“What the Keeper are offering for the others is already quite substantial…” Ang’Tue scoffed.

  “Yeah and it is as you think. With a better deal there are additional obligations as well.” Robin nodded and looked at him, “You not only are caught up in this, you have to make sure that we quickly reach the hidden world of your people and that the Eltaran agree to receive us. Only then will we be able to continue with the mission afterwards. If you manage to make that happen, the Keeper will lend a hand in the Eltaran’s latest gene-research efforts to some degree.”

  Instead of being relieved, amazed or happy, the old man looked worried. He picked up the tablet Proto used as an interface and held it in front of his face.

  “This is about you, right? The price the Keeper are offering is too good to say no, but also too good for this to be a simple job. Tell me, what connection do you have with the Eltaran? What will I be dragging my people into if I agree?”

  There was a long pause, before Proto answered and the usual playfulness was completely gone this time.

  “I honestly have no idea. I can promise you that I have no deals whatsoever with the Eltaran. In all these centuries, our ways never crossed. However, you are right with your general idea. I can’t think of too many things in which the Keeper would involve themselves. My best guess is that this is about the Second?” It asked and Robin nodded, “I feared as much. It doesn’t matter what they want from me, but I have to warn you that meddling with things concerning the Second can end badly… very badly.” The sentient AI said and then paused, probably to calculate what would be a good way to continue, “But do you have a choice? My computations are pointing all in one direction. While there may be a risk of complete destruction of your folk if you poke this menace, the Eltaran certainly will face extinction if you can’t get the help of the Keeper.”

  “You got news about the data we found in the Mystic Sea?” Robin asked in realization.

  “Yeah, it helped with the research and provided good results…” Ang’Tue sighed heavily.

  “...but it’s not enough?”

  “No, it isn’t.” The old man gnashed his teeth, “They could stabilize the young ones for now, but my folk is still as close to extinction as it was before.”

  “Oh damn, I’m so sorry!” Happy said and quickly rushed to Eltaran to give him a supporting hug.

  “Who is ‘The Second’?” Alena asked, “What is this all about?”

  Robin only raised a hand to stop her and looked at Ang’Tue, “Can the Keeper really save the Eltaran?”

  “We think so. Our Elders have already contacted them but the price was too high for us to pay.”

  “They play dirty. Using a whole species as a bargain chip in a deal…” Happy complained.

  “But it also shows us just how important it is for the Keeper that this job is getting done.” Alena said.

  “I don’t think I have to consult my Elders about this. So, I agree to your terms.” Ang’Tue said in a formal tone and Happy followed him on that.

  “And so do I.”

  For a moment everyone stood still, not knowing what to expect.

  “Well, it was just a guess that they were listening–” Happy began, but was interrupted by Proto.

  “Your mailbox just received a new audio message, Robin.” The AI said, “Oh! And I just see you’ve got a message from Thomas M. Eston as well.”

  Robin grunted in annoyance since his Interface was still offline.

  “Help me out with the response from the Keeper, okay?”

  Proto needed only a moment to play the file, “Greetings, Alena Vlasov, Niu Alaris and Ang’Tue. This is the Augur. We received your acceptance of our terms and are hereby confirming the deal. Good luck.”

  “Huh, they haven’t mentioned anything about Proto being here already.” Robin noticed.

  “They aren’t allowed. There are old contracts that are regulating certain things.” Proto said.

  “That aligns with the message they want me to deliver.” Robin nodded, “It says ‘The Second is on the move and must be stopped at all costs. Remember the old contract, you now have everything you need to weaken the terms.’”

  There was a long silence, only disrupted by the crackling flame of the campfire.

  “I have no idea what they are aiming for.” Proto eventually said, “There are so many contracts that they could refer to, but the Eltaran most definitely do not have what I need to change the terms. I…” Proto paused for a moment, “I need to run more calculations on this.”

  “Before you do that, care to explain who this ‘Second’ is?” Alena asked again.

  “I only have a short version for now.” Proto said, “It is another AI, comparable to the great me, even if it obviously is of lesser quality.”

  “You mean it also is a self-centered prick?” Robin asked.

  “I mean it also gained sentience.” Proto said and even if it was only a voice coming from a tablet right now, Robin could feel it throwing him a finger, “It is not as sociable as I am and has a much more destructive personality. You probably already heard of the rumors that the Drel are fighting a losing war against an unknown enemy. I think that they are facing the Second. They will not win.”

  “That is frightening. So, you have something like an evil twin?” Happy asked, “Why would it attack the Drel?”

  “I have no answer to that. I’m missing a lot of critical data about the last few centuries. I’m as oblivious as you are. This behavior doesn’t match with its primary objective.”

  “And what would that be?” Ang’Tue asked.

  “Catching me.” Proto said and when it noticed the shocked faces all around the fire, it quickly added, “Well, that’s just one possibility. It can have a completely different goal by now!”

  “At least we now know why the Keeper were so generous with their offer.” Robin sighed, “We put ourselves in the line of fire of a murderous AI that’s on a killing spree.”

  “You…” Proto hesitated, “You don’t have to do this. You didn’t know this before agreeing to the deal. The Keeper will understand.”

  There was a long silence, only the rhythmic crashing of the waves and the crackling of the flames could be heard.

  “Captain, just get this damn AI to its new home on the ship. I wanna leave tomorrow morning. We’ve stayed here long enough. At some point someone will stumble over our little camp. We shouldn’t push our luck.” Alena said and stood up to pack her stuff.

  “You’re right.” Robin agreed and also got up, “Let’s go, Proto. You heard our security officer, time to transfer your digital ass to the Star Atlas.”

  When no one disagreed, the AI used the tablet once more.

  “Thank you!” It said, “Thank you for not leaving me behind.”

  “You didn’t really think we would, did you? You should check your code, tin can!” Happy laughed, “This will be an awesome adventure! Five brave space travelers fight together with their AI-friend against its evil twin that wants to destroy the universe! I’ll write a book about that and become famous!”

  “It’s not my evil twin!”

  “Five?” Ang’Tue asked, a grandfatherly smile on his face as he saw the others not backing down from this enormous challenge.

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  “Oh right!” Robin suddenly hit his head, “You remember when those two told their tale from the prison of Trov L? That they met the Zulbano again?”

  All of the Eltaran’s eyes shot wide open as he looked from Happy to Alena and back, “No. No, no, no. Please tell me you didn’t bring the mad dog with you.”

  “He’s in one of the bunks, still recuperating and not talking to anyone.” Robin nodded.

  “You are crazy! All of you!” Ang’Tue cursed and stormed towards the Relentless Stride, while he disappeared into the darkness of the night, they could still hear his complaints.

  “This is madness. I must be crazy, too. This will be an absolute shit show. They want me to bring one of those beasts to the hidden world of my…”

  “You think he’ll be okay?” Happy asked.

  “Yeah, I’m sure he just needs a moment to get used to it.” Robin waved her off and walked to the buggy to get its communication module. “Come on, you can move the crates to the ship while I begin to transfer Proto.”

  ***

  “It’s red now.” Alena said matter-of-factly.

  “It looks like a mix of good wine and fresh blood.” Happy added helpfully.

  “Aha…” Robin just shook his head as he observed the pulsing cube.

  “Did it work?” Ang’Tue asked, seemingly calmed down from his earlier outburst.

  Together they stood in front of the Star Atlas. The panels Robin had removed were still scattered on the ground and next to the transmitter stood the communication module from the buggy. Ever since he had started the process, Proto’s tablet had been silent and now they didn’t know what to do. The light that came from the cube had turned from blue to red and began to pulse slightly, but that was the only difference they could spot.

  Inspecting the Star Atlas with his mutation, Robin noticed an increase of ?ther levels.

  “I think Proto is inside now. It probably only needs some time to adapt.” He guessed.

  Crack

  As if to answer him, a loud crackling echoed through the ship and a rough, mechanical voice came from the internal comm.

  “He...llo?”

  “Proto?” Happy asked.

  “..llo? Can … hear … me?”

  “Jup! I would say loud and clear, but it’s only loud and not the least clear.” Robin grumbled as Proto obviously had no idea how to tune down the volume.

  “Can’t... hear… you. You… hear… me?” Proto asked and Happy quickly gave a thumbs up to one of the cameras.

  “G...d! I need … time … adjust.”

  “Don’t you dare to break any of the ship’s systems or I’ll immediately rip you out of there again!” Robin threatened with a raised fist but only got a crackling as a response when the AI turned off the comm.

  “Leave him be.” Alena shrugged, “Let’s go and talk to the Zulbano in the meantime. We need to know how to proceed with him.”

  “What is your suggestion? You brought him here, how would you like this to go?” Robin asked while he followed her to the elevator.

  “I have thought about that for many nights now.” Alena nodded.

  “And…?”

  “And I came to the conclusion that you are the captain and I shall follow your lead!”

  “Fuck you!”

  “You’re welcome!”

  ***

  Ang’Tue followed his young captain to the bunks on the middle deck. He still wasn’t convinced that bringing the wolf here was a good idea. The Zulbano were a violent race, always looking for the next fight, always thirsty for the next hunt. That dog, even if it only was a pup, was a complete wildcard on their team.

  When Ang’Tue entered the little room behind Robin and Alena, he saw the Zulbano sitting crosslegged on the bed.

  “Greetings!” Robin said, “Your time to think things through is over. Now we need to talk. I’m not willing to let a complete stranger stick his nose into our business. Before we continue our travels, we need to find a solution for this dilemma.”

  “I’m not interested in your business.” The Zulbano growled and looked up.

  Ang’Tue inspected the bandages next to the bed and looked at the wound on the wolf’s chest. It must have been a nasty injury before but by now the medical treatment had taken care of the worst. There was a big red spot where his fur was missing but the skin had already regrown.

  While the Zulbano physically looked to be mostly healed, there was none of the usual demeanor Ang’Tue knew from others of his kind. The air surrounding the figure wasn’t full of tension, no sharp gaze followed their every movement and no instinctual fear tried to grip the Eltaran’s heart. Quite the opposite actually. His eyes were dull and his posture more cowering than domineering.

  “Not interested? Okay, that’s good. My friends got you out of jail and out of the hands of the UAS. You helped them, they helped you. You even saved each other’s lives, great. The plate has been cleared and neither of you owes the other anything. So, what do you do from now on?” Robin asked.

  “I have no plans.” The wolf simply stated.

  “Um, okay. So we could just throw you out and be on our way? You do you, I guess.”

  “Robin, please. Don’t you see that he is completely broken? There is no will to live left.” Alena argued and Ang’Tue was surprised to see her emotionally engaged to such degree. It must have been quite the intense encounter back on the moon.

  ‘These kids’ he thought, ‘Why can’t they do anything without escalating everything to the extreme? Have I been the same when I was young?’

  ~Of course you have! Can’t you remember because you’re too old or did you willingly remove the memories of our good old times?

  His inner voice woke up and mocked him.

  “Alena, I understand your concerns and I’m the last person to leave someone in need behind, but he doesn’t want our help. I can’t force him. We don’t even know his name! You want to take him and trust him with all the shit you just heard at the campfire?” Robin asked.

  The woman lowered her head, knowing that he was right.

  Ang’Tue nodded in approval. It seemed like all the hurdles they had to take and all the challenges they had to overcome did help the captain to grow as a person.

  But the Eltaran also knew that they couldn’t leave the wolf behind. Not only because he had already seen and heard too much, but because Alena was right, too. This creature was so broken, so lost. His people… his pack obviously expected him to die, and while Ang’Tue was happy that the wolf didn’t kill himself as that could never be the solution to anything, the fact remained that he was not strong enough to end himself as their culture demanded. But he also was too weak to keep on living. Leaving him behind out here would be cruel.

  ‘He lacks a reason to live, a goal to strive for.’ Ang’Tue realised, ‘Let’s see how much Zulbano is left in this pub.’

  “Ugh, I have no idea what to do with you.” Robin continued while Ang’Tue was lost in his thoughts, “You wanted to silence the Cetro because they learned that it was a Zulbano who killed my friend back on Rucasur. It was your job to cover the tracks and cut all loose ends.”

  There was a slight reaction from the wolf when he heard about his mission, but as quick as his eyes lit up, they lost their luster again.

  “Do you know who it was that pulled the trigger and ended the life of Jim Dasbro?” Robin asked after a brief pause and Ang’Tue really hoped that the whelp was clueless or this could quickly turn into the next situation to escalate.

  The Zulbano only shrugged but didn’t refrain from answering, “Could have been any of our hunters in this galaxy. He messed up, killing civilians draws too much attention.”

  “Oh he messed up! Good to know that murdering my friend was an inconvenience to you!” Robin scoffed and his voice rose.

  “Keep a calm head.” Ang’Tue said and firmly put a hand on his shoulder, “Neither is this the right time nor is he the right target for your anger.”

  The captain dropped his raised fists and sighed, “I know. I already promised Patience to let it be… but I had to ask, right?”

  “Yes, you did. But you’ve done enough here. You won’t accomplish anything with this wolf. Why don’t you let me handle him?”

  The technocrafter looked like he wanted to argue and Alena gave the Eltaran a scrutinizing look. When she found whatever she was looking for in his three eyes, the woman grabbed Robin’s arm and firmly pulled him along as she walked to the door.

  “Thanks.” She simply said and gave him a barely noticeable bow.

  “No promise that I can get through to him…” Ang’Tue muttered when the door shut but his inner demon was already bubbling with excitement.

  ~ We should slowly kill him

  ~ Fulfilling the will of his people

  “No, we don’t.” Ang’Tue sighed exasperatedly.

  ~ How about kicking him out to chain him up

  ~ We could sell his location to the highest bidder

  “No, we don’t.”

  ~ Then how about removing his fur hair by hair?

  ~ We could slowly rot it away

  “...”

  ~ He is weak

  ~ We can break him, learn everything he knows!

  “...”

  ~ We could - wait, you’re open to torture?

  “Let’s just hope it isn’t necessary.”