The apartment was dark. Selene flipped the light-switch and that didn't change. She only heard a soft whining coming from somewhere.

  'Nonononono!' her thoughts repeated as she flipped the light-switch a few more times.

  There's no way she shouldn't of woken up by now... The longer she stayed here the less this seemed like a dream. Everything was beginning to feel eerily real. A collection of drawings was on the coffee table near the large monitor and couch, such as a drawing of a short and pouty major who was posed very seriously in an adorable fashion.

  She took it up and cradled it as she curled up on the couch.

  "Aboleth... I could really use your help..." she murmured quietly. Her face pale with fear.

  The whining grew louder. The dog was taking difficult raspy breaths as it padded into the room. It's leash was dragging on the ground. It stopped in the hall and surveyed the living space.

  Selene didn't look. She couldn't. It wasn't real. It didn't matter.

  The soft sound of twigs snapping could be heard. Drips. Then it began to growl. And chitter.

  Aboleth and Zephyr arrived at the colonies entrance. If you could call it that. It was more of a compound really. Surrounded by a tall chainlink fence for many acres. Cleared of jungle and replaced with a forest of steel structs which held many different machines aloft in the air. With a village of metal trailers beneath.

  It was like an oil rig on land.

  Plums of black smoke with flecks of cyan blue light emptied into the air from wide cylinders. Catwalks and flights of narrow stairs were all over the place.

  Floodlights illuminated the entire place brightly.

  There was an entrance but it was rarely used, if ever. Who would? The landing pad was inside the chainlink fence.

  Aboleth and Zephyr stood in a spotlight just outside the sliding chainlink gate. It was wide enough for a truck to drive through, if they ever expected trucks to drive in from the jungle who knew. But there was an intercom posted outside. Weathered and poorly maintained. The tiny box was on a post sticking out of the ground. A speaker and a tiny button.

  "Where's Selene?" Zephyr asked.

  "Probably got tired of waiting for us..."

  Aboleth pushed the button.

  "Is... Anyone there?" she asked.

  There was a buzzing for a moment after that. Then a sluggish voice answered.

  "..Huh? Who? W-What?"

  Zephyr bent over at the waist to bring her face closer to the intercom, as if she was trying to speak to a child; "Heeeey there, me and my friend are travelling and were wondering if you guys had a few drinks-?"

  Aboleth covered the tiny intercom.

  "What are you doing? We're not here to party."

  Zephyr looked at her as if she was stupid and crossed her arms. "SHHH! Let me do the talking. You have the charisma of a wet cat."

  The Zykra general had no counter-argument. The voice seemed to be gradually sobering as they spoke again from the intercom; "W-where's your ship? We have a landing pad... You-you could use the landing pad. There's enough I think."

  The voice was sort of nervous. Which Zephyr took advantage of. She resumed her posture of speaking down to the small intercom; "My friends don't like keeping our ship around strangers. You get it, right? What's the big deal, it's not like we're going to steal all your... What do you make here?"

  "...We're a refinery. So no... I guess you wouldn't."

  "See! My friend thought you wouldn't get it! Listen, we just want somewhere to sleep that isn't in a cramped bunkroom in a ship. And maybe a few drinks. Could you help us out? We have money."

  Most of that was true. But that was the best kind of lie. The intercom was quiet for a few moments.

  Then there was a buzzing sound and the gate started to wheel open to the side.

  "Yahtzee!" Zephyr cheered.

  Aboleth pouted and ignored Zephyr's 'I told you so' glare as she walked through the gate.

  Selene jumped from the couch and hurried to her room. The moment she did the infested dog galloped after her. One of it's legs was now hanging limp while a flea-shaped leg that had grown through it like a stake did all the running.

  The door slammed behind her and she braced it with both hands.

  'Slam!'

  "Go! Lie down!" she ordered the dog. It ignored her and continued to pound against the door. A bolt on the wooden door was wiggling it's way out of the hinge with each slam.

  "I couldn't take you with me!" she pleaded with the dog. Her heart was beating wildly as the dog bashed it's head against the door fiercely. Over. And over. The wood began to crack around the door knob and hinges.

  "Down boy." a sultry voice said—within the shadowed room with her.

  The bashing stopped instantly.

  Selene gulped and turned shakily towards the speaker. The room was like her room on the original Endelon now. A bed, dresser, desk with a monitor and keyboard, everything was as she last remembered it being. The pale dim light of her planets second sun shone in through her blinds.

  Casting white stripes of light through the room creating a type of ambient lighting.

  Two golden eyes flicked towards Selene. A dark skinned woman sat in a cushion chair across from her, dressed in the outfit like the ones she wore during the times they spent time together outside their jobs.

  A t-shirt with a metal band on it and jeans with decorative rips in it. Her ears were pierced with a couple silver studs each and her hair was braided and collected into a ponytail.

  "Luan..." Selene breathed. Then staggered towards her; "Are you normal!? Please tell me you're normal!"

  Luan raised a hand to stop her.

  "Yes, Selene. Are you normal?" her voice was like music to her ears. So full of confidence and sass.

  But that question... It struck Selene.

  "No... Luan I.. The day I left Alexandria, I was thinking of you. I still think about you, Luan I-"

  "-Ugh, don't finish that sentence."

  Luan did an eyeroll as she turned to face the window again. One of the stripes of light that casted through the blinds framed her eyes.

  "Do you think I would ever be with someone like you?" Luan made a 'humph' sound. "You turn the people around you into killers—terrorists. Or bugs. One of the two or both. You're dangerous Sel. And not the good kind of dangerous. If you really care about me, and the others? You should turn yourself in."

  Selene stepped over to her bed and sat down. The tiny twin bed had bed covers with wolves howling up at the moon on it. The fuzzy blanket was a comforting memory as she clenched a hand on it, wrinkling it.

  "I can't..."

  "Why?" Luan asked quickly.

  "Cause puck is evil."

  'Tssk.' Luan got up and went to the door, she put a hand on the knob. But then hesitated; "Ask yourself. What have you done for the world lately? —You talk about change, but all you've done so far is destroy. You're wasting yourself Selene. The best way to change the system is from the inside. Stop getting in the way."

  Luan left through the door and closed it behind her.

  Selene bit her lower lip insecurely. This was so weird. None of it made any sense. That was herself—talking to herself. Luan was never really here...

  The light in the room moved as if the sun set rapidly. Only the white sun over Endelon didn't move much. It lit one side almost perpetually.

  A couple guys and a woman met them on the road in front of the chainlink gate. As directed by the guy on the intercom.

  "You sure chose a helluva tourist destination." one of them said. He wore a polo shirt under a grey dress shirt, which was under a thick jacket, unzipped down the middle. With black sweat pants and boots. His hair was dyed bright green and had zig-zags buzz cut into it.

  "Beggars can't be choosers! Nice to meet yooou, I'm Zoe, and this is Abbie." she pointed a thumb to the ridiculously tall and stoic asian woman dwarfing them all.

  "Desmond." the man with the green buzzcut said. "That's Carl, and she's April."

  "You're named after a month?" Aboleth asked snarkly.

  Good on Aboleth. She only had one role she could play but she played it well.

  April was dressed in a poofy red sweater with yellow pants and slip-on shoes. Which seemed too light to be outside in the cold air. The dark skinned woman shrugged. "It's a good month. So you guys looking for a spot to kick back for the night? We might know a place. Don't get me wrong—it's no core world club."

  "Awesome, lead the way!" Zephyr cheered bubbly.

  "Right this way." Desmond said, and they began walking down the rocky dirt street that wound between metal buildings.

  'Carl' seemed awkward and quiet. Zephyr was almost certain that this was the person who spoke on the intercom earlier. She was good at matching voices to faces after all.

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  His hair was light brown, almost blonde. With a red beard. A bit on the thin side and not very muscled. It wasn't too tough to tell even underneath the oversized grey parka and heavy pants. It was strange that he was so shy, handsome shy people always confused Zephyr.

  They were more common than you'd think and she never knew why. Sometimes they were weird but even then it's not like a little weirdness was such a bad thing.

  Aboleth leaned in close to Zephyr's ear as they followed a short distance behind the trio; "Laying it on a bit thick aren't you?"

  "These people are couped up on a boring refinery for months at a time. Laying it on thick is a refreshing change in pace for them."

  Aboleth gave her a genuinely intimidated look as she leaned away. Zephyr was a masterclass in manipulation.

  They were led to a building with a balcony outside. A metal catwalk spanned for a distance outside it. Creating an outside space with a dozen tables or so. Fairly full with numerous people sitting around drinking.

  April was right. It wasn't like a core world club at all.

  The music playing for one—was very folksy. Like most outer-rim radio stations it was playing the same songs about farming and drinking. Not that Zephyr had a problem with it. Some of the songs were sweet. Singing about love, hard times, family, and other wholesome things.

  But not these songs. It was the rowdy kind of folk music. Banjos, acoustic guitar, stomping and clapping, sounds like those came from the speakers around the establishment as white noise. Overlayed by the sound of people laughing and talking.

  Zephyr beamed the beamest she ever beamed. At least that's what she portrayed.

  "Woooow! I love it, but how are the drinks?" she asked in a ditzy kind of way, bending an index finger against her cheek.

  "They're alright if you don't mind the occasional fly." Desmond said, smirking. "Come on, April isn't dressed for drinking outside."

  "I didn't have a lot of time to get dressed when Carl called." she told them as they stepped up the stairs that led onto the catwalk patio.

  "I-it's rare we get outsiders around here. And it would suck to be stuck outside in the cold." Carl said, the first thing he's said so far. Zephyr went on the attack.

  "Yeah, thanks for letting us in Carl! Is that your job, to man the gates?"

  Carl nearly flinched from the bouncing blonde leaning in close to him.

  "Uh... Yeah, sometimes... We kind of take turns. It's an hour padder."

  They entered the interior of the pub. Rough iron and padded surfaces were everywhere. There was no bar counter or anything like that though. The center of the room was cleared of tables or chairs and people were dancing there to the music. Which was louder inside.

  "Hour padder?" Aboleth asked.

  Desmond answered for Carl.

  "He means it's a job they give people as an excuse to pay them hourly. It keeps us around until they need us for something, this job would be pretty seasonal otherwise."

  They were led to a empty table in the large noisy room and sat down. It was well lit for a bar late at night.

  The stools around it were padded with a red fabric.

  "What, does the gas come out at certain times of the year?" Zephyr asked.

  "No. But the machines seem to all crap out at once sometimes and we need to the extra hands to avoid a code-red kind of situation. The point is, the job is fake. They probably won't be missing Carl at the tower."

  A waitress came over with a platter of beers and passed them out. She wore a buttoned up white dress shirt and a black skirt that ended just above the knees.

  Zephyr reached for the tablet holstered beneath her winter jacket.

  "T-the company pays for... Thee uh, the beer..."

  Zephyr hesitated. "Oh."

  Carl had a stutter.

  "Well that's nice of them." she removed her hand from her coat. Then checked her frothy beer glass for flies. They all took sips and relaxed, exchanging quick glances.

  Aboleth pretended to check her tablet.

  "Oh. Looks like they fixed the comms." she said.

  Which was code that the scantids have disabled the deep-space communications here by tunneling underground and destroying parts of the refineries comms-array.

  "Lucky." Zephyr said, drinking.

  "Ship trouble?" April asked.

  "Yep. We stopped here to get it checked out actually. Our mechanic is working on it."

  "I'm jealous. Tomorrow you'll get to leave this rock." Desmond yawned.

  "Is it that bad? Must be pretty good pay if you're kept here for months at a time." Zephyr asked.

  "It just... S-s-seems that way becauuse.. They pay you all at once." Carl said.

  April nodded; "Yeah, it's just that while we're here the company pays for everything and when we go home we have a bunch of our wages saved up. Feels like a lot then when you forget about all the time you spent here."

  "Sounds like slavery with extra steps." Aboleth said plainly.

  The refinery trio exchanged looks at that, and collectively shrugged.

  "Works work." Desmond said.

  "I-it uhm... The w-work isn't that dangerous. It's just time. M-my family back home ss-sure appreciates it."

  Zephyr was actually beginning to enjoy herself. Good company. A warm building that wasn't cramped like the Sequester. Other people. Cozy. The beer wasn't bad either, not that she was much of a drinker. But when in Rome...

  Aboleth made humorous 'tsk' sound; "Do they? O-o-or did they ship your annoying ass off?"

  'pffft!'

  Zephyr did a spit-take with her beer, sending a golden spray of liquid onto the center of the table then glared at Aboleth with a disbelieving expression as foam dripped from her chin.

  Aboleth made a 'what?' expression.

  Carl immediately shrunk into himself; "I-I think I'll go.." he said and slinked from his chair. April put a hand on his shoulder as he did; "Carl no, she was just joking right?" she looked pleadingly towards Zephyr.

  "Yeah! Abol-Abbie apologize! Now!"

  Aboleth sighed; "Fine. Sorry if you're so frail that basic observations offend you."

  Carl pushed Aprils hand off his shoulder and left.

  "Abbie!" Zephyr stood up from her stool. "You're being a bitch! Just because-"

  Aboleth was giving her a knowing glance now, causing Zephyr to search her eyes for some common understanding...

  "I should go talk to him..." April said.

  Desmond leaned forward on the metal table between them; "Go ahead, I think I'll have a talk with our 'friend' here..."

  "I'll go with you." Zephyr told April. "When we get back I expect you to give a real apology Abbie..."

  Zephyr followed April outside into the chilling air. Leaving Desmond and Aboleth alone at the table. He downed his bear and looked to her.

  "So. What the hell was that Abbie?"

  Aboleth raised her eyebrows at him; "What? It's good for him."

  Their conversation quickly grew heated after that.

  Outside April and Zephyr chased after Carl, who was brisky walking at the far end of a street.

  "Carl!" April called out.

  "It's fine!" he called back, trying hard not to stutter.

  They turned a corner before they finally caught up with him.

  "Carl, I'm so sorry. My friend- she has issues. Honestly, this sets our friendship back. A lot. When we get back I'm going to pull her aside and cuss her out!"

  Zephyr looked around. What would a control room for a giant refinery look like? If Aboleth caused this drama on purpose, it was probably to enact the plan. Find the leader of this place, turn them to their side, and get what lazothane they needed without this 'company' being any the wiser.

  "Come on, it's cold out here. Let's head back." April told Carl.

  He stopped walking and faced them; "T-this always happens... I meet someone nice, and- I ruin it."

  "You didn't ruin anything. Aboleth did. She can be a buzzkill, but she just took it to a whole 'nother level." Zephyr said, putting a hand on his shoulder gently.

  They were a distance from the bar now and the white noise of the crowd and music had faded in the distance. What they heard now was mostly the sounds of the refineries machines.

  "-What's that?" April asked. Interrupting Carl from speaking.

  They followed her gaze to a metal trailer in the distance. Red was dripping from beneath the door. It was round like a submarines might be with a porthole window.

  Shit. It couldn't of been a coincidence.

  It became shadowed outside the window and Selene once more relied on the light she emitted to see.

  "What is this feeling..?" she asked, clutching a hand close to her chest. Weird... Horny feelings. Anger, aggression. Sardonic pleasure. So many weird sensations flooded her.

  Why? From what? She looked around.

  It wasn't a vibe, a psionic signature or whatever. It was something she felt entirely randomly herself.

  She felt it after Luan left—so it wasn't because of her. Probably. Was it from her Zykra self? Something she was doing outside?

  The door opened a crack. Creaking softly.

  "Please don't be some infected thing..." she pleaded as she reached for the door and opened it.

  Outside. It was outside. The door led back into the endless wheat field of her mind. Pitch black besides her light.

  "Hello?" she called out.

  'Hello' 'Hello'

  'Hello'

  Her voice echoed back at her.

  Then a cluster of wheat shuffled as something moved through it. Too low to the ground for her to see. She flinched, stepping back inside the room a bit and peaking around the doorframe. It was glowing slightly now. A bit of light was shining up out of the wheat.

  The wheat rustled some more, coming closer. Then it took off into the distance.

  "Wait!" she called out then ran after it into the field. The wheat ahead of her was being pushed aside in a zigzag pattern. Whatever was running through it had an odd gait.

  She found herself quickly out of breath as she ran after it. But she ran on anyways. Desperate. The darkness followed her, it was all consuming.

  It lead her through the wheat, the tiny light. For a cities block worth of wheat chaffs.

  "S-stop!" she called out tiredly.

  A building loomed on the distance. It looked like a temple—or a cathedral. One of the two. It was built of beige stone and stretched up into the black.

  The light disappeared inside between the ajar double doors at the base. The glass doors were lined with thin gold trim. Flags of the protectorate hung outside. She stopped and tried to catch her breath, looking up at the building once more. Unlike every thing else—she had no memory of this building.

  Which was a good sign. She clutched her hoodie tight and stepped between the large double doors. To see a wide open greeting hall. Cream colored marble floors stretched endlessly before her on either side, and in front of her was a regal staircase leading up.

  A woman stood in the dark. Dressed in a sparkling golden dress that hung loosely from her shoulders. Leaving cleavage and her back visible. She was gorgeous, and familiar. Selene knew who this person was, even if they were 20 years younger.

  "Mom?" she asked.

  The woman turned casually as if she'd been doing the dishes.

  "Oh, hi hun."

  She stepped closer. Her gold high heels clicked on the marble floor. Selene was flabbergasted, staring at her mom.

  "You look amazing!"

  Mom smiled brightly and laughed a bit.

  "Okaaay, what are you buttering me up for?" mom said as she hugged her. Which was everything to Selene in that moment. And she accidentally let out a poorly contained sob.

  "Selene... What's wrong?" she asked, deeply concerned.

  "So, so much. I messed up, mom."

  "What did you mess up?" she grabbed Selene's hand before leading her to the staircase and sitting down with her. She rubbed Selene's back softly.

  Selene wiped an eye.

  "I... I'm in way over my head. People keep asking how I feel about things, what I want to do.." her eyes flitted around as she gathered her thoughts. "But I have no idea! I have to fight a war! A fucking war! To prevent a bigger war! People will die no matter what I do! And I can't do it! I don't want to! But I have to! Damn it! Damnitdamnit!" she pressed two curled hands against her forehead.

  "...I need to change. But I-I'm..." her eyes watered.

  "What are you sweetie?" her voice seemed more distant than before. Like a whisper. She just listened as Selene went off on her tearful tangent.

  "I'm scared. All the time." she said tiredly. Then shrugged; "I laugh it off and try to play it brave but.. They all want to know what kind of leader I'll be, but I'm afraid that they'll run when they do. When they figure it out that I'm just some scared kid who plays at being a hero with none of the backbone to do any of the stuff I say. Beat puck and make something better? I can't do it, I don't know anything. I wouldn't have any power at all if it weren't for dad or the Zykra..."

  It was quiet then. Selene waited for a response, she didn't have the guts to look towards mom after saying all that. Then the air became haunting as she heard the sound of chittering and slick flesh unfurling from where her mother sat next to her.

  Selene looked then.

  And what she saw was burned into her mind. The image of her mother, mutated. From below the nose her face was missing—replaced with two mantis mandibles. One of her eyes was growing into a segmented eye with a singular black dot moving in it. And half her beautiful hair was gone, and in it's place was green chitin.

  One of her arms was clawed insectoid one with too many joints.

  "AAHuhaha!" Selene moved away on the stairs and leaned against the banister to the far end of it. She turned her face in between the poles as she cried; "STAHAhahaap!"

  Her nose was leaking snot at this point.

  "I'm tired of this crap! Let me out! Letmetoutletmeoutletmeout!"

  The banister boards broke in her arms and clattered across the marble floor as she throttled them. Her own strength surprised her and she stared at the tiny poles tumble away.

  "Huu-" Selene gave out a surprised breath as she heard another chittering sound near her. Afraid it would be another monster.

  But it wasn't.

  It was Pipsqueak. The small scantid was looking up at her with it's two sets of yellow eyes. It's green carapace seemed to glow with white light. It put a leg up on the first stair next to her and moved forward a bit. It touched her leg with the top of it's head, seemingly unsure of what it was doing.

  Selene looked around and didn't see the mantis-infused version of mom.

  She felt another tender headbutt against her leg and let out a tired breath before hugging Pipsqueak close. It was an odd texture as always. The smooth bits of chitin were like a turtles shell, and the rough parts were like tree bark. The claws could do some damage if Pipsqueak wanted to do any damage to her at all—he could easily.

  Selene trusted the little bug as she stroked the top of it's head it gave a faster than normal chitter. His happy chitter.

  There was a knowing gaze behind it's yellow eyes. Each eye's black slits—like a snakes—looked to her steadily after awhile.

  "What?" she asked, wiping her face with her hoodies sleeve.

  It hopped off her lap and ran up the stairs a few steps before looking back at her. She slowly stood up and followed.

  "Where are we going?" she asked as they reached the top of the stairs.

  Pipsqueak chittered. It's hard mandibles sounded like an otter smashing rocks together rapid-fire. The halls at the top of the stairs were more narrow, and the ceiling was close enough to be visible through the dark.

  Paintings were lining the walls, of historical events. Older styled frigates and enforcer armors in battles. Famous figures from history. Leaders. Governors. Generals. There was an opulent rug running down the center of the hall they walked. Wooden trim was inscribed with gold colored livery in a rectangular style.

  Before long Pipsqueak stopped outside a door. He clawed at the bottom of it and hopped back and forth, then looked to Selene.

  It was a regular oak door in the wall. Selene stopped outside it and hovered her hand over the brass doorknob in trepidation.

  "Are you sure?" she asked the tiny scantid.

  He chittered angrily and started headbutting the back of her legs over and over.

  "Okayokayokay! Jeez!"

  She opened the door.

  And the first thing she saw, was a throne.

  Behind the chapter...

  may speed up for a time. As always, thanks for reading!