing had worked, of course. Substances that would have been poisonous to most beings had been filtered and processed by my organs until they caused no damage at all. Asphyxiation had done nothing. Blunt trauma had led to my body healing in overdrive, knitting itself back together right in front of my eyes.


    Zander didn¡¯t look disturbed or offended by my answer. He simply nodded once, then looked back down at his hat. ¡°I¡¯ve never tried,¡± he said offhandedly, ¡°not on purpose, anyway. But sometimes I wonder. When I do something crazy, like learning how to catch a bullet, am I really doing it for the challenge? Or deep down, am I rolling the dice at a chance for mortality?¡±


    I frowned and leaned forward, studying him more closely. He kept turning his hat over in his hands again and again, and his face had settled into grim lines. Worried, then. But why? We had his father as a failsafe for escaping this place, even if that might take a decade or so -


    Ah. That was the problem. I was surprised it had taken me so long to see it, given that the same concern persistently nagged at the back of my own mind.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry so much, Zander,¡± I told him with a flippant flick of my tail. He glanced back up at me again. ¡°If you run out of things to explore here, we¡¯ll just find other things for you to do. We¡¯ll get you a project like the one I¡¯m starting here. There¡¯s no need to do anything drastic.¡±


    He frowned as he looked over at my wall. ¡°What, you want me to start making chalk art too?¡±


    ¡°If you like,¡± I said with a small smile. ¡°Or I could teach you how to dance. Or we could focus on singing, or poetry¡­ there are many art forms that require nothing more than your body and brain. What better way is there to pass the time?¡±


    ¡°Hmph,¡± he replied, still looking skeptical.


    ¡°It¡¯s a better fate than boredom, at least.¡±


    He snorted at that and put his hat back on his head. ¡°Well, I suppose I¡¯ve got a while to go ¡®til that becomes a problem. Who knows? Maybe I¡¯ll get desperate enough to take you up on that offer eventually.¡±


    I leaned back and watched him as he got to his feet and ambled off towards the entrance. ¡°You just let me know when you¡¯re ready,¡± I murmured into the distance after him.


    ~


    It took a little under a month for the last of our batteries to die.


    The lantern was the last thing to go. It sputtered out suddenly just as I was in the middle of drawing a delicate flower with hundreds of tiny petals in the center of an expanding spiral. I paused my work, then hissed in displeasure. Without the lantern I couldn¡¯t make out any detail at all. Just like that, my weeks of hard work had vanished from my sight.


    I stood up from my sitting position and groaned, stretching my back out. Then I picked up the now-useless lantern and made my way back to the entrance.


    I could just barely make out Zander sitting with his back against the outer wall. Based on his posture, he was probably reading his rope again. The thin rope was another one of his adventuring supplies, but he wasn¡¯t putting it towards its usual purpose. Whenever the mood struck him - perhaps once a day - he would tie a new knot into it. Most of the time he just sat there, feeling the knots he¡¯d already tied. I suspected it was a journal of some sort, but I hadn¡¯t asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s done,¡± I said with a regretful sigh. ¡°No more light for us, not until someone comes to the rescue.¡±


    Zander blinked up at me. He had adjusted his eyes weeks ago to help him see better in the dark, which was a handy trick. I wished I could do the same. True, I could still occupy myself with music or other pursuits, but my mural wasn¡¯t even halfway finished. It would keep itching in my brain until I completed it.


    ¡°Sorry, Si,¡± he said in an honestly regretful tone. ¡°I should¡¯ve thought to keep the flashlight for you to use sooner.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not your fault.¡± I sprawled out on the ground with my head on top of one of the rucksacks and stared up at the darkness that was the ceiling. ¡°I just wish this was a proper cave. Maybe then we¡¯d have a chance to grow bioluminescent moss, or something like that.¡±


    There was a pause, and then Zander spoke. ¡°Say that again?¡±


    I glanced over in his direction. It looked like he was sitting up ramrod straight. ¡°I wish this was a proper cave?¡±


    ¡°No, no - the moss! Bioluminescent moss!¡± He sprang to his feet and I heard his rope drop to the ground. ¡°I could do that!¡±


    I tilted my head to the side. ¡°You could be moss?¡±


    He blew a raspberry at me, which made me grin. Then he closed his eyes and focused.


    The shift took longer, this time. Maybe it was because he¡¯d never tried it before. In any case, after half a minute his skin suddenly started to glow with a soft purple light. He took off the rugged jacket he normally wore and frowned at his arms, then closed his eyes and tried again.


    This time when the shift happened, he burned bright like a spotlight.


    I screeched in an undignified manner and covered my eyes with both hands, moving so hastily that my claws scraped against the carapace on my head. ¡°Too bright!¡± I yelled at him immediately. ¡°Turn it down!¡±


    ¡°I know!¡± he replied, sounding flustered. ¡°Oh, stars, I can still see it through my eyelids, that¡¯s painful. Give me a sec -¡±


    The brilliant light that had been trying to leak in through the edges of my vision disappeared, so I cautiously raised one hand. Zander was still glowing, and brightly enough to light up a large portion of the room around him. But it was no longer an eye-scalding light. It was comfortable and pleasant, just like him.


    He let out a gusty sigh of relief. ¡°Better?¡±


    ¡°Much better,¡± I confirmed with a grin.


    ~


    ¡°You¡¯re standing too stiffly,¡± I told Zander. ¡°Loosen up.¡±


    More time had passed. It was difficult to keep track of the days as they would be measured by the outside world, but I would estimate at least a month had gone by since the lantern had died, perhaps two.


    We had settled into a comfortable pattern, Zander and I. A period would be spent in my room with the chalk mural, with Zander sitting on the ladder as a light source while he worked on his knot diary or talked idly about whatever he was thinking of. When he got too restless we¡¯d switch to roaming the caverns, looking into whichever mystery he wanted to investigate that day. When that became too boring for me, we¡¯d go back to the entrance room and spend a period of time resting with Zander¡¯s bioluminescence turned down to the dimmest setting he could manage. I usually spent the time meditating, though occasionally I slept.


    That pattern was going to change now. I had noticed that Zander was getting more restless the past few ¡®days¡¯, and today he had finally admitted that roaming the caverns had lost its appeal. What he wanted was the opportunity to go somewhere new, but that was obviously impossible, so I had repeated my offer from before. He was skeptical, yes, but he was also ready to try a new path. Now the two of us stood in one of the larger caverns, ready for a different type of exploration.


    I flicked my eyes over Zander¡¯s now-relaxed shoulders and nodded. ¡°Watch how I do it first, then try to do the same.¡± I started stepping in the proper pattern, smiling at the familiarity of it. ¡°Right foot back. Left foot back. Feet together. Left foot forward. Right foot forward. Feet together.¡±


    I turned to look at Zander and barely kept myself from laughing. He looked completely befuddled.


    ¡°We¡¯ll slow it down,¡± I said with a gentle wave of my tail. ¡°Here, you try. Right foot back.¡±


    He stepped back, though he looked wary about it. ¡°Why am I going backwards?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m teaching you the follower¡¯s movements. Left foot back.¡±


    His other foot moved backwards. ¡°Follower?¡±


    Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    ¡°This is a two-person dance, with a leader and a follower,¡± I explained. ¡°Feet together. It¡¯s one of the classics and shows up in some form - left foot forward - or another in practically every world with a bipedal species. Right foot forward. Even you Humans probably have it.¡±


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t know,¡± he muttered as he stepped forward. ¡°I never bothered with this part of Human culture.¡± He moved his feet together before I could tell him to.


    ¡°You¡¯re getting it already,¡± I said with a grin. ¡°Go ahead, try it again. No, it¡¯s left foot first¡­¡±


    It took a few tries, but eventually he settled into the pattern well enough, at least for a beginner. Once I was satisfied with his progress I tapped two claws together and asked him to stop.


    ¡°Now that you¡¯ve got the footwork down, let¡¯s try it with a partner.¡± I stepped up to him, then hesitated as I looked up. ¡°Oh. I didn¡¯t think this through.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± he asked with a frown.


    ¡°You¡¯re too tall,¡± I said simply, thumping my tail against the ground for emphasis. ¡°This works better when the pair are around the same height.¡± I hesitated and pulled a face before waving my hand in the air. ¡°Do you think you can¡­?¡±


    He grinned and swept his hat off his head, bowing elaborately. ¡°You need only ask.¡±


    Then he shifted, and suddenly he was only a little taller than me. I nodded approvingly and stepped forward to get into position, then took his hands in mine. Stars, his hands were warm. I supposed that was only natural for a mammal. Still, it felt oddly nice.


    I gently moved his left hand so that it was positioned on the side of my right shoulder and placed my own right hand against his shoulder. Our other hands laid palm-to-palm, with the tips of my claws just barely touching his fingertips. ¡°This is the most traditional positioning,¡± I said in a rush, for some reason feeling like I had to justify the contact. ¡°Some others do hands interlaced, or the off-hand against the side, or you can add in interlocked tails or tentacles¡­ umm, I suppose that doesn¡¯t matter.¡±


    I felt like all my blood was rushing into my face, which was ridiculous. I had done variations of this dance thousands of times with hundreds of different partners. The fact that Zander was just standing there with a focused look on his face, waiting for my next instruction? That shouldn¡¯t make a difference.


    ¡°Alright,¡± I said hurriedly, ¡°let¡¯s try this. I¡¯ll count the time, just step in the same pattern that you did before and follow my lead. Ready?¡± He nodded. ¡°Step, step, together. Step -¡± I let out a small oof as he stepped forward with the wrong foot, nearly knocking me off balance.


    ¡°Sorry!¡± he said immediately as he took a step back. ¡°Just got confused.¡±


    I huffed out a laugh. ¡°Happens all the time when you¡¯re starting.¡± I stepped forward, feeling a little more confident now, and grabbed his hand. ¡°Let¡¯s do that over again.¡±


    There were plenty of false starts, but eventually we managed to get a smooth back-and-forth going. Zander¡¯s shoulders had gone stiff again after he knocked into me the first time, but he relaxed as time went on and even started to look like he was enjoying himself.


    Certainly I was enjoying myself. Having someone to dance with again was lovely; dancing with Zander in particular, with his hand warm on my shoulder and his palm against mine, was somehow even better. Though it was strange to see him standing at about the same height as me, and so close. I was used to craning my neck back to see him. Now I could even reach his hat, if I wanted to.


    Which I did. I reached my right hand up and lightly flicked the front of the hat up a bit, then put my hand back into position before he could complain. ¡°Why do you wear that all the time, anyway?¡± I asked, partially teasing but also authentically curious.


    He actually made us pause the dance for a moment so he could tug the hat back into place. ¡°I just like it,¡± he said with a grumble as we started moving again. ¡°I always thought it looked nice.¡±


    ¡°It does,¡± I said quickly to reassure him. To tell the truth, I thought it looked more than a little silly, but I had gotten used to that silly hat on Zander¡¯s head. Seeing him without it wouldn¡¯t feel the same. ¡°I¡¯m curious, that¡¯s all.¡±


    That made him smile a little reminiscently. ¡°I suppose I got the idea from my mother,¡± he said in a low voice. ¡°She told me all sorts of Human folktales when I was growing up, from back in the ancient days. Gladiators, knights, footballers, that kind of thing.¡± I tilted my head to the side, not recognizing any of those words, but decided to let him continue. ¡°But my favorite stories were about cowboys. They were these heroes of the middle ages, back when Humans were still planetbound. They¡¯d roam around the land doing good deeds, stopping bad guys, and pulling brave stunts on horseback.¡± He sighed in a wistful way. ¡°I wanted to be just like them.¡±


    I nodded slowly. That did explain a great deal of Zander¡¯s behavior. ¡°So,¡± I said with a mischievous grin, ¡°they are not half-cow and half-boy, then?¡±


    He squawked so loudly in denial that I immediately fell over in a fit of laughter.


    ~


    Bright lights blinding my eyes, never going away. A door that will never open, except when I wish it would remain closed.


    Pokes and prods and unpleasant numbness, electric zaps when I try to curl in and defend myself.


    A thin, tight face above mine, gray and long, with dark red eyes.


    When I woke up I was already screaming and I couldn¡¯t stop. It was him, he had come back somehow, and he would lock me up and never ever let me leave, not this time -


    ¡°Si!¡±


    Zander was shouting next to me. His hair was rumpled and he only wore the undershirt and short trousers that he always used for sleeping. His skin was still in night mode as well, only letting off the faintest light to pool around the two of us. But it was enough light for me to see his face, his warm brown eyes filled with concern.


    I didn¡¯t, couldn¡¯t think. I threw myself towards him and grabbed his shirt with both hands, burrowing myself into his chest as close as I could. For a heartbeat he sat very still; then he wrapped his arms around me and rested the side of his head against my skull so that I was surrounded by a tight embrace.


    ¡°I thought you didn¡¯t like being touched,¡± he murmured against my head.


    Replying was impossible. I just breathed shakily in and out, still pressed up close against his body. My heart was pounding and my head was a muddled mess, but warmth was slowly spreading into me from every place that we touched, and it helped, at least a little.


    After a few moments, Zander started to hum a tune that I didn¡¯t recognize. A Human melody, maybe. It was uneven and his voice cut out from time to time, but that didn¡¯t matter. I was able to focus on his humming and my breathing and slowly, as the minutes passed, slowly my heart returned to a normal tempo.


    Eventually I was able to think again. I released the stranglehold I had on Zander¡¯s shirt, and he loosened his grip on me so I could sit up properly. I looked at his shirt and grimaced; my claws had gone straight through it. ¡°Sorry,¡± I muttered in a low voice.


    ¡°Hey,¡± he said in a mock-scolding voice, ¡°no apologizing.¡± Then he leaned back so he could look at me properly. ¡°What happened, Si? You were screaming for at least a full minute there.¡±


    Thinking back to the dream made my heart start to thump wildly again. Part of me wanted to push it away, tell him it was just a nonsense nightmare. But on the whole, I decided that perhaps it was time. Perhaps I was finally ready to get this off my chest.


    I turned around so that I faced the darkness of the entrance hall, still sitting close to Zander but not quite touching him. As always, I could feel his presence with me, even if I couldn¡¯t see him. Then I started to speak.


    ¡°You asked before where I came from, what kind of planet could produce another immortal.¡± My voice was raspy from my screaming, so I cleared my throat before continuing. ¡°It wasn¡¯t a planet. It was a person.¡±


    He didn¡¯t say anything, so I kept going. ¡°I was¡­ created, Zander. On a moon that doesn¡¯t even have a name, deep in the Mechanical System. By a scientist,¡± I spat out the word with venom, ¡°who was trying to find the secret to immortality through genetic experimentation.¡±


    I looked down at my claws, eyes tracing the way they melded into the scales of my hands. What was it that he had said, that one time he deigned to tell me where I had come from? A mix of Peranese drake, Terran tortoise, Estafli jellyfish, Oiua iguadi, and on and on, all species chosen for their long lives and healing capabilities. Additional genes from a range of sentient species for adaptability, intelligence, and communication. All blended together until I was nothing like my composite parts, but something entirely new instead.


    I remembered his face clearly now, as if he was right in front of me. He was a half-breed, part Koraian and part Unjati, tall and long-limbed with dry gray skin and dull red eyes. He had always been so emotionless. I could scream in his face and he wouldn¡¯t even blink.


    ¡°He made me,¡± I continued, blinking rapidly, ¡°but that wasn¡¯t enough. He had to know how I worked. So he kept me locked in an observation room for years. Every day he¡¯d come in and run, run these tests, injections or cuts or, or¡­ he wanted to see if there were limits to what I could heal from. When there weren¡¯t, he just decided that meant more tests were needed.¡±


    Zander was silent behind me, but that was probably for the best, because the words were pouring out of me and I couldn¡¯t stop. ¡°Then one day, the restraint that held my right arm to the table broke in the middle of a procedure, and I - I killed him, Zander. I lashed out and cut his throat.¡± I looked down at my hands, which were clasped tightly together. Even now I could remember how it had felt when my claws tore into his skin. My voice shuddered as I kept talking through the tears that were building up in my throat. ¡°And do you know the worst part? I wasn¡¯t even the only experiment. I found others in the building. Most of them were dead. The rest died within a few weeks. I didn¡¯t know how to keep them alive. But me, I lived, because I always live.¡±


    I broke down fully into sobs, unable to hold it together any longer. It was true. From that first laboratory to the Scarlet Plague to the tsunami that had hit a coastal town in Orai when I was visiting on one of my art expeditions. I always survived, even when all those around me were taken.


    A pair of warm arms wrapped around me, and Zander leaned forward to rest his head against the back of mine. I heard him whisper something, though I couldn¡¯t quite make out what it was. Then he fell silent and let me cry.


    Eventually the tears started to abate and I began to think more logically again. At some point during my crying spell I had leaned back against Zander¡¯s chest, and I could feel his warmth through my entire body. I nestled into him a little deeper, half-thinking that I should probably move away, but mostly just wanting to stay right there for as long as I could.


    ¡°Hey,¡± he said after a few moments, his voice soft. ¡°D¡¯you feel a bit better now?¡±


    I nodded against his chest, not quite trusting myself to speak.


    ¡°That¡¯s good,¡± he said, squeezing me just a little. ¡°Si¡­ stars. I don¡¯t even know what to say. I¡¯m so sorry.¡±


    ¡°It happened over three thousand years ago,¡± I replied in a shaky murmur. ¡°I should be over it by now.¡±


    ¡°Heavy stuff like that, it don¡¯t leave so easy.¡± There was that edge in his voice again, the one I noticed every so often. The feelings he kept hidden away.


    ¡°You¡¯re hurting too,¡± I said, leaning my head back to look up at him. I couldn¡¯t quite see his face from my current angle. ¡°Tell me about it.¡±


    He let out a harsh chuckle and shook his head just slightly. ¡°Mine¡¯s stupid. It¡¯s nowhere near as bad as yours.¡±


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t matter. Tell me anyway.¡±


    He was quiet for a long while, to the point that I thought he wouldn¡¯t reply. Then, finally, he spoke.


    ¡°It¡¯s just¡­ sometimes people see me and they don¡¯t know who I am, and they think, oh, another Human, and they ignore me. That¡¯s fine. I prefer that, really. But when they do recognize me, it¡¯s always, oh, you¡¯re a Xinian! Can you do this? Can you do that? How do your powers work? Which other Xinians do you know?¡± He let out a long, frustrated sigh. ¡°They look at me and see some imaginary person they¡¯ve built up in their heads, not me.¡±


    I hummed in agreement. I felt the same way sometimes, especially when people stayed to see me after a show. They always had an expectation for what I would be like, and they often seemed disappointed when I didn¡¯t match what they had in mind.


    ¡°If it was just that, I could handle it,¡± he continued. ¡°But the conversation always turns to people asking me to make other changes. Turn this water into booze! Make my friend¡¯s hair pink! Oh, wait, you can¡¯t do that? I thought real Xinians could make any change they wanted.¡± He growled and tightened his arms around me. ¡°Well, sorry I¡¯m not a real Xinian, asshole. Even the real Xinians have limits, y¡¯know. You ever see a real Xinian make a star disappear? No? It ain¡¯t for lack of trying, not for some of the madder ones I¡¯ve met.¡± He took a deep breath, then let it out in a whoosh. ¡°Sorry. I¡¯m venting. And like I said, it¡¯s all stupid compared to what you went through -¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s okay,¡± I told him, curling my hand up so I could pat his arm. ¡°You listened to me, didn¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Mmm.¡± He paused again, then spoke hesitantly. ¡°I think it wouldn¡¯t hurt so much if I didn¡¯t care, but I do care. About being Xinian, I mean. None of us half-breeds are as strong as our parents, but most can do more than I can.¡±


    Ah; that was the real problem, wasn¡¯t it? Not what others thought of him, but what he thought of himself.


    ¡°Hey,¡± I said as I curled my tail around his ankle and squeezed it gently. ¡°We don¡¯t get to decide what we¡¯re born with. That¡¯s life. We have to make do with what we¡¯ve got.¡± I leaned against him and looked up. ¡°But it¡¯s okay to be upset about it. That¡¯s life, too.¡±


    He pressed his forehead against my head and mumbled something unintelligible, and I smiled a little. ¡°Besides,¡± I added. ¡°I think you¡¯re fairly impressive already.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s just ¡®cause you haven¡¯t seen what the others can do,¡± he grumbled. ¡°I know a guy who can create illusions that look absolutely real, and a gal who can shift the weather to be whatever she wants, and -¡±


    ¡°Zander,¡± I interrupted, fully grinning now. ¡°I don¡¯t just mean the reality warping, though that¡¯s certainly impressive on its own. I mean you. How you¡¯re always trying to do new things and grow as a person. How you immediately offered to help the people on this planet by doing what you do best. How you¡¯re always warm and welcoming, quick with a smile. That¡¯s who you are, and that¡¯s extremely impressive in my books.¡±


    ¡°You kidding?¡± he said, lifting his head slightly so he could speak more clearly. ¡°You¡¯re the impressive one. You took a downright horrible introduction to the universe and turned it into a life full of beauty. You¡¯re so dedicated to your work, and you share it with so many other people. And you¡¯re the steadiest person I¡¯ve ever known.¡± I chuckled at being called steady of all things, but he kept talking. ¡°I¡¯m glad I met you, Si.¡±


    ¡°Same here.¡±


    ¡°You sure about that?¡± he replied quickly, craning his head to the side so he could look at me properly. ¡°If you hadn¡¯t, you wouldn¡¯t be stuck in this place right now.¡±


    True. If I¡¯d never met Zander, I would probably be hunkered down in my ship right now, deep in work on some project. Or perhaps I would be passing the time by parsing through articles from across the universe, looking for a lead on where to go next after the planet¡¯s quarantine had ended.


    I would have been content, spending that time by myself while I waited for the months to pass me by. But deep down, I also would have been very alone.


    I turned my head to meet Zander¡¯s eyes and smiled. ¡°I¡¯m sure.¡±

 5 - Belief

    A few days had passed since my nightmare. Most things were the same as before; we still spent ¡®mornings¡¯ in my art room, ¡®afternoons¡¯ wandering the caverns, practicing dance, or doing whatever else struck Zander¡¯s fancy, and ¡®nights¡¯ resting. We still talked idly about whatever odd topics crossed our minds, though we didn¡¯t directly address our conversation from that night.


    But where before Zander had always carefully kept his distance, now he often sat close to me as I worked or meditated at night. Sometimes he would idly stroke my head or hold my hand. In turn, I sometimes found myself leaning against him, taking comfort in the warmth of his body.


    I was starting to realize that what I felt for him was something more than the casual friendships I had built with various beings over the years. I didn¡¯t say anything, though. For one thing, I was reluctant to put such amorphous feelings into words. For another, I didn¡¯t want him to feel emotionally trapped, especially if he didn¡¯t feel the same way. Who knew how long we would be stuck in this cavern? Best not to make things awkward.


    So yes, things were normal. On this day I was busy putting the final touches on my chalk mural. To be honest, I could have called it complete the day before, but there were a few sections in the shell that I had decided at the last minute looked too empty. That was why I was currently sitting hunched over near the middle of the mural with my head tilted ninety degrees to the side, carefully drawing a tiny picture of a dancing Verdanti man.


    ¡°... over the second wave,¡± Zander was saying behind me. ¡°But then the third one swamped the ship! And Chutzi got knocked right overboard! So obviously I had no choice but to grab the safety ring and jump in there. And stars, Si, you¡¯ve never felt how cold water can truly get until you dunk yourself in the Verdanti sea¡­¡±


    With two little flicks the chalk figure was complete, even down to the little antenna I¡¯d drawn on top of his head. I sat back up properly and grunted as the world sloshed around in my head for a moment. Then I grumbled again as a sore, aching pain made itself known along the side of my neck, where I¡¯d bent it oddly for too long.


    Zander cut off his story and reached out to gently touch my knee. ¡°You okay?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± I replied with a sigh. ¡°Just strained my neck. It¡¯s sore, that¡¯s all.¡±


    He grinned a little. ¡°I was wondering why you didn¡¯t just draw the figure the right way up.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not how it wanted to be drawn,¡± I said with a grumble as I twisted my head back and forth, trying to ease the aching pain.


    ¡°Right, gotta remember the figure¡¯s opinion,¡± Zander replied, overly serious as he looked me right in the eyes. I swatted at him with my free hand. ¡°Still, that¡¯s bad luck. I hope the strain goes away quickly.¡±


    Something - shifted - in my body. I blinked, then experimentally moved my neck from side to side.


    The pain had disappeared.


    I felt a little shiver run over the place where my carapace connected to my shoulders as I looked at Zander. ¡°It¡¯s gone,¡± I whispered with wide eyes.


    ¡°Oh, already? That¡¯s good -¡±


    ¡°No, Zander, listen,¡± I said hurriedly. ¡°My neck was hurting, and then - then you said you hoped the strain would go away quickly, and just like that, it was gone.¡± I leaned forward and grabbed his hand. ¡°I think you did that.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± He immediately shook his head in denial. ¡°That¡¯s impossible. I¡¯ve tried changing other people hundreds of times before, it never worked then. This is just a coincidence.¡±


    ¡°Try it again,¡± I said urgently. ¡°But this time, do something that wouldn¡¯t happen otherwise.¡±


    ¡°Okay, okay, I¡¯ll try,¡± he told me with a little laugh. He shifted position so that he was holding my hand with both of his and looked down at it intently. Then he looked back up and met my eyes.


    I felt the change more clearly this time. It wasn¡¯t even a surprise when I looked down at my hand, still held between his palms, and found that it had turned from its usual dark orange to a vibrant green.


    ¡°See!¡± I said, laughing in delight. ¡°That¡¯s amazing!¡±


    Zander didn¡¯t reply. He just stared at my hand, thunderstruck.


    ¡°And after you were so hard on yourself for not being able to do as much as the others,¡± I continued in a gently teasing tone. ¡°I bet it¡¯s just a question of practice. Or maybe you have to spend enough time with the person you¡¯re trying to change? Or -¡±


    ¡°Si,¡± he interrupted, his voice serious.


    ¡°Hmm?¡±


    He looked up at me, and his eyes were huge. ¡°I think I can get us out of here.¡±


    ~


    We had spent so many days with nothing but time. It felt strange to be in a hurry again. But with the hope of freedom alive once more, neither of us wanted to waste a single second.


    Though I still made Zander pause for a moment before we ran out of the art room so I could stand back and take in every detail of my chalk mural. If everything went according to plan, I would never see it again. There was no way I would willingly re-enter this cavern once I got out, not even to come back and record the mural for my collections.


    Now the two of us stood before the front wall, breathing hard after our run down the central hallway. Zander reached forward to run a hand over the wall, then nodded.


    ¡°You said this material felt organic to you, like carapace,¡± he told me as he continued staring at the wall. ¡°If an organic material can be this hard, then even harder materials should be possible too, right?¡±


    ¡°I suppose,¡± I said with a shrug. Then my eyes widened. ¡°And you want to make part of me into that material.¡±


    ¡°Exactly!¡± he said with a grin. ¡°Your claws should do nicely.¡±


    I tilted my head to the side and gestured towards him. ¡°You have your own carapace, sort of. The nails on your hands. Why not change those?¡±


    He snorted in reply. ¡°These things?¡± he said, waggling a hand. ¡°Si, my ability relies on really believing that the changes I make are possible. Sure, I can make myself taller, but there are limits; I can¡¯t make myself as tall as a mountain. Same with my nails. Oh, I could make them harder, but as hard as this?¡± He knocked a fist against the wall. ¡°Nah. That¡¯s way too large a jump. But I look at your claws, and those look plenty hard to me. Maybe they¡¯re close enough already.¡±


    I nodded and offered him my hands. ¡°Shall we try?¡±


    He spent a long time, perhaps ten whole seconds, just staring at my hands. Then he looked back up and met my eyes.


    The flash of change rippled through my body again. I lifted a hand to examine my claws more closely. They looked¡­ mostly the same? Perhaps a slightly darker shade of gray than they had been before.


    Zander let out a long breath, then gestured to the wall. ¡°Ready to try?¡±


    I nodded and stepped into place. I took a deep breath before lifting my hand and setting my claws against the wall.


    Then I pressed in hard and scratched.


    A mark was left on the wall.


    A mark was left on the wall!


    The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    I laughed giddily as I scratched at the same location as before. The marks were a little deeper now. It would be slow progress, then, but it would be progress all the same.


    Suddenly Zander swept me up in a hug and lifted me off the ground, twirling me around in a circle. ¡°We can do this!¡± he yelled a little too loudly with a massive grin spread across his face. ¡°We can get out of here!¡±


    I pressed my forehead against his shoulder and sighed in relief. ¡°Yes, we can,¡± I whispered in reply.


    ~


    It took a long time. Days, perhaps, even after we learned that Zander could use his chisel to break off chunks of carapace once I¡¯d weakened them with my claws.


    But finally, after all those hours of hard work, finally we broke through to the other side.


    I had expected to be blinded by the sight of sunlight after so long spent in the dark. Instead there was only the soft darkness of night. Still, the faint rush of fresh air streaming through the gash I¡¯d made in the wall was cool and pleasant, and delightfully different from the still air of the caverns.


    It took perhaps another hour for us to open up a hole large enough for both of us to pass through. Then we stumbled back out into the world, refilled rucksacks in hand, and stared out at the jungle that surrounded us.


    ¡°Stars,¡± I whispered reverentially as I looked up at the tapestry of lights above me. Oh, how I¡¯d missed the sight of the night sky.


    Zander threw his head back and howled at the sky in triumph, which sent some small animal that had been scavenging nearby running off into the forest. Then he took off running for our ships, which still sat in the distance. It looked like some of the undergrowth had grown around the landing legs in the time that we¡¯d been trapped. Just how long had we been stuck in there?


    I followed Zander at a light jog and reached the ships shortly after he¡¯d disappeared into his own. A touch of the access panel on my ship opened the outer door, and I sighed in pleasure as a blast of climate-controlled air washed out and rolled over me.


    Everything was as I¡¯d left it before, of course. A few pieces I¡¯d collected over the years were placed strategically on the walls, and a light Qoxian melody played over the speakers to set a relaxed ambience. Everything was comfortable, just as I liked it, and I was tempted to stroll through the rooms and rediscover every inch of my home-away-from-home now that I was back again.


    Instead I hurried towards the cockpit, dumped my rucksack at the back of the room, and flicked on the switches to access the shipboard computer. I immediately looked for the current interstellar date, preparing myself for the worst.


    Then I blinked.


    Sixty-eight days?


    ¡­ only a little over two months had gone by?


    It was hard to believe. I had thought that at least four months had passed while we were stuck in those caverns, maybe more. Then again, time passed in strange ways in the dark when there were no machines to keep track of the minutes.


    There were dozens of recorded messages on the audio receiver, and hundreds more in my electronic communications box. I scanned them briefly to see what I had missed, but after a few minutes I started feeling restless. We had escaped, yes. But what would come next?


    So I left my ship and made my way over to Zander¡¯s. The red speedcraft still looked garish to my eyes, but then again, most bright colors felt startling after the dullness of the carapace caverns. Zander had left the door open, so I hesitantly stepped inside.


    His landcraft was smaller than mine, perhaps because he spent so much time out in the field when he was planetside. There was just a storage area packed haphazardly with crates and a tidy bunk, a small cleansing room in the back, and the cockpit towards the front. Zander glanced back from the cockpit when I entered and waved at me, then turned back to whatever he was doing.


    I wandered up to join him and peered over his shoulder. He had pulled up articles on the current state of the Verdanti pandemic. I grimaced as I saw the numbers; there were over three thousand dead across the planet already, with many more suffering from the disease. The article said that the virus had recently found a way to cross the ocean, so now it was spreading across two other continents in addition to the one we were currently on.


    ¡°Wish we¡¯d figured out how to get out of there sooner,¡± Zander grunted. ¡°It sounds like these people need all the help they can get.¡±


    ¡°We did what we could,¡± I said with a sigh. Then I glanced over at the no-contam box he had perched on the seat next to him. It was good that the box automatically put its contents into stasis, because I could not bear the thought of going back into those caverns to collect a fresh sample. ¡°Do you think these vines will do any good?¡±


    ¡°They better.¡± He leaned back to look at me, then raised an eyebrow. ¡°Head over to the drop-off point together?¡±


    I smiled, silently relieved that we wouldn¡¯t be separated just yet. ¡°That works for me.¡±


    ~


    The Verdanti authorities were stunned to hear from us. Apparently they had assumed that the disease had affected us after all and we¡¯d died in the caverns. I was a little surprised that they thought a half-Xinian of all people could be taken down by a mere disease, but, well, they were dealing with a lot at the moment; they probably hadn¡¯t thought very deeply about it. The officials hadn¡¯t sent anyone to check on us, since they didn¡¯t want the illness to spread to even more of their citizens, so they hadn¡¯t known about the cave-in.


    We set up camp a few miles away from where we left the no-contam box and watched from a distance with my ship¡¯s long-range viewer. A team of scientists arrived, fully decked out in the most advanced protective suits the Verdanti had access to, and started setting up a research station around the box using remote-controlled drones. After a few days the woman who had first given us permission to go on the mission sent us a report where she shared that there was indeed some kind of connection between the vines - or, rather, the tiny purple flowers on the vines - and the Rasping Breath virus. It would still take a while to develop a cure, but their understanding of how the disease functioned had progressed by leaps and bounds now that they had access to the source.


    We had agreed to hold a ten-day quarantine after we left the caverns, and we kept to that promise. We both spent much of the time catching up on correspondence. Often I would bring a set of printouts and a notebook over to Zander¡¯s ship, or he would bring a portable computer over to mine, or the two of us would both sit outside between our ships and chat idly as we worked our way through everything we had missed. I had been worried that leaving the caverns would change what we had, but it seemed the same as before. Zander was still easy to be around, and for some reason he still seemed to enjoy my company.


    The ten days passed faster than I had expected. A doctor was sent over to our ships in heavy protective gear to test us and, as we¡¯d both expected, neither of us carried the disease. It took another three days of bureaucracy and paperwork after that, but eventually we were cleared to leave the planet.


    When the call giving us the official news ended, we both sat in silence for a few moments. I fiddled anxiously with my claws, which Zander had turned back to normal days ago after I¡¯d accidentally sheared through a metal panel on my ship. He scratched the back of his neck.


    ¡°So -¡± I murmured as he said ¡°Well -¡±; then we both stopped and looked at each other.


    ¡°You go first,¡± I said after a beat had passed.


    ¡°Mmm.¡± He rested his hands down in his lap and looked off to the side, not meeting my eyes. ¡°Well, I was thinking I¡¯d probably head off-planet, like they offered. Learning to dance was fun and all, but I¡¯m ready to try something a little more active.¡±


    I smiled briefly at the mention of dancing, but it was hard to keep the expression on my face. Instead I looked down at my own hands. ¡°Sounds sensible. Where do you plan to go?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure,¡± he said after a pause. ¡°There are a few options, but nothing really sticks out.¡± I glanced over at him and saw that he was watching me; he hurriedly looked away again, and I did the same. ¡°How about you? You got any plans?¡±


    ¡°Not really,¡± I murmured. ¡°Getting off-planet does sound nice. I haven¡¯t looked at the options yet, though.¡±


    To be fully honest, I hadn¡¯t looked at the options because I was waiting for Zander to say where he wanted to go. If he named a planet I could do some research and find some methodology or artist, something that would provide a suitable excuse for me to head in the same direction.


    I hissed softly in frustration at myself, which made Zander look at me in surprise. What was I doing? I didn¡¯t have the excuse of being stuck in the caverns anymore. I couldn¡¯t keep avoiding this conversation forever. It was time to speak my mind clearly. Perhaps that would lead to crushing disappointment, but really, wouldn¡¯t that be better than never knowing, always wondering?


    ¡°And, and I was thinking it would be nice if we traveled together,¡± I said all in a rush as I kept staring at my claws, not daring to look at him. There were words deep in my heart that I knew I wasn¡¯t ready to say, but I had to say something. ¡°I like spending time with you. I like you. And I¡¯m not ready to say goodbye yet, so I thought, what if we didn¡¯t? Say goodbye, I mean. We could find a planet where you could explore and I could do art, and we could still spend time together, and if you ever get bored of me you could leave and it would be absolutely fine, I swear I don¡¯t expect anything, I just -¡±


    Zander¡¯s hand wrapped around my shoulder and he pulled me close against his side. I finally looked up, and my heart felt like it did a flip at the expression on his face.


    ¡°I like you too,¡± he said, and my heart turned over again at the way he said it. ¡°Let¡¯s do it.¡±


    ~


    Many years have passed since that day, but I still remember it so clearly. The soft look on his face, the warmth of his body next to mine. The giddiness I felt as we started delving into the options, looking for where we wanted to go next. That giddy feeling faded over time, but the warmth never did.


    It¡¯s strange, isn¡¯t it? Even after all these years I still sometimes worry that he¡¯ll get bored of me. He¡¯s always looking to experience something new, after all. Shouldn¡¯t he get tired of spending so much time with one person?


    Whenever I bring that up, he says I have it backwards. He tells me I¡¯m sure to get sick of his rambling and mad ideas one of these days. I don¡¯t see how I could ever grow weary of him.


    We¡¯ve made each other no promises. It¡¯s hard to tell someone you¡¯ll be there forever when the word is literal. And we do spend some time apart, when he goes on a long expedition or I immerse myself in one of my deeper projects. Yet we always return to each other in the end. Day by day, we both choose to stay.


    And being there, with him? That¡¯s enough for me.