The Discovery
"Do what you feel in your heart to be right-for you'll be criticized for it anyway. You'll be damned if you do, and damned if you don't."-Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962)
Cain brushed his short blue hair out of his eyes, staring at the early morning city out of his window.
The sun was just beginning to rise over the tops of the dull gray buildings, only to be thwarted by the fog that drifted through the streets silently, reluctant to leave.
Birds flew through the cool, crisp air, twittering daringly on the edges of the tallest buildings. They called out to each other merrily, diving at the dumpsters far below in search of breakfast.
Cain rubbed his eyes wearily, looking at the clock on his bedside table. Six in the morning. He hadn't slept. At all. He yawned, taking the red chip out of the laptop and locking it back in its case with a click. Cain loped down the stairs, stifling a yawn. "Why do I bother having such a big house if I'm all alone?" he mused, stumping his footpaw on a painting that had fallen off the wall some time during the night. "Oh yeah... the Artifacts."
Cain walked into the kitchen in a half-daze, digging around for the frying pan and setting it on the counter. He cracked two eggs, emptying them into the frying pan. He went about tidying the kitchen until they were ready, wriggling his nose in appreciation of the delicious smells wafting around him.
After he was done eating he put his dishes in the sink, looking around. "Hector?" he called out.
A large mechanical Merlin swooped down from the rafters, landing on the headrest of the chair beside him. "Morning, Cain." he said. "Sleep well?"
"If by yes, you mean no, then yes." Cain snorted.
"What about me?" a small blue mechanical orb asked from where it sat on the table.
Hector shook his head. "Agi, you don't even sleep, and neither do I."
"So?" Agi said. "It doesn't mean I wouldn't like to be asked the question once in a while."
Cain laughed. "Did you sleep well, Agi?"
"Yes, wonderfully! I dreamt of sheep...or whatever it is you organic beings dream of." Agi floated off the table and hovered around Cain's shoulder.
"Do I have anything planned today?" Cain asked.
The merlin paused a moment. "Lets see, Melete was supposed to bring over those new Artifacts right about..." he paused for effect, hearing a knock at the front door. "Now."
Cain groaned. "That's today?" he asked, opening the door. "Hey, Mel."
Melete mumbled something from behind the mass of boxes she held in her paws.
Cain dragged off the first couple and set them down on the ground, so he could better see the ocelot's face. "What are all these?"
The ocelot grinned, wriggling her ears. "A bunch of old manuscripts about the city.. I thought you'd like them." she said, setting the rest of the boxes down on the floor, closing the door behind her. "You look horrible, by the way." she said.
Cain blushed, lowering his ears. "I was up most of the night studying that chip."
Melete stared at him. "Most of the night?"
"Okay, okay, the entire night." Cain said. "Is it that obvious?"
"I could pack my closet into the bags under your eyes." Melete said.
Cain laughed. "Want some breakfast?"
The Ocelot wriggled her whiskers. "Depends... got any bananas?"
Hector swooped low, dropping a banana into her paws. "Already got it!" he said, perching on the railing of the stairs.
Melete peeled the fruit. "Thanks."
Cain dug into the boxes on the floor, examining the titles written in old, dead languages. "The annals of Eula, being the record of the four cities of the inside ring." His eyes widened. "If this is an original copy, my gods.. where did you get these?" he asked.
Melete grinned. "You can thank me later. Just tell me, are they authentic? They were to the best of my ability, but you're better at it then I am..."
Cain nodded. "Aye, I think these are the real deal. Which makes this thing about....."
"A thousand years old?" Melete said.
"Just about. How do you do math so fast?" he asked.
Melete twitched her banded tail , gloating. "It's an acquired skill."
"I'm going to head on to the museum, you should probably get ready..." she said.
Cain groaned.
"Cheer up!" Melete called out, her banded tail dissapearing around the door frame. "Tomorrow is Friday!"
Fifteen minutes later, Cain rushed out the door, Agi floating on his shoulder. He drove to the Museum, parking in the lot below. He snuck into the door of his office, hoping not to be noticed.
"Cain!" a voice called out.
Cain cursed.
A gray mouse strode up to him, golden earring dangling out of one ear. He was dressed in the outfit of a space rogue, completely black, with simulated grime on his fur. "Late again?"
Cain nodded solemnly in answer to the head curator's question, trying to stifle a laugh at his ridiculous outfit.
The mouse grinned. "Up studying more Artifacts again, eh?"
Cain nodded, breathing a sigh of relief. He was lucky in the fact that he actually liked his job.
"How many times have I told you, rest is more important than any discovery you could possibly make?" the mouse laughed.
Cain laughed as well. "So, Felix, what's with the space pirate suit?"
The mouse picked at the suit. "Oh, this? I thought I'd try a new look for the office.... seriously, though, I'm helping out in the age of Space Piracy exhibit today. Figured I'd best look the part, especially since that one hologram went missing..."
"Have fun with that." Cain said, walking into his office.
Cain looked around and snorted. It would take a very large, backbreaking stretch to call this place an office.
Old fragmented discs lie on one table. The walls were covered from head to toe with large cabinets, all containing "neatly" filed Artifacts yet to be displayed. The research computer sat in one corner, awaiting orders.
"Hey Art, got that program decoded yet?" Cain asked the computer.
"Yes!" Art replied. "Chapter One: Proper care of your man eating space mucus." Art paused. "Should I continue?"
Cain sighed. "Another instruction manual. Figures. Maybe another time."
"How come if Art's proper name is Artifact Research Terminal, he actually does more translation then research?" Agi asked.
"Because I don't have the time to do it myself, and I'm lazy." Cain admitted.
Agi laughed, a high pitched, mechanical sound.
Cain went to work, organizing and gathering various information. Agi zoomed about, finding various titles and tools. A while later Cain looked up at the clock and blinked. Lunchtime, already?
Cain unlocked his office door, pushing it open. "Odd... I don't remember leaving the lights off..." Cain flipped the switch on the light. Nothing happened. He walked into the room, folding his ears in frustration. "I know I had a flashlight in here somewhere."
The door creaked shut behind him. "The Freck..." Cain muttered to himself.
The floorboards creaked. "Hello?" Cain called out, stubbing his footpaw on the table.
"Damn it!....Agi, light please!" he called out
Agi turned on her light, casting a pale beam of light through the darkness.
"Pan around." he said as the floorboards creaked again.
"Cain..."
"Was that you Agi?" Cain asked.
"Nope!" came her high pitched response.
Cain screamed and tripped, falling as Agi's light found someone hiding in the corner. An intruder!
The lights flickered on and Melete fell out from behind the door, laughing. "Your...face!..." she wheezed.
Cain looked around him, taking a better look at the "intruder." It was only a hologram!
"So this is what happened to the missing space pirate?" Cain said, shaking.
Melete nodded. "Felix more than approved. The old mouse said I could scare you witless with it, long as I brought it back in one piece."
Cain shook his head. "That mouse always did love a joke."
Melete walked over, deactivating the hologram and storing it in her pocket.
"You have anything else planned?" Cain asked.
"Well...maybe." Melete grinned .
"Like what?" he asked.
"I was thinking you, me.. Friday... night on the town?" she said.
Cain wriggled his ears happily. "Sure."
Melete walked off. "See ya Friday."
Cain grinned. "Now, if there are no more distractions...." he announced idly to the room. "Back to work."
Cain threw open the door of his house, stumbling over the boxes of chips left in the floor.
"Finally." Hector said, swooping down from the rafters. "Do you know how incredibly boring it is here without you?" the Merlin asked.
"I can only imagine." Cain said. He walked into the kitchen, opening the refrigerator. "Hmm... we have TV dinner....TV dinner, or... TV dinner. Which sounds better?"
"TV Dinner!" Agi said.
"Right." Cain unwrapped it and put it into the microwave, tapping his footpaw impatiently as it cooked.
He scooped it onto a plate when it was done, carrying it upstairs. He sat at his desk, putting a chip into the small hole made for the purpose.
"Which do you think I should study?" he asked.
"I dunno...they both look so... old." Agi said.
"What are they about?" asked Hector.
"One is about the existence of demons, and how to combat them. The other is about the 'lost' cities of the inside ring of the satellite."
"You mean that huge forest like place no one is allowed to go?" Agi asked
Cain nodded.
Hector hmmmed, tilting his head. "Flip a coin!"
Cain nodded. "Good idea. Let's see... heads Demons... Tails Annals."
He flipped the coin.
"Heads." Hector said.
Cain flipped it over with his paw so it showed tails.
"I think your eyesight's going bad." Cain grinned.
Hector shook his head. "If you wanted to study the Annals, why didn't you say so in the first place?"
"Because I didn't know I wanted to study them that bad." Cain replied. He booted the computer up, waiting for it to acknowledge and begin reading the chip. He read aloud.
"The Annals of The Satellite Eula, being a chronicle of the four cities, by Altor...."
Cain ran a comb through his headfur another time, wriggling his whiskers. His hair still wouldn't stay down. "Agi?" he called out.
The little blue ball whizzed out of the hallway, hovering near his shoulders. "Yes?"
"Could you shut down for the night? It'll be just Melete and I, and while I'm taking you with me, I really don't think you'd want to be active during our date." Cain asked.
"Date." Agi snorted. "Artificially Generated Intelligence, powering down!" Agi said, dropping into his outstretched paw with a thud. Cain put her in his pocket, rubbing his paw. "Ow..." he muttered.
Cain walked down the stairs as he heard a knock on the door. "Evening." he greeted Melete.
She smiled. "You clean up well. Ready?"
Cain nodded. "Watch the house, Hector!"
Hector mumbled a disinterested reply from the rafters.
Cain jumped into the car. "So where we goin'?"
Melete grinned. "You'll see."
They made small talk as she drove through the crowded city streets.
"Did you see that complex their building downtown?" Cain asked
"Yeah, I don't really like it. The only reason their building it is to take the overflow since Siege City down south is flooded, but come on, I mean.. why here? Why not up in like, Orion City or something?" Melete said.
Cain shrugged. "Well we are the closest city. Besides, they should leave once the city is back to normal."
Melete snorted. "Should. Yeah. You see how that works out. Anyway, on to happier subjects. We're here!"
Cain peered through the windshield at the enormous building before him. "E.D.L.T." it advertised in bright, glowing letters.
"What's that stand for?" Cain pointed.
"Extreme Death Laser Tag." Melete explained.
Cain paled. He had never played laser tag in his life!
Melete grinned, pulling him out of the car. "Come on!"
Cain grinned as well, wondering just what he had gotten himself into.
Cain crouched down behind the bush, trying to adjust his curled up ears in the helmet buckled to his head. The HUD popped up on the visor, warning him. "Field change in Five Seconds. Four. Three. Two."
Cain groaned. "Not Again!" What was it this time, Underwater?
The field around him flickered out of existence, only to be replaced with another one. Vast expanses of desert surrounded him, sand swirling down into a vortex in places scattered randomly. Dunes blocked his view, and afforded him cover.
Melete's image popped into his screen. "Your going to have to pick up the pace, man. I'll give you a hint, the next field change ball is on the ceiling." A shot kicked up sand near his footpaw. "I would move, the next shot doesn't miss." she cackled.
Cain ran across the sand, gun in paw. "Where are you?" he murmured, looking around. Movement around the next dune caught his eye. He took a shot, shaving sand off the dune. "Found you!" he yelled, running around the dune. "Freck..."
The large scorpion he had mistaken for Melete turned around, barbed tail held high.
Cain ran, pursued by the beast.
"Use your jet pack!" Melete's voice crackled through his helmet, shots ringing out behind him.
Cain pressed a button on his wrist, sending him shooting away from the loose sand. He turned around, suspended in the air, firing on the scorpion as it dissapeared back beneath the sands.
Cain flew towards the multicolored orb above him, cursing as his suit and visor flashed.
"Let's see, that's... Melete: three Cain: One." she said, her voice echoing around his helmet.
Cain touched the ball.
Options flashed across his visor. "Have you made your choice?" a cool mechanical voice queried.
Cain wriggled his whiskers. "Hmm.. umm... Deep space, Meteor field. Zero gravity around the meteoroids."
The field changed again.
Melete groaned. "Hey, no fair! I'm no good in no gravity environments!"
Cain grinned. "Exactly." He pushed himself off the wall, taking aim with his gun. He vaulted off of an meteoroid, seeing Melete looking around below him. He fired off two shots, watching her suit flash.
"Let's see, thats Cain: three, Melete: three." he snickered.
"Not bad." She said. "Try this."
Melete spun around, firing off shots in an arc. Cain vaulted back behind the meteoroid, grunting as the shots pushed them both back. He pushed back out from the meteor, gun ready.
"Hey, no fair, you moved!" Cain said.
"You snooze, you lose!" She teased.
Cain pushed himself through the empty space, enjoying for a time the simple ability to be weightless.
"I think I win." Melete's voice echoed through his helmet.
Cain's suit flashed twice, then stayed flashing.
Cain laughed. "Only because I've never played before."
Melete didn't bother concealing the purr in her voice. "Rematch?"
Cain squirmed uncomfortable, adjusting the thick napkin in his lap.
Melete shook her head. "Why so tense? You're wriggling around like a cub that's had too much sugar! We qualify as high society. Eating here isn't going to kill you."
Cain twitched his whiskers. "Yea, but.."
"But what?" Melete asked. "Afraid of becoming a snob?" she asked, holding her pinky out and tilting her head up. "It's perfectly safe, deary."
They both broke down laughing.
Cain and Melete sat on the balcony outside his bedroom window, staring up at the starry sky above. She leaned against him her breathing slow and relaxed.
Cain rested his head against hers, covering his muzzle to stifle a yawn.
"It's been a fun night." Melete said.
Cain nodded in agreement.
Melete sighed. "Do you ever wonder if we're the only original colony left? Or where our original planet was?"
"The only colony? Yes. And.. if I didn't wonder, would I have the job I have now?" Cain asked, grinning.
"Good point." Melete said.
Cain put his arm around her shoulders, hesitating.
Melete smiled. "I should probably be going. It's getting late."
Cain sighed. "Yeah."
Melete giggled. "Another time, lover boy." She opened the door and walked down the stairs, her footsteps receding.
Cain waved as she got into her car, watching it until it dissapeared from sight. "Agi?" he asked.
Agi floated out of his pocket. "Yes?"
Cain smiled. "Oh, nothing."
Cain rubbed his eyes, stretching. He got out of bed with a grin on his face, slipping his footpaws into his slippers.
Agi hovered over his head. "Still floating on cloud 9?" she asked, giggling.
Cain blushed. "That's not funny."
Agi cackled. "You love her and you know it!"
"Do not." Cain replied.
"Do to!"
"Do not!"
"You know you do!"
Cain shook his head, still grinning. "You win. This round. I do love her. But if you tell her, you end up in the scrap metal."
Agi snorted. "You don't mean that."
"How do you know?" Cain asked.
"Because you depend on me too much."
Cain nodded. "This is true."
Cain picked up the chip on his bedside table, tucking it under his arm.
"Is that that one chip? The really important one?" Agi asked.
"Yes." Cain replied. "Why?"
"Because normal furs don't take chips with them into the bathroom." Agi said.
Cain frowned. "And you know this how?" He shut the door behind him with a loud click.
Cain sat at the AR terminal, browsing through each page as it became available, his eyes glued to the screen. Agi chimed from the rafters, zooming down to meet him.
"It's lunch time!" She announced, spinning.
"Uh-huh." Cain said, brushing her off.
"Aren't you going to eat?" She asked.
"Soon." Cain said.
Agi floated back a while later. "It's dinner time." she announced.
"Yea." Cain said. "Wait, what?!"
Agi snickered at his tone. "Well, a certain hare I know has had his nose buried in some stupid old computer all day, and missed lunch, and is about to miss Dinner.
"Hey, I resent being called stupid!" Art said.
"Sorry."
Cain looked out the window.
The sun sat low in the sky, a dull orange ball, birds flying across its surface.
"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked.
"We tried." Art and Agi said simultaneously.
Cain erfed, powering down the console and taking the chip out. "Maybe that one fast food place is open..." he muttered to himself.
The next day found Cain in the same position.
He sat at the console, browsing through the chip. "Amazing..." he muttered to himself from time to time.
"What's amazing?" Agi asked.
"It's just.. if this chip is correct.. then, by the gods, everything we know..."
He was interrupted by a knock on the door.
Felix stood at the door. The mouse twirled his tail lazily. "Hey Cain."
"Hey Felix, er boss! Sorry." Cain said.
"It's okay. Call me Felix if ye want. Never was much for titles, anyway. All we're doing is distributing knowledge anyway, right? I consider us all equals... except for paperwork, which is what brings me here. You know those whole 'goals for the coming year' thing?" he asked.
"Yea..." Cain said.
"It appears as if you never turned one in. If you didn't turn one in, they can't very well do a performance review, now can they? Now, by the grace of my heart, management has 'lost' it." He made quotations with his paws.
"Take this, fill it out." he said, holding out a piece of paper. "Word to the wise, write down goals you've already met."
Cain grinned, taking the form. "Thank you Sir...Felix."
"Forget about it." he said, grinning back. "What's that?" he pointed to the program Art displayed on screen.
"It's called the Annals of Eula. It appears to be a chronicle detailing the cities in the inner ring."
"What?" Felix asked, twitching his tail in curiosity. He walked over and sat down at the console, flipping through the pages. "Amazing..." he said.
"That's exactly what I said." Cain said, squatting down and peering over his shoulders.
"Really it is!" Agi chimed in, watching the two of them with interest.
Felix continued to flip through the pages for a while, then stood up, stretching. "Oh.. my bones are getting to old for those low seats. Keep up the good work, man! If it leads to a significant discovery, well..." he grinned.
Cain grinned back.
"Don't forget those papers." Felix said, walking out of the room.
"I won't!" Cain yelled after him. "Thank you!"
The next day Cain set back at the console, rubbing his forehead as he watched the Sun set once again.
Melete slunk up behind him, laying her paws gently on his shoulder and massaging them. "Why don't you take a break?" she asked.
"There's so much left to read..." Cain muttered, his eyes closed.
"But it's Friday. Everyone deserves a break. Especially you."
"It is?" Cain asked.
"Of course it is." she laughed. "What day did you think it was?"
Cain shrugged. "I dunno. I kind of lost track."
Melete shook her head. "Come on." She said, pulling him off the seat. "You, me, a walk in the park. It's perfect."
Cain grabbed the chip. "Mmm, that does sound nice." he said, locking the office door behind him
They arrived at the park a few minutes later. It was dark and quiet. Wind blew through the trees, filling the silence with the peaceful sounds of crickets and rustling leaves.
"Perfect. We have the park to ourselves." Cain grinned.
They held hands as they walked, admiring the ancient trees. They sat on a bench, heads leaned against one another. Cain twirled his paw around Melete's, murring and nuzzling her.
Cain pulled Agi out of his pocket, and whispered to her. She whispered back and flew off.
"Where's she going?" Melete asked.
Cain grinned. "You'll see."
Melete stuck out her lower lip. "Please?"
Cain laughed, shaking his head. "You'll have to wait and see. It won't be long, I promise."
The little robot came zooming back in a little while, A small blue bear plushie with wings suspended beneath her.
Melete squealed, grinning. "How did you know?" she asked.
"I have my ways." he grinned.
She hummed a few bars from her favorite song, squeezing the bear as Agi dropped it in her lap.
"We'll fly on bears of blue across seas of pink and green,
We'll be the happiest couple that the world has ever seen..."
Cain grinned and nuzzled her.
"Seriously, how did you know?"
"Oh, it's not like you don't hum that constantly in your office or anything..." Cain giggled.
"But your never near or in my office." She protested.
"No, but Agi is a very good fly, if you catch my drift." Cain said.
"Agi, you traitor! That's technically illegal!" she said, faking anger.
Cain leaned over, slowly, and kissed her.
They broke the kiss slowly, murring as their tails twitched.
"I love you." Cain said.
"I love you too." She replied.
Months passed. Cain lost himself in the Annals. Melete and he grew closer. They dated, and were happy. As far as Cain was concerned, his life was perfect. He had the job, and the girl of his dreams. What more could he ever want?
Cain sat at the console, flipping through the pages at a quick pace. He scribbled notes onto a notepad at irregular intervals, stopping every so often to rub his forehead.
"Woah..." he said, staring at a diagram on the screen.
"What?" Agi asked.
"Look at this." Cain said, pointing to the diagram on screen.
"Yeah?" Agi asked.
"Then this." Cain held up his notes.
"I can't read your writing, just tell me." she said.
"The Cities were located in a rough diamond shape, and apparently were well protected. It says nothing about how they dissapeared. Except this entry in the old language on the last page. 'Those who value your lives, come not to this place. It is...'" Cain thought for a moment. "Agi, pull up a map of the satellite."
Agi dimmed the lights, broadcasting a three dimensional image the satellite into the room.
"Zoom in onto the forbidden zone."
Agi zoomed into the forest.
"Let's see, we're near Try looking for any abnormalities or bumps in the land layout.."
The image panned down to flat, and showed four distinct bumps. Very large bumps. "Is the matter inorganic?" Cain asked.
Agi nodded. "Yes."
"And that's where the cities should lie. Keep those bumps highlighted. Go back to a birds eye view." He said.
Agi did as she was told.
Cain began to giggle. "Do you know what this means?"
"Er... that your completely insane for giggling at bumps in the ground?" She asked.
"Well, there is that, but what else? It means, if this chip is right, I know found the four lost cities!" Cain shouted. "Stay here." He said, rushing out of the office.
Melete's door banged open suddenly. She screamed, almost dropping the ancient glass she was holding. "What the...?" she asked.
Cain grinned. "You have to see this!"
"See what?" She said, raising her eyebrows.
Cain tugged her by the paw out of the office. "At least let me set this down!" she said.
Cain walked back into the office, Melete in tow. He proudly presented the map.
Melete examined it. "Uh-huh. Four bumpy places in the forbidden zone. So?"
I found those coordinates in the Annals. If their right, I found the four lost cities!"
Melete blinked. "What?"
Cain grinned. "Yeah!"
"We should show Felix." She said.
Cain nodded. "Yeah. Then you know what we need to do next?"
"What?" she asked.
Cain grinned. "Celebrate."
Cain pressed the button on his answering machine. "One new message."
"Hey Cain, It's Melete, again. Hey, listen, I told you how I have some contacts, right? Well, I was talking to them, and One of them happens to be on the council of Eula himself. Yea, crazy, I know, but still! He's a wolf, really young, one of the youngest on the council. His name is Kruze. Anyway, he's going to propose to the council about you talking to them. You totally owe me! See you later, love you. Bye."
Cain stared at the small wooden door in front of him. "Ready Agi?" he asked.
"Yes!" she replied. "Presentation loaded, all data backed up and fully working!"
He took a moment to look around the room.
Other small computers like Agi floated around the room, recording the event. A large camera from the back of the room stared him down, trained at his face. Twenty four faces sat in an arc, looking down at him with a type of serious indifference. He looked up at Kruze. Kruze smiled at him. He noticed some of his headfur was sticking up. Lights shined down from the ceiling, making some of the older members of the council's bald heads shine. Cain repressed the urge to snort.
"Esteemed members of the council of Eula.." he began, his voice cracking. Cain winced on the inside. He looked up at the displays Agi was broadcasting.
"It has come to my attention that an ancient text shows us more about our satellite than we could ever have hoped to know. If you will examine the pages now before you..."
Cain sat in his hotel room, massaging his temples and growling to himself, drowning it out in the drone of the local news.
"And today, the council also refused a request to recognize and reprint a chip allegedly detailing the building of this satellite, and how it functions..."
Cain turned the TV off, lowering his ears.
Agi floated in front of his head. "Incoming call."
"Who from?" he asked.
"Melete."
"Answer call. Hello?" he asked.
"Hey." Melete's voice floated out through through Agi's speakers.
"Hey." Cain said, grateful she could not see his face.
"I heard the news." she said.
"Yea?" Cain asked .
"I'm sorry. I really thought they would have seen the value in it. If it makes you feel any better, Kruze rooted for you."
"Heh." Cain laughed.
"Oh cheer up, it's not like they banished you from the world." she said.
" 'm not sad." Cain replied.
"You are too. Your also a bad liar. Your voice is dripping disappointment. But, listen. When you get back hear, you and I can go out again. Forget about it." she said.
Cain murred. "That would be nice..."
Melete laughed. "I knew that would get you. Anyway, was just about to go to bed, so..g'night. Love you."
"Love you too. Night'" Cain said.
Agi's speakers crackled, indicating the link had shut down. "Anything else?" Agi asked.
"No, thanks. I think I'm just gonna sleep."
"Then I'm powering down for the night." Agi said, and dropped lifeless to the small bedside table.
Cain burrowed down into his bed covers and turned off the light, falling into an uneasy sleep.
Cain threw his small suitcase in the back of the small rocket, closing the hatch behind him. He strapped himself into the solitary seat, sitting Agi into the small circular port in the dashboard.
"Warning, prepare for flight in 15 seconds."
Cain looked around the small cabin. Basic, but homely. It contained a small bathroom, a couch that folded out into a bed, an emergency survival kit, and a space suit.
The spaceship began to thrust itself into the simulated atmosphere of Eula, and Cain watched as Onyx City shrunk to dot size below him, to be replaced by a large, teeming mass of metal. The satellite itself.
Cain wriggled his ears as they they passed the barrier and hit space, and the ship stopped forcing G's onto his body.
"I didn't know the satellite was this big! I'm storing this in my memory banks for like, ever" Agi said, taking video of the immense mass.
Cain nodded, grinning. "It is impressive. I've seen it before, but, still..."
"It appears as if you live only on the surface." Agi said.
"Your right. There is no living life under the surface of the satellite." Cain said.
"Why?" Agi asked.
"Life is no longer sustainable, apparently. That's my job. To figure out what happened. And why."
"Think of how many problems being able to live under the surface would solve!" Agi said. "No more overcrowding of cities, no more population control!"
Cain nodded.
"How much did you cost?" Agi asked.
"You mean to be born?" Cain queried back.
"Yes."
"Well, the death rate was low that year, so birth spots were very high value.. I think my estimated cost was... four hundred thousand." Cain said.
"Wow." Agi said. "My cost for creation was.. $600.20"
Cain grinned. "Well we don't all have the luxury of being robots."
"Only because robots are smarter." she teased.
"And who programmed you to be smart?" Cain asked, grinning.
"And who can do more in a millisecond then your brain can do in ten years?" she asked.
"Fine, fine, you win!" Cain said. "But only for this round."
"What's our ETA anyway?" Cain asked.
"The ship indicates...." Agi trailed off.
"Yes?" Cain asked.
"Odd. I can't access any part of the ship. It wants a password I don't have. I can't crack it, either. Someone seriously doesn't want us in here."
Cain snorted. "Damn spacelines."
A cool blue mist begin pour from the cabin vents, chilling Cain.
"Can you at least access the air conditioning?" Cain asked.
"Hold on." Agi said, lighting up the console.
Cain took a moment to stare at the satellite as he waited. Lights blipped and flashed around the outer rim, beacons for the crafts. Seven hubs marked the seven cities of Eula. Out of the corner of the windshield, he could just make out the beginning of the mining colony. "I wonder what it's like there. I need a reason to go there sometime..." Cain said, wriggling his whiskers.
"Okay, I finally got past the default security. But there's two problems." Agi said.
"What's that?" Cain asked, shivering.
"Well, there's another level of security blocking me from all the controls, which I should be able to access, and I know for a fact that's not normal. Also, don't freak out, but that gas isn't Air conditioning. It's cryogenic gas." Agi explained.
"What?!" Cain said, staring at the sinister blue mist.
"Well, I'm doing my best to stop it, just don't freak out. It'll only kill you that much faster."
"Kill?"
"Did I say kill?" Agi said. "I meant freeze. Take shallow breaths. Calm breaths. Don't think about getting that stuff in your lungs."
Cain followed her orders, his mind racing. "Who would tamper with a spacecraft? More importantly, why? Was it a random act of terror? A supremacist group? Someone that wanted him dead?"
"Agi, can you scan this place for DNA while your at it?" Cain whispered, trying to use as little air as possible.
"Maybe. While I am, put on the space suit. It might slow the progression of the gas."
Cain unzipped the suit, zipping it up and tightening the helmet. The system inside automatically activated, beginning to warm the suit.
"M-much better." Cain said, trying to stop his teeth from chattering.
"How much time until the cabin is filled?" Cain asked.
"One minute, maybe two. Trying as hard as I can here." Agi replied.
"And until the suit fails?" Cain queried again.
"Indefinite. Judging by the amount left in the tanks I just found, it might buy you about six minutes." Agi said.
"That's it?" He asked.
"Better than nothing." She said.
"Er, active video recording."
Cain cleared his throat.
"October 15th, 3098. Curator in charge of Ancient Technology at Giese city museum, aboard the SS Finite. Cabin is quickly filling with gas, and controls are locked. It appears to be sabotage. Oh freck." His voice cracked.
"Space suit appears to have developed a leak. Gas is seeping in. If this is my last message to the world, let it be known I was on the verge of important discovery, and the chip with me must be saved at all costs." He found himself almost unable to continue, his voice shivering.
"And... Melete, if you find this...I love you." With those words on his lips, Cain froze.