Chương 16: Arrival arc

"Every faction in this galaxy specializes in something. For the Toncon Theocracy, it is gravity. Their god has been fair in its bargains, and their understanding of the natural force has benefited greatly. Be it militarily, industrial, commercial or more, the Theocracy utilizes their deep understanding of gravity to great personal benefit." An introduction to the wider galaxy, chapter seven. The last time Mat had spoken with Obedias, it had been a casual, almost relaxed affair, involving only the two of them.

Now Mat stepped out of his domus to see the sight of a dozen guards waiting for him, alongside six droids. Mat smiled, which caused two of the younger-looking guards to grip their weapons. It had only been a month since he had killed Richard, but Mat supposed surviving another six deathmatches between then and now invited a certain caution. Not necessarily for his skill, or so Tobi had insisted. No, that was still solidly in the 'pretty good' category. It was his growth that was concerning people.

Local Omniscience had continued to be as bullshit as the name implied, especially after he got better at relying on that set of instantaneous information. One of the guards stepped up, and in her hand was a remote. Big, visible and probably wholly unnecessary, it did make for a good visual reminder.

"You will follow us. You will not attack, harm or kill anyone. You will not attempt to flee or otherwise distance yourself from us. Deviate from these instructions, and I have been authorized to activate the bomb currently embedded in your spine."

"Sure," Mat replied. You could only be threatened with death so often before it just kind of fell flat, and this display of heavy-handed intimidation only made them seem more afraid.

"Ready when you are." The guard nodded, curt and businesslike, then turned to leave. Mat followed easily enough, since honestly, they seemed kind of cute. Oh, they could overpower him even without the kill switches in his body, but all this for little old him? It was almost flattering. Almost. Which led him here, once again sitting across from Obedias. The room hadn't changed, but the man did seem somewhat more tense. Still tall and broad, the man leaned on his desk, hands clasped in front of his mouth.

After a long moment, the man spoke.

"You seem to have acclimatized well, Mister Brook. Better than most."

"Survival is a strong motivator," Mat replied, tilting his head. He and Nova had run through this potential conversation a thousand times, and mild confusion was the way to go.

"Why am I here?" Four guards had entered the office, one of which moved just behind Mat. He knew the man bristled with rage, and he suspected much of that came from fear. So the gun rose, and the stock of the weapon smashed hard against Mat's shoulder. He had seen it coming, of course. He could see everything coming, though that didn't mean he could stop it all. This one, though, maybe he could have grabbed, pulled the guard closer, and taken the weapon from him. But it wasn't the time, so Mat let the blow land.

Mat grunted, half buckling forward, and that was the only reaction he allowed himself. Then he rolled his eyes, projecting calm.

"Temper-temper. And don't you usually snap something to go with the violence? Something like 'speak with respect, boy!', or perhaps a few derogatory curses?" The man stepped closer, but Obedias held up a hand. Mat was surprised at the lack of concern in his eyes, and it clicked. Obedias wanted to see how he would react when threatened. Shouldn't the man know? Or did he not trust the countless hours of footage he no doubt had? A paranoid man might very well not like relying on kind of sapient AIs.

"Leave us," Obedias commanded. The man stepped back, as did his three fellows. No droids, another interesting tidbit. The door closed some seconds later, and Obedias straightened.

"I apologize. He will be reprimanded."

"For doing what you told him to do? That seems harsh." A glimmer of amusement shone in Obedias' eyes.

"You're a sharp man, Mister Brook. I wonder if you might turn that sharpness to a curiosity of mine." Well, that was ranked near the top of things Mat hoped not to hear the man say. He had stories for most of his past, these days, thanks to Tobi being happy to talk about pretty much anything, but those were just that. Stories. The vastness of space helped, but if Obedias truly went digging, he wouldn't find Mat. Or worse, he would find Mat in a very old, very well preserved archive.

Old Earth, as it was apparently called, still very much existed. As a museum, that is, because humanity had broken the planet beyond habitability. Typical.

"And what curiosity would that be?" Mat asked.

"I doubt I have access to even a fraction of the resources at your disposal." Obedias actually rolled his eyes.

"Flattery is unnecessary, Mister Brook, and more to the point, not what I want from you. But rest assured that I am not an unreasonable man. You seek no comfort in flesh, wealth or status, so instead I offer you this; be truthful with me now, and you may select four people. These four will not be required to fight a so-called death match for the next two years." Mat hesitated.

The obvious but unspoken part was that if he refused, the people he cared about very much would be required to fight death matches, but if Obedias was willing to bargain even when holding all the cards, the man didn't actually have all the cards.

"What do you want to know?" The man nodded, as if that was the only possible way this conversation could have gone.

"Overconfident", Nova whispered.

"Arrogance."

"I have a report of your capture. The ship you were on stole something for me, so I retrieved it. You were not the target, though by now I'm sure you're aware I loathe to throw away a potential resource. I did, however, verify the ship's logs. You were not supposed to be there. In fact, you simply… appeared." You damaged the AI of that ship, right?

"I did," Nova replied.

"It was a simple creature. Stupid and cheap. He couldn't have gotten much." Mat shrugged.

"He and I had a disagreement, things got out of hand. I'm sure you saw that much. I infected the ship with something that its seller assured me would take control. Did it?"

"It did," Obedias said.

"That doesn't explain how you appeared, or why your relationships with your captain turned violent." What was his name again? Nova whispered it, and Mat shrugged again.

"Felip got paid to bring me somewhere, and then he changed the destination. I only found out once we were already in the tunnel, though I suppose that makes sense if he was carrying stolen goods. I didn't appear anywhere, and I love that we're pretending that you didn't abduct me, by the way, and aren't currently holding me as a slave."

"The universe is a hard place," the man replied, waving his hand dismissively.

"Now, you may already know this, but I do not own the Duras Entertainment Network. In fact, I run an independent operation, and I shall return honesty with honesty: I like it that way. It gives me complete authority over all people on this ship, but that comes with a cost. Do you know what that cost is?" Not really, but he could guess.

"You're a small player in a very big galaxy?"

"That too," the man allowed. Guessed wrong, then.

"Though perhaps not as small as you may be imagining. Not what I was getting at. No, the real problem is that I lack the kind of raw capital necessary to take multiple financial hits. Running an illegal business, I can assure you, is far from cheap, nor without risk."

"I can't help with that."

"You can't, no. But perhaps you can explain to me why Federation spooks are so very interested in the ship that my people found you on. A ship from which you are the only survivor, and which contained nothing that would even remotely interest the kind of people looking for it." It took every inch of skill, every moment of practice for him not to freeze at that. Nova had been created by LandTech, not the Federation, but actual spies would hardly care to tell the truth.

Obedias was watching him, too, but with a mild, uncaring shrug, Mat managed to speak calmly.

"Federation spooks have nothing to do with me. Or you, for that matter."

"They indeed should not have anything to do with either of us," Obedias replied, seemingly relaxing. Mat knew better than to let his guard down, but he let out a mental sigh of relief.

"Very well, then. Return to your domus, and perform as you are able. In a few years, you might have earned enough steel tokens to make a bid for your freedom." Mat stood, turning away and not believing that for a moment. Oh, apparently bladeslaves really could earn their freedom, but Obedias wouldn't be as satisfied as he pretended. No. The man would tear the ship Mat had woken up on apart, and when he inevitably found nothing, the focus would turn back to him.

Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.

"Or he could decide to give up and turn himself in!" Nova added brightly. The sarcasm was so thick Mat could almost feel it.

"Hey, he might be looking for something else. Your ego is getting out of control, has anyone told you that? It is. Federation spooks. Bah. Why would they care about you?" They don't, Nova. I'm just the meatsuit that their priceless prototype bonded with. Nova paused, sarcasm fading.

"Well, let's not go putting ourselves down now. You're very good at killing. With my help, of course, but yes, you make an excellent energy provider. Better than anyone else I've met except for Bea, Stef and twenty one others. And hey, you thought about using local omniscience and me being able to read your memory to make me act like a watchdog while you sleep!

Which was kind of insulting, and didn't work because the radius was too small and there's a delay because it's not my perk—and me waking you up is actually pretty hard—but you thought about it!" Mat snorted, then rolled his eyes when the guards outside proved even tenser than before. The droids, at least, weren't cowardly mercenaries, and as unfailingly polite as always. Well, almost always.

"I think I'm done with your fourth level perks, by the way," Nova offered. Mat had hit the required energy for that after his last deathmatch, but Nova had wanted to take some time to practice.

"Now, I can't make you choose one or the others, not the least of which being that it would defeat the point of taking advantage of human creativity, but one is more important than the others. Vitally important, one might even say. Here, have a looksee." Juggernaut. Happy cosmic lifeline, happy life. This will increase your connection to life in a manner I frankly don't entirely understand.

Point being, wounds heal a little quicker, you bleed out slower, and your body might occasionally decide to ignore biology and keep functioning instead. Silence, brand. You know what's better than armor? Not getting hit in the first place. Of course, having armor while not getting hit is even better, just in case you fuck up. This perk makes your footsteps quieter, your disgusting human body odor less notable and even your very form just that little bit harder to see. Disappointed?

Well they can't all be bangers, alright? It takes a lot of energy to even partially erase you from existence without erasing you alongside it. Who's a good boy? I'm a good boy! Feed all the delicious, bountiful energy straight back into your favorite AI companion. In this case, it will make me more capable of interacting with cold, rigid software, making me what most movies refer to as a hacker. I wonder what that might be useful for, here on this ship run by other AIs and filled with many droids and machines.

Adrenal overload. Adrenaline is a hell of a drug, pun fully intended. This makes it more effective, less tiring to use, and… and why am I still talking? If you take anything but the good boy perk, I'll never speak to you again. Pick the good boy perk, Mat. Yes, that's the name. This perk actually does some very interesting conceptual stuff, but while useful, it won't really help us survive Obedias' attention. So pick the good boy perk, Mat. Stop reading, skip up two perks, and pick it.

I'm not railroading you, shut up. Mat resisted the urge to roll his eyes, picking the good boy perk. Juggernaut in particular looked very interesting, but Nova was right. Being a better killer would just make Obedias more likely to kill him, not help them survive. He could almost feel Nova inhale all the energy, no doubt using it to do all kinds of impressive, impossible things.

Hell, Mat hadn't forgotten that his black blood—he still wasn't quite used to that—was filled with an almost uncountable, basically undetectable number of nanobots, which at one point had been able to mostly lift a body. At level four, they might be a lot stronger. Not that he could test that out. And if things went to plan— Mat pulled his mind away, casting his thoughts to Nova instead. This perk would do little for himself, if not nothing, but that was kind of the point.

It was hard to find power that was both invisible and useful, not to mention actually discreet to use. Nova modifying himself to interact more easily with so-called cold tech was an easy solution. Only one more thing was needed, which — Mat grunted in annoyance, which to his mild amusement had one of the guards almost trip over his own feet. Rookies. Still, that whole expectation thing was getting real old, real fast.

"I— I can feel everything," Nova said, awestruck. The AI cleared his throat.

"Well, alright, not really, but my structure has been realigned to better interact with cold tech. Or any other types of tech, for that matter. Oh yes, this will do nicely. I'll need to practice." Nova's attention fled, probably to do whatever he usually did when not watching the world through Mat's eyes. That was fine. The domus appeared after a few minutes, and he went through the usual chambers before entering the space proper, leaving the guards behind.

There was no group to greet him, but Tobi and Tim did push off the wall where they had been talking. Those two were getting along well, which was good.

"You're not dead. Disappointing. What did daddy Obi want, then?"

"I could always spit in his face, if you'd like. That'll probably do it," Mat replied dryly. Tobi grinned, while Tim turned white.

"Relax, I won't spit in his face. What did I miss?"

"Reg took on a new project, now that Timmy boy here is settled. Yon asked me to tell you to go fuck yourself, by the way. Mind filling me in?" Mat rolled his eyes.

"I asked him if he was willing to spar as friends rather than me paying him. He'll come around. Tim, how's the sparring going?"

"Not good enough for us to train again," the man denied, tone quick.

"I want to crunch the numbers first."

"Crunch the what now?" Tim tilted his head.

"I never told you? I used to be an accountant. My thing is numbers, not swords."

"Huh. Alrighty then." Mat shrugged.

"Anyway, make sure to keep practicing, alright? I know it sucks, but getting your teeth kicked in out there sucks much, much more." The man nodded, paling again. Eh, Tim would be fine. He had a better survival instinct than Dave did, and on top of that, actually seemed willing to recognize how much his life had changed. That mattered more than aptitude. Though admittedly, Dave had lacked that as well.

"So," Mat said, turning to Tobi.

"Why are you stalking me like a scorned lover?"

"Because you went on your scary talk with the big man upstairs, and Reg thought you might want to see a friendly face when you got back?"

"And so Tim is here. What do you want?" Tobi scoffed, rolling his shoulder.

"Big talk. Want to take this to the ring?" Mat almost took him up on that, but truthfully, he wasn't in the mood. Tobi seemed to pick up on that, and his grin dimmed. Mat shrugged, turning and starting to move back to their cell. Tim, he noted, didn't follow. Reg was already inside when he arrived, slowly working his way through a bowl of slop. The man smiled, offering a seated bow.

"How did it go, my friend?"

"Well enough," Mat replied.

"I'm still alive, but apparently the ship Obedias found me on was crewed by someone who stole from him. Wish I'd known that before getting on."

"Crime is unavoidable, even in the theocracy. Come, sit. Have lunch. We should have a moment of privacy, the three of us." Tobi glanced at the room, then nodded. Mat frowned. Privacy in what way? The fact that Obedias was always hearing every word, and seeing every moment, was somewhat common knowledge, but even Mat wasn't sure how deep that went. Not too deeply, surely. Even if the man could, parsing that much information would be a challenge, even with high level AIs.

Or Reg knew they weren't being listened to, somehow. Mat couldn't possibly be the only one with secrets. Reg filled two more bowels with slop, handing them out before picking up his own. Mat sat, eyes flickering to the somewhat tense Tobi.

"Just so you know, I will defend myself. Just in case this has all been leading up to the world's most elaborate betrayal." He would have a pretty good chance, too. In quarters this close local omniscience shined, though two on one was always a risk. Tobi snorted, and Reg rolled his eyes.

"Nothing that extreme," the man assured.

"We just want to extend a cordial invitation to the resistance." Mat blinked.

"Pardon?"

"Resistance," Tobi offered.

"The refusal to accept or comply with something. In this case, it refers to the fact that we don't particularly like being slaves, and thus resist the continued efforts put into the—""I know what resistance means, you half-boiled meatloaf. How many people?" Reg shrugged lightly.

"In this domus? Eighty four. Eight five if you join. Overall, it's harder to say. We don't have much contact with the rest of the ship. A few hundred. Enough that more will join when the time comes."

"And you're in charge of it?" Mat asked.

"Please don't say it's Tobi." Tobi scoffed, insulted, but Reg only shook his head.

"We don't have leaders, so to speak, but I am an influential member. Frankly, we lack outside support. Something that can remove the bombs, globeleashes and other such abhorrent devices from our bodies. Without that, any attempt is dead on arrival."

"There's always the doctors? If they put it in us, they can take it out." Tobi yawned.

"Except those are well guarded, and all attempts to steal from them have failed. We've tried smuggling in parts from outside excursions like the one you went on, kidnapping one of the droids to strip them for parts—though we do have a blueprint—finding sympathetic and or bribable guards, getting help from those who have been freed, and a dozen other things. Let's skip over the part where you give us a bunch of ideas we've already tried."

"Peace," Reg soothed.

"The refusal of new ideas is the death of progress. I would be more than happy to go over everything we, and our predecessors, have tried. For now, however, we were hoping this show of trust would be… reciprocated." Mat hesitated, then squashed that impulse. If either of them were informants for Obedias, he was already fucked anyway, and if they weren't, he had to trust somebody.

"I am working on something, but I can't talk about it."

"Can't?"

"Can't," Mat repeated.

"If I do, it won't work. But if it does, it will solve your biggest problem." Tobi frowned.

"That's rather vague. I like you, but I'm not sure I like you that much."

"Faith," Reg mused.

"Yes, I suppose I can take your word on faith. I assume it has something to do with your other, let's call them oddities?" Mat sighed.

"It does, but that I won't talk about. Partly because that is a much, much bigger problem than Obedias, and party because it won't help. Ask me again when we're free."

"Then we are done here," Reg said, cutting off whatever Tobi had been about to say.

"Opportunities to speak freely are rare, and I do not wish to test our luck. Come, let us eat and speak of more pleasant things. Tobi, you told a tale this morning about your niece. I would love to hear more." Tobi paused, then complied, and Mat slowly relaxed as the conversation flowed. He wasn't alone. That had always been unlikely, but now there was proof. Real, physical proof that he wouldn't be alone when the time came. That it wouldn't just be him and Nova against the whole wide world. We're not alone.

Afterword Patreon (No current advanced chapters for this story) Discord