I had yet to get a chance to be alone with Gabriel. I could not blame my family at all for trying to isolate a small child from a stranger. Even if he turned out to be a hundred percent legit and was the one man who would lead Father to salvation, trying to keep him from interacting with the kid was a smart move.
It was annoying in so many ways, but I would not let it hold me back forever. I wouldn't be passive in this, but I had to do it the right way.
The past few days have been a whirlwind, both internally and externally. While the family prepared a trip with Gabriel to the site outside of Sanitas where I encountered the alien, I could not help but contemplate exactly what it would mean for Gabriel to be here, now, and what I already knew of him.
He was unmistakeably human in physical appearance. Osmosians and humans were not too different from one another during our earlier years of life, but even at only eight, I was physically different in one major way: thickened ridges around the eyes, the skin so dark they appear almost pitch black. An average Osmosian man would have these markings, but it varied rarely. No one likely thought anything of it the way that I did, but that sense of uncanny valley did not activate when I looked at him.
The man had a Southern accent – Texan perhaps. Accents were a funny thing to contemplate on Osmos V. There were linguistic differences between my family and those of the Capital, and video or audio broadcasts often held different ways of speaking that were unique to hear and not dissimilar to accents on Earth. But a Southern U.S. accent? I was originally from the South! I hadn't heard anyone on Osmos V speak the way that I used to, and it made perfect sense.
His name was Gabriel, which is a different enough name than most I'd heard on Osmos V. For reasons that trouble me, many of the names of people living now and of ancient figures from history books were almost Latin in origin, or perhaps followed some Roman conventions. Horatio, Lucrecia, Maximus, Jula, Cassian -the list goes on and on. If I remembered correctly, the Triarchs themselves held similar names to figures from Earth's Roman history: Seneca, Gordia, and Cato. I was not sure what to make of it, and I suspected there may be some actual historical connections between the two planets. Or there was something else going on that was much larger than that, and more difficult to philosophically wrap my head around.
I suspected it was the latter. The sheer statistical anomaly it must be for a human to meet me on an alien planet that might be millions of light-years away? That was not a coincidence, and it flew in the face of my belief in a deterministic universe.
Added together, Gabriel's existence heavily implied a few things that I was certain were true, even without talking to the man further.
1. Earth existed.
2. Earth had humans.
3. Earth was in at least the modern era, and likely far beyond it.
4. Earth had interstellar technology.
5. Earth sends humans to space to get involved in the affairs of other planets.
If Gabriel had a ship that could get me to Earth, I could live out the rest of my days in a place that was truly home. I could not help but feel giddy at the thought.
I had spent hours contemplating exactly how I would approach him, how I would ask him, until finally, I settled on writing an explanation and delivering it to the man in secret at the first opportunity. It would be a simple note, written in English, that would no doubt catch his attention. If all else fails, he might be a confidante during these tumultuous times, and I could rely on him to listen to my story.
If someone else found it, I'd play it off as a message in code or perhaps as a made-up language. I had thoroughly-cemented a reputation among my family as an exceptionally weird kid – they may actually accept that as enough.
When Gabriel approached the family again, the blue-eyed brunette was geared up for a long trek to Sanitas, and I'd packed carefully. We were not staying long – it was far more likely to all of us that Father was somewhere near the Capital. Our family packed light, and so did he, throwing a simple bag around his shoulder and another into the back of the vehicle alongside the rest of what we'd deigned to bring.
I didn't tell anyone I'd done it, but the night before he was supposed to meet up with us to leave, I placed a bug-out bag among the provisions we were bringing, just in case.
"Thank you for agreeing to take us," I said truthfully.
The man stared for a long moment at my mother, who gripped onto my shoulder tighter. "Truth be told, you might have more of an idea of what we're looking for than I do, kid. This was not where I expected the investigation would take me." His Osmotin was still strange – I'd inwardly applied the context that was missing, but it was more confirmation that he was not from around here.
"We're just grateful you're still including us," Mother added. "You could have taken our information and left to see it yourself."
Grandfather stepped forward in acknowledgement of her words. "Did you hear anything more from other houses?"
We were not the only families from the area of the Capital with missing family or friends, and he'd spent the last several days investigating them until the day of our trip. I suspected that, unless he finds exactly what he was looking for with us, he'd move on to even more on the list of recently missing that fit the bill.
The man – a human man, my brain excitedly reminded me – nodded only slightly. "I will debrief you all on the road. Is Madam Jula coming with us?"
Maximus shook his head. "She could not get away from work."
Jula's company were launching a product this week, and she was the spearhead of its design. I didn't blame her for wanting to see it through, but it still bugged me that she wasn't willing to step away long enough to come with us. This was her brother!
"A shame, but I understand." Gabriel paused for several seconds, his eyes sweeping over each of us and then settling on me for even longer. "Lucrecia, your son is coming?"
My throat tightened with nerves. Mother moved to speak, but I cut her off as I regained my nerve. "I, uh, am the only one who knows the direction to the crash site."
It was a hail Mary to keep myself involved.
Mother was resolute in her clear discomfort at my presence and the continued annoyance at that fact. "It's not too late to tell us, Cassian. Jula will ensure you're safe until we get back."
The day after the attack, I'd explained to Father exactly where the ship had crashed, where the alien had attacked. I was so heavily medicated during that first week to fight off an infection that I'd spilled the beans to him, and I could barely remember what he did as a response. Mother had not heard the explanation, at least from me, and Father did not speak of it again. A few weeks later, and he left for business in the Capital, something at the time I had not suspected was strange. Had Carnifex done something with the information about this alien crash?
Suffice it to say, Mother was not happy with me that I had yet to tell her. And, truth be told, I was glad that I hadn't. It was the leverage I needed to be included in whatever this mess was.
"I could not miss the chance to do something, Mother."
OSMOS V
August 03, 14:52 UTC
TEAM YEAR NEGATIVE SEVEN
Jula grabbed the make-up stylus from the assistant and hastily began applying the enhancer to make her eyes pop for the cameras. "You're not remotely useful. First time?"
"No ma'am, I have been-"
"I'm sorry, but I don't care," she finished quickly. The mousy-haired assistant, likely decades her junior, forlornly disappeared amid the throng of other assistants and technicians. Part of her felt guilty about that, but it was only a small part. She allowed others to sweep into the scene and assist her in other ways, to prepare for her big moment.
"Jula!"
Someone she hadn't seen before pushed through the crowd, a man with an unfortunate pattern of horn growth that led to only a single horn that was so long it curved over the top of his head. From the looks of his clothing, she knew exactly why he was here, and she cursed as she tossed the stylus haphazardly onto a nearby table. A technician hastily apologized to her like it was his fault that it had fallen.
She cupped her hand over her mouth and shouted, "Security! It was made very clear that there was to be no press before the announcement!"
Three chrome robotic guards marched in lock-step behind a pair of guards dressed in similar coloring. The journalist blanched as he spotted their hasty approach, black batons in hand and ready to apprehend the stranger if he should try something dangerous. "Please, Madam, it will only be a moment-"
"Save your questions for after the announcement, as was arranged prior."
Stymied, the journalist left before the guards could properly escort him out of the staging area. She felt the stress of the moment relax her shoulders only slightly. The words of her superiors rang through her head, reminding her that the success or failure of this product relied on her, in this presentation. It was to be broadcast throughout the Triarchy, and if people did not know her name before today, they had a chance to learn it soon.
When the time was right and all of the parameters were set, she stepped onto the stage. Clouded sunlight descended overhead, and a brisk wind brought some comfort to the heat, clearing away the sweat forming on her brow. Awnings for the crowd caught the brunt of the climate, providing additional shade, and shadows from some of the taller buildings of the Overcity covered the public area. A line of guards and hastily assembled barriers of metal protected her – and the new product – from the assembled crowd, a mixture of press and potential customers.
"Welcome, one and all. I am Jula, vice president of technological development for Vir Actus. For four decades, I have weathered the highs and lows of this business, and I can guarantee after today, that all you will see is success."
Cameras caught her prepared speech, and she continued the address, unabated. Assistants and interns brought out the prototype, nearly ready for market, and she marveled at the creation she had largely developed single-handedly. Her team had helped in their own small ways, and she thanked each and every one of them publicly, before she launched into a demonstration.
Placing her hand carefully into its outstretched palm, automated processes began within the device's programming. Code turned to movement, movement turned to brilliance, brilliance turned to profit. Within a few short seconds, a metallic layer of blue plates covered her entire arm, fingers to shoulder. It flexed with her knuckles, it shifted with her palm, it bent with her elbow, it swayed with her forearm. A string of stylish lights flickered with each movement, designed to indicate the mechanical output of energy.
"This product, as you can imagine, has many potential applications within many fields of life for our people. It can act as prosthesis, it can act as a weapon, it can act as an invaluable tool for construction, it can carry your groceries… the list goes on."
She continued her prepared presentation, demonstrating the additional lifting strength, the potential durability, its waterproof design, its resistance to heat, its reactions to voice commands, its viability for eventual direct integration into the nervous system.
"The product will hit the shelves-"
The crowd exploded into noise, and for a moment, she prepared to tell them to be quiet and save their questions.
But they weren't shouting for her.
They were shouting for him.
With a rush of air, the scarlet armored Triarch diplomat to our alien partners waved to the crowd as he landed. Xandros stood beside her, smelling of fuel, as the wings of his suit melted away into panels along his back. His footsteps were surprisingly silent, Jula realized, and she pondered how they managed to make such an impressively adaptable suit of power armor so light.
Armor far beyond what she had achieved with this prototype, tentatively titled on internal documents as "Automail."
"Scarlet Scarab, to what do I owe the pleasure?"
The helmet similarly melted away, revealing the handsome face of the Osmosian who represented our interests to the Reach. Jula had no idea why this man was here – this was not part of the plan, this was not part of any discussion the company had, and this was not how she expected to interact with anything of the Reach for the first time.
"You've made an impressive tool. An invention worthy of praise!"
The crowd lit up, and Jula couldn't remember a time when she felt more confused.
"Thank you. That, uh, means a lot, coming from you."
She could not wrap her brain around what, exactly, he was doing here. At a product launch announcement for something that could, one day, develop into powered armor, a man with far better technology interrupts it? Why was Xandros trying to upstage their company's efforts?
"I apologize for the unprompted entry, Madam Jula, but I must take advantage of your broadcast for an urgent message."
She shared a look with the acting producers of the announcement for guidance, and they were clearly fuming. She considered what her father would say and did not move away from the podium. "Diplomat, sir, we are in the middle of somethin-"
He ignored her. "I have important news to share from our partners from beyond the stars. The Reach ship's sensors have detected an influx of violent alien attackers from across the cosmos."
Jula's heart stammered in her chest.
"They have landed in pods only large enough for a single individual assailant, and they threaten any and all that they find in the area upon arrival. I, myself, have intervened in the most recently detected landing and have apprehended the alien before it could do harm to others."
The crowd was not complacent upon hearing that news, and faces were stretched with worry as questions flew.
Jula could not keep herself from spiraling with worry, her family's excursion fresh on her mind. They were heading to the site where an alien crashed? Something that she had believed, before, was nothing more than a story from her brat of a nephew. A fanciful tale to cover up the clumsiness of a child who fell and scratched their arm. Now? Now she knew it to be true, and that worried her more than anything she could imagine.
The press within the crowd hurled questions at Diplomat Xandros, but the armored Osmosian neglected to answer any of them individually. Instead, he offered, "I understand that you are confused, and that many questions are unanswered. More information will be coming within the official channels in the hour. But rest assured, I will work with the Reach to ensure that our planet remains safe from those outsiders who deign to do it harm."
Before anyone could object, Scarlet Scarab blasted off into the air, leaving Jula alone on the stage, unsure how to possibly continue even while the cameras continued to roll. Her producers were clearly agitated, but there were far more questions than answers. It took all of thirty seconds before she lost a third of the audience, their retreating forms scampering through the streets to return home. Another minute, and she had barely a few dozen who remained, though their attention was on the skies, their thoughts on the aliens, and their actions ignoring her.
Jula ordered an assistant to carry the prototype behind her as she disappeared backstage. Vir Actus had not prepared her as its employee to talk to the public after an upstaging like this, not with much larger news in the background apparently happening. If Xandros was accurate, this information would likely force all-day coverage, something that hadn't happened since the Reach announced their arrival on the planet and partnership with the Triarchy.
"Any chance they're talking about Automail?" she asked weakly to one of her team, who was eagerly shifting his hands across a monitor to locate a news broadcast. A few had hastily started, their coverage detailing Xandros' sudden announcement, and it would only be a matter of time before more official news broke directly from the Powers That Be.
The answer to her question was no. Her prototype was barely mentioned. The product she'd spent years developing was a footnote in a larger story. A story ultimately involving her damn brother.
OSMOS V
August 04, 02:23 UTC
TEAM YEAR NEGATIVE SEVEN
The long ride between the Capital and Sanitas was the perfect time to speak with Gabriel, so long as I could do so while no one else was awake. We'd been trapped in the "station wagon" for hours, and conversation had lulled at various points once the human had revealed many of his more recent conversations with the missing's families had proven fruitless. We had quickly become the center of his investigation, if only thanks to my experience with the alien, and I wanted so desperately to make myself useful on this trip. I wasn't going to be the little kid in a road trip movie that annoyed the hell out of all the adults.
I had not taken the slip of paper burning a whole in my pocket and passed it to him yet. Openly passing it in front of the others would be a mistake. A confident mistake, perhaps, but I was not sure that I could trust the man well enough to play it cool for my family. I did not want to field questions about reincarnation, about lack of trust, about deception. There was just… a lot that had to be considered, so I held off and continued an anxious loop of indecision.
Two hours into the drive, Mother had reached over and touched one of the windows near Grandfather's head, while he had continued to drive. Gabriel had watched with interest as her hand had become like glass, and then she had placed the hand above my lap.
"Try it."
I had blinked. "Mother, you-"
"Before I change my mind, I want to see what you can do."
Excitedly, I had followed her example. It had taken me much longer to produce any meaningful effect, but after nearly thirty-seconds, I had some success as each finger up to the second knuckle became as transparent as the window. It had lasted a whopping ten seconds before the effect had faded, but it had been one of the proudest moments of my second life.
To do this in front of her? It was magical.
"I can do more!" I had explained. "I'm working on it. There's this book I found online, and it has these passages that explain the inner-workings of the…"
I had rambled for nearly ten minutes, with only the occasional interruption from Mother. She finally had let the effect on her own arm go, becoming flesh again. "You have some control. That's good. I don't expect you to be in any danger, Cassian, while we are there, and I want you to promise me that you won't do anything foolish if we somehow find ourselves mired in it."
I had wanted to ignore the request, but I eventually had relented. "Yes, Mother. I promise."
For the next few hours, until long after night had fallen, she had fielded questions, had provided support, had tried to quietly coach me on the use of the Gift. I had clung to every word she spoke, every idea she possessed, every piece of advice she offered. Grandfather had listened in amusement, and Gabriel had focused primarily on the environment around us. He had played it cool, and if this was his first trip to Osmos V, perhaps this was the longest conversation about Osmosian powers he'd witnessed.
I had made progress in both the length of time I could maintain it and the amount I could transform. It was not enough to fight off that alien, but it was enough to maybe find use in a really condensed pinch. I could reliably transform up to my wrist in both the glass of the window and the treated leather of the seat, though other materials had been more difficult.
"I read somewhere that changes can be permanent. Is that true?"
Mother considered the question for a long moment, but it was Grandfather who answered. "Usually the changes last a few minutes. Matter, energy, DNA – it doesn't matter. I've known friends who can push it longer, but it's more taxing. Permanence? Haven't heard of that."
"Do you think it could be done but just has not yet?"
Mother had no answers for that, and I wondered exactly what was happening molecularly to allow this to happen to the composition of our bodies. I didn't know a lot about physics in my first and certainly not my second life. Different chemical composition also meant different subatomic forces holding material together. Wood, stone, metal – they were each held together differently, and I could make my body like them without somehow losing control of them?
Mother broke my reverie with a hand on my knee. "Using the Gift should only be for emergencies, Cassian. Never take unnecessary risks, or you'll push yourself too far. I don't- don't want to lose you, son."
I gripped her hand tightly.
"Y'all seem close," Gabriel commented from the equivalent of the passenger seat.
"Of course," Mother lied. "We are-"
An audio broadcast began playing on the monitor within the console, announcing an emergency bulletin. These did not happen often, and Mother's voice trailed off entirely as her attention honed in on the words.
"Good evening. This is Elder Gordia of the Triarchy."
My stomach churned. The human was tightly focused on the words, and Grandfather pulled the vehicle to the side of the desert pathway. The technology for this was kind of broadcast was not perfect, and the message was scratchy this far into the desert.
"Earlier today, Diplomat Xandros announced that the Reach have uncovered a new and dangerous element to our planet. I will confirm the veracity of these statements: aliens walk among us, and they hold hostile intent for our people."
Everyone locked eyes with Gabriel, whose shock was palpable. Before we even made it to the site, the Reach announce this?
"A series of crash landings have been happening throughout the past several months," they've known about this for months and said nothing? "and we have been working tirelessly during this period to handle the situation with care and to avoid panic."
"This is it," Grandfather muttered, eyes wild.
"We cannot jump to conclusions," Gabriel stated, lips in a thin line.
"- iens have arrived. From what intelligence we have been able to gather, these aliens are hostile and without the ability to reason. Communicating with them has consistently failed to gain positive results. They are incredibly dangerous, incredibly violent, and incredibly cruel. Rest assured, they are few in number – we cannot give exact figures, but we can confirm that the number of detected landings is somewhere in the upper twenties."
I shot a pleading look toward Gabriel, the implications astounding. "Is that number accurate? To those that are missing?"
A long pause as Gordia's voice continued. "It could be," he explained carefully.
"If you notice anything strange or abnormal, contact your local authorities. The Triarchy will do everything in our power to put a stop to this dangerous threat, root out these alien dissidents, and dispose of them before they can do any more harm to ourselves or to our partners. Thank you."
Panic swept through Mother and Grandfather, and fear erupted into demanded questions. The human had no immediate answers for us, but he met my gaze anyway.
"Kid, I have a feeling we're going to crack this case wide open, with your help."
OSMOS V
August 04, 11:51 UTC
TEAM YEAR NEGATIVE SEVEN
Gabriel did not know what to make of this developing situation. The planet was already the latest in a long, uninterrupted line of conquests from the Reach within Frontier Space. All without shedding a single drop of blood, from the looks of it. Why had the Osmosians simply rolled over? And now, the Osmosians were under threat of other aliens, and he wondered how much of their territory they would lose to these assailants before they decided to stop their cowardice.
They had power. A substantial minority of their population held fantastic abilities that put them firmly in the camp of superhuman, and each of them was nominally physically stronger and tougher than humans even without their Gift. Gabriel was convinced they had the potential to do damage to the Reach's presence on this planet, and they could easily handle twenty-odd aliens, just from sheer manpower alone. There were plenty of species in space that would still be a theat even to them, and Gabriel hoped for their sakes' – and his own – that these new enemies were low on the cosmic hierarchy.
Gabriel ordered Maximus to stop the vehicle just short of the crash site, almost two clicks out. Their young boy had been guiding them throughout the journey through this section of the massive continent-wide desert, only a few miles outside of their hometown of Sanitas. He was surprised the kids had traveled that far outside of their town at the chance to see something cool, and he wondered idly to himself if Kyle had the same adventurous spirit. Considering what had happened to Cassian and his friends, he hoped that his son would be smarter than that.
"How are we going to approach this?" Lucrecia asked, as though afraid of the answer. She gripped her son's shoulder, thumb idly running through some of his shaggy blonde hair.
"Y'all are not going to approach anything," he explained quietly.
They objected, each for their own reasons. Maximus looked offended that he wouldn't ask the man to come with him. Lucrecia was merely surprised at the insinuation that they would just sit idly by. Yet, it was Cassian who had the most interesting reaction: he scrambled out of his seat and slipped outside.
Gabriel watched the family deliberate for a solid thirty seconds before he turned his attention away and allowed them the space to work through their issues while he opened his pack to gather his gear. This kid was too precocious for his own good, and he'd convinced himself he was important to this whole thing.
In retrospect, perhaps the statement he'd made a few hours ago hadn't helped.
Gabriel could tell that this was not an isolated incident, from the tone of their argument, and it felt strange that he'd bothered to bring them this far. He could have found another way that did not leave false hopes in their eyes.
"Lucrecia, Maximus, I know this is unconventional," he muttered, exasperated that it was going in circles, "but I could take him with me-"
"Are you out of your mind!?"
"Yes! Please!"
The argument continued anew, and he was caught right in the middle. He was mature enough to recognize that it was foolish for him to get involved, but, well, Cassian reminded him of Kyle, at least in spirit.
"I don't expect any harm to come to him, but I have something that can help assuage your worries."
It was a risk to show them, but he was already revealing more than he should about his role in the grand scheme of everything by dragging a family into a potentially dangerous location. If things were done correctly, they would not be able to connect the dots to his true benefactors.
He reached into his bag and pulled a small emerald capsule. With a click of one end, the object expanded in a burst of green light until a thick armored vest emerged within his grip. It was lined with interior plating while its ultimate flexibility remained, a conforming armor piece for someone of any build.
"Wearing this will keep him safe, even areas that aren't covered by the vest."
Their awe was palpable. Osmos V had nothing like this – they were nowhere close to Level Fifteen technology.
"Can I test it?" Maximus asked, and Lucrecia looked outraged.
"You can't be seriously considering this!"
"I'm curious!"
Cassian stared excitedly at the vest as though it were the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. "How does it work?"
Gabriel slipped the object on over his street clothes and felt the aura settle into place, a warble of light visible for a few seconds before fading into transparency. There was a limit to its maximum output defensively, but if they were near a lone alien that could threaten its output, then they were already unsafe being this close to its last known location.
He offered himself to Maximus for testing, and the older man took a swing with a haymaker, much to his daughter-in-law's chagrin and his grandson's delight. The punch collided uselessly against the energy construct, and he did not flinch nor was he pushed by the impact. The Osmosians were each wide-eyed at the prospect, but Lucrecia recovered first.
"That's impressive, but you can't just expect us to trust you to watch-"
Maximus full-body tackled into Gabriel, and the force of it pushed the human back several feet. But he felt none of the impact, and not for the first time, he wondered how much the NFL would fork over for just this tech alone.
The Osmosian pulled back in surprise, and Gabriel made a show of dusting himself off as though it had done anything at all. "I promise you that it's effective."
Lucrecia could not accept it, and he didn't blame her.
"Come with us, then," Cassian argued. "You've got the Gift, Mother. You can keep me safe."
"This is not even-"
"What if Father is out there?" The question unmoored the adult Osmosians, and Gabriel could feel the boy's exasperation. He wondered idly if the adults were going to budge, and he knew what he would do if he were in their shoes. "You're not going to waste a chance to save him, are you?"
Gabriel doubted seriously that their missing person was here. Assuming Horatio ever made it to the Capital, that is, he was far more likely to have gone missing somewhere near the city. Despite that thought, Gabriel was not ruling anything out.
The situation with the aliens, with Horatio, with the missing – it was all linked. He could not put his finger exactly on how, nor on what connection the missing all have. The only connection he'd been able to find so far is that the missing were far more likely to be poor or lower-middle class, but there were some that broke that mold. Could they have just all been isolated people in the wrong place at the wrong time for an alien attack? It sparked of coordination, he realized, that these disparate crash landing sites throughout the continent were all attempting to target people. Perhaps they'd been eaten, but he'd not found any evidence of non-Osmosian bones.
Gabriel would never forgive himself if Cassian was there when they confirmed the missing were dead.
"Fine," Lucrecia finally shook her head. "When I tell you to run, you run."
Cassian was overjoyed, a beaming smile etched onto his face. He held out a small hand for the jacket, and Gabriel slid the armored clothing off and passed it to the boy. The man leaned down to help the boy into it properly, so that the shielding aura would hold over his form in the event of an emergency. It shrunk in several places to conform to the eight-year-old's torso.
"You're all set." He turned to the other man. "Stay here, make sure that we have a way out. If I contact you, be ready to drive to us in a hurry."
Maximus agreed with some clear concern in his voice. Lucrecia hugged him after a moment, and the older man returned the gesture. "We'll be back soon."
As Cassian prepared to lead his mother and Gabriel further into the wilderness of the desert, the man tapped the belt hidden under his clothing three times in quick succession. A complex program activated and integrated into his vision, a faint flicker of green light swimming across his field of view and flooding his sight with information from his implants and the environment around him. With the benefit of constant scanning, he was certain that if there was anything to be found, he'd find it with this.