Planatae

Yigera

But it seemed that Kadis was here for a different reason. He shook his head slowly, his eyes never leaving Ricardia's.

"There's been a sudden... development," He said to her. "Have you used your Factor at all, recently?"

Her mother snorted audibly, "look at her bed-head, my friend. She's been out cold for hours."

Ignoring her, Ricardia willed her Factor into action, lifting her arm to inspect the light. To her surprise, the steady, warm glow she was expecting was erratic and uneven. Her skin buzzed and flickered like a faulty lightbulb.

Ricardia let her arm fall back to her side, dangling from her body like a foreign object. She took a half-step backwards, as though she could somehow get away from her own power.

Kadis, who seemed unsurprised, watched her reaction impassively. Lifting his arm, he showed her his own light. Unlike hers, while dimmer, it was steady and solid.

All while this was occurring, Ricardia's mother shrieked in excitement.

She sprung to her feet, closing the distance between them in a flash. Ricardia was seized around her midriff by her mother's long, spindly limbs.

"Oh, this is so exciting! You know what this means, don't you, Ricardia? When you became a dancer, all those years ago, I'd begun to hope..."

Ricardia looked down at her mother, who still was hugging her tightly, and felt her throat constrict. Tuning her out, she asked Kadis, "It's finally happened, hasn't it? We've reached the population threshold on Caedem. I've been following the newsfeeds." Glancing back down at her mother, she added, "we've all been waiting."

Her voice sounded flat, dead, even to her. Her Factor's malfunction had been like a blow to her chest, leaving her numb and feeling as though there wasn't enough air in the room. "So it's happening, then? Caedem is going to awaken?"

"Yes." Kadis said simply. "The Ferrum military division has been monitoring the planet for weeks now. When they sent me an alert that the Awakening had begun, I began sending out pings to the most likely candidates."

"Oh," was all she could say. Her mother, who had finally distangled herself, tsk tsked her in disappointment.

"It was the middle of the night!" Ricardia protested, briefly checking her feed's activity during the window of time when she'd been asleep. She quickly found the official Ferrum message inquiring about her Factor. "The other recipients listed are in other time zones!" She added, after looking it over. "I'm sure Representative Kadis had gone to them first."

Paradoxically, she welcomed the frustration that was bubbling up; it was something to focus on. Her mother's nagging was preferential to the overwhelming weight of Kadis' news.

"Yes," Kadis gestured, seeming impatient to continue, "I knew that, and so I traveled here in person after dealing with the others. By the time I arrived, all of the other candidates had sent back that their Factors were performing as usual."

"Except me," Ricardia said. A shiver ran down her spine, and her whole body flickered with light - once, twice. Her mother exclaimed in wonder, but Ricardia shrunk down. She wanted to be anywhere but there; in anyone else's body but her own. She tried to extinguish the pulsing light like before, but it was like her will had become paper-thin against the onslaught of emotion. She had no control, and the flashing was growing more intense. Random, geometric patterns kept rising to appear on the surface of her skin for a few fleeting moments, before sinking down below again.

While her mother watched, entranced, Kadis kept his eyes locked on Ricardia's face. Then he raised one brow, slowly, as though to say, it's all a bit odd, isn't it?

Ricardia stared back, battling panic. "Just get on with it," she said, her voice cracking.

Kadis gave her a slight nod, clearing his throat. After a moment, his eyes lit up with unnatural light; he was viewing something in his feed vision. Gaze now unfocused, he began to speak, his voice taking on the liting cadence of someone reading aloud.

"To whom it may concern," he began, "The Ferrum Rete congratulates you on this day. The chance to become something greater - to serve your friends, your family, and your planet - it is a great honor. Appreciate that."

Kadis paused to glance at Ricardia. He seemed to want to make a personal point here, but something in her expression made him cough hurriedly and continue.

"Your colony has reached a new stage in its life. It has grown large, and prosperous. Settlements have spread and grew, and with them have come new generations, ready to add their mark on your history.

The Planatae you inhabit is ready now, thanks to them - thanks to you-"

"Oh just get on with it!" Ricardia blurted out for the second time. She was sick of the bureaucratic jargon, the high-and-mighty tone of Ferrum Rete's letter of proclamation.

"Dear, is everything alright?" Her mother peered at her worriedly, her exuberance finally fading.

"No, I'm not alright! Why would I be?" Ricardia knew her tone had risen alarmingly, but she didn't care. "Just say it, Kadis, okay? We all know what's next."

There was a long pause. She had Kadis' full attention again, the digital pamphlet forgotten. "Ricarida," he said. "With the population threshold being met, there's enough consciousness here for Caedem to emerge from its dormant form - to finally become self-aware. And so you - Ricardia Yigera - appear to have been chosen as Caedem's avatar for when it finally Awakens."

His mother, silent since her outburst, spoke up. "I understand you're scared, my love, but this is a wonderful thing. The Yigera could become the most powerful family in Caedem."

"Yes," Ricardia said, snarling, "and all that it will cost will be my death!"

"You won't be dead!" Her mother was yelling desperately back. "You'll be part of something-"

"-Something great? Yeah, I get the idea! But I might as well be! I never asked for this shit!"

Blazing with sickly, unstable light, Ricardia bolted, throwing herself in the direction of her home's front door.