Tisis

Allies (N)

It is...beautiful.

I look around me and find myself mesmerized by the beauty around me.

The sun has set beyond the horizon and the full moon paints the world I am now in with his pale blue colors.

The shadows dancing over the shallow ground, where the light can just barely reach have something surreal and the motions of the water make it seem like the shadows themselves are alive.

Countless small creatures swarm around here, their colors like the rainbow in the sky.

Some even come so close, all I'd need to do is reach out my hand and I could touch them...but I push the thought away.

This is still Tisis.
And I have no idea whatsoever what these little creatures are capable of.
For all I know, I could end up paralyzed or worse, if I touch them.

Besides, I didn't come down here for sightseeing...even if it is a breathtaking view.

While I move through the waters, I cannot help but marvel at the diversity of creatures and the sense of peace and serenity that surround me.
...at least up to the moment, where a ground borne critter shoots out from its cave with alarming speed, right into a school of colorful fishes, retracting itself with it's prey between it's terrifyingly large teeth.

The school dispersed within a split second, naturally, but reforms a few seconds later and continues as if nothing ever happened.

No mourning of the friend that was taken from their midst.
None that come to his aid.

Survival of the strongest...where solidarity is just about the safest way to get yourself killed.

I shake my head and continue my way.
I need to be careful, otherwise I'll end up the dinner of...whatever.

Eventually, I arrive within range of the colony, which is painfully obvious by the amount of dirt and debris these cretins have been polluting the wonderfully clear waters with...on the upside, I should be safe from underwater predators for the time being.

Nothing in their right mind would ever come close to this thing...pretty sure, that says something about me...

Alright Nym...last chance to chicken out and turn around.

I take a deep breath through my gills, taking in the muddied taste of the water, which almost makes me gag.

I need to get the sewage system fixed, honestly...what these fools in there are doing to this beautiful realm is simply unforgivable.

No...no, calm down...one thing at a time.
You didn't come here to fight for the planet, you came here to take care of your future...alright, last time they noticed, when I tried to log into the system, so they must have at least a rudimentary understanding of the computer and ways to access it...hmm...a distraction would be nice...

I close my eyes and look around for open channels to connect to and, sure enough, I manage to find one, albeit not from one of the girls I used to talk to, judging by the ID...I'd really have preferred to work with someone I already know on this, but beggars can't be choosers, I guess.

I establish the connection and briefly introduce myself, getting a startled 'Who's there?!' as response.

"As I said, my name is Nympromedonalas Voxamy Lushomagans. And who am I speaking with?"
"Hey! Hey, there...there's a freaky voice in my head!"

...just grand, the only open connection belongs to an imbecile.

A new connection request comes in. Julia.
"Hey there, Nym," she starts cheerfully.

"Sorry about Mark, he had a little too much to drink last night."
"So it would seem...say, did you relay my message?"
"Sure did. And you should've seen him, up and out the door in less than 5 seconds!"
"Up and...out the door? What do you mean?"
"Yeah well, he said something about...wait a moment, let me think, ah yes, he thought that your message was some sort of suicide note, so he went to..."
"Went to...what?! What happened to Sirus?!"
"Actually...I thought he was with you again. But...since he's not...okay, now I'm a little worried. Hold on a second..."

She puts me on halt, without a doubt in order to query her various contacts.
After a while, she comes back and says, "...this is really strange. Nobody has seen him for the past three days. And he really stands out too..."
"I swear, if these xenophobic bastards hurt him...", I grumble under my breath, but force myself to calm down.

This is neither the time nor the place to be angry.
I came here with a plan and I must not let my emotions get the better of me.

"Alright, Julia...when we first came here, I tried to log in to the system...turns out my access rights got revoked. But somehow they noticed that we were there and interrupted my attempt to get back in...do you happen to know how that happened?"

"That was the day Sirus came in, right? Yeah, I think I remember that. There was suddenly this funky announcement coming in over the implant...something about querying the chain of command or something. It seemed to wander from one of us to the next."

"Naturally...the system was looking for your masters in the order of the chain of command...and because it couldn't reach them, it asked you to go find them."
"Yeah...tough luck about that...either way, the head research lady weaseled right over to Master Nemo and told him, that 'someone was out there'. At least that's how I heard it later."

"'Head research lady'?"
"'Mistress' Gaia, Nemo's lapdog. I wouldn't be surprised if the two of them were banging, to be honest."

It was hard to miss the contempt Julia held against this woman named 'Gaia'.
It would seem that it's not quite a paradise within these walls now either.

"This...Mistress Gaia...she is implanted?"
"Yeah, she is. Supposedly she was raised by an Asmodean like his own daughter, after her real parents died in an 'accident'...but I'm telling you, that woman...I wouldn't put it beyond her, that she arranged for that 'accident' herself. She always looked down on us and 'power' is the only thing she..."
"Julia, stop here for a moment please."
"Err, sure...sorry about that, I really shouldn't..."
"Quite honestly, I could care less...however I need her out of the picture for a little while. I intend to make your life infinitely better, but I can't do that if they catch me before I'm done. And while I don't think they'll find me here...they might do something to Sirus in order to stop me."

"...Mistress...what...what are you planning?"
"I intend to fix the orientation of the colony if I can and take you all hostage to bargain for Sirus' release. Any more questions?"
"Could you...go back to that 'take us all hostage' thing?"

I groan slightly, making bubbles emerge from my mouth...I didn't even realize that there was still air in my lungs...silly me.
"Look, I just want my friend back, that's all. Is that so unreasonable."
"No, of course not, but...you know, 'taking us all hostage' sounds a bit..."
"I need to improve my position here, okay?! Right now I've got nothing to give for bartering and I promise that, if Sirus is released, nothing bad will happen to anyone. On the contrary, I'll even help you fix the sewage system, which has been leaking into the ocean for Garkla knows how long now! So are you with me on this, or do I need to do this all alone?!"

A long pause.
Far too long.

Maybe I've overdone it.
Maybe I've scared her.
Maybe she's currently running to Master Nemo herself, informing him about my threat...I may well just have killed Sirus myself.

Just as my heart begins to sink deep, Julia finally asks, "What do you need us to do, Mistress?"
"...I need you to distract Gaia...or better yet, lock her up for a while."

And while there is no visual feed or anything, I can just feel her cracking her knuckles, this disgusting habit humans have before getting to work, as she says, "Just let me get the girls...give me an hour."

And then there is silence again.

It is, once again, just me, the ocean...and a monster I may just have unleashed upon an unsuspecting victim.