“Some say the skies were blotted out from all the aircraft evacuating that morning. I believe Henrik Gunsry described it as if the clouds had turned to ash, just from the sheer amount of planes. Though migration out from the Americas had been on the rise following the fears of authoritarian policies in the USA, it was the terrorist attack in Los Angeles and the official founding of Paradise, with the mysterious ‘Council’ at its head that sparked mass panic and evacuation from the western hemisphere. There were those that dismissed the incident as a knee-jerk reaction, but I think history can speak for what happened to those who stayed behind. Though the mass immigration into Western Europe, Africa and Oceana was difficult for all, the worst was yet to come.” – Cornelius Summers, Glass Tip Productions Historian, 2221. ‘A Retrospective on Earth’s Demise – Chapter 12: A Brave New World’.

  “Look, just hold the flashlight steady,” Elias grunted, hands deep in the complex mechanisms of the Schr?dinger-Drive.

  “I am holding it steady!” Chel-Lin snapped back. “You’re the one who’s being clumsy!”

  It was a little past lunchtime, and the two of them were no closer to prying the details of faster than light travel from their newest acquisition. Madison had been kind enough to supply the spare S-Drive she had promised prior to the poker night under the cover of the night before, accompanied by a sticky note – ‘Enjoy! Try not to destroy the whole facility!’

  Well, thanks Madison. Great show of confidence. Lack of conviction from his coworkers notwithstanding, Elias and Chel-Lin had been eager to finally begin their secret project. Their cover plans still had some details to be worked out, with Chel-Lin still tweaking the numbers behind the Polytetrazyne medium she wanted from her QIS stabilization liquid alternative, but the urge to do some real science had been far too overwhelming for the both of them.

  The Bubble Field Manipulator was hardly a mystery. Hell, his Tylas companion had practically written the book on efficient production and usage of the device. Having acquired some BFM units with little hassle, the two had more than enough resources to deal with the Tylasian technology side of their work. The Schr?dinger-Engine was far more of an enigma. Though Elias far from considered himself a powerlifter, even he had very little trouble moving the BFM’s honeycomb-surfaced mass onto a workbench. The small, hexagonal faced machine weighed no more than a bowling ball and occupied even less space. The S-Drive, on the other hand, had required the use of a mechanical lifter from the storage room. Elias was very glad that the workbenches of Nucleus were made of solid steel, otherwise he doubted the surface would have held.

  His relation with the S-Drive was a strange one. He had spent uncountable days and nights on the theorem of S-Field usage and its emission by the engine, but had never actually seen the device up close in person. It was one thing to get schematics for room-sized variants for bulk usage, which was where most of his work laid, on a computer screen. It was another thing altogether to see the squat, barrel shaped machine with its pure white plating, countless engraved lines stretching all over marking the thousands of delicately affixed sections, and its pulsing domed emitter on the top.

  The premise behind human faster than light travel was simple. Unlike the Cambiar and Tylas who had at least tried energy heavy but mostly physics abiding methods of travel, humanity had decided to throw all rules of science out the window. The engine would increase the natural uncertainty of waveforms to effectively trick reality into thinking all matter and energy within one part of the universe was actually in another other part. In principle, it was simple, effective and had good range. In practice, things got far more difficult when anything living was involved.

  The rapid dislocation of atoms from one place in space to another caused the Quantum Identity Structure, the real consciousness of anything smarter than a single celled organism, to disconnect from its tethered matter, and dissipate. The details of the original project that developed the Schr?dinger-Drive, Project Grail, were heavily redacted decades prior, though, but Elias expected that testing resulted in a lot of brain dead astronauts. The only way to get around the issue of the QIS disconnection was to stabilize all of the crew within a liquid medium that helped strengthen the bond between matter and QIS pattern to help pull it alongside the rest of the ship when teleporting.

  The main component involved with S-Field generation and subatomic waveform collapse was the ‘Exhilium Shaft’, a solid core of exotic matter that could manipulate atoms by adjustment of an electrical current. The true issue of the work Elias and Chel-Lin needed to achieve was to bypass the need for QIS stabilisation liquid through the usage of the Bubble Field Manipulator’s projected field. That, and uncovering the direct computer systems that controlled the Exhilium Shaft’s. Reaching that point, however, would require them to dissect both machines piece by piece to get access to the inner hardware and software.

  That led the two of them to their current predicament – arguing over available lighting.

  “Look, just move the light further down,” Elias said.

  “No, if I do that, this upper part is going to block the beam,” Chel-Lin said back. “You need to move your little monkey hands to the right some more.”

  “Oh, fuck off! That’s what I’m trying to d- Look, it’s clear we’re not getting anywhere, so let’s take a break.”

  With a huff, he retracted his hands from the tiny hole and dropped the pair of fine needles he was using to try and remove the pins holding part of the outer layer together. Slumped over, he ran his hands through his hair. Gently, Chel-Lin floated next to him and tilted her head.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked.

  Elias wanted to rave about how stupid it was for anyone trying to jailbreak their own S-Drive needing to have the hands of a neurosurgery bot, but felt the words die on his tongue. Instead, he just shrugged.

  “I was hoping we’d be further along than this already.”

  “Elias, it’s barely been a few hours since we got the device. Surely you didn’t expect us to simply pop it open like a tin can.”

  “I know, I know. I just… I really wanted to prove that we were on the right track. Like, by getting to the core or something. I’m rambling, sorry.”

  Chel-Lin gently blinked, a quirk she had started to pick up from her human colleagues. She had no need to close those glowing peepers of hers, but it did make her come off as a bit more readable, more cute. No, more human. That was what he meant.

  “Perhaps you need to have a little faith,” Chel-Lin said.

  Elias snorted. “What? Faith? You think a five-minute failure is enough to make me turn to Jesus? Well, Barald in your case, I suppose.”

  She shook her head. “No, that’s not what I mean. What Barald teaches first and foremost isn’t belief in his existence, or the virtues of our people, but that the real strength and power to act comes from within. If you don’t have faith in yourself, Elias, you won’t be able to have faith in your work.”

  “If you think I’m becoming some self-doubting, nervous wreck, I think you’re reading me wrong.”

  “Hmm, I suppose that sort of humility is a bit beyond you,” she said with a giggle. Ouch. “All I want is for you to have a bit of patience. Even though time is always moving forward, I want you to believe will reach your goals in the end.”

  If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  “This… isn’t about the S-Drive is it? I’m getting the feeling this isn’t even about me, right?”

  “I… well, maybe. I’ve decided I want to do what I want without worrying about my father or what the other members of the his party, the Proclaimers, desire. If the cost for me achieving my dreams is their respect, then so be it.”

  Elias gave a nod, impressed with her new attitude. He fetched a soda from within a cupboard where a stockpile of Super Lemons had accrued. Sauntering back over to the counter, he noticed Chel-Lin looked deep in thought. Elias took a noisy slurp from the can.

  “So… how do you feel about the others so far?” Elias asked. “Changed your thoughts on humanity yet?”

  “There was nothing to change when it came to them. Unlike a certain scientist, they actually have manners!”

  “Rude.”

  “But not entirely undeserved?” Chel-Lin arched a pair of her glowing eyes as if to make a brow.

  “…Fair enough,” Elias admitted.

  “In seriousness, I like them. I looked up a lot of human media before my arrival here at Nucleus, but even that didn’t prepare me for you and the others.”

  “How so?”

  “You’re all very… unique. That’s the sort of thing that would make a Tylas stand out too much. To be special is to be noteworthy, and to be noteworthy is to open one’s self up to risk. At least, that’s what my father would say.”

  “Any how about now? Do you like being a pretty little snowflake?”

  He had expected her to dismiss the comment with a reprimand, but instead she went quiet for a second.

  “It is… fun. I suppose. But it’s far more fun to see the others at work than to be fawned over as some special celebrity. Have you seen Dr Warnick’s private dorm?”

  “No? I imagine it’s an utter dumpster. I’ve heard most Echorists have messy rooms. I’ve heard they say nonsense like ‘a clean room is a plain canvas waiting to be painted’.

  “Wrong! It’s more like a… doctor’s office? Rather neat, actually. He’s got some plants growing in there, and a whole bunch of extra lab equipment. It’s almost as if his normal lab has grown outwards and infected even where he sleeps. Half of it didn’t even seem related to his research.”

  Someone more dedicated to their work than Elias? Preposterous! That can’t be true! Elias would be sure to pay a visit to the showboat soon to change that.

  “And what about Madison?” Elias asked. “I haven’t seen her in a bit.”

  “Hmm,” Chel-Lin hummed. “Last I heard she was trying to sneak that coffee machine back into her personal room. That was also the last time I saw her. How odd.”

  So that was where Mr Caffeine had gone. Goddamnit. Elias hated the petrol-like liquid it spat out, but it was far closer than the other coffee machines within the wing, which automatically made it Elias first option.

  “And EXCAL? How do you feel about the AI?”

  “I must admit, I was cautious at first. I did initially believe that he was some sort of unfeeling monster – something even Barald could not dream up in his deepest hells. However, I found he was something far different, and perhaps even more disheartening.” She sounded serious.

  “And what might that be?” Elias leaned in close to the awfully downcast Tylas.

  She prepared herself before leaning close to his ear, translator right against his lobe.

  “He’s a gamer.”

  Elias cackled as he pulled away. “Well, you’ve got that right!”

  “Hey! I heard my name; who’s making up rumours about me?” EXCAL chimed in over the intercom.

  “Sorry bud, just a friendly chat here,” Elias said, looking vaguely towards the ceiling.

  He wasn’t sure exactly where the cameras were in the room, but he had learnt early on that the AI could definitely see. EXCAL once thought it would be fun to startle Elias awake with music the first time he had fallen asleep in the lab.

  “What did you say about me?” EXCAL called out in a distracted manner, as if he were shouting over his shoulder whilst driving. “I’m still missing a drop from Voltriex, and I’m feeling very self-conscious right now.”

  “She said ‘EXCAL sounds like the kind of player guy to not even have a Blaze Cape at Combat Level 100.’”

  “She did not! How dare you Chel-Lin!” EXCAL said, clearly insulted, much to Elias’ amusement and Chel-Lin’s embarrassment.

  Elias was glad he had done a bit of research into SigilPlane, and how bad of an affront that claim was to the AI. As she tried to make apologies and poor excuses for her rude dismissal of the CAI’s MMORPG skills, Elias sat back and watched the scene as it unfolded. Seeing the alien float about, desperately looking for a the location of a camera in the ceiling to proclaim her panicked apologies into, was something he never could have expected after how their first encounter went.

  Oh, how things had changed. Elias wasn’t sure exactly when their dynamic had shifted so drastically, but it had somewhere along the way. Undeniably, Elias had come to enjoy her presence. Not just as one academic to another, and not just as some strange wonder of an alien from beyond the stars. As person, he had come to see the best of her. She was not some religious fanatic, as he had thought initially, desperate for attention and guidance. Hell, in some ways, she was far more willing to accept herself than he was. Across all the galaxy, out of every lab he could have found himself in, Elias was happy he was at Nucleus Two, watching Chel-Lin get raved at by EXCAL about how he clearly had gotten not only the Blaze Cape but the Radiant Cape and the Hellfire Cape just a few days beforehand.

  The lure of the S-Drive was not unfelt, however. Like a certain ring from a fantasy movie Uncle Samson had once shown him, the white mass of wires and pearlescent exotic metals drew his eye. Through the small hole he had opened up, countless sections remained awaiting dismantling, their secrets but a few dozen centimetres within. Looking from a different angle, Elias saw what looked like a disengagement pin, and took the few seconds to press it inwards. In a single motion, a decent section of the outer plating came free. That was easy. Now, with much more room to work with, he saw a number of components he recognised from the many schematics he had seen over and over… and a few he definitely did not remember ever seeing. In fact, some sort of… relay circuit of sorts, maybe a type of wireless emitter, featured a small, yellow LED pulsing. Was it doing that before, when he was working through the smaller hole? Of course it was, right?

  It was only as Elias paused mid-sip of his soda that an odd thought, one that he hadn’t come considered before, sparked in his head.

  How the hell did Earth pre-CCH scientists a century and a half beforehand, in the midst of two global superpowers fighting over what little safe land remained, create such a device that had never since been surpassed in complexity or versatility. How the hell did the Schr?dinger-Drive actually come to be? That was an mystery, a pandora’s box of questions, that he was both terrified and yearning to uncover. At least, once Chel-Lin made with up the childishly bitter multi-billion-utus AI. Now if only Elias had claimed EXCAL didn’t even have a lobster taming level of fifty – that would have really caused a meltdown.

  Once the AI was relatively appeased and accepted Chel-Lin’s apology, she floated back down to him. He expected her to start insulting him in some way, but instead, she simply looked down at him with a slightly perplexed look.

  “Chel-Lin? You good?” Elias asked.

  Elias stared up at Chel-Lin, the same stupid, silly look he often had when trying to read her thoughts through her facial expressions, or lack thereof. Why was it that she found herself looking at the bumbling alien that way? How had their relationship changed so much? At first, she felt nothing but disappointment from the man – based on everything she had read about humanity, it was clear they were flawed but capable of much. Elias, however, had smothered those expectations into the dirt from their very first meeting.

  Now though? She could see the clear enthusiasm in his eyes, the desire to do so much even with everything on the line. The pure hearted love for the art of knowing the unknown, doing the impossible, achieving the unachievable were all parts of him she had grown to not only understand but share as well. Her father had always tried to be as enthusiastic as possible about her work, but as time had gone on, more pressure had been placed on him by the Proclaimers, he had been forced to push Chel-Lin towards work designed for publicity, not advancement. Now, with her father wanting nothing from the IGS, she should have been feeling cornered and stumped. Elias, however, had proven himself not only a researcher of similar quality to herself, but also an empathetic shoulder to lean on.

  How was it that when she looked in those animalistic, bestial eyes of his, eyes that stood against everything Barald taught, she saw nothing of his sins or his exterior of false ego, but a determined man with a soft, meaty heart as his core. Though he was rude, practically a living insult to those around him, Chel-Lin saw a soul inside that resonated with hers in a way that she had never felt before.

  And to have those feelings towards someone she thought she should be disliking scared her deeply.

  How was it that when she continued to float there, staring blankly at his azure eyes of infinite blue he simply smirked and continued to deliver spoonfuls of suggestions and ideas for her project? It the way he cocked his head and gestured with his primitive digits as he read aloud a study he had printed she stirred something deep, uncertain and terrifying. When he finished his one-sided tirade and asked her a question, still failing to recognise her inaction, he frowned.

  “Chel-Lin?” stupid, stupid Elias asked. “What’s wrong?”

  Oh, Barald damn her. There was something indeed very wrong with her. She was beginning to feel something far more than a healthy scholarly appreciation for the clumsy monkey that had stumbled his way into her life.

  Barald damn her to the deepest hells. Chel-Lin had fallen into the most deceitful trap that humanity had to offer to the Tylas.

  Affection.

  Caring.

  Love.