Valiant: Tales From The Drift

[Tails #31: Statistically Unfair]

Log Date: 11/30/12764

Data Sources: Jazel Jaskolka, Lysanne Arrignis

Event Log: Jazel Jaskolka

Dandelion Drift: Lab 2

10:28pm SGT

The door to the lab spirals open, and I step in, waving it closed behind me.

This late at night, there’s no one in the labs, even though I’m sure that Dandy will be alerted to one of the labs being accessed during quiet hours. That doesn’t stop me, though; I can’t sleep, and the last week has been hell for me. It had never occurred to me that I’d struggle to sleep if I wasn’t sharing my bed with someone, but that’s exactly what’s happened to me since we left Soiruxia.

Being in bed feels wrong when Kaya isn’t there.

You think it would be easier, since you don’t have to fight with someone else for the covers, or deal with them tossing or turning while you’re trying to sleep, or trying to position yourself comfortably around them. You figure it’d be easier, having the bed to yourself, to get settled and cozy at your own speed, to know that the only person keeping you awake is you. To not have to worry about waking up your partner if you move too much, or try to get comfortable.

But it’s not.

It’s too still. It’s too quiet. My body’s not used to it; it’s accustomed to little bumps and nudges throughout the night. It’s accustomed how quickly it gets warm when there’s two of us beneath a blanket; when it’s just me, it takes forever to get to that level of warmth. It’s accustomed to Kaya’s tails taking up a massive chunk of space under the covers; to feeling them brushing against my ribs or arms or knees even when she’s all the way on the other side of the bed. When I try to go to bed and she’s not there, my body can tell that something’s missing. Something isn’t the way it’s supposed to be, the way I’ve grown used to it being for most of the last year. And it makes me restless.

That’s why I’m here in the lab, standing in front of the center console, and staring at the column of light that holds the Viscori knife we took from Grimes and his elves last year.

After killing Grimes on the Primsex and recovering some of the boxes of soul vials that had been extracted from me, I’d stopped thinking about the Viscori knife and about the spirit blooms. There was enough extracted soul in those vials to keep Kaya fed for a decade; feeding her was no longer the ticking time bomb that it had been through the months prior. It was still something I would have to solve eventually, but now that she was no longer feeding on me directly, I was no longer rushing to find alternatives methods like my life depended on it. Because it didn’t, and wouldn’t for another ten years.

But now Kaya is missing. And all I know for sure is that when I find the people that kidnapped her, I want them to die the most painful death that I can give them in short order.

Reaching out, I grab the Viscori knife and pull it out of the suspension field holding it above the central console. While having this thing used on me had merely been uncomfortable, I knew it was excruciating for other people. I contained multitudes of past lives, while most other people had only a single soul. Having it torn from them would not only be painful — it would be lethal in most cases.

Turning the blade over in my hands, I size up the design as I run my fingers along the flat of the blade. What is most striking about it is that it’s a modern design, and as far as I can tell, it’s made from modern materials. It looks like a combat knife that would be carried by a soldier in a contemporary military, with a broad blade, a single edge, and a serrated backblade. The handle is textured, to provide a better grip, and there’s a finger guard to keep your fingers from migrating up the blade while you’re stabbing someone. It’s a solid design, a good piece of work, which makes it all the more curious when you consider that the enchantment woven into it is far older than the blade itself. And while I didn’t need or plan on applying the enchantment to any other weapons, I needed to know how it worked, so I could figure out a mechanism for extracting any soul that it reaped from the people I planned using it on.

Lifting my gaze, I stare across the lab to Ozzy’s workstation. Almost a year ago, he had told me that he could show me how to extract any collected soul from the knife. It was something that I never followed up on, with the way that things had been going at the time, but now seemed like an excellent moment to pick up that dropped ball. While Ozzy had helped out with a couple critical events in the past, he hadn’t been useful for much beyond helping with chores ever since he’d come aboard.

Perhaps we could finally put that necromantic knowledge to use in a way that could benefit us.

Event Log: Lysanne Arrignis

Grayspur Ring: Vaunted Enclave

12/1/12764 12:24pm SGT

“Never been inside an Enclave before?” Milor says, pulling a toothpick out of his duster and sticking it between his teeth.

“No, I have. Once or twice, in the past.” I say, watching the Vaunted Hunters and Huntresses moving through the lobby, sometimes accompanied by Librarians. “I’ve just never seen one that was so busy.”

“Yeah, you can blame that on the psi bombing a month ago.” Milor murmurs, watching the comings and goings from beneath the brim of his hat. “Laughing Alice really stirred up the hornet’s nest here. Last report I saw on the big screen, death toll was close to two hundred, and the number of people injured was almost ten times that much.”

“Have they caught her yet?” I ask.

“Nah. It took ‘em seven years to catch her last time. She’s a Challenger and a psion; it’s a dangerous combination.” Milor mumbles around his toothpick. “If you ask me, she’s not on Grayspur anymore, but the ring is ramping up security anyway. Helps calm the population’s nerves after a major attack.”

“Shouldn’t the Vaunted or the ring’s intelligence forces have seen this coming?” I point out. “She escaped this summer, she’s known for terrorist attacks and having a grudge against CURSE, so the shrine seems like an obvious target. I’m surprised they weren’t able to detect it and stop it.”

“That’s what people said after every other terrorist attack she carried out. Truth is, blondie, Laughin’ Alice is good at what she does. Better than most of the people that are trying to stop her, if we’re being honest.” he says, standing up. When I see a uniformed officer with short orange hair moving towards us, I stand up as well, while Milor takes his toothpick out of his mouth. “Carrots! Long time, no see. How’s the cat herding been going?”

“It would be going better if your pack of cats wasn’t rooting through the garbage on Soiruxia and making a mess while you were at it.” Tashilo replies in clipped tones, sizing up the two of us as she arrives. “Is this it? Where’s the rest of the clown car?”

“Didn’t wanna bring ‘em.” Milor says. “The kid’s a bit of a handful with his fox gone, the necromancer rambles for days, and strawberry soda’s busy taking care of the resupply for the ship. We figured you’d prefer dealing with the stable and well-adjusted members of the crew, so here we are.”

I side-eye him. “Calling yourself well-adjusted seems a little generous, don’t you think?”

“Blondie, please. I am a model citizen.” Milor scoffs, placing a sanctimonious hand to his chest. “I was deputy of the month for ten years runnin’ back on Vissengard.”

“You were the only deputy on Vissengard for ten years running.” Tashilo says flatly.

Milor grins at Tashilo. “Ayyyy, there’s the sort of intel that we came here for. S’ppose if you’ve got the tools to pull my employment history, you can do us a solid and tell us who took the fox and where they went, right?”

“That depends on what you tell me.” Tashilo, motioning for us to follow her. “You’re going to give me the report on what happened on Soiruxia, and then I’ll decide if I want to help you all, or if you’re more trouble than you’re worth.”

“Lead the way, Captain. We’re all yours.” Milor says, sticking his toothpick back between his lips as we follow Tashilo.

We end up in what seems like a conference room, and spend a good half hour bringing Tashilo up to speed on what happened on Soiruxia, filling in the holes in her knowledge and explaining everything we’d found out since then, which wasn’t much. Once we’ve got her all caught up, she leans back in her chair around the long table we’re sitting at.

“You lot just can’t stop getting into trouble, can you?” she says. “First the witchling, now the morphox. Have you all considered staying in your lane and keeping your heads down? I’ve heard it does wonders for living a normal life.”

“We are definitely going to be more careful about taking requests in the future.” I puff, likewise leaning back in my chair. “I’m tired of our crew being the target of kidnappings.”

Milor shrugs. “I’m used to it, but you know my history.” he says. “So now that we’ve told you everything we know, can you help us? Getting some Vaunted movement on this would be great. The Drifters are pretty skilled, but we aren’t full-blown law enforcement, and we don’t have the same tools that you guys have.”

Tashilo points to the door. “Did you see how busy it was out there? What makes you think that we’ve got time to help you when we’re cleaning up a terrorist attack by a former Challenger that’s still on the loose?”

“Well. Never hurts to ask.” Milor says, getting comfy in his chair. “So if you guys can’t throw people at it, can you at least give us your intel on Tinker and Amagi, so we can follow it up ourselves?”

“Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to throw people at it, we just don’t have the people available.” Tashilo says. “The galaxy’s a little crazy right now. There was the invasion of Mokasha this summer, and then there’s the Valiant — we don’t even know what to do with them — and Laughing Alice being on the loose… it’s got us running around the galaxy trying to put out fires left and right.” She huffs a breath, drumming her fingers over the arm of her chair. “That being said, you lot can obviously handle yourselves when you’re properly motivated. You managed to get into the Primsex and rescue your friend without help from CURSE or the Vaunted, so either you’re lucky, or you’re skilled. If we give you the intel we have on Tinkerbelles, will you stop nagging the Vaunted?”

“Yes.” I say quickly. “Just give us all the information you have on Tinkerbelles. We can take care of the rest.”

“Fine. If that’s what gets you out of our hair, I’ll authorize the limited release of that file.” Tashilo says, making a note on her wristband. “Parts of it are going to be blacked out, to protect sources and methods, but the Tinkerbelles are low-level offenders. Small operation, they don’t really do a lot of measurable damage, so not really a high priority for the Vaunted. Most of the file will probably be intact, and have the information you need to go hunting them. Just bear in mind that they are Ranters, and hunting them will probably take you to Ranter colonies and communities. If you get in trouble there, the Vaunted won’t be able to help you.”

“Ah, we’ll make it work.” Milor says, waving off the warning. “Nice thing about the colonies is that you don’t have to play by Colloquium rules. Really opens up the possibilities.”

Tashilo glares at him. “You don’t have to be so smug about evading galactic regulations.”

“The Ranter colonies still have local ordinances and laws, right?” I ask. “It’s not like it’s a lawless frontier — just a different ruleset than the Colloquium nations have?”

“Correct. The colonies like running things their own way — they don’t like being told how to run themselves.” Tashilo confirms. “They have police, they have law enforcement, they have courts, just like any other functioning society does — they’re just run a bit differently than the ones in Colloquium nations. So don’t go into a colony thinking that anything goes — it doesn’t, and you’ll learn that pretty quick if you cross lines in one of the colonies.”

“But they really are a lot more relaxed on the regulatory side.” Milor says quickly. “None of the red tape that the Colloquium throws on pretty much everything. It’s refreshing, y’know?”

“The Colloquium has rules and regulations for a reason.” Tashilo says, pushing back from the table. “It may not always be convenient, but it keeps people safe and protects their rights. It’s something that people don’t typically appreciate until they end up in a place where those rules and regulations don’t exist, and can’t protect them.”

“You don’t know what you’ve got til you don’t have it anymore.” I say, likewise pushing my chair back. “We appreciate the help, Captain. Do you know where to send the file to? If not, I can text you the address of the intake server for the Drift.”

“We know where to send it. We’ve kept a file on your ship ever since the incident on Vissengard.” Tashilo says tersely, standing up. “Now if there’s nothing else, you two can leave. I need to get back to combing through starport departure schedules to figure out which one may have smuggled Laughing Alice off the ring.”

“Ha! I told you she wasn’t on the ring anymore.” Milor says smugly, following as Tashilo leads us to the door. “I still got it, all these years later.”

“What, common sense?”

“No, blondie. Intuition. Gut instinct.”

“I prefer common sense.”

“I’d prefer if both of you shut up.”

“Aye aye, Captain Carrots.”

“DON’T call me that—”

Event Log: Jazel Jaskolka

Dandelion Drift: Lab 2

4:08pm SGT

“Well, nice thing about this is most of the theoretical footwork’s already done. I did a lot of thinking about it back at the start of the year, thinking of different ways you could handle the extraction, and what kinds of setups would be best, and storage solutions, and so on and so forth, but never really committed to it, especially after the others rescued you and brought back those cases of soul vials. Didn’t really seem like it’d be needed at that point, or at least not anytime soon. But I still had the ideas knocking around in my head, I just need to dig them back up and get familiar with them again. Shouldn’t take but like… what, a few hours? Gotta get into that mode, you know, get in the right headspace.”

I patiently endure Ozzy’s rambling, speaking as soon as the chance presents. “I need an extraction solution that works on the go. If the knife ends up full during combat, I want to be able to extract the soul from it, store it in a container, so I can continue harvesting more if I run into additional combatants.”

“Well slow down just a minute, boss.” Ozzy says, clicking a couple lenses over the goggles he’s wearing, leaning over the Viscori knife as he examines it. “You gotta know your history here so you know what you’re dealin’ with. The old Viscori knives, from what I’ve heard, the ones from the time of the plague, they were simpler in terms of enchantments. Instead of storing the soul in the knife when you stabbed someone with it, they formed a conduit, a, I suppose a channel of sorts, that funneled the extracted soul straight from the target and into the wielder. Direct delivery, so to speak. No middleman.” He picks up the knife on the table, squinting at it through his lenses. “But that’s not the case with this one. This is a… newer enchantment, I suppose you could say? Second-generation? Variation on the original formula? Point is, this one doesn’t do what the original Viscori knives did. Instead of funneling the soul straight to the wielder, it gets trapped in the knife, where it can be extracted later and processed. This is almost like a harvesting knife, not a vampire knife, which makes sense for a guy that was running a business bottling and selling souls.”

“I wouldn’t need the soul to flow directly into me, since I’d be harvesting it for Kaya.” I say, folding my arms where I’m standing beside Ozzy’s chair, watching him work. I need to make sure we’re on the same page about this, because it’s important. “The knife is where it needs to stay, but if the knife gets full, I need a quick way to empty it while storing the soul it’s collected, so that I can continue using it to harvest more soul if I’m still in a fight.”

“I hear you, buddy, I hear you. And luckily for you, I think I already have a solution.” he says. Through the multiple lenses flicked down over his goggles, I can see that he’s examining the enchantment scriven on the knife’s surface — something that’s invisible without filtered glass or magesight. “Now, as I told you earlier, I’d bounced around a couple ideas at the start of the year about how to extract soul from the knife. One of them was an inversion of a high-end poison knife I’d seen while I was doing work in the black market for Medukat. And lemme tell you, it was a beautiful knife, or I suppose technically it was a dagger, since it was intended specifically for combat, but anyhow, the point was — beautiful knife. Not aesthetically speaking, mind you, but just in terms of design philosophy, it was brilliant. Loved it. Thinking back on it now, I probably should’ve bought myself one, though in fairness to myself, it was crazy expensive—”

“Ozzy.” I interrupt. “Focus.”

“Right, right, sorry. Of course. So anyway, this poison knife was designed with a hollow handle that you could slot interchangeable vials into, if say, you wanted to change the poisons you were using. And it used a series of thin internal channels and capillary action to distribute the poison to the edges of the blade. Anyhow, I was thinking of that, but in reverse.” He picks up the Viscori knife at this point, showing me to the handle. “This knife has a nice, thick handle, and if you cored out the center of it, lined the hole with a metal sheath to reinforce it, I think you would be able to slot a small vial into the handle. The vials could be enchanted so that one end extracts the soul from the knifeblade, and the other end could be a flip cap or a twist-open cap or something. Once it’s full, you eject the vial from the handle, stick it in your pocket or wherever you’re gonna store it, and slot another empty vial in the handle. Figure that should let you get right back to the soul-stabbing part of the soul-stabbies that you’re wanting to do.”

I reach down, taking the knife and looking it over as I process that. “That’s… actually genius, Ozzy. Holy shit. You really think we can do that to this knife?”

Ozzy shrugs. “Don’t see why not. Got the tools for it in here, wouldn’t be too hard to core out the handle of the knife. I took a shop class back in the day, so I know how to work with plasma lances and cutters, and I can even do a little bit of welding and soldering if you get me the metal and one of those welding masks you use to protect your eyes, whatever they’re called. Vials, though, that’s gonna be a little harder; we can’t exactly make those here in the lab. Gonna need to order those off the galaxynet, prolly from a manufacturer that does custom orders. Regular glass might do the trick, but there’s certain kinds of enchanter’s glass that’s easier to put magic into than normal glass. Custom order with enchanter’s glass is gonna be expensive, y’know, but, eh, it’s worth it in the end, if you consider it an investment into something you’ll be using over and over again, or long into the future. But I’m pretty confident I can do an autoextraction enchantment on the vials if we get ‘em, although, y’know, and I hate to bring it up, but I’m not sure—”

“That Dandy and Lysanne might be upset with us if they know what we’re doing.” I murmur, practically reading his mind. “Yes, that had occurred to me as well, and you’re right. I don’t think they’ll be happy if they realize we’re upgrading the Viscori knife like this.”

“I mean, they wouldn’t entirely be wrong, subjectively speaking.” Ozzy says, sliding his goggles up off his eyes and looking at me. “You don’t use a soulstealing knife on just anybody, y’know? It’s, it’s uh, something you kinda wanna reserve for, for, y’know, people that… aren’t… the best kinds of people, if you get what I’m saying?”

I weigh the Viscori knife in my hand, then look down at him. “Will you upgrade it for me if I only use it on the people that kidnapped Kaya?”

He purses his lips, rubbing his wispy chin hairs as he mulls it over. “…okay, that seems fair enough to me. If you’re only using it on the people that kidnapped Kaya, that, that seems fair, yeah.”

I hand the knife back to him. “Thank you. That means a lot to me. Let me know what you need, and I’ll see about asking Dandy to order it. If Lysanne or Dandy ask what you’re doing, tell them that I asked you to help me gear up for fighting whoever kidnapped Kaya, and you’re helping me make some specialized, soul-centric weapons for the task.”

His brow furrows as he takes back the knife. “Won’t that make them suspicious, though?”

“No, because I’m going to ask Lysanne to give me a few vials of the soul that Grimes extracted from me earlier this year, and use that to supercharge some of the new spells I’m going to be composing.” I say, pushing away from the table. “Lysanne and Dandy will think that the weapons you’re making will be using that — they won’t realize that what you’re making is meant to harvest soul, rather than incorporating it or using it as fuel.”

“Ahhhh. Misdirection, I see.” Ozzy say, realization dawning on him. “Telling part of the truth in such a way that someone draws the wrong conclusions from it.” He taps the side of his nose. “Very clever, Mr. Jazel, you are a very canny fellow when you want to be.”

I look down. “Having the person you love stolen from you, it… really makes you sharpen up. So yes, I’ve been very focused lately.”

“Right, right. Of course. Sorry, I didn’t mean to bring up a sore subject.” he says quickly.  “We’ll get her back. Just like we got you back when you were kidnapped. The others managed to snatch you back from the heart of the Primsex, so I’m confident that whoever kidnapped her, wherever they are, we’ll be able to get her back.” He holds up the Viscori knife. “I’ll get started on this, so that when you find them, you’ll have what you need to teach them a lesson.”

“Thanks, Ozzy.” I say. “Just send me that list of materials when you have it. I’m going to go check on the vorcruelians now.”

With that, I turn and make my way to the door of the lab. It’s time to catch up with a friend that’s fallen by the wayside ever since Kaya came onboard the Drift.

Event Log: Jazel Jaskolka

Dandelion Drift: Biosphere

5:22pm SGT

“Really? This was the first place I checked, and you made me roam the entire temperate biome looking for you before I come back to doublecheck and find you were here all along?” I demand, standing on the edge of the hollow that circles the waterfall pool in the temperate biome. Ravoc is sitting at the edge of the pool, glaring at me with three of his six orange eyes. In response to my accusation, he just huffs a powerful snort through his nostrils, tilting his head up and looking away.

“Aurescura above, you’re such a diva.” I say, making my way down to the slope to the pool’s edge. “Look, I’ve been busy with life stuff over the past year. There was… it’s… look, I got into a relationship, okay? My first relationship. And it’s, it’s… it’s been a little unusual, but… well, I suppose I’ll just come right out with it: it’s taken up my time and attention.”

Ravoc’s response to that is to let out a sullen rumbling from his sleek chest, like a mouth-closed growl.

I stop short on the edge of the pool, holding my arms out to either side. “What, am I not allowed to have a life?” I demand, then hold forth the arm that’s got a basket hanging from it. “Look, I brought you fish to apologize for being AWOL over the last few months—”

His growling gets louder.

“—okay okay, the last several months, almost a year, I guess.” Tucking my book under my arm, I open the lid of the basket. “Look, I went the extra mile here, okay? We got a couple slabs of salmon, some red snapper, some tilapia, a bit of flounder, I even got you some trout — I’m not personally a fan of it, but it’s in there — and look, I even threw in a couple of female blue crabs so you could have something to crunch on, since I know you like biting things.”

He tilts his head towards the basket slightly, but then swivels it back away again, and lets out another pouty huff through his nostrils.

“Oh c’mon, man!” I complain. “Seriously? What else am I supposed to give you, fish is your favorite! Do you even know how hard it is to source blue crabs?… look, I’m sorry, okay? I’m sorry I didn’t visit for several months, and haven’t taken you out to see some other worlds; I’ve just been… busy, okay? Like, I’m figuring out this whole relationship thing, and I’ve been teaching Kaya how to read, and like, generally, how to just live in a modern society, and all this while I was getting kidnapped by evil soul-stealing sorcerers, surviving that, and then recovering from that, while also handling my job, and family stuff, and learning that apparently I was an immaculate conception and figuring out exactly what I’m supposed to do with that, and also the fact that my sister’s working for a demon lord now, I guess, and now some redcoat freaks have gone and kidnapped Kaya, so now we’re off on another interplanetary foxhunt trying to find and rescue her, and look, it’s just… it’s been a lot, okay?” I let my arms drop. “I just… I didn’t expect life to be this hard, or complicated. I mean hell, it wasn’t this hard or complicated before Kaya joined us. I mean, not that I’m blaming her for it, and I wouldn’t trade it away, but it’s just… I just… I didn’t expect things to be this hard.”

His head has slowly come back around over the course of my rant, and after I trail off at the end, he gives a small huff through his muzzle, then flares one of his folded wings. It’s an invitation to come over, coupled with him actually turning his head to face me now, so I do so, lifting the lid of the basket and digging out one of the slabs of salmon as I do so.

“Sorry.” I sigh, offering him the slab of salmon, and he lowers his sleek head, mouth parting to hook it with his sharp teeth. “I just. Don’t know who to talk to about this, y’know? I mean, I know I could talk to the others, but they’d try to comfort me, or tell me that it’s gonna be okay, and I know it is, but I don’t need people telling me that. I just need someone to say yeah, that sucks and leave it at that.”

Four of his orange eyes swivel up to give me a flat look as he chomps down on the salmon, bites a couple times, and swallows.

“Yeah, yeah, I know, I’m rambling.” I say, rolling my eyes as I pull out the next slab of salmon and holding it out for him to take. “I should do less bitching and more taking action. Which I am, but… I don’t know. I’ve been getting together preparations for rescuing Kaya, but they’re the kind of preparations that Lysanne wouldn’t agree with. I’m having Ozzy upgrade the soul-stealing knife we nabbed from one of Grimes' cronies—”

Ravoc lets out a little rumble at Grimes’ name, before getting his teeth into the salmon slab and practically inhaling it.

“Yeah, exactly, screw that guy. Real asshole. Lysanne told me she’d thought about bringing you along for the rescue mission, but decided against it because a vorcruelian in the Primsex? That place is crawling with poachers that would’ve gone out of their way to get some vorcruelian parts.” I say, peering into the basket and digging around. “But anyway, Ozzy’s modifying the soul-stealing knife so I can use it to collect soul that I can feed to Kaya later. I can hear Lysanne now, telling me that makes me just as bad as Grimes, but Grimes was doing it for profit, you know? But I’m doing it to keep my mate alive—”

Ravoc’s ears go from laid back to flicking straight up, all six of his orange eyes widening inquisitively. “Oh, no no, I mean, my girlfriend is what I meant to say—” I amend hastily, but Ravoc just chuffs and thumps the side of his head against my chest, hanging his jaws open like he’s laughing. “Oh, yeah yeah yeah, laugh it up, why don’t you. I guess you’re not wrong, I am technically a claimed man.” I mutter, rubbing my hand over the smooth scales on the top of his head. “And she thinks we’re mates. I mean, we are mates, pretty much. We’ve been living in the same room for the last six months…”

He chuffs again, lowering his head and sniffing at my crotch, at least until I use my free hand to push him away. “Oi! Stobbit! My sex life is none of your business, thank you very much! Gosh, I forgot how much of a gremlin you could be. Here, you were hungry, right? Have one of those blue crabs.” I dig in the basket until I come up with one of the crustaceans, tossing it to him so he can snap it out of the air. “Anyway, I told Ozzy I’d only use the soul-stealing knife on the people that kidnapped Kaya. That sounds reasonable, right? Like if you kidnap people, you shouldn’t be surprised when someone attacks you with an unpleasant weapon.”

Ravoc crunches loudly on the crab, chomping again and again until the crustacean has been reduced to a masticated mess of shell fragments and crabmeat, swallowing it all in one go. One he’s done, he turns his head to examine me with three of his eyes, as if asking me whether I was trying to make excuses.

“Look, like— I know a soul-stealing knife is usually considered an immoral weapon, but maybe there are people that deserve to have it used on them.” I say, pulling the other blue crab from the basket and throwing it to him. “And besides, I’ve gotta feed Kaya. We have enough soul stored to keep her going for ten years, but that’s eventually gonna run out, and…” I heave a long sigh as I pull the trout out of the basket by the tail. “…I suppose that’s how it is, isn’t it? This is how it’s always gonna be. I’m always going to be looking for something that’ll keep her fed. And if it comes down to it, she can always feed on me, because I’ve got past lives aplenty, but… it isn’t fun, that’s for sure.”

His tongue shoots out to snag the trout as I flop it towards him, and he gets his teeth into it, sucking it into his mouth before tilting his head to the side at me while he munches.

“Well yeah, of course it’s worth it!” I reply quickly, reaching into the basket for the tilapia. “Don’t get me wrong, having my ancient soul nibbled on isn’t fun, but it’s a price I’d happily pay to keep being with her. And don’t give me that judgmental look! How is it any different than, say, a vampire and one of their lovers? Vampires feed on their partners all the time! Hell, there’s entire dramas built around the trope. It’s a whole genre! Clearly there’s a precedent for what Kaya and I have, so… yeah. It speaks for itself.”

Ravoc’s only answer to that is a skeptical snuff through his nose, but he snags the tilapia as I swing it towards him, and uses his tongue to pull it into his mouth. Afterwards, he moves out of sitting position, wading into the pool, hooking his claws under a flat rock, and scooting it along until he’s slid it out of the water and onto the sand. When I pull the fillet of red snapper out of the basket, he paws at the rock.

“Down here?” I ask, motioning to the rock. He stares at me expectantly, so I lay the fillet on the rock, then close the basket and set the red snapper down on it, before turning to wash my hands clean in the pool. While I’m doing that, Ravoc lays down on the sand, resting his nose right up against the flat rock and parting his jaws. Blue fire seeps between his teeth every time he exhales, quickly drying the wet rock and starting to heat it up.

“Oh, I see.” I say as I start to dry my hands off on my jeans. “You wanted to cook this one. Fair enough.” Getting up, I sit back down next to the basket, picking up the black notebook I’d brought with me. “I was also thinking of preparing some of the spells I wrote down after I was rescued from the Primsex. They’re spells that came from past lives, spells I only remember because Grimes tore a hole in the veil that separates my current life from all my past ones. I wrote them down at the time because I wanted to get them out of my head, to stop thinking about them, and I felt like writing it down gave me permission to forget it. And it did work, actually. Once I wrote down the ones I remembered, I felt like I could forget them again, because if I ever needed them, they would be written down somewhere I could go back to them.” I open the black notebook, skimming through the fevered, uneven writing. “Forgotten spells that have been lost to time and history, rediscovered and returned to use. But a lot of them were dark and cruel. I didn’t think I’d ever use them, didn’t want to consider it, but…”

Three of Ravoc’s eyes swivel towards me, though he doesn’t stop exhaling fire under and around the rock that his fish is on. I glance at him, then back to the notebook I’d filled with ancient spells. “All I’m saying is that when you have someone you love taken away from you, it… changes things. You start considering doing things you wouldn’t normally do, all in the name of getting them back. I’ve got war spells; I learned a good number of those, growing up as a witchling. But these spells…” I bounce the black notebook in my hand. “These are more than just war spells. Many of the spells that I wrote in here are for destruction, devastation, and annihilation. For wiping your enemies from existence, instead of merely defeating them. I never thought there’d be a good reason to use them, but for the people that kidnapped Kaya… that might be a good-enough reason for me. I’ve been considering it.”

By this point, the flat rock has entirely dried off, and is starting to glow a faint red as the red snapper fillet starts to sizzle atop it. Ravoc occasionally glances at me as he continues cooking the slab, but otherwise allows me to continue talking without much in the way of commentary.

“I suppose in the end, I just… I wonder why we have to go through this.” I say, flipping through a few more pages of the notebook before closing it. “Getting kidnapped by an evil, soul-stealing capitalist or having to rescue someone kidnapped by a mysterious group is a once-in-a-lifetime event, y’know? Most people go their entire lives without ever being kidnapped by anyone of any type. So when it happens to someone in your group, you figure that’s it, right? One kidnapping is enough for an entire lifetime. Yet here we are, dealing with a kidnapping less than a year later, and it’s just. Statistically unfair, you know? Like, we already paid our dues. We already dealt with a kidnapping. Why can’t they go do it to some else, in some other part of the galaxy?” I puff out a breath, laying the notebook down atop the basket as I fold my arms around my knees. “The universe needs to go pick on someone else for a while. It’s bullied me enough for one lifetime.”

Ravoc doesn’t give that a response, but he’s busy making sure that the red snapper is well cooked, taking turns breathing fire under the rock, or puffing little swirls of fire over the top of it. Eventually he sets his claws to it, and pushes the entire rock towards me, staring expectantly.

I look down at the sizzling fillet of red snapper. “Wait, for me? You were cooking it for me?”

Ravoc tucks his scaly paws up under his chest, loafing in place like a cat and still staring at me. Pulling my arms from around my legs, I snag my utility knife out of my pocket, flipping it open and using it to carefully cut a portion, sliding it onto the flat of the blade so I can lift it off the rock. “That’s really thoughtful of you. You didn’t have to do that for me.” I blow on the portion to cool it down a bit, then carefully pick it off the blade and pop it in my mouth. “Mhmm. Goddamn, that’s cooked to perfection. A little bit of seasoning and we would’ve had a proper dinner on our hands. I’ll have to marinate these next time I bring you fish. Like holy potatoes, you’re prolly a better cook than I am.”

Ravoc gives a pleased chuff, and I cut off another piece so I can toss it to him. “Here, you should enjoy your own work, too. Lysanne doesn’t know what she’s missing out on. Although she’d probably disapprove if she caught me marinating people food and feeding it to supposedly wild cat dragons instead. I’d probably catch an earful about how we’re Preservers and we’re not supposed to be domesticating wild creatures.” Cutting another chunk of the snapper, I lift it up and blow on it to cool it down, then glance at Ravoc. “Maybe we can make this our little secret instead. If you do the cooking, I’ll marinate the fish and get them seasoned, and we can have a little cookout here every month or so.”

His response to that is to let out another chuff, his long tail waving back and forth, with the fins on the end slapping against the ground. Taking that as an agreement, I start cutting up the rest of the snapper, tossing him pieces while eating a chunk for myself every now and then.

Event Log: Lysanne Arrignis

Dandelion Drift: Common Room

8:00pm SGT

“He was very insistent that I should learn how to use a pistol.” I say, rattling through the bottles in the cabinet. “Said that I needed to get over the Preserver pacifism and that I could learn a thing or two from Jazel.”

“Did Milor elaborate on exactly what you were supposed to learn from Jazel?” Dandy asks, coming around the counter in the common room.

“He didn’t specify, but it was implied that Jazel’s got a better instinct for violence than I do.” I say, coming up with a bottle of Marshy rum and looking it over. “As if that was something to be proud of.”

“An instinct for violence has benefits in certain situations.” Dandy says, placing a hand on the rum and giving me a gentle look. “But it has its downsides as well. Jazel is proof for both arguments.”

I give her a pout, but allow her to take the rum and put it back in the cabinet. She does a good job of helping temper my worse impulses… like drinking after an argument. “I mean, I get why Milor’s pushing it so hard. With what’s ahead of us, we might find ourselves in dangerous situations, and he wants us to be able to defend ourselves in those situations, since he doesn’t feel like our magic is reliable enough. On top of that, he was a Challenger, he’s got that soldier mindset, plus he’s a redneck, plus he’s a Venusian. Guns are just a part of his background and his culture. But that’s not my background and culture. I’m a Preserver; we do things differently.”

“Which is perfectly legitimate. He has his culture; you have yours. Have you tried explaining that to him?” she asks, closing the cabinet door.

“No, I didn’t think of that. We got a little heated.” I admit, rubbing at the back of my neck. “I’ll keep it in mind next time I have it out with him. With everything that’s happened over the past couple of weeks, I think everyone’s keyed up and stressed out. Tempers are short, especially with Jazel… he’s not handling it well.”

“That is to be expected. Having your romantic partner kidnapped is something that most people would find very upsetting.” Dandy says, moving around me to the fridge. “I seem to recall that Kaya was the same way when Jazel was kidnapped. Her behavior was very terse and demanding until we managed to get him back.”

“Yeah, but Kaya’s… like I hate to say it, but Kaya’s simple.” I say, turning around and leaning my hands on the counter. “She says exactly what’s in her head. No filter. When she’s upset, she tells you. She can’t lie to save her life, although it’s cute to watch her try, because she thinks she’s being clever, even though the rest of us can see right through it. But Jazel… when Jazel’s upset, you never know what he’s going to do. Like when CURSE pulled us off the Vissengard assignment a year ago? He got all sulky, then pulled a fast one and went down to Vissengard to take a last crack at Kaya on his own. Disobeyed direct orders, almost got himself killed, pissed off Grimes, got us barred from the surface of Vissengard, which put us in a bind because we’d left one of our skippers down there, which led to Kaya sneaking onto the Drift when Milor brought the skipper back, and that led to us getting into a spat with the Vaunted when they came looking for her, and—”

“Lysanne.” Dandy says, cutting me off as she rests a hand on the back of my neck, and sets down a glass of chocolate milk in front of me. I sigh, closing my eyes and reaching up to rest a hand over the one she’s got on the back of my neck.

“I’m just… worried, is all.” I say after a moment. “About what Jazel will do in the name of getting Kayenta back. Last year, when CURSE told us to back off the assignment, he ignored orders, broke rules, crossed lines, and deceived people just for a chance to see her one more time. And that was back when she barely knew him and was actively trying to kill him. Now that they’re together, in a relationship, and she’s been taken from him? I don’t think anything would be off the table for him, so long as it meant he could get her back.”

Dandy nudges the glass of chocolate milk towards me. “You don’t think he’ll listen to us if we tell him to exercise restraint?”

“I think he will, but only for a little while.” I say, taking the glass and sipping from it. “That’s always how it’s been with Jazel, even when we were kids. If he got fixed on something, then the most you could do was slow him down for a little while. Eventually, he’d find a way to give you a slip so he could go after whatever it was that he wanted to go after. It’s going to be the same here: we can tell him to exercise restraint, but if we’re not making progress on tracking down Kaya’s kidnappers, I’m worried he’s going to lose patience and cross lines that shouldn’t be crossed.”

“Well, we are making progress.” Dandy points out. “The Vaunted have given us the file on the Tinkerbelles, and we know what Ranter colony they were heading for. Once we catch up with them, we can get them to tell us who they were working with and who kidnapped Kaya. Letting Jazel know this should prevent him from taking any rash or independent action.”

“Yeah. I told him when I saw him, so I think that’s bought us some time, but with Jazel it’s hard to tell.” I say, running a hand through my hair. “That was the thing I suppose I was trying to get at earlier, when I was talking about Kaya having no filter. When she’s upset, she’ll tell you, and then she’ll tell you, right to your face, what she plans to do about it. Jazel doesn’t do that. He’ll tell you that he doesn’t agree with you, but he never says what he’s going to do about it.”

“Would you like me to monitor him?” Dandy offers.

I take a deep breath. “I always feel bad about saying yes to that, because it always feels like we’re treading the fine line of a miniature surveillance state. But considering what he’s done in the past… yes, if you can monitor his activities while he’s on the ship, I would appreciate that. It may not stop him if he decides to run off on his own, but at least it’ll give us some advance warning.”

“I’ll start doing that, then.” Dandy says. “And now, you should try to relax. You’ve had a long day, and you’re stressed out. I can feel the tension in your neck.”

I smile a little, closing my fingers around the hand she’s got on the back of my neck. “It’s that bad, huh?” I look down at the chocolate milk, then give her a raised eyebrow. “And this was supposed to be better for me than some Marshy rum?”

“The sugar content is perhaps a little high, but at least you won’t be inebriated, and milk offers calcium content and nutrients that alcohol lacks.” Dandy points out. “It was a healthier alternative that still offered something in the way of taste.”

“Well, I suppose I can’t argue with that.” I say, taking another sip from the glass. “You’re right, though. Relaxing does sound nice. I’d like to just lay down and turn off my brain for a bit.”

“Let’s head back to your room and do that, then. I have some rudimentary modules on massage therapy that may be able to help ease some of the tension in your neck and your upper back.” Dandy says, taking her hand off the back of my neck. “That should help relax you enough to sleep well tonight.”

“That, and having a cute redhead in my bed.” I say, pushing away from the counter with my glass. “I find I sleep a lot better when I have one of those to snuggle up to.”

Dandy smiles, following me out from behind the counter. “Wherever will you find one of those, I wonder? I cannot imagine they are a very common occurrence.”

“Oh, I’m sure I’ll be able to find one. I heard there’s one on this ship; she’s a real sweetheart, and practically holds everything together…”