EVE Fiction

The man sat outside of the small cafe that resided within a large main square surrounded by similar such cafes and bars. There was nothing immediately unusual about this man - He was moderately dressed, was of average height and build, with dark, well kept hair and was clean shaven. What was slightly unusual about the man was how he observed the world with a look for curiosity on his face.

He studied the buildings around him, huge towering structures that formed formed part of an immense superstructure of a space station, a citadel, built at great expense by a capsuleer alliance. Each structure was designed and made to look as close as possible to terrestrial structures in an attempt to make the surroundings as familiar as possible to the inhabitants, because once you looked beyond the immediate structures, a vast and disorientating space could be observed.

The man observed the crisscrossing walkways and mono-tram rails that connected the higher levels while serving to break up the vast expanse that was the citadels interior. He watched the people - thousands of them - tiny specs walking about almost completely oblivious to anyone more than a couple of meters from them. There was more going on than the man could possibly observe but the man was trying to take it all in with a strange look of fascination. All these mindless bodies moving about their days totally unaware of their surroundings outside the citadel and beyond.

The most overwhelming sensation was the noise - it was incredible. Sound absorbing materials of the buildings did their jobs to keep it to something a bit less than that of a human speaking, but the energy of it, the vibrancy of it, as thousands of people went about their daily routines, a constant hum that washed over everything, echoing in the vast space around him, blurring into one, this vast collection of humanity floating in a metal box in space.

The man took his eyes away from the commotion that surrounded him to look at his more immediate surroundings. A couple had made their way through the crowd that bustled around the square - He was holding her hand while speaking and gesturing towards the cafe with a slight grin on his face. They approached the main entrance where they were greeted by the maitre d’. The man couldn’t make out the exchange between the maitre d’ and the boyfriend but whatever was being said was not to the girlfriends approval. Her protests were clearly heard -

‘I’d rather go somewhere else than sit outside with all this noise! Who in their right mind would want to sit outside in this! Only someone who is deaf or dumb would sit in the citadel common areas.’

The man found it odd that someone would complain such, but he looked around and indeed noticed that, despite the square having a large areas dedicated to seating for each outlet, there was not a single person sat outside - he was the only one.

While contemplating this, the girlfriend dragged a protesting boyfriend away,

‘Can we not wait for an inside table for a while? This is the best place in the district!’ he pleaded.

While watching the couple fade away into the crowd a waiter arrived at his table and placed a cup containing a dark liquid within it in front of him. The man nodded politely and handed the waiter some worthless slip of paper that apparently the citadel residents use as money to which he said

‘Keep the change’.

For a moment he wasn’t quite sure who was more surprised, the waiter who had been handed a note of currency worth a day's pay, or the man, whose own voice made him jump in surprise. The waiter protested at the man saying something about it being too much and he couldn’t accept, but the man ignored him. He was more preoccupied with how ridiculous it was to be startled by the sound of your own unfamiliar voice, so he hummed to try and get used to it.

Left alone to himself again, the man reached to pick up the cup and he became acutely aware of his fingers. As he wrapped them round the cup, the sensation of the warmth, the texture of the cup, it felt different, unfamiliar. He studied his fingers and hand expecting something to be wrong with them, but they looked perfectly normal, or did they? There wasn’t a single blemish on them, not a scar, wrinkle, freckle, or spot, anywhere on them.

The man shook off the confusion clouding his mind, picked up the cup and placed it slowly to his lips. He blew gently across the surface of the liquid, its strong pungent aroma and javan fragrance filled his senses as the warm caress of the steam passed over his face. It was, comforting, relaxing, as his senses absorbed every sensation right before he took his first sip.

An explosion of taste filled his mouth as the warmth of the liquid wrapped itself round his mouth. For one glorious moment he felt a wave of pleasure wash over his face as his brain furiously analysed every single sensation.

Calmly, he placed the cup down. Trying not to let the strange sensations take over his emotions. He is a normal person, in a normal place, doing something normal - he cannot show he is any different to anyone else. He had to keep control of these senses that threatened to overwhelm him.

‘Mister Albyne?’ said a voice.

The swirling chaos of emotions that were threatening to overwhelm the man were suddenly focused on this voice, that was the name he was listening for. Yes, Albyne was supposed to be his name.

Albyne looked up to see a disheveled middle aged man dressed in what should have been a smart and crisp business suit. His eyes were rapidly scanning his surroundings all the whilst wringing his hands in front of him.

Albyne wondered, why was he like this? Is he nervous? What a strange way to behave - but he recognised him as the person he was meant to meet.

‘Depends on who is asking?’ Albyne said while coldly staring at the nervous one.

‘The one with the keys to the kingdom.’

Albyne looked to his neocom and pulled up a map of the Citadel. He found what he was looking for - the biosphere gardens, that seems like the perfect place to watch things play out.

With that he left his seat and started making his way to the mono-tram station as indicated by his map. As he walked through the crowds of people he began to pick out individuals. People carrying palm sized NeoCom devices, data pads, bags and a menagerie of other items. There was a mixture of dress, some dressed in sharp business clothing, some more colorful casual wear. From the smart and conservative, to the provocative and revealing - His mind was ablaze with sensations that he just wasn’t used to - all these people, all these lives, who were they? What were they all doing? Why were they here?

Did they not know what was about to happen?

Albyne shook the thoughts from his mind, why should he care, mindless cattle, consuming, reproducing over and over again with their pathetic short lives consumed by their trivial concerns.

Mid thought he caught sight of something, a small group of people crowded around a holographic vidscreen watching what appeared to be a local news channel. As he approached, he started to overhear people talking within the crowd. Hushed voices exclaiming shock and awe at what was playing out on the floating screen. Focusing his attention to the display it showed hundreds of ships, battleships, in a vast formation that spanned many kilometers across exiting warp around the unmistakeable shape of a system stargate. With each and every second dozens of dull ‘thoomp’ noises emulated by the news broadcasters audio software indicated more and more ships were exiting warp.

The people gathered around the screen were murmuring ‘Are they coming here?’, ‘I have to get home’, ‘I must find my children.’ Albyne began to feel the same emotion he had when looking into Okaida’s eyes. But this time, it was tinged with something else… what was this? What was he feeling?

He watched the screen transfixed, a series of loud ‘thoomps’ startled him as a fleet of gigantic super carriers dropped from warp. Many kilometers long and wide, these behemoths dominated the screen. One of these giants, with the unmistakable winged profile of a Nyx supercarrier, headed straight for the camera as it slowed from faster than light speeds. Its immense size filling up the screen before colliding with the camera ship and cutting the feed to static.

Albyne turned away, lost in the turmoil within his own mind, when he noticed a change in the noise that had permeated throughout the citadel. The din of voices had turned into a more frantic pitch, the sound of movement more hurried, there was urgency in the air.

The same tone as before cut through the air and a new announcement came over the speakers.

All crews report to your assigned ships immediately. All crews report to your assigned ships immediately. All leave is terminated with immediate effect. All non essential personnel and non citadel residents are to report to the nearest shuttle terminal for immediate evacuation. This is not a drill.

The crowd around the vid screen began to disperse, people in military outfits heading in one direction and the rest heading in another. He went with the rest as that took him in the direction of the bio dome.

As he made his way through the citadel, to the mono-tram station, he felt like with every step, a rising surge building within him. The emotions within reflecting the crowd around him. His heart was beating hard and sweat was beginning to bead on his brow. Why did he feel like this?

Albyne made it to the mono-tram platform which was packed with people in various states of panic. Some people were frantically looking for others, calling out names. Many were desperately checking neocoms, sending messages, making calls. The wave of emotions from the crowd was overwhelming and Albyne felt like a helpless boat caught on the crest of tsunami wave.

The Mono-Tram whirred into the station and the crowd began to position itself towards the doors, each and every person tensed in anticipation of them opening.

As the doors slid open an unstoppable wave of people began to flow onboard. People began to cry out as they were forced into every space available, some became separated from loved ones and families.

Albyne found himself pushed up next to a small child whose cries of ‘Mom’ pierced right through his soul. As he looked into the eyes of the child, her eyes filled with tears and terror as she looked around frantically for her mother, but she was too small, she couldn’t see over the people that towered around her. Instinctively, he did what he felt was right - he reached down and picked her up and held her up as high as he could. She resisted at first, her screams becoming more frantic as this strange man picked her up. Albyne held her there for what felt like an eternity as she kicked and screamed for her mother. She suddenly stopped and her screams suddenly became a single loud and pronounced ‘MOM’ and a voice responded. He didn’t hear the name being called out, but he looked to the girl's face and saw her staring towards a woman in the crowd, arms held out.

Albyne put as much effort as he could into getting the child towards the woman. He forced his way through the crowds as the girl continued to shout ‘Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!’. Finally he felt hands wrap themselves round the child and lift her from them just as a final shove from the crowd pushed him over the threshold of the Mono-Tram doors where they closed behind him.

Panting and out of breath from the exertion Albyne looked up into the face of the girl who was tightly holding her mother. To his surprise the mother was smiling at him and she was beautiful. Her golden hair was ruffled from the crowd, but her eyes were deep and blue, and with a soft voice full of relief and admiration she said ‘Thank you’.

A haunting look of confusion crossed the womans face as Albyne quickly pulled the collar of his shirt down revealing a neural interface implanted into his neck. He plunged the plug of the device in until a click and hiss indicated it had found home. The vials began pumping their contents into his spinal column and a high pitched whine began building up from the device.

His vision began to fade as the euthanizing drugs overcame him. He lost his footing and slumped up against the other passengers around him. A loud ‘pop’ indicated the device had began its neural burn of his brain. The screams of the woman were the last thing he heard before finally passing into darkness.

In darkness he stayed. He knew he was conscious, but there was no sound, no light, he was submerged in something warm. He opened his mouth to call out but became aware that he mouth was filled with the same fluid he was submerged in. Panic gripped him and he instinctively attempted to swim, but as soon as he reached out his arms through the thick liquid all his hands met were wall, surrounding him. As he tried to move he became aware of a harness attached to his back, he tried to reach around to remove it but all he could feel were lengths of cable that were also attached to his back - and then he remembered where he was.

He fought the urge to panic and took a breath, while his mouth and throat was filled with the liquid it felt uncomfortable. But he was able to breath naturally, even if it took a bit of effort.

Welcome Back Admiral said a voice in his mind, Consciousness Transfer was completed successfully with minimal data loss. Are you ready to begin ship - mind interface procedure?

He tried to speak, in response, but realised how stupid this would be being submerged in hydrostatic liquid. ‘Begin interface procedure Aura’ he thought.

Understood Admiral, beginning ship - mind interface procedure to Erebus class Titan, please standby.

For a moment he hung there in the darkness for what seemed like an eternity and slowly the darkness faded. At first, pinpricks of light began appearing all around him, followed by colours of nebulae, until finally, the vast expanse of space greeted his mind's eye. Then came data feeds, they were not feeds of data as you would normally expect, but more an awareness. He knew his position, orbiting the moon of a vast gas giant. He knew the system's name and the locations of the star, planets, moons, stations. He also could feel his heart, a huge reactor deep within him that was releasing more and more power as he became increasingly aware, like a sleeping leviathan from fathoms deep within an ocean waking up from a long slumber.

Finally he felt his body - his familiar body, a vast ship within which his mind resided.

He reached out with his mind and touched the fleet of ships that surrounded him, connecting to the minds of those that resided within them and he issued his command ‘Report’ in his original voice, his voice of power.

‘Admiral, the codes obtained from the informant worked perfectly - the enemy communications were disrupted enough to allow us to break through their lines and assault the citadel - casualties have so far been minimal, only 800,000. Citadel shields are currently critical and we are ready for your arrival, cynosural beacon is green.’
‘Very well Commander, initiating the jump portal generator. Fleet prepare to bridge to the cyno.’

With his mind he reached out to the cynosural beacon and willed a bridge through space into existence. The Erebus glowed with power as it tore a hole through the very fabric of space connecting one point with another. The escort fleet began to jump through and once the last ship had left he willed the Titan through the bridge. He felt the power surge of the Jump Drives thrum through him before falling through a warp tunnel.

As his sensors recalibrated the citadel came into focus. The battle was raging on fiercely around the citadel with hundreds of shipwrecks floating off into space.

But he didn’t care about that, he was here to deliver the final blow. He reached out with his mind and scanned the structure of the citadel. The titan began to crackle with energy as green swathes of plasma created by coalescing antimatter particles contained within a magnetic field around its bow. He could feel its power building the weapon preparing to fire. But he hesitated - An image of a woman and a child flashed through his mind.

The Admiral dismissed the thought as quickly as it entered and he released the force of the Aurora Ominae onto the citadel. The blast burned through the last the shields and tore through the superstructure. Thousands of tiny specks were ejected into space as the massive hole gouged through the citadel exposed the interior and its inhabitants to the vacuum of space.

One speck that floated out into space was a shattered mono-tram filled with the flash frozen corpses of its passengers. The bodies were all facing towards one side of the mono-tram with terror on their faces except for three - A woman cradling a young girl and the slumped shape of a man.