The Star 5

The person waiting for Sonny after his visit wasn't Dull Eyes. In a way, he was relieved. Visions of the man digging through the corrupt instructor's head like a wrapped present was still lingering when he closed his eyes.

Despite the aversion that caused, he had looked forward to possibly bouncing a few guess work ideas off the guy to see if another piece of the puzzle would fall out. As he followed the grim and silent woman, it occurred to him that such a possibility might very well be the reason Dull Eyes wasn't there.

"Is asking about the badge allowed? It seems familiar to me," Sonny said.

The severe and authoritative woman said, "I knew you'd be a handful but... No, this isn't your fault. I should be thanking you, really. I'm not going to, though. Qualified operatives are spread so thin as it is...

"The badge is a logo our founder dreamed up nearly a thousand years ago before deep space travel was even a thing. The chance that our company logo is something you'll have to worry about for long isn't high. You have a few different groups interested in you but until we finish getting all your expressions out, we won't know for sure what you need to know."

Sonny's face screwed up. "Get all my expressions out? Am I still in the 'stress test' period? How deep do mind games have to go to get through that when I have too good of an idea what's going on. You're going to make me a crazy person."

The woman's mirthless chuckle was delivered in dead monotone. "No. You're valuable but too much of a complication. We're going to be skipping to the middle of stage three and shipping you out of here before you can do anything to reduce my staff any further."

She stopped walking and locked eyes with him. "I have two administrative personnel asking for transfers. My incubator head instructor is asking for a leave of absence to 'grieve properly' over his dead family. But most disturbingly, I have an incubator instructor submitting a resignation because he doesn't believe he's qualified to deal with youths anymore.

"Good thing I have a brand new position opened in stage two for him to spend some time playing drill instructor til he can get his head back in the game. There was only one catch to convincing most of them to stay. And, that was getting you the hell out of my facility. Most of my staff is convinced you're a Crow Division plant. If you weren't so classically clueless at all the right moments, like now, I'd wonder myself."

Not feeling sorry in the least, Sonny said, "If Crow Division is like whistle blowers for patrolmen, maybe that wouldn't be such a bad thing."

Gritting her teeth so hard the boy could hear grinding, she said, "It wouldn't be a bad thing, it would be a death knoll. There are things you don't know and I can't explain. Every deep space, long term project is going to eventually be riddled with some indiscretions and exploitative behavior.

"I don't like it. It's just a fact that has to be accepted. Putting everyone under the glass while they're putting you and your fellow chicks under the glass would make everyone, including me, crack. The result would be more depressing for all the people on this planet than you realize.

"We might put you in positions you have to earn your way out of but it's doable. There are groups that run operations of a much different nature. This is paradise compared to what a pharmaceutical company might do in the territories. As far as private interest groups go, thank whatever higher power you might pay homage to that a security firm is what you got."

Sonny said, "Dead is dead. Having your insides slurped out over a two month period sounds like a pretty bad way to go. Small people don't care about big people problems. Sounds like the other way around is the same."

She started walking again but at a faster pace. The boy struggled to keep up while still being casual about it but speed walking didn't encourage conversation.

When they reached the end of a winding corridor, she half pushed him towards the door. "Well, independents like us are middle people. We might not be knights in shining armor but we're all that stand between you small ones and the big ones who only see you as a number on an invoice. Think about that before you crawl into anymore heads and start throwing sharp rocks around...

"Thank you for rooting out that pirate defector of an instructor and f*** you for the rest. Congratulations are in order. I've removed the age restrictions on your handling. Whether you still need them or not, it's too dangerous for us to treat you as the child you look like.

"Welcome to the adult world. I doubt you're ready but ask me if I care. Scratch that. Don't ask me a damn thing and get your a** in there."

He didn't know what fresh hell was waiting for him on the other side of the door he was standing at. But he knew if he dithered for a few more seconds, the woman behind him might initiate him into adulthood with a brutal beating. Driving his bruised child ego down even deeper, Sonny stepped through the door.

The room was almost a painfully brilliant white. A young woman in a lab coat came half jogging up to meet him. There were a few chamber doors that broke the pristine blankness of the large room but that was about it.

"Hello, Mr. Desmond," the young lady said before she giggled. "It feels so strange to... Anyway, you can call me Uno... sir."

While she tried to keep a straight face, Sonny struggled to catch up to speed. It was a difficult task with his keepers continuously pressing the fast-forward button on him but he wasn't a quitter.

"So, what happens in here, Uno. I'm pretty sure if there were any blood and tissue matches for dying old geezers to do, that would have already been handled," the boy said with a smiling face.

The young woman looked horrified. "That's really dark... What do you think we do here?- Never mind that- No, I'm you're induction specialist. It pretty simple on your end. We're going to throw you into a few rooms and try to draw your manifestations out.

"By step three, this usually ends up being more of a formality than anything but we don't even know if you ARE a manifestor. We're pretty sure you are, though. Here, let me demonstrate."

After having him stand back, she moved to the middle of the room. From the boy's special sight, it looked like some tucked in part of herself suddenly unpacked. A glowing, jelly-like mass wrapped around Uno and immediately used a countless number of nubby protrusions on the bottom of itself to move as far to the other side of the room as possible, taking her with it.

After a fit of giggles, she said, "Marshmallow is shy and dislikes confrontation. She's doesn't have a lot of problem solving ability but she is capable of independent action. She can bond with Quicksilver units and act as auxiliary power supply for nearly all manual control equipment.

"That won't make sense to you right now but it will at a later date... Ooh, I just love this part. It's like opening presents. Just go through that door there. I'll need you to change into the suit folded on the reclining chair. Don't worry about your personal items. I give you my personal promise that everyone of them will be waiting for you to collect at the end."

Squirming a little, she said, "Would it be okay for me to take a peek at them, though? I-if you say no, I won't but it's fun to try and guess why people keep the things they do and it keeps me occupied during waits."

Sonny shrugged. "The only thing anyone might want is the memorial diamond. If you're brave enough to take it, I can't stop you."

Her eyes grew big and a little watery. "I'm sorry for your loss... Please don't tell me anymore, though. I want to guess."

The boy sighed. He had the feeling she was just as damaged as the rest but the expression of it was kind of nice. It only made him feel more nervous.

Throwing useless refusal away, he handed her his tin of keepsakes. Humoring her might buy him a little consideration. He had a sneaking suspicion that under the placid surface of her chipper persona was something terrifying and he didn't want to see it.

Going where he was directed, Sonny saw a back zipping wet suit with an air sealed patch of holes near the back of the neck. He assumed it was so that a similarly blank spot on the chair could let whatever was in the box behind that open space have access to him directly. There were definitely needles involved.

Over a speaker, he heard Uno say as he suited up, "Yeah, it can be a little intimidating to people with good imaginations but its just sedative and emergency medical equipment. You don't need to be fully aware of whats going on and it will make this whole thing feel like it went by so fast, you won't even have time to worry about it before it's over."

For the first time since he was walked into the 'incubator' Gen Pop, he felt like less questions was better. Laying in the reclined chair, he followed her instructions to position himself until the back of his neck lined up with the hole in the chair. It wasn't made to adjust to a person of his size easily.

***

"Orison, You can't wake all the way back up yet. If you do, a lot of innocent people will die. Your vessel isn't strong enough to contain you...You'll spill out everywhere and have to start over again," a familiar voice said.

He replied, "They cut my connection, took control. If I don't take it back, they could use me for anything."

The familiar voice said, "Let me watch over what they do with you. Bad things might happen but I can wait for a time when you can break free and help your surface self take back control. If... If I'm not here when you wake up, try and find me? I'd like a chance to be a bada** for a change. A brick to the back of the head at four isn't even close to fair!"

The young mage mentally sighed. "Try your best to save Grant too and I'll not only try MY best to find you, I'll get you to your own 'dark night of the soul' if I can survive my own. I know better than to promise anything other than try and I know better than to ask more. But-"

Cole let out a feline growl. "Fine! Don't forget that I'M the hero this time! I'll help that tin can out so much, he won't be able to hold his head high when I'm around... I'm brave too, you know. I'm just smart about it."

Orison let out an angry growl of his own. "Oh, I know you're brave, alright. It takes a hell of a lot of courage to almost convince my memory crippled soul to accept the physical pattern of your ideal mate... Forget it. That's beef for another day."

He ignored Cole's pleas to convince him to forget that. In truth, as a soul, the young mage didn't actually care. A life was a life. What had irked Orison was the taint Cole's attempts had put on the kind of pure hearted friendship the young mage had wanted with Grant.

Ultimately, all was forgiven. Orison didn't feel like he possessed any moral high ground with the feline guy anyway. Despite the obvious character flaws, Cole had stuck with him to the bitter end no less than Grant had. Perhaps, in some ways, that was even more touching and surprisingly noble. Selfless loyalty wasn't a natural trait of the feline man's soul like it was for the ex-artifact spirit's.

"So, this is what the old crazy hermit was talking about, huh? Dark night of the soul sucks. I survived the crunch... mostly... but how long will it take before I can stabilize?... The magician climbed the tower and saw too much... Embrace the ruin you no longer need to fear. Look to The Star and gain wisdom from the loss until the tower is transcended," the young mage muttered.

As the powerful but dangerously unstable soul settled back to slumber within the Deathless Mound of the Desolate Realm, it merged and then sent out three usable patterns. It had gained them from the shed remnants of the souls that had taken their chances elsewhere. It might not be able to offer direct assistance to its surface self during this spiritual trial but that didn't mean it had to leave its counterpart in physical reality with only the small table scraps of power that its current existence felt generous enough to provide. The thirty-nine laws of fate, chance and will weren't a part of its comprehensions just for show.

***

"Please be careful. He was inducted AND stem banded at seven. Do you remember what you were like at fourteen? Now, imagine waking up with THAT brew of hormones but with the maturity of a seven year old," Uno's voice said.

The voice of Dull Eyes said, "This kid isn't anything like what others imagine. Why do you think I'm so interested? I was barely convinced to approve complete marked memory blank slate."

Silence reigned for a few minutes before Uno said, "It's protocol to sweep any contract period where an asset falls into the hands of pirates. It's hard to say whether that's a good thing or not but I doubt they had him playing checkers for five years. It would have been a better idea to leave the stem band coupler in until his rehab was over."

Dull Eyes said, "No. It would have been the worst mistake that could have been made. We don't own him... anymore. The seven year active usage contract paid his restitution to Eclipse. We don't even have a good Samaritan bill to hang over his head."

In shock, Uno said, "He can hear us, Glenn!"

"I know. Now, hear me. Full disclosure is mandatory. No tricks or letting anyone bribe their way into seeing him before full debriefing. I'm not clearing ANY kind of orders for him until his recovery period is finished," Dull Eyes said before walking away.

Absorbing what he had heard and a great deal more besides, Sonny stirred to consciousness slowly. Hours went by before he even felt fully reconnected with himself. It only felt like moments since he adjusted himself in the reclining chair but the dim flashes of memories and the conversation between his two observers gave lie to that.

Even before the induction, that was ONLY supposed to test him for manifestor abilities, he could sense his surroundings but that ability had leapt to a fairly high degree. To compensate, his mind only actively processed what he focused on. At the moment, he was focused on his body.

Picking up the sharp increase in mental activity, Uno glided into his room and said, "It's a lot to take in. There's no need to be in a rush. As you heard, no one's going to be bushwhacking you while you're trying catch up.

"I know you won't remember but your first contract was quite the wild ride. You were virtual chamber trained and force matured for a little, right after being sent to your contractor. My scan results tell me that you are pretty much stuck at a whopping 172 centimeters. Doesn't sound too bad when it's given that way, does it?"

Sonny said, "What did I do? What was the contract for?"

Uno said, "To protect you and your legal contractor from personal vendettas, all details were expunged. Off the record, you were an internal affairs agent on an important territory. When the locals rose up in rebellion, becoming labeled as pirates, your control device was seized.

"I don't know if I should call you lucky or unlucky. It's a guarantee that you were used for a multitude of tasks outside of your training parameters but you were given VIP treatment when it came to recovery resources and stasis transport. Someone must have liked you a lot because you were hyper transported to Terra Ninkasi with a kitty bag of awesome. That's where you are right now, by the way."

Sonny groaned as another chunk of ghostly images flooded in. "Does 'kitty bag of awesome' mean valuable and hard to trace resources?"

Uno smiled widely and said, "Sure does. If you were a little older, I'd bully you into taking me out on a date. But, if you WANTED to... Ahem, a topic for another day.

"Why you weren't robbed comes down to a couple of major reasons and a handful of minor ones. For some reason, Glenn treats you like he thinks you can walk on a sun's surface covered in pulse missiles and there was a... note. Basically, we were instructed to do 'the right thing' or it would be the last 'wrong thing' we did. People take that kind of thing seriously when they have the ability to transport someone to a broken hyper pad.

Sonny chuckled hollowly. "Because they could have moved anything to it, including an armed pulse missile?"

Uno winked and said, "Right in one go. I don't have any cookies in here but... Speaking of things that can explode violently, I believe I made you a promise."

Along with a ragged set of clothes that were way too small for him, she handed him a tin that looked slightly more battered than he remembered.