The Next Morning

“Deans, Captain, thank you for meeting with me this morning.”

“It’s no issue,” Kaoné replied, offering a reciprocal nod toward Colonel Petro D’Tan. “This seemed important, after all.”

“I’m curious what’s going on, though,” Luke commented, glancing uneasily between Petro, Kaoné, and Rebehka. The four currently sat around a large meeting room table in a private room; none of the other Earthians were present.

“I’m sorry about this,” Rebehka apologized to the Captain. “Kaoné and I do think it’s a good idea to show you and the Keys what’s going on here on Oriciid’kas, but…”

“But that’s not the actual reason that you’re here,” Luke finished.

Rebehka smiled sheepishly. “…Yes. About a week ago, I was contacted by the Black Suns — by Colonel D’Tan specifically, in fact. He wanted Kaoné and I to visit Oriciid’kas, for a reason that he couldn’t disclose at the time. I could at least tell that the matter had something to do with the metallic infection, so I thought it could be a good learning experience to bring the Keys with us.”

“Right…” Luke responded, and then sighed in frustration. “That makes sense, but at least tell me this kind of thing ahead of time, okay? I hate being blindsided by these things.”

“It’s alright, Captain,” Petro asserted. “What I called the Deans here for won’t impact your stay, here. And if it all works out, then the information we gain could be valuable to SERRCom — as well as the rest of the galaxy.”

“Well, let’s get to business, then,” Kaoné said. “We don’t have long before the Keys show up.”

“Of course.” Petro stood from his seat; as he did, Luke noticed that the seat of the chair folded upward as Petro stood, allowing for the Dra’kis’s triple-segmented legs to stand up from sitting without any awkward movements. “As you’ve correctly surmised, I’ve called you here for a matter pertaining to the metallic infection,” Petro explained while making a number of hand gestures in the air, as if interacting with an AR interface that only he could see. A second later, the room’s lights dimmed, and a hologram of Oriciid’kas appeared over the table — followed by the holographic view zooming in to a topographic map of a section of the planet’s surface. Several boundary lines were highlighted on the map as Petro continued, “this is one of the active sections of the MICO on Oriciid’kas. The MICO is segmented into the different urban districts that it covers, with this district here — Holres’Ket — being today’s focus. Holres’Ket is on the border of the MICO, so we stage most of our activities out of the adjacent cleaned district of Holres’Ken.”

“You call them ‘districts’, but they’re each bigger than an entire city on Earth,” Luke remarked. “Holres’Ket is bigger than the county of LA!”

“Holres’Ket’s skyline seems to have collapsed, compared to its cleaned neighbors…” Kaoné observed. “There’s so much debris around… it’s a shame to see Oriciid’kas’s soaring skylines like this.” She then turned toward Petro. “Did you want me to help with the cleanup efforts?”

“While assistance would certainly be appreciated, I wouldn’t call you here for something so trivial,” Petro stated. “We do have our own Materiatechnics, Geotechnics, and Metallitechnics on hand for rapidly rebuilding the skyline, once a district has been cleared of nanites. However, few can match your skill or power, or — more importantly — your experience. More to the point…” The Black Suns Colonel paused for a moment, as if in thought, before continuing, “…as I’m sure you all know, once a person or a creature is infected with Nanocreature nanites, there is typically no saving them. Despite that, however, Sector 1 has been searching for a cure — for some way to save infected creatures from their fate. And it’s come to my attention, Deans, that you have made some headway in this regard.”

Rebehka and Kaoné exchanged a glance before the former replied, “you could say that…”

“Is this about Karania?” Kaoné questioned.

“It is,” Petro affirmed. “Ive heard the report — with the aid of the facilities at the Infection Research Center on the Nimalian World of Karania, you completely cured a small rodent of the infection. It’s nothing short of impressive.”

“Thank you, and I’m glad to have proven that curing the infection is at least possible. But… I’ve only done it once, and with the help of advanced facilities.”

“Not just once, Dean Densalin. I’ve heard that you once cured yourself of the infection, back during the Nanocreature War.”

“Well, I did, but only for a brief time…” Kaoné sheepishly replied, only to frown a second later. “But that kind of operation is significantly easier to perform on myself than on another, living being. I may have been able to save a small animal, but I’ve yet to be able to save a person…”

“How is that possible, though?” Luke questioned, “how can you be sure that you’ve gotten rid of every last nanomachine?”

“You don’t necessarily have to destroy every last nanite,” Rebehka answered. “As long as Morcii isn’t around, and the infection is spreading like a normal disease, your body can actually stop the nanites from infecting you with its typical first-stage defenses. It’s only when the nanites reach your bloodstream that full infection is guaranteed.”

“And even in that case, you can tell where the nanites are based on what matter you can’t affect,” Kaoné added. “Since Nanocreatures are immune to direct manipulation, it means that I can test various parts of the body with subtle manipulations — and if something doesn’t transform as I expect, then it’s safe to assume that the nanites are there. It’s still difficult, I have to say, but…” She then looked to Petro. “You had to have already known everything we just talked about. What is it that you actually want with Rebehka and I?”

“Put simply — to elevate our efforts to cure the infection to the next level,” Petro declared. “Recently, we’ve come into a unique opportunity. During our normal cleanup operations in Holres’Ket, some of my subordinates discovered a handful of only recently-infected animals. So recently, in fact, that they are only now just barely showing symptoms.”

“…What kind of animals? How big are they?”

“Avian and mammalian vertebrates. The birds are a little larger than the rodent you cured on Karania, while the mammals are small felines.”

Rebehka passed Kaoné a glance. “This sounds like a good opportunity to try curing something a little bigger and more complex.”

“Aren’t there tons of infected animals running around?” Luke questioned, “why can’t you try curing those?”

“The more heavily infected a creature is, the harder it is to cure,” Kaoné replied. “When there’s too many nanites, or if they infected the body too deeply, well… it’s hard to manage. Especially if the infection reaches the brain — when nanites start replacing brain matter, it’s impossible to tell exactly how the brain was formed beforehand, so you can’t recreate it exactly right. Which can cause… problems.”

“I see…”

“Most of the captured animals at the Academy fall into that category, unfortunately,” Rebehka stated.

“But these animals here… if they really are lightly infected, then I’d like to try curing them,” Kaoné declared. “And after already curing one animal, I think I may be able to cure another without machine aid.”

“I’m glad to hear that, Dean,” Petro replied. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to have some Chaotic monitoring equipment with you as you go through the cure process. Hopefully, we can use that data to teach other Materiatechnics how to cure the infection, as well. And of course, we’d share any such data with you and Tchiréon.”

“I have no objections to that. The more people who can cure the infection, the better.”

“That’s good to hear,” Petro said, his normally neutral expression finally breaking into a faint smile. “I’ll get the relevant documents and contracts in front of you before the operation. As for the operation itself, the animals are already subdued and anesthetized, so the operation should be as humane as can be possible for an infected creature.”

“I’m glad to hear that, but if you can give me time to study the biological profile of the animals and their species, then I can handle the anesthetics myself. Or, more exactly, I don’t really need anesthetics, since I can manipulate the nerve endings directly…”

Luke whistled in admiration. “Damn. Your control of your power is that precise?”

“I’ve had a lot of time to practice…”

“Don’t sell yourself short,” Rebehka remarked. “Kaoné is easily the most powerful Materiatechnic I’ve ever known or heard of.”

“I concur,” Petro affirmed. “I only wish our own Materiatechnics were half as useful as you.”

“I— …well, thanks,” Kaoné responded bashfully.

“I’ll show you to the infected animals in question later today,” Petro replied. “Deans, Captain… given that you showed up with a Chaos Knight, I don’t think I need to tell you that the idea of curing the infection is a contentious one in this galaxy of ours. I’d very much like you all to avoid discussing this operation openly, at least until we know the end result.”

“I understand that, but the kids are pretty smart,” Luke stated. “They’re likely to catch on that there are alternate reasons for us being here, if they haven’t already.”

“Well, I’ll leave the question of if they can be trusted to you. My main concern is the Chaos Knight,” Petro said. “But for now, that’s all I have to say on the matter.”

“Good timing, too,” Rebehka remarked. “The Keys should be showing up right around now…”

“Yes, and I have a handful of general things to cover once they’re here, before we actually go down to Holres’Ket,” Petro responded as Luke and Kaoné stood to go check the room’s door for the Keys and Mark. “But I shouldn’t be long. We’ll be planetside before midday.”

---

A Few Hours Later

“Well this is… depressing.”

“No kidding…” Conrad muttered, stepping up next to Pierce to look out over the ruins of Holres’Ket. The district appeared as if it were a war-torn ghost town, with next to no traffic, cracked streets, and 20-year-old crumbling foundations. Smoke filled the air to the east, the sign of the incineration fires meant to destroy clusters of Nanocreature nanites, while some Black Suns heavy equipment occupied the street as soldiers went about their business. The district’s skyline, supposedly once part of Oriciid’kas’s majestic 3-kilometer towers, now laid in absolute ruin; no remaining building stood more than ten stories tall, and old debris littered the streets outside of the main pathways for the cleanup crews. In stark contrast were the gleaming cloud-piercing towers of the Holres’Ken district far to the west, their elegant and distinctly alien curves painted a glistening white as they extended nearly three kilometers into the sky. Such a skyline served as a visual wall, indicating from even several dozen kilometers away where the edge of Holres’Ket was, as the skyline stretched far to the north and south.

The only people wandering the ruins of Holres’Ket were Black Suns soldiers and officers, so indicated by their distinct sets of navy blue, black, and silver powered armor. Even the Earthians, Rebehka, and Kaoné now sported sets of Black Suns armor, as a precaution against infection — energy shielding was by far the most effective defense against direct contact with Nanocreature nanites, after all. But amongst the oppressive sight of a vast ghost town covered in debris, even the absolute defense of energy shielding seemed as though it might not be enough.

“Ngh…” Pierce held a hand to his stomach in discomfort as he surveyed his surroundings. “Does anyone else feel… sick? Like, in the pit of your stomach?”

“Can’t say that I do,” Conrad replied. “Did you forget to eat breakfast?”

“Could be Nanocreatures,” Kestrel suggested.

“Yeah, that could be it…” Phoenix commented warily. “Remember when we last talked with Pallan, Pierce? He said that you could sense the Nanocreatures, and, well…”

“…There must be a ton of them still around, then,” Pierce muttered. “I didn’t feel this nauseous even when we were in Relédiaka…”

“That is an unfortunate truth of the MICO in Holres’Ket,” Petro declared, approaching from behind the four while leading the rest of the travel group. “Holres’Ket, like all of the other districts saved for last in the cleanup op, was hit especially hard during the Nanocreature War.”

“You don’t say,” Austin deadpanned while staring at the cracked and cut-down skyline around them.

“What about that city over there, though?” Sky questioned as she gestured at the distant gleaming skyline. “How are they fine, when this place really fucking isn’t?!”

“The skyline over there is the Holres’Ken district, the most recently restored district of the city of Holres,” Petro explained. “Five years ago, it looked much like Holres’Ket does now. It was only due to several years of hard work that we were able to restore it to its former glory.”

“Damn…” Spike muttered in awe as the Black Suns Colonel began leading the group down a main street.

“So the Nanocreatures did all of this damage, then?” Mark mused, “if so, that’s… sobering.”

“Even Nimalia managed to escape this kind of damage…” Kaoné said quietly.

“There’s still Nanocreature nanites here, though?” Twy questioned, “I thought… I thought the Nanocreatures all fell apart after the war.”

“The vast, vast majority of them, yes,” Petro replied, his gaze momentarily lingering on a burning building as they walked past. Energy shielding constantly flared up around the building as two Black Suns soldiers monitored the incineration, while a third soldier — clearly a Pyrotechnic — hovered in the air above and constantly fed the flames. “But there remained a handful of problems,” Petro continued, his attention turning forward once more. “For one, since all Nanocreature constructs lost integrity when the nanites fell inert, any structure that had been corrupted naturally lost most of its structural support and collapsed on itself. That’s actually what caused most of the damage you see, here.”

“And even if the nanites are inert, I bet it’s still a hassle to clean ‘em all up,” Luke remarked.

Petro nodded. “Indeed, that’s one of the biggest issues — what to do with the ‘gray sand’, how to clean it up, and where to put it after. We’ve settled on disposing of the nanites by firing them into the sun.”

“Sounds like a recipe to walk out of this with a corrupted star,” Austin said.

“That might just be the dumbest thing I’ve heard all day,” Pierce retorted.

“It’s actually a popular conspiracy theory in the CSA,” Rebehka pointed out. “It doesn’t have any merit, of course — the incredible temperatures of a star will obliterate Nanocreature nanites before they could touch any matter within the star itself.”

“How do you go about collecting the nanites, though?” Mark questioned, turning back to Petro.

“Probably with big magnets, right?” Sky suggested.

“Unfortunately, magnets aren’t a perfect solution,” Petro replied. “They’re good for a first pass, but they won’t get everything. Since the Nanocreatures construct their nanites out of whatever material they have access to, not all nanites are made of the same material — which means that not all nanites are magnetic. While much of the building material here on Oriciid’kas consists of magnetic metal alloys, there is still a significant usage of glass and carbon polymers, resulting in nanites of such material. Not to mention many of the more organic nanites to be found…”

“I guess it makes sense that Nanocreature nanites are made out of the same material that they replace…” Twy mused, “but why does the metallic infection look, well, metallic, then?”

“While the nanites can produce more of themselves out of any material, they still seem to favor metals,” Rebehka explained. “And in organic creatures, there is metal, even if only a relatively small amount.”

“That said…” Kaoné added, “the Nanocreature nanites do seem to gain the ability to transform matter into other kinds of matter, if there are enough nanites in one place…”

“Indeed — which is why the Nanocreatures during the war were entirely made of metal,” Petro affirmed. “However, the nanites don’t seem to gain that ability until a Critical Infection occurs. Which means that before that point, there are plenty of non-metallic or non-magnetic nanomachines. So magnets won’t get everything, though they can serve as a decent first-pass. We use a combination of nanite sensors and Chaotics to sweep the districts afterward for any remaining nanites. And in some cases…” He paused, his eyes turning skyward as a streak of light appeared in the northern sky, rocketing through the atmosphere and impacting somewhere far north of the northern horizon.

“Was that an orbital strike?!” Austin questioned incredulously.

“You saw the station’s guns fire yesterday,” Petro replied. “This is just a continuation of that. Sometimes, despite our best efforts, completely flattening the district and starting over from scratch is the best option, despite setting us back years.”

On the heels of Petro’s words were another two orbital strikes in the distance, the rounds piercing holes through the high-altitude clouds before disappearing somewhere beyond the horizon. Distant atmosphere-spanning energy shields — the barriers between districts — could be seen flaring, all while the entire interaction occurred in the eerie silence of distance. As if to mirror that, the travel group fell quiet, their attentions turned northward as they contemplated what extreme scenarios could drive the CSA to bombard their own Capital World.

“…And we’re supposed to fight this…?” Austin muttered to himself, “how the hell are eight people supposed to make a difference, here?”

“Hero Machina was seven,” Twy quietly pointed out, sidling up next to Austin such that only he could hear her. “And they ended the Nanocreature War. So there’s precedent, at least.”

“A hell of a precedent…” Austin responded, briefly eying Rebehka and Kaoné before turning toward Petro, who had just stopped outside of a building on the corner of a street intersection. The building’s walls and roof appeared much newer and better kept than the ruined surroundings, and two Black Suns soldiers stood guard at the entrance.

Petro flashed some kind of identification at the soldiers before continuing into the building, the rest of the travel group trailing behind him. “We can continue touring the rest of the district later today,” the Colonel spoke, “but here, we have our local research center, where we bring back nanites or infected specimens for study.”

“Like the Academy back on Nimalia?” Mark asked.

“Similar, yes, but our contract with the CSA doesn’t allow us to keep any nanomachines intact for long,” Petro replied. “It’s a stringent precaution, especially given how easily energy shields can contain infected creatures — but it’s a precaution I can’t blame the CSA for wanting to take.”

“I’m surprised they’re okay with you studying them at all, after seeing what’s happened to this place,” Austin retorted.

Petro passed Austin a wary glance before opening a door at the end of a hallway and stepping through. “Many people do think that way… but the fact is, if the Nanocreatures ever become a resurgent threat, then we’ll be in a better position to combat them if we study them now. Ignorance is very rarely the answer to any situation.”

“Maybe, but the alternative is still hella dangerous…” Phoenix commented as the group entered a large storage room of sorts. All along the right wall were cages, not unlike an animal pound — and much like in a pound, each of the cages contained an animal. And each one sported tiny metallic scars across their hides — the telltale sign of the metallic infection.

Upon realizing that there were newcomers to the room, several of the animals — particularly, those with the largest rashes — lashed out, pawing and clawing at the cages containing them while glaring hungrily at the travel group. But energy shields kept them contained, the golden glow from their flare-ups offering a soft secondary source of illumination to the sterile room.

“This is… worse than I expected,” Kaoné muttered as she and Rebehka moved to more closely inspect the captured animals.

“They’re so aggressive, too!” Sky remarked while staring at the animals still clawing at their cages. “It’s like they’re rabid!”

“Probably not a terrible analogy, given what we know about the infection…” Mark muttered.

“Still…” Twy said, stepping next to Kaoné and Rebehka to look at some of the creatures with tiny rashes, all of them acting in a far more subdued manner than their more heavily-infected feral counterparts. One of the animals appeared to be a feline of some sort, no larger than a typical housecat yet sporting the same three-segmented hind legs that could be found in the Siions or the Dra’kis. A small patch of the creature’s fur on the side of its body had been shaved, exposing a tiny streak of metal on its skin a mere couple millimeters long; no other signs of the infection could be seen. “…This is the first time we’ve seen creatures with an early stage of the infection, right?”

“That’s right… most of the animals at the Academy seemed farther gone than this,” Phoenix remarked.

“That scar is really fuckin’ tiny…” Spike observed. “You’re sayin’ that that tiny scar is the end of you? Really?”

“Unfortunately, yes… as far as we know,” Petro replied while passing a surreptitious glance toward Kaoné. “Once you have any visible sign of infection, it’s too late for you.”

“It just looks like your typical scared animal,” Conrad said.

“But it’s infected, all the same…” Pierce muttered with a scowl. “I can feel it… ngh. This is, fucking… why are we here?” He turned to glare irately at Petro, Rebehka, Kaoné, and Luke. “We’ve already seen infected animals, before. What the hell is new about this?”

“This kind of thing can still be important to see in person,” Twy replied. “As a reminder that this threat is very real…”

“…Across the galaxy?” Kestrel questioned, turning to look at Petro and Rebehka.

“If you’re asking if the Nanocreatures are a threat across the entire galaxy… well, you have only to look to the Nanocreature War for that,” Petro responded.

“During the War,” Rebehka explained, “we gathered some intel claiming that the number of Nanocreature nanites that can be active at any one time across the galaxy is limited by how many Ayas they possess. But… we can’t directly verify that. Not safely, anyways. So as long as the Ayas remain out of the infection’s hands, it should cap out at some point. …We just don’t know where that point is.”

“All the more reason to prevent its spread entirely, ma’am.”

“Who’s there?” Petro immediately questioned, his expression growing stern as he turned to address three Black Suns soldiers who had just entered the room. One of the two in back was clearly a Siion, with triple-segmented legs leading to an intimidating height, but the one standing in front appeared to be either a Citan or a Nimalian.

“Commander Jamis Hilay, of Sector 2, sir,” the man in front declared, offering a quick salute to Petro. “I’ve been ordered to take these animals here to annihilation.”

“Annihilation?!” Sky echoed incredulously. “But—!”

“But they’re a risk to themselves, and others, for as long as they remain here,” the Commander interjected, though never once did he look at Sky while he spoke. Instead, his focus remained squarely on Petro.

“And who gave you this order, Commander?” Petro questioned. “This is a Green Suns operation. What’s Sector 2 doing here?”

“We’re here to help with the Knights’ inspections, sir,” Jamis stated. “General Ferrous gave the order as soon as he heard that the Knights had arrived.”

“Ferrous? Of Sector 2…” Petro muttered.

“We’re only doing you a favor, sir. We’ll get these animals off your hands so you can get back to more important matters.”

“Colonel…?” Kaoné prompted, eying Petro uneasily, as if to silently ask about their earlier discussion.

“I know…” Petro responded, passing Kaoné a look before staring down the Sector 2 Commander. “…Deans, Captain, I’m afraid I’m going to have to cut today’s tour short to discuss matters with the Commander, here. Can you all report to the Green Suns staging base in Holres’Ken for the time being? I’ll meet back up with you all tomorrow.”

“Copy that,” Luke replied as he began ushering the other Earthians out of the room. “Let’s go, folks.”

“What? We’re leaving? Just like that?!” Sky exclaimed incredulously.

“Looks like more political bullshit,” Conrad observed as the group exited the room and the door closed behind them. “I’m perfectly fine with missing that.”

“Aren’t they all Black Suns, though? What’s going on?”

“That’s what I’d like to know…” Rebehka muttered.

“Well… if it’s important, I’m sure the Colonel will fill us in afterwards,” Kaoné asserted before taking charge of the group to lead them outside. “For now, though, let’s do as he suggested. It’s a change of plans, but it looks like we’ll be spending the rest of today in Holres’Ken…”