Nicole’s mouth turned arid as she processed that she was hearing not only English from some ancient entity, but that it also knew her name. In addition, she didn’t know what to make of the title it had referred to her by. The light dimmed as soon as the voice finished, then pulsed down the empty corridor. A moment ter the pulse repeated, as if guiding her along.

  “Well, that’s ominous,” Nicole said, almost expecting the voice to reply again, but was not surprised when it failed to do so.

  A gnce back at the literal mountain of colpsed stone told her that she wouldn’t be getting out the easy way, which meant she would be leaving Maraline behind if she wanted to investigate. That wouldn’t do, so Nicole turned, crouching low, and kicked off, shifting as she did, only to immediately impact a translucent barrier.

  The impact with the ground was muted as Nicole pushed herself back up. Landing sprawled out on her ass hadn’t been fun, and gring at the barrier that now had her trapped wouldn’t accomplish much. Nicole drew her morphed daggers for the first time in months, looking down at the transformed works that Grace had bored over. There was something about them that maintained the raw emotion she had poured into her work, even though Nicole knew the daggers in her hands now weren’t the same.

  An odd quirk, yet it still warmed her that Grace had an impact on her current Ranger abilities. The bde fshed out, gncing off the shield without so much as a spark or warble in the invioble barrier. With a sigh, Nicole dismissed her weapons, watching them fade back into the aether, or rather, the Source.

  She could recognize that much now, feel it as she maniputed the energy. The Ranger transformation made it more intuitive, yet Nicole could almost tell through instinct that there was far more to the enigmatic energy than she was aware of.

  With only one path open to her, Nicole turned back to the pulsing lights and let out a deep exhale, energy dissipating from her as she did. It was barely a drop of what currently filled her, and still more flowed in with each breath she took, but it helped stem the tide.

  She followed the illuminated path until she came to a junction, looking left first where it was dark, then right. The pulses continued along and so too did she. The walls were fairly sterile for something that had been stuck underground in a damp cave for what had to be centuries if not longer. No signs of rust, no deterioration of any kind could be seen.

  Nicole couldn’t help but wonder if the ship had looked just like it did when it was still in service, or whatever the race that created it might call it. Another corridor split, and she again followed the guiding lights until she came to a wide door. It opened with a hiss, the room beyond cast in darkness.

  She waited for the lights to come on, but it soon became clear that they weren’t going to. A part of her wanted to double back, to go find a way that she could check with Maraline to ensure everything was alright on her end. That probably wasn’t an option with how some guiding intelligence or protocol was bringing her somewhere. No, she wouldn’t be allowed to leave until they were done with her.

  With a sigh, Nicole stepped inside.

  When the lights didn’t suddenly flood the room or blind her, she was grateful that particur cliché hadn’t happened. What did happen was that a pale blue form shimmered into existence right in front of her, causing her to jump back on impulse and adopt a loose combative stance.

  The figure was vaguely humanoid in that it had two legs and stood upon them, but that was where the simirities ceased. Its face seemed to be part of the upper torso, and it had no head. Then there were the four arms it bore, two of which held pincers rather than grasping hands.

  She was looking at a crab person, for ck of better descriptor.

  “Hello, child of Earth, Chosen Ranger of the Void,” the being said. “You have heard the call, have you not?”

  Nicole stood frozen. The figure before her was decidedly not human in a way that even the Syn Commander hadn’t managed. It set instincts within Nicole practically skittering as she took it all in. It was one thing to know that the pce she was currently standing wasn’t originally from Earth, to know that there were numerous other species out there, but it was still another to see something so distinctly other for the first time.

  More than that, their English was heavily accented, as if attempting to preserve some cadence of a nguage far removed from her own, almost as if they were clicking rather than speaking. People sometimes spoke of the uncanny valley when it came to appearances, but it was something else entirely when it was verbal.

  Still, she needed to answer the figure, learn what she could. “What do you mean by call?”

  The hologram shifted. “Your power is that of the Void, once held by a Ranger of the people who created this vessel.”

  It was obvious that it was referring to her vision, but Nicole was hesitant to confirm she’d experienced one. It certainly seemed like they knew she had seen it, or at least, experienced something. That didn’t mean that Nicole was going to trust some random being telling her all this. For all she knew it was yet another Syn trap.

  “I’m afraid I don’t know much about that,” Nicole said, hedging her knowledge a bit. If this being knew more, they could fill her in first. “Maybe you could start with this whole Ranger of the Void thing?”

  The being clicked and it took Nicole a moment to realize that it was a sound of some emotion she couldn’t pce within the alien being. “The Rangers of the Void were what we called our defenders, a group of five who harnessed a power source unknown to others to stand against the rising Syn Empire.”

  Well, that expined part of it, but it didn’t expin everything. “How does that make me a Ranger of the Void?”

  Another set of clicks followed, this one somehow different. “You bear the Source as they did, the boundless power they once wielded. Your power is not the bastardized form used by the Sy against underdeveloped worlds.”

  “Interesting that you know about that,” Nicole said with narrowing eyes. “Just how long have they been doing it?”

  Clicking followed. “The first reports came in shortly after a Ranger casualty, confirmed just before our world fell. At first we reached out as allies to these people, but one look at their device told us everything we needed to know.”

  That was enough for Nicole as she took a measured breath, but rather than fanning the heat within, she let it all bleed out. Her suit shuddered, then on the next exhale it colpsed, shattering just as if it had been broken. The hologram took a step back, which was almost amusing as she held up her still dormant watch.

  “Like one of these?”

  The hologram blinked, then leaned forward. “You bear a Syn morpher, yet that was not a typical Syn morphing effect.”

  “Nearest we could figure, they were getting closer with my team,” Nicole said. “Bartran came to kill us for it.”

  “Ah,” the being said, their shoulders slumping. “That monster still lives, even after thirty thousand revolutions of this star. Unfortunate, but unsurprising given the scope of the Empire’s conquests.”

  Thirty thousand… Bartran was older than human civilization? That took the breath out of her even if it somehow wasn’t surprising. The monster himself had said something to that effect, yet she had taken it as posturing, not as the truth. While Nicole took that in, the hologram was flicking through several floating dispys that weren’t dissimir to Sincir’s b spaces.

  A clicking cw followed as one dispy showing the pnet from high orbit settled in the center. “The Prime Administrator has finally set their sights on this star, everything has been in anticipation of this day, yet I hoped humanity would have been further along than it is.”

  Maraline hadn’t been able to answer the question on Nicole’s lips, but maybe this being would know. “What exactly is The Prime Administrator?”

  “An intelligence unfathomable to most beings,” the being said without hesitation. “They were created to assist and manage networks across vast expanses of civilized space. They lost sight of that goal and turned on all sentient beings they couldn’t control.”

  “The Terminator effect,” Nicole muttered. “Well, at least the worst our own creations have done is recommend using glue on pizza.”

  Nicole couldn’t pce the alien expression on the projection, but she got the impression that they were trying to solve a puzzle.

  “I am unfamiliar with pizza. The nguage engine we employ for communication is cking context,” the crab alien said.

  That sounded like a sad life. As a poor college student, she had survived on ramen and pizza for most of the summer semester before becoming a Ranger.

  “You poor thing,” Nicole said and meant it.

  Pizza was probably the greatest creation of humanity, right up there with the french fry and ramen! As a poor college student she had practically survived off those things and even now she often returned to them despite her monetary issues being mostly solved.

  “It’s a food, one of the best we’ve come up with,” Nicole continued.

  “I do not require sustenance, so your sympathy is mispced,” the crab-like being said.

  “All the sympathy,” Nicole said, shaking her head.

  It was almost strange, bantering with this strange intelligence, yet she was growing more comfortable with it. It also helped that she could still feel the warmth within coiled and ready to be drawn out once more. Could she morph easily, or was she misreading the feeling? Only another attempt would answer the question but she didn’t want to burn out in the event she needed to fight further.

  “I’m surprised you didn’t know about pizza given you seemed to know my name,” Nicole said. “How did you pull that off?”

  “We track Syn communications,” the being said. “Your name has come up multiple times over recent revolutions.”

  Yet they didn’t know what pizza was. Something about that felt off, but Nicole would let it slide for the moment. If they didn’t need to eat, she could see how something like that might not rate as important when gathering information.

  The lights in the room shifted, turning a deep amber as they fshed, though there was no arm it was clear that something had gone wrong. Her eyes widened a moment ter as a screen lit up, showing a very familiar face poking around the stones outside.

  Maraline.

  “You arrived with one of the conquerors,” they said.

  Nicole blinked, then turned to face the hologram. “We didn’t arrive, we crashed here after her teleport was hijacked!”

  “Yes, because otherwise you would have wound up on the Syn vessel.”

  A chill ran down the Ranger’s spine. That had been her original fear when caught in the transporter, yet it hadn’t come to pass. What would have happened if she did end up on the ship? Oh damn, what kind of transport was it? Sudden dread set in as Nicole wondered if it was the kind that killed the original and made a copy, or if it actually moved her entire being to this mysterious jungle…

  “We needed to work together to survive,” Nicole snapped. “Its not our fault that you fucked us over like that!”

  “You weren’t meant to cooperate with them. The teleport should have disabled all of their defensive measures, leaving them easy pickings for a Ranger of the Void.”

  Nicole’s jaw fell sck. This being expected Maraline to die either to the wilderness or for her to cut the Syn deserter down. Shaking the initial shock off, Nicole had to admit that it was pragmatic, yet it discarded one simple fact.

  “She’s my friend.”

  The projection of the ancient being stilled. Not just stopped in pce, but completely paused as it took in what Nicole had just said. It was as if she had just dropped something completely incomprehensible upon someone and destroyed their very understanding of the world itself.

  “She is of Sy,” the being finally said.

  As if that was the only answer to be given.

  “Maraline is one of them, no denying that,” Nicole said. “She also saved my life more than once. She might be one of the invaders, but she inherited humanity’s capacity for compassion and empathy. She’s a good person at heart, just a bit misguided.”

  The projection studied her intently for a moment, then clicked its cws. “So you say. A test then, to determine the validity of your cim.”

  A screen fshed and Nicole could only stare as Maraline jumped back from a shifting pile of rocks. The same entrance from earlier was now exposed to the surface, which should have been impossible considering the angles and depth involved. Nicole watched the hologram from the corner of her eye, but was unable to discern any tells from the projection.

  Maraline gred at the obvious trap, but sighed and continued down regardless. “Nicole? Are you able to answer?”

  “I’m here,” Nicole said, knowing that the Syn woman couldn’t hear her. Her fists clenched at her sides as she could only watch. Maraline descended into the entrance, following the pulsing light just as she had done earlier. After a moment, Maraline was directed left where Nicole had been directed right. “Where are you sending her?”

  “Your hypothesis must be tested,” the crustacean said as a new screen appeared. “She will be directed to a training room where she will be posed with an interesting moral dilemma.”

  The room was certainly spacious enough to serve as a training facility, yet she could only gre at the sight on screen. A perfect replica of Nicole was strapped to a table, unmorphed and unconscious. A gasp filled the expansive room, then the rapid stucco of footfalls rang out as Maraline crossed the space as swiftly as her legs would carry her.

  “Nicole, please be okay,” Maraline said as she worked furiously at the restraints.

  In the space between one heartbeat and the next, a dozen automatons appeared from nothing. These weren’t the sleek models used by the Syn in their invasions, but something far less refined, with blocky limbs and robust joints. Maraline’s head snapped up, taking in the surrounding machines as she slowly rose, falling into a loose stance as she did.

  One of the machines darted forward, and Maraline shifted to meet it. She blocked the first blow by catching the arm just past the bded limb and Nicole didn’t miss the wince on her face. Without her enhancements, she was only a slightly stronger human and those didn’t tend to do well fighting the machines made of steel.

  That seemed to be the signal as the tide of machines moved as one, all coming for the Syn, or that was the initial assessment that Nicole quickly discarded. Two of them moved to attack the fake Nicole, forcing Maraline to take a hit to protect the prone figure.

  Without her impnts functioning, she couldn’t keep up with the onsught. It wasn’t instant, but Nicole could see how Maraline was just a hair too slow blocking the strike. Blood sprayed from the wound and Nicole felt her stomach drop at the revetion that these holograms were solid and capable of inflicting harm.

  “Stop this,” Nicole said, her voice distant.

  Maraline’s attempts to fight back gained a tinge of desperation as she continued to struggle against the overwhelming force sent against her. She was wasting movements, over extending, and gained fresh injuries with each opening she gave the machines. That was when she spotted the machine that had gotten too close to the false Nicole, that had raised their bdes to bring it down upon the fake.

  It waited until Maraline noticed what was about to happen, all to inflict the most psychological damage that it could. Her pupils dited even as her eyes widened, the bde came down in slow motion. Nicole reached out for the floating dispy, her mouth opening as the training simution pyed out.

  “SHUT IT OFF!”

  The entire ship shuddered as a wave of power ripped free from Nicole, her cry rending and the order absolute. The bde pierced the holographic form of Nicole only to shudder under the energy that had come off of Nicole. Maraline stood frozen as the simution around her faltered, her face quickly turning apocalyptic.

  Nicole wasn’t much better as she marched right up to the ancient being.

  “What gives you the right?” Nicole demanded, shoving ineffectively at the incorporeal hologram. “She has done nothing but pass your shitty little test from the moment you sprung it on her.”

  The hologram stood in silence, the floating screen showed the false Nicole vanish along with all the machines in the room. Maraline stood in the now silent room, gring at the now missing forms even as her wounds continued to seep blue blood. Nicole stood eye to eye with the untouchable intelligence that had tormented her friend, daring them to do something else.

  “You truly are worthy,” the projection said, then a door on the far wall opened. “Compassion to a fault, even for an enemy.”

  “Not an enemy,” Nicole said as she moved towards the open door. “A friend.”

  Nicole burst into motion, the lights barely able to keep up with her as she moved faster than she ever had without a morph empowering her. The metal halls blurred and soon it opened into a vast chamber that was almost too bright. Maraline turned, her hands coming up in a defensive stance for but a moment before Nicole crashed into her, pulling the woman into a hug.

  “I am so sorry,” Nicole said, fighting back tears. “That asshole wouldn’t stop until I made them.”

  “What do you mean,” Maraline started, her hands still held off to the side as she tried to figure out what was going on. “Please tell me you aren’t another false apparition.”

  “Flesh and blood,” Nicole said, stepping back so Maraline could get a better look at her. The Ranger tried to smile, even knowing it was marred by her tear streaked face. “Sorry I couldn’t stop it sooner. The bastard was stubborn.”

  Maraline tilted her head, but then she began to look around. “What is this pce? Even our technology is unable to produce such convincing projections.”

  “Yeah, it’s basically a holodeck,” Nicole agreed, tapping her foot on the floor. “Yet more science fiction made reality. Such is my life tely.”

  “I am not certain I can tell you what this pce is,” a familiar voice said. “Given your affiliation with the enemy of all life in the universe.”

  “A bit presumptuous,” Maraline said. “The Syn Empire holds thousands of worlds which exist in peace and harmony.”

  “You know nothing, Maraline of Sy,” the entity said. “The Prime Administrator cannot be allowed to cim the Source, which is why we resist their conquest, it is why we took to the stars. To stand against the coming end and gather those deemed worthy and arm them for the war to come, that was my purpose.”

  The room shimmered, holographic prisms formed a kaleidoscope of color that hurt to look at before the room had reformed into a cavernous hanger. Maraline wasn’t visibly present, which suggested this wasn’t meant for her eyes even if she had passed the test, but that was a minor point compared to what Nicole was being shown.

  Nicole knew that what she was seeing wasn’t real, yet she couldn’t help but stare wide eyed at what was held within. The machine towered over her, easily standing dozens of meters, and it wasn’t alone. There were five of them, all lined up as if they were ready to deploy.

  “The original machines failed once before, but after thirty thousand years?” A clicking ugh followed. “Let’s just say that some improvements have been made.”

  A chill ran down Nicole’s spine at the implications and she couldn’t help but turn to look at the mysterious figure and grin. “Oh fuck the hell yes.”

  Pendragoon