Young Writers Society

Who
You are one of the victims of this incident. For whatever reason, you were travelling on Taxzi Craft XIIV3E, trying to get somewhere. You could be human or some other intelligent lifeform; after all, there are many strange creatures in the universe. Humans have also evolved in strange ways...

What
Taxzi Craft XIIV3E is a large spaceship designed with public transport in mind. It contains emergency resources and other useful equipment. However, you will not remain stranded within this spacecraft for long...

Where
To your greatest knowledge, you have been ejected out of the wormhole and are now in deep space — an empty wilderness that has many lurking surprises. In the 20 millennia of its neglect, secret happenings have fostered in the void between galaxies, unbeknown to galactic civilisations. You, along with the others aboard Taxzi Craft XIIV3E, are about to discover these mysteries first-hand as you try to survive.



Character Template

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[b]Name:[/b]
[b]Species:[/b]
[b]Age:[/b]
[b]Gender:[/b]

[b]Appearance:[/b]

[b]Personality:[/b]

[b]Strengths:[/b]

[b]Weaknesses:[/b]

[b]Brief Backstory:[/b] (include why you character was travelling on Taxzi Craft XIIV3E)

[b]Other:[/b]

It felt like being torn apart; the Taxzi Craft screamed with tension inside the singularity, inside a godly blackness. Between the forms of fellow passengers brilliant blurs of what could only be starlight splattered across Tephra’s vision, as she debated whether this abstract agony adhered to regular wormhole procedure. Reality stretched lengthways as if composed of mere elastic; vast forces were at play. Tephra knew it. She knew she was being wrenched away from something, the same way gravity tore objects from the sky – the way she’d wrenched herself from the guilt of her life on Darr. Indefinitely, spectacularly, the public transport spacecraft thrashed within a cosmic storm – a spec at the mercy of great indifference, and the thought excited Tephra when it should have terrified her. She might have laughed if she could.

As soon as it began, they were released… cast into openness… Stillness…

Whatever the hell the travellers had gone through, it had passed, leaving Taxzi Craft XIIV3E to amass its confused aftermath of bodies and recovering lights; they flickered back to life like dazed eyelids, contrasting the void on the other side of the spacecraft windows.

Tephra, soon regaining spatial orientation, noted that she leaned on top of another passenger, who in the turmoil had half-toppled off their allocated pod chair. The short, young-looking alien woman Tephra squashed had barely spoken the entire journey (once only, to kindly offer Tephra an obscure fluorescent mint, which, out of pure curiosity, had been accepted). This unsocial agreement had suited Tephra fine until now, because before, the alien had been moving and very noticeably alive. The fact that she rested motionless to one side, her cool-hued hair curtaining the blue tinge of her face, unsettled Tephra more than was comfortable… equally unsettling were the horns protruding from her head; those were some impressive horns.

Tephra pushed herself off the alien woman and stood. An overwhelming surge of motion sickness made her lurch and grasp the chair back in front of her, painfully clenched, but the nausea subsided a moment later. She reached out to the alien woman and gave her a nudge. “Hey, you alive?” Tephra asked, nudging impatiently. “Horn lady, hey…”

The alien passenger turned, giving Tephra a visible fright. “Hm? Are you okay?” asked the alien, apparently more worried about Tephra than herself. Her purple irises glowed in between the steadying flutter of light overhead.

Well at least she wasn’t dead – or unconscious for that matter. Tephra exhaled, and a wave of complexity exhaled with it. “Yeah, fine. Do you know if what just happened is normal?”

“It’s not.” A different voice, this one male, responded from nearby in the compartment.

Bent between two rows of pod chairs in the opposite aisle, swaying a little, the voice owner eyed Tephra with languished attention. His dark copper skin, assuredly human, was interrupted by a tattooed right arm and a robotic prosthetic attached to his lower left, both of which supported his bewildered stance. Maybe Tephra also looked as disjointed; maybe a part of her really had been ripped apart, and she would be eternally lacking, if only she could identify what called to be missed.

She sent the man a look that encouraged an explanation.

“I travel often for work, and nothing ever happened like that. Wormholes don’t feel like anything, usually.” Behind his gaze Tephra could see his mind buzzing, grasping for possibilities. “From what I know, this kind of incident has never occurred before.”

Never? The notion tapped at Tephra’s head but failed to get in.

“That is correct.” Another voice, belonging to a black-haired male of standard, if not dullish human appearance, interjected. “Since the 20.137 millennia of Taxzi Craft operations, and the 138 model updates of Taxzi Crafts, not a single reporting of disappearance or significant malfunction exists in any database as of 1.76 hours ago Human Standard Time.” The man looked around at them, his features static, and awkwardly lifted one hand to his chin. A thinking pose. “Hmm… This is not good,” he added.

No it wasn’t, and neither was the believability of the man’s pose. Tephra yearned to look around, to get a better view of outside. The compartment stirred with passengers, with questions and unease. Tephra stirred with guilty adventure.

She had already shuffled her way around the young alien woman when the chime of the compartment speakers introduced a message from the Taxzi Craft’s control room:



What followed was a quiet unlike any Tephra had felt before. Passengers glanced at passengers, as if seeing each other for the first time. The view outside the windows became heavier, solemn. Foreboding, suddenly.

If Tephra had desired the world beyond the compartment before, she more than ever desired it now. The words of the announcement echoed behind each footstep she took to the inner door. She didn’t care. She needed to know. To see for herself.

“Where are you going?” said a young woman standing near the door. She stood tall, featuring a dark purple bob and a scar running up her right cheek. But Tephra’s focus had landed on the imposing set of body armour she wore, as per usual instinct.

Tephra stared her down, hesitant. “None of your business.”

The woman’s tricky expression came undone only by her golden eyes, which gleamed with amusement. Her silence permitted Tephra to leave without further interruption.

And so she did.

Astrid was being jostled around and she had no clue as to what was happening. There was no reason for her to be taking a nap, but the previous night she hadn't gotten any sleep, for Astrid was busy working on a small project of hers. But the way The Taxzi Craft was moving, she had a gut feeling something was wrong. She's traveled in Taxzi Crafts for most of her life, and the ride has always been smooth. The comfortableness of the seats, the stable condition of the Taxzi Craft, everything had been fine. This has never happened before, so when Astrid woke up, she was surprised.

She stood up as soon as her eyes shot open, her red eyes adjusting to the lights in the lounge room. She had moved from the original compartment she had been in filled to the brim with people, to go relax in a less crowded and loud area. All she knew now, was that she was creepily alone.

She hadn't before, there had been two people in there with her, a couple. But their bodies lay on the floor. The man had held the lady's the entire time. And they always attempted to make conversation with Astrid. She originally thought that they didn't know what aliens were, and decided she was the perfect one to ask. They were definitely human. The smooth tiles were covered now, stained red. The lady must've broken her neck on the fall. Her brown hair covering her face, lying on the floor. It was a terrible sight.

Astrid looked around her. There wasn't much in this compartment, only a few seats, and the two bodies. Normally, there were safety kits on one of the walls.

I guess they forgot this one, she thought. In a slow turn, Astrid found herself in a complicated situation. She didn't have anyone to talk to, and she also had no idea what to do.

Aloud, Astrid said, "I don't have anywhere to go. I have no supplies, and anything in my bag is useless." Astrid took off her little knapsack where she kept her essentials, food, water, and something to do: her notepad and art tools. She liked drawing in her spare time.

She took the seat farthest away from the bodies and somewhat near the door, so she could have an easy exit if something happened.

Eventually, her drawing caused her fatigue to roll over her in waves. Each one more strong than the last. Soon, her pencil dropped on the floor, and rolled over to the bodies, covering itself in human blood.

What she didn't know was that someone came in the room and watched her intently, unmoving. Astrid was in for a scare when she woke up.

Anya’s head spun wildly as she woke from her daze. She felt a nudging at her side. She could hear a voice. The voice of a woman. Perhaps a human?

Horn Lady. Horn Lady? Yes that is what she said. But what a strange name. Anya sat up, taking in what had all just happened. When it finally hit her, her instincts kicked in and asked the woman if she was alright. She seemed confused, surprised even.

The woman gave a simple response, almost pushing away the question simply to ask another. She began to question the obvious problems with the ship.

The other passengers chipped in to explain that what had happened to the ship, was not normal. Anya barely knew space travel, but even she could have determined that what had just happened was, “not normal”.

The human did not seem to keep this down well. Especially when an overhead announcement told all passengers to stay in their compartments. The look in the human’s eyes showed that her future actions were going to be reckless.

The young human had left the room. She left. Just like that. The ship was still rumbling. Was it safe to go out there? The announcement said to stay put. Anya has always been intrigued by humans, but she was just now learning that they may not be as smart as she once thought. A smart human would listen to an announcement. Right?

There was a brief moment of silence until Anya finally said, “Should someone go after her?”

The human surely wouldn’t be safe. Why else would the announcement say to stay put?

The passengers looked around at each other, not saying a word. They began to stir impatiently. It seemed as if no one was willing to chase after the human.

The lights still flickered. The earlier rustle of the ship continued, and the sway of the ship did not help the nausea that all of the passengers were experiencing.

These conditions could cause problems for the defenseless human.

Anya finally said to the others, “I shall go look for her. If anyone wishes to follow, they may”.

Anya turned on her heel and walked towards the door. She paused when she reached the door. She took a breath and opened it, starting her search.

Runi knew it was a terrible first thought, but, the moment right after the crash, she found herself wishing that she had died.

Not actually died. She wanted to live, thank you very much. But, just for that one little moment, she wished that she was presumed dead. Then Nissam would never try to control her again, and she could hide away in some corner of the universe under a different name until Nissam kicked the bucket. It wouldn't be fun, but it certainly would have been better than what she was currently stuck with.

Unfortunately, she wasn't injured enough to even pretend to be dead, which meant she was stuck with dealing with Nissam for another handful of decades until she inevitably kicked the bucket.

Fun.

And, in the meantime, she had to deal with whatever had happened to the ship, and the divisions that were already starting to unfold among the passengers. She might have been amused by that young human girl's spunk, but she wasn't a big fan of her deciding to go solo. Something like that would only end up in a dead body in a situation like this – at least, that was what the stories would say. It seemed like a pretty good philosophy in Runi's book, so she found herself slipping out into the hallway after the horned lady and the human girl.

Her armor clanked together as she trailed them. She normally would have tried to keep things a bit more quiet, but it wasn't like she was trying to sneak around. Besides, that was the sort of skill that she wanted to keep up her sleeve – no need to reveal all of her abilities if the other passengers turned out to be dangerous. She paused mid-step, resting a hand underneath her chin and thinking about the other people present on the ship. She knew close to nothing about them. There were some things that could be discerned from observations, but even those weren't to be entirely trusted. Her own appearance suggested she was human; she wasn't. Furthermore, it suggested that she was a soldier by nature; she wasn't that, either. Heck, she was as far from a soldier as someone could get.

She hoped that no one would expect her to be a leader. She really wasn't in the mood to lead a complete group of strangers, even though she might have been decked out in some pretty fancy gear. The most she could do was provide a bit of moral support with her humor, but she didn't even know what she would need the moral support for. There was a malfunction. Something that was statistically impossible, but, hey. Impossibilities happened all the time, so she really wasn't going to focus too much on that bit.

What it meant was that they were in uncharted territory, and Runi admittedly felt a bit of a tingle of excitement when she realized that. When was the last time she had gotten to go on a decent adventure? It would have had to be before that, back when Nissam hadn't met Venen yet and they had been exploring the galaxy together. That led to her inevitably thinking back to how things used to be, but she snapped herself out of it before she could start getting too upset.

It never was good to focus too much on the past.

Right now, she had to focus on the present. She had to figure out what had happened to the ship, and figure out what to do next. That was the best course of action – and the only course of action, seeing that cowering in that compartment was never going to amount to anything important.

Her musing over, Runi started to walk again. She thought for a moment, then cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted at the other two women in the hallway, “So where are you guys planning on going?”

Before she was jolted out of her seat, Zenia had been scanning the frequencies of the future for the right one. The one where she ends up in the Eduūn Galaxy and finds the source of her artifacts, where Eleazar comes after her and apologizes for doubting her, for hurting her, where he finally breaks his own rule and kisses her like he almost did that night in Antarctica so long ago...Yes, that was the right one. The only future that mattered.

But then the lights went out, and the announcement came on. It seemed like a bad vision at first. After all, she had premonitions of a fiery death every time she boarded a spacecraft. It was part of the risk of travel, but those visions never came true. This felt like the present, but there was only one way to confirm.

She took off her gloves and grabbed the backpack that had fallen into her lap. The backpack whisked her away to a strange scene, where a mechanical bug was facing down a fearsome Hydralion. Every one of the multi-headed lion's eyes were staring at the bug with unmistakable fear. Zenia wondered what the tiny gadget could have done to such a vile beast.

"Excuse me, miss." A calm voice interrupted her vision. "I believe you have my backpack". She looked up to see a blue-scaled figure, a Galtanii. Not a species that usually traveled far from their native lands.

"Oh yes, I'm sorry." She handed it back, having seen enough. Her powers worked, which meant this was the present. So the ship really had had a "misadventure". The humans seemed panicked, but she didn't see the need just yet. There had to be a solution, a way to get this ship back on track so she could make it to the source of her relics and prove Eleazar wrong.

She scanned the frequencies for visions of the craft, trying to get into the immediate future. At first, she felt only more turbulence and something colorful outside the craft. Another fiery death vision, which was less than helpful right now. Plus it felt too distant. She looked again for something closer, something where the compartment was at least stable. She saw a Y'Arkan, eyes aglow with worry, returning with three young women, holding a fourth over his shoulder.

She looked at the door to the compartment, where a purple-haired woman was leaving. Well, that made sense, since she would have to leave in order to return. She quickly looked around to see if the other two women she had seen were still in the compartment, but they must have already left.

"It appears that the human females in this compartment are suffering from hearing loss," a voice behind her intoned. She turned to see a man with greyish skin. "We are under orders to stay in this compartment. Perhaps some do not understand and need translation." The man walked around the rest of the compartment with an awkward gait, repeating the orders of the announcement in several languages to his fellow passengers.

"Oh, I think they understood. Unfortunately, humans do not always listen." The Y'Arkan from her vision sighed and stood up, towering over Zenia. "Everyone, stay here. I am going to leave, but only because I am a trained medic and want to make sure no one is hurt. For the rest of you, I think it would be wise to stay here."

Zenia nodded in agreement. "I have seen three leave. If more do, my visions do not look too kindly upon their fates." In truth, she hadn't seen anything definite about what would happen if anyone else left, but it seemed like the sort of thing a fortune-telling Timewalker would say. And people tended to listen to them. Though she understood the impulses of the ones who had left, having explored many worlds, somehow she didn't think leaving would do anything to help the ship get back on track.

"So we're just supposed to sit here and die, Time-Walker? Or wait for someone to magically save us?" A woman sitting next to a man with a robotic arm asked.

"No one said anything about dying. But the announcement just said that we had to stay in the compartment, not that we had to stay in our seats." Zenia gestured around to the compartment, which had room to seat the 20 or so passengers comfortably, as well as restrooms and a lounge area with vending machines and a scenic view. That actually seemed like a good place to head, as perhaps Zenia could figure out where they were from the locations of the stars.

She went to the large window and was shocked to see no stars, just black as far as the eye could see. Even in the furthest corners of the galaxy, she could always see stars. This vast blackness seemed incomprehensible. Unless the Eduūn galaxy was somehow starless, but none of her research seemed to support this.

"Spooky, isn't it?" The man with the robotic arm had joined her at the window. "You know, I've always been a city guy, surrounded by lights. Never thought I would see darkness like this. Have you?"

"No. I've always loved the wilderness and dark nights but this feels...unsettling."

"Wait, you're a Timewalker, right? Aren't you supposed to tell our fortunes and remind us that despite the hardships of the journey of life, everything will be okay in the end if you follow your heart or something?"

"I am a Timewalker, but I've never been good at telling people what they want to hear. That's lying. And I'm sure there's a future where this gets sorted out quickly, but I haven't been able to pick up on it just yet."

"I see. I appreciate your honesty. Might as well introduce myself since we'll probably be here for a while. I'm Caleb." He reached out to shake hands with his left arm, the non-robotic one, but Zenia was curious about something.

She grabbed the robot hand and was taken into a scene where she was perched precariously on top of an interstellar communications tower as one of two suns was setting over Hawkaldrin, the capital of the Alpha Centauri system. She loved that place, the first human settlement outside Earth's solar system, the place where the beings that would eventually become Timewalkers had begun to evolve.

"Um excuse me, ma'am? You've been gripping my hand for a minute. And I still don't know your name."

"Oh, sorry. I just had to see if my powers worked on your arm. Zenia Xedron, archaeologist of the Federation for Ancient World Preservation, but you can call me Zee."

"Your powers worked on my arm? Do arms help you see the future?"

"Not exactly. You see, Timewalkers don't just see the future. We see the past too, and we can read objects and get visions of where they've been. It doesn't work on people though, so I had to see if your arm would be considered a person or an object. I saw you on a tower in Hawkaldrin, so I guess it's an object."

"Huh, well what do you know? So you can do that with any object? Like this vending machine here?"

"Yes, but right now I think my energy is best spent looking ahead, seeing if we can find a way out of our predicament."

"That makes sense. Hey did you hear that?" Something was making a strange buzzing noise near the restrooms.

"As the ancient Earth humans would say, "Shoo fly, don't bother me'". Zenia was of course familiar with the ditty, but it sounded strange coming from the grey man's voice, like he had never actually sung before. But music was one of those universal experiences. Every culture had it in some form. It made her wonder what culture he had come from. Of course, there was another possibility...

"Ah, it appears one of my beauties has escaped." The Galtanii stated, sauntering over to the restroom door where a mechanical fly was hovering over the grey man. The fly looked similar to the bug that attacked the Hydralion in her vision, a shining wonder of gears and metal. She couldn't help but reach out for it, wanting to know its secrets, but the Galtanii picked it up first.

"Ah yes, it is lovely, isn't it, miss?"

"It is. I saw something quite interesting earlier, but I'll have to ask you about that once this ship is back on course. I'm Zenia, by the way. You can call me Zee."

"Glayosei Giarkl, but Glay works just fine."

"Hello Timewalker Zenia Xedron Zee and Galtanii Glayosei Giarkl Glay . I am Human Simon. You may call me Simon." The grey man interjected. "Say, Timewalker Zenia Zee, did you design the lavatory decor?"

"I'm an archaeologist, not a designer. Why do you ask?"

"Let us enter the lavatory area and I will show you." Zenia followed him out of curiosity.

Like most aircraft since the dawn of the Anthropocene, the Taxzi's restrooms were barely large enough for one person, let alone two. At first, Zenia saw nothing more than a sterile white toilet and sink. It was only after Simon grabbed her wrist with enough force to bend her over that she saw what he was on about.

A pattern of symbols decorated the floor tiles. She looked at her wrist, the precious bracelets that she knew came from another world, no matter what Eleazar said. The symbols on them were unlike anything she had seen in the entire Milkdromeda Galaxy, past, present, or future. That is, until now.

She reached out to the restroom tiles, trying to see if she could figure out their origin. She saw some giant dragons and a strange forest with species from far-flung planets and climates all together. She wondered if she should be afraid of the dragon creatures, but she got the sense that they were protecting this forest, protecting her.

"Um, I'm not exactly sure what you two are up to in here, but may I please use the restroom?" The man with the robot arm interrupted Zenia's vision. Only then did Zenia realize that she was still bent over Simon in what had to look like a compromising position. She quickly extricated herself and rushed back to her seat, planning to spend more time studying the floor later.

As a young Timewalker, Zenia had always been taught that the smallest signs could predict the grandest fates. However, she had never thought her fate would rest on a bathroom floor.

“Well. I suppose it is my turn to make a move.”

Glayosei sometimes wondered if he had some sort of affinity for drama. Every time, it was always the same thing: there was some sort of silence around him, he realized he should say something, and every time he did, someone looked at him intently or found him ominous. Of course, when Glayosei uttered his sentence out loud, the returning Zenia gazed at him with a mixture of curiosity and confusion.

“Did you not hear my previous warning?” Zenia enquired. “I don’t think you should move out, or more people than just you will be in danger.”

“A necessary reminder. However, does your previous prediction say anything if I’m not the one to physically move out?”

“What do you mean?”

As Simon and Caleb came back from the restroom, they stopped right in their tracks to witness (alongside Zenia) Glayosei extending his arm, as if slowly pointing at them. Then, silently, a mechanical arachnid walked out of Glayosei's sleeve and walked all the way to the tip of his finger, staring at the two men. Then came another, following the path of the previous one. Then, like a silent army, dozens more came out from Glayosei's mantle, running down his legs and arms, or climbing up from his neck and standing atop his head. Soon, a large number of those bugs stood at Glayosei's feet or remained immobile on his body, the light bulbs that served as their spider-like abdomen lighting up.

“This would be the full extent of my Multitude.” Glayosei said as his small audience's eyes widened. “Multitude, as in, my pack of 'animals', which in this case refers to my Clock Frames. I can use them to patrol the Taxzi and figure out its layout, or if any resources are still available for us.”

“And these Clock Frames of yours can do all of this? Fascinating...” Caleb commented. “Are the light-bulbs colored differently to show their different functions?”

Glayosei smiled. “Indeed! Red light bulbs are scouting-driven, blue ones are information interpretation-driven, and green ones are defense-driven. There's more to it than that, but allow me to keep a few functions to myself, for now.”

“Will it be possible for us to eventually know of those functions you keep to yourself, Galtanii Glayosei Giarkl Glay?” Simon asked, staring at the Clock Frames with wide eyes and evident curiosity.
Glayosei blinked, gazing at the boy. “I never noticed they were so many Gs related to my name and species. It almost sounds like some kind of brand.”

“It definitely would, on Earth.” Caleb commented, his eyes also directed at the mechanical arachnids. “You'd have to shorten it to G4, and if you made any of these public, I think you'd make people quite interested.” Caleb gazed at Glayosei. “Have you ever consider selling any of these on Earth?”

“Well, some of them are art pieces, so I suppose opening a gallery first would suit my needs better.”

“Art with machines…” Caleb nodded. “That's something too few humans do, nowadays.”

Glayosei smiled. “Then maybe I'll visit Earth, eventually. I'd very much like to tell them about the beauty of mechanical things. But,” he continued more seriously, “I suppose I should go back to have my Clock Frames be useful instead of beautiful. Miss Zenia?”

“Didn't I tell you you could call me Zee?”

“Right, Miss Zee it is. If any more survivors are found and brought here while my Clock Frames scout the area, would you mind taking care of them with me? I'll send one of my Frames to the captain's cabin and see if I can get a permission to let Simon and… Ah, I'm forgetting your name, sir.”

“Caleb.” Caleb said.

“Thank you. If I can get a permission to let Simon and Caleb gather resources for us. The more food or medical tools we have, the better.”

“I shall translate this information to any people I find.” Simon assured.

“And I don't mind moving around if we're allowed.” Caleb added. “We're probably stuck here for a while, anyway.”

Glayosei nodded. “Well, then.” he lifted a finger in front of his eyes as the Clock Frame atop said finger stared at him. “I shall do what I do best. Observe.”






During the following hour, the small team of four people managed to get themselves organized as much as they could despite their limited movements. Using hologram projection, Glayosei sent one of his Clock Frames to the Captain's cabin, as he promised, and the team was indeed granted the possibility of moving resources and potential new survivors to their compartment, provided they moved around swiftly and didn't stay outside too long. The Captain and a team of repair-driven robots still required to check the damage received by the Taxzi, so having more people attending to everyone's safety in the meantime wasn't something he'd say no to.
As Caleb and Simon did as they were asked, Glayosei used a hi-tech tablet he always kept in his bag to track the movements of his many Clock Frames, while Zenia worked on drawing a basic layout of the Taxzi thanks to the spare tablet that Glayosei had provided her with. Because if there's one thing he had learned upon observing wild alien predators in their natural environment, it was to to always carry spares of something.

“I'm done with the map.” Zenia informed. “Sorry it took so long, I can be easily distracted.”

“Distracted?” Glayosei frowned. “That's odd. The two Timewalkers I worked with said similar things. Is that codeword to say that your abilities activate while you worked?”

Zenia nodded. “I wouldn't call it codeword, but that's the gist of it.” she looked at Glayosei intently. “I saw a few more things, along the way.”

“More of the vision you mentioned previously?”

“Related, yes. I was wondering why a Hydralion would be scared of a tiny metal bug.”

Glayosei gave Zenia a thoughtful gaze. “Hmm… How many wild predators have you faced in your life, Miss Zee?”

“A few. Maybe two or three? They weren't big, but they had usually placed their nests in places they shouldn't have. I'll admit I wasn't the one dealing with them, though.”

Glayosei nodded. “Well, there's one recurring thing about how nature works. Bland-looking animals are dangerous, because they're usually the ones that blend in with their environment the best. Colorful ones, however, are usually colorful for a reason. It can be because they're looking for mates, or because they hold a defense mechanism that can wound or kill those stupid enough to attack them.”

“So, the colors are basically a 'warning, I'm dangerous' kind of signal?”

“Precisely. They can have other signs, such as gestures, specific sounds or even smells. The Hydralion you saw was one of the animals I observed that grew desperate with hunger and assumed that my GCF-004: Mantis was edible. But like these preys I mentioned, my Mantis was, like most of Clock Frames, equipped with a defense mechanism. So, it defended itself. And the Hydralion went from desperate to terrified.”

Zenia leaned forward ever so slightly. “What kind of defense mechanism would scare off a Hydralion?” she asked slowly. “That animal's eight heads can not only tear boulders to shreds with their bare teeth, they can also use their roar to stun or kill their preys before they even have to run after them.”

“Not if said Hydralion is detected beforehand and properly dealt with before it has the time to roar.” Glayosei countered. It isn't an ambush predator, as its many heads prevent him to blend with its environment.”

“You're not answering my question.”

“That's because I'd rather not. I… know that my Clock Frames can be weapons, but that isn't their main function. I'm an observer, not a fighter.”

“But you can fight.”

“I can, yes.”

“You can fight very well.”

“...Are you not going to tell me what you saw, or why you're so interested in this?”

“Only if you're willing to tell me what's on your mind. We could all need it later.”

The two shared a gaze and a moment of silence. Then, Glayosei smiled. “Later, then. When I'm ready.”

Zenia shrugged. “You will be.”

Seconds later, Caleb came back into the compartment with a survivor in his arms, soon followed by Simon, who carried several boxes.

“Survivor.” Caleb quickly explained. “Head wound, and I need help dealing with her. Zenia?”

“I'm done with my task. Do we have any medical supplies? Surely, we can do something until the medic comes back.”

“I shall do my best to help you.” Simon added, approaching the two with his boxes. As the three began to help the survivor, Glayosei's tablet gave off a small alarm. Gazing back at it, Glayosei noticed, through the eyes of one of his many Clock Frames, that another room had been found, inside of which three bodies would be seen. A couple at the edge of the room – and judging from the amount of blood under them, they were dead. Then, a girl, seemingly dead as well, with drawing sheets on her legs. Glayosei frowned. “Activate Holographic Signal.” he ordered. The Clock Frame's abdomen glew blue as Glayosei pulled out a stepping pad from his bag and placed it on the ground. He placed himself over it as the device scanned him, and seconds later, an image of him appeared atop his spider's body. Finally able to see the room more clearly, Glayosei scanned it with his own eyes. It took him several minutes to get his eyes back to the body of the lone girl, only to realize that her eyes were open, and very much alive.

“...Oh, you're alive.” Glayosei observed. “Excellent! Hello, miss. My name is Gla–”

“Who are you?!” the girl interrupted. “Why were you watching me in my sleep?!”

“...As I was saying, my name is Glayosei Giarkl, and I did no such thing. I thought you were dead, you see, because a terrible accident befell this entire ship. I don't think any of us here is completely–”

“What's THAT?!” the girl shouted aggressively, pointing at the mechanical spider below Glayosei's image.

“...Safe. It's a spider. A mechanical spider made of watch parts. Gathered from–”

The girl stood up, unsheathed her sword (which Glayosei hadn't noticed yet) and bent her knees, putting herself in battle stance.

“Your sword is rather long, Miss. Could you please sheathe it?”

“Stop calling me 'Miss'!”

“But it's polite. And I don't know your name.”

“Astrid! Astrid Dayholt!”

“Okay, Astrid.” Glayosei closed his eyes for a moment. This was challenging. “So, I'm a Galtanii, and a passenger of this ship. Just like you. Me and several others are checking to see if people are okay. So… Are you okay?”

“Why don't you come here yourself instead of sending your minions to do the job?”

“Because we were told not to move from our compartment. Also, if there's any hole in the ship, we may be suck into the vacuum of space and die. Dying would be a problem.” he frowned. “Unless you can survive the vacuum of space. What species are you from again?”

Astrid slowly lowered her sword. “...Nordic Alien. And I can survive in space. It's just… cold and stuffy.”

“Well… That's one way to put it. So, Can you put away your sword, now?”

Astrid glared at him in silence.

“Okay. Well, I'll be going, then. Take care.” As Glayosei moved to leave, he noticed that another one of his Clock Frames had entered the room to scout the area. It moved forward and stared at Astrid.

“Get that thing away!” Astrid exclaimed as she attempted to stab the approaching spider with her sword.

Activate: C-Grip. Witht he speed of Glayosei's thought, the Clock Frame suddenly jerked its front arms forward and caught the sword by its tip, promptly stopping the assault. Astrid's eyes widened in surprise when the Clock Frame casually dropped the sword on the side, having snatched it from Astrid's experienced hands with apparent ease.

“I would appreciate if you didn't attempt to destroy my creations without a clear reason, Astrid.” Glayosei warned calmly. “Take care.” with that said, his Clock Frames left the room as Glayosei's hologram disappeared. He stepped out of the pad, sighing to himself. He had averted a conflict, his Clock Frames had avoided destruction and he had confirmed the existence of one more – albeit lively – survivor.

At the very least, things were looking up. But still, thinking back on the encounter he somehow went through, Glayosei couldn't help but wonder once again if, deep down, he indeed had an affinity for drama.