Vale Hound

Chapter One: A Pack With a Mission

  Off in another fantasy, this time sneaking through Juxl Surveying Corp. Headquarters. JOS's one unrealistic dream since being a youngling has been to bring down the corporation responsible for enslaving his family for generations. They didn't teach you about your past, only your future. He was going to change that for everyone, if one Corp. failed, the balance would be upset. The whole Board would fall to pieces.

In this fictional reality, JOS has successfully made it through every tier of security on the way to the Brain. Centrally located in the Satellite World.

Finally, this time he'd do it, he reached to the explosives satchel on his hip, ready to set the last charges.

His stomach hit the floor feeling the hollowness.

How could he not sense the weightlessness? "Cqak!" the expletive was instinctive anytime he felt pressured. Stress levels rising he paced trying to think of something, it took him a moment to recognize the alarm blaring.

A sharp strike to the face sent him upright.

Instantly JOS was back from his fantasy. Musky oil stench filled his nose, the scent of the maintenance compartment turned quarters. The sour taste of brown congealed mass he'd eaten for his previous meal, made his mouth water even though it was bland in flavor. Dim running lights revealed the mess of greasy tools, and his compartmental companion Nan, half rolled over, no headrest.

JOS felt around, not surprised when his arm bumped a cushioned mass from the spanner shelf just about the toolbox he called his bed. Responsively, JOS launched it back. No response.

He must've shut of his data card without realizing it. At a touch the device lit up the entire compartment, blinding him slightly. JOS fought through the severity of the light to read through his responsibilities for the roto*.

"Another rotation cleaning up after others." JOS murmured the mantra he'd taken up five cycles prior. Crawling out of his bed, he opened the small one square unit* locker that housed his only personal belonging, an oversized engineer's coverup. Despite it's wear and tear, he was proud to actually own something. When NaN PK-76\3927, and he had been at the Juxl Servitude Colony, every rotation they'd been reminded of how insignificant they were.

Sliding on the touch grease covered white suit, he recalled Voiyn Valegbash, a being like he'd always dreamt of becoming, standing about one unite over JOS. From a distance he looked like the color of old grease with an oily shine, up close like the golden statue of a portly reptilian god. Extra weight or not, Voiyn was certainly not one to test physically, not without putting their life one the line.

A click from the last magtag on his collar. JOS bent down to tuck the loose materials into his foot insulators before putting on the heavy magboots that he'd have to drag around the rest of the rotation. Unable to lift them high enough to kick NaN directly, JOS drove his hell into the bottom of NaN's toolbox. Still no reaction. JOS looked down on his sleeping friend, shrugged his shoulder saying, "Not my problem."

JOS thought to himself, 'I know it's been a couple of periods, I still can't get anywhere near that comfortable. Passing by the "Official" Crew Quarters, NaN and him'd joked, couldn't help but snicker remembering the confrontation between Vahl and OhkBD. Per usual OhkBD barely escaped a beating because of Essec. It seemed so routine though, JOS wondered if it really came down to it would Vahl really commit, there was no way to know. 'Sixty roto's wasn't long enough to know anybeing.' he determined, throwing his weight into the command apparatus in the operational compartment, too small for even a creature that could fit his coverup.

Recognizing his miniature stature, the operator seat lifted him to the controls with a hydraulic hiss. JOS inserted his hands into the red, on the left, blue, on the right, holospheres. The retina projector canned him for preset being class, then took his biometrics confirming his eyes first. One at a time, the cool blue lines of his finger prints appeared in his vision as they were confirmed. Boot up functions for the ships Brain completed, JOS instructed the Brain with a couple flicks of his fingers, to begin wake up functions: prepare sanitary fluids, jettison biowaste, run maintenance scans, alert Voiyn, and crew. Finished, JOS disengaged the retinal projector, blinking wildly, a couple of tears rolled down his face, as the seat hissed back to it's original position.