Waking up from surgery is never a pleasant thing.

Drugs tend to stay in your system making you want to sleep longer, painkillers adding drowsiness, impaired judgment and the anxiety of unknown limit of their effectiveness.

Jasmine was surprised to not feel any of these things when she woke up, she didn’t even remember falling unconscious, but what she could feel was the cool trickling water of a stream. Did someone leave a tap on?

“Xant?” Jasmine whispered.

“I am here, Jasmine” Xant was sitting right beside her, has he had promised. With his words a coolness wafted over her skin, goosebumps chilled her. She sat up slowly to get her bearings and to figure out how much of her perception had changed with the new translator.

“How do you feel Jasmine?” When he spoke, the invisible water splashed against her arm. She flinched, running her fingers over her dry skin.

“I don’t know…” She answered honestly, she was no longer numb to those around her. The ebbs and flows of another living being were now a part of her consciousness. Her own glow now reverberated from her chest to the tips of her fingers, toes and nose.

“So, am I still hazardous?” she asked.

“You are still intence, but now you will be able to judge your own freq aggression and adjust accordingly,” Xant wiggled his ears, “With my guidance of course.”

Jasmine giggled in reply.

“Your smile ‘tickles’ Xant, and my laugh is ‘bright’... This is so weird,”

“It will become normal with time,” he encouraged.

“As does everything,” She answered, sliding off the bed. She wondered what the other aliens onboard the station felt like, the dogs and Xant were very distinct, her own aura was almost blaring. Was there any subtlety or nuance she would be able to detect? She rolled her shoulders and neck feeling a cold breeze coming closer…

She paused, looking at the wall where the ‘air’ was coming from.

“I think someone’s coming,” She muttered as the cold breeze moved along the wall.

Xant turned to the door, ears flattening.

“I suspect the Lieutenant might be wanting an audience, I’ll do my best to stall for time,” he said, slipping on a new pair of gloves and a fresh lab coat. “You will need time to adjust before attempting negotiations, hopefully, he will listen to reason.”

Jasmine nodded and watched her friend leave the room. The walls were thick enough that the welcoming water stream became barely noticeable as he left.

If she could clearly feel Nako through several walls, she wondered how intense the military commander was in person.

Jasmine gulped.

Freq aggression, blasts, bombs, were all very tangible to her now. She closed her eyes, just to feel the new world around her. The cold air blew over her shoulder and through her bones, as she turned Nako stood there, looking down at her.

His presence was somehow more intimidating and regal than before. He seemed taller, stronger like he could crush her with a single swat of his hand.

It was a lot easier to avert her gaze now.

“Sir Nako, it is good to see you,” she greeted before he could.

“Ah, Miss Howe, good to see you in healthy form,” he greeted.

“(He was rather insistent)” Xant’s snippy thoughts escaped the translator, the Lieutenant’s aura fluctuated but his body didn’t move. Jasmine felt it all, there was no pretending to ignore or misunderstand anymore. The subtlety and clear communication were as fascinating as it was scary. She wondered how she would navigate it all?

“I have a delivery of sorts Miss Howe,” Nako chuckled pulling out a dataslate from beneath his blue cloak. “Reminds me of my training days, running errands for warship princes.”

Jasmine accepted the slate.

“What is it?”

“I am told it is your application for citizenship, but it needs some details for it to be completed, namely your title,” His third hand reached over and tapped a few buttons, “Whenever you are ready.”

Jasmine started at the dataslate, she could feel Xants silent protest and Nako’s willful ignorance.

“No,” She finally answered.

“No?” Nako blinked

“No?!” Xant rushed to Jasmine’s side for answers, radiating concern. Jasmine switched the dataslate off and handed it back to Nako.

“Miss, Mrs, Ms, ‘Miss Howe’ is a title that doesn’t have any meaning or weight anymore, if I’m going to announce myself to the galaxy at large, then I need my own title,”

Nako was taken back, obviously surprised by the easily rebuffed request.

“Your attendant has suggested some appropriate titles, perhaps he can help you choose-”

“I need more time to deliberate. Please Sir Nako, just a few more hours and then we can leave the station.”

Jasmine took a deep bow, the xeno rules of etiquette coming to her a little more instinctually.

“Very well,” Nako swept up his cape, “Take your time then, your Grace, but I will be most interested in hearing your new ‘human’ title. May your calling be clear.”

“Thank you, Lieutenant, safe travels.”

As Nako excused himself, Jasmine felt a tiny pulse of aggression ping from Xant towards the door.

“He may be a Lieutenant Commander and a prince, but that’s no excuse to strong-will anyone,” Xant sighed. “(He must be getting anxious aboard the station.) He will be wanting to leave soon.”

“Well, he can wait until I’ve said my goodbyes, I owe everyone on this station. Some more than others,” she smiled at Xant, “but there is someone I need to apologise to, face to face.”

-*-

I understand completely

Tap...

Specimens are living, feeling beings

You’re a doctor

Tap...

Admit your own incompetence

Tap...

It's more convenient to take what you need

Tap...

You get off on having complete control

Tap...

You abuse them

Tap...

You’re fucked up

Tap...

Tap…

Duuarn slowly moved his jitter-jacked hand across the data slate’s screen, linking protein strings and deleting unnecessary genes from the sample he was restructuring.

He had made progress with his movements, beginning to anticipate the shakes enough to compensate and was up almost 20% to his original speed.

“Dr Duuarn, you have a visitor,” Dr Xant’s voice broke his concentration.

“I don’t have time for visitors, I need to continue my therapy,”

“Please?” The human’s voice asked softly.

Duuarn stopped, his hands fumbled from surprise and dropped the dataslate, he stared at the device as it fell off the pod and onto the floor. While he had gained 20% in his hands, Duuarn had not had time to work on his mobility.

“Here let me,”

Duuarn watched as the human lifted up the Dataslate to hand it back to him, her presence didn’t burn any more… He snatched the device back and returned to the program, his hand shaking more than ever.

Xant pulled Jasmine back gently acting as a buffer between the two.

“Dr Duuarn, I see you’re condition has improved,” Xant stated gently.

“...”

“Jasmine came to apologise to you,” The Zenthi prompted, the bedbound Qzetillian looked up from his work, solid black eyes stared straight through Jasmine. The human stared back, Duuarn felt like a plate of glass, empty, heavy and fragile.

“What for?” he asked dully returning to his slate.

“I would have thought that was obvious?” Jasmine interjected, it hurt to see the doctor in this condition and do nothing.

“You have redefined my entire perspective towards the consideration of User specimens. My treatment of the Users and my method of study, it was all meaningless and worthless. You have shown me this truth. To degrade yourself as to apologise to me undoes the correction you preformed, I am wrong to treat others as I have done. There is no need for an apology.”

Xant stared at Duuarn, where Jasmine’s presence had opened him up to wondrous possibilities, she had absolutely destroyed Duuarns abrasive determination.

“Maybe…” Jasmine replied softly approaching Duuarns beside, “but you won’t always be wrong, you didn’t know, I didn’t know. People make mistakes and learning from those mistakes is how we grow.” She bowed her head, “I am sorry Duuarn, I had no idea of the power I had. I was angry, I was scared and now I know how much that can hurt you. I know it probably means little, but I am truly sorry you had to suffer, I just didn’t want you to hurt the dogs…”

“It doesn’t matter, it is better our goal be crushed now than for us to continue the lie,” Duuarn replied unmoved by her words

“What?” Jasmine gasped confused.

“Duuarn,” Xant’s ears flopped down in despair for his coworker.

“We were never going to see Clentessia, we weren’t the right builds, our personalities and skills would have never been enough. I had angered too many connections in the government sector and Dr Jess for all her wonderful plans doesn’t have time to master both her skillsets in time. Subject Jasmine, you merely tempered our expectations.” Duuarn lamented, not for the opportunities crushed, but for the fact it didn’t happen sooner.

“Wait, you and Dr Jess were a thing?!” Jasmine exclaimed, embarrassed she never assumed the aliens had such unions.“Well, that certainly explains... a lot.”

“We were intimate companions yes,” Duuarn confirmed. “You’ve done her a favour really, now she won’t be held back by my inefficient self,”

“You shouldn’t talk about yourself like that,” Jasmine countered, “You haven’t lost your value just because you’re sick, You can’t just give up on everything, not after one mistake! You can still do good in this world.”

“But, I’ve made so many mistakes-”

The human took ahold of Duuarns shaking hand, imparting as much encouragement as she could.

“If you only think of the negative it becomes harder to move forward. Trust me on that one, If you’ve pissed off people, you can make amends and if they turn you down don’t waste any more time of them. Your work isn’t viable? Start new work! There is so much in this galaxy that needs to be studied, it’s not too late to find your passion in life! You can use your failures and help others learn from their mistakes! If you give up now you will never get the chance to be right!”

Duuarn sat there in a daze, it couldn’t be so simple, could it? To radically change his career path? To find something he was not just good at but, interested in? Was there a role for him in this world still?

“You make a convincing argument,” he admitted, “but few would be as convince of my abilities with my injury,”

“Then use it your advantage and have them underestimate you,” Jasmine released his hand, “if you keep trying maybe, in the future, I might even be able to help you out?”

“That is a very generous offer, I will consider it,” Duuarn stated, nervously returning to his dataslate.

“Then we will leave you to your work,” Xant nodded ushering Jasmine away from Duuarn.

“But we’ve only just started-” Jasmine protested but Xant insisted.

“Duuarn still needs a lot of rest, little by little Jasmine,”

Jasmine looked back at Duuarn, his head buried in the glowing dataslate, still uneasy

“See ya around, and good luck with everything,” she waved, but Duuarn did not look up from his device, he was focused on.

The human was strange.

She didn’t say anything wrong, but, to do what she proposed would take an enormous amount of effort. His projected recovery would knock his contribution credit down considerably. Did he have any data from his research he could recover to combat that?

Genetic engineering was all he was trained in, but he needed to be able to manipulate the tools to do his work, perhaps there was a way he could use his knowledge indirectly?

He put down his dataslate and pressed the intercom on the recovery pod.

“Yes Dr Duuarn?” Pa’s voice greeted him.

“I need to leave a message with Behavioral Studies,”

“And what is the content of the message?”

“I’d like to see all the data we have of the Human and the Dogs interaction, I'd like to cross reference them with both Subject’s brain scans and DNA. Leave it in the attention of Dr Jess,”

“Yes Doctor,”

The communication line went silent, and Duuarn returned to his exercises, perhaps, if he could not continue his own work, he might be of some use to Jess’s. If the User and Creator had indeed been selectively breeding alongside each other over thousands of years, there might be a way to isolate and cultivate the more agreeable behaviours and genes in both.

He finished the exercise and waited for the device to calculate his results.

Huh.

He had increased his dexterity and accuracy by almost 33%.

Duuarn stared at the door where the human had left.

Maybe, his chance to be right would happen sooner than he thought.

-*-

“So what kind of variety do I have to choose from in the way of ‘titles’” Jasmine asked, watching as Xant collected his possessions for transport. Placing his entire wardrobe (about 4 sets of identical clothes) into one vacuum sealed steel crate, the rug and cushions in their own and his collection of media and research dataslated carefully contained in a specialist container.

Jasmine felt like she had more belongings that lived in her car than what Xant owned in his entire life.

“You indeed have a wide variety to choose from, titles usually denote one’s accomplishments, freq abilities and in the case of the arvas, reproductive status,” he explained, moving to his terminal to download the last of his research files.

“Huh,” jasmine muttered, tapping her boots in thought. Leaning on the desk as she watched her friend work.

“For instance, my titles include ‘department head’, ‘doctor’ and ‘field researcher’” Xant suggested, "DH is my formal title, doctor for my colleagues,"

“So job titles, really, humans have those as well,” It made sense for a people literally designed for their jobs, but what about her? Anything she studied for couldn't really be applied to her work now, did she really have the authority to call herself an ambassador? A diplomat? She was just an unlucky (or very lucky) kid in the wrong place at the wrong time.

“As well? how many title categories to humans have then hmm?” Xant teased, disconnecting his last dataslate from the terminal and placing it in the crate with the rest.

“Hmm now that I think about it,” Jasmine crossed her arms in front of her, leaning against the desk recalling aspects of her previous life. “You got marriage titles, that’s where ‘miss’ came from, you’ve got royal titles from centuries past, government positions, military ranks, academic achievement… Wow, I guess in a way, they’re all just job titles...”

“Would nutritionist be an apt title for yourself? Or perhaps an artist profession? Your love of song would qualify you as a Musician”

“No no, I don’t have an instrument and I figured i’d need something with a bit more diplomatic weight behind it. Would you trust a Nutritionist about social economics?” she joked back. Xant’s ears folded down as he nodded his head in agreement, only for them to shoot back up, excited with a plausible option for her.

“How about ‘human consultant’? Or earth culture expert? Both would be valid, and vague enough that no one could question your authority,”

“Nah, too… () sterile.” she murmured, looking away sadly. While the translator now did a fantastic job of filtering unwanted projection, every now and then, a little slipped through. Involuntary fluctuations, they were quickly suppressed but Xant wasn't sure if that was the translator, or jasmines doing.

“You could always try an imperium title?” He suggested.

“Imperium? Like Princess? Is the Imperium different from the council?” she wondered, having heard the name in passing conversation once or twice before.

“Yes, the Arvas imperium is its own entity and fight alongside the council against the Rajavan threat.” Xant explained, happy to see her perk up. “I’ve heard the Lieutenant Commander refer to you as ‘Maiden’ before, and Suk referred to you as ‘Princess’, you did seem to be fond of that one,”

“Yeah, but there was a very famous ‘Princess Jasmine’ in my culture and while not an unfortunate comparison, I couldn’t call myself a ‘Princess’ seriously.”

“Princess’s in the Arvas imperium hold command of entire swarms of Arvas troops, they are the respected and at times relentless leaders of the Imperium, does Princess hold a different connotation in Human terms?”

“Uhh, well…” Jasmine raised her hand to push hair behind her ear out of habit, “‘Princesses’ are largely marketed towards little girls, childish inspirations, actual princesses are mostly figureheads but aren’t allowed do much outside of ‘charity work’, most people just wait for them to have royal children,” she sighed, a powerful mantle in the eyes of aliens but she couldn’t shake the years of stupid taunts from her childhood from the word. Besides, her favourite had always been Mulan anyway. “it’s, complicated,” she settled.

Xant had to chuckle.

“You’ve essentially described the Arvas ‘Maiden’ title, they sacrifice power in exchange for reproductive rights, Princess’s attain enormous Freq power but become sterile in the process, different hormones during the pupa stage.”

“So, I’m guessing their queens.. Have lots of children, right?” Jasmine asked feeling a little squicky.

“That is correct, the Arvas of the Imperium still reproduce ‘manually’,” Xant replied turning an old phrase back at her.

“Right… well, I don’t think an Imperium title is going to work then,” she politely declined. Reminding herself that an alien insects value on bodily functions and autonomy were differently placed than her own. Infact, she was still very different from the Imperium and The galactic council, she needed to reflect that in her choice. “I need something more human… What about phrases like ‘Alexander the Great’, ‘Princess of Wales’, ‘Breaker of Chains’ or ‘Seeker of Darkness’? Do you guys have anything like that?”

Xant’s ears perked up as he placed the last item of clothing into a crate.

“No, we don’t have anything like that! A certainly unique human trait,”

“Well, that certainly gives me more to work with! I need a something bold and succinct, a title that tells you exactly who I am and why I need to be taken seriously,”

Xant locked the last of his crates, all three display panels lit up to the press of his fingers, all that was left now was for it to be carried to the dock.

“But you already have one of those,” Xant stated, walking past his companion.

“I do?” Jasmine asked, caught by surprise. Xant looked back at her from the open door, flicking his ears up and wiggling his tail happily from side to side.

The human stopped, and a warmth flowed from her heart as she caught on.

“Yeah, I really do, don’t I?”

-*-

It was a ceremonial occasion at the dock.

Nako and Tifera stood waiting at the REFINED, the entire station staff and Nako’s ship crew watched as the last meeting took place, a sea of armoured aliens, a sprinkle of what was left of the company.

Laandi stood in her formal office wear, elegant gown draping from the shoulders covering her body in sheer orange and black fabric. The Esaander company logo emblazoned down her sides,considering she couldn't read the alien text Jasmine thought it looked surprisingly tasteful. The director held onto a glowing data-slate offering it to the human before her with a warm and respectful stance.

Jasmine stood opposite, shoulders back, head held high, encased in Esaander coloured armour with a light blue sari draped around her shoulders like a scarf. Her eyes respectfully averted and her hands folded neatly in front of her, waiting for the ceremony to begin.

Behind the human stood Dr Uru’Nav Xant, the doctor now stood in citizen sized military-grade armour, standing just as proud beside his friend. His fealty sworn, his mind expanded, he was no longer just a researcher, but a witness to a pivotal moment in history.

Dwarfing the pair stood Captain Derjan Rynard encased in his own military regalia, at attention.

He held no qualms about stepping into the fray again, if it was for the massive, emotional bomb that called itself a citizen.

The three dogs sat patently between them, calmly watching and waiting as the scene folded out infront of them, for the first time understanding the reason behind such a gathering.

Laandi raised her voice for the crowd, it carried far and across the dock despite her tiny and frail frame.

“Please state your homeworld, species, name and title,” Laandi prompted, rasing the dataslate for jasmine. The human stepped forward, her own voice ran loud and clear, as she announced, truly for the first time, who she was.

“Earth, (Terra Firma), Human (Homo-Sapiens), Jasmine Anne Howe, The Namegiver.”

Deep, bright, warm and strong.

The data-slate beeped accepting the input, Laandi bowed her head deeply upon completion.

“Excellent Namegiver Jasmine, I am honoured to file this with the council on your behalf, may you find true balance in the universe.”

“Thankyou Executive Director Laandi, Live long and prosper,” Jasmine returned the bow.

As they lifted their heads, the ceremony concluded, Nako raised a sword above his head.

“RETURN MARCH!” his voice bellowed around the dock. Every one of his soldiers turned their heel, making their way through the airlock back inside the REFINED.

The formality of the moment lifted, Jasmine was able to speak much more casually with the Director.

“Thankyou Laandi, for the scarf and for all your help these past few weeks, ” she shook the elderly aliens hand gently, trying to imbue as much sincerity as she could into the action.

“You do not need to thank me for my profession Namegiver,” Laandi chuckled, enjoying the sensation of gratitude, “but I do hope you’re not opposed to little bit more help,” The Director signalled for Arc and Suk, the pair walked over presenting Jasmine with gifts. “I have commissioned for you especially a collection of research data-slates, one each for photography, video, scheduling, illustration and personal use, as well as three recording slates, all with their own transport case,” Suk presented the heavy-duty case that was emblazoned with the Esaander logo, bright orange triangles and streaks against a black background. Inside the data-slates were neatly stacked within their own protective foam pockets. “And from my own personal collection, a parting gift of fabrics may they help you be presentable in your many meetings to come,”

Arc opened the smaller, more decorative case, inside were three neatly folded scarves in midnight blue, sunset orange and deep sea green.

“Director…” Jasmine gasped in awe, touched by the sentiment. She ran her fingers over the squares, scared to even try to unfold them.

“They helped me in my first negotiations, it is only fitting that I pass them onto you before I retire, these past few weeks have been a bit too exciting for this old body.”

Jasmine closed the cases, holding one in each hand before handing them over to Rynard for safekeeping.

“I will treasure them,” she thanked the Director before addressing the Arvas soldiers by Laandi’s side.

“Arc, thank you for being so helpful and enthusiastic, I won’t forget our training together,” Jasmine nodded, The guard twittered his antennae and, not knowing how to respond to such praise, stood at attention.

“Yes, Your grace!” he saluted.

Suk inwardly sighed and shook his head.

“Suk,” Jasmine smiled, “I won’t forget the story of the worker prince, thank you for your inspiring rendition,”

Suk’s antennae started twitching as Arc’s did, but he saluted in a much more formal fashion.

“Thank you, Namegiver,”

Rynard chuckled, arms folded in front standing strong as their Captain.

“Now don’t you two be going soft without me here, whip those new recruits into shape!”

“Sir, yessir!”

“Sir, yessir!” The guards saluted Rynard, small tears leaking from their eyes.

Jasmine, stepped back letting Rynard say goodbye to his companions, she looked over to the few station crew that still stood at the dock, at the very least, she owed them all a goodbye.

“Xant?”

“Yes Jasmine?”

“I’m just going to be a minute, I’ll be right back,”

“Take your time Jasmine,” The doctor nodded, it would take him some time to walk to the REFINED in his armour anyway.

Jasmine made her way over to Pa and Nu, they stood there surprised she even approached them. They were very humble as she thanked them for their patience and bravery when dealing with her human self.

“I hope I’m the most dangerous thing you ever have to deal with, I just wanted to thank you both, for not being afraid of me.”

“We are honoured, Your Grace,” Pa bowed deeply and simply while Nu answered with a sweeping bow and a hand flourish,

“Thank you, Your Grace,” more short pleasantries were exchanged before Jasmine spotted Dr Yusa. The Zenthi was standing by her packed belongings, waiting for another ship to return her to Acom corp. She shook Pa and Nu’s hands before making her way over to the pensive docotor.

“Dr Yusa?”

The Zenthi stopped in her tracks, startled.

“Yes, Namegiver?” she answered.

The more Jasmine was addressed by her title the more it began to mean to her, she didn’t know Yusa as well as the others but she was no less important.

“I wanted to thank you for my new translator, without your help most of this world would still be a mystery to me,”

“Thanks is unnecessary,” Yusa shook her head, “I was merely a small part of this venture. You will probably receive improved translators down the line.”

“Well, regardless, thank you,” Jasmine nodded her head and awkwardly left the doctor alone as she made her way back to Xant and the others. But Dr Jess intercepted her, blocking her path holding more data-slates while smiling expectantly.

“Uhh, Dr Jess-”

“I have compiled a series of questions for you regarding all my research on human/user relations,” The small, purple lizard chittered “and provided an answering slate with my details so you can send them to me upon completion!”

Seven more, loose data-slates were thrust into the human’s grasp. Jasmine coughed nervously as she tucked them all under her right arm.

“I’ll get them finished as soon as I can-”

“Excellent!” Jess replied, “Any and all detail would be most helpful!” before scuttering off, with frenzied urgency.

“Wait!” Jasmine called. Jess obeyed, stopping in her tracks and turning her head over her shoulder.

“About Duuarn, I’m... I’m sorry.” Jasmine bit her lip and gave a quick, deep bow, but Jess said nothing. She stood frozen for a long while, unable to respond before turning her back and returning to her office with a more thoughtful or sombre pace.

Jasmine watched Jess disappear down the corridors, guilty nerves twisting her stomach. There was nothing left for her to do now, there was only one goodbye left.

Between her and the station.

“Are you ready Jasmine?” Xant’s soothing voice called to her.

“Yeah,” She replied, taking one last look at the white walled station, “I’m ready.”

The group of five followed the Lieutenant and his captain through the massive hull that was the REFINED, leaving the halls of Uleesia Station, and Esaander Corp behind.

Through the bowels of the REFINED, every soldier, engineer and logistics officer saluted as they walked past, the giant walls of open bunks soon gave way to smaller, but enclosed quarters. Nako opened a room far away from the regular crews bunks, where two large copies of Rynard stood outside the door.

“This will be your living quarters while aboard the REFINDED, I do hope these mere Captains quarters will suffice. When we arrive at Branch I will ensure accommodations are more suited to someone of your power and status.” Nako assured her.

“It is very generous of you Sir Nako,” Jasmine replied taking in her new surroundings and supressing the growing nerves in her stomach..

“It is the least I could offer to ensure your transport goes smoothly. . Now, if you’ll excuse me, I must give the order to cast off,” The Lieutenant departed with a small nod of his head, leaving Jasmine and her entourage to their own devices.

“Huh, swanky,” Rynards commented.

It was a two bunk room, spacious with its own bathroom facilities and spaces for battle armour to stand rested. The bare trimmings dotted the room except for two large black box stasis pods installed in the side of the room.

Jasmine stared at the black coffins apprehensively.

“I have to travel inside one of those, don’t I?” she asked.

“Unfortunately yes, but I will ensure your consciousness remains subdued,” Xant replied, his voice clear through the suit’s speakers. He already had the chems waiting for her and the dogs, measured to precision. Xant knew the horrors she had awoken to before being placed inside the Rajavan storage, he was determined to never let her feel such terror again.

“How long is it to the military station?” another unnecessary question only adding to the amount of growing nerves.

“For you? Mere moments Jasmine,” he comforted his steel hand on her plastic armour.

“And the dogs?” she finally tore her gaze away from the stasis pods to face him, blue eyes searching for solace.

“Sleeping right beside you,” Xants ears wiggled in an attempt to brighten her mood. “They wont feel a thing, and neither will you.”

“Good, good,” she replied, her eyes darted and a small flush of red pooled in her cheeks “Do I need to get undressed or...?”

“Not necessary,” Xant popped open the shoulder panel on Jasmines armour, blue capsules of depressors ready to be inserted into the suits systems.

“Wait,”Jasmine looked to her canine companions, putting on a firm but loving tone, “Now you lot behave while I’m gone, listen to friend Xant and friend Ryn, understand?”

“Yes, Namegiver!”

“Yes, Namegiver!”

“Yes Namegiver!” they all replied with varying levels of enthusiasm and engagement.

Jasmine took another deep breath, clearing her mind and heart.

“I’m ready Xant,”

Xant nodded and pressed the capsule into the suits administer mechanism. Jasmine blinked, looking at the front and back of her hand.

“Huh, I don’t feel any…” she began, before slowly falling backward into Xants arms. No fear of panic washed over her as she felt her body growing heavy and limp, just a serene sensation of sleep.

“Goodnight… Xant...” she whispered, eyes closing slowly.

“Goodnight Jasmine,” he whispered back, his voice and her consciousness fading into darkness.

End of Dream Arc

Continued in Disparity Arc