Hello,

So this is going to be a bit on the longer side and I will update it in my free time as I finish additional chapters. I won't spoil the details of it, but I hope you all will enjoy it. Here goes!

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The doors opened and the guard pushed a woman forward. The prison was dimly lit and as the person stepped forward, her appearance was revealed. Her hair was chestnut colored, tied in a braid. Her face stern, several wrinkles showing with one scar over her nose. Her eyes were a deep cyan. Figure slim, covered in a white tank top and a shawl colored in black and white, with geometric motifs, and black pants, with tattoos running down her arms, various symbols, hinting at her origins.

As they moved forward, passing many empty cells, all dark, they arrived at a lit one, where the guard opened it with a metal key and pushed the woman inside, closing the door shut with the key and leaving briefly, without saying another word. All cells held a bed, sink, toilet and lightning, with nothing else.

Across her cell, there was another, inside a man, shrouding himself in darkness, with no light on whatsoever lighting it. As the steps slowly died down in the distance, the sound of the door being shut was heard, but the woman waited for a few minutes before doing anything.

• Hey, you! she called out to the man.

No response, the man didn’t even shift his head.

• Are you really going to be difficult?

• Leave me alone…

• Are you sure you don’t want to hear what I have to say?

No response again.

• Fine, be it your way…Adagio.

She could see even with the darkness that the man instantly turned his head and was shocked. He quickly turned the light of his cell on, clumsily, as he didn’t know how to react. He was rather slim, wearing a full body suit adorned with various implants on the hands and the legs. His head was half shaven, but now his hair started growing back, a sign of the passage of time. The other half, long yet unkempt. He also adorned a rather scruffy, whole beard. His eyes, a vibrant purple with speckles of gold on the iris. He has been in the cell for quite some time.

• How-

• So now you want to talk?

• I’m sorry, I-

• No need to apologize, just try to be more open next time.

The woman put her hand under her shawl and in her tank top. A peeling sound could be heard. She tossed with the other hand a piece of material on the floor and then threw a pouch to the man’s cell, through the bars. The man catched it in his hands as she threw it perfectly.

• Here, eat, she said, in a kind and almost motherly tone.

• I hope I’m not prying, but what happened to your- he asked sheepishly, before she cut him off straight away.

• That? Just a little mark Auriga left on me.

The fact dawned on the man. He was sitting face to face with a Vaulter.

• Aren’t you worried about surveillance, asked the man, sheepishly.

• You should know why you’re here out of all places. There’s barely any technology in this pit. Have a guess why.

• Hacking…

• Exactly. Not even video or audio surveillance for the risk of it being manipulated in any way.

• But why-

• It’s not a coincidence, she cut him short again. I’m across your cell on purpose. The people running this place just did it unknowingly. But you should eat, records show that you’ve been starved for quite a bit.

• Yes…

The man opened the pouch. To his surprise, it was full of small balls, grape-sized and had a yellow color with an orange tinge. He studied one carefully in the dim light before putting it in his mouth and chewing it.

He stopped briefly, taken aback by what he was experiencing. First, it started with a rich savory taste, but as he kept chewing, it gradually turned into a mild sweet taste, ending with a refreshing aftertaste. The only way he could think about it was indescribably delicious.

He couldn’t help himself and got a few more.

• Food pills?

• Not quite, fruit, but glad you like it. Some of the inhabitants on Auriga used to make loaves of bread with the stuff, for soldiers to have on the field.

As she smiled at the sight of the man feasting, she put her hand on one of the bars of her cell, analyzing it carefully.

• Hmm…This seems like orichalcix. Might be a primitive type of prison, but they didn’t spare any expenses with this thing. We will need the key, breaking this thing will be nigh impossible without access to quadrinix levels of energy. Not to mention that would be very impractical to begin with. But no matter, it probably already knows all the information about this place.

The man raised his head from the pouch, still chewing on the small fruits.

• You mean, it didn’t forget about me?

• How could it? After everything you’ve done for it? And especially not us - did you think we wouldn’t notice the influx of resources you pillaged from these corrupt leaders to the colonists on Feadix? That boon has propelled the colony incredibly far, it’s now become a trading hub and home for a Vaulter trade company.

He lowered his head. It was a mixture of guilt, happiness and confusion spiraling in his head. He felt guilty for stealing, but was happy to hear that the colony progressed so much due to his aid. However, he didn’t quite understand - if he wasn’t forsaken, why did it take so long?

His voice quivering, feeling like asking would be a crime, but clearly affected by the time in isolation:

• B-but why...? It’s been nearly a year…

• So you don’t know what happened after you’ve been caught…?

His eyes widened.

• N-No…

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• Staccato went out searching for you, but they went in lock-down and encrypted everything in the system, starting a culling, effectively. He had to leave. They searched for you from whatever data banks they managed to pull, but they couldn’t find anything, any records. They assumed you were killed. Shortly after, a system-wide riot started because of everything that occurred, people frustrated, angry that services have been put to a halt and the exaggerated scrutiny in all day to day activities. It was an absolute mess.

• Was anybody hurt?

• Besides a few bruises and some people being taken into custody, nobody, thankfully. It lost all the foothold it had in the system due to this series of events and you getting caught.

• So IT IS my fault… He said, full with guilt in his voice.

• Not at all, really. People were uneasy long before you started your shenanigans, mostly because of increasing levels of corruption and lack of political representation. Legislation didn’t help either, especially since the Super Tax Act. Even naturally calm and collected factions like the Sophons or the Remnants were displeased at how the political parties handled requests and needs and got involved. The diminishing income of luxuries hurt the economy of the system as well, leading to a recession in the system.

• Gods…

• The Choir tried to drown the things out but to no avail. It was unable to. It did not properly understand the mechanisms behind what was occurring and how to address the situation at the source. It wanted to prevent conflict and suffering, but…it wasn’t that easy, obviously.

• How are things right now? He asked inquisitively.

• Calmer. Albeit there’s still some tension.

• And the other agents? Worry was showing in his tone.

• All safe.

• At least that. He said with a sigh of relief.

• So…

• Yes?

• Are you going to tell me about yourself?

• What? He replied, a bit taken aback by the question.

• I’m curious. Although I have heard about you, I don’t know anything besides your code name or some of your roles. What’s your name? How did you end up with the Choir to begin with? Her curiosity was shining through.

• Soto Orane. I come from a Pilgrim world…

• Vajra Solen. One of the few survivors of Auriga.

• Before I go on, sorry, but I’m really curious, what was Auriga like?

His eyes were like a child wanting its parent to tell them a bedtime story. It was clear to Vajra that he’d really appreciate hearing about her home planet. Although it brought some sorrow with it, not being forgotten was something that she appreciated and the feeling drowned the sorrow.

• Sit, I’ll tell you about it.

They both sat on the edge of their beds, face to face through the cells' orichalcix bars.

• Where should I begin? I was born rather late during the Vaulters presence on Auriga, just in time to catch everything going to shit. The winters were horrendous and they got worse with each passing one, more frequent too. We got lucky because of a bot that guided us though the rough times and helped us set sail on the Argosy through space. When we left, most of the other races on the planet had already succumbed to the harsh conditions.

• Do you miss the planet?

• It had some beautiful aspects, but really, the geo-political situation even when times were good on the planet were terrible. There was an insectoid race, the Necrophages spreading like a plague everywhere that we had to fight, then there were the Cultists, always trying to recruit more people into their ranks, multiplying like crazy through followers. Then there were the Kapaku, trying to volcanoform everything, really, there were plenty of people to always make a mess of everything.

• Errr…Unfortunately, you still haven’t gotten away from the insectoid race, there the Cravers still prowling about...He added sheepishly

• Oh, I know, never a dull moment in this galaxy. Ever since we settled on a new homeworld, things have been so much better, though. New Auriga is thriving thanks to the efforts of the Pilgrims and Lumeris investing in our infrastructure. A Trade Company even set its subsidiary on the planet. The Choir also played a large role in all this. We didn’t find out until recently.

• About the Trade Company, I’ve heard, everything else is news to me. Would you ever want to go back there?

• Not really, to be honest, I’d rather we keep our starfaring aspect of our civilization that go back to our rough existence on the surface of that planet. It means a lot to us, but ultimately, we have to move on, we can’t hold ourselves back because of it. So…

• Yes…?

• Are you gonna tell me about yourself…?

• Sure, it’s not like I have anything better to do anyway, he let out a slight, miserable chuckle. Here goes nothing…