Exaltica: Eden Awakening Saga, Sin Denial Options

[Sailerius]

Exaltica: The Eden Awakening Saga
Episode 1: Sin Denial

"Emergency power conservation is in effect. All non-essential systems have been taken offline."

The recording of the woman’s voice is the first sound you’re able to make sense of. A dull ache of annoyance in the back of your head suggests that you’ve heard that recording before. You’re pretty tired, though, so your eyes flutter shut again and you drift back down into the depths of unconsciousness.

"Emergency power conservation is in effect. All non-essential systems have been taken offline."

Just as you’re about to fall asleep again, the recording plays again. It’s starting to get really annoying. You probably won’t be able to get any sleep until it stops. You suppose that means you’ll just have to get up (even if only to stop that blasted recording). It makes a pretty good alarm clock.

Your feet touch the floor uncertainly. You’re not sure if it’s because you’ve been asleep or because the artificial gravity in the ship is acting up, but you have a hard time standing up straight. Wait a minute, why are you on a ship?

As you try to gather your bearings, memories flood back to you in a disorganized heap of imagery. It takes a few minutes to sort everything out and arrange the memories chronologically. There must be something missing, though; no matter how you put together the disjointed pieces of your memory, you just can’t figure out where you are or how you got there. Maybe looking around will provide you with some clues.

The only lights on in the ship are the dim red emergency lights which illuminate only the essential areas. Inside rooms (whose heavy metal doors you must manually slide open because "Emergency power conservation is in effect. All non-essential systems have been taken offline."), it’s almost completely black.

The ship you’re on is fairly large; you’re able to gather that there are six decks and a sizable docking bay. Too big to be personal transport. A supply ship would have a larger cargo bay.

More importantly, where is the crew? And where is everyone else?

You’re all located on deck 3 and wake up in different cabins. Features on this deck: Cabins, storage, lift (deactivated), stairs.

[Sailerius]

"Incentives?" the secretary echoed, surprised by Turk's inquiry. She chewed her lower lip and thought on her feet. "You're not really in a position to make any demands. But there are plenty of benefits for working at Oraph. Information, mostly. You'll be involved in classified operations, so you'll also have to be able to keep your mouth shut. As for why you can't go to Morgan, well..." she trailed off. "I'm not authorized to tell you until you have clearance."

Once pleasantries were exchanged and Aiko had been calmed down as well as she could be, the secretary directed the group onto the Oraph ship into which the strange cargo was being loaded. It was a comfortable ship equipped with expensive amenities. Most of the passengers were wearing either Oraph uniforms or business suits (doubtlessly politicians of some sort) and a team of stewardesses offered salads and glasses of champagne.

As the group settled into the ship, the secretary outlined the itinerary for the journey. "Within the hour, we'll be cleared for a Nexus dive, which will take approximately twenty minutes. We'll emerge at the Autolycus Station node and then enter another dive to take us into the Erza system. From the Euclid Station node to Erza, it will take approximately 17 hours of travel. We'll arrive at Eure-et-Loir Base on Erza at approximately 7:15 AM local time, at which point you'll each undergo a physical examination prior to a briefing about the Morgan situation."

After answering any questions, the secretary supplied them each with with a stack of twenty forms to be filled out regarding personal and family information, employment history, medical records, and so on and so forth. They (excluding Turk) were also instructed to fill out a report detailing their experience on the ship which departed from Morgan and the events leading up to it. At least they had enough work to do to keep them entertained on the voyage.

The ship was brought into position to enter the Nexus Node. A dazzling display of golden light waited before the ship, flooding the cabin with dancing light.

"Now engaging ER shield. Preparing for Nexus dive."

The Oraph ship entered the tremendous ring of golden light and left the safe domain of vectorspace. Spiraling fibers of undulating white and gold energy wove around the ship as it was propelled deep into the depths of the Nexus. If one were to place one's ear against the outer wall of the ship, one could hear the crystalline chime-like ambiance of the Nexus, a harmonious intersection of otherworldly and enchanting.

The journey continued pleasantly, with the Oraph officials socializing with each other and the politicians. The major was nowhere to be seen, although an eavesdropper might notice her name popping up in conversation from time to time.
They jumped from station to station on their way to the Erza system. A digital screen displayed a stellar map with their present location and projected path overlaid atop it. As a result of the esoteric workings of the Nexus system, they sped quickly from galaxy to galaxy while inside the network but moved at a snail's pace along the shortest legs of the journey due to moving at sub-relativistic speeds. Although they crossed thousands of lightyears in only two hours, the longest part of the trip, weighing in at 17 hours, was the journey from the Euclid Station to Erza - a distance of only 0.5 AU.

"The Nexus is really amazing, isn't it?" the secretary said, watching out the window as they emerged back into vectorspace at the Euclid Station node. The person she was speaking to was Major Jorich, who had just appeared on deck. The woman who had last appeared very well-composed and professional looked exhausted and a little pale - perhaps indicative of the onset of stress or sickness. "After all, if it weren't for the Nexus, the journey from Morgan to Erza would be impossible for humans. The time it takes for light to travel from Morgan to Erza is longer than the entire history of the human race, and yet we can now make the journey in a single day."

"A single day, huh..." the major replied, lost in thought.

"It's hard to imagine that there was a time when we were confined to a single planet. How could they fit so many people in such a small space?" the secretary remarked, continuing to make small talk while she gave the major a sympathetic look. "Without Oraph, all this wouldn't be possible. Our work is what keeps humanity connected, after all."
For better or worse, the major wanted to reply, but she decided against it. There was enough negativity about the situation as it was; no one needed snide remarks to make it worse.
At long last, the nearly 20 hour journey came to an end with the ship's entry into Erza's atmosphere. Erza is a silver-blue gas giant, roughly half the size of Archimedes, with a small and humble population. Unlike most gas planets, the compounds which constituted Erza's atmosphere are human-breathable. The lack of solid ground meant that all structures had to be kept floating in the atmosphere. Eure-et-Loir Base, headquarters of Oraph, is one such structure.

The Oraph ship descended into the atmosphere, beneath them an infinite expanse of silver-blue clouds. As they dove deeper into the atmosphere, the clouds rushed by, welcoming them into the misty Erzan world that was both sky and sea. A cluster of rock structures kept aloft by an array of propulsion units lie ahead of them, the surfaces of which were covered with buildings and gardens. They docked with the largest structure and at last were able to disembark.

The atmosphere on Erza, at least at this elevation, is thick and humid, but comfortably cool. The gravity is slightly stronger than that of Morgan's, a fact which was further driven home by the fact that they had just come from the low gravity environment of Eutocius. An Oraph official welcomed them to Eure-et-Loir and led the group of new arrivals on a light jog around the compound to help them get accustomed to the change in atmosphere and gravity. After the jog, the group of arrivals went their separate ways. Major Jorich went off by herself, leaving her secretary to tend to the Morgan group.

"Please come this way. You're scheduled for a physical examination before the briefing." The secretary led them into the very sterile and very white compound, directing them to a medical bay where they were divided by gender to be examined by doctors, where they underwent a rather rigorous examination.

As the examination was being finished, the sound of distressed voices coming from the corridor was audible.

"What's going on?! What happened to her?!" It was a boy.

"Rex, I'm sorry... I did everything I could," replied the consoling voice of the major.

"She's going to be okay, right?"

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"You said the mission wasn't going to be dangerous. You're a liar, just like everyone else."

"I know. It's my fault for being careless." An awkward silence followed. "Come on. We need to tell Rena." The sound of retreating footsteps indicated that the two were leaving.

***

"The briefing will begin shortly. Please, this way." Once the examination was done, the secretary led them to another building in the compound and to a room which resembled an auditorium, which was filled with Oraph officials and a couple politicians and their aides. When the time was right, a well-decorated in an Oraph uniform and lopsided cap, Commander Landes, appeared at the podium and launched a presentation on the screen behind him labeled "Morgan Crisis Briefing."

"As you may have heard, the situation on Morgan has now been elevated to a category-3 crisis, giving Oraph direct command over disaster response operations. I'll begin with a recap of the situation." The screen behind him displayed a timeline of the events leading to the crisis on Morgan, staring with the passage of the artificial birth ban. "The first reports of infection arrived four days ago. The exact nature of the infection is as of yet unknown, but reports suggest that it's a neurological infection similar to the outbreak on Persephone fifteen years ago."

"Right now, we're treating it as a coincidence. Since Nexus access to Persephone was shut down, there's simply no way the infection could have been carried to Morgan in only fifteen years' time." A slide showed the relative locations of Morgan and Persephone on an interstellar map, indicating that they were 2700 light years apart. Indeed, without Nexus travel, it was logistically impossible to travel between them.

"As a safety precaution, we have banned the use of the Eutocius Nexus Node except for Oraph personnel in order to contain the infection. Reports suggest that we've been effective in preventing the spread beyond the Morgan system."

"Commander, do you believe this is the work of Andrew?" one official interrupted, causing a murmur of fear and concern.

"There's not enough information to come to a definite decision, but at the time being, we're treating this as an incident unrelated to the Persephone disaster. There is no evidence to suggest a connection to Andrew. But that segues nicely into the next piece of good news: the status of the Seraph."

The screen displays a series of photos of the strange Oraph ship they had glimpsed before, taken on the abandoned ship in the docking bay. The photos show the ship in the state they last saw it: singed, in pieces, and coated with blood. Gasps fill the room. Someone faints. The commander wears a grim expression.

"We still don't know how it happened, but the Seraph has suffered critical damage. Fortunately, we were able to recover it from the Venerate. Early reports suggest that it has taken 86% damage and optimistic estimates predict a period of nine months before it will be fully functional again. In addition..." The commander continues to the next slide and bows his head.

A series of pictures show a more detailed study of the Seraph's damage. The photos show the officers opening up the cockpit, where the body of a young girl with white hair and an Oraph uniform, no older than 13 years old, is seated, clearly dead. "The Seraph's pilot, Rem Visconti, was found dead inside the Seraph. Autopsy confirms that she died from oxygen deprivation." An uproar spreads throughout the briefing room, which takes a few minutes to quiet down.

"Without the Seraph or a pilot, what are we supposed to do if Andrew shows up?!" someone demands.

"We're currently devoting all of our efforts to the repairs of the Seraph. Rem's older brother, Rex Visconti, has been selected to succeed her as its pilot and will begin training immediately."

It seems that now would be a good opportunity to ask questions.