《Metahuman Maiden》 Lighthouse in the Sea of Space Lighthouse in the Sea of Space It had been a long, cold journey through space, but Jace had found the monotony of the journey relieved on the last lap. Nestor, a doctor at the Lighthouse Interplanetary Base where Jace was headed, had met him at the Titan nexus and they had made the final phase of the journey together. They were almost the only two on the space bus as it drew up to the colossal structure of the decaying space station. The lights in the bus were flickering as they cruised up to the docking bay and as the last two passengers left, theywent out. Jace had told the doctor why he was headed to the station. He was applying to be a metahuman warrior in the fight against the dreadsimulants, the Rogue Robots. He had beentraining for it at the Lunar Academy for the past three years, since he was sixteen, but even so, there was only a slim chance that he might be chosen. Now he had to have an interview with an actual metahuman, by the name of Elthera and have her test him to see if he was worthy. She was an officer on the Lighthouse Base, the furthest base from the sun.The night watch on the fringes of the endless, dark wilderness. The doors of the airlock slid silently aside. Jace and the doctor set off down the long, gleaming corridor. Cleaning bots hovered silently over the tiles as they walked past different doorways and passages. The lights were low. "If there''s anything I can do to make your stay more comfortable, let me know," said Nestor. "Thank you, doctor," said Jace. "For everything. Just hearing about Elthera has made me less nervous about the whole thing." "Oh, Elthera''s very nice," said Nestor, shrugging. "There''s absolutely no reason to be nervous of her. None. What were you expecting?" "Well, some metahumans are really intimidating," said Jace, remembering his academy days. "They think they''re above us mere mortals." The doctor gave a wry smile. They entered the lift at that moment. It had a strong smell of rubber. Jace had a thought. "I suppose it''s too late to introduce myself to her?" "Not at all," said the doctor. "Elthera''s a real night owl." He pressed a button on his communicator. "Ah. She''s at Stumpy''s Place." He pressed a button on the lift wall and the doors slid shut. The lift descended, barely making a sound, and the doors slid open again just five seconds later. They emerged into a dark corridor, their shoes squeaking on the black plastic tiles, their way only dimly lit by blue lamps. "To be surgically altered to become a metahuman is a rare thing," said Jace. "They pick only the best and brightest¡­" His voice tailed off. They had turned into a wide, gaming hall. A crowd of men with glowing helmets were seated around a table at which there stood a lady with a bright green and shiny face. Her dark hair was tied back in a ponytail, accentuating her smooth, green forehead. Her lips were a darker green almost black. There were spheres of flashing light hovering around her. She grinned widely, her white teeth contrasting with her green face. "I win again." The voices of the men all rose in an angry hubbub. The green faced lady spread her arms wide. "Now now, guys. Don''t be sore losers." The doctor cleared his throat. "You have a guest, Elthera." The gamers swiveled round to stare and mutter and Elthera beamed at the two of them. "Welcome, Jace." "I''ve been telling him everything about you." "Aah, really? Man doctor, couldn''t you be more discreet than that?" Said Elthera, grinning and scrunching her shiny green nose. "Well not quite everything. But now he''s seen for himself that you gamble, hasn''t he." "Sit down and play, boy," said one of the helmeted gamers in his gruff voice. "That is, siddown if you have money." "Not now. Jace has had a long trip," said Elthera, stepping down from the gaming platform. She had a figure that looked as if it could have been poured into a running suit, her tightly fitting top showing off the shape of her firm breasts¡­ She took Jace by the arm. He felt thrilled at her touch. This would make the interview process a little awkward. He would probably think about her body all through it ¡­ She smiled at him. She was as tall as he was, and he was over six foot. She could look him straight in the eye. "Come on, dear. I''ll show you your quarters." She led himout of the gaming hall and into the lift, which whirred upwards. The iridescent lights of the lift played over Elthera''s green face, shining off her green nose and cheeks. It looked like she had a synthetic green, mannequin face. "So how was the journey, Jace? You''ve come all the way from the Lunar Base, right?" "Um¡­ pretty long actually. And the last part, going into the dark regions of the solar system, that was cold, so I was lucky I met the doctor¡­" he felt himself blushing. What did he just say that for? He had made it sound as though the doctor had given him a cuddle to warm him up ... or something. She grinned, scrunching her shiny green nose, blue eyes sparkling. "It was lucky you two met, wasn''t it? I''m so glad you made friends. He''s a really nice guy." The lift doors slid open. She beckoned and he followed her down a corridor that looked like it was carpeted with some kind of beige towelling. Weird d¨¦cor. She stopped by a bare, white door with the number 5545. "I chose your quarters myself. I want you to be comfortable. You might get a bit homesick otherwise." "T-thanks." Inside the room was a single bed and an en-suite bathroom. A crystal lamp hovered near the ceiling, emitting a soft, silvery glow. It was a Lunar Lamp. In fact, the room had what looked like fairly typical lunar base decorations.Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. "There. You''ll be right at home." She clasped his hands in hers. Oh craters. He felt thrilled at her touch again as he stared at her green face, trying not to let his gaze flicker down to her chest. "Call me if you need anything, OK?" He thanked her again, wishing he could sound interesting and impressive. As he got ready for bed, he scolded himself for feeling uncomfortable. Elthera was really nice, just like the doctor said. He had heard stories about how some metahumans were terrifying, powerful beings who took pleasure in eliminating candidates. He thought about her as he lay back in bed, the lunar lamp dimming to a faint glimmer. She had been gambling in the hall. Were metahumans supposed to do that? Still, who would argue with such powerful beings? He thought about her as he drifted off to sleep, but that didn''t stop him feeling trepidation in the morning.
00O00 In the depths of space it is harder to keep track of time,because there is only the space station''s artificial light. Jace woke early, but decided he had to leave plenty of time in case he lost the way. As a result, he arrived at Elthera''s quarters a while before the agreed time. The door was answered by a huge, sweaty muscular guy, wearing very little. Ugh. "Sorry, sir," said Jace, "I thought these were Elthera''s quarters¡­" "She''s in the shower." "Oh." That was awkward. Arriving late was to be avoided, but arriving early had just embarrassed him. "Is she expecting you?" Well what did he think? That he would turn up in a metahuman''s quarters unannounced? How much of a prat did muscly guy think Jace was? But before he could reply, Elthera''s voice sounded from across the room. "Is that Jace?" She came striding into her room, supremely confident, despite the fact that she was only wearing a towel wrapped round her, barely concealing her breasts. Her long, dark hair hung lose now and her shapely, green legs made a strange, squeaky, plastic on plastic sound as she walked. Oh craters, where was Jace supposed to look? He settled on meeting the gaze of the muscly guy. "You''re early again, Jace," Elthera reproached him. "I said 08:00." "Sorry. I''ll wait outside ''til then." "Don''t be silly. Come on in and make yourself comfortable." He felt himself blushing again as he sidled over the threshold, trying not to look at her almost naked, green body. How awkward¡­ It would probably have been better to arrive late. Elthera spoke to the muscle man. "It''s been fun. Brutal, but fun. When''s our rematch?" "I''ll let you know. But now I have to get to Titan." He kissed her hand. OK, what had they been doing? Was he her lover, or something? Jace fixed his gaze on the fine, blue carpet. She came back into the room, grinning and at ease, even though she was still dressed in a towel¡­ "The kitchenette cooks up a decent Lunar breakfast. With moon rock and everything." "I-I''ve already eaten, thanks." She went into the adjoining room, but then poked her shiny green face out again. "Would you get me a black dwarf?" "S-Sorry?" "It''s a Titan drink. You can order it from the vending machine by the kitchenette. Try one. You might like it." The officers on the station had vending machines in their quarters. These machines were a lot like the ones in the public spaces, but the officers did not have to put any money in theirs. Lucky things. Jace tried a black dwarf, butfound it to bebarely palatable. It was too strong and had a lingering aftertaste that rose to nausea¡­ He could hear Elthera speaking loudly in the other room. "Oh I''m so sore¡­ but it''s a great way to start the day." Did she really think he needed to hear that? "Did you ever wrestle Jovian style, Jace?" "Wrestle?" Jace was confused. "I''ll pay for you to have a lesson with Trajan if you like, and you can see if it''s your cup of tea. He''s a great coach, and you know each other now, don''t you?" "Okaayyy¡­" That was generous of her, but it was an unwelcome sort of kindness. He didn''t want to wrestle that sweaty, muscly guy, even if she enjoyed such things. But then, how could he refuse her offer and remain polite? He stood to attention as she emerged from the bathroom. She was dressed in her black uniform with a silver stripe once more. He handed her the black dwarf. She swallowed it down in one swig. "Mm, that''s better." She plumped herself down on the couch. "So, my dear, what would you like to do during your stay?" "Um¡­ isn''t that up to you Ma''am?" Her shiny, green face creased into a wry smile. "Jace¡­ don''t call me Ma''am. OK?" He shifted nervously on his feet. "Sorry¡­ should I say officer, or captain?" She sighed. "Just call me Elthera. And please sit." He gingerly sat down in the armchair opposite her. She leaned forward. Her shiny face really was seamless as plastic. Not a blemish, not a pore. She didn''t even have any eyebrows. It was like she was surgically altered into something freaky and unreal, which was of course exactly what had been done to her. He reminded himself to look her in the face and not look at her breasts. "Do you have a request for what we do first? Anything at all?" He could feel her warm breath on his face. Her eyes were as blue as the Lunar sky. What shade of blue do you think the Lunar sky is, now that the moon has an atmosphere? "I''d like to see more of the station, please." OK, that was the first thing that popped into his head. Lame. She smiled reassuringly. "That''s alright. Come with me. I''ll give you the tour."
00O00 She took him to the bridge and introduced him to Admiral Ajax. He was an old guy with a uniform similar to Elthera''s, except his had a gold stripe. The admiral shook his hand. He certainly had a firm grip. "Ah, you must be a brave boy. Actually volunteering to be tested by a metahuman. All candidates get a real shock." Elthera laughed. "Oh Ajax, don''t tease him." She touched Jace''s arm. "This Jace, is the bridge. The very top of the station. We can see all that goes on from here." "Not quite," said Ajax. "When we took the base back from Rogue Robots, there were whole areas that were inaccessible and there are still nasties lurking in dark corners ready to pounce." He made as if to lunge at Jace. "Admiral¡­" said Elthera, just a hint of warning in her voice. "Well any dangerous thing is probably sealed off in the lower levels," said the Commander. "Enjoy your stay, boy." Elthera took Jace by the hand and led him to a small shuttle that only just had enough room for the two of them. He was going to have to be at close quarters with her and not look at her breasts. He could do this. She piloted the shuttle into the silvery wake left by a dragon comet. The ethereal river shone through the shuttle portholes. It was like silvery wine flowing around their craft, no up nor down, gravity all nonsense out in the wilderness of space. The silvery glow shone off Elthera''s green cheeks as she gazed enraptured at the path of the comet. "Isn''t it spectacular?" She turned to him. "Would you like to try the controls? Don''t worry, I have dual controls, in case you have any difficulty. You have bronze level piloting, don''t you?" "Actually, I''ve just got silver. Last month." He tried not to sound smug. "Ooh, well done, I didn''t even get bronze until¡­" "Until your third year at the academy," Jace interrupted and then wondered if he should have done. Just because she was friendly, didn''t mean she could not end his application¡­ "You''ve been reading up on me?" she said with a smile. "Yes." He suddenly had the urge to really impress her with how much he knew. "I know that you volunteered to be altered when the metahuman process was experimental, because you wanted to take the fight to the Rogue Robots. I always thought you were so brave and strong. I know you lost your mother when the robots took over the first interplanetary base." There was a stricken look on her green face as she gazed back at him. He could see pain and sorrow in her blue eyes, as if the hurt and grief were still raw and her emotional pain sharp. "I''m so sorry¡­ I can''t even imagine what it must be like, losing a beloved parent," he went on hurriedly. Had he overstepped the mark? What would she say now? Just at that moment, the shuttle shook. Something had crashed into it. No¡­ something was gripping it! Looking through the portholes, Jace saw looping, metal arms surrounding their little vessel and ensnaring them¡­ Games of War Games of War "Quick! Power up the guns!" said Jace, beginning to panic. "Jace. We don''t have guns," said Elthera. To his astonishment she was quite calm. Her green face was composed again. "No guns?" What were they going to do? They might as well be in a sardine tin. This thing would eat them¡­ "This is a scouting shuttle. It''s unarmed. But I have a trick." She opened a case beside her and took out a metal fish. At her touch it began to flip its tail. "Swim well." Elthera shoved it into a chute beside her. Their little craft juddered again and began to be pulled away from the silver light of the comet, back into the dark ocean of space. Jace could see a colossal hulking thing drifting nearby, a great behemoth surrounded by steel tentacles¡­ Then the huge form turned slowly in space to reveal a great, lidless eye, rimmed with fire. A glaring red eye with a pupil that was a slit into absolute darkness. Jace got such a shock at the sight of the eye that he felt as if he had been plunged into freezing water. He yelled, although his voice seemed to come from far away. Then Elthera''s strong arms were around him and she hugged him tight to her, her green cheek cold and very smooth against his. Her firm breasts were mashed against his chest. Her sweet, synthetic scent filled his nostrils. "It''s alright, darling. My space fish is on the way. We''re perfectly safe." What was she talking about? "See Jace, he''s already rescuing us." Jace risked a peek out of the porthole and saw the silvery form of the metal fish Elthera had released into space. It was glowing and emitting a forcefield of some kind at the metal behemoth which struck just as the monster turned, right in its huge, lidless eye. Immediately, the terrible thing writhed, its tentacles going rigid and releasing the shuttle in order to try and shield its eye from the onslaught. Elthera let go of Jace and pressed on the shuttle controls. The little craft lurched away some distance, but then seemed to grind to a halt. "OK, we should be out of any possible blast zone," said Elthera. The heavens through the rear porthole were suddenly illuminated by marigold flames erupting in the darkness. The monstrous thing had exploded and in space there is no air to carry sound. "Space Squid," murmured Elthera. "A Kraken version. The Rogue Robots manufactured them. Nasty things." She put a hand on Jace''s shoulder. "You sure you''re alright?" "Um¡­" She turned him round to face her and peered into his eyes. Her penetrating, sky-blue gaze made him feel like she was trying to read his mind or something. In spite of the shocking episode with the Space Squid, her closeness was quite thrilling¡­ Jace suddenly realised he hadn''t exactly been very impressive. First he upset her by mentioning her dead mother, and then he did nothing helpful when the Space Squid attacked. But what could he say? "That squid¡­ its terrible eye¡­ don''t know what I''d have done without you." She grinned, scrunching her shiny green nose and gently touched his cheek with her cold, green fingertips. Rather like the plastic hand of a shop mannequin turned green. Oh dear, he had just admitted that he had been useless. "Wait¡­ have I failed¡­?" She put her arms around him again and tutted. "No, no." She stroked his back. He began to feel better. At this moment he needed emotional support. Elthera gently squeezed his shoulders and smiled at him, then turned to the control panel and switched on the vidscreen. "Calling Lighthouse Base. We were attacked by a Kraken and our engines have just died. We could use a tow." "Acknowledged." Came the voice of an engineer from the telescreen. "We''ll bring you into Pad G." The invisible tractor beam from the station began to drag the shuttle down to the polished, grey surface of the landing pad. Elthera''s dark green lips formed a smile again as she turned to Jace. "Come on, I''ll take you to dinner." Dinner was in a Titan themed restaurant on one of the upper decks, with a great window that looked out into the starry heavens. The proprietor played loudly on a concertina as they sat down while singing (or droning) in the weird Titanic language. Jace was a little surprised when Elthera rose to her feet to join him in singing the last line, her mellifluous voice a contrast to his gravelly bass. The other customers clapped. So Elthera wanted to show off that she could sing in Titanic? "She taught me that," said the proprietor, clapping Jace on the shoulder. "Can you believe it? A Titanic song I''d never even heard." "Oh. Right," said Jace, not sure how to respond. "Anyway, she''s mine. Don''t get any ideas." He burst into raucous laughter as if he''d made a joke. Elthera laughed too, scrunching her shiny green nose. Jace didn''t get it until the proprietor had already gone away. It was just then Jace noticed that there was no cutlery, just slim metal wands made of a faintly iridescent blue metal. Looking around, everyone else was moving theirwands in complex motions, which somehow caused the food to float off their plates so that they could catch it in their mouths.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Elthera began to do the same. Her green cheeks bulged as she ate hungrily, but she could see he wasn''t eating. She swallowed quickly. "Oh¡­ sorry, Jace. Don''t you know how to use anti-grav chopsticks?" Given that Jace knew he had failed to impress her thus far, he thought he couldn''t very well own to ignorance about the cutlery. "Oh¡­ I use these all the time. Can''t remember what a fork looks like." He held up the chopsticks and tried to move them the way Elthera did. "Hey!" A customer at a different table exclaimed as Jace''s chopsticks somehow lifted a large glob of the strange food from his plate and hurled it against the wall. "Oops." Jacetried again. Elthera looked at him, her blue eyes anxious. "Simply create a down-thrust in the inverse of the field margin." Jace had been with her all the way up to the word ''simply.'' After that, he hadn''t a clue what she was talking about. He tried to pick up the wine glass, but it was fixed to the table. "It''s telekinetic wine. You have to will the liquid into your mouth. See?" Elthera pursed her dark green lips and a thin stream of the strange liquid flowed upwards into her mouth. Jace tried to will the liquid into his mouth, but what happened was that a torrent like that from a hosepipe battered him in the face. Fortunately it stopped right away. It seemed Elthera had willed it back into the glass. There was ribald laughter around the restaurant. "Hey, don''t laugh!" Elthera glared around at them. Jace wished he could sink into the floor. Elthera put an arm round his shoulders and led him out of the restaurant and helped him clean his face in a washroom. He tried to wash his face in the basin as she stood right behind him. He could see her bright green reflection in the mirror. She looked a little sad. "Jace, you need to speak up for yourself. If you couldn''t eat the food, why didn''t you just tell me?" "Um¡­ I didn''t want to inconvenience you," he muttered. He realised right away how dumb that sounded. Now she''d abandoned her dinner because of him. So embarrassing¡­ oh well, he could scarcely embarrass himself in front of her more than he already had. For that reason, he actually felt more at ease around her now. She led him back to her own quarters where they had a much more enjoyable dinner of takeaway pizza with a stuffed crust, which they shared on her couch. They shared a slice, Jace biting into the cheesy crust and Elthera into the tapered end. "I got the crust. I win." Elthera wrinkled her shiny green nose. "You forgot to tell me it was a contest." "It''s the way I could beat you." She laughed and flicked her ponytail over her shoulder. Josh wanted to talk to her about something that had weighed on his mind since he had read up on the Rogue Robots. "Elthera, I was going to ask you¡­" he tailed off, feeling himself blushing. "Yes, Jace?" She gazed at him expectantly. "It''s a disturbing subject. About the Rogue Robots that threaten our borders," said Jace carefully. He remembered his gaffe earlier, when he had mentioned the death of her mother. She looked solemn, but nodded. "Go ahead, dear." "It''s disturbing they way they were spawned by a game. That old virtual reality, fantasy game, where the players could use robots as their avatars and could even cast off their bad feelings by playing as evil characters. Those gamers messed up in a horrible way. What should have been fun turned into disaster for us all, when the evil player characters became self-aware in their robot simulant bodies. But seriously, who could have predicted such a thing? Nothing like it had happened before. But now we know we should expect the unexpected ¡­ people should try to think more than they do." He struggled to articulate what worried him most. "We''re seeing people repeat the same old mistakes." Elthera nodded. "Yes. Because we can''t predict the future, we should all try to learn from history." Jace felt a rush of relief that she understood him. He had rehearsed how to talk about the subject of the rogue avatars, but he had ended up gabbling a bit, even so. He smiled. "I wonder which the worst Rogue Robot is." "Most of the evil player characters who prevailed in the game gained Jackal spirit guides, to symbolise their cruelty and cunning. But an exceptionally evil one earned a Cobra icon. The Cobra leads the Jackals now."
00O00 The Kraken had failed to kill the metahuman warrior maiden. The Jackal robot who had masterminded the failed ambush quaked in dread as he brought news of his failure to the Cobra avatar. The Cobra''s throne room on the Avatar Ship was in almost total darkness. The only light came from the flickering candles, shaped like human spinal columns. The evil leader of the Rogue Robots glared down, with glaring yellow, slit pupiled eyes, at the wretched Jackal quailing before him. "I implore your forgiveness Cobra. I have failed." "Forgivenesssssss ¡­ is a human concept. The Cobra knows it not. You know what you must do." The Cobra chucked his obsidian sword with a snake shaped hilt onto the black tiled floor before the hapless Jackal. The Jackal lifted the blade and gritting his fangs, shoved the blade into his gut. Steaming synthetic viscera and artificial organs spilled onto the floor. The Cobra watched in cruel satisfaction for a while and then hissed again. "First! You will polish my Serpent Sword." The Jackal blinked, bemused. "Polish?" "Yes! Polish!" "Just polish?" "Yes, just polish." "And is that all, Cobra?" "No. Then you must write me a letter of apology." The Jackal gritted his fangs. "So you want me to polish your sword and write a letter. Not disembowel myself?" "You tend to jump to conclusions," said the Cobra, his evil voice shaking with mirth. The Jackal picked up his organs and shoved them back inside his robotic frame. "Thank you for your mercy, Cobra. I think a new internal system is in order." He spied another organ on the floor. "Oops. That looks important." The Cobra broke into hissing laughter as the mangy Jackal limped away. The metahuman had prevailed for now, but next time, she would not. The Cobra would make sure of it.
00O00 Admiral Ajax had been playing a game of three dimensional chess with the metahuman Elthera. It was a game that required a lot of thought and also one that could last many nightly game sessions. Ajax made his opening move. "How''s your young initiate doing, Elthera?" Elthera bit her dark green lip. "Fine." She did not meet his eye. It was obvious she didn''t want to talk to the Admiral about it, but he pressed the subject anyway. "I know that look. You have your doubts about him." Elthera looked up. She was frowning. Ajax could tell that, even if there were no eyebrows on her shiny green face. "It''s not his fault, Ajax." She took his pawn. He made another move. "I didn''t say it was. But if he''s having difficulty, you should confront him. Make him jump a bit, don''t you think? You''re supposed to eliminate unsuitable candidates, not mollycoddle them." She glared, her blue eyes glinting. "Admiral¡­ You know very well how the final phase of my metahuman warrior application went. How cruel Master Ghostal was to me and poor Jack whowas tested alongside me. Jack couldn''t take it." She breathed hard. "I held him in my arms as he cried each night - because of that old brute." She picked up a knight and set it down in the game cube again with unnecessary force. Ajax moved a rook to intercept her knight. "The Ghost was a hard taskmaster. Even abusive, for all his charm. But he eliminated all candidates except for the right one. You. Shouldn''t you do the same?" Elthera breathed through her nose. "I won''t make a boy cry. I''d much rather be hurt myself than do that." She moved her queen. "Check." "You won''t do anyone any favours by being soft on a candidate." Ajax moved his queen. "Stalemate." Into the Spiders Web Into the Spider''s Web Jace thought about Elthera as he fell asleep. Her voluptuous form. Her radiant green face. He dreamed of holding her; her green, cold cheek touching his¡­ He was to meet her on the bridge that morning. He almost didn''t find the way again in time and he arrived a little breathless. She was stationed at a computer near the great window that looked out onto space. She turned and grinned at him as he entered, but the Admiral was pestering her with questions about something, bother him. She turned to pore over the computer screen again, its glow shining off her green cheeks. "I''ve been searching for this program for days, Admiral. It was buried in the Deep Code level before the Robots left the station. I can scan the lower levels now¡­ the robo-rats are coming from the station core. There is activity down there. Maybe it''s their nest..." She continued answering the Admiral''s questions and Jace looked around the bridge. There was another lady near the Admiral''s seat. A brunette. She also had a silver striped uniform like Elthera. She must be another lieutenant. Everyone else on the bridge had either bronze stripes, like Nestor, or the turquoise stripe of some lower rank or other. Elthera turned to Jace. "Sorry, Jace. Please come over here." Jace had been standing awkwardly near the entrance, but now he made his way carefully across to her computer that was set near the Admiral''s seat. It was a long way from the entrance, but he was sure he shouldn''t run. At that moment, a guy in a shabby red suit came storming onto the bridge. Josh recognised him from the gambling table at Stumpy''s place. He had been one of the gamblers who had lost to Elthera. He was holding what looked like a large, metal rat by its tail. "You''re landlords!" he was shouting at the Admiral, Elthera and the brunette lady. "You''re responsible for pest control." "How did it die, Stumpy?" asked the brunette. "Did it get in the food?" "It ran right across the swindelstones table!" Stumpy shouted, waving it in the air. "If you don''t do something I''ll¡­" "You''ll what?" said the brunette. "Oh, please say you''ll leave. I''ll take the rat over you, any day." "Cool it, Penelope," said Elthera hastily to the brunette. She turned to Stumpy and the green plastic skin of her neck creased in a weird way as she did so. "Stumpy, I am working on it. Please just have a little faith." Stumpy grumbled. "Well let me know how it goes tonight." He nodded at Jace and then turned to leave. "See you then," Jace blurted out because he wasn''t entirely sure what the Station''s etiquette demanded he say. Stumpy turned around. "Well aren''t you the friendly young fellow? Come down to my place tonight, then. Look forward to it." Elthera''s dark green lips twitched to form a smile. Penelope tsked rather loudly and turned back to her own terminal. Elthera''s beauty was even more unreal when seeing her next to Penelope. Her features, the bridge of her nose, her cheekbones and jaw were so perfectly sculpted, as though she had been deliberately shaped from green plastic to be as perfect as any statue. Elthera touched Jace on the arm with a gloved hand. "Sleep well?" "Um, yes. You?" "Fine, dear." But her blue eyes looked a little sad for a moment, just like they had after the fiasco in the Titanic restaurant the previous day. "Listen, Jace. We''re going to go down and investigate the robo-rat problem. It''ll be your first test. But don''t worry." "Try to make it worth everyone''s while, boy," said the Admiral. Jace couldn''t guess why he''d say that. "Alright, Ajax," said Elthera softly. She stood, taking Jace''s arm in hers and then led him to the elevator. "Hold on. It may be a bumpy ride. We''re going such a long way down¡­" She pressed a small, ivory button with a label in a code of some kind that Jace could not read. The doors slid silently closed and Jace had the sensation of the elevator descending and then lurching off to the side. There was a window pane in the lift and Jace could see scenes from the different decks of the station flashing past as the lift zoomed in different directions, all the while going downwards. He became aware of Elthera''s gaze on him. He wished he could read the expression on her green face. What was she looking at him like that for? What was she thinking? "Tell me, Jace. What was it that first made you want to be a metahuman?" Was she starting the formal interview right here and now, in the lift? He wished he could remember all those answers that he had rehearsed for the standard interview questions. "I want to be useful in the fight against the evil Avatars. My father had ambitions for me too. He wanted me and my sister to both enter the Academy, but then my sister ran off and got married and he did not forgive her for that. When he was on his deathbed, his last words to me were, "it''s up to you now Jace."" Elthera looked anxious¡­ possibly. The way her mannequin face moved, it looked like her brows would have drawn together if she''d had any. She touched his arm. "Oh, Jace." "That''s not all. I want to be someone. Do something useful. Stop the Avatar menace before they rise from the darkness." Elthera nodded. He went on; "I''m nobody at the moment, because I haven''t proven otherwise. I''ve proven I''m not someone¡­" OK, that hadn''t come out as he intended. Elthera was staring at him, her blue eyes wide. Maybe it wasn''t wise, but he was determined to say what else weighed on his mind. "At the moment, I''m a boring nobody. So plain and uninteresting." "No! And you''re not plain." She touched his cheek with a gloved hand and he felt a thrill at her touch once again. He stared back at her. Did she find him attractive? Was it possible?This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. She smiled at him. "Back on the Ganymede base, auburn hair and green eyes were uncommon, so we thought them a hallmark of beauty. Having a freckled face was too, because the poor old Sun wasn''t strong enough to make a decent sunrise on Ganymede and we had a sort of ¡­ collective nostalgia." She considered this for a moment. "Hmmm. Yes that would fit. Having a freckled or tanned face showed that you had felt the sun full in your face." The lift had picked up pace now and was diving steeply downwards. Outside, all was darkness. Jace wanted to show that he had done research on the evil avatar robots. He started to tell her his thoughts on what he''d learned. "It''s funny how the game architects made iconic spirit guides for the avatars who would not be able to win. Like the evil player characters who were not as brave, nor as successful as Jackals ¨C they got spider icons." "Indeed." Elthera''s green face was grave. "They are another type of enemy. I doubt they''d start trouble. Unless the others put them up to it." She stroked her green cheek with a gloved finger, lost in thought. "And the way the player characters in the game talked, often saying ''greetings.'' Or when the evil player characters saw the living whirlwind they''d go, ''foul thing, what manner of pestilence are you?'' Did anyone on Earth ever speak like that?" "No, that was a hackish attempt by the game architects to make them sound old-fashioned. But then only the player characters talked like that, so it didn''t make sense in their universe either." "Yeah. Even in the player character''s own country, they were the only character who ever said ''greetings.'' Or stuff like, ''greetings, rotten old goat,'' or ''greetings fetid creature or foul mutants.''" The lift came to a halt. Elthera opened a panel and drew out two belts with little torches set into them. As Jace strapped his on, she picked up two devices that resembled pens and handed them to him. "Circuit jammers. These should take out the rats." The doors slid open and Elthera slipped her arm in Jace''s, for which he was grateful. The corridor outside the lift was totally dark, except for the light from their belts, which played eerily over Elthera''s brightly coloured face. Down on this lower deck, there was an ancient, fusty reek, like that of an underground dungeon. There were old boxes piled up everywhere and only a narrow path between them. A robo-rat scurried across their path and Elthera pointed her circuit jammer at it. The metal rat froze in position, immobilised. There was a scratching sound somewhere nearby. Jace gave a little start. "Don''t worry, dear. It''s only another rat." Elthera''s low, sweet voice was so out of place in this dreadful pit, Jace thought. There was a scurrying in front of them and a whole swarm of robo-rats came in their direction. They both fired their circuit jammers, immobilising the rats right and left. "Their behaviour is not typical," said Elthera, looking down at the pile of metal rodents. "They wouldn''t be running to us¡­ unless running from something. Could there be a different robot infestation?" "What would that be?" The pale light of their belts played over Elthera''s perfectly sculpted features. She looked quite ghostly in the near darkness. "Something''s wrong¡­ there''s something ¡­ some malevolence at work nearby¡­" Suddenly there was something like an explosion without sound and they were both catapulted away from each other by the force of it. Jace collided with a pile of boxes. He sat up, a little dazed, but then to his utter horror, he saw the grey, hairy bodies of fat spiders crawling all over him. He jumped up, yelling and frantically brushing himself. As if from far away, he heard Elthera''s voice. "Jace! Come to me! Please!" But he had no sense of direction. Where was she? Then near at hand he saw clusters of gleaming red compound eyes in the darkness and the sound of clicking and salivating... Elthera''s voice again. "Jace! It''s an illusion! Don''t move, I''m coming!" But Jace could hardly hear her. Filled with panic, he bolted. The spiders fell from him as he ran, but now he could feel sticky, white strands hanging from the ceiling brushing and groping at him, like the strands of an enormous cobweb¡­ He ran harder, heart pounding. Soon he had no idea where he was. He paused, panting for breath. "Running from something, boy?" Jace whirled round. There was a lady standing next to him. Very strangely, she had an old fashioned travelling hood drawn up. He could just about see that her pale face was framed with black hair. She drew back blood red lips to reveal her teeth to their fullest extent, her black eyes glittering. "Greetings, you freckled plough-boy." Her voice had a harsh, metallic quality, like she had a throat full of drawing pins. She made a weird, slurping sound. Oh no! She had said ''greetings¡­'' and spoke like an uneducated game architects idea of an ancient Earth dialect¡­ He held up his circuit jammer, pointing it and clicking frantically. It had no effect. The Rogue Avatar lifted her hand that gleamed bone white in the darkness. Around her wrist, there appeared to be a bracelet of knuckle bones cobbled together. Jace remembered that in the strange world of their game, the player characters could cast illusion spells if they had bracelets of bone. The Avatar''s outline seemed to burn and blur, wavering in front of his eyes as if through a heat haze. Her eyes seemed to bulge into grotesque clusters of compound eyes and her mouth stretched as spider fangs sprouted from her gums. Her pale arms shrivelled into hairy spider legs and more and more legs sprouted from her distending body. It''s just an illusion, he told himself. But it was no good. He stumbled and fell. He picked up an old wrench from the grimy floor and flung it at the Spider Avatar, but missed. She gave a hollow laugh. "Your death with be exquisite. I''ll show your spotted pelt to the Cobra. Then he''ll know that I''m a winner!" But then a pile of crates fell onto the Spider and she shrieked, many arms flailing and knocking the crates aside. Elthera stood there, her beautiful green face seeming to glow almost like a beacon in the fetid darkness, her blue eyes furious, fixated. She gripped the Spider''s forelegs and flung her backwards. The Spider staggered. "Foul mutant! You dare come between my lawful prey and the white, sticky strands of my webbing?" OK, a female player character should never use overtones like that, however depraved she might be. Elthera gave a cry and hurled herself at the evil creature. The Spider''s terrible jaws snapped furiously, but Elthera wrestled her to the ground. Jace picked up the wrench and leapt to his feet, wanting to help. He brandished the wrench, but the Spider shot a strand of webbing at him. Jace leapt back as it touched him, frantically trying to brush it off. "You haven''t produced any white sticky strands, carrot-top. I doubt the mutant lusts after you," sneered the Spider. "In gamespace, I''ve levelled whole villagers and burned a city-port to the ground. What is such as you against one such as I?" She had several of her hairy arms around Elthera, but the green metahuman seemed to bend her body with inhuman elasticity and free her own arms, holding her circuit jammer in the air she brought it down hard into the Spider''s bloated, hairy form. The Spider gave a terrible shriek, hairy arms going rigid and releasing Elthera, who leapt to her feet. The Spider lay convulsing on the floor as Elthera stood over her. Evidently the circuit jammer did not work against the Avatars from any distance, but it was effective if inserted into them. "You could at least have used an adaptor, you unnatural creature," said the Spider. She began to shrink and dwindle into her human form again. She lay on the floor, travelling hood still up, the circuit jammer protruding from her chest. "I see a white starship a ¨C coming. It''s coming for me!" Her outline wavered again and shimmered. All that was left on the floor was the form of a skeletal, steel robot. The lenses of its eyes glowed red for a moment and then went blank. Jace''s heart was still thudding. Elthera''s breath was coming in ragged gasps and her gloved hands were trembling. Jace touched her arm tentatively. "Erm, well done¡­" She gripped his shoulders. Her blue eyes were very wide in her green face and he thought they looked wild and anguished. He had not seen her with that expression. What was wrong? She spoke and her voice shook. "Why did you run off like that? You could have been killed! I ¨C I thought for a moment¡­" She choked. His heart sank. He''d done something wrong. But then, the Spider''s illusion had been so real. "Um¡­ I thought I had¡­ I mean, it looked like there were spiders all over me and that a giant spider chased me." "Of course." She put her arms around him. He could feel her heart thudding in her breast. Despite everything, it was distracting to feel her firm breasts pressing against him. Her cold, green cheek touched his. She stroked his back. "Don''t frighten me like that¡­" she sounded near tears. Great. He''d almost made her cry a second time. Things really weren''t going well. Ghosts from the Past In the lift on the way back up to the bridge, it was clear that something troubled Elthera. Her blue eyes were strangely bright as though tears shone in them, and her dark green lips were compressed. She wasn¡¯t talking, and that was out of character... She sniffed, breaking the silence. Was she going to cry? He cautiously touched her arm. She took his hand in hers. Jace wanted to try and break the awkward silence, but what could he say that was interesting enough? ¡°So, you have to do a report for the Admiral about the Spider-bot lurking on the Station? And decide what we do next for my testing?¡± Elthera bit her dark green bottom lip. ¡°I can¡¯t do it.¡± Her voice was a little husky. ¡°Sorry?¡± Jace was puzzled. ¡°Why would the report be difficult?¡± She shook her head, her ponytail jiggling. ¡°Not the report, Jace. I mean your testing.¡± His heart sank into his boots. ¡°What? You want to flunk me? Why would you do that to me?¡± She glared at him. ¡°Can¡¯t you see you were almost killed? I ¨C I thought you were¡­¡± She choked. Jace didn¡¯t know what to say on the spur of the moment to change her mind. He thought hard. ¡°Ermm¡­ the Spider messed about, spouting her awful catchphrases, long enough for you to get there. ¡®Greetings, freckled plough-boy!¡¯ Did she think she was a Victorian?¡± Elthera clutched at her green forehead with her free hand and closed her eyes. ¡°I¡¯m not in the mood to talk about her, Jace.¡± Well if Elthera wasn¡¯t going to make an effort to talk, Jace was thrown. The lift doors slid open. The admiral was no longer on the bridge, but Penelope was still there. She glanced at Elthera and smirked. ¡°So how did it go, Elthera? Been having fun?¡± Elthera compressed her dark green lips. ¡°There was a rogue avatar down below, Penny.¡± Penny pursed her lips and drew a sharp intake of breath. ¡°That¡¯s some serious stuff. We¡¯ll have to get the admiral. Right now. Just us lieutenants.¡± She made a dismissive gesture at Jace. ¡°That can wait,¡± said Elthera coolly. She took Jace by the hand again and led him from the bridge and into the lift, which took them down to sickbay. Nestor was there. ¡°Jace needs checking over, doc,¡± said Elthera. ¡°We had some trouble with a rogue avatar on the lower decks.¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± protested Jace. ¡°I don¡¯t need checking over.¡± ¡°Please¡­¡± said Elthera and placed a gloved finger over her dark green lips. Nestor raised his eyebrows. ¡°A rogue avatar you say? That¡¯s rotten luck, that it showed up during Jace¡¯s application.¡± ¡°Terrible luck,¡± said Elthera. Her green face was still grave. It seemed that she was serious about flunking Jace¡­ ¡°Wait, you can¡¯t leave it like this,¡± Jace began. Elthera turned her blue eyed gaze on him. ¡°I am very sorry to disappoint you, Jace. I hope you will come to understand.¡±
00O00 After his check-up, Jacewent down to Stumpy¡¯s place. Elthera was seeing the Admiral to give her report. Jace sat at the bar and ordered a bright blue Saphil¡¯d drink which he swallowed quickly, even though it seemed to burn his throat and made his eyes water. ¡°Another?¡± said Stumpy, holding up the glass jug of bright blue liquid. ¡°Just keep pouring them ¡®til I drown.¡± Stumpy whistled. ¡°Sounds serious.¡± ¡°Serious? No.¡± Jace shook his head. ¡°I just threw my life out of a porthole. Gone. Just like that.¡±Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. Stumpy poured him another bright blue drink. ¡°Listen, son. When I was your age, I had an apprentice position to the Asteroid Adminstrator on Ceres. He loved me. I was his golden boy. I fawned over him like you wouldn¡¯t believe. I was going to be the biggest star in all the Asteroid field. But then I lost it all.¡± Jace stared at him. ¡°How?¡± ¡°The golden rule¡­ never have a one night stand with the boss¡¯s wife.¡± ¡°Um¡­ wow¡­¡± ¡°I was fired. Broke. My ambitions out of the porthole.¡± ¡°So¡­ how did you recover, Stumpy?¡± ¡°I never did. Look at me now. At a bar, out here in the perpetual darkness! You only get one shot at the golden stairway, my boy. If you miss it¡­ you miss it. Welcome to the club.¡± ¡°Well thanks,¡± said Jace. Stumpy chose not to hear the sarcasm. ¡°Glad I could help. Look.¡± He pointed at the 3D TV. ¡°It¡¯s Elthera¡¯s old tester, or whatever his role was called. Master Ghostal. The Ghost himself. He has night realm talk show now. He put Elthera through her paces once. He¡¯s no metahuman, but he has his fancy gadgets ¨C gauntlets which create energy blasts - so he was the next best thing for fighting avatars. He made two Rogue Avatars his slaves and forces them to help with the show. The Scorpion and the Bat.¡± Curious, Jace turned his chair towards the screen. The image was that of some planetoid far from the sun, but it zoomed in on an ugly concrete building and then the scene shifted to a dimly lit studio. There was some old guy with a heavy jaw, dressed in a set of gleaming white armour complete with a flowing cape. With a swish of his cape, he swept across the studio to the desk. ¡°Time!¡± he rapped, his voice an acid bark. ¡°Five seconds,¡± came a reedy voice from the ceiling. A bat bot hung there. ¡°Bravo, Sir!¡± A reedy voice boy was standing in a corner. The Ghost growled and raised a white gauntleted hand. The gauntlet shimmered and fired some kind of energy blast in the direction of the boy who had already fled. ¡°You were supposed to revoke that dratted intern¡¯s security pass. I have no time to waste on no-hopers like him,¡± sneered the Ghost. ¡°Unpaid interns are a dime a dozen, so there¡¯s no need to treat them kindly. Bat! Are you listening?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not your slave,¡± retorted the Bat from the ceiling. ¡°Yes, you are,¡± said the Ghost. ¡°Oh.¡± The Bat paused. ¡°What was I supposed to do again?¡± ¡°Never mind,¡± said the Ghost. ¡°The first guest is here.¡± Jace did not recognise the celebrity guest or catch his name. The Ghost asked the guest whether he watched the show. ¡°Oh yes. Every week.¡± The guest replied quite casually. ¡°You¡¯re kidding!¡± ¡°Of course I¡¯m kidding,¡± said the guest laughing. ¡°I¡¯ve never seen this show.¡± But the Ghost did not seem to hear that confession. ¡°What part do you like best? The interview or the backstory?¡± ¡°You¡¯re not listening, Ghost. I just said I¡¯ve never seen the show.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve seen your stuff too.¡± ¡°Such as?¡± The guest was sceptical and rightly so. ¡°Give an example.¡± ¡°Do I have to?¡± The Ghost was stumped. He had obviously been lying. Jace turned to Stumpy. ¡°How did that stupid oaf get to be the one putting Elthera to the test?¡± ¡°Not impressed with the talkshow, son? It¡¯s pretty standard for night realm shows. Only washed up has-beens host them.¡± Jace turned back to the show. The Ghost was showing off how he could force the Scorpion bot to dance by firing at his segmented legs with energy blasts. ¡°Aren¡¯t you impressed by my power over my lowly subordinates?¡± ¡°Oh come on, he¡¯s helping you do the show,¡± said the guest, his expression showing some distaste for the Ghost¡¯s callousness. ¡°The Scorpion and the Bat aren¡¯t worth the paper I line their filthy cages with,¡± sneered the Ghost. ¡°You make me sleep in my own debris,¡± grated the Scorpion, flexing his sting. The Ghost caught him by the stinger and hurled him into a corner of the room. ¡°He flexes his sting with petty and malicious cruelty. He¡¯d sting you, soon as look at you.¡± Jace rolled his eyes. ¡°This is what passes for night realm entertainment?¡± ¡°Mm.¡± Stumpy was putting some bottles in a row, but he looked up. ¡°Pluto is the twilight zone, because the brightest it gets there is like Earth dusk. Stands to reason the night realm would be more far out.¡± ¡°Right,¡± said Jace shrugging. Stumpy¡¯s reasoning seemed to rely heavily on making puns. Stumpy went away to serve someone else, so Jace turned back to the TV. The guest was speaking again. ¡°I¡¯ve found some pretty awful footage of how you treated kids on the metahuman program, Ghost. Let¡¯s play it.¡± Abruptly the scene shifted as the new footage played and Jace¡¯s heart leapt. There on the screen was Elthera! But as she was when she had been just a human girl. She was easily recognisable. So beautiful then as well, with porcelain skin, sculpted face and wide, blue eyes, but she was not quite perfect in those days. Her nose was a tiny bit crooked for one thing. When she became a plastic metahuman, her face became as perfect as that of any green mannequin. She was on a wind blasted plain and the Ghost was standing nearby and there was a red headed boy there as well. Dark storm clouds lowered overhead. Elthera had placed her hands to her hips in defiance. ¡°Ghost, stop this! Jack cannot fight the Eagle avatar. His lungs haven¡¯t healed and you know it.¡± ¡°You wimps make me sick,¡± sneered the Ghost. ¡°Do you want to both flunk? Then go and get the Eagle robot! I¡¯m just going off to get some smuggled liquor on the cheap.¡± The Ghost sidled off with a swish of his cape. A terrible scream resounded across the plain. ¡°The Eagle!¡± cried Elthera. ¡°Don¡¯t worry Jack, I¡¯m here. I won¡¯t let anything happen to you.¡± Jace had researched the Eagle Avatars. In the game world, they had started out as Jackals, but had proven more brutal than cunning, so their icons morphed into Eagles instead. Their descriptions said they were ruthless hunters who only lowered themselves to kill. Now the Eagle hovered above the plain, casting a shadow over the young Elthera and the red headed boy. She had a rust coloured cape that spread out behind her, like wings. She was wearing gauntlets with wickedly curved talons fitted to them. She screamed again. ¡°You! You! How such as youuu defy me, scruffy urchins! I¡¯ll tear you to doll rags!¡± Elthera was slipping something into her mouth, but then the Eagle plunged¡­ Suddenly, the Eagle plummeted. But then screamed again and leapt back, stumbling and falling over the rocky plain. It looked like Elthera now had a bloody mouth. What had she put in it? ¡°Nooo!¡± screamed the Eagle. ¡°I¡¯m not in gamespace. How do you haunt me?¡± Elthera did not reply, but opened her bloody mouth and slowly advanced. Amazingly it seemed to work. The Eagle scrambled back¡­ ¡°Watching something good?¡± Jace turned away from the screen. The present day Elthera, the one with the shiny green face had seated herself behind him at the bar. She smiled. ¡°How did you get the Eagle to back off like that, when the horrible Ghost left you in the lurch?¡± Elthera tapped her shiny green nose. ¡°In the game, the evil player characters had the option when infiltrating the Mountain Fortress to cut out a guardswoman¡¯s tongue to ensure her silence. If they did so, the result was that she would keep showing up every time they tried to sleep, to show off her bloody mouth with no tongue and try to kill them.¡± Jace shuddered. ¡°The stuff of nightmares.¡± Elthera nodded. ¡°The game architects must have based it on the real phenomena of sleep paralysis. Anyhow, the Eagle robots are not as bright as Jackals. On the plain, I was banking on a synthetic blood pack in my mouth being enough to fool her. It fitted in with her dreadful backstory.¡± ¡°Listen, Elthera¡­¡± Jace wasn¡¯t sure how to say this. ¡°I forgot to thank you for saving my life. Sorry. It¡¯s just I didn¡¯t quite understand¡­¡± She touched his cheek. ¡°Oh Jace, it¡¯s quite alright.¡± ¡°I just wanted to be brave like you¡­ and like my dad wanted.¡± She gazed at him steadily. ¡°The path of a metahuman is not something you can do because someone else ordered you to, Jace. The all important question is, what does Jace want from the program?¡± He gazed into her bright, blue eyes. What answer would he give? Epic Quest to Eris Epic Quest to Eris Jace stared back at her. The pale lights of the bar shone off her perfectly smooth, green cheeks. He realised he was staring and he felt himself blushing. "I did say, I ¨C I wanted to be a hero." "But why would you not be happy with who you are now?" At that moment there was a commotion in the bar as a small crowd entered. Prominent among them were the Admiral, Penny, and a strange man with shaggy hair and beard like a lion''s mane. It turned out this guy was a good robot avatar from gamespace. He had gained the icon the Lion. Jace recalled that the Lion description was that they ruled the plain, were great hunters, but had big hearts as well. The Lion quickly drew an audience around him, relating a story of how he and some non-player characters had saved the cityport in the game from destruction at the hands of a goblin horde (remember the Spider-bot had burned the cityport to the ground herself in her playthrough). Jace and Elthera sat and listened as well. They all listened to the Lion with rapt attention. "In the end, the plain outside the city was covered with goblin dead, so that not one square yard could be seen. We found their leader''s body by the river, its waters red with blood. Which of us had slain him, we did not know, so the three of us cut out his heart and lifted it into the air together." "Big heart," said Elthera, scrunching her shiny green nose. The Lion guffawed in appreciation of her joke. "You need some more wine, Elthera." "Lion, there''s someone I''d like you to meet," said Elthera. "This is Jace from the Lunar base." "A pleasure to meet you, my fine fellow," said the Lion, grinning a little grin so that his sharp teeth just showed. His gravelly voice rumbled a little. A bit like an actual lion if it could talk. "I love your story," said Jace, a little breathlessly. "What I have done pales in comparison to what I am about to achieve," said the Lion. "I am on a quest. I am on a quest to recover the most revered icon from gamespace, before the Jackals do. I will retrieve the legendary Sword of Kings." "Oh Lion, you told me your quest was a secret and that I shouldn''t tell anybody," Elthera reproached him. "A bright young lad like him could guess anyway," said the Lion shrugging. Jace was thrilled by that as well. Not many called him bright for some reason. The Lion retrieved a scrap of cloth from his pocket. "I believe that this was a scrap of cloth from the wrappings of the Sword. I need you to confirm its authenticity, Elthera." "I''ll look it over in the lab first thing tomorrow," said Elthera, "right now I''m going to bed, and so should you guys." She patted them both on the arm, leaned close to Jace and tenderly wished him goodnight and then left. The Lion grinned at Jace. "Imagine the Cobra''s fury when the Sword is snatched away from his cold, coiled grasp!" The Lion made for an interesting drinking companion as they knocked back the ruby wine. When they were really drunk, Jace and the Lion were already great friends.
00O00 The next morning, Elthera reported to the Lion''s quarters to find him slumped on the floor. He growled as he awoke. Elthera helped him onto a chair. "How long were you up?" "Until that toad-faced Stumpy slung Jace and I out of his bar." The Lion sat in the chair making a rumbling sound in the back of his throat. "Wait, you kept Jace up late as well?" Elthera''s tone was stern. The Lion tried to focus on the green face above him, although his vision was still a little blurred and kept switching to infra-red... She was talking at him, her hands on her hips. "I don''t want him overtired or hungover. You should understand that." "Mm ¨C hm, you can order his comings and goings even when you''ve decided he has failed your tests? You don''t want him. Well I do and I''ve decided he can come on the quest to retrieve the Sword. You have no say in this, Elthera." "What?" Her blue eyes flashed. "Lion! How could you?" "What''s your gripe?" She breathed through her nose. "Where you''re going it''s dangerous. If anything happened to him¡­" Strange that she was agitated about Jace. The Lion wondered exactly what her feelings for the red headed boy were. "Why don''t you come along on the quest if you worry about him? That is¡­ if there''s going to be a quest. What did you find?" Elthera glared at him. Her blue eyes were certainly expressive. "The wrappings do match the database profiles. I believe it is authentic. Maybe the Sword is somewhere in the Eris mines, where the wrapping was found." She paused. "Well I''m going to have to talk to the admiral and get him to approve my going with you. He''ll get the importance of the quest. This could help us unite the good player characters. And the Cobra and Jackals are so superstitious... It may be a blow to their morale if they lose this time." "I''d knew you''d agree with the importance of the quest, Elthera. Thank you for proving me right." The Lion dredged up memories of the previous evening from his memory banks and in so doing, dredged up snippets from Jace''s drunken conversation. "You will prove Jace right too. He appreciates what a kind person you are, even if you do flunk him."This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Elthera''s blue eyes widened. "Prove you are nothing like the Ghost," added the Lion. At the mention of the Ghost, Elthera frowned and clenched her gloved hands into fists for a moment. The Lion let his words sink in. What effect would they have on her?
00O00 The Lunar lamp had gone out, and simulated sunlight shone in the station. Jace was doing some hasty last minute packing. He wasn''t exactly surprised that Elthera came to call. She must have heard he was going and wanted to say good-bye. She looked larger than life and hauntingly beautiful, as always. The synthetic sunlight shone off her green nose and cheeks. Her uniform hugged her statuesque figure and firm breasts¡­ "You heard? I''m going on the quest with my buddy, the Lion," said Jace without preamble. And because he was a little hungover and cranky and thought it would annoy her, he added; "the Lion doesn''t think I''m a hopeless failure." She blinked. "Jace¡­ you did your homework, reading up on my life, but you don''t know me. I never thought you were a failure, and especially not for making one slip-up. The metahuman path is not the be all and end all. It doesn''t define someone''s value or their usefulness. Not in the slightest." She sighed. This was a little awkward. Jace sort of wished he had not goaded her. "So, this is goodbye?" She shook her head. Her dark green lips formed a small smile. "No. I''m coming too. The quest is important. We''re dealing with robots and they all believe the Sword to be something special." Elthera was coming? Wait, what did this mean? And how should Jace feel about it? But before Jace could get his head round this, Elthera clapped her gloved hands together. "Are you packed, dear? I''ll help. We''ve got to travel light and sensibly."
00O00 When the three were in the shuttle and about to embark on their quest, Elthera and Jace took the driver seats, ready to co-pilot. Just as they were about to lift off, the Lion standing behind them raised a hand. "Wait! Let this moment be remembered. This is the moment that Jace of the Lunar Base¡­" he laid a large hand on Jace''s shoulder,¡­"The Lion, undisputed master of the Game and Elthera, Metahuman Warrior Maiden¡­" he laid a hand on Elthera''s shoulder¡­"set forth into the eye of destiny." "Now?" Said Elthera with a small smile. The Lion nodded. "Ahead, half-thrusters," said Elthera. "Glorious!" said the Lion, spreading his arms as the craft rose into the vault of space and soared towards the coldly gleaming stars.
00O00 Eris lay some way away, the path through space led through the debris of the Kuiper Belt. So far the journey had been uneventful. "You''re doing great, Jace," Elthera told her co-pilot. The Lion was recharging in his unit ¨C they could hear his thunderous snores resounding throughout the craft. "Wait¡­" said Jace. "Look at this¡­" There were ships with the Cobra symbol hurtling towards them on all sides. Elthera and Jace looked at each other. "The asteroid field," said Elthera. Jace nodded. They piloted the craft towards the field of space debris, but the Rogue Avatars pursued them, firing and narrowly missing. "Through that asteroid," said Elthera, staring intently ahead. "It''s hollow." There was an asteroid with a narrow tunnel through it. "The tunnel is only twenty meters wide and this craft is ten meters," said Jace. "So that leaves five meters on either side to work with," said Elthera. Jace''s heart was thudding in his chest, but ¡­ this was his chance to redeem himself in her eyes. Handed to him, although it wasn''t exactly on a silver platter. He nodded. They piloted the craft with pinpoint precision through the tunnel. Dark rock enveloped them. It was like being buried alive. And then they were out on the other side, leaving the Rogue Avatars far behind.
00O00 The luckless Jackal scout had to report failure to the Cobra once again. He limped up to the grand table of the Cobra Council. The great council hall was only lit by flickering candles, the light of which shimmered off the pitch black surfaces of the table, walls, ceiling and floor. Other Jackals were seated there. The Cobra glared at him coldly. "Cobra¡­ I''m afraid the metahuman has escaped again. She''s flown into an asteroid field." "This is totally unacceptable!" hissed the Cobra. "She must be found and destroyed with all haste. "I agree," said the Jackal hastily. "The security forces have been shambolic and those responsible should be agonisingly punished." "And I agree also," assented another Jackal at the council table. "And I¡­ and I¡­ and I also." Chorused the rest. "I refuse to be surrounded by toadying sycophants," said the Cobra. This precipitated another chorus of sycophantic agreement from the assembled Jackals. "I want all members of my council to think for themselves, not agree with my every word and whim through some pathetic terror for self-preservation." The Cobra''s hiss had taken on a wheedling tone. "Question my judgements. Only then will we truly strong." "That simply isn''t true," said one of the Jackals at the council table. "Every time an avatar disagrees with you, you order that he be executed. And you''re going about this metahuman business the wrong way¡­" "Kill him!" Hissed the Cobra, triumphant that he could execute someone who disagreed with him again. Two Jackal guards dragged the offending Jackal council member away. "Now find the metahuman''s ship!" raged the Cobra.
00O00 Elthera and Jace were triumphant after their narrow escape. "We did it!" Elthera leaned over and kissed him lightly on the cheek. Her green lips felt cold and he was thrilled by her touch. She had kissed him! The Lion emerged from his cubicle, making growling and gargling sounds. "I slept like a new born cub." "Well you didn''t miss much¡­ except our narrow escape with our lives from the Jackals," said Elthera. "Ah, sorry I missed it my friends, but I had such an enjoyable dream. That we were all in the Hall of Heroes in the game world and that the good avatars all assembled before us as we held the Sword high and sung our praises." Jace thought he told his dream well. He used exactly the same tone as he did for storytelling. Their ship assumed a standard orbit around Eris. The gleaming icy landscape of the dwarf planet stretched out beneath them in all directions. "The entrance to the tunnels is down there," said the Lion pointing at a craggy mountain on the computer map of the landscape below. "It has a cave entrance. There are certain defences in the tunnels and a forcefield around the Sword''s chamber. No Avatar has got through it as yet... Pah! We''ll be the first valiant warriors to break through." "Why didn''t you tell us about this forcefield before?" asked Elthera. She would have raised her eyebrows if she had any, Jace just knew it. "It''s not important, you''ll find a way through," said the Lion shrugging.
00O00 The tunnels beneath Eris were an artificial construct with their own ecosystem and atmosphere, warmed by the internal geology of the dwarf planet. The three of them trod lightly down the tunnels. A freak property of the rock suffused everything in an eerie green glow. Elthera looked especially weird in this light, even more than she had on the lower decks of the station. Like some achingly beautiful spectre. She turned her head. "Wait¡­ something''s wrong. Something''s following us¡­" There was a crunching and a grinding of rock. Jace felt the sour taste of fear in his mouth. And then a hideous, eyeless head broke through the rock. It was dead white and its mandibles constantly crunched and ground together as it turned towards them¡­