Equivalent Exchange

Luck struck. Their previous landing spot was still unoccupied. The Warlord was waiting for them, Tay’s beaten body at his feet. They walked Erzar down the docking ramp and towards his father. Without being able to see their faces, they couldn’t gauge any of his men’s reactions however The Warlord himself demisted his visor. It looked as though he was about to lift his helmet as he did so, eyes wide in disbelief.
“You actually got him back?” There was a mixed sense of disbelief and confusion. “I thought for sure you’d be dead.” He ran over to his son. Lore and Char stepped away from their guest and allowed the reunion. Lore attempted a similar manoeuvre with Tay but was stopped by the guards. “Not yet.”
“You have your son.” Lore barked.
“That I do but there is a small matter of circumstance.” He patted Erzar on his shoulder. “Just how did you escape with such a trophy?” He pointed to the Vakrael armour piece that had patched his suit.
“I took it from my captor.” Erzar had been rather quiet on the journey home and now it seemed to make sense. “After he took me I vowed my revenge. You should have seen it father. I cut it clean off of his shoulder and left him without his mist.”
“And how did you come to know my associates?”
“I had commandeered a local vehicle and started broadcasting an encrypted retrieval code. They received it and picked me up.” His distortions of the truth were impressive and seemed to impress The Warlord.
“Take it.” He called off his guards, allowing Lore to pounce on Tay.
“You alright?” Lore whispered as they scanned her. Their eyes stopped at the neck. The marks were recent and indicative of someone picking her up by her throat. “Who did this to you?” Lore already had a good idea of the answer but Tay confirmed their suspicions when she pointed to The Warlord. Lore removed the plating around their middle finger revealing a pointed metal facsimile of bone. They prepared to jump as Erzar plunged his blade into his father’s gut.
“I’m sorry father but…Hypocrisy is not the way.” His guards didn’t even flinch, just stood to attention and nodded to their new boss.
Lore turned their attention back to Tay, making sure there weren’t any more surprises.
“Bit harsh?” Char broke the silence.
“No. Harsh would be lying to him about being a Vakrael slayer. He lied to me. There is no war, no enemy. Accepting Vakrael aid only to kill our own” He knelt to Tay. “You’re right, this war will end us all.” He stepped back. “Pull back half of our military force, reassign them to any other position on this gods forsaken rock. Whatever’s most profitable” He looked to Lore. “You’re all free to go. Just this once.”
They didn’t want to outstay their welcome. The three of them meandered towards The Destiny where Destiny had set up one of the spare rooms as a med bay. Laying on the bed, Tay looked to the nearby monitor.
“Three days… Three… Days?” She searched the side for something.
“Think yourself lucky it isn’t longer. Wounds like that could take…” Lore was cut off by their daughter’s suicide.
The scalpel was plunged deep into Tay’s heart, she knew where to strike. Wedged between the ribs, she twisted the blade and removed it. A golden glow followed. Similar flashes appeared over the wounded portions of her body. Leaking light instead of blood, Lore and Char could do little but watch. Their facial expressions couldn’t have been more different with Char beaming throughout the experience juxtaposing Lore’s look of terror. Ordeal over, the handle of the scalpel, which remained above the skins surface, fell to one side, with the wound underneath completely healed.
“Don’t do that again!” Lore rolled up a nearby stack of papers and began to hit Tay with them.
“You always use your gift for frivolous reasons?” Char tapped her toes. “It was only a few days…”
“Pretty much yeah, what’s the point in having unlimited lives if you can’t use a couple getting better quicker.” Tay countered.
“What were you doing out here?” Lore rubbed Tay’s once injured shoulder.
“As I said, your trip to Rexel got me thinking and when I saw the same pattern repeat itself on O’Raes, well, I had to look into it.”
“Another person with a weirdly specific name and an oddly fitting power?”
“Exactly.” Tay confirmed. “If I’ve counted correctly, there should be four of them but that’s not our primary concern.” She tried to stand but collapsed. “We should be after whoever sent them.” Tay spun on the spot, one finger in her ear, the other on her forehead.
“Probably, but let’s focus on getting you better hey?” Tay nodded at Lore’s recommendation. “Good night then.” Lore went to kiss her forehead but stopped, pretending to feel her temperature with their arm.
They made sure to dim the lights before leaving and retreat in as close to silence as possible. Although they barely knew her, both Lore and Char felt better with her aboard. Something about the ship being less empty made them both feel safer. Lore slipped into their quarters and slid into something a little more comfortable. Char found them sat on top of their duvet in one of her t-shirts from the house in two thousand and three, snuggled in a blanket with a remote in hand. She smiled. Lore patted the spot next to them where they had laid out Char’s usual nightwear.
“Come here.” Char invited Lore over as she moved towards the bed. They met in the middle, with Lore balancing on the edge of the bed. They kissed. Char playfully pushed Lore backwards and climbed atop them. Lore’s face crumpled. “What?“
“Nothing.” They smiled and continued. They had lined up a film or two but the moment swept them both away.
In the room next door, Tay was wishing she had killed herself as the wall that bordered their room began to quake. There was a repeated banging followed by euphoric giggling. She took a folded piece of paper and prematurely put a cross in one of the boxes. After successfully winning, Lore took their position atop Char.
“Told you I wasn’t ticklish.” They smiled. “Now, film?” Char sighed, resigning to ending their physical activity there. Root Cause.