Fenris Perrywinkle: The Great Galactic Duel

Chapter XVII: Watch where you point those things, Lady!

"What are you up to, Fenris?" Jenn asks as I step out of her spacecraft.

I brush the blood from my nose before turning to answer her. "I've got to put a stop to this, Jenn. All of it. It's just not right – the barbaric duel, the unfair odds, the exploitation... all of it."

"But..." she starts a thought, then takes a deep breath and turns back to the ship's glowing console. "I have to leave now if I'm going to be on time to kill your girlfriend. I can't be here with you right now."

I have to wonder what someone would think if they just started reading this account right now. What an odd conversation.

"You don't have to do this," I offer. "If you don't show up, the people of Everbright will win by default and finally get the chance to reproduce."

A deep look of sadness washes over the beautiful blonde's face. "Yes, and Amanda's father will pay the price. She wants this. She wants to sacrifice herself to save him. I don't like this any more than you do, but I also have a responsibility to the people of Deepdarc."

I mirror the sad look on her face. "And you also want the other woman in my life to die so you can have me all to yourself?"

A little glint flashes in her eye for a moment. "Actually... I want to stand beside Amanda and hear you choose me over her. I want to see the look on her face when you do it. I want her to know that you want me, and not her. That's what I want. The whole killing her thing kind of robs me of that pleasure, actually."

I'm not entirely sure what to say to that. Women are so catty.

"So, if you're going to do something... do it fast. I'll come back for you after it's done."

The side door of Jenn's space craft slides shut. A moment later, the craft lifts into space and fades from view.

"If you are ready, the center will see you now, Fenris Perrywinkle."

I turn and give the mechanical being a nod.

It bows and begins hovering down a metal pathway which disappears into an archway. The landing pad seems like it's barely attached to the rest of the structure. There's no sky or anything, we appear to simply be floating in space. Odd that I'm able to breathe without any apparent atmosphere. Strange things are afoot.

Walking through the archway, I'm surprised to find an entire civilization of mechanical beings busily buzzing about. They appear to be building and maintaining the space city - which sprawls out as far as the eye can see.

Most curious is what they're using as building material. Off in the distance is a large blob of... I'm not even sure. Energy? Matter? It seems to be a mixture of the two. Regardless, thousands of pipes are draining whatever it is into large mobile machines. These machines appear to be refining the material and producing solid bricks of whatever the blob cloud is. Then I guess everything else, including the mechanical beings, are made out of that material. Fascinating.

"The Center will see you now," my mechanical guide repeats, as if to urge me along.

I nod absentmindedly as I continue to take in my surroundings.

We walk and walk and walk and walk. I swear there is no end to this structure. It's like I'm walking on the Death Star or something. Do you understand what I'm saying? This place is enormous!

"The Center will—"

"Yeah, yeah I get it. I'm coming, I'm coming." I guess these robot guys aren't that advanced. They're starting to remind me of my two year old niece.