Gap Stories #9

[A Day In The Life Of Luci]

Log Date: 8/18/12764

Data Sources: unknown

A Schrödinger — sometimes also referred to as a cheshire or coraline cat — is a quantum irregularity in the structure of the universe. They are living thought experiments — a physical rumination on certain quantum concepts such as uncertainty and superposition.

As objects, Schrödingers lack quantum stability and theoretically occupy every place they have ever been simultaneously. In reality, the strain of occupying multiple places at once is too much for a standard brain to handle; Schrödingers have the option of existing in all the locations they have ever been, and rather than occupying them all simultaneously, instead choose one to manifest in. As a result, Schrödingers can change location at will, needing only to think or imagine the location they wish to exist in, and they will immediately manifest in that location, and cease to exist in the previous one.

This ability to exist in the places of their choosing is constrained by the laws of observation; namely, that being observed effectively anchors a Schrödinger in their current location. Observing a Schrödinger confirms their presence in a location, thus eliminating the possibility that they exist in any other location at the moment of observation. Likewise, Schrödingers cannot manifest in observed spaces, as an observed space is the confirmation of absence of presence — a Schrödinger cannot exist in a location where they are presently observed not to be. To a Schrödinger, perception is everything: their ability to go places is entirely dependent on who is watching them, or watching the places they would like to exist in.

What here follows is a day in the life of one of the few known Schrödingers in the Myrrdicato Galaxy.

Event Log: 8/18/12764

Sunthorn Bastion: Nympho’s Quarters

8:07am SGT

Luci awakes, as most cheshire cats do, with an excessive display of stretching and yawning. It is followed by another five minutes of drowsing, and then another round of stretching, followed by carefully slinking out of the covers of Sierra’s bed.

A shower is the first order of business, as it typically is after a night with terminally licentious swimsuit-calendar vampire. Luci takes his sweet time with the shower, and by the time he’s stepped out and is drying his tail, Sierra has come around and is starting to roll out of bed.

“I swear to Kau, you better have left some hot water for me.” she grumbles as she shuffles to the bathroom, rubbing her face.

“Nah. I used it all so you’d have to take a cold shower.” Luci says as his finishes drying his tail, hanging up his towel to dry. “Valkyrie says you need to take them more often.”

“She’s just jealous she doesn’t get lucky as often as I do.” Sierra grumbles, turning on the water as while Luci starts to dig his clothes out of Sierra’s drawers. “Speaking of which, I’mma take the mutt on the ride of his life tonight, so I’ll need you bugger off and find somewhere else to sleep tonight.”

Luci glances up in the middle of throwing his outfit for the day onto the bed. “You’re finally getting around to crossing him off your bingo card? Nice.”

“Well, he ain’t exactly anything special, but it’s been a while since I had a wolf hybrid and I’ve got a craving.” Sierra replies over the sound of the water plattering against her platinum-blonde hair. “I could go for a bit of ‘big, dumb, and easy’ right now. Besides, he’s been useful over these last few months, and it never hurts to throw a dog a bone every now and then.”

“Mmm, pretty sure he’s already got a bone.” Luci says, pulling his shirt on. “Haven’t really had the chance to talk with him, but he seems pretty okay. Name’s Cari or something like that, right?”

“Cahriu.”

“Close enough.” Luci says, bouncing on the bed and folding his legs up so he can put his socks on. “Well, blow his mind for me. I’ll find somewhere else to crash tonight. Should I plan on couch surfing for the next week or two?”

“I’ll text you and let you know. He talks a big game but if I had a credit for every time someone ran their mouth and couldn’t follow up…” There’s the sound of water dashing against the shower wall, as if Sierra had whipped her hair.

“You’d have a lot of money?” Luci guesses, slipping his shoes on.

“I could buy myself a warfleet, probably.” Sierra says. “Say, since you won’t have anyone to do tonight, why don’t you go hit up that cute little Maskling you’ve been sweet on? The one that used to be the Accatria’s adjutant, what’sername. She had a guy name.”

“Oh, Tony?” Luci says, pulling his jacket on.

“Yeah, her. The one that never loosens up. Why don’t you go ask her out?”

“I mean, I dunno if she’s really into me.” Luci says, sizing himself up in the mirror. “She’s got an independent streak a mile wide…”

“Well, you find that hot, don’t you?”

“I mean, yeah.” Luci says, ruffling his hair, then tossing his head to one side to see if he likes the way it falls. “Remind me to take my shower before going to bed next time. My hair’s coming out flat.”

“There’s this thing called hair gel, you know.”

“Ugh. Gross, no. I prefer my hair to have the natural floof to it, you know? Not looking like I’ll stab someone’s eye out if I turn my head too fast.”

“There’s always airgel hairgel.”

“Hard pass. That stuff’s a nightmare to get out of your hair in the shower.” Luci says, fluffing the collar of his jacket. “Well, I think I’m ready. Any errands you want me to run today?”

“Umm… yeah, drop by Drill’s place and see if there’s been any news about the potential new donors to the Valiant.” Sierra replies, sounding thoughtful. “Check in with Legaci and see if she’s got any leads on where CURSE is planning on moving their HQ. Think that should be everything for now. If something else comes up I’ll text you.”

“Sounds good.” Luci says, heading for the door. “Show the mutt a good time while I’m gone!”

“Oh trust me, he won’t forget tonight anytime soon!”

Event Log: 8/18/12764

M.V. Accatria: Forward Bridge

10:33am SGT

It is believed that Schrödingers were originally incepted as weapons of war. Their ability to instantly manifest across vast distances in locations they had visited before would be the dream of any intelligence agency, modern or ancient. And when killed, Schrödingers inevitably remanifest in the last unobserved location that they occupied. They are soldiers that could die a thousand times, and still return to continue prosecuting the mission they were given.

The anomalies themselves seem to agree that they were originally created for military purposes. Of the few Schrödingers whose words have been recorded, at least half of them referred to themselves as former ‘infinity soldiers’ — combatants that were tasked with suicidal, impossible missions against otherwise superior forces that they could eventually wear down through infinite attrition and countless deaths. What those enemies were, the Schrödingers never seem to know. Whatever war they were created for has long since faded from recorded history, so far in the past that even the Schrödingers do not recall it. Some do not even remember that they were soldiers — all they know is that they exist, and they have always existed for as long as they can remember, and will continue existing into the future.

With such clear immortality and effective invincibility, you would imagine that Schrödingers could be found ruling nations, or being worshipped as higher powers. Given infinite time and an inability to stay dead, one could always rest assured that they would eventually return if killed, and that they could outlast any enemy or opposition, no matter how determined they were. Such privileges would be the envy of any aspiring authoritarian.

And yet this never seems to be the case for Schrödingers.

Those few that have been able to study them report that rather than using their natural abilities to create empires and rule them, Schrödingers are almost always entirely void of any domineering ambition. They instead use their powers to dine and dash, often visiting cafes, ordering a meal, getting halfway through it, and then vanishing into the bathroom never to be seen again. The same is typically repeated at bookstores and clothing shops, and they tend to slink through life on a continual spree of petty crime, usually only taking what they need and then disappearing. There is no interest in ruling the masses, nor indeed in following the laws that govern societies at large. Much like the cats they are frequently compared to, Schrödingers do as they please, and often take what they want. After all, why bother with trying to rule worlds and nations when you already have the universe at your fingertips?

Which returns us to our subject, who has thus far remained true to form in his morning routine. A cafe has been divested of a mango-raspberry crepe; a grocery store has been deprived of a pair of muffins and a bottled fizzwater; a florist has found one of her select three-piece arrangements has gone on walkabout. The perpetrator is lightyears away before his crimes are discovered, nibbling on one of the muffins as he steps onto the bridge of the Accatria, to find Songbird is standing by the forward window, staring down at a riven red-and-black planet below.

“Hey there, blue brooder.” Luci calls, making his way around the consoles to reach Songbird. “You look lost in thought. How’s it doing?”

Songbird looks around. “Luci. Here to deliver a message, or just stopping by?”

“Stopping by.” Luci says, arriving to the window beside him. “Doin’ the rounds. We had another Challenger answer the recall yesterday; didn’t have a codename, but their number was 5126, if that rings any bells.”

“Can’t say that it does.” Songbird says, returning his attention to the molten planet below. “Whoever they are, they would’ve been a few recruiting classes prior to mine. Maybe two or three years ahead of me. Are they wanting to sign on with the Valiant?”

“Not sure. Jackrabbit’s still bringing them up to speed on who we are and what we’re doing.” Luci says, breaking off another chunk of muffin to pop it in his mouth. “Valkyrie’s been sifting through applications from candidates that Legaci’s vetted. Some of them look pretty promising.”

“All good and well, but we won’t be able to hire on at the rate that we need to until Drill secures more funding for the Valiant.” Songbird says, tucking his hands in the pockets of his battered longcoat. “Most former Challengers know they’re going to be taking a pay cut by joining on with us, relative to the benefits and pay that they used to have with the Challenger program.”

“Yeah, but they’re not supposed to be in it for the money, right?” Luci points out. “If we were, we would just be another mercforce.”

“True, but people still need to pay their bills.” Songbird says. “If they’re going to be risking their lives on a semi-regular basis, we should at least be providing decent financial security.”

“I heard that Drill was thinking about a pay structure that would be standard pay for normal work, and then hazard pay for going on missions.” Luci offers. “That way the pay matches the type of work, but also keeps the Valiant’s ledger in the black.”

“I guess. I’m not an accountant. So long as the pay and benefits are in proportion with the type of work being done, I’m fine with it.” Songbird says, then glances at the small bouquet that Luci’s got. “Something special today?”

“Yeah, I was going to try and ask out Tony today.” Luci says, lifting the flowers.

Songbird’s brow furrows. “You’re… going to ask out Tony?”

“Yeah.” Luci says, studying Songbird’s expression. “Why, do you think I shouldn’t?”

“No no, I just thought you and Sierra…” Songbird says quickly.

“Oh, that’s different.” Luci says, waving that off. “Sierra just needs someone to scratch her itch. I just help her with that whenever she needs.”

One could almost see the loading circle above Songbird’s head as he absorbs and processes that information. “Oh.” is all he says at first, as if his brain was struggling to come up with a response. “I hadn’t realized. My apologies.”

“It’s okay, most people think we’re an item. I can see why they’d think that.” Luci shrugs. “But it’s just like a… work arrangement. We’re allowed to see other people if we want. Speaking of which, have you heard anything from Kiwi yet?”

That gets a deep breath out of Songbird. “No. I assume the Maskling Republic still needs her. She’ll reach out to us when she’s ready.”

The way the words are spoken — more recited, actually, with a certain sort of braced resignation — makes it clear to Luci that it’s a sensitive topic for the vampire. He decides not to push it further, instead switching the topic to the planet below. “So, what’s the deal with this chunk of lava rock?”

“This is Soiruxia. It’s a mining hotspot, since the planet’s geological activity is constantly circulating rare or precious metals and elements up from the planet’s mantle and core.” Songbird explains, his attention likewise going to the planet. “It’s where Kaiser was last sighted; we’re following up on it to see if he’s still there.”

Luci wrinkles his nose. “I don’t like him.”

Songbird snorts. “Join the club. Nobody likes Kaiser, but he was the head of Accounting for a reason. He is one of the best at what he does, and we may need him to deal with some of CURSE’s backalley bullshit.”

“Like the way they keep sending former Accountants to assassinate us?” Luci says.

“Like that, yes.”

“I mean, you’ve killed most of the ones they sent after you so far.” Luci points out. “Do we really need Kaiser?”

“Vampires are more resistant to death than most other races.” Songbird answers. “I’m not worried for myself; I’m worried about what happens if an Accountant catches one of our other teams off guard. And besides, we may not necessarily need Kaiser, but we do not want CURSE recruiting him. Therefore, we should recruit him before they find him and make him an offer, because they have the revenue and resources to make a pretty good offer.”

“He wouldn’t join just because of money, would he?” Luci says, finishing his muffin and balling up the liner.

“Kaiser is a methodical, tactical sociopath. He’s not motivated by moral sentiment the way normal people are. If you offer him enough money and give him the freedom to work as he wishes, he will take the job.” Songbird says. “I’m not sure what we can offer him in terms of money, but I think we could offer him more freedom to work than CURSE would be comfortable with giving him. So that will have to be our selling point to him.”

“We just got landing permissions from orbital control.” states a Venusian redhead sitting in the captain’s chair. Though not quite as burly as Dussel, one can still see she’s a powerful, well-defined woman. “I’ll tell the hangar crew to start prepping a transport. They should be ready to embark in thirty minutes.”

Songbird turns, nodding to the redhead. “Thank you, Titania. I’ll be down there shortly.” With that, he looks to Luci. “That’s my cue. Would you mind checking in on Ridge for me when you get the chance?”

Luci nods. “I can do that. How much longer is he going to be grounded?”

“Another month, I think.” Songbird says, starting to cross the bridge.

“A month’s a long time, dude.” Luci says, following him. “Don’t you think you’re coming down on him a little hard?”

“He disobeyed orders and as a result, nearly sent a doubledecker bus full of people over the side of a bridge, which I then had to Spark off to catch and pull it back onto the bridge, while I was in the middle of a fight with three different CURSE Peacekeepers.” Songbird answers tersely. “A month is being lenient. A fiasco like that would’ve gotten me kicked out of the Challenger program back in the day.”

“Yeah, but you weren’t seventeen when you were in the Challenger program.” Luci points out as the bridge door opens for them. “He’s still a teenager, Songbird. His brain’s a puddle of hormones and it’s not going to finish developing for another eight years. He made a mistake; cut him some slack.”

“A mistake is when you forget to grab the milk at the grocery sort, or you break one of grandma’s favorite baking dishes.” Songbird replies sharply. “He almost got forty civilians killed, Luci. That’s not a mistake; that’s a reckless disregard for putting other people’s lives in danger. It’s the exact same disregard for life that Nova had, and I am not going to let that slide. We started the Valiant on the promise that it was going to be different from what the Challenger program was before it collapsed. There’s no point in doing this if we’re just going to repeat the flaws that the Challenger program had in its final years.”

“Alright, fine. You made your point.” Luci concedes, backing off the topic. “I’ll check in on him. But can I make a suggestion for next time you need to punish him?”

Even though it looks like he’s not in the mood for taking parenting suggestions, Songbird presses his lips together. “Go ahead.” he allows, clearly restraining the urge to say otherwise.

“Keep him with you. Don’t send him off to some obscure Challenger outpost way out in dark space to do janitor duty.” Luci recommends. “He’s an orphan, Songbird. And he’s a teenager. You send him off into the middle of nowhere to do Cinderella work, he’s going to feel like he’s being sent back to the orphanage. Last time I talked with him, he thought you were trying to get rid of him. Which you aren’t, obviously, but try telling that to a teenager. You know how they are.”

Songbird’s stride slows a little as he absorbs that, and the resolute irritation softens somewhat. “…okay. Yeah, I hadn’t thought about that. I was just so pissed after that incident, and I knew I needed to do something, so I just threw out the first thing that came to mind.” He’s quiet for a moment, then goes on. “That being said, it’s still lenient, as punishments go. Grown soldiers in professional militaries get dishonorable discharges for far less. He needs to realize how badly that could have gone, and why he cannot take risks like that unless it’s balanced against the lives you’re trying to save.”

Luci shrugs. “I agree. I’m not saying you’re wrong, just… consider using a different punishment next time. And hopefully there isn’t a next time. Hopefully this teaches him what he needs to learn.”

“Noted.” Songbird says as they reach the elevator. “When you see him, tell him…” He pauses for a long moment, brows furrowed until the elevator doors open. “…gosh, I can’t think of anything that doesn’t sound like I’m still pissed at him.”

“I’ll let him know he needs to clean his room when he gets back to Sunthorn, how’s that?” Luci says as Songbird steps into the elevator. “That’ll let him know we’re expecting him back, without making it seem like we miss him too much.”

“Yeah. Yeah, I guess that will do.” Songbird says, hitting one of the buttons inside the elevator. “Thanks, Luci. See you around.”

With that, the elevator doors slide shut, leaving Luci alone in the hall. Smiling to himself, the Schrödinger turns on the spot, and simply stops existing as he thinks of somewhere else to be.

Event Log: 8/18/12764

Hale’ohe: Aquarius Regilis Estate

3:50pm SGT

“So we’re not getting that backing we thought we were going to get?” Luci asks, trotting along behind Drill as they make their way through the halls of the estate.

“I said it was under consideration.” Drill replies scrolling through his phone as he shuffles down the hall in his slippers. “These things take time, furball. It ain’t a shake and bake; there’s talks, and negotiations, and all that jazz. If there’s a breakthrough, I’ll text Nympho and let her know. She don’t hafta sent her catboy sex toy to pester me.”

Luci shrugs, biting another shrimp off the skewer he swiped from the estate’s kitchen. “Just following orders.”

“Orders, my ass. You’re a furry freeloadin’ food vacuum is what you are.” Drill says, glaring over his shoulder. “You know those are Aegean moon shrimp, right? Those go for thirty-five credits a shrimp. That’s a little over two hundred credits on a stick you got there.”

Luci pauses to consider the skewer of shrimp he’s holding. “…they’re okay, I guess. You got any cocktail sauce to go with them?”

“Cocktail sauce? On grilled Aegean shrimp? What are ya gonna ask for next, peanut butter and jelly on artisanal Begnionese bread?” Drill demands. “Those things have been soaking in a classical vashy marinade for the last thirty-six hours—”

“Can I take a few to go?” Luci interrupts, biting another shrimp off the skewer.

“No! In fact, give me that—” Drill growls, reaching for the skewer. Luci just raises his arm, holding it out of the dwarf’s reach. “I swear to god, you stupid quantum cat— how do you even stay this skinny with all this food you mooch off hardworking taxpayers—”

Luci raises an eyebrow. “Hardworking? You spend most of your day shuffling around in a monogrammed bathrobe and slippers. And everyone knows that Chaitokoma is a tax haven.”

“I am providing financial expertise and management to the next big security organization in Myrrdicato!” Drill says, jabbing a stubby finger into Luci’s chest. “And sometimes that requires storing organizational funds in dark space accounts that can’t be freeze ’n seized by the Colloquium! I keep this entire project running and secure the funding, and what do you do? Run around stealing food, delivering messages, and railing the vampire slut senseless!”

Luci pauses to consider that, as if he was truly reflecting on the scope of his role and his purpose in life. Then, after a moment, he breaks into the smuggest, most shit-eating, pleased-with-himself grin that one could only expect from someone so feline.

“Yeah.” he agrees. “That’s pretty much what I do. And it’s great.”

Drill glares at Luci, shaking a finger at him. “You… you! Ugh!” Twisting on his heel, he keeps marching down the hall. “You Schrödingers are all the same. Dagatrix was just as much a pain in the ass. Having to deal with you is making me think twice about sending a team to go free them.”

Luci cocks his head at that. “You know where Dag is?”

“It wasn’t hard to find out; Legaci managed to get a fix on it pretty quick.” Drill grumbles, snatching a can of a diet Spritz off a tray held by one of the estate’s servants on their way through a parlor room. “Breaking into the place is a whole ‘nother story. They’ve got Dag’s corpse in a twenny-four seven observation facility with multiple redundancies and a heavy guard. Finding a way to sabotage it so Dag can escape is gonna take some brainiac-level bullshit, which is why I threw it to Legaci and told her to figure out when she’s got some free time.”

“Huh. Must be why I haven’t seen him over the last decade or so.” Luci says, sliding another shrimp off the skewer.

Drill raises an eyebrow as he pushes through the double doors leading into the statue garden behind the estate. “That’s it? Thought ya’d be more excited to find out he was still out there somewhere.”

Luci shrugs. “Should I be?” he asks, munching on the shrimp as he stares up at the gas giant looming large over Hale’ohe.

“Figured you would.” Drill says, slipper-flopping his way through the pedestals. “You’re a rare type and all that special snowflake jazz. Thought seeing another one of your kind would mean something to you.”

“We might be rare, but we’re not in danger of going extinct.” Luci says, following Drill to the edge of the property and the cliff overlooking the green ocean. “We all know we can’t die. No reason for us to get weepy about being dead for a decade or two. Eventually, someone will look away long enough for us to remanifest, even if it takes years.”

“An exercise in futility, if I ever saw one.” Drill rumbles as he grabs his yoga mat from next to the low wall, and unrolls it on the grass. “Nothin’ inspires existential dread like the thought of a freeloadin’ catboy raidin’ my pantry for the rest of eternity. Ya got all the time an’ youth in the universe. You could be building empires! Ruling galaxies! Fighting gods! And what are ya doin’? Sleepin’ around and shopliftin’ like it’s goin’ out of style. The wasted potential is just staggerin’.”

“Who’s to say we haven’t built empires?” Luci says, biting another shrimp off the skewer. “Schrödingers have been around for billions of years. We’ve had time to try all sorts of things. Maybe we just decided that empires are too much trouble to rule, and it’s better to enjoy life’s simple pleasures.”

“Simple pleasures? Like petty theft and freeloadin’?” Drill snorts, plopping down on his yoga mat.

“Simple pleasures, like food, and friends, and sleep, and sex.” Luci says, sliding the last shrimp off the skewer. “Empires rise and fall; civilizations come and go. But people will always want food and friends and sleep and sex. If you have those, then you have everything you need to be happy.”

“Yer leavin’ out money.”

“Money is just a means to life’s pleasures. It’s not even really necessary to get what you need or want half the time. I barely use it.”

“Yeah, because you’re a thievin’ liddle shit!” Drill grunts, working on stretching out his legs on his yoga mat. “Case in point: you just scarfed down over two hundred credits of rare artisanal moon shrimp!”

Luci shrugs as he pops the last shrimp in his mouth. “Exactly. I’m enjoying the finer things in life without having to spend a single cent.”

“That’s not what I was— argh! Forget it!” Drill grumbles. “Did you need something, or are you just hanging around to torment me now? If there’s nothing else that Sierra needs, go scram yo’ ass back to the Bastion, and stay out of my pantry!”

Luci twists around on his heel. “Nah, that’s all. Might swing through the kitchen on my way out and grab a couple more shrimp skewers to go.”

“You stay away from my shrimp, you fluff-eared menace! My kitchen is not your personal fast-food drive-thru!”

“Says you and what army?”

“So help me god, if I have to get off this yoga mat—”

“Good luck catching me, shortstack!”

Event Log: 8/18/12764

Sunthorn Bastion: Central Ops Tower

6:32pm SGT

So it goes with Schrödingers.

One might expect such a long-lived creature to be more sagacious and solemn, but when one has eternal life without the commensurate benefits of godhood, it begs something in the way of purpose. When you set aside their inability to remain dead, and their ability to go wherever they desire, Schrödingers do not have much else to make them unique. Strip them of these powers, and what you have is a normal person, much like any other. Even with these powers, their normalcy is still a defining feature — they have no outstanding strength, no exceptional durability, no arcane prowess. They must sleep and eat just as most living creatures do. They cannot shift mountains or move stars. Were it not for their quantum abnormalities, they would be normal people, indistinguishable from the rest of the galaxy’s masses.

And because these normalcies still have hold over them, they often crave the same things that normal people do. The need for relationships, for affection and connection, is something that Schrödingers particularly value. And so it follows that Luci lingers outside the central ops tower in the Sunthorn Bastion, scuffing his sneakers against the grass beside the main path as he waits for Tony to get off her shift.

“Normally I’d tell you not to pick a fight with the grass, but someone like you might actually be able to outlast the grass in the long run.”

Luci looks up to see Tony coming down the stairs of the ops tower’s main entrance, a slate tucked under her arm. Brightening noticeably, he skips down the slope to fall in step beside her, the small bouquet hanging from his free hand. “How was work today?”

“It was work.” Tony replies practically, raising a hand to brush her short black hair out of those pale blue eyes. She is dressed in working attire that reflects her practical approach to much everything: a button-down shirt, tucked into black jeans, and nondescript sneakers that would be comfortable to stand in for long periods of time. “Something which I imagine you don’t know much about.”

Luci lets off an impetuous huff. “I work! My work just doesn’t look like traditional work.”

“Is that so?” Tony says, smirking. “Go on then, tell me what you did today.”

“Well, I woke up and gave Sierra moral support.” Luci begins.

“After giving her immoral support the night before, prolly…” Tony mutters.

“There’s nothing immoral about sex.” Luci says snootily. “Are you gonna let me finish?”

“I bet you asked her the same thing last night.” Tony says slyly.

Luci gives her a playful push. “You are so rotten! Git yer mind out of the gutter, you little gremlin!”

“Sorry, sorry. Go on, tell me what you did for work today. Aside from giving Sierra ‘moral support’.”

“Thank you.” Luci says with faux dignity. “Anyway, after that, I went and got breakfast, hit up the florist to get something special for you,” At this point, he offers the flowers out to her. “then I checked in on Songbird and gave him some parenting advice.”

“Oh, thank yo…” Tony starts softly, then pauses and looks up. “Wait. You gave Songbird parenting advice?”

“Don’t give me that tone.” Luci scoffs. “I’m full of all sorts of deep wisdom.”

“Mm, I’ll take that with a grain of salt.” Tony says, looking over the flowers as they continue walking down the path leading from the central ops tower. On either side of them are the green lawns and the trees of the Bastion’s residential hemisphere, though a decade and a half of abandonment means that much of their manicured, pristine appearance has been lost to overgrowth that still hasn’t quite been pared back. “Is that it, then? You got flowers and gave Songbird advice?”

“No, after that I got lunch.” Luci says. “Then I delivered messages to Drill, got some updates from him, and came back here. So as you can see, I did plenty of work today.”

“Yeah, alright. I think calling that work might be a little generous, but I’ll let it slide because you got me flowers.” Tony says, sniffing the flowers. “Thank you for that, by the way.”

“You’re welcome.” Luci says proudly, his tail lashing back and forth and giving away that he’s clearly pleased that the flowers were received well. “What about you? What’d you do for work today?”

“Sifted intelligence reports and data. Reviewed applications from people that are interested in joining up with us. Did assessments for recent major events in the galaxy.” she answers without much enthusiasm. “All the same things I’ve been doing for the last few months.”

“Yeah, but was there anything interesting today? Anything big or spicy?” Luci presses. “You work with Legaci, and she sees practically everything! There had to be something interesting.”

Tony gives a noncommittal shrug. “We lost tabs on Laughing Alice, just like every other security organization did. The COS is trying to blockade Mokasha since they haven’t been able to take the planet back. We’ve had some representatives from the Ranter colonies that are considering giving the Valiant formal recognition. Is that exciting enough for you?”

Luci wrinkles his nose. “Ehhh… it doesn’t really sound exciting.”

“Well, not every day can be an action-packed adventure with Songbird and the Valiant.” Tony says. “Someone’s gotta crunch the numbers, balance the checkbook, pay the bills and do the deskwork. The intel, the money, the logistics — it all has to come from somewhere.”

“Yeah, I guess.” Luci concedes. “So, I was wondering… do you wanna go out? Grab dinner somewhere? If you’re hungry, that is.”

Tony raises an eyebrow. “The Bastion doesn’t have the staffing needed to run any of the abandoned restaurant establishments here. We’re barely staffed for a skeleton crew, to say nothing of full operations.”

“Yes, but I can go somewhere and get us something to eat. I’ve got the galaxy at my fingertips.” Luci points out smugly. “Whatever you want, I’ve probably been to a restaurant that sells it. Just tell me and I can go grab it.”

“Seems like an awful lot of trouble to go through on my part.” Tony says, twirling the bouquet in her fingers, side-eyeing Luci. “Are you trying to make a pass at me, Luci?”

Luci shrugs innocently. “Is it working?”

“Maybe it would be, if you weren’t sleeping with the vampire every night.” Tony says dismissively. “Is your relationship with her falling apart?”

Luci gives her a blank look. “What? No. We’re still on good terms.”

Tony gives him a look. “If you’re still on steady ground with her, why are you taking a pass at me?”

Luci’s eyes light up as he realizes what Tony’s getting at. “Oh! No, okay. So… Sierra and I aren’t dating. I don’t have a ‘relationship’ relationship with her. We’re just coworkers with benefits. Except she’s kinda my boss, so I suppose it’s more of an employee-with-benefits type of thing? Though I suppose from my end it’s an employer-with-benefits type of thing, although that could describe any employer that provides a halfway decent benefits package…”

The response to this is, at least on Tony’s part, uncertain bewilderment. “…you’re telling me you sleep with the person that hired you, with clockwork regularity, just because you… can.”

“Well, it’s… complicated?” Luci equivocates, scratching one of his fuzzy ears. “So, the way we have it set up, I’m her go-to when she’s not getting her teeth in someone else. If she finds someone else to play with, I bugger off for however long she has them, then I come back when she asks me to. We’re just keeping each other entertained; there’s no emotional investment, I suppose you could say? So I’m free to date on the side, she doesn’t mind that.”

Tony appears to need a moment to process that. “Luci, you do realize that isn’t… normal, right?”

“What, consensual polyamory?” Luci says, shoving his hands in his jacket pockets. “I mean, it’s not standard, but it’s not like it’s illegal or immoral. Sierra and I are both adults, we both have a clear understanding of what we expect out of each other. I don’t see what the problem is with it.”

“I— okay, well, no, but— look, what I meant was…” Tony says, massaging her forehead. “Okay, so let me preface this by saying that you’re right, there’s nothing inherently wrong with consensual polyamory so long as it’s done right and responsibly. What I meant to say earlier was that… your perspective on relationships is a statistical outlier. Not that it’s wrong, but that the way you go about relationships is not how most other people approach it.”

Luci gives her a measuring look. “…is this you turning me down? You can just come right out and say it, if you want. It’s okay.”

“No… well yes, but also no.” Tony mutters, shaking her head. “Ink above, this conversation got complicated fast. Alright, so, this is me, letting you know that I’m not the kind of person that would be… comfortable with dating someone that’s sleeping with someone else. But, this is also me asking you if you realize that your perspective on relationships is… incompatible with a lot of other people’s perspectives on relationships.”

Rather than answering right away, Luci actually seems to take a moment to think about that. “I guess I don’t really think about that too much. I just kinda do my own thing and let other people do theirs, so long as it’s not bothering me.”

Tony shrugs. “Which is fine, until your way of doing things runs up against a conflicting way. Which, in the romance department… will probably do that quite frequently so long as Sierra’s making a habit of you.”

Luci reaches up, scratching awkwardly under his jaw. “I get it. It’s okay.”

Tony bites her lip, looking at the flowers in one hand, then pitching them in a recycling bin as they pass one. “Look, let’s talk. I don’t think we’ve given this conversation the start it needs or deserves. Let’s begin with you and Sierra. What’s the whole reason for your thing with her? And why isn’t that enough for you?”

“Me? Sleeping with her?” Luci asks, following as Tony detours down one of the side paths that leads through a forest area near the main path. “Well… I mean, it’s fun. We have fun. I mean, she’s asked me to do it, but I do it because she’s my friend, and we enjoy each other. That’s pretty much it.”

“So that’s it?” Tony asks. “It’s just having a good time with a friend… that also happens to be your employer?… god, that sounds like a Personnel Resources nightmare, but setting that aside for now, you do it because you want to do it, and you enjoy it?”

“Pretty much, yeah.” Luci says, shrugging his way through the answer.

“Okay, so why are you interested in me, then?” Tony asks.

You can see the immediate mental backtrack on Luci’s face as he actually starts thinking about the answer he just gave. “Well, it’s— so the thing is… gimme a moment, I need to figure out what I’m trying say here.” After a moment of quiet, he speaks again. “So I guess, the thing is… Sierra’s not an… emotional? No, she’s got emotions, it’s that she’s not… sentimental, that’s the word. Sierra doesn’t do cuddles and soft feelings and warm cozy naps. She’s risk and adrenaline and rulebreaking and attention-whoring. She’s fun and electrifying to be around, but she doesn’t stop. She never slows down enough to feel stuff like love, or adoration, or contentment. And I don’t think she wants or needs to feel it, either. She seems to get along okay without it.”

“Which is what you’re not getting out of the relationship.” Tony surmises, stepping over a fallen branch that still hasn’t been cleared from the leaf-strewn path they’re on. “She doesn’t need those things, but you want them, and you know she can’t give them to you. Which is why you’re trying to ask me out.”

“Yeah… yeah, I guess that’s why.” Luci says. “I, ah. I like you, in case that wasn’t clear. I enjoy being around you.”

Tony smirks at him. “I figured that out, thanks. That said, if you’re throwing a line my way, you have to pick. You and Sierra might be more relaxed about your partners, but I’m not the sharing type. You hang with me, or you hang with her — you don’t get to have both.”

Luci seems hesitant about that, as if he was weighing it in his head. “So if I did stop being Sierra’s go-to, you would give me a chance?” he says carefully.

That elicits faint surprise from her. “I’d give you a try, yes. I didn’t think you’d actually consider it, though.”

“I’m… thinking about it.” he says defensively. “It’s a lot to think about.”

“That’s fair, I don’t imagine working for Sierra requires you to use your brain all too often.”

“Hey!”

“Am I wrong, though?”

“Just because I hang time with the sex-crazed vampire doesn’t mean I’m brainless.” Luci snips at her. “You really mean that, though? If, say, Sierra found someone else to be her go-to and I wasn’t her fallback anymore, you’d… start something up with me?”

Tony doesn’t answer right away. “I might. I’ve enjoyed the times we’ve hung out as friends. But if you’re interested in me on the merit of what I look like right now, you should be aware that this is not who I actually am. You know I’m a sleeper agent for the Maskling Republic, and the fact that I look human is a product of my job and the fact that humans are a prevalent and accepted species in the vast majority of the galaxy. It gives me the license I need to move through a wide variety of societies with as little friction as possible, but it is not actually what I am. Or at least not what I prefer to be.”

Luci hesitates at that. “Well, what do you… well I suppose it shouldn’t matter, so long as you’re the same person, like personality-wise, regardless of how you look, right?”

Tony kicks her way through a pile of accumulated leaves on the path. “Let’s be honest, Luci. Romanticize or idealize love however you like, but the fact is that physical attraction is one of the core elements of a relationship with someone else. Anyone that says otherwise is lying to themselves or has a different conception of love than most people do.”

“And you think I won’t be attracted to you if you don’t look like what you are now.” Luci deduces.

Tony shrugs. “It’s a possibility.”

Luci stops walking. “Let’s see it, then.”

“Pardon me?” she says, turning and looking at him.

“Let’s see it.” Luci says, motioning to her. “What you actually are, instead of what your job needs you to be.”

“I’m not just going to morph on a turn of a dime to satisfy your curiosity.” Tony scoffs.

“Why not?” Luci asks. “Scared I won’t like what you turn into?”

“No, it’s because I’m not a circus animal that morphs on command.” Tony retorts. “I’m entitled to the dignity of shifting when I want and not when someone else tells me to, thank you very much.”

“Ahhh.” Luci says, rolling his eyes. “So you’re too good for the rest of us. Got it.”

Tony narrows her eyes at Luci. Rolling a shoulder, she starts towards him, reaching up to unbutton the cuffs of her sleeves as her fingers get a little longer, and yellow snakeskin scales extend along the backs of her hands and up her forearms. The sneakers are kicked off, the socks peeled away as the otherwise human feet start to stretch out, acquiring a more dextrous, digitigrade arrangement and sheathed in those same snakeskin scales. Luci begins backing up as she walks up on him, unbuttoning the top two buttons of her shirt to give herself a little more room to move her shoulders now that they’ve gotten ever so slightly broader, and as he watches, her skin darkens to a more tanned hue as her eyes go from pale blue to a rich orange. Yellow markings and patterns appear on her skin, and her hair lengthens out, transitioning from deep-space black to a pale, leafy green, with a tropical pink blossom unfurling just above her left ear.

And Luci, who’s been backed off the path and up against a tree at this point, swallows hard. “Oh.” he says softly as Tony folds her arms.

“Oh?” she repeats, raising an eyebrow.

“I mean, it’s… a lot more different than I was expecting.” Luci says, fumbling through his words. “Like, I was expecting a few things to be different, since I thought Masklings were chimaeras and all, but this is… a lot different.” he says, then adds hastily: “But not bad different! It’s just… like wow, you really are a couple inches taller than me now, was not expecting that…”

“Got a problem with tall girls?” Tony drawls.

“No no no not a problem all!” Luci says quickly. “I mean Sierra’s at least three inches taller than me, so… just, you’re really colorful, a lot more colorful than I was expecting. Which isn’t bad! It’s actually really nice… like, cross my heart and button my eyes, you’ve got a killer tan…” He leans to the side a little, as if peering around her. “And a tail too, I wasn’t expecting that—”

Said tail curls around to give Luci a light slap on the head, clearly more prehensile than his own fuzzy tail. “No ogling the tail.” Tony orders as it curls back around behind her. “You can stop rambling. I don’t need you to try and prop up my ego with awkward compliments. I’m showing you this so you don’t have any delusions about what I really am—”

“I’d tap that.” Luci blurts out, then snaps a hand up to cover his mouth.

For a moment Tony is startled into silence. She stares at him, he stares back at her, and the only sound is the leaves rustling in the grove.

“If this is a jo—” Tony starts to growl.

“Kinda want to right now.” Luci blurts out again.

Tony’s patterns and markings brighten, the likely equivalent of a blush for whatever her current species is. “You have got to be the horniest quantum cat I’ve ever met.” she says in disbelief.

Luci lets out a nervous laugh. “Ha! Oh man, if you think I’m horny, you haven’t seen anything. Lemme tell you, I had nothing on Dagatrix. Did you know they slept with a dragon once? Well, not just once, it was… uh, well, I suppose it’s not really classy to put a number to it, but technically speaking, there isn’t a number, since I lost count—”

Tony reaches up, clamping a hand over Luci’s mouth as she leans in a little. “You just don’t shut up when you’re caught off guard, do you? All this chatter has to be a self-defense mechanism.”

After a moment of thinking about that, Luci shrugs and nods mutely.

“Good to know. Next time you start running your mouth, I’ll know it’s because you’re panicking inside.” she says. “I’m… relieved that you don’t find this a turn-off. But let’s face the facts: Sierra’s not going to let you go anytime soon, and you’re having too much fun with her to step away and commit somewhere else. Besides, if there’s one thing you should know about me…” She leans in, dropping her voice and murmuring in one of his tufted ears. “…it’s that I’m territorial. Masklings with vashy elements often are.”

Luci winces as she nips the tip of his ear, his tail curling. Tony backs off shortly after that, twisting around as she walks back to the path, snagging up her shoes and socks as she goes. As she goes, she slowly diminishes back into her human form, the vibrant colors fading back into her nearly-monochrome palette as she tucks her slate back under her arm. “But if Sierra does eventually let you go, come hit me up. Maybe I’ll still be interested. You’re fun to be around.”

With that, she takes the fork in the path that will eventually lead back to the main path. Luci, still trying to calm his racing heart, leans forward and calls after her. “Scaroused!”

Tony smirks at that, but her only reply is to hook her shoes over her shoulder as she picks up the pace. Luci’s left alone on the path, reaching up to touch the tip of the ear that she nipped, then checking the time on his phone. 

Since he wouldn’t be going out for dinner, maybe he could go get a drink instead.

Event Log: 8/18/12764

Sunthorn Bastion: Sunthorn Spice

7:39pm SGT

“Now here’s a familiar face.”

Luci smiles as he shimmies onto the barstool in the Sunthorn Bastion’s main Challenger bar, the Sunthorn Spice, but more often referred to as just the Spice. Located on the equatorial ring of the Bastion, it often has a good view of whatever planet the Bastion is orbiting; in the old days, entry was typically reserved for Challengers alone, but ever since the Valiant had reclaimed the Bastion, the requirements had been loosened. Sandago, the Cyber barkeep, hangs a drying towel over his shoulder as he clicks and whirs his way over to where Luci was sitting. “Are you actually going to pay this time, Mr. Lucanthiline? Or will it be drink and dash tonight?”

Luci shrugs. “Cheritza, please. Just put it on Sierra’s tab; it’s not like she’ll notice.”

“She rarely does.” Sandago says, pulling up a glass as one of his mechanical arms swivels around backwards to start grabbing bottles off the wall. “This is the first time you’ve showed up here without her, though.”

Luci grins. “She found a new toy. Gonna be taking him on the ride of his life tonight.”

“Oh, is that so?” Sandago says, his digital faceplate changing to show raised eyebrows. Though it was technically capable of showing more detailed expressions, the barkeep often stuck to simple, charming emoticons and let his vocalizer do most of the heavy lifting. His inflections and tone were nearly flawless; if you were listening to him from the other side of the wall, you might not even realize that you were talking to a Cyber. “Well, she’s not changed much since the old days. She used to do the same thing back before the program went under. In fact, we used to have a rule about her in here.”

Luci’s ears perk up, detecting a story about Sierra’s Challenger days. “Oh really? What was it?”

“Nothing complicated. The short of it is that the first time you scored with Nympho, you had to buy a round for the rest of the bar.” Sandago explains as his left hand grabs the tumbler and starts rotating at the wrist, thrice one way, then thrice the other way, before starting to vibrate at high frequency. At the same time that it’s doing this, his right hand has a toothpick umbrella and is using it to spear a cherry out of jar. “Of course, back in the day, it was just Challengers in the establishment, so buying a round for the entire bar wasn’t asking much. Nowadays it might be asking a little much.”

“Really?” Luci says, cocking his head to one side. “And Sierra didn’t care?”

“Nympho? My boy, she was the one that suggested it!” Sandago scoffs, pouring out the cheritza and tucking the cherry-laden umbrella in it. “It was a joke at first, but then it became a tradition, and then a competition.” Sliding the drink across the counter to Luci, he motions to a chalkboard hanging from one of the light fixtures above the bar. “Ladies and gents liked to go to war over whether Sierra liked men or women more. The natural solution was to start keeping count, so Shieldwall brought in a chalkboard so we could tally it up and keep score. Ladies were in the lead right before the program kicked the bucket, but if you’d like to bring in her new boy toy, you can buy him a round and let him put his mark on the gents’ side. Would put the gents just a couple short of breaking even.”

Luci chuckles, sipping from his drink. “Hell, man. Sounds like the Challengers were wild back in the day. Could you imagine CURSE having something like that? There’d be riots in the streets. The morality police would suffer a collective aneurysm.”

“Culture and context, my lad. They make all the difference.” Sandago says, rinsing out the tumbler. “Nympho benefitted from it as well. Every mark on the board, whether male or female, earned her a free drink. She went eighteen years without paying a cent at this establishment. Still had two dozen free drinks backlogged when the Challengers got shut down.”

“Are you still honoring that arrangement?” Luci asks, playing with the umbrella in his drink.

“I don’t see why not. She earned those drinks fair and square, so I been letting her cash them in.” Sandago says, pulling the towel off his shoulder and using it to wipe the tumbler dry. “Of course, with the Challenger program formally replaced by the Valiant, I’m not sure where that puts us in terms of traditions. I might just keep it going for the sake of old times, or I may do away with it if the new guard aren’t as amused by it as the old guard are.”

“Well, for what it’s worth, I think we should keep it.” Luci says, tilting his cheritza towards Sandago. “But that’s just me. I got told today that my perspective on romance and sex is a statistical anomaly, so take my opinion with a grain of salt.”

Sandago provides a smile emoticon. “Your input is much appreciated, Mr. Lucanthiline, even if it may be anomalous. But that just about describes everything about you, doesn’t it?”

Luci chuckles. “An anomaly, right down to the quantum level. Yeah, that about sums it up.” Picking the umbrella out of his drink, he tongues the cherry off of it and pops it in his mouth. “You sound like you’ve been around for a while, if Sierra was going on eighteen years without paying for a drink prior to the Songbird Incident. Bet you’ve seen a lot of Challengers come through that door, and you’ve got a fair few stories about them.”

“Indeed I have, Mr. Lucanthiline. But those will have to wait for another day.” Sandago says, tilting his head further down the bar to where Jackrabbit and Valkyrie are settling up to the counter. “Got a couple of regulars I need to take care of, if you don’t mind.”

“Ah, get along.” Luci says, waving him off. “I’ll bug you another night. Not like I got much else worth doing.”

“Just let me know if you need anything.” With that, Sandago moves down the bar to the two former Challengers. Spinning around on his stool, Luci leans his elbows back on the bar, taking in the sparsely-populated establishment and the various Challenger trophies mounted on the walls. Checking his phone for the time, he slips it back into his pocket, takes another sip of his cheritza, and exhales a long, contented sigh.

Just another day in the life of Luci.

END OF GAP STORIES: VOLUME 1

Thank you for reading.

VALIANT will return in Valiant: Season 2.