Андреа Хёст - The Starfighter Invitation

Imoenne didn’t speak, but put her gloved hands together, fingers interlaced, and bowed over them. Then, like Silent and Nina, she released the magnetic field holding her boots in place and floated next to the sled.

" We launch ," Arlen said, using a shield as a bat to hit the little floating cluster of canisters.

With a sound like a well-struck tennis serve, they shot into the open area Arlen had been aiming for. The Cutters nearest us immediately whipped after them, bounding off melted gelato pillars with, fortunately, no sign off setting off the light glow again. Nina, Silent and Imoenne started away, running at the sled’s lowest impel speed because this was an escape that would only work if it was done without drawing any attention.

I released safety mechanisms and opened my helmet, shuddering at the rush of heat and scent flooding into my suit. The air, moist and damp, had something of the metallic tang that accompanies rain, but also a sweet after note, as if the white formations really were some kind of melting ice cream. Arlen went one further than me and pulled his helmet off altogether. His short, beaded hair floated in amusing ways, and he looked excited rather than grim.

"We must wait, I think, and then make much noise," he murmured, taking deep breaths.

"At the first sign," I agreed. "Otherwise, they might rush past us at the only thing moving in here."

Speaking aloud felt strange, after so much careful silence, and I strained to make out whether the Cutters reacted to our voices. For the moment they seemed to be dealing with the oxygen canisters in much the same way kittens did balls of crumpled paper: sharp bats and pounces that appeared playful, but had a deadly meaning.

" Main horde’s heading back ," Silent said. " Amelia can see it on the stream of that lot on the ceiling ."

I did my best to lock my shield rock solid in preparation. I was inner shield, with the stronger Arlen as the outer. Neither of us would last for long, we knew.

"Time to shout and wave," I said, voice cracking. I felt sick enough to vomit, and telling myself this wasn’t real wasn’t helping.

"No, for you, put all you have to your shield," Arlen said. "This, this is a thing for me."

He had been breathing the metal-sweet air deeply, and now stood straight, head thrown slightly back, and ran through a full-throated scale of notes.

Digital music is ubiquitous, piped directly into our ears. The depth, the vibrancy, the sheer volume of a trained human voice is a shock whenever encountered, but particularly from a distance of less than half a metre. I jerked my attention hastily from Arlen’s face to the nearest Cutters as they slammed into Arlen’s shield.

Arlen didn’t flinch or falter, finishing running his scale, and then taking two slow breaths, studying glinting hooks scrabbling for purchase on the outer surface of his shield. Then, as the main wave of the things appeared between the nearest pillars, he took breath, and became unearthly.

I think I’d heard it before, in the way that choral music is often familiar. No doubt it had been the background to a scene in some movie, long notes of piercing clarity that rose ever-higher, tones of light and uplift and exaltation.

The effect on the Cutters was immediate. Those around us stopped scrabbling and dropped to the ground. Not stunned, as I thought for one wild, astonished moment, but as if they were evaluating a new development. The surging mass of the main force did not immediately check, but they slowed. Then the leading edge of them landed on Arlen’s shield, enough to create a dagger-edged blanket.

" Nearly there ," Silent sent.

I saw through a gap in the sliding mass that the team that had stuck to the ceiling of the dome were also moving, but heading inward, taking the opportunity we’d provided to try for the memory core. Then Arlen’s shield collapsed, and the Cutters fell inward onto mine.

" Dio? "

[[Here.]]

" Reassure me. "

A short burst of ter musical laughter came over the channel. [[You are most definitely about to die. But I promise that [Evacuate] works as described.]]

" Can you make it so that whatever happens to my body, after, isn’t streamed? I don’t want to ever have that in my head. "

[[Yes, I can do that.]]

" Through ," Nina sent.

" Evacuating on three, Arlen ," I said, hoping that I could hold the shield that long, and immediately added: " One ."

Arlen didn’t respond, his voice soaring once again, his eyes wide with delight.

"Two." I said it aloud this time, even though my throat felt like it had closed.

"Three."

Citadel Not Successful.

Citadel Success Rate: 0/2 0%

Challenge Success Rate: 16/18 88.89%

Lux Points Earned: 2

Total Lux Points: 6,836

Challenge Reward:

N/A

Mint chill. Emerging from Soup, my legs felt distant and disconnected. I fumbled for the nearest wall, but the strangeness passed almost immediately, and then I was just not-really-me. Whole, not bruised, unsliced.

If this hadn’t been virtual, then this would be a new body, a copy of my Core Unit. Not necessarily exactly as it had been when the previous version died, but most likely from an imprint taken the last time I’d been in the Soup, or even a younger starting point. I had no memory whatsoever of being in the Renba.

" Is this the Delina, Dio? "

[[Wreck Observation Station. Ten minutes until the Delina departs.]]

Dio drifted through the ceiling above me, and I realised I’d felt the absence of these emergences. What difference did it make for my alien overlord to be present in glowing light form, rather than communicating over our Link?

"Imoenne, Silent, Nina—did they get out okay?"

[[They are still in the process of retrieval, but they are not in danger. The System Challenge has been completed, so we are able to assist the remaining competitors.]]

"That other team made it, huh?"

[[You provided an excellent distraction.]] Dio sounded lightly amused. [[Two of their group were killed, however, and had no Renba.]]

And so were locked out the game forever. Could any in-game prize be worth the cost?

"Which is more valued in The Synergis? Winning or protecting your team?"

[[In terms of our primary goal, it’s pointless to have all our strong lan talents die. We do find that Challenges such as this push some Bios to develop, which is why we organise them, but we are not going to complain about the preservation of others.]]

I couldn’t quite tell if Dio was dancing around the answer there, but shrugged and then sighed. "If we’d been ten minutes faster, we probably wouldn’t have met the Cutters at all."

[[True. But how satisfyingly dramatic it all became.]]

I paused, looking up at tem, then said: "And I’m only just realising that you might as well have called that wreck The Colosseum ."

Dio produced a couple of notes in the Cycog language that I interpreted as a verbal shrug, and then said: [[You should decide soon whether you want to catch the Delina on this return trip, or wait for the next.]]

"How long—" I stopped as the door to the Soup chamber opened, and Arlen stepped out. "Most spectacular distraction ever, Arlen," I said.

"I was effective, was I not?" Arlen said, looking pleased. He reached up and touched his face, then ran his fingers down to his throat. "I have missed this voice. But the others? They are well?"

The party Channel made this easy to confirm, and we quickly caught each other up on current location and status.

" I’m going to take the Delina back ," I told them. " And then probably log out for a while. That was a good run, everyone. I can’t believe how well we did. "