Neo Chronicles: Black Void
Episode 21: Space
Table of Contents
The room is empty, plain, an' bare. Jus' the way I like it to be honest. Mom's was always gettin' on me to add some decorations to my living space back home on Earth. “You like drawing. Why not hang some of those on the wall?” she'd ask. “Maybe a poster here, some color there. You don't have to keep everything so dull.”
I never looked at my room as dull, or empty for that matter. I need my space. Gives me enough room to pour my thoughts out. A bed along the side next to the window. A desk facing the door so no one can sneak up on me. Trash can by the desk. A TV with my game system. A closet with my clothes. My room back home just needed the essentials. And my room on this space ship's no different.
Just the essentials. The pull-out bed by the wall. I can see the door leading to the hall on my left and the window to outer space on my right. Closet's in front of me. My sword's in it. Some more space suits like I'm wearing in case I need a quick change. There's no TV out here, but with all the stuff on my mind right now, I wouldn't have time to watch it.
Nah, jus' give me the essentials and my space. That's all I want. What I don't want is my door openin' up right now. What I don't want is Ran walkin' up in here. Guess we can't have everything.
“You doin' alright?” she asks.
“It's weird.” I answer.
“What is?”
“Since I've known you, you've always looked like that.”
“Like—”
“A person. An Earther? A human. What's the deal?”
“You'd rather me look like—”
“Nah, you can look like whatever you want. That's on you. It's jus' weird.”
“I'm sorry. I thought it'd be weird for me to look like a giant three headed, million eyed, tentacle freak.”
“Is that what you are?”
“No. It's not.”
“Then what gives? Why you frontin'?”
“My kind aren't really a nice, close knit race. Honestly, I've got no idea what a pure blooded one of me looks like. We're spread out all over the galaxy, and everywhere we go, we adapt to our surroundings. The people, the land, the environment. Call it a defense mechanism, call it our way of survival, but it's how we live. The reason I look like I am is because I'm around you and Carlos. You're both human, so I figured it best to be a human, too. Is that a problem?”
“No, no. I guess. Do what you gotta do. It's just weird.”
“What's weird about blending in?”
“Nothin'. Nothin' at all. I feel ya. It's not the blending in that's buggin' me.”
“But?”
“But it's the part about you bein' somethin' you're not. I mean, how do you even know what a human lady looks like?”
“Carlos showed me.”
“He showed you?”
“Yeah, he's got pictures. He picked out one in particular, and I just sorta stuck with it. Helps remind him of home.”
“And the clothes?”
“Your species aren't the first in the universe to come up with different garments to wear by the day.”
“A'ight. A'ight. I gotchu.”
After that, I sit there waiting for her to leave. I look at her. She looks away. Then she looks at me, and I look away. Seems like the perfect break off point. She came to talk. We talked. That's that. We're done. We should be done, but no. Things ain't neva that simple. She came to talk about me. I know she did. Haven't really came outta my room for the past few hours or so. Haven't really spoken to her or Carlos for the past day. She probably thinks I'm avoiding her.
She'd be right.
“So how are you?” she asks again.
“I'm good.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah.”
“You were kinda crazy on that moon.”
“Yeah.”
“Wanna talk about it?”
“Nope.”
“You know me and Carlos are here for you.”
“Yep.”
She finally takes the hint and leaves. Door automatically sealing on her way out. That's good.
See, it's like this. I hate her. Plain an' simple. I think she knows I hate her. I know she knows why. She did me wrong. Straight up backstabbed me. I'd be cool wit that normally. People ain't neva what they say they is, but the fact that she did it jus' so she could murder some dude—no, not jus' some dude, my homeboy Ri'lar—in cold blood? Straight up merc'd da dude. There ain't no justice in dat. It was—it was on some straight demon mess. Dat's a dang devil move right there.
That's why I don't like her dressin' up an' shapeshiftin' like a human, cuz that ain't what she is. She's a demon. A straight up demon, an' that's da only thing I'm reminded of when I see her white, auburn haired, blue-eyed, red lipped face. Forgive me Lord, I know you say it's not right to hate, but I can't help it. I hate that lady. An' fo Carlos to be with her like he is, knowin' good an' well the kinda junk she into, I hate that dude, too.
But whatever yo. I'mma hold dat. She do her thang, I stay in my space an' focus on me. Right now, the me is focusin' on dat sword propped up in dat closet door. It's weird though. I jus' sit here lookin' at it. It doesn't look like much. It's a big ol' blade attached to a big ol' hilt. No real designs or carvings, but it's somehow able to shoot lasers or somethin'.
Guess that's the tech in it. It's powered by me I think. Somethin' about me puttin' energy into it to make it work. A swing isn't just a swing with it. It's more. An' the more I put in, the more I get out. Makes sense, right? That's what the tech has it do. It's why I always get so tired after usin' it. But get this, last time I was fightin' wit it—on dat moon wit dat Golemae—it was like instead of me losin' energy, I was gettin' it.
Like he'd punch at me, an' I'd swing at him. BOOM, there's the clash, but when the sword made contact, I got a rush. It'd only happen in that moment, but in that moment, I felt like I could fight at least ten times faster. Every time. Every time. I don't know why I didn't notice this, but it's happened before. It's happened lotsa times before.
Back when me an' Ri'lar were runnin' wit'—what's his name—Mux Modell, an' I got in dat fire fight, I was thinkin' it was jus' me goin' ham, but it had to've been the sword there, too. All dem lasers, an' I'm still runnin' at full speed.
So that's how it works? The tech runs on energy, and it gets that energy from anything it touches? Sometimes that's me, other times it's other things. An' it doesn't jus' store it. It's gotta put it somewhere, right? Yeah. I see you. I see you.
Now, this is why I like my space. I can't think of all this stuff when people're around talkin' to me.
And now that the thought's finished, I get to... well I guess I can lie back an' stare at the ceiling. The room, the walls, the whole atmosphere's got this cold, cool, metallic, steel thing goin' for it. Might jus' be from the lack of strong lights in the room. Everything's cast in a dimly lit, not quite white, but tryna be shade. It's kinda depressing, but that could jus be from me feelin' depressed. I don't know.
The ceiling looks new. Hardly a scratch or blemish or mark on its steely surface. Way more new than the ceilings in Ri'lar's ol', decrypted, tired, run down ship. Nah, this ceiling right here...it's got class. It's got upkeep. It screams new an' clean.
I hate it.
In its cleanliness, I pick out its faults. It's probably one of a million. Jus' like the million. No character, no struggle, no real life to it. Now, I'm not doggin' on clean things. Cleanliness is next to you an' all, but for a boat like this to have nothin' goin' for it, nothin' to let a brutha like me know—BOOM.
That was a loud noise. Was it? I'm not sure. Barely heard it, but I felt it. It was a rumble. It was a quake. It was a—
There it is again. The room shook. My sword fell out of the closet. My clothes toppled on the floor. The quake happens one mo' gin, an' I jump to my feet, rush to the sword, pick it up, an' head out the door.
In the hallway, first thing I notice is that almost white light is now flashing red around me. The whole boat's on high alert. Can barely hear myself think over the high, wailing warning alarm that's in tune with the lights.
CRASH
That I definitely heard.
And felt. The boat's bein' rocked. The crashes and booms are gettin' more frequent. Then they stop. What the world is goin' on? I run down the halls, doin' my best to ignore the sound that's shrillin' on my ears.
At first, I'm thinkin' we bein' attacked. Then I think that's stupid. So I think we ran into a asteroid belt or some nonsense. Then I think that's even stupider. Why? Well, back when I was runnin' wit' Ri'lar, on one of his more talkative days, he gave me the run down about how empty space really is. I mean, it's really, really empty. Most objects aren't anywhere near each other. You got a star system, a few things in it, like planets, moons, asteroids, an' whatever, an' in between 'em, a whole lotta nothin'. When you get to the end of the star system, it's a whole lotta more nothin' until you get to the next one.
What's all dat mean? Even if we were in a asteroid belt or storm or whatever, I doubt I'd notice it from here. So what's that mean?
We's gettin' attacked.
An' sho' nuff. As I turn the corner, da first thing I see is a group of aliens I ain't neva seen before, walkin' around wit' guns. Bad news is, they see me, too.
I'm quick enough to recognize that one of 'em looks like a upright walkin' wasp. I'm quick to remember that the one thing on Earth that I absolutely hated the most is wasps. Bees are a close second, but since they make dat honey, I can't hate too hard, but wasps? Nah dude, don't mess wit that. Nu-uh, no way. No, no, no, no—
BZZT
Dang.
Wasn't quick enough to react to that. The wasp dude took that giant rifle lookin' thing of his an' shot me. Wasn't quick enough to react to that. So much for testin' that theory of mine out about the sword out. Was way too slow to block with it.
Dang, it stings. Like a hot, burning like pinching thing in my chess. The pain hits me quick. It burns. Like I got zapped. It's got an electrifying sensation to it, too. Feelin' light headed, losin' my feet. Dang it. Dead center. Right between da lungs. The—the—what's it called? Sternum! Right in my sternum.
I see the wasp dude an' his homeboys pumpkin head, foggy butt, an' Georgy Giraffe walk towards me. I wanna fight 'em. I feel like if I don't fight 'em I'm gonna die, but with it goin' black all of a sudden, I don't think that's gonna happen. What was in dat shot?
I gotsta go. Get out of here. Leave. Move legs. Come on!
I turn tail an' run. Feels like I'm runnin' slower than normal. Can't really tell where I'm runnin' to. The echoey sound bouncin' off the wall lets me know my feet are still hitting the floor. An' that lets me know I'm still movin' some place.
But what if I jus' end up runnin' into some more bug faces? The halls connect to everywhere. I need to duck out. I stop. Look back to see ain't nobody comin'. Look ahead to make sure ain't nobody there neither. Find a door, open it, an' flop on in.
I hear the door close behind me. How do I lock the thing? Come on, get up an' lock it. Nope. Too lazy for that right now.
Right now, I'mma lie here on this hard, cold, metally floor an' sleep. Yeah dude. Sleep sounds real nice about now.
Episode 21: Space
Table of Contents
The room is empty, plain, an' bare. Jus' the way I like it to be honest. Mom's was always gettin' on me to add some decorations to my living space back home on Earth. “You like drawing. Why not hang some of those on the wall?” she'd ask. “Maybe a poster here, some color there. You don't have to keep everything so dull.”
I never looked at my room as dull, or empty for that matter. I need my space. Gives me enough room to pour my thoughts out. A bed along the side next to the window. A desk facing the door so no one can sneak up on me. Trash can by the desk. A TV with my game system. A closet with my clothes. My room back home just needed the essentials. And my room on this space ship's no different.
Just the essentials. The pull-out bed by the wall. I can see the door leading to the hall on my left and the window to outer space on my right. Closet's in front of me. My sword's in it. Some more space suits like I'm wearing in case I need a quick change. There's no TV out here, but with all the stuff on my mind right now, I wouldn't have time to watch it.
Nah, jus' give me the essentials and my space. That's all I want. What I don't want is my door openin' up right now. What I don't want is Ran walkin' up in here. Guess we can't have everything.
“You doin' alright?” she asks.
“It's weird.” I answer.
“What is?”
“Since I've known you, you've always looked like that.”
“Like—”
“A person. An Earther? A human. What's the deal?”
“You'd rather me look like—”
“Nah, you can look like whatever you want. That's on you. It's jus' weird.”
“I'm sorry. I thought it'd be weird for me to look like a giant three headed, million eyed, tentacle freak.”
“Is that what you are?”
“No. It's not.”
“Then what gives? Why you frontin'?”
“My kind aren't really a nice, close knit race. Honestly, I've got no idea what a pure blooded one of me looks like. We're spread out all over the galaxy, and everywhere we go, we adapt to our surroundings. The people, the land, the environment. Call it a defense mechanism, call it our way of survival, but it's how we live. The reason I look like I am is because I'm around you and Carlos. You're both human, so I figured it best to be a human, too. Is that a problem?”
“No, no. I guess. Do what you gotta do. It's just weird.”
“What's weird about blending in?”
“Nothin'. Nothin' at all. I feel ya. It's not the blending in that's buggin' me.”
“But?”
“But it's the part about you bein' somethin' you're not. I mean, how do you even know what a human lady looks like?”
“Carlos showed me.”
“He showed you?”
“Yeah, he's got pictures. He picked out one in particular, and I just sorta stuck with it. Helps remind him of home.”
“And the clothes?”
“Your species aren't the first in the universe to come up with different garments to wear by the day.”
“A'ight. A'ight. I gotchu.”
After that, I sit there waiting for her to leave. I look at her. She looks away. Then she looks at me, and I look away. Seems like the perfect break off point. She came to talk. We talked. That's that. We're done. We should be done, but no. Things ain't neva that simple. She came to talk about me. I know she did. Haven't really came outta my room for the past few hours or so. Haven't really spoken to her or Carlos for the past day. She probably thinks I'm avoiding her.
She'd be right.
“So how are you?” she asks again.
“I'm good.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah.”
“You were kinda crazy on that moon.”
“Yeah.”
“Wanna talk about it?”
“Nope.”
“You know me and Carlos are here for you.”
“Yep.”
She finally takes the hint and leaves. Door automatically sealing on her way out. That's good.
See, it's like this. I hate her. Plain an' simple. I think she knows I hate her. I know she knows why. She did me wrong. Straight up backstabbed me. I'd be cool wit that normally. People ain't neva what they say they is, but the fact that she did it jus' so she could murder some dude—no, not jus' some dude, my homeboy Ri'lar—in cold blood? Straight up merc'd da dude. There ain't no justice in dat. It was—it was on some straight demon mess. Dat's a dang devil move right there.
That's why I don't like her dressin' up an' shapeshiftin' like a human, cuz that ain't what she is. She's a demon. A straight up demon, an' that's da only thing I'm reminded of when I see her white, auburn haired, blue-eyed, red lipped face. Forgive me Lord, I know you say it's not right to hate, but I can't help it. I hate that lady. An' fo Carlos to be with her like he is, knowin' good an' well the kinda junk she into, I hate that dude, too.
But whatever yo. I'mma hold dat. She do her thang, I stay in my space an' focus on me. Right now, the me is focusin' on dat sword propped up in dat closet door. It's weird though. I jus' sit here lookin' at it. It doesn't look like much. It's a big ol' blade attached to a big ol' hilt. No real designs or carvings, but it's somehow able to shoot lasers or somethin'.
Guess that's the tech in it. It's powered by me I think. Somethin' about me puttin' energy into it to make it work. A swing isn't just a swing with it. It's more. An' the more I put in, the more I get out. Makes sense, right? That's what the tech has it do. It's why I always get so tired after usin' it. But get this, last time I was fightin' wit it—on dat moon wit dat Golemae—it was like instead of me losin' energy, I was gettin' it.
Like he'd punch at me, an' I'd swing at him. BOOM, there's the clash, but when the sword made contact, I got a rush. It'd only happen in that moment, but in that moment, I felt like I could fight at least ten times faster. Every time. Every time. I don't know why I didn't notice this, but it's happened before. It's happened lotsa times before.
Back when me an' Ri'lar were runnin' wit'—what's his name—Mux Modell, an' I got in dat fire fight, I was thinkin' it was jus' me goin' ham, but it had to've been the sword there, too. All dem lasers, an' I'm still runnin' at full speed.
So that's how it works? The tech runs on energy, and it gets that energy from anything it touches? Sometimes that's me, other times it's other things. An' it doesn't jus' store it. It's gotta put it somewhere, right? Yeah. I see you. I see you.
Now, this is why I like my space. I can't think of all this stuff when people're around talkin' to me.
And now that the thought's finished, I get to... well I guess I can lie back an' stare at the ceiling. The room, the walls, the whole atmosphere's got this cold, cool, metallic, steel thing goin' for it. Might jus' be from the lack of strong lights in the room. Everything's cast in a dimly lit, not quite white, but tryna be shade. It's kinda depressing, but that could jus be from me feelin' depressed. I don't know.
The ceiling looks new. Hardly a scratch or blemish or mark on its steely surface. Way more new than the ceilings in Ri'lar's ol', decrypted, tired, run down ship. Nah, this ceiling right here...it's got class. It's got upkeep. It screams new an' clean.
I hate it.
In its cleanliness, I pick out its faults. It's probably one of a million. Jus' like the million. No character, no struggle, no real life to it. Now, I'm not doggin' on clean things. Cleanliness is next to you an' all, but for a boat like this to have nothin' goin' for it, nothin' to let a brutha like me know—BOOM.
That was a loud noise. Was it? I'm not sure. Barely heard it, but I felt it. It was a rumble. It was a quake. It was a—
There it is again. The room shook. My sword fell out of the closet. My clothes toppled on the floor. The quake happens one mo' gin, an' I jump to my feet, rush to the sword, pick it up, an' head out the door.
In the hallway, first thing I notice is that almost white light is now flashing red around me. The whole boat's on high alert. Can barely hear myself think over the high, wailing warning alarm that's in tune with the lights.
CRASH
That I definitely heard.
And felt. The boat's bein' rocked. The crashes and booms are gettin' more frequent. Then they stop. What the world is goin' on? I run down the halls, doin' my best to ignore the sound that's shrillin' on my ears.
At first, I'm thinkin' we bein' attacked. Then I think that's stupid. So I think we ran into a asteroid belt or some nonsense. Then I think that's even stupider. Why? Well, back when I was runnin' wit' Ri'lar, on one of his more talkative days, he gave me the run down about how empty space really is. I mean, it's really, really empty. Most objects aren't anywhere near each other. You got a star system, a few things in it, like planets, moons, asteroids, an' whatever, an' in between 'em, a whole lotta nothin'. When you get to the end of the star system, it's a whole lotta more nothin' until you get to the next one.
What's all dat mean? Even if we were in a asteroid belt or storm or whatever, I doubt I'd notice it from here. So what's that mean?
We's gettin' attacked.
An' sho' nuff. As I turn the corner, da first thing I see is a group of aliens I ain't neva seen before, walkin' around wit' guns. Bad news is, they see me, too.
I'm quick enough to recognize that one of 'em looks like a upright walkin' wasp. I'm quick to remember that the one thing on Earth that I absolutely hated the most is wasps. Bees are a close second, but since they make dat honey, I can't hate too hard, but wasps? Nah dude, don't mess wit that. Nu-uh, no way. No, no, no, no—
BZZT
Dang.
Wasn't quick enough to react to that. The wasp dude took that giant rifle lookin' thing of his an' shot me. Wasn't quick enough to react to that. So much for testin' that theory of mine out about the sword out. Was way too slow to block with it.
Dang, it stings. Like a hot, burning like pinching thing in my chess. The pain hits me quick. It burns. Like I got zapped. It's got an electrifying sensation to it, too. Feelin' light headed, losin' my feet. Dang it. Dead center. Right between da lungs. The—the—what's it called? Sternum! Right in my sternum.
I see the wasp dude an' his homeboys pumpkin head, foggy butt, an' Georgy Giraffe walk towards me. I wanna fight 'em. I feel like if I don't fight 'em I'm gonna die, but with it goin' black all of a sudden, I don't think that's gonna happen. What was in dat shot?
I gotsta go. Get out of here. Leave. Move legs. Come on!
I turn tail an' run. Feels like I'm runnin' slower than normal. Can't really tell where I'm runnin' to. The echoey sound bouncin' off the wall lets me know my feet are still hitting the floor. An' that lets me know I'm still movin' some place.
But what if I jus' end up runnin' into some more bug faces? The halls connect to everywhere. I need to duck out. I stop. Look back to see ain't nobody comin'. Look ahead to make sure ain't nobody there neither. Find a door, open it, an' flop on in.
I hear the door close behind me. How do I lock the thing? Come on, get up an' lock it. Nope. Too lazy for that right now.
Right now, I'mma lie here on this hard, cold, metally floor an' sleep. Yeah dude. Sleep sounds real nice about now.
