Ke Ol Ta?
24 Jan 2021Lord Scarfinger
From what Ichika could encrypt so far, it seemed the Thargoids had been in our system much longer than we thought, just hiding and watching. Mar Ris had been in contact with them for a very long time too. Yet she still had no clue where he got this device on his desk from nor what origins it had in general. For this she had to get her hands on it. "Might propose this to IC Pope." she thought, and scribbled the word with propose with a pinpoint pen in her notes on her slate. She could have typed it in, but she wanted to keep herself from forgetting the traditional way of Arduan writing. So all her notes were handwritten.
The Device was found by Ris when he was a young boy, in a cave on the foot of Mount Niarha on Udaaki, while roaming around outdoors. He grew up in Uawsie, a small mining town. And there were plenty of rocks to climb and caves to explore. Long before he joined the Arduan Mining Corporation as a mining worker and its Union. He got into politics by climbing the Union's ranks. He never really knew what this thing actually was nor did, but had a feeling, a dream, it might be something from another world, just like any other 11 year old. So he kept it hidden and a secret from everyone, trying to figure it out what potential it had. Now at 43 he knew what it did. Still not sure if he initiated the first contact or they did years ago, as it activated...
...."Ke ol ta?!" (what are you) the alienated voice echoing, in Arduan, the excruciating pain. Unforgettable, the first time it rang through his head.
Ichika knew exactly who to go to, if she gets her hands on this device, to learn more about its origins and how it works. Well, at least to get a hint of what it is. She'd consult Ksyl Skalda, a historian and linguistic professor at Lentia University. He lectures there and is chairman of the Wallace Institute Of Arduan History And Languages. He spends his free time retracing the origins of ancient Arduan findings. Skalda was her linguistics teacher at the University. She graduated in Linguistics and then joined the military.
Digging through Pope's recordings she found hints that Mar Ris knew for a long time already that these aliens planned to pay a visit to the Arduan system.
It seemed that they were not only interested in Ance and Niard, the 2 Amonia worlds, but also in Ardua itself. Something that lies beneath, yet needs to be unearthed. At least that's what she thought she heard.
But she couldn't quite make that one out for sure, again something lost in translation of the device. Most of these recordings were in bad quality, since when contact was established with the Thargoids, it seemed to disrupt Pope's spyware to a certain degree. Like a jamming signal emitted from it.
As exciting as all this was, she had to stop working for today. "Shame I can't take the confidential stuff home." Kryon thought.
She saw in the weather report that there was another storm cloud approaching Lentia in the evening and wanted to catch her monorail home, before the acid rain came pouring down. She never was a fan of these aero cars and only piloted them when she had to for duty.
Besides flying these things through the thick fog emerging after the rain ended, was a pain in the ass as well. You often couldn't even see your hands in front of your face in the fog.
She logged out and switched her work panel off, grabbed her slate and rushed out the door.
Out in the distance she could hear the thundering and some orange flashes were already visible. "Wicked storm's coming my way." she mumbled.
She ran to the mono rail platform 5 minutes away from the military office building she worked, and got lucky. Just as she came running the train entered the stop, opened its doors and she swiftly leapt into the cart before the doors closed again. The commuter ride to her appartment took about 30 minutes.
Not long after the train pulled out the stop, orange flashes lit the sky again and the downpour began. "Got lucky." she thought
The train zipped through the rain crossing the bridge that spans over the river Aunod, a large river running withbtwists and turns from north to south through both Mercia and Udaaki. Usually on a clear night you can see The Wallace Institute Of Technology on the other side after crossing the bridge, which is lit in different colours, changing every few minutes. Ichika likes it the most when the lights turn the institute pink, her favorite color.
But now with all the rain and the fog you can barely see the bridge that had just been crossed.
Looking out of the window into the fog and rain, barely seeing all the high rises the train passes fly by, she got lost in her own thoughts. The things she could decipher from Pope's surveillance files, had a grip on her. More so, the things she wasn't yet able to decipher. And the image of that device was constantly floating in her mind.
"I really need to get my hands on it. And I need to get Ksyl's insight on this too, if Pope can get him clearance for this." she thought for the millionth time.
She brought out her slate, opened the encrypted message tab for Pope and typed in a short text..
Pope's slate bleeped and he checked the message he just received from Sub Lt. Kryon.
It read: "IC Pope, I really need to get the device and clearance for Proffessor Ksyl Skalda, to help me find out more about it. He has helped my department already with other things. I will attach his personal file. Thank you in advance."
All he thought to himself as he read it, was, you damn right need to. And I will get it to you.
Without even looking at the personal file his reply was simple: "Done, shit just erupted like a volcano! It will be on your desk ASAP!"
"John I will get that fucking device and just cleared Proffessor Ksyl and will get it to Sub Lt. Kryon." was all he said to his boss as he stood up and left the room.
Without answering, MacEllister just watched him leave the room. Well he didn't need to reply nor order Pope anything, because he knew his friend just made the right decision. And whomever he needed cleared, MacEllister would sanction it. Besides MacEllister had knowledge of Ksyl's work for the Arduan government.
Ichika didn't expect a reply right away, and yet was more surprised about what it contained. "What does he mean by shit erupted volcano." she wondered. And to get Ksyl cleared right away as well, made her kinda anxious. She knew that if it was this easy, something very concerning must have had happened, or is about to happen.
She decided to give Skalda a call as soon as she got to her apartment.
She didn't waste time after she opened the door, dialed up Ksyl Skalda. He answered in the native Arduan language as always: "Ekom Ichika! Ken ol ta?" (Hello Ichika! How are you?)
She replied: "Ya az gofi, egar ta, Skalda, yge ta?" (I am fine, thank you, Skalda, and you?)
"Gofi, gofi." (Fine, fine) Ksyl said.
Kryon reverted back to english:"Ksyl, I need your help."...
Meanwhile Pope arrived at the offices of MP Mar Ris, identifying himself as IC Randy Pope sent by the government and telling the MP's receptionist to open his office, she just said Ris isn't here and that she can't just let him in. Pope said she has to and continued walking towards the office door. As suddenly a male staffer of Ris stepped in front of Pope extending his left hand to push him away. Pope with his left hand, swiftly grabbed and gripped the wrist of the man, twisting it counter-clockwise, while with his right hand, pushing the man's elbow slightly upward, to bring him off ballance, Pope moved in a half circle to the left and with that sent the staffer flying face down to the floor, hitting his head on a desk as he landed.
Done with this, another man charged screaming at Pope, right arm extended and holding some kind of blunt object in his hand. The IC waited patiently until he got close, took a light step to his right and inward the charging man's mass, grabbing the lower arm of the extended arm with his left hand, and with a soft chop of the right hand into the elbow pit, shifting the attacker's bodyweight. While a slight pull with the left hand towards Pope, and a slight turn of his body to the left, he let momentum take care of the rest. The attacker flipped upside down and went flying through the room, screaming in pain as soon as he felt the impact of his right shoulder on the floor.
The woman in the room witnessed these few seconds in horror and looked at Pope frightened. He calmly said:"Ma'am, just open that door, please. It is a matter of national security."
She complied in the end, Pope went in, headed directly to the desk of Ris and snatched the device.
On his way out he just said to the woman with a smirk on his face:"If you tell someone I was here, I'll come after you too."
Not meaning a single word of what he just said, but finding it amusing. Just his way of humor, in the end.
Well, unless he was ordered to, but he knew MacEllister wouldn't do that...
... "What do you need, Ichika?" Skalda answered
"Well, an MP by the name of Mar Ris, has a device. It seems to be ancient, and don't worry, I took care of, you being cleared for having this conversation with me. So this device seems to help him communicate with an alien life form several hundred light years away from here. Not even communicate, it also seems to translate their language into english, and english into theirs. Partially translate at least. Yet I wonder why it translates to english and not to one of the two native tongues or the universal Arduan language."
Mar Ris always refused to speak the Arduan language, even at school, where it was taught as one of the two main languages besides english. Yet to be in politics, you have to speak both fluently.
And as the device got activated the first time, it did "speak" arduan to him. He certainly understood, but since he never wanted to speak arduan, he ignored it as good as he could. But the device seemed to learn, listen in, when he spoke. At some point, the words that came through, were in english.
"I don't care if I am cleared to hear this, I am intrigued about what you've just told me. It just confirms my theories about other alien life forms being here even before the arrival of the humans centuries ago." Ksyl replied.
"I will let you know as soon as I have it." said Ichika.
Her encrypted slate bleeped suddenly while still on the call with Skalda. A message by Pope:"Fuck having the thing on your desk, come to Wallace Tower now and get that Proffessor too, we'll meet there!"
"Well, Skalda, you don't have to wait any longer. We have to go Wallace Tower now. Can you pick me up?! " she yelled excited.
"Be there in 15!" the line went dead...
D. Jehle 10/25/2020 - 02/03/2021