Narsinyx – Epilogue

– Ruminations on the Big Sis –

On Moon Base Delta-5, Marelius Custer was engaged in a heated debate.

“Yes, brain-computers changed the course of human evolution, but . . . “ Marelius declared.  Tall and slender, his hair was in waves of dark brown curls, and he wore a three-piece burgundy suit.  He thought it matched his light complexion well.  He was reclining in a dark leather chair, floating to where his boots barely touched the tiled floor, one arm comfortably rested on a round table.

“Then the law is broken anyway,” his mate, Karace, interrupted from her own chair.  Seated across the table, her long, blonde hair hung halfway down her back.  Less than a hand length shorter than him, her skin was dark as charcoal.  When meeting her, people often complimented her on the dark tone of her skin, but it was her wide, expressive eyes that captivated him.  Her iris’ had color options, but she usually kept them a shade of green.  They were light today, and mirthful.  She wore a long sleeve, hooded shirt, blue with an imprint of clouds sweeping across, as though in the Earth sky.

They were in a small café with white tile walls and floors, one of several shops in a long dining hall, empty but for them.  Holograms decorated the walls, advertising products available for order.  The shields were open to the clear windows, showing Earth in the distance, beautiful white and blue amidst the sea of stars.

He persisted.  “Brain-computers were a necessary change for humanity.  Machines had taken over so much of our lives, we had to evolve a way to communicate directly with them.  In less than a century after computerized brains were invented, advanced artificial intelligences were obsolete.  Now, there is no need for any other person to serve me cake,” for a demonstration, he sent a silent command to a nearby desert cart to approach.  The drone floated over with its rotating top of cake morsels.  He selected one and popped it in his mouth, relishing in the flavor of cinnamon and vanilla.

Karace pounced on his moment of indulgence.  “So why then can’t we alter our bodies in other ways?  We can have nano-bots implanted that change our eyes, and hair . . . ”

After swallowing, Marelius interrupted, “Only cosmetic changes.  Those don’t change how we evolve.”

She persisted, “So, then we should be able to alter our bodies with other implants, if we can prove that it won’t change human evolution.”

He cut to the point of the matter, “Management still won’t let you get wing implants.”

“Why not?” she shouted, slapping the top of the table with her palm.  “I’m a hundred and sixty-five!  I’m done having children, so I won’t be altering any evolution with my warped genetics.  I should be able to fly with my own wings before I finally croak.”

“If they let you do it, then others would do it too.  You know how those youngsters are; they revere you old-timers.  Then they would want to have winged children, and now we’re having planet wide debates about rights for winged people.  It would be nothing but a hassle.  Be happy with your glider wings.  You can make moves with those that people in other centuries only dreamed about.”

She waved off his comment with a slender hand, “Yes, I know all about the poor people in the past who had to fly with huge contraptions.  I used to be one of those people.  The glider wings are too safe, too easy.  I want to know that I could fly with my own wings.”

“Even if you die from it?”

Her eyes widened in delight.  “Especially if I die from it.  Imagine the memorial plaque!  Karace Reneaux died while flying with her own wings.  Who else in history has a memorial like that?”

The thought of her end swept over his mood, and he looked away.

From across the table, she took his hand in her smaller one.  “Don’t let my inevitable demise make you sad.  We knew when we paired up you were likely to outlive me.”

He nodded and faced her with a smile.  “It’s knowing how much I’m going to miss you that gets to me.”

“In the afterlife we’ll have forever,” she told him.

Still grinning, he replied, “Yeah, but then I’ll have to share you with your previous mate.”

She sat back.  “Oh, you and Justine are going to love each other.”

Marelius never had a life mate at seventy-six years when he met Karace, a widow.  Now at one hundred thirty, he could not imagine any existence without her.  He reached out to her with his brain-computer, found her mind waiting, and shared a moment of private intimacy.  Karace might have a decade or more left, but at some future point he was going to reach to share her mind and find it gone.

That oncoming pain was not his to deal with yet, so he put it aside.  In the same instant, he received a message from the automated sensor array surrounding Moon and Earth space.  An unauthorized ship was approaching.

Karace received the same message.  They were on sensor monitor duty, and first in the link of command.  With a thought she ordered the nearest Moon satellite to intercept the ship and direct it towards their part of the base.

“A bit of excitement,” she said in glee, showing her straight, white teeth.  Unauthorized ships rarely approached the home world anymore.  To Karace this job was a comfortable retirement, and terribly boring.

Marelius went over the sensor data with his brain-computer.  The ship was a custom design, spliced from other vessels, but competent work.  Tracing back its flight plan, he learned that it originated from Narsinyx.  The single lifeform aboard was in good health, and human, but odd.

He turned to Karace in shock, “It doesn’t have a brain-computer.”

Confirming that with her own brain, she said, “A Martian from the subterranean communities.  Oh, the poor thing’s little more than an animal.  Let it land.”

He nodded, “I sent an invitation to the closest ship dock.  Let’s meet it there.”

They left the dining hall and entered the main dome for Delta-5 base, which housed a large garden.  Paths were set through the greenery with glowing stones, providing a soft light source for their eyes to magnify.  It was set to night so all other occupants had retired to the residential section, and the dome showed the black of space sparkling with stars.  During the day, the dome would simulate the sunlight, even moving across the curved ceiling as though back on Earth.  The closest dock was only two paths away and they paused, waiting for the approaching vessel.

Karace said, “It’s so strange to have to wait to speak with someone vocally.”

Normally they could have had any number of messages between them and the pilot.  They would have everything they needed to know before the ship landed.

The occupant manually sent them a vocal message, “Hi.  Can I stop here?  My ship seems to be doing that, on its own.  I’ll tell you who I am.  My name is Fiddle, I come from Risky Rock, Mars.  I was on Enigma Jupiter until the settlement waiting period ended and I decided I wanted to see the home world.”

“Interesting,” Karace sent Marelius a private message.  “The person knows deceit by omission, properly surmising that we would distrust any vessel from Narsinyx.  Let’s see if it lies about anything else.”

“What is your occupation, Fiddle?” he asked.

“Uh, vagrant, I suppose,” was the response with a nervous giggle.

Karace clapped her hands and laughed.  She said aloud, “An accurate response.  I will delight to see your face, Fiddle.”

“Thank you,” came the reply with genuine gratitude.

Through another door they proceeded down a short hall with glass walls and ceiling with aluminum supports and an airlock at the far end.  Fiddle’s long ship swooped around on auto-pilot, made of irregular pieces of hull fused together.  Despite the ships cobbled appearance, the approach was smooth, and its engine emissions warped the image of the stars as it went by.

Marelius had not known what to expect, but he would have never guessed the small man’s actual appearance.  The Martian was short and thin.  His features, black hair and skin tone suggested a strong ancestry from Asia.  He wore a tight fit violet shirt, black shorts, and lime green sandals.  A square satchel was hanging by a strap from one shoulder.  He waved at them with a wide smile as his feet hit the ground.

Fiddle approached and stepped onto a cleanser, a standard device that scoured all dirt and harmful elements from people visiting the station.  In only a moment, the new arrival was appropriately clean.  He left the cleanser, unperturbed about being near to them.

Marelius sent to his partner, “Your original assessment seems suspect.  This being is much more than an animal.”

Outward, Karace was calm, but her brain could barely contain her enthusiasm.  She sent to him, “He’s so-o-o cute!  Ah!  I want to adopt him right now!”

Marelius replied, “Easy, Karace.  He’s in new surroundings, and we’re new people.  Let’s not overwhelm him.”

“I know, I know,” she answered, “but it’s obvious he’s all alone in the system.  Who knows what trauma he experienced on that horrible Ceres?”

That reminder of Fiddle’s previous location made him suspicious.  “Let’s not underestimate this human.  We have no idea what’s in his mind.  I can tell he is familiar with manipulation.”

Karace turned a slight smile on him, and sent, “He would have to be to have survived this long.  He’s clearly no fighter.”

She asked out loud, “What did you do before becoming a vagrant, Fiddle?”

Fiddle hunched his shoulders and dipped his head slightly, just enough for his long black hair to fall across his chest.  He looked at them through his lashes, and Marelius knew he was right not to underestimate this young man.

The Martian said, “I was on Narsinyx for a bit.  Met some interesting people, but they all died, including my brother.  Vilens and me, we came up together in a brothel in Risky Rock.  He was enforcer, and I was entertainer.”

“A valid explanation,” Marelius said to him.  “We know of the destruction of Narsinyx, though we had nothing to do with that decision.  Karace and I operate the defense systems for this sector of Moon space.”

“Oh,” Fiddle said and took a dry swallow.  “Thank you for letting me land.  Am I in trouble?”

Karace stepped forward, holding her slim hand out.  “No, of course not.  You don’t know any better.  Come with us, and I’ll take care of you.”

Fiddle took her hand, but his face fell.  “Oh, no.  Am I a pet, again?”

Marelius laughed.  “You’re human, Fiddle, so we’ll treat you with the proper respect, but without a brain-computer, you will need a chaperone.”

“I have this,” the Martian said and touched his wrist communicator.

Marelius felt a twinge of pity, echoed by Karace through their bond.  Fiddle looked confused when the primitive device refused to respond.

Karace told him, gently, “You can’t use exterior devices here, Fiddle.  Here, or on Earth.”

Wonder replaced the temporary dread on Fiddle’s face.  Unexpectedly, he was enjoying this vocal only exchange with the strange Martian.

“Earth,” Fiddle whispered.  “Can I go there?”

This time Karace laughed, a light, crisp sound.  “Not without a permit, but you can stay here with us.  However, you won’t be able to do anything, even acquire food, without a brain-computer.”

“Then how do I get a brain-comp?”

Marelius cringed at the abbreviation.  On Earth and Moon, the people always said brain-computer.

Karace answered his question, “I can sponsor you for one, unless you have a hidden stash of cash and can buy your own.”

“Cash?” the Martian asked.

Marelius silently admitted that these questions were getting annoying.  It was in the Martian’s favor that their job was boring, and remotely monitored while they talked.

Karace pulled a silver clip holding folded bills from her pocket.  They were of different sizes, denominations, and places of origin.  She showed him the money wad and said, “These are used for currency on Earth and Moon, nothing else.  Centuries ago, Earth governments printed these little rectangles in massive quantities for use as currency.  They’re unique in the system, and on a short list of things we can’t fabricate.  Because of their age, you see.  Everything we make in a fabricator is brand new, but these are centuries old.  None of the old governments even exist anymore.  So, our barter system is based on rarity of these hard currencies.  There used to be coins, but they were all melted down for their metals.”

Fiddle touched the cash with a finger and a confused expression.  “I don’t have any of that.  So, if you buy me a brain-comp then I’ll owe you?”

Marelius held up a hand and said, “First of all, please say ‘brain-computer’ in the future.  We don’t like abbreviations for such important words.  What, time is too precious to waste on saying ‘computer’?  It’s ridiculous.  As for us purchasing your brain-computer, legally, yes, you would be indebted to us.”

Karace interrupted, “But we wouldn’t abuse you.”

“Of course not,” Marelius affirmed.

“What would I have to do?” Fiddle asked.

Karace tucked her cash away and told him, “I’m a hundred sixty-five, and Marelius is one-thirty.  We’ve been from one end of this terribly big solar system to another.  We’ve scanned natural formations so beautiful they take the breath away.  We’ve seen human-made wonders that took days to reach from edge to edge, and we didn’t see a tenth of what’s out there.  We can shape the elements to suite our purpose, and fabricate almost anything thing we desire.  That’s why the age is so important on the money.  There’s another thing we can’t fabricate, experiences.  We haven’t experienced a new thing like you in a while.  If you like, you can partner with us, acquire your brain-computer, and share your experiences.  After that, we’ll put in for travel time and explore.  There are so many things we would like to show you, and through you we can experience them fresh again.”

Fiddle stared from one to the other, and his façade had dropped.  “This was not the reaction I was expecting.  I thought you might shoot me down or kill me on sight.”

Marelius understood the confusion and spoke bluntly with him.  “All lifeforms are unique and valuable.  The atoms and molecules in our bodies will never be in these formations again after we perish and return to the elements.  This does not mean that we do not take life to preserve others, but only in acts of extreme consequence.  You seem reasonable and friendly.  There’s no reason you can’t go on with your existence.”

Fiddle nodded but his expression wilted.  “Thank you.  I was thinking the same thing on Narsinyx.”

Karace nodded back with solemn grace.  “Yes, we all know of the destruction of the rebellious city.  Ceres even split apart from the blast, but the preservation league pieced it back together, leaving out the city, of course.”

Fiddle told them, “I lost my brother there.  I mean, Vilens is my brother.  I’ve lost my whole family now.”

Karace slipped her arm around Fiddle’s shoulder and they walked.

He opened his satchel, reached in, and pulled out a box of gemstones.  “Oh, I forgot I had these.”

“Oh,” Marelius said as he took them.  “These will bring a good price.  Artists love these.  You won’t owe us for that brain-computer after all, but our offer to travel still stands.”

From the satchel, Fiddle pulled out metal recording slips.  Memories and recordings could be faked, so historic moments were engraved with microscopic words on metal slips.

“I’ve also got these,” he said, and held them out to Karace.

Karace took the recording slips.  “I’ll need a micro-viewer to see what’s on these.”

“I can tell you,” Fiddle replied.  “It’s a record of how Earth Management exterminated millions of Martians.  My people.”

Karace nodded, unperturbed.  “They did not meet the genetic requirements like you did.”

Tears began to leak down his face.  “My family, friends.  Why did they have to die?  They were no threat to anyone.”

Her mate responded, “We can’t answer that Fiddle.  It’s too big a question to vocalize a reply.  Only the Big Sis can answer it.”

Karace said, “You knew Earth did that, and you still came here?  You have true bravery, human.”

He gave a pitiful shrug.  “I had nowhere else.  I’m forbidden to return to Mars, and there’s no way I’m going back to Jupiter.  All the Jupitons do is suck atmosphere and play games.  It’s boring.”  His face wrinkled in confusion.  “I used to like games.”

Marelius could see the psychological trauma all over this poor creature.  Whatever happened on Narsinyx changed him.

Karace put a gentle hand on his shoulder.  “Are you ready to join us?”

Still looking perplexed, he asked softly.  “Does that mean you’ll be like my parents?”

Marelius chuckled.  “You have to request children through the Big Sis, and Karace and I have done our share of parenting.  We’re not asking to dominate you, Fiddle.  An equal partnership is the only way to go.”

She told him, “But you need a serious upgrade.  Are you ready for a brain-computer?”

He nodded and they led him down the hall to a small, bright white room with smooth panels on the wall.  This room was standard issue at any facility where families were stationed.

With a silent command, Karace opened one and motioned for him to reach inside.  “We place infants at one year of age inside these small chambers to absorb their brain-computers.  It takes them about a week, but we suspect you can take yours orally and it will integrate with your nervous system within seventy-two hours.”

“Three days,” Fiddle answered softly as he reached into the chamber and pulled out a capsule a little longer than his finger.  The outer material was clear with a gel in the center that sparkled with metal pieces.  “Yes, my brother Vilens went through the process.  So where can I sleep this off?”

Karace commanded another panel to open and a cushioned space long enough to lay on slid out from the wall.  “This will keep you safe and nourished while the brain-computer builds itself.  You will suddenly have access to all accumulated human knowledge.”

“All?” Fiddle asked as he looked at her skeptically.

“All,” Marelius confirmed.  “If it is in the Big Sis, it can be known.  Whether or not you can find what you seek is up to you.”

Fiddle smirked.  “Nice and cryptic.  I suppose I’ll know what you mean when I wake up.”  He made to put the brain-computer in his mouth.

“Lie on the bed first,” Karace advised him, beating him by an instant.

“It takes effect quickly,” he added.

Fiddle got on the bed, put the capsule in his mouth, blinked once and passed out.  The medical bed slid back into the wall with its occupant.

____

Karace turned and buried her face in Marelius’ chest, wrapping her arms around his waist.  She sent to him, “He’s so sad.  He misses his brother, and the rest of his people.  You realize he came here to die, right?”

Softly stroking her hair, he replied, “Of course.  He’ll be able to move beyond it now, though.”

She stepped back and sniffed.  “Three days should be plenty of time to make it down to Earth, get into a fight with Management, and zip back before Fiddle wakes up.  Stay on duty here.”

He nodded, and told her, “It won’t change anything.”

She smirked.  “This is my last chance to tell them off.  I’ll make them hear my words and see my face.  You realize this trip we’re about to take with Fiddle will last to the end of my days.  I won’t be coming back.”

“I did realize, and I don’t think I’ll come back here either.”  He rubbed his smooth chin.  “I’m thinking I’ll change my body before you return.”

Karace waved as she left him there.  “Not too many muscles, please.  Those two years you were a weightlifter were annoying.”

Marelius chuckled.  “I was thinking something else to prove a point to Fiddle when he wakes.  I will do the muscles again sometime, though.  I miss being able to lift things with my own two hands.  Made me feel primal.”

She passed through a door into another hall, but the discussion continued as she replied, “You’re primal, all right.  So, about your new look, what can I expect.”

“I was thinking a small frame, a little shorter than Fiddle to let him feel more dominant.  Two can play the manipulation game.”

As they communicated through brain-computer, Karace continued to their personal ship dock.  The pair messaged back and forth the entire trip down to Earth.  Their personal dock had four sides of smooth metal.  Appendage tools for ship maintenance and storage facilities were all hidden inside the walls.

She smiled at Incubat, their vehicle, capable of space, air, and liquid travel.  The ink black ship had fins and wings reminiscent of bats, but no images of the animal directly.  Showing images of an animal would violate laws of species appropriation.  It was equipped with an advanced magnetic engine and modern sensors.  The ship frame was one hundred-thirty-eight years old, from a human culture that no longer existed, her culture.  In any major human city, a collector would trade treasured possessions to own an original Incubat, but she had hers from new.

Incubat seated two comfortably, but could squeeze in two more adults in an emergency.  At her silent direction, the side of the ship slid open, revealing her seat.  She entered, felt the seat conform to her body as the door closed.  Inside the pilot seat was total darkness, but Karace closed her eyes anyway as she linked with Incubat, knowing everything the ship knew.  Sensor arrays told her what was happening around her, giving her far more vision than she would have with two eyes and a viewscreen.  At her command, the dock ceiling split apart and Incubat floated through the opening and into Moon gravity.  In a lazy arc it turned toward Earth and began the journey.

Being in the ship changed the conversation.  She sent, “We haven’t taken Incy out in months.  We’re bad ship owners.”

Marelius replied, “We haven’t had a reason to go anywhere.  I’m glad Fiddle came along when he did.  Life knew we needed a push out of our comfort zone.”

“I’m so glad you said that,” she told him.  “I was worried you didn’t want to let him join us.”

“I wasn’t as sure as quickly as you were, but I’m there now.  I think we’ll be good for each other.”

She gave a content sigh.  “One last adventure, my love.”

“Stop that or I’m going to start bawling my eyes out,” he declared.

She laughed.  “I’m sorry.  I was just thinking about what you said earlier, about how the younger generations revere the oldest of us.  That’s only because there’s so few left.  There’s less than a hundred people over one-sixty, now that the Two-Hundred-Year-Old Vegetable is gone.”

Marelius rapidly replied, “Travis McSheen wasn’t really alive past one-seventy-two.  He couldn’t even get out of his medical-bed, and I think a lot of those final videos with him were faked.  I can’t believe I ever voted for that guy.”

She sighed from annoyance.  “Travis McSheen is gone for good.  He can’t hurt you anymore,” she teased.  “I agree those last videos were faked.  His handlers just wanted to keep the show running til the end of the season for his two-hundred-eighth birthday party.”

While Karace prattled on with her mate, she sent a coded message to the Earth Defense Network letting the machine know that she was friendly and there was no need to alert anyone to her presence.  The EDN complied and Karace entered Earth’s atmosphere detected, but unannounced.  Her ship swooped down through the clouds over the dark expanse of the Indian Ocean.  Four billion citizens lived on Earth in four hundred crystal cities of ten million each.  The population was kept so precise that when she and Marelius left Earth to live on Moon two new children were born to replace them.

She approached the coast of Africa on her way to Cairo.  She swooped low over the jungle along both sides of the Nile River, barely clearing the treetops.  Below her the ship sensors detected a myriad of lifeforms, down to the smallest bug.

In the distance the crystal city of Cairo loomed on the horizon.  As with every city on Earth, the towers were made by dark red crystal sparkling in the sunlight.  The tallest towers were two miles high, but there were many more of lesser standing.  The lines were straight and sturdy, and as she approached, she was impressed again by how incredibly immense the cities were.  This close to Cairo, there was other traffic and she slipped into one of the lines entering one of the circular eastern gates in the city wall.  The strange properties of the crystals made them appear transparent, but inside Cairo the roar of a multitude of people moving at once washed over her ship.

The inside of the crystal cities did not have typical buildings.  The living spaces of the ten million citizens lined the inside of the cylindrical towers, leaving the center area open.  Outside Cairo was wilderness, rough and untamed, but inside was a garden.  The apartments that lined the towers all had balconies with produce growing on the side, giving the red walls a green accent.  There were ships smaller than hers, others as large as star cruisers, and every size in between, moving in precise lines through the air.  There was no pavement anywhere.  The ground was covered in grass and trees, but crisscrossed by stone gullies for transporting water.

Karace knew where to go to find Management, having previously lived in Cairo.  She took the necessary turns to the center of the expansive city and a square, red brick building.  A relic from the past, this building was over three hundred years old.  There were no signs or messages attached to the coarse brick and ships zoomed around, ignoring the out place structure.  She set Incubat to float in the designated parking area next to an avenue of willows lining a gully, traversing to the ground with her ships automated gravity beam.  Her feet touched down lightly on the grass and she felt the beam disengage from her body.  She walked over to the ancient glass and aluminum doors and pushed one open.

Inside was a small white room with a wood desk and a light skinned man dressed in a tight black skirt and a red ruffled shirt reclining in a floating chair.  His brown hair was in curls, and his shirt was open to reveal his hairy chest, although the rest of his skin was smooth.  His thin legs with bare feet were propped up on the desk.  The only other exit was a wood door with frosted glass pane on the far wall.

Startled by her unexpected entrance, the man swung his legs down and stared at her, wide eyed.

“Karace!?” he exclaimed.  “Why are you here?”

She nodded politely as she approached the desk.  “Hey it, Burt.  I want you to wake up Toffler.”

Burt gaped at her.  “Waking up Manager Toffler would be terribly rude.”  He leaned over the desk, concern on his face.  “This is a brash move, coming in here like this.  No one else could surprise me, but I suppose when you’re older than the defense network you have a few tricks to get in and out.  What happened, Karace?  Why are you here?”

Karace paused for a moment, then replied, “I have evidence of a breach of due process under the law.  I’m here to make a formal complaint to Toffler, and I will only present my evidence to him.”

Burt pursed his lips and shook his head, swaying his curls.  “Breach of due process is a serious offense.  As Security Manager I can demand to see this evidence.”

She retorted, “But you won’t because you know me, and you know I wouldn’t be doing this without good reason.  Wake Toffler up, please.  I don’t want to be here any longer than I have to.”

Burt waved her on.  She walked past him to the wood door with frosted glass pane.  When she triggered the door with her brain-computer the words, ‘Access granted’ appeared on the glass.  The door opened to a wood paneled elevator with forty numbers descending on a side panel.  She commanded the conveyance take her to the lowest level and began the descent, barely able to feel the smooth motion.  When the elevator door opened, she faced a long hallway lined with wood doors with brass handles.  All the mechanisms were mechanical, unable to be opened by brain-computer.  A moment later she received a message and accepted.

She heard Toffler’s voice with his message, “What are you doing here, Karace Reneaux?  You have to notify me before you return to Earth.”

“I never agreed to that, Toffler Toyotomi.  I’m sure Burt told you I have evidence.”  She went to the first door and tried the handle, but it was locked.  She moved to the next.

“What breach do you have evidence of?” Toffler demanded.

She sent back.  “Record slips of an extermination on Mars.  Those Martians should have had a chance to make their case in court for the right to exist.”  The next handle was also locked.  She moved across the hall and tried the closest door.  It opened.  The small room on the other side had one occupant, Toffler, suspended in pink gel, naked, inside a glass tank with gold corners that took up half of the room with no way around.  His dark brown skin was hairless, even without lashes or eyebrows, and he glared at her.

Communicating only through messages, Toffler countered, “The subterranean Martians had no right to exist since they did not meet genetic requirements, so they had no right to due process.  The ones that did have a right to exist received their process, and were relocated for their protection to a secure location near Jupiter.  The whole thing took seconds to decide.  Plus, those caves were rife with terrorist organizations and anarchist tribes.  You do remember they managed to set off a bomb here on the home world, where the savage predator eats well, but no human harms another.  The Subterranean Martian elimination was hardly worth a vote at all.  Is this really what you came down to wake me up for?”

She struggled to keep her patience.  “I came down here so that you would see me and hear me.  You can’t block these photons and sound waves like you can a message.”

He scoffed, and his expression matched the tone of his reply.  “My time is more valuable than this.  Important things are being decided while I’m having this silly conversation, something you should know since you served in this position once.  Just because I am of your lineage does not mean I owe you anything, Karace Reneaux.”

She shook her head.  “No, you don’t owe anything for being my great grandson, but I gave you my support to get you in that link-tank.  I never asked for anything in return.”

“Fine,” he stated, and she could detect the growl in his message.  “Call in your favor.”

“I’ve got one of them, a subterranean Martian.  He, Marelius and I are leaving this sector.  I said If I left Moon, I would tell you.  I did agree to that.”

“So, what do you want?  Safe passage?” Toffler asked, just as he would when he was a child.

She pointed a finger at the tank.  “Don’t send anyone after him.  He’s with us.  He’s harmless.”

Toffler cocked his head.  “The one that showed up on Moon, Sasha Fiddleton?  He’s a plucky little fellow.  Do you want to know what he survived on Narsinyx?  The tribals there were creative in their misery.  Not even the Dandelinits were safe there.”

She waved off the offer.  “If he wants, he can share that with me when he wakes up.  He’ll be one of us soon.”

Toffler sent, “He will not forget what happened to his people.  He could be a source of further discord in the SSIS.  Narsinyx was bad enough.  We are glad to be rid of that place.  I know the others will decide it will be best to be rid of the Martian Sasha Fiddleton as well.”

Karace kept her tone light, but this was the true reason she came down to Earth to face her protégé.  She was now arguing for Fiddle’ life.  “We’re taking him with us to retire at one of the asteroid communities in the Kuiper Belt.  He’ll never bother you again.”

“Sasha Fiddleton is only thirty years old.  How much longer do you have, Karace Reneaux?  Fifteen years if your brain holds out?  How long before Marelius Custer is deceased?  Forty more years?  Now that Sasha Fiddleton has a brain-computer he can expect to live another hundred years at least, unless he finds death by accident.  It is not a matter of bothering me, but those that come after my service is at an end, and I can become an eccentric know-it-all like you.”

She avoided the insult and kept the matter on Fiddle.  “This Martian has a gentle spirit.  He won’t cause any discord.  You can convince the others that it’s not worth sending an agent after him.”

Toffler replied, “His brother, Saul Vilens, wrought significant discord.  When Asteroid Ceres was destroyed, he was close to releasing the inhabitants of Narsinyx into the rest of the solar system and causing great disturbance.”

Karace shook her head.  “I don’t know anything about that.  He only mentioned a brother.  One is not responsible for the actions of another.  What assurance do you need to spare Fiddle’s life?”

Toffler frowned at her.  “No assurance could keep the man from becoming an issue fifty years from now when you are a fond memory.”

She held up the metal slips.  “I’ve got the records he was carrying.  Without these his future complaints are without evidence.  You don’t have to kill him.  Killing him would be a waste.  He could be valuable to the system.”

Toffler grimaced.  “I will consent to not issuing a termination for Sasha Fiddleton so I can return to managing the Solar System Information Service.  You may take Sasha Fiddleton to the Kuiper Belt as part of your retirement.  Sasha Fiddleton must remain in the Kuiper Belt and never travel to the inner solar system.”

Karace nodded.  “All right.  I’ll inform him.”

“And I shall return to service,” Toffler declared.  His eyes began to slowly shut.

Karace exited and closed the door behind her.  She ascended with the elevator and returned to Burt’s office.  She set the metal slips on his desk on her way past.

“Have a nice, long life, Burt.  If you’re ever out to the Kuiper Belt look me up.”

Burt laughed and did not even glance at the slips.  “By the time I make it out that far you’ll be long gone, but good luck on your retirement.”

Karace exited the brick building, and paused next to Incubat.  Turning to look, she saw the rows of green balconies against the red crystal, and the multitude of vehicles crossing paths above her with her own eyes, probably for the last time.  She thought she might feel something to look on her former home with reflecting light instead of ship sensors, but it was too familiar a sight.  She entered the vehicle and prepared to return to her family on Moon Base Delta-5.

____

Fiddle opened his eyes and thought he might see the top of a medical-bed, but it was a beige ceiling.  He was lying on a standard king-sized bed with light grey sheets.  He was wearing the same clothes he acquired on Narsinyx, but they were freshly cleaned.  The med-bed would have performed that for him, along with cleaning his body.

The first thing he realized was how many devices were near to him.  There were artificial gravity generators in the floor and above him on other levels.  There were air-purifiers that made the breath they exhaled usable again.  Even the panels in the ceiling were machines, providing the same kind of skin nourishing light provided by the Sun on Earth.  There were security devices on the doors to unlock, open or close them, and the bed had different settings, even heating or cooling.  All this he realized in an instant, but he did not want to be rude and ignore the woman sitting next to his bed.

She had a pleasant smile on her face, dark, curly hair, and was wearing a pea-green three-piece suit.  The jacket was currently unbuttoned since she was sitting, but her vest was buttoned across a trim waist.  Suddenly Fiddle realized the face was not who she was.  He saw her features and found no flaw with them, but he recognized the person as someone who looked different.  The name of the person was the same.

“Marelius?” Fiddle asked out loud.

Marelius replied, and the voice was feminine, “Yes.  Try messaging me.  Just think about sending me a message.”

“Like this?” Fiddle sent.  “Why do you look different?  Did you swap bodies?”

Marelius chuckled.  “No, we can’t swap bodies, but you can reshape the flesh to look any way we like.  If you keep your proper genetics within parameters.  This transformation took eighteen hours in a molding-chair, and I could change back if I wanted.  I’ve reshaped my body shape five times in my life.  It adds a little different perspective to existence.  For instance, this is the first time I’ve lived as a short woman.”

Fiddle looked her over, shorter than him now, and her hands, shoulders, hips, were all smaller.  “Where’s the rest of you?”

She glanced down.  “It’s all here.  I went with an ‘A’ cup on my boobs since I’m used to a slim frame, but I’ve got all the woman parts and none of the man.  Well, there wasn’t that much extra, but I see what you mean.  I’m about seven inches shorter.  It was whisked away in the molding chair.”

Fiddle stared at her, and asked, “How is that possible?”

Marelius replied, “With a brain-computer to work with the chair and keep my body within genetic parameters.  Even we must follow those rules.  Everything else is simply basic elements in a precise order.”

“So, this body change was a way to teach me a lesson,” Fiddle declared with a grin.

Smiling, Marelius nodded.  “True.  This doesn’t make us who we are,” she gently pinched her own arm.  “This does,” she tapped her head with a finger.

He glanced around the otherwise empty room.  “Where’s Karace?”

Marelius motioned in the air.  “Message her and find out.”

Fiddle thought about Karace and sent to her, “I’m awake.  Where are you?”

“Welcome to life in the system, human,” she sent back, and he could hear her voice in the message.  “I’m getting the ship ready.  We leave as soon as you want.”

It was like with Marelius in that he knew it was Karace that he communicated with, even though he could not see her.

Fiddle slipped his feet to the floor and stood.  He felt stronger by the second, and more confident since before Narsinyx.  He left the sleep chamber with Marelius and they proceeded to their left, down a semi-circle hall with rows of blue lights.  Through another door they went to a small hangar with Incubat docked there.  Fiddle and Marelius entered the vehicle, opened the ceiling, and they departed.  They soared above Moon’s cratered surface to a long, tall hangar of dark metal.  Inside were several space cruisers, including the one belonging to Karace and Marelius.

The cruiser was long and sleek, with curving edges and few straight lines.  The windows were round, and the color of the hull shifted between silver and blue.

“That’s our ship, Star Marlin,” Marelius told him.

Fiddle was speechless.

They docked the Incubat in Star Marlin’s docking bay without incident.  The inside of the ship was blue with white accents, and Marelius brought him to a central chamber, empty except for Karace seated on a long, cushioned couch.  Fiddle nimbly leapt onto the seat next to her, and Marelius calmly sat on the other side.

Fiddle asked, “I’ve asked my brain-computer what the Big Sis is, and all it tells me is that the cities of Earth generate it.  You two must know how it is done.  Will you tell me?”

Karace winced.  “I don’t know that the knowledge would be comforting.”

Marelius motioned to her, “Karace and I used to be in Management.  That’s how we met.”

Fiddle reached for her to link, “Then let me see it.”

Karace stood, took his hand, and from the wall three medical beds slid out.  They each occupied one and joined in a link.  For the first time, the three knew each other without boundaries.  Fiddle could explore whatever he wanted about them, down to their childhoods, but he saved that for later.  He searched for their time in Management.  Karace’s experiences were longer, starting when she was sixty and on the board of development for the Solar System Information Service.

Fiddle was shocked to know that Karace helped create the Big Sis.  She started as an undersecretary for the board of directors for the project and moved up to Financial Supervisor.  Karace Reneaux was an accountant, securing the funding for the project and making sure everyone got paid.

While the scientists that worked the project only knew their jobs, she knew all the pieces of the complicated endeavor and how they connected.  One group developed crimson crystals from a new element found on Venus, Phertium, and another group discovered a way to liquify the crystals.  Yet another group experimented and found immersing humans in the liquid granted wireless control of machines and computer systems.  Another hardened the crystals to make building blocks for the cities.  It was a worldwide effort.  Colonization of the solar system was already well under way, with new settlements even as far as dwarf planets in the Kuiper Belt.

Phertium was not found in any other part of the solar system, but with fabricators the element could be produced in mass quantities.  There was Phertium in every brain-computer.  It was this element that allowed them to function.  Signals from Phertium crystals did not adhere to the understood laws of space and time, and could be received immediately at distances across worlds.

Once brain-computers were developed, they were deemed a human right by the now defunct Human Space Exploration Network.  The work began to implant one in every human on Earth, and then the solar system.  The joining of humanity had begun.

No longer would the home world send colonists out and then wait to hear back from them, hoping that when they did it would not be with a defiant tone.  People needed a brain-computer to control their machines that made space travel not only possible, but convenient.  Communication was revolutionized with instant messages across the width of planets with mere thought.  Messages across the solar system were receivable with a delay.  The superiority of the SSIS was undeniable.

Phertium crystals were mass produced and four hundred cities were chosen and constructed.  A century ago, Earth’s population was ten billion, but a mass migration into the solar system was ordered.  The Great Exodus continued until the people on Earth were counted at four billion.  No new births were allowed on Earth unless a human citizen left through travel or death, which was made possible with people experiencing physical sensations through brain-computers.  From that point on all births happened by pre-order in artificial wombs.

With instant worldwide communication, technology advanced quickly.  The parts of the planet not within the four hundred cities were removed of any harmful debris and allowed to return to wildlife habitats.  Genetic samples allowed for cloning of extinct species that were reintroduced into the planet’s ecosystem.  Since every amenity was provided within cities, it became illegal to leave city limits without a permit.  Earth became a contrast between the vast wilderness and the explicitly ordered urban areas.

When Karace was ninety, she requested and was granted the honor of inhabiting a link-tank to become constantly linked with a group of forty thousand across Earth, a hundred in each crystal city, called Management for the Big Sis.  Management directed the flow of information, and knew everything that anyone with a brain-computer knew.  These memories were not detailed like others, with images based on the person’s point of view.  The recollections of time in Management were more emotional, and Karace felt that she deeply appreciated the order of the Big Sis.  Marelius felt it was his duty to serve.

Elsewhere in the solar system, without the home world restrictions, human life exploded as communities could construct any number of artificial wombs.  Billions of people spread out, exploring, cataloguing, and collecting necessary resources.  With absolute control of their machines, humanity began immense building projects out in space, holloing out and inhabiting any bit of floating rock they could reach.  Most of the people in the Great Exodus chose the Asteroid Belt for their new world, constructing habitats of rock and metal.  The population of Mars tripled in less than a decade as people burrowed under the surface of the red planet and built an artificial paradise.

Fiddle turned his thoughts away from Mars, not wanting to dwell on his past.  He searched for any memories they had of intelligent life outside of the solar system.

“We are forbidden to share those memories,” came the unanimous reply.

Fiddle focused on his partners and they appeared in front of him, as they were the last time he saw them.  He was still in the med-bed with his eyes closed, and there was no background, only darkness.  This dark did not dim the details of Karace and Marelius, looking as though they stood together in a lighted room.

He declared, “So, there are other intelligent beings out there.”

“Yes,” Karace replied, “but they don’t want to know us.”

“We have plenty of room here orbiting our star,” Marelius said.

“Are we not allowed to leave our system?” Fiddle asked.

Karace said with a patient smile, “Let’s speak of something else.”

He grimaced, determined to bring it up later.  “Ok.  Where are we going?”

Marelius brightened as she answered, “We looked into your memories as well.  Do you want to see Triton Towers?”

Fiddle only knew the place by name.  It was where his family was supposedly sent before he realized they were dead.  He and Vilens were set to travel there before they arrived on Narsinyx.

“Is it nice?” he asked.

“No, it’s mostly empty” Karace told him, “but it is impressive.”

“There aren’t any places between here and Neptune?”

Marelius answered, “There are a million places between Earth and Neptune, but the asteroid belt would remind you of Ceres, you can’t return to Mars, and you hated every second on Jupiter.”

Fiddle whispered, “The Jupitons were so shallow.”  He perked up.  “Why not Saturn first?”

“Well, Neptune is on the way to where I want to take you, and Saturn isn’t.  Besides, Saturnians are a lot like Jupitons.”

“Where do you want to take me?”

“Abrudeen,” Marelius told him.  “It’s a trio of dwarf-planets in the Kuiper Belt linked together and protected by one massive shield.  Home to seven million humans with plenty of room for growth.”

So, the tour of the solar system was no longer in the plan.  He surmised, “And I’ll have to stay there, right?”

Karace admitted, “You’ll have to stay in the Kuiper Belt.  If they catch you in the main solar system, they’ll send an agent after you.”

Fiddle nodded and smiled.  “It’s an honor to be so threatening.  The Kuiper Belt doesn’t sound so bad.”

“The Kuiper Belt has more people than Earth,” Karace replied with a laugh.

Marelius added, “With so many places that by the time you visited them all, more would have been built behind you.”

He smiled to let them know he was not aggrieved.  “Then what’s so special about the Triton Towers?”

Karace shrugged, “We’ve never seen them either, but we were always curious.”

“How long will it take to get there?”

“Just a few more hours,” Marelius told him.

Fiddle giggled, “Huh?  How long have we been linked?”

Karace answered, “It took us seventeen days to reach Neptune from Moon.  You went through years of our memories.  I was impressed.”

Fiddle laughed out loud, “And there’s so much you haven’t even showed me.  You two know so much.”

Karace laughed with him, “Without a brain-computer we could never keep track of it all.”

On his command, the medical bed emerged, and Fiddle slid out to put his feet on the tile floor.  Nearby Karace and Marelius left their own beds to return to the couch with him, sitting close together.  The far wall lit up as a massive viewscreen, showing the pale, rough surface of Triton with the immense blue Neptune to starboard.  There was a dark band across the surface of the moon.  Fiddle used his brain-computer to bring up detail and saw it was a row of towers, four across, that ran the entire circumference of the sphere.  The towers were constructed of square, black bricks and identical in measurements.

“That is so ugly,” Fiddle said.

Karace let out a burst of laughter, and Marelius chuckled.

“The towers draw water from the cryovolcanic activity.  Potentially hundreds of millions of people could live here, but it only houses a few thousand now.  Shall we see the inside?”

Fiddle shook his head.  “No.  I only wanted to come here because of a lie.  Let’s get to Abrudeen.”

Marelius gave him a broad smile and said, “Find it in the Big Sis, connect to Star Marlin, and set the course.”

Delighted, Fiddle requested the location of Abrudeen and knew where it was.  Star Marlin was easy to connect to, and he knew everything the ships sensors told him.  The amount of radiation kept at bay by the shield frightened him and in haste, he set course for the quickest way out of it.  His partners did not correct him, merely watched with interest.

“Wow, these ships do a lot,” Fiddle said nervously.

Karace laughed.  “Yeah, Sasha, they’re a necessity to space travel.”

Fiddle froze.  “Most people don’t call me Sasha.  I don’t like that name.”

She nodded, “Because when you were small the other children teased you about it, but you’re not that person anymore.  I’ve been in your mind too.  When someone calls you Fiddle, you hear your brother’s voice.  I invite you to be free of that.”

Fiddle retreated to his memories, and could see Vilens’ face.  Thin, but strong, wide nose, pale skin, light blonde hair, used to be black, but he got implants on Enigma Jupiter.  He could clearly recall the last time he saw his brother, through the viewscreen of his evacuation ship as he departed Narsinyx.

Pulling his head back up, he declared, “He died for her love, but he wanted me to live. Why couldn’t he live for my love?”

Marelius rubbed his back.  “He’ll always be in your memories, Sasha, but let the past and present be separate.”

Sasha nodded and sent the command for Star Marlin to shift course to cross the void to the Kuiper Belt.  To pass the time for the journey they dove back into the link, his partners intentionally showing him things they wanted him to see.  In return he showed what he held back from them before, his worst experience on Narsinyx, under the cruel device of Black Baron.  They held each other and wept, for the way he was treated, and to mourn the Dandelinits, who helped him piece his personality back together as their final act to celebrate life.

The ship let them know they approached Abrudeen, and they departed the medical beds once more to watch the viewscreen.  Sasha saw the place as a bright light, what he thought was another star at first.  As they approached, he expected the light to become unbearable, but it diminished.  When they drew close enough to make out details, his eyes grew wide with wonder.

Three dwarf planets spun together through space, connected by hundreds of lighted conduits.  The outer crusts of the planets were planed smooth and were three different shades of grey.  Thousands of vehicles moved across the three surfaces, appearing only as tiny, darting lights.

“Where does everyone live?” he asked, eager to know.

Marelius told him, “In the planets.  Big chunks of rock and metal, really.  Not a single thing lived here before Abrudeen was founded.  The outside of the orbs are only for travel.  No one lives on the surface.  It has everything humanity could want.  There are no central living locations, or cities, everyone is spread out, so most people spend their time travelling to visit each other.  The dwarf-planets are called Orb Nar, Orb Gen, and Orb Sil.  Each year there are organized games for each of the orbs, and then there are Grand Trio Orb Champions.”

Karace added, “Always say ‘orb’ with the name or people will act like they don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Sasha surmised, “So, you two have been here.  How long ago was that?”

Marelius answered, “Fourteen years.  We were only here for six months to see the first Grand Trio Orb games, but we fell in love with the place.  The artificial sunsets are amazing.”

With a broad smile, Karace said, “We’ve kept in touch with friends that still live here.  In the years we’ve been gone they put in eight new lakes and twelve rivers.  There’s a new bamboo forest on Orb Sil that I’m dying to see.”

After a silent check through the Big Sis, Sasha said, “Abrudeen processes the water for this part of the Kuiper Belt.  It’s like Narsinyx before Earth Management ordered them to leave.  What happens when the Kuiper Belt is eventually dry?  Will they order Abrudeen to be abandoned as well?”

Wincing at the coincidence, Marelius said, “There’s quite a bit of ice left in the Kuiper Belt.  Enough to last well past even your lifetime.  All places have their beginning and their end, even the solar system, at some point.  You have a chance to be here with us in a place while things are good.”

Sasha smiled.  “I had almost forgotten what optimism sounded like.”

They watched the approaching planets, and Sasha already identified them through the Big Sis.  Orb Nar was the smallest at one hundred fifty-four miles across.  Orb Gen was the largest at six hundred thirty-two miles across, and Orb Sil was five hundred eight miles.  New settlements were recently dug out in Orb Sil and the group decided they would have their dwelling there.  They secured ownership of their home in the rock before they even docked with the closest conduit.  Star Marlin let them know it was safe to depart.

Karace wrapped her thin arms around Sasha’s neck and kissed him on the cheek.  “Your new life has begun.”

Marelius put her arm around him, and Sasha hugged them back.

Sasha took many trips with his new family through the Kuiper Belt.  He helped support communities and had children with Karace and Marelius before they took their final rest.  For love of his first partners, he never took another mate.  He kept his home at Orb Sil in Abrudeen for the rest of his life, and the water never ran out.

By Aaron Ward

Published by Aaron Ward

Copyright 2021 Aaron Ward

Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people.  Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.