Tyler: Human
Tyler walked hastily down the smooth stone walkway, passing by some very impressive structures without even glancing at them. If she kept up a good pace, she would get to the CSC headquarters exactly on time.
The whole planet of Junit was gorgeous. Every building had been constructed with the greatest architects the universe could provide. With its fantastic parks and beautiful, never changing season of perfect temperatures, Junit was the ideal building location of every business and homeowner.
But only the ultra wealthy could lay hands on even a small corner of the planet. Tyler was lucky the organization she worked for had its headquarters here.
Tyler's Halo bobbed up and down as she paced down the sunny street. She had a couple of her own Halos, but she always used the expensive ones that the first class arrival stations handed out for free on the ritzy planets such as Junit.
Quite an ingenious contraption, the floating ring was a little smaller than her head and stayed about a hands length distance above her at all times. This particular Halo was a metallic white with the intergalactic station's logo on it. Tyler wasn't quite sure how it worked, but somehow it gave its user the mix of air needed to survive, it protected them from harmful radiation levels, and it warped the user's gravity and air pressure to something they were accustomed to.
Basically, it allowed beings to walk around on habitable planets without having to wear a bulky space suit. She thought maybe Humans had invented it due to the name, but her species wasn't know for ingenious technology, so probably not.
Soon she had reached the commercial section of the city. The large buildings stood far above the pretty suburban homes Tyler had just walked through.
Even though it was a commercial area, the landscape was still breathtakingly gorgeous. Large fountains spayed some type of fluid into the air in gravity defying patterns, bright and fragrant flowers of every color lined the walkways, perfectly groomed trees rustled in the slight breeze... it was perfection.
Many of the more temporal beings in the galaxy considered Junit to be terrestrial heaven, and Tyler could see why.
But unfortunately she didn't have time to enjoy the beauty of the landscape.
Tyler walked briskly on, her golden blond hair dancing behind her in the warm air. There were a few beings out enjoying the gardens and bustling to or from work.
She looked around briefly to see if there were any faces she recognized.
She could name most of the species she saw because of her job. There was a family of Capozeeri smelling the exotic flowers, a short Dohaydo walking staunchly down a path in the distance, a male Cito and a female Gonos stood on the grass discussing business.
She listened to each of their home planet languages, some jittery and squeaky, others low and sweeping. None of them were speaking Olten, the Pentaversal language that every species learned to speak since childhood, so she understood nothing. Although it was surprisingly relaxing for her to hear and not understand. She could tone it out more easily.
It was such a beautiful day. She would have to see if there was time to enjoy the scenery after the meeting.
Suddenly a distinct memory flashed into her mind. Tyler was walking down this exact same path years ago, but with her sister.
Maty had been so jealous of Tyler when she had found out that she got to travel to Junit for work meetings. Tyler had arranged for her and Maty to go together a few days before the CSC meeting so that they could relax and enjoy the scenery together before work started up again.
Tyler smiled, remembering how her older sister had picked one of the dazzling flowers that grew along that very same walkway and tucked it quickly into Tyler's hair, only seconds before an older, senile security guard came around the corner and told Tyler off for defacing the grounds.
Tyler was upset afterwards, but Maty thought it was the funniest thing that had ever happened.
Tyler smiled and inhaled deeply. The small memory was laced with joy, but there was deep sadness behind it. Her older sister had been missing for two years now. The Pentaverse Police Department had been searching for her ever since, pulling up clues now and then, but nothing that held much promise. Maty was still missing. Tyler didn't want to give up hope; she refused to. The Pentaverse was a big place and Maty could be anywhere.
Tyler shook her head as she walked, her thoughts troubled.
But she was going to work now, and all of her troubled thoughts would only hinder her concentration on the new mission.
A new mission she thought, playing with the words in her mind. It had been a while, which was a little worrisome. Tyler wondered if the CSC would eventually run out of business.
The CSC, or the Conservation of Species Committee, had become a very prominent organization since its founding. When the Pentaverse was organized and the Holy Ruolten disappeared, a few of the species that were at first thought to be stable went extinct due to the sudden unification of the universes. Kind of like an animal going extinct due to other invasive animals being introduced into its habitat.
The Committee was formed to stop that from happening. And that was Tyler's job; to keep exotic aliens from going extinct. Or at least that's how she explained it whenever someone asked.
She soon made it to the CSC headquarters.
The impressive structure was about the same size as the other large commercial buildings surrounding it, though maybe a bit taller.
It was definitely an alien design, though Tyler could only guess which race it came from. Its exterior dimly reflected light like a mirror, but it had a dark blue hue to it that changed to a vibrant red every split second before you blinked.
As a rule, Human architecture wasn't very popular in the Pentaverse, so it was rare for Tyler to see a building that wasn't alien.
The doorway opened up as she approached the building, revealing the dozens of beings all rushing from one place to another. She dodged through the crowds and registered herself at a check-in dock, then quickly made her way off the base floor to the floor where her team meeting was being held.
It didn't take long for Tyler to find the right room.
Though her team only met here before they departed for a mission, she had been there enough to not have to ask for directions.
She had worked for the CSC for almost five years now, the whole while progressing up to the position she was in now: Team Seven's engineering expert.
Tyler was only 25 years old, and holding such a high-ranking position at such a young age was practically unheard of.
Tyler was supposed to be an intern still, working in a secretarial position for a CSC team. But one of the team leaders discovered how she had a knack for catching engineering deficiencies on intergalactic vessels and got her a position in team 12. Then she just climbed her way up to team seven.
Although she was good at what she did, Tyler felt like she was really just lucky. There were a lot of intelligent beings out there; not everyone got to work in one of the top ten CSC teams.
Tyler quietly opened the door to the meeting room. In the center of the room stood an elegant, long table, with Tyler's teammates sitting around it.
Captain Byralnus sat at the top right of the table studying some notes on a screen with his numerous eyes.
He was Team Seven's Captain, and a very respectable and wise crystal Ferionus. The light in the room shone through his pink, transparent, crystal body and cast red shards of light behind him.
Tyler really liked Byralnus. Although most of the time he was very serious and business-like, he treated the team like it was his family.
EkirBai was the next teammate she saw sitting at the table. The large lizard-like Quibeek was beaming at Tyler from her seat. She quickly waved at her with one of her four arms and motioned for her to sit down in the seat at her side. Tyler smiled back and crossed the floor to the seat and sat down. Bai and her had been best friends since their first mission together.
Heva Belnag was the other teammate in the room. She sat alone on the right of Byralnus, with an empty seat between them.
Her species, the Terilli, were easily recognizable by a large feathery extremity that extended from the top of their small, blue, spherical bodies. The awkward Heva had been promoted to the team only a few missions earlier, and she had seemingly never quite warmed up to the crew. But she was kind and she did her job.
"Welcome, Tyler Jacobs" Said Byralnus, looking up from his screen at her after Tyler sat down. His voice was melodic and had a calming ring to it that resonated slightly after he finished talking.
Tyler smiled at the crystal Ferionus and nodded. "Thank you, Captain. Good to see you again."
"How are you?" Whispered the beaming Bai, her sharp teeth gleaming in her toothy smile.
"I'm glad I'm here." Grinned Tyler. She wanted to hug the big Quibeek, but that would have to wait until after the meeting. "And you?" She asked.
"Oh, I am glad to be here too. I was beginning to be a little worried, this is the first real mission we've had in a long time!"
"I know." Tyler nodded. "Do you know who is going to take Oliup's place on the team?"
The empty spot between Byralnus and Heva used to belong to Oliup. He had been the team's first mate for many years, until the completion of the last mission. He was fairly old and decided it was time for retirement.
The team was supposed to meet the new first mate at this meeting. There was definitely some excitement mixed with anticipation in the room.
"No," whispered the lizard, answering Tyler's question, "but they're pretty big, whatever he or she is." She glanced over at the empty first mate's chair. They usually reformed the chairs to fit the size of whoever was to sit there, and the new first mate's chair was almost as big as EkirBai's. "...But I hope it's a male, and I hope he's handsome!"
Tyler snorted.
"What?" Smiled Bai, "Listen. You and I need to be finding mates someday missy."
"Bai, they're not going to promote another Human or Quibeek onto this team; and I don't know about you, but I'm not really interested in interspecieal mating."
"Oh, not interested huh." Snickered the Quibeek. "The legality doesn't even come to mind?"
"There's a reason it's illegal." Whispered Tyler. Then she smirked at the Reptile. "What species do YOU want him to be?"
Bai thought for a moment. "I'm not sure. But what I'd give to have a hulking Quibeek male smiling at me from the first mate post! Oh baby we would be flying strait to heaven on a cloud of love, making sweet, sweet music all the way."
Tyler laughed.
Byralnus glanced up at them from his screen work.
"Sorry!" Hissed Tyler. The Ferionus did the equivalent of rolling his eyes and then returned to studying.
"You're going to get me in trouble with the Captain, Bai!" Tyler hissed, trying to be as quiet as possible.
Bai was about to respond when the door to the room opened.
In walked one of the leading CSC Team sergeants, a stickler Kaptoy named Hizejak.
Hizejak had been a leading CSC Sergeant for as long as Tyler could remember. The Kaptoy was tall and thin with a pale greenish hue to his skin. All Kaptoys had huge bulging skulls, almost as if half of the head had been removed from the forehead up, and a large, mega balloon had been put in its place.
Bai quickly mouthed the word 'later' as the four teammates uniformly stood up and saluted the Sergeant.
"Welcome, team seven." The Kaptoy saluted back. "I am glad to see that you were all able to make it to Junit safely. Welcome, Captain Byralnus."
"Thank you, Sergeant Hizejak. My team and I are proud to represent CSC in this mission." Responded the Ferionus formally.
Hizejak nodded. "Before we proceed with the details of the mission, I would be pleased to introduce team seven's new first mate. Please enter, Malba."
In walked the being.
Tyler had never seen his species before. His skin was a smooth light purple color, and he was very muscular. Tyler thought his round head resembled that of a hairless cat, somewhat flat and triangular. Two long thin spikes protruded from the back side of his head like stretched out cat ears, and another shorter and thicker pair protruded from his upper back. The apparent lack of a neck kept his head bent down as if he was glancing up from the floor. With his flat head so close to his shoulders, it made him look a bit like a muscular walking torso. A thick tail originating from his lower neck twirled around his stubby legs as he moved to stand by the tall Hizejak.
Tyler quickly peeked behind her to see Bai's expression.
The large lizard was grinning from ear to ear. Tyler had to catch herself before she started giggling, fortunately neither Hizejak nor the purple alien noticed.
"Greetings, team seven." The being bowed politely, "My name is Jirabi Malba. I am a Kelpar from the Retripelis universe, and I am grateful to be working along side you as your first mate." His voice was deep and powerful, but he spoke softly.
"Welcome, Jirabi Malba." Said Byralnus. The rest of the crew nodded in acceptance.
"Thank you, Malba." Said the Kaptoy Hizejak. "Malba was promoted with high marks from team nine. He will make a fantastic first mate for you on your missions. Please take your seat next to your captain, Malba. And the rest of you may be seated as well."
The large Kepar respectfully nodded and took his seat along with the rest of the crew, in between Bryalnus and Heva. His purple body filled the large seat nicely.
"Now." Said the Kaptoy as he activated the multidimensional display screen in the center of the table. The lights in the room dimmed. "We must discuss your mission."
An image flashed into the air from the display screen. It was an image of a metallic creature; its body was perfectly elliptical with a thick pole extending from the top of its body to the ceiling. Hanging limp at its sides were two slender arms and in the thing's center was a large glowing light that looked like an eye. Tyler easily recognized the species.
"The endangered species you will be working with is called the Circuit." Explained the thin Kaptoy. "Jacobs?"
Tyler looked from the image to the standing Kaptoy. "Yes, Sergeant Hizejak."
"Your species has some correlation with the Circuits if I am not mistaken. Please give us a brief description, so that we may all be familiar with it's history."
Tyler nodded and stood up. "The Circuits were the first gift of the Holy Ruolten, given to the Seraoh universe approximately four Ruolten years after the organization of the Pentaverse. We, the Humans, were the only race in our universe willing to accept the gift, and taught the circuits earth-based computer codes and behaviorism. After the species developed itself to the point of self sustainability, it proclaimed independence and organized the fourth largest armada in the Pentaverse."
"Excellent. Well done, Jacobs. You may be seated." Said the Sergeant, arms folded behind his back.
Tyler sat back down. She had never seen a Circuit in real life, but they were always taught about in the Earth schools when discussing the organization of the Pentaverse.
"Here are some excerpts from the CSC's most recent census compared to the two before it." Hizejak continued. The image of the Circuit was replaced by three columns of numbers.
The Kaptoy drones on about the different statistics shown, and Tyler began to swiftly drone out.
"Sergeant?" Chimed in Bai, calling Tyler's attention back to the meeting. "Do we know the cause behind all of this?"
Hizejak sighed. "That is indeed an excellent question, EkirBai. The Circuits are a stubborn species and are less than willing to accept help from any outside source, even the CSC." Said the Kaptoy, pacing around the head of the table. He paused for a moment. "...Therefore, the information we have about this sudden decrease is extremely limited. We're lucky to have the census statistics you see here."
Bai made a confused face. "So does that mean... maybe?" she smiled.
"EkirBai." scowled Byralnus. "This is not the time for joking around."
"I was being serious!" said Bai defensively. Then she noticed Hizejak was also scowling at her. "Oh, um, I was being serious—Captain." She corrected.
The thin Kaptoy sniffed with a frown. "Please work on your mannerisms EkirBai, I will have order in this division."
"Yes... Yes, sir."
"And the answer to your question is no," continued the Sergeant, "we have no information concerning the cause of decrease in population, only speculations. The CSC update-tech teams suspect an artificial intelligence epidemic of some kind, but we need more proof to be certain. We are fortunate that the species leader, the Circuit Queen, is even accepting help from the CSC at all. Your job will be primarily to collect information, and only interfere when permitted by the Circuits or when interference is absolutely necessary. If possible, resolve the issue; but if not, return to Gallidon headquarters and report back to me."
Hizejak turned off the display screen and the lights came back on. "You will leave tomorrow morning. Additional details about the mission will be sent to Captain Byralnus later on this evening, but I am willing to answer any questions you might have at this point." He waited for a moment to allow them time to speak.
"Question, Sergeant Hizejak." Said the purple Kepar, the new first mate. His deep voice made Tyler jump a little. "Where will we be meeting up with the Circuits?"
"Excellent question. The Circuits for the most part remain in their wandering fleets rather than sticking to any particular planet, or universe for that matter. But at this moment the Circuit mothership is orbiting a small planet here in the Gallidon universe, and the mothership is where you will be able to meet with the Queen. She is expecting you there. The planet they orbit is called Gnumus."
Tyler frowned. She had never heard of Gnumus. Why were they orbiting there?
"Anything else?" Asked Hizejak. The group was silent.
"No additional questions, Sergeant. Thank you for your time." Byralnus said, responding for the team.
"Excellent. We will meet again until after this mission. Good luck, team seven."
The group arose from their seats. Once they were all standing, the Kaptoy smiled at them, saluted, and walked out the door.