PRELUDE

Somewhere, unknown to the rest of the universe, sat a lone escape pod, stranded in the center of a basin. There was nothing else like it around, just miles and miles of untouched wilderness. The rain beat down on its metal hull intensely, creating a continuous drumming rhythm not before heard by the creatures surrounding it. Inside the pod was a lone man, sleeping uncomfortably, yet soundly. Outside, a bolt of lightning struck a nearby tree, the eruption of which woke the man up.

He slowly opened his eyes and was surprised to find his current situation. In a panic, he jolted out of his seat, momentarily forgetting what had just happened, despite it occurring just a few hours ago. He took a deep breath, calmed himself, and sat back down. Piece by piece, he tried to reconstruct the memory of how he ended up there.

❖❖❖

The vast void of space provided the perfect conditions for the bright stars, lightyears away, to glow beautifully. Seeing such a sight was a rare commodity for those living on Haskel. The night sky would normally be a plain, bleak dark with the rare appearance of the twin moons Grand-Rotsac and Grand-Xullop. Through the thick shell of the shuttle, the presence of the stars was felt by all of the passengers, although most of them didn’t seem to care, including the man in the purple suit.

Haleth sat on the far back seat of the port side of car 1. A man of about six-foot-one, his short brown hair complimented his pale blue eyes well. His face was perfectly clean-shaven, a habit he found gave him good luck. Beginning to feel a bit uncomfortable. he readjusted the collar of his suit, which was a nice lavender complemented by a red tie. That, and the gray bag he carried, were all made from the most premium of cheap, synthetic fabrics.

The ship was a CAS-3 model, one of the most common types out there, designed for easy and quick transplanetary travel. Like all of CAS’s designs, it was capable of creating an artificial gravity, achieving light travel, and entering rifts. The ship carried three passenger cars, each with a capacity of ninety people, although on this trip only about half of the seats were filled. Stretched along the walls were massive windows, yet none of the passengers looked to admire the stars.

“Pol-Aster, home of tomorrow, today! Plan your visit now!”

Above the entrance to the cockpit was a monitor running through advertisements, mostly those funded by the Pol-Aster Department of Tourism. In an attempt to showcase how grand of a city it was, the screen displayed towering skyscrapers along with the latest innovations and entertainment hailing from the city. A rich and diverse melting pot where people of all species can spread and share their ideas and culture, it was where Haleth called home.

While nothing shown was inherently wrong about the city, there definitely were the monstrous skyscrapers promised, and the city was a hub of information and entertainment, it failed to showcase the reality of its daily life. Beneath the glamor and splendor of the skyscrapers and the hoard of information and entertainment the city beheld was a haze of degeneracy and mindlessness. The conditions of the city were nothing short of awful, and things weren’t much better anywhere else on Haskel either, or any other populated planet. Despite all of that, no one cared. If anything, most people enjoyed it.

A buzzer went off from the intercom. “This is your captain speaking. We have entered the accessible range of a rift and have clear passage. Light travel will commence in five minutes.” It was then repeated in an alien language unfamiliar to Haleth.

When one commercial ended it immediately shifted to the next, this one about the interplanetary supercorporation Infin-7. As Haleth sat there watching, he couldn’t help but feel that being “the leading corporation in just about every major industry,” as the commercial boasted, wasn’t the dazzling thing they claimed it was. It was hard to gauge whether or not people actually hated the company. Their despicable acts were as public as you could get, yet through clever optics and marketing, they still kept some appearance of being one of the “good” corporations. Even those who did truly despise them never did anything. Fear that they controlled the inner workings of opposition groups paralyzed any movement that gained any traction. While it is unclear how much control they actually have over them - the idea alone is more than enough. The status quo continues - nothing ever happens.

This was best showcased by what was shown on the monitor next. It was a brief news segment about one of the current candidates running for minister of Pol-Aster. As he stood at the podium, he promised to improve the state of the city, all while showcasing his custom-made tie that read “Down with Infin-7!” in red text over white cloth. The man who was a high-level executive at Infin-7 talking to the news station that was owned by Infin-7, who were all praising his tie and plans for Pol-Aster, which might as well be owned by them too. The words that spat through his mandibles meant nothing. This same pattern repeated among the majority of the cities around the planet.

Through their control of the media, they themselves promoted the idea of opposing them in appropriate and controlled ways which would do nothing to actually challenge their system. The idea of getting rid of Infin-7 was a lucrative market itself. Most people who claimed to not be bothered by them only did so to make themselves feel superior to those who claimed otherwise, or out of fear that change would only make things worse. Just as quickly as the newsreel appeared on the monitor, it disappeared, now displaying some other new irrelevant product.

“The ship will enter light travel in two minutes and thirty seconds.”

The ironic twist of it all, despite the hatred he felt towards the company, he was currently employed by them - his presence on the ship was a part of official business. He was not forced to work for them or anything like that, he did it out of his own volition. While he was fully aware of their awful practices, like those around him, it was easier for him to not even try to defy them in any way. Not like there was anything he could do, and as long as he worked, he had food to eat and a roof over his head. At points, he doubted himself on whether or not they were truly an evil company after all because of this.

He noticed his bag was starting to slouch over, so he readjusted its position. The contents could briefly be seen: a Caldera Industries silenced pistol and photon saber, his two primary weapons for his duties. He cautiously peered, around making sure no one caught a glimpse of what he was carrying. Instructions were given by his employer to the security staff at the port to look the other way while inspecting him. Getting caught by the passengers now that they were well past the exosphere would certainly compromise his assignment.

His current job was simple: kill the man sitting six seats in front of him.

He relooked at the information given to him by the secretary on his comms device to confirm, and yes, it was him: Vhinox Erc-Kleidi. The photos and physical description perfectly matched up. As a Skatharian, Vhinox absolutely dwarfed Haleth in size at seven-foot-two, not even taking into account his massive tail. His exoskeleton was primarily a sharp gold which contrasted with his light red eyes. He bore a strong resemblance to a beetle, yet also stood on two legs, like most of the dominant species. He was well dressed, wearing a suit much like Haleth’s, although his was black and likely made out of non-synthetic fibers, a rare commodity. Around his neck, he donned a necklace with a green locket that was faintly glowing.

Haleth recalled the meeting he had the other day, which had all of the information discussed copied to a file on him. According to it, Vhinox was the founder and president of a food distribution company on his native planet of Jaszyk. Unfortunately for him, that happened to be the next location of Infin-7’s expansion plans. The method of assassination was entirely up to him, he just had to make sure to claim any possessions on him after the deed was done. His plan was to ambush him outside of the port then immediately hop on the returning flight.

He continued to reread the document, scanning the screen to ensure he did not miss a single piece of information. The top of it read that the year was 3020, according to the Galaxial System of Timekeeping. Other planets used this year to sync their own local calendars. Occasionally, the year would be appended with the word “ad,” but he had no idea what that meant. The origins of the timekeeping system had, ironically, been lost to time

“The ship will enter light travel in one minute.”

Haleth put his device away and looked around the car. Normally, these types of transplanetary flights would be filled with passengers, but this ship was only about half full. Due to a recent company hack, the autopilot systems have been almost completely down, requiring physical pilots once again, and many feared the errors that a person would make.

As he boarded, he noticed that the pilot’s name was Charon Pealeii, ID #P332. Being an Opolaphec, his head was large and bulbous with an egg-shaped nose. The skin of his tentacles was a blend of green and cyan, while his eyes glowed yellow with rectangular, maroon pupils. Wearing the standard brown uniform for pilots of his type, he had welcomed Haleth and the others on board the ship, named “Morning Glow”.

He took another look at the passengers around him. No one else in the cabin seemed to be remarkable to him. They were all of alien species he had seen before and none were of any interest. Despite them all having vastly different body shapes, sizes, colors, etc, they all blended together like one large gray mass. He wondered why he thought like this, but never dwelled on it for too long.

“The ship will enter light travel in thirty seconds.”

It was only when taking one last look around that someone eventually stuck out to him. Returning to her seat, there was a female of a species he didn’t recognize. She resembled a bird and had a pair of large white wings that were black at the tips, as well as at a few spots throughout. Unlike the birds he had seen in photos, the ends of her wings seemed to resemble hands. Like her wings, her hair was also white and was about shoulder length. Tail feathers of the same colors could be spotted behind her. He noticed she donned peculiarly shaped shoes to accommodate talons, as a red band wrapped around her right ankle. She wore very plain clothing, only a white, sleeveless button-down shirt and short, moss-colored pants that covered legs containing feathers of the same colors. Despite her listening to music, she had an air of sadness around her.

What’s up with her, he thought, before putting in his own pair of earbuds and slowly closing his eyes. He had no idea why she stood out to him like she did. He simply chocked it up to never encountering her species before. As he drifted off, his memories of her features became bland, adding her to the gray mass of everyone else.

Beneath his feet, he felt a mechanical thud go off. Within the blink of an eye, the ship entered the rift, initiating light travel, and slipped away through space, leaving Haskel behind.

❖❖❖

A sudden jerk in the ship woke Haleth up from his nap. The brief dream wasn’t as interesting as some of his others, just the standard series of abstract events. He looked around and saw that a few others seemed to have awoken with him. That sort of movement from the ship was familiar to him, indicating that light travel had concluded and they were nearing their destination planet, although he felt like not enough time had passed. He peered out the window to check, which was something he never tended to do while traveling.

He was right in his suspicions that the ship had exited light travel. Observing the stars, they moved at the standard rate for normal flight mode. However, Jaszyk was nowhere to be seen, nor any planets at all, at least from his point of view. Rift ejection was a fairly uncommon occurrence, but given the unstable status of the company currently, he did not think twice about it.

He attempted to check the window on the opposite side, but too many passengers were blocking his sight. From his window, all he could make out were the stars and what seemed like a bit of space debris - nothing out of the ordinary. He noted one star was much closer than the others, but it was still much too far away to cause any sort of damage to the ship.

He took an earbud out to listen in and see if he could learn something about the situation. “This is your captain speaking,” echoed from the speakers. “We have been ejected from our rift due to complications in light travel mode and our communications systems. Please wait momentarily as we address this issue,” was heard over the speakers. It was then repeated in the same alien language as before.

“Ugh, I knew this was going to happen,” groaned the passenger sitting a few seats down from Haleth.

“Shouldn’t have trusted not having a computer control the flight,” replied another passenger sitting nearby. “And the captain, can you believe him; thinking he has something to prove by speaking in something other than IGS?”

“Either he thinks we’re idiots or he just wants to feel superior.”

Both of them were Skatharians like Vhinox, but they were about a foot shorter with an exoskeleton that was more of a light burgundy color. They were possibly females, but he couldn’t really tell, since Skatharians lacked major sexual dimorphism besides the crests of their horns which he was unfamiliar with. Their voices both had heavy vibrato; almost hard to understand at times.

There was nothing he could do besides sit and wait for a resolution. They were all stuck in there together. He popped the ear bud back in and closed his eyes again, hoping that they’d be arriving by the time he opened them.

He began daydreaming. Maybe I could further develop my plan of attack for-

“Sure is annoying, huh?”

He opened his eyes not a minute after he closed them. It was the person sitting to the left of him. The man was a Skaerf, a species known for their short stature, usually somewhere around four feet or so. His juniper skin had an unpleasant texture to it that got darker towards the extremities. In place of hair were two thick tentacles that wrapped around each other behind the head. He wore a silver suit that faintly reflected the lights of the cabin off him. His eyes were a bright blue, but not as pale as Haleth’s.

“Yup. Sure is.” He had no desire to talk to him. He closed his eyes again after answering, hoping to give a hint.

He didn’t take it. “I’m headed home to visit my family.” Haleth remembered that Skaerf were infamous for not picking up on those sorts of cues. Worst of all, their voices were incredibly nasaly. Conversations with them were truly unpleasant for anyone not of their species. “Hope this doesn’t ruin my plans too much. Whatcha traveling for?”

“Uh, business.” Obviously, he could not divulge what that business actually was.

“Say, you’re a human, right?”

“...Yeah.” He really wished the ship would start moving again.

“Don’t see many of those often. Strange, huh?”

“Yup.” He nodded his head frustratedly at every reply.

“You know why that is? Ever meet another one of you?”

“I’ve met a few here and there. Don’t know why we’re so uncommon. Don’t really care though.”

However, he did care.

This question always sat in the back of his mind, but it rarely got asked to him. Why were there so few humans out there? He always heard rumors that humans were involved in many of the galaxy’s crowning achievements, yet they seemed to just fade out amongst the populace. Maybe he had just been lied to and they weren’t as present as he was initially led to believe. He actually had never met another one in his life; he just lied in hopes it would kill the conversation quicker.

Or maybe he lied because he wanted it to be true.

To him, the word “human” always rubbed him the wrong way. It served as nothing but a reminder that he was possibly alone in the universe. He had been called many things over the years, obscenities in countless dialects, but the one that made his blood boil the most was the one that should be his defining characteristic.

But there was nothing he could do about that, so he carried on with it in the back of his mind, untouched, but always present.

“Well, it seems like you might want to get back to your music. I won’t keep you from it any longer.”

Finally. The play button beckoned him to be pressed.

“By the way -” He was really annoyed now. “- what’s your name, Mr. Human?”

“Haleth.”

“Well nice to meet you, Haleth. My name is -”

A loud, deep thud thundered through the cabin, startling everyone. Immediately, the lights shut off, plunging all of the passengers into darkness. The murmurs from the other passengers got louder. A few seconds later, the emergency systems went off, bleeding the cabin in a red light with a piercing siren.

“This is your captain speaking.” His voice was an uncomfortable monotone with a slight hint of uneasiness. “Please remain calm and head for the escape pods. There are escape bays at the rear of each cabin. I repeat, please remain calm. I will soon arrive to assist those who need any.”

Haleth got up and peered out the window once more. To his complete surprise, they were now within the gravitational pull of a planet, despite there being absolutely nothing just a few minutes ago. What happened? What could we have been hit by? An asteroid? Another ship? Where did that planet come from? I know what I saw - there was nothing just before!

Despite the clear instructions from the captain, the passengers were not calm. They were all rushing towards the back of the cabin, desperate to escape. Charon exited the cockpit to help guide the passengers. He would be the last one to escape, if there were any more pods left for him. After waiting behind the clamoring crowd, Haleth finally reached an unlaunched pod.

“Umm, excuse me?”

He turned over. It was the bird girl. Unintentionally, he caught himself staring at her vibrant yellow eyes. They glinted orange at steady intervals, in time with the red lights that washed over them.

“Can you help me with this? I’m not too familiar with this sort of stuff.”

“Uh, yeah. Sure.” He hoped that Charon would help her instead.

Do I look like the type of guy that would be familiar with it? he thought. Then again, I probably have had to use these more than the average passenger.

Behind her, he could see Charon guiding other passengers, including Vhinox. He tapped the screen and hit a few buttons, opening up the hatch for her with a loud mechanical noise. “Just press the flashing button over there once the door is shut and you’ll be good to go.”

“Th-thanks!” she said, hesitantly stepping inside.

He repeated those same actions on his own pod and got in. From the inside he shut the hatch and pressed the button, sending the pod off into the maw of the mysterious planet.

The inside of the pod was nothing fancy: just a small and simple square room made of barren metal. It sort of reminded him of his apartment, just a bit tinier. At least back home he had the accompaniment of his singular houseplant friend. Through the singular circular window on the door, he could see the bird girl’s pod launch followed by what he assumed was Vhinox’s.

For the moment, he was just floating in space. Nothing weighing him down. Nothing propelling him forward other than the residual momentum from the initial launch. Something about that brought peace to him. Floating carelessly through the void. Then the thrusters ignited and he was headed towards the planet below. Advances in anti-gravitational technology have managed to minimize the G-forces experienced by passengers, although it would still be uncomfortable for those unfamiliar with such crafts, like the bird girl most likely.

There wasn’t much he could do now. He slipped in his earbuds and resumed his music from before he was interrupted. He hoped that the planet was inhabited, but from his window he noticed a distinct lack of extraplanetary structures, which concerned him. He also hoped he would be able to find Vhinox again so he could finish the job. Horror-stories spread throughout his network about those who displeased the higher-ups at Infin-7.

Most of all, however, he wished that he hadn’t forgotten his bag on the ship.