Thyathyrec returned to the transport while the others retrieved the alien. He remained near the impromptu holding area and watched as two of the soldiers, Myaďiec and Saic, brought the alien aboard on a stretcher. At least they seemed to be minding his orders, he thought, though he wondered how much weight they gave him.
The scholars other than IЪel respected his title, because most of them knew the importance of their jobs, or maybe they thought he could get them an 'in' with Ahfiamiďiec should they perform well. Only IЪel knew that the title was unenforceable, and acted like it. Would any of the soldiers feel the same as IЪel did? Did they only follow Thyathyrec's orders because they couldn't think of a reason NOT to obey?
He watched with anxiety as the soldiers placed the stretcher on the ground, Myaďiec uncuffing, then recuffing the alien such that the chain now circled a handhold bar. Thyathyrec supposed he preferred that to a cage—not that they had one for the nonexistent large animal wildlife in the colony. Even their domesticated animals didn't need a human-sized cage; their lands wouldn't sustain anything much bigger than jòďs and food birds like the wild dhelki herds that he had been lucky to help find.
What would they use for containment? Observation? He thought of the reinforced polymer room for testing potentially explosive experiments, though it felt like a cold, lonely room for their prisoner. Meaning, IЪel will absolutely want to use it, he deduced.
A few of the other scholars gathered near Thyathyrec as everyone else moved farther into the transport as it started to move. He had thought he knew the lot of them well enough, but their positions on alien life would almost definitely change the relationships between everyone. IЪel alone had proven his antagonism and needed no other excuses. Mylikò alternately seemed fearful and excited, though she at least seemed less fearful upon Thyathyrec saying the alien was a female. Zòlthen remained guarded. The others would probably have less direct involvement with the alien, but they almost certainly didn't share Thyathyrec's concern.
"We're both alone," he whispered to the alien, sadness on his face as the transport reached the end of the line and ground to a halt.
The alien made a noise. "...thyl..."
He froze. She had come to already?
It hadn't occurred to him to be alarmed, nor to the alien. As a result, she surprised him in nearly every way he could imagine. Her greying hair suggested elderliness, but her copper eyes staring into his betrayed that, with a warm radiance that spoke with a puppy-like innocence. Even then, she seemed fit for her apparent age, as her quick recovery from the tranquiliser had shown, and he had no doubts that she could have run circles around him even before his accident.
"Hey! It's conscious!"
"Thya-ku! Back away!"
Startled, he whirled around, blocking the line of fire. "Wait!"
"What are you doing?" Yďiny cried, raising her rifle once again at the alien. "Get out of the way!"
"Tranquilisers aren't going to do anything but scare her! She's not going anywhere!"
They all remained in a gridlock for several tense moments, no one wanting to move. "Stand down!" IЪel called at last, stomping over in a huff to investigate. "Just what do you think you're doing, Thya-ku?"
He found himself a bit at odds for what to say. "...she's restrained, isn't she? Why sedate her again on top of that?"
"Maybe it has some kind of mind control over you."
"If you hadn't noticed," Thyathyrec pointed out gruffly, "she is a she, and it's a little rude to keep calling her 'it' like that."
IЪel raised an eyebrow, giving the alien a sarcastic glance. "Oh, IS she now?"
He felt flush. "...okay, I'm assuming, but I strongly think so. I did examine her."
"Anyway, since when do manners matter with alien beings?"
"Since I care about basic humanity." He slammed his staff into the ground. "Even animals have social structure, and intelligent ones more so. Anyway, why would she mind control ME instead of a nice, strong soldier? You've already more than demonstrated you don't think I'm the leader here."
IЪel grumbled. "Fine, it's inconvenient—and rude—to call this an it. What should we call HER, then, fearless leader?"
"Cyiki."
Silence loomed as everyone considered his suggestion. For reasons he couldn't quite understand, no one questioned him. At least he had that much going for him.
"It's settled," Zòlthen ordered, waving to the scouts. "Take Cyiki to the observation chamber!" As Cyiki saw the scouts approach her, she tensed up in a panic, but a sympathetic look from Thyathyrec caused her to calm down and not resist when they took her in, though her fear didn't dissipate.
A large hand patted Thyathyrec brusquely on the shoulder. "Hey, Thya! Figured you'd be making trouble."
"Lyi!" Thyathyrec cried, glad to see his friend at last. "Sorry I kept missing you all this time."
He shrugged as though he'd expected it. "Cyiki, eh?" Lyiyn asked. "I'd like to know how you came up with that one!"
"I don't know," he whispered. "It kinda just came to me."
"Hmm. Well, at least the hunt's over now, so long as there aren't any others where she came from."
Thyathyrec only half-listened to him. "Did you see her face? She was so scared, like a lost child. There aren't any others. No one's coming to her rescue."
"You sure, Thya?"
"I feel so bad about capturing her like this. It's cruel."
Lyiyn scratched his head, pondering this. "What else would we do with her?"
"I don't know, but..." He stared, watching the soldiers march Cyiki along like a criminal. What was her crime, other than surviving?
What was MINE?
Unbelievably, even the proof of EXTRATERRESTRIAL LIFE did not merit a visit from Ahfiamiďiec. Thyathyrec waited on pins and needles for notification of the same, as the remaining soldiers and scholars slowly exited the transport, returning to their normal posts. Finally, as Kyò led him back to his dorm, he knew with familiar disappointment that their còlithyizin wouldn't make an appearance. Instead, his elderly assistant demanded that he clean up since he hadn't gotten the opportunity earlier, besides that he had missed his next agenda item (next bathroom stop before supper).
He felt like he had turned 81, not 21, on his last birthday. Three and a half years hadn't treated him well, either, what with having to replace his parents and everyone else's with his ragtag squad of undertrained specialists. At least Lyiyn got Cynie, who had proved herself a great trainer even before her then-pregnancy had kept her off the missions. Who did Thyathyrec get?
The perpetually unseen, effectively absent còlithyizin Ahfiamiďiec, who basically said, "Do your jobs." Not even said, so much as left a neatly typed note!
At first, he thought he could. The projects left behind by the prior scholars seemed straightforward enough that the current generation could figure it out no problem. It only proved troublesome when Ahfiamiďiec had approved of their work, then said, "More of that."
After reinventing the wheel, what exactly would constitute, "More of that"? Thyathyrec in particular struggled with inventing; he had gotten into trouble with his jealousy of Dhyròc, something IЪel knew and held over his head regularly. Dhyròc had even had his own private laboratory hidden in a secret part of the colony, which Thyathyrec and Lyiyn had tried to raid one night...
He pushed the memory out of his mind, not eager to keep reliving that anymore. Besides getting him nowhere, it didn't help him move past his current pains to dig up old ones.
Expectantly, Thyathyrec breezed through his requisite freshening up and even choked down his entire supper without complaint so he could get an early start on seeing his new subject. Even Kyò seemed pleased that he finally looked forward to his work and gained back his appetite.
On his assumption that they would use the reinforced polymer room for observation, Thyathyrec went straight there as fast as his legs and Kyò would allow him. Once he arrived...
"No."
IЪel stood at the entrance with all of the other scholars, blocking his way. Thyathyrec glared at him in irritation. "What do you mean, 'no'?"
Mylikò nudged IЪel. "Yeah, what do you mean, 'no'?"
IЪel pointed at Thyathyrec, his voice taking on an accusative tone. "Why should he get all the choice projects, just for being the top dog? All the rest of us get stuck doing—"
"Hey, I happen to like my work!" Mylikò interrupted. "Also, you know, interviewing the alien is something he can do, since he doesn't have to move around much."
Thyathyrec greatly appreciated Mylikò sticking up for him, but it only made his stomach flip to have the spotlight on him yet AGAIN. "FINE, IЪel," he shouted, pointing back. "Here's what we'll do: Write up a list of everyone here who wants to work with Cyiki, then every shift, we'll rotate in order who gets to work with her. Is that okay with you?" He wanted to end that sentence with something scathing but managed to restrain himself. May as well set a good example.
IЪel gave him a stink-eye, but nodded. "Fine. You go last, though, since you already got to observe her up close."
Siiiiiiigh... "FINE." Furious, Thyathyrec turned without another word, throwing his arm in the air and giving his mantle a flourish. He didn't mean to make a spectacle of it; it was just a side effect of the uniform.
He met Kyò farther down the hall where she had waited to give him and the scholars their own space. He could tell she knew what happened, from her reaction to his expression, and—to be fair—she gave him space to seethe while he left to go somewhere else. ANYWHERE else.
"Wait!"
Thyathyrec paused as Zòlthen ran up to him. "Something happen?"
The other scholar sighed in exasperation. "Not really. IЪe-ku wanted me to tell you to work on the sickle counts."
"Sickle counts!"
Thyathyrec snarled with disgust, rolling his eyes. Of course, IЪel would so deliberately put him on the most trivial of their tasks on the eve of their most scientifically-astounding discovery. Sure, he could delegate the task, but – the principle of the thing!!
"I know it's not remotely as interesting—"
"It's not even important!" Thyathyrec shouted, gesturing around the hallway. "NOBODY in the past three generations has had anemia! It's a routine test that made sense when we interacted with outsiders, but lately? Why test for a thing that doesn't exist anymore?"
Zòlthen frowned, keeping a bit of a poker face such that Thyathyrec couldn't completely believe they were on the same side. "Well, that's what he said to tell you. I told you, so... I'll leave you to whatever you plan to do with that."
Thyathyrec watched glumly as Zòlthen walked back down the long hallway to Cyiki's room, longer than it had ever felt before. He hadn't even gotten to glimpse her in there, hadn't gotten to see for himself that they gave her adequate care.
To his surprise, Kyò sniffed, growling a bit herself. "I changed my mind," she stated. "You are not better off only being around the scholars."
He snorted. "Thank you, Aliac-cy."
"What will you do now? The – sickle counts?"
Thyathyrec shook his head. "I'm going to the park. It's almost after hours anyway. I just want to relax now."
Kyò nodded. "Let us go to the park."
At least the air had started to cool at last, from sweltering to only moderately too warm. Possibly it was just the heat steaming off him from his blood boiling at yet ANOTHER row with I'bel. Many of the last few months, he felt more than happy to skive off work and let I'bel do what he clearly wanted most, but now, of all times? As Mylik'o had said, the job suited Thyathyrec the best, yet I'bel wouldn't hear of any of it.
What did leading the scholars even mean when only one mutineer derailed the lot of them?
As they walked, he sensed Kyò catching someone else's attention, but he didn't bother to look up to see who; he had a feeling he could guess. Thyathyrec reached a nearby bench and sat down without opening his eyes even once, allowing Kyò the satisfaction of whatever conspiracy she had wordlessly conducted with the other party, until he heard her start to back away from him.
"I go fetch your evening meds," Kyò called, feigning forgetfulness. "Please wait here."
"Sure," he called back, lazily waving a hand at her as he leaned his head back on the bench. Only a few moments passed in silence.
"Why so glum, Thya-ku?"
Although Kyò would scold him later for having poor manners, he wouldn't even look up to acknowledge Piaròmine's presence. It had always seemed obvious to Thyathyrec that what bothered him never changed, and he couldn't convince himself that idle chatter was just that. It felt insulting, even when he knew everyone else had tried to treat him as normal, as he had believed he'd wanted.
Her general attitude toward him seemed to have changed drastically following the accident, though he couldn't fathom why. Only his perfect memory made him stand out from anyone else in the colony, and that by itself didn't serve as much benefit as others might expect it would, since simply remembering all the facts meant nothing without the skill or insight to find significance in them.
Not that he considered himself stupid, but it seemed strange that she would find him that much more attractive with a debilitating injury than when healthy—more so, why she would persist in her advances after his giving her the cold shoulder for so long. It baffled him the most out of every mystery in the universe, even now with their alien visitor.
Not even opening his eyes, Thyathyrec sneered.
"Why don't we go somewhere more private and talk?" she hinted, picking up his cues about not wanting to talk but ignoring the ones about her leaving him alone.
"There's no such thing as private with Aliac-cy around," he retorted, casually wondering if he could predict how long the talk would last before everything went down the toilet—half an hour, including travel time? It was almost exactly 20:00... Go.
Piaròmine pouted at his comment but remained undeterred. "Even she knows better than to mess with me," she said with a huff of confidence. "Come on, we'll go to the observation chamber."
Thyathyrec laughed softly in spite of himself. "That's about the last place that would be private right now."
"I've got a deal set up with Ųòmel-cy," Piaròmine cried, grinning with mischief. "He's insistent on keeping visiting hours, like in a zoo. We'll have her all to ourselves."
Eh? "Ųòmel managed to talk down IЪel?"
She shrugged. "I guess he'll respect an elder, if not his own boss."
He raised an eyebrow at her. A precious rare experience, he had to admit, even if he would EVENTUALLY get to work closely with Cyiki in the coming weeks. "Fine, but I can't promise anything good."
She pouted in protest. "Just hear me out, okay?"
Her cues made it even more obvious what she wanted, and he could have told her on the spot that it wasn't going to make either of them happy. Unfortunately, she wouldn't accept it unless he at least gave her the chance. Why couldn't he just get to avoid this talk forever... 20:02.
"Let's go, then," he agreed, cringing inwardly at the excitement she exuded from every pore.
As Piaròmine had promised, Ųòmel allowed the two private entry into the observation chamber—with a scowl at Thyathyrec, he noted with a raised eyebrow. Kyò followed from a distance after a "suspiciously" speedy medication retrieval to allow the two their private time, waiting well outside the observation chamber exterior door.
Inside, Thyathyrec saw Cyiki huddled quietly in the far corner of her cell. She started at their entrance, watching them with due suspicion as Piaròmine walked over to the polymer barrier. 20:32.
"Hello, Cyiki!" she cheered, squatting down to eye level. This only seemed to provoke a more suspicious reaction.
"She's not an animal, Piaròmine," Thyathyrec noted.
"Just look at her, though! She has pointy little lyadh ears and a scraggly tail!"
"But she's also wearing clothing and has exhibited human-levels of intelligence and emotion, besides that she was piloting a SPACE SHIP. How would you react if you were the one on the other side of the barrier?"
Piaròmine seemed to consider this. "That's true, Thya-ku. Sorry... It's weird finally seeing such a human-like animal, or animal-like human?"
Thyathyrec stayed near the entrance. As curious as he felt about Cyiki, he understood all too well what such intense scrutiny felt like, and he sympathised with her. He didn't know what the others had planned, but he hoped to treat her with the same dignity and respect that he would want for himself. At the moment, certainly, it didn't seem like she had gotten a lot of it, between a single tatty blanket, a bowl of food, and a cup of water—all at the moment untouched. 20:34.
"What were you hoping to see?" he asked, not really certain what Piaròmine had even pretended to accomplish here.
"I wanted to see Cyiki, of course," she answered unconvincingly. He supposed that anyone would, but her demeanor still reeked of interest in what alien life stood for more than the actual alien herself. Especially with Cyiki still scared and huddled in the corner, unwilling to speak with them, even the most excited person would get bored of waiting.
That left a matter of only how long Piaròmine would wait before dropping the pretexts.
Presently, she stopped putting it off any further. "Thya-ku," she whispered, "do you like me?"
He found it difficult saying the words, even after rehearsing them before countless times in his mind in anticipation of the event. Having the moment actually upon him filled him with agony as he predicted even the rest of the colony's reaction to what would come. "Of course I like you," he said in complete honesty. "You're a hardworking bird with a lot of potential. I think you'll be one of the best tech experts—"
"No, that's not what I mean."
He sighed, dying inside. "Then I think you're just setting the both of us up for a lot of disappointment."
Silence thick enough to cut with a knife. "What do you mean?"
"I mean..." It bit at his conscience that the scene had so far played out almost exactly as he had predicted it would. "...you deserve someone who isn't broken." Even Cyiki looked upset by his words. 20:44.
Piaròmine crossed the room to look Thyathyrec straight in the eye. "What kind of a selfish, arrogant person sees someone who isn't physically perfect as a lesser being? I liked you before the accident, and I still like you now! Everyone expects us to—"
She stopped, choking on her tears. He hated acting so cold, but he couldn't possibly ever satisfy her wishes. Even giving Piaròmine a deserved comforting hug would just encourage her.
"I—I just don't understand what's the matter," she stammered.
Casually, Thyathyrec peeked outside to placate his feelings of being watched TOO closely. Satisfied that Kyò kept her distance, he limped over to the nearer recording station and sat down, relaxing his bad leg. "You've never had to live through the sheer Hell that I went through," he stated in a gruff tone. "There are a lot of things you don't know about what happened."
"Then tell me what happened!" she demanded. "I'll be a kind and good listener. I'll do anything to help, you know that!"
"To be honest, I don't know what you could do."
Piaròmine bordered on anger by now. "I certainly wouldn't give up on you, that's for certain."
He scowled. "I wish you would."
"How can you be so dismissive?"
"How about I put it in your terms, then?"
She stared at him, not sure what to make of his question. 20:47.
"You believe in working for the good of the colony, right? We're a much smaller community of only about a couple thousand now. Without a means of breaking through the weather barriers to reach the mainland, we're dependent on each other for the continuation of our society. From a purely survivalist point of view, it is our duty to the colony to have lots of strong children and raise them to the best of our capacity. If the dictators running things now have their way, though, it would mean putting selfish desires like love aside in favour of viability."
"...I don't think I follow."
"I'm saying the only reason they keep me out of the Home is for this sponge of a brain I have." He tapped his forehead out of spite. "How much would we have now without my work on the defence systems, weather mapping, and agricultural research? Where would we get new supplies if not for me retrofitting the machinery plans to recreate what we can no longer import? How much would we have lost to the floods last year if not for my memory? Records, blueprints, our very history—gone. If not for that, I would just be a disposable cripple."
"Don't say such an awful thing!" she shrieked, covering her ears.
He glowered. "That's all I am, though, a library with one leg."
"You're much more than that!"
"You're the only one who thinks that. The higher-ups would have found a way to get rid of me long ago if I weren't useful to them. Even Lyiyn is just using me to try to get off this island."
"And that should be proof I want to help!"
"No." Thyathyrec found himself boiling over with anger now, struggling to only let out a simmer. "You want to have my kids, and I don't want kids with – an immobile lump for a father."
"You—"
"—or a head case for a father!" He just about threw his staff across the room, furious from finally venting years of bottled-up rage. "I can't have any plastic bags, cords, string, or anything sharp or pointy without someone hovering over me and watching every move I make! That's no life for a grown man, much less a parent! I'm just a database made of flesh and bone, and those bones are broken!"
"You're not even going to give us a chance?"
"You're the only one who wanted that chance!"
Piaròmine's eyes filled with tears. "Fine! Go back to your padded room and rot! See if I care!"
With a stifled yelp, she dashed out of the room and vanished. Kyò, who had come running at the first sound of distress, seemed momentarily surprised by Piaròmine's behaviour before turning on Thyathyrec. 20:50, on the dot.
"What did you do to her?" she screeched.
"She wanted something I don't have," he scoffed.
Kyò looked indignant at his attitude. "I had hoped the two of you would get together! Why do you damage your chances so much?"
Grumbling, Thyathyrec made an effort to stand, though with some difficulty. "I'm going to bed."
"Not until you tell me why you hurt Pia-sy!"
He remained silent, unwavering in the face of his grim caretaker. As he started to leave, however, he glanced over at Cyiki, who now watched with great interest. Reflecting, he slowly hobbled over to her, stopping at a comfortable distance from the glass.
"I'm sorry you had to see all that," he apologised, once again not concerned with his words so much as his actions. "It must be hard enough for you in there without watching all our drama. For what it's worth, I didn't want it to happen this way."
Cyiki stared into his eyes, filling him with a feeling of sympathy. It startled him to see in her what looked like a kind of – affirmation. Had she gone through something similar in her own past? Perhaps they shared much more than he had first thought.
Or, she might think it had something to do with her upcoming study, giving her reason to fear the coming days. Without knowing anything of her language, he couldn't tell what she was feeling. In any event, better to leave her alone as much as possible until they could reach an understanding of mutual intent.
"It is late, Aliac-cy," Thyathyrec announced, turning toward the main door. "I am going to bed, and that is that. If you have any objections, you can take them up with Ahfiamiďiec-xu."
"Thya-ku—"
"You're not my mum!" he snarled. "Leave me alone!"
He hobbled out the door and back toward his dorm, heart shattered into ten billion pieces.
