Thou Shall Fall
19 Sep 2022Sagacious Panda
A deep, calm voice woke him up.He was dreaming about something nice, somewhere far away, in a city of many bridges and mega apartment blocks. He could swear that he smelled spicy fried chicken…
His blurred vision stabbed by a fierce brightness, he felt his legs and abdomen were on fire. Instinctively he reached out with his left hand where the heat sink launcher would be, thinking to himself that he dozed off during a jump…
Voice started to laugh when he fell from the chaise longue.
“Uhhh, wha….”
“Hey, calm down Pan…”
Panda raised his head from the wet floor, and it all came rushing to him.
He was not in the box, he just slept too much under the sun next to the swimming pool. And already kids were pointing fingers at him and laughing…
A couple of minutes later they were at the bar, looking at the horizon visible from the deck of the cruise ship. A warm, comforting breeze was hugging them, making the swimsuits trivial, sunglasses a burden, and the super iced cocktails a necessity.
“Another nightmare Pan?” she asked
He shook his head negatively trying to recall the dream
A city - Bridges - Large buildings - Streets without a sky
“This time it was something good, it felt good…huh, no surprise it is fleeting from me rapidly”
She slurped her glass empty and gave him a concerned look
“You know its part of the deal, the nightmares, bad stuff to be more potent….” Left the glass on the bar and pointed it with a fake smile and mouthed the words to the bartender “-one-more-“ and continued to Panda “I mean its part of the healing process darling”
-darling-
There was truth in her words, he knew that there was going to be a cost…
But -darling- really?
He looked at her with clear disgust…
“Darling…never call me darling again…”
“Don’t be silly darling! You and your jokes”
Something stirred in him. Something everyone and everything was trying to bury deep. Any moment he was remembering what it was like… Some obstacles appeared in front of him. The tax office, galactic courier bringing claims on his “illegal” upgrades, his due rent of a small bunker he didn’t visit in years, news about Randt, his old co-pilot who got himself swarmed by thargs and this corporate handler…
He stood up and said “Marquese, I will watch a classic on the holo, I’ll see you later…Sun, I guess it was too much”
“Don’t fall on your way there darling” Marquese said cheerfully.
He killed two hours with a classic almost 1500 years old samurai movie, fitting to the theme of the cruise ship. These are the only moments left for him to be with himself. After the movie, he dragged himself to the nearest drink dispenser.
With slumped shoulders and a half-finished drink, he walked to the express lift. “Deck G please," said Panda while looking out to the impressive ship from the transparent shell.
“Right away Sir,” said the lift “Largest in our proud cruise fleet, Chiaki’s Gaze is named after the first female in outer space from pre-space era SOL-Earth-Japan, has more than 60 decks and offers….”
“Skip ads please” sighed Panda “had the tour and know all about it already, thanks”
And added
“Had enough of every offer…”
There was a slight moment before the lift AI replied back. A split second of hesitation is uncharacteristic for this kind of software. After all, they perfected the “elevator pitch” with these things. There was not a nanosecond to lose during a 30-second trip anyway.
“Very well Sir, would you like to….grna…trsss” while the voice of AI sizzled into a singular white noise the lift slowed down visibly. A moment of silence. The cruise ship was still flowing around the tube but quite slowly. Under his feet, he could see the marvelous ocean forest.
“Pan!” said a different voice
He felt as if someone just punched him to his gut. He dropped the cup.
“PAN!” said the voice much louder “No time. They are here. For you. Don’t go….ey kno….”
Panda shouted “ICE! ICE!”
“…om….unty…an!”
A piece of classic music started as a placeholder
“Fuck!”
With a burst of speed, the lift arrived at its destination.
Panda took a step out and looked back to the lift. Nothing.
He went to his room. Quickly reached for the shower and switched on the water.
“Rave, volume 7, shaders off” he sneered to the room
Loud music started in the quickly darkening room.
His mind was racing with possibilities.
He went to the bedroom to get his normal clothes. Whatever is coming he preferred to meet it with his own clothes at least.
The moment he sat on the bed to put on his boots he noticed…
The bed was wet with blood; Marquese was lying there lifeless and badly sliced.
At the same moment, the music stopped, shaders opened and light-filled the room just in for Panda to see three Mark VI’s training their sights on him, while another one was right next to him.
A mechanized voice “Subject LFR-08321, you are under arrest. Live monitoring started 17 seconds ago.”
Your charges, rights, and claims shall be provided on Federal Vehicle”
He knew there was nothing to do but obey at this moment. While static spread to his body, he looked at Marquese. [so, they got you too for this]
The next time he was able to get any feedback from his senses was in a dimly lighted room, with a cryo bed and very thin windows. He could see that beyond the window it was artificially lighted. [station, outpost maybe… where the heck I am?]
In the upcoming days he was fed but no contact whatsoever. Just an open option. Lay on the cryo bed and gods know when to wake up, if that ever happens. Or just kill time, pacing the small room.
Neuro-dampener was doing its job, he was having difficulty reaching his own thoughts. He was able to focus on his journeys and past but he was unable to think of anything new, and couldn’t imagine what will come next…
He knew all his assets were taken, his wings clipped, his crew lost, his goals dampened, and the escape plan he was formulating for more than two years in pieces.
A few months later he dropped himself on the cryo. That seemed the most logical thing to do. There was a bed in the room. For what? He couldn’t remember. For him probably. Unable to think for more than a couple of seconds ahead, he lay there. Or maybe someone helped him to lay there?
First, the neuro-dampener came off.
All his thoughts overwhelmed him, he wanted to scream, maybe he did.
A voice entered the room first time in so many months.
“Note: Subject LFR-08321, cryo session is starting in 3 minutes. Move and you will risk losing your limbs”
Panda calmed himself and took several deep breaths. He now realized that this was a planetary facility and during all the time he was here they were probing his mind to extract the information they need.
And that they don’t need his husk anymore.
A speck of dust flew in front of his blurring vision, reflecting the light so that it looked like glitter.
He smiled. Darkness. His body was weightless and diving with such a speed.
With his fleeting breath between the chattering teeth, he whispered
“Thou shall fall…”