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Chapter 1
Deals
Orbiting a star named Thiel far, far from our own sun, a world hurtles through space. A closer look might reveal a vast ocean
as the dominant feature. As the rapid rotation of the small planet, Choaradar, continued, a moon, Athiel, would rise up from
the blue mist. Next, a great continent, Alum, would emerge. At the equator, it would seem that a slender, silver shaft rose
from the planet beneath Athiel lancing the blue haze surrounding the planet like a great spear thrown down from the small
moon.
As one peered ever closer under the bluish-silver light reflecting from Athiel, movement might be discerned by the careful
eye at the summit of the great spear. It would not be long before this slender shaft became a great tower, and the movement
punctuated with the small pulsing lights of rather deliberate and relentless construction.
Circle down around the sparkling spire through a cage of silver beams and diligent machines. Look past the cranes, chains,
and windows where figures hover upside down. Glide further still past rings of darkened windows with silence all around to
a section of this tower where a lone worker might be found. Imagine, now, passing through the outer shell to a sparking room
within. A woosh of sound will fill your ears, a loud exhaling separate from the din.
There, silhouetted against the flashing light a hunched body hovers ghost-like above a skeleton that is chained yet seems
to hang upwards from the cold gray floor. Then, in a final spark of searing light the figure presses the brilliant source
of eerie light to the metal skeleton’s chest and satisfactorily declares, “Stellar, that’s the last one.
You’re ready for your skin now, not that it won’t be much more than a sterile plastic bag. Your animator will
enjoy you quite a bit. I don’t think I’ve ever placed so many anchors. Of course, you are meant for the surgical
rooms cho-ward of here.”
The large person relaxes for just a moment, his face still hidden behind a rather plain glass mask, before reaching for a
small metal plate suspended in the air. “Just let me attach this over your internal generator and you’ll be done.
You won’t be needing any specific weak spots. You couldn’t take much more than a hard bump, anyway. Your animator
best be careful with you.”
The figure rubs his heavy jaw briefly then brushes back his long bleach-blonde hair with a large, pale, and sweaty hand revealing
the absence of an ear; rather it appears his “ear” is a small cavity on the side of his head partially covered
by a small flap, much like a seal. “I guess it’s time to make a day of it and package you for transfer. I must
say that I, Kino Von Kaelic, have completed yet another premium job. I’ll just sign my name on this plate here…
perfect. It’s a shame only another insidis like me could animate you most effectively. I’m sure some old doc
is just dying to give his life to medicine.” Kino chuckled to himself at the morbid joke and raised his glass mask to
reveal a youthful but heavy face. The most startling aspect, however, was his eyes. They were milky white except for the
grayish circles marking his pupils. “I kill me.”
Kino carefully unchained the small steel skeleton allowing it to momentarily drift gracefully before he carefully packed it
into a padded metal box, one of many tied into a corner and conspicuously labeled “awaiting animation” in large,
stenciled, red letters. With a gentle push off the boxes he glided across the room to flip an oversized switch, thus opening
the door beside it. He pulled on another the lever to flip off the lights, then he reached down to press a small button on
each boot, which quickly struck down to the hard metal floor of the Upper Tower.
Kino sighed briefly, and hesitated a moment seeming to pull gently on one foot before taking a step into the passageway.
Beneath him the floor was lighted with long tubular lights that Kino cautiously avoided. He kept an even pace toward the
center of the spire that housed the lifts, or drops as they were sometimes called this high up in The Tower, where the gravity
seemed as confused as a trainee assembler.
“Morning, Kino. What are you doing here so early?” said a sleepy-eyed human stepping tentatively out of the lift
quite literally opposite Kino and seeming to hang in the air. “And why do you persist in walking on our ceiling?”
They looked at each other upside down for a moment. “You know it drives the boss crazy, and me, too, for that matter.
I had to replace three of those lights last week because you stepped on them. They’re on the ceiling, Kino! There’s
no excuse for that. Why can’t you walk on the floor like everyone else?”
“Maybe I like the view from up here. Besides, it keeps me from stepping on any of your precious masterpieces,”
replied Kino just a bit sharply
“I wasn’t the one who recycled your first pathetic attempt at an animatoid. Director Hassman did that all on his
own. Not that I didn’t agree with the decision. It’s just that it’s time for him to retire to the lower
levels and let someone else take a shot at ascension,” the man mumbled the last bit under his breath.
Kino paused a moment and absently scratched his clean-shaven face. “Hassman has missed ascension way too many times.
He does a good job, I guess. But, I admit it would be nice if he retired so the rest of us could have a shot at moving up.
I’m not disloyal to the vision, Allard. I’m just getting a bit impatient to gain some respect, like you are.
Aren’t you getting close to finishing your masterpiece? You’ve been working on that for how many orbits?”
“Seven,” Allard grimaced and ran his fingernails in a line just above his ear. “It could have gotten me
off this forsaken level to somewhere that actual progress is being made except Director Hassman shoved it out an outer-lock
yesterday. As far as I can tell, it was incinerated upon re-entry to the atmosphere.”
“That’s terrible, Allard.” And Kino meant it. Maybe the spiteful old Hassman really was ready to head back
down to the mid-levels and work with children, not that Kino would want to be one of those unfortunates. “Don’t
worry about it, Allard. You’ll be a lead yet, maybe even a full director. Everyone on our team knows you’re
the smartest person on this level. When Director Hassman finally leaves, you’ll be the one to get his chair. In the
meantime, we can keep playing pranks on the janitor. I think I may find a way to make one of my ‘mates jump out at
him. Did you know that on the lower levels they still use coils for reasons other than electricity?”
“No,” Allard replied deadpan before resuming. “Hey, I need to get an early start seeing that I have seven
Morbian orbits worth of catching up to do if I ever want a promotion. I guess you won’t be in here until tomorrow?”
“That’s right. I finished my required service for the week this morning, so I’m good till Firstday. I’m
going straight to my sleeping bag.” He paused a second and looked at something over Allard’s shoulder. “Are
you aware you have a shadowed flitting about you?”
“Oh him, yeah, Milton saw him yesterday, too. I guess he’s not going anywhere.” Allard glanced nervously
over the wrong shoulder looking for the dark messenger as if he might see him. It was said that humans sometimes could, even
if a tanthris could walk through a room full of them unfazed. Mostly, however, humans just felt them.
“You really should talk with the chaplain and have something done about him.”
“They always leave… eventually.”
“Don’t wait too long. Later, Allard.”
“You mean early,” joked Allard nervously.
Kino shook his head to clear just enough of the encroaching fogginess to navigate his way through the empty corridors and
back to the sleeping quarters. He closed the lift doors behind him, and ten minutes later he had crawled into his suspended
bag before anyone else in the large room had so much as dreamed about getting up.
Kino was sleeping comfortably and dreaming about being a lead himself when a strange zipper sound entered his dream and he
began spinning for some unknown reason. Moments later, he was awakened by a solid thud which turned out to be his own limp
body slamming into a rather solid wall.
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