“No, I don’t want to talk about it. You’re not handing me over until I talk? Fine, fine. I guess I prefer not getting fed my own teeth. Anything for your greedy corpo readers. Yeah, I was part of that raiding party. No, I don’t wanna talk about anything from before the ISS Blackstar raid, but then again, you don’t care about that, do you? So, yeah, we were doing pretty good, shredding you CCH pussies apart, but Tripwire security snuck up on us, pushed us back. My idiot of a clanboss sent in his pet borged up goreskin, something he’d kept sedated for months. I saw it rip through a half decent merc squad in seconds. After it had finished pulping the last of the crew, it came after us. Got onto our ship, and you can imagine how that went. Last thing I heard before I hopped in an escape pod was the fuckin’ thing ripping the fusion engine apart. Then you bastards picked me up. Any questions? No? Then you can kiss my ass, bái chī.” – Cirak Last-Steel, Doctrine warrior for the Deadeyes clan, 2260. Prisoner interview with Glass Tip Productions prior to being handed over to Tripwire Services authority.

  Being outside after spending far too long within the sprawling Nucleus facility was a breath of fresh air for Elias - literally. He was used to working in cramped environments, having once spent the better part of a summer in an underground bunker on a remote planetary colony working on QIS Pattern detachment and realignment for artificial bodies. Nevertheless, it was always a relief to finally feel open air once again.

  Sitting in a train carriage after deciding to use the rail system that connected the outer section of Birkdale’s Gate to the inner sectors, Elias considered that many people would never get the chance in their lives to live on a proper planet, ones with foliage and fresh air and immeasurable skies. Most would simply dream of a life beyond their home space station where a ceiling was never further than an arm’s reach upwards. At least the interior of Titanlock had a massive open cavity almost acting as a sky for those in the middle stratum.

  But sitting alongside his colleagues and bodyguard, he could feel the air on his skin through the monorail’s open window, the green glow of of Kral-Thul leaking through the glass. He had been invited a few days prior by Dr Dallas to an excursion to Birkdale’s Gate. She had talked about ‘drawing inspiration’ and ‘taking in the environment for motivation’, but Elias knew that she likely just wanted a break. Considering how early there were into the preparation for the IGS, there was no better time to fit in a little trip to the nearest slice of humanity in a dozen light years. Things would get busy soon, especially since Elias had everything he needed to put his initial hypotheses into practice. The only issue would be retrieving the physical components of both an Schr?dinger-Drive and Bubble Field Manipulator for testing.

  That would come later. Elias was preoccupied with soaking in the discomfort of Chel-Lin. Whilst the other members of the team had sat down, chatting amongst themselves, the Tylas was awkwardly floating in the centre of the carriage, obviously unfamiliar with seats and the like. With every jostle of the monorail, she jolted around in the air, occasionally reaching out with a tendril for support.

  “You can sit, you know?” Elias said, patting the seat next to him.

  “And to deign myself to your level? I think no-“ Chel-Lin was cut off by a particularly strong jolt of the train, sending her floating out into the carriage’s aisle. As she slowly floated back, she seemed to sigh with defeat as she plopped down next to Elias, her mantle flowing off the chair and touching the floor.

  “Your human crafts are rather poorly designed for everyone who isn’t a biped,” she said.

  “The Cambiar don’t seem to complain. Look – there’s slots in the back here for their tails.” Elias pointed to the hole across the lower part of the chair. Case in point, he gestured over to a small Cambiar across the aisle who was lightly bobbing her head to music coming through earbuds. Her tail swished back and forth in cheerful figure eights.

  “Yes, well, perhaps your kind should start looking into seats for Tylas next, perhaps.”

  Elias raised an eyebrow. “Opening up to us yet? Sounds a lot like you want to see more of humanity.”

  “I do not! I only…” Chel-Lin trailed off as the two them looked over towards Madison.

  She was sitting in the aisle seat a few rows ahead. She had blocked in Kurt, the gorilla shuffling about in his seat uncomfortably. The chair made him look like an ogre trying to fit into a car-seat for an infant, and the conversation he was part of didn’t seem to make things any easier.

  “You see, my dear Howland, the mechanics behind the syraline imprinting process are extraordinarily complex,” Madison lectured. “I am, of course, more than happy to run through all forty-six of the steps to achieve perfect atomic structuring for Vulcan-tier sheeting. So, surely you must know about quasi-formatting of S-Field implantation for alloyed metals? Oh, wait, do you? I must start there then. It’s really as easy as…”

  The bodyguard looked haggard, and they had only been on the train a few minutes. Kurt slowly turned and locked eyes with Elias over his sunglasses and mouthed a subtle ‘help me’. Elias, pretending it was just the wind, shrugged, and turned back to Chel-Lin, letting Madison continue to overwhelm the brute. The Tylas’ eyes winced as Madison started yet another topic.

  “I suppose there could be worse fates than being stuck in the lab with you.” Chel-Lin seemed to find the humour of the situation. Before Elias could make some witty retort, Bernard stuck his head over the back of his seat, grinning at them.

  “Hey, hey, how’s it going Scratchy and Bumblebee?” Bernard asked.

  Oh, damn it. Elias thought he was done with that nickname. At least Chel-Lin was getting in on the moniker action, and she didn’t look pleased. She elicited a soft sigh as Bernard doled out finger guns to the two of them.

  “Lab work going alright? Haven’t killed each other yet?” Bernard enquired.

  “Not yet. Working on it though.” Elias said, rewarding him with a weak attempt at a nudge from his Tylas partner’s mantle against his arm.

  “Ah, but come on guys – look at how much fun you can have if you’re still alive! Who knows, if we make it to the IGS we could even try planning for a trip to Berhltine’s.”

  “Berhltine’s?” Chel-Lin tilted her head.

  “Yeah, the Cambiar collector. He’s got a station in system, just outside of Kral’Thul. He only seems to accept the highest calibre of guests though, so I think we’ll need to have both of you two along to get in.”

  “What? Not famous enough on your own, Bernard?” Elias said with a smirk.

  “Eh, there’s the fame I’ve got, and then there’s the sort that attention snobs like him care about. Your both nepo babies, and that probably counts for more. Still, Birkdale’s isn’t half bad for now.”

  The rock-and-roll scientist gestured towards the window that revealed the plaza located at the centre of Birkdale’s Gate. Most of the small city was made up of low story residential buildings and shops, built for the diplomats and negotiators involved with establishing Tylas contact. However, like any colony, far more than the core staff had flocked to the city for new jobs. After all, for every home a diplomat needed, there were builders, maintenance workers, administrators and countless other jobs that helped support the whole system. Some ten thousand or so people had already made their home, with many already planning ahead for when the wealthy corporate executives finalized trade agreements with the Heralds. Elias could see the city becoming far larger as time went on.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  Beyond the ring of low lying buildings, mostly made up of cheaper pre-fabricated structures, stood a high-rise centre – a few tall skyscrapers ascending upwards. Though they looked small compared to the majesty of Urestior’s silver spires, they were tall enough to draw the gaze of others on the train. Notably, Gallant Corp had an entire tower to themselves, the flashy banner of a verdant green knight striding across hills, a sword outstretched in his hand. Elias was pretty certain that being gallant, as had been the namesake of the corporation, required a bit more than marching around in a quixotic manner. That being said, the image of the knight, no destination in sight but moving on regardless, did stir up memories of Uncle Samson. Skies above, he would have loved to visit Kral-Thul. Had he met the Tylas, he would have removed the need for the IGS entirely – the man could make a friend out of anyone.

  The clearing of a throat before Elias returned to the present.

  Bernard was staring at his puzzled expression, “I more meant that as a quick look, not a full on spiritual awakening.”

  “Yes, well, it’s a lot to take in,” Elias said. “Do you wonder what will happen to all these people once the IGS is underway?”

  “I’m certain you humans will make the most of it,” Chel-Lin responded. “Selling your wares and enjoying the company of your fellow man.”

  “Or women!” Bernard said. The look in Chel-Lin’s face made it clear that she had not meant it in that sort of manner. “I’m looking forward to seeing if any Tylas will start hooking up with us. I have no clue how you floaties,” he exaggerated the point with a wiggling of his fingers, “actually get down to business.”

  An untranslated whine radiated from Chel-Lin as she leaned away from the overly enthusiastic man as he laughed. Whilst Elias could admit that he was very annoying, on purpose, he was at least not a letch.

  “Excuse me?” Chel-Lin said. “I’ll have you know that we Tylas are far more sophisticated when it comes to the matter of reproduction than your primal humping.”

  “Oh yeah? How does it happen? Do you fire lasers or touch tips or something?” Bernard smiled shamelessly, resting his chin on the back of his chair.

  “It… well… you see it…” Chel-Lin stammered, obviously expecting something more along the lines of Elias’ banter over species superiority instead of a blunt question about fucking.

  “Hey Bernard, how about you help out Kurt over there?” Elias cut in. “I think you could help direct some of Dr Dallas’ unending enthusiasm, hmm?”

  Bernard looked over that the pair. Madison had wrapped a hand around Kurt’s neck as she drilled each point of the syraline production process home with a jab of her other hand. She was already neck deep in discussions about syraline, mentioning about how the pearlescent exotic matter grew stronger when in contact with human QIS Patterns. It hadn’t even been five minutes. The older scientist shook his head, sighed, and made his way over to save the bodyguard. Breathing a sigh of relief, Chel-Lin laid back in the chair.

  “And I thought you were bad,” she said. “Perhaps it’s just the entirety of your race that are idiots,”

  “Don’t count us out yet; you’ve only seen the best of us so far. We’ve got plenty worse individuals to destroy whatever expectations you have left.”

  “I look forward to it.” Was that a giggle Elias heard?

  Finally, the train reached its destination at the city centre, light pouring down from the system’s bright star. The cluster of gas and rocks that made up Kral-Thul orbited around the star as the cluster itself rotated. A significantly large plate of debris at the ‘bottom’ of the cloud acted as a shield for the light, giving the perception of a daytime and nighttime for the residents there. Elias wasn’t sure how well he could work without a proper circadian rhythm – working in defiance against his body’s natural cycle helped motivate him in the small hours of the morning after a long night. He didn’t think the Tylas slept, but had seen Chel-Lin retreat to her room many times in their time together. Some other reason perhaps? Did they eat? Elias wanted to see if he could get her to eat something whilst they were on their trip.

  Stepping out behind the pair were an already exhausted Bernard, a partially revived Kurt and a bright, smiling Madison. Hands on her hips, she took a deep breath.

  “Birkdale’s Gate!” Madison said. “Oh, what a delightful place. What shall we do first?”

  Elias let the three of them discuss as he moved over to a preoccupied Chel-Lin. She was staring at the electronic billboards displaying adverts and political messages. Most were the usual affair – some new cybernetic that lifted ten percent more mass, a proclamation of a new formula for the Super Lemon beverage, and another one for a fancy cologne. It displayed a short clip of man and Cambiar with shockingly similar features intertwined and looked at one another intensely, their skin both an ashen grey colour, and their features chiselled. The brand was Le Deux Stannocks and appeared to give the name of the cologne after a few seconds of the sensual affair – Pygmalion.

  “You alright over there?” Elias asked.

  “What is wrong with your species?” Chel-Lin said. “Not only do you seek to live the most sinful lives possible, you corrupt those around you. Look at that poor Cambiar – do you think he wanted to look like that?”

  Elias shrugged. “Maybe he’s into it?”

  “Into it? You can’t surely mean…”

  Ah, it would seem she hadn’t picked up on the very subtle implication of the two people on the billboard looking like they were seconds away from banging. It was weird, admittedly, that they looked like each other though. Wait, was the human trying to look like the Cambiar, or vice versa? Before he could tease Chel-Lin further, the billboard shifted to an advert for a pornography website specializing in interspecies videos, featuring a cropped photo of the act. Elias had to admit he thought it was quite graphic for a public display, although the genitals were just out of frame.

  “Barald save me…” she murmured.

  The three others of their group had decided on a movie, a trip to the retro arcade and a restaurant to finish the day. Elias didn’t particularly care – he was mostly looking forward to seeing how the resident alien of the group would react. Seeing how uncomfortable the Tylas was already made him only more excited. The group received looks as they wandered down the paved streets, the lack of private ground vehicles in the city forcing pedestrian travel when not using the public transport. The looks were to be expected when you had both a handful of the CCH’s most famous scientists and an alien stood, or hovered, a good foot taller than most people. Chel-Lin took a second to adjust her maroon scarves and ribbons, letting them cover more of her body before matching pace with Elias.

  “You good?” he asked.

  “Indeed,” she said. “Just needed to… recollect myself. I would have thought the looks of the average human would be less intense. I think that is a hypothesis I can disprove.”

  “Yeah, well, I do think we do make for a strange group. That being said, just wait until the Symposium – I think you’ll find that we find the Tylas stare a bit more intimidating.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You’ve got four goddamn high beams for eyes. It’s going to give a bit of a startle when someone first sees them.”

  She squinted at him, though it didn’t seem to be out of annoyance. No, Elias could see she was uncomfortable with coming to terms with how she was being viewed. Perhaps Elias’ usual insults she could take fine, but the looks from random passersby were too much.

  “Hey, if it makes you feel better, imagine how the guys during the New Horizons Incident probably felt,” Elias said.

  “That’s not the same. You know how friendly the Cambiar are. And how that turned out in the end.”

  “Yeah, well, don’t presume all things went peachy for them either. Remember, just a couple of weeks after meeting for the first time they all had to deal with not just Heaven’s Doctrine but also those nutjobs at Paradise.”

  “I suppose so,” Chel-Lin tilted her head. “I guess things can’t go as bad as that for us at least.”

  “See? There’s always a bright side.”

  Elias looked away from Chel-Lin to see the cinema in front of them. The banner across the entrance displayed a number of movies. Some looked alright, some middling, but there was one that took Elias’ attention. A man and woman took centre stage on the display, guns in their hands. Ooh, boy, he knew what Chel-Lin needed to watch.

  “So, ready to watch some schlocky, adrenaline filled fun?” Elias asked.

  “I’m interested to see what passes for high art amongst your people,” Chel-Lin said. Elias couldn’t quite make it out, but it almost seemed that the way her eyes creased up indicated an invisible smile.