Legacy: Beyond the Veil

The unseen blade

The creature, The Child of Curses, or Apicem, whatever Cai should be calling it, sure seemed to be in a better mood now that he was willing to talk to it. The childlike disguise was currently balancing itself on a hand railing with only one foot, arms spread out to act as counterweights. It was still a strange sight, seeing as how there was no gravity, but Cai had gotten a little used to the Demon's childish antics, and knew to ignore them for the most part.

His watch was nearing its conclusion. After twelve hours of monitoring various screens and instruments most people would have all but exhausted their concentration, yet Cai felt strangely fit and focused. It was as if his body was on constant high alert, keeping him wide awake as long as the Demon was nearby.

He still felt the telltale signs of fatigue, which were hardly surprising after the restless night he'd had, but the feeling of tiredness was distant and easy to ignore.

Speaking to Apicem was less like a conversation and more like asking questions when he could in hopes of getting a response. The Demon dematerialised every so often, or phased wordlessly into another chamber, or simply became unresponsive. All of which served to turn Cai's plan to pry information from this Child of Curses into a frustrating ordeal.

Even when the Demon was listening to him it was just as likely to respond with a question of its own, not answering Cai in the process.

Cai had asked about the Demon's origin, how it had breached the Veil, what its intentions were, and what his own significance was. None of which he had gotten a concrete answer to.

They were blunt and direct questions, especially compared to the Demon's sharp and insidious tongue, Cai was well aware of that. He intentionally kept his questions as simple as possible, knowing that if he played into the hands of such a manipulative being he would for sure be left in the dust.

Not only that, but Cai was also determined to stay as untainted as possible. If the Demon wished to act cryptic and illusive, he would be to the point and honest in response. That way, he hoped to keep his hands clean of the Demon's metaphoric stench.

Cai turned his head to face the ancient horror. It had taken on one of its alternative forms, appearing now as a slightly older boy with narrow eyes and black, short hair not unlike Cai's own. During these transformations the Demon went unresponsive, not speaking and not listening. Cai had already made a mental note of that, and used the downtimes to double-check his instruments.

He checked the EMAS screen and overlaid it with the Nebula's situational overview. He could see beyond the hull of the ship, allowing him to get a clearer picture of what was happening outside.

Not even five percent of an AU away, the swirling maelstrom that was the Baknian wormhole loomed ahead, lightning forks of sharp purple racing across the baleful sphere's surface. The artificial wormhole was a little over thirteen-hundred kilometers in diameter, making it as large as a small moon. It was but one of three subspace tunnels, each of them anchored to a planet's third libration point.

Cai felt a little uneasy with how close the aliens were to him. Close enough that he wouldn't have time to react even to ballistic weaponry, should they start firing at him from beyond the wormhole..

Not that that would, or could, happen. The wormhole was still incredibly unstable. Voidships, solid munitions, asteroids and even non-exotic particles would be torn asunder by the affront to the fabric of space which drifted through Sindrion's heliosphere.

That instability wouldn't last forever, though. In another three days from now –give or take– the energies which now acted so destructively would align, allowing Baknian vessels to cross the distance between their point of origin and Sindrion nearly instantaneously.