Young Writers Society

Red

The bar was seemingly uneventful, a large droid, two women, and the bartender were turning my mood sour; I was hoping for a bit more socialisation. I gulped down my drink and jumped from the stool. I marked my target: the door. In the blink of an eye, I ran straight to the doorway, many people astonished at my speed. I laughed, before exiting the club.

Project 98

After the pathetic attempt of a chase with Mercury, I decided to get back inside the club, perhaps wind '100 up a bit. The faces of many unwelcomed me, remembering my trouble-stirring face. I noted the girl named Lola, as well as the familiar bartender. I casually took the stool next to my fellow project, and ordered a strong 'Gear Grinder', '100 attempted to avoid my stare. I laughed, hugging him and punching his shoulder in jest, he then pushed me away. "Come on '100, what's the matter? Couldn't get the little girl to talk. Aaaaaaaaaah, poor Project" I taunted.

He gestured to me, raising his middle finger. I laughed. "Actually" he replied "I got this" he held up a small flashing chip.

I snatched it from him, then stared at him. "Storage device, so..." then it clicked. An evil smile spread across my robotic face. "Mission brief?" I grinned.

"I don't know" he answered "I'll have to analyse it when we get back to HQ."

I nodded in success, and he snatched it back from me. I took a gulp of my drink.

Ariele

I sat back down at the bar, face burning. I wasn't completely sure what I'd said to Mr. White, but his parting word resonated clearly in my head.
You're just not the agent she is.
It hurt. And it wasn't true! I was the best transporter in San Monique before the Agency set up their base there. Still, I guess if this blue girl wears next to nothing she's automatically so much better. I'll see her infiltrate the Army, then maybe she can say she's half as good as me. Mr. White knows that. That's why he contacted me in the first place.
And besides, pretty drunk.
"Something up?" the barkeep asked. I looked at him through slitted eyes.
"If there was a prize for the most perceptive bartender in the galaxy, you just won."
"If there was a prize for the most touchy transporter agent in the galaxy, so did you." he replied. I felt myself colour.
"How do you know that?" I stood, trying to look him in the eye.
"Because you just shouted it in the middle of a nightclub." he replied. I shook my head in disbelief.
Maybe I wasn't the best after all...

Inez

Ambassadors for the planet. Secret Agents. Saviours of the colony.

That's what we were supposed to be, but I highly doubted it. We were glorified lab mice, sent to explore space under the guidance of their solar system's Peace Fleet. Our small human colony was comparatively primative, still in the days of the combustion engine. They had sent Jay, Gabe, and I on this mission because we had accidentally made friends with the Admiral of the Peace Fleet. Now, we were here in this nightclub, seeking out somebody with crucial information about the attack on our planet. We just had no idea who.

We sat on bar stools and Jay asked the bartender for something mild for the three of us. I fidgeted uncomfortably in my tight black suit. The blue stripes down the sides lit up. "You guys are so lucky you get to wear something halfway normal," I complained.

"I don't think yours is so bad," Jay said, slyly eyeing me.

"Hey, knock it off!" I turned the other way and rested my forearm on the bar. "So, Gabe, how are you doing?"

"Actually Inez, that suit is kind of distracting," he said, looking down so I could see the crown of his bright orange hair.

"See? Why can't I just wear plain jeans and t-shirts and vests like you guys?" I threw my hands up and spun around. I crossed my arms and looked around at the beings in the club, wondering which of them was the Admiral's contact.

Aster

As Addy and I entered the club, I noticed a girl in a distracting suit sitting with two friends at the bar. "There," I said to Addy, pointing. "Those three." Our mission, as the Admiral of the Peace Fleet had explained, was to pass sensitive information to a group of three human colonists. He had told us that one of them would be wearing a suit with glowing blue stripes. ...He had told Addy all this, at least. Although I was the senior officer on the mission, the Peace Fleet Admiral had basically ignored me. This happened a lot--many beings, human or otherwise, are averse to the idea of artificial intelligence. It is rare for an android to achieve officer status, and I was often bluntly reminded of this.

Addy and I walked over to the bar. I sat down on a barstool and addressed the group of three. "Greetings," I said cordially. "I am Lieutenant Commander Aster, and this is Science Officer Addy Barlow. You are Gabe, Jay, and Inez, I presume?"

Project 98

Three odd humans approached the bar, rather suspicious and silent. I peered over at them, interested as to who they were and what they were doing exactly. '100 stared at me oddly. "Something wrong '98?" he inquired. I nodded my head at the group, and '100 laughed. "You can't be suspicious of everyone '98, honestly".

I dismounted from my stool and took a seat at one of the crystal white tables; which were purple in appearance due to the lighting of the club. I sighed in my robotic tone, waiting for something interesting to happen.

Kualat

A large group clustered at the bar; from their conspiratorial tones, I figured they could be meeting in secret. It almost made me laugh- nobody ever considered that the bartender might be listening.
Not that I had any real interest in the information they might be trading. Instead, I merely strode across to where they were sitting and proceeded with the pleasantries;
"Any drinks?"

Inez

"Good evening, Lieutenant Commander. Officer. That would be us," I said to the robotand the other man. I tried to stop my nervous shaking, as the stupid suit was creating a light show around the bar.
"What have you got for us?" asked Jay with a show of confidence, the likes of which I was unable to muster.
"The rouge Altheans are up to their old tricks," said the bot, "This time they have a weapon called the Blizzard Viking Zero, capable of freezing over your entire planet." Gabe, Jay and I looked at him with various mixes of anger, fear, shock, and annoyance.
"What are we supposed to do?" said Gabe, almost as jittery as me. "That's not the whole message, is it?" I wouldn't have sent the three of us on a mission anywhere. The last time we saved our world, it was a complete accident.
The bar tender appeared behind us. "Any drinks?"
I jumped, and turned to look at him. Taking the opportunity to collect myself, I said, "Sure. What have you got that's mild?"

Kualat

I smiled, my gaze flicking between each of the assembled.
"I'll surprise you, I suppose." I said, turning to pour a variety of different drinks; Gin and tonic, prime poulus, whiskey, and a few spur-of-the-moment cocktails.
"Try what you like," I slid the shots over to the assembled, "Just ask if you want another."
I left them to it, and had a go at remembering the cocktails I had made for the group before moving on to serve some of the other patrons, bored out of my skull.

Aster

"Nothing for me," I said to the bartender. "You're right, that's not the whole message," I added, turning back to Inez. "As you probably guessed, we are not from the Peace Fleet; we are from the Interplanetary Federation. However, we have detected several Althean ships just beyond our border in the Norma Arm of the galaxy."

"Also, we recently lost contact with one of our colonies," Addy continued, leaning her elbows on the bar. "It was on the desert planet Aurin. We haven't heard from them in six days. The Federation doesn't have enough ships to spare for an investigation, but long-range sensors are showing dramatic climate change. We think the Altheans may have tested their Blizzard Zero...whatever it is...on Aurin."

"Our captain is planning on conducting a smaller investigation," I added. "He was hoping to include you or someone else from the Peace Fleet. You have had more experience with the Altheans, and since your planet is not part of the Federation, we will not be making any final decisions."

In the milliseconds before Inez replied, I glanced at the bartender. He had most likely been listening, but his calm expression indicated indifference to what we were saying. He was not from a Federation planet, nor did he resemble the Peace Fleet staff, so none of this would matter to him. After putting a bottle of whiskey back on the shelf, he walked to the other side of the bar, confirming my conjecture.

"Has your Admiral told you anything else?" Addy asked Inez. "He didn't tell us much, that's for sure."

Inez

My gaze swept across the collection of drinks sitting in front of me. I picked up a glass of iridescent blue liquid and took a sip or two. Not bad.

"She didn't tell us much more," said Jay, swirling a red drink in a martini glass. Foggy vapour rose from it, making Jay cough. "Basically," he continued, "She knows our planet is in danger through a brief communique. However, we three do know a bit about the Altheans from our last... adventure."

I smirked. "Adventure is one way to put it. Anyway, the Altheans feed on emotions. One group had farmed our colony for years without us knowing it. Most of the population feeds on joy, but the rogues feed on fear. When they do, they lose bone structure and exist as a gelatinous mass. The last time the Peace Fleet stopped them, they had a weapon capable of destroying our planet."

"Did we ever find out if it actually worked, or was it just meant to scare us?" said Gabe, looking at me. He took a drink out of a tall glass.

"I don't think we were ever told," I said, "But we were lead to believe it worked. Do you think this Blizzard Viking Zero is a similar situation?" I directed my question to everyone in the group.

Aster

"Most likely," I said, in response to Inez's question about the Blizzard Viking Zero weapon. "Advanced civilizations, especially aggressive ones, do not often bluff about military capabilities. It is far more likely for such a civilization to withhold information about military strength, to maintain the option of surprise. I would not doubt that the Altheans are capable of destroying planets."

"You said they feed on emotions," Addy mused. "Do you mean emotional energy, or the mind itself? That could affect which officers we'll choose for an investigation. If you're talking about emotional energy, for example, we'd want to pick people who are very good at staying calm and passive. If it's the mind, though, we'd want to pick the strongest officers, intellectually and emotionally. Aster would fit into both categories, given the tangible nature of his mind; plus, he can turn his emotion program off."

I glanced around again before Inez replied. The bartender had stopped paying attention our conversation--Addy's science jargon could do that--and although two robots piqued my interest for about a millisecond, they were distracted as well. I normally wouldn't discuss IF strategy in a crowded night club, but Inez, Jay, and Gabe seemed comfortable enough...

Inez

I paused to think about her suggestion. Gabe didn't say anything either, and even Jay was silent for the moment. Faint chatter and occasional laughter from other customers drifted to my ears. Bass lines pounded from the dance floor. That, the smoky air, and my PTSD kept me from thinking straight.

I shook my head to clear out the invading memories. "I don't know. They usually feed from a distance, so it seems like emotional energy. But - " I choked up. The boys looked at me with concern. "Jordan," I managed to tell them. Tears, stay back, I commanded, and they grudgingly listened.

Gabe nodded. "One rogue fed on a bunch of our friends in their sleep, though. He, uh..." Gabe couldn't finish either. We looked at each other, and with a few practiced deep breaths, kept the tears at bay.

"He killed them," said Jay, looking at his drink, then back at the officer. "Wouldn't that suggest that they fed on the mind itself?"

Aster

Inez's eyes had teared up, and Jay had to finish her sentence for her. "He killed them," Jay said. "Wouldn't that suggest that they feed on the mind itself?"

Addy began to reply, but I was concentrating on Inez. She was staring down at her drink, and when she breathed, she shook. I thought about what Counselor Vesper had told me--that I would do almost the exact same things when I thought about Astraea.

Astraea.

The thought of her name sent a cold chill down my spinal column. I inhaled sharply and looked down. My hands were visibly shaking. I glanced around wildly, suddenly full of nervous energy.

"Hey," Addy said to me, grabbing my hands. "Aster, it's okay. She's not here. No one's here. Captain Swan took care of that, remember?"

Addy held onto my hands as she addressed Inez, Jay, and Gabe again. "I'm inclined to think that they feed on the mind," she said. "Theoretically, that could be done from a distance by controlling quantum tunneling, but I'd have to run a few tests to be sure." She broke off, the shadows of sadness on their faces finally getting the better of her. "I'm sorry about your friends," she sighed. "But...if it helps...I think the worst part of it is us--the people they leave behind." She bit her lip--probably thinking about the Scelians' victims from the Endeavor.

Inez.

I nodded. The music, and probably the drink, throbbed in my head. The jumpsuit was restricting the bloodflow to various parts of my body. On top of it all, I would probably break down and cry as soon as we got in our spacepod. "Thank you," I said. "We had best be going. We've recieved the necessary information from each other, and I think it's past Gabe's bedtime." I nudged him in jest. The three of us stood up, and laughs and handshakes were exchanged all around.
"Any chance I could get you to wear that suit more often?" asked Jay with a sideways glance.
"No way!" I laughed as we headed for the door.