The first meeting with her contractors was astonishing to Revel. Everyone bowed. Privately, she thought no-one had lived until they watched a room full of three-meter tall Xenos bow. It was like watching a small forest fall over, politely.

One of them stood straight, with a slight hitch as he moved. Back problems must be an issue with this species, Revel guessed. “ Welcome, Noble Engineer. We are here to help. Whatever you require locally, please make your wishes clear to me. I will ensure all goes well. I am called Rpex, your building supervisor, and I am at your command.” He began to bow again but Revel raised her hand. “ Please, enough bowing. I do not require it, it slows things down too much. Also, my title is either simply Revel or, if you must, Engineer. Agreed?” Revel was no expert on these Xenos, but she thought the room relaxed a bit at that.

“Certainly, Engineer. Where should we begin?”

Revel decided something. “First, you and I will have a meeting. Get everyone else moving the cargo from the shuttle. Don’t drop it and, please, don’t open anything..” Another thought crossed her mind, “ In fact, don’t let anyone else open anything, either. Not without me there, anyway.”

In the large and drafty office she had been given, her Xeno looked uncomfortable without his team around. She waved him to the desk, “ Please, we have work to do. I guess you’re my Gaffer down here.”

Rpex hesitated, “ Gaffer is not translating. Perhaps you could explain the term?”

Revel laughed, which made Rpex jump back several feet. She sighed, reminding herself that flashing a mouthful of teeth at Xenos was never a good idea. “ My apologies, Rpex, it is the honorary title given to the individual that actually builds everything. I’m afraid I will be spending my time sorting out the tech. I will be relying on you for the building and its services. I laughed because I wondered what kind of species doesn’t have a translation for that position.”

Rpex was getting more confused by the minute. He had been heavily briefed before he had been allowed to serve the Human. How important, how difficult, how alien it was. Now she was speaking to him as an equal, expressing humour in his presence. Giving him clear responsibilities and demonstrating a clear idea of how the project should proceed. Perhaps, perhaps he needed to talk to someone more...reliable.

“ Forgive me, Engineer. It would be rare for our people to acknowledge such a position existed. I will attempt to do my best. I recommend you allow me to supervise the Cargo, if that is your wish. If you permit, I will use this new title in the event of any issues at the ship?”

This time she simply smiled, “ Of course. Let me know when everything is here. I need to inspect the site.”

Rpex called Chancellor Cpex as soon as he left the room.” We need to talk. I’m going to supervise the cargo, I’ll be at the shuttle.” Cpex was only mildly surprised by the call. He had chosen well, he thought. Perhaps he should go and make sure the Human shuttle was secure. He called his security.” We are going to the spaceport.”

Revel walked the site of her installation. She was fine with the locals building all the skinny concrete walls. It would make her skin crawl to put them up. She shook her head, too long in space, too much time assuming that the outside was trying to kill you. The Med Labs were hers though, and she would build it as it should be built. Human Altered, as it should be.

She spent most of the day measuring out the Labs and implanting the basic nano-tech. Just the stupid stuff, simple ‘here, here and here’ instructions. The evening was spent unpacking the cargo as it arrived.

At the door of the shuttle, Rpex remarked, “ I hope this is all it’s supposed to be. I suspect our beloved Apex has very high hopes.” There was nothing but absolute sincerity in his voice. Cpex nodded, “ Truely, he has set a great store by this. I would say he and the clans have invested much to bring the Humans here, and provide them with such devices.” The two aliens, low-born in a divided world, were easily able to parse the subtleties of the conversation. In essence, “ Do you want me to lose a few parts?” and “ This will ruin the Apex if it doesn’t work. Warn the human, then break it.” They nodded amicably, and returned to work.

Rpex quietly removed several small packages, unable to read the contents he simply chose parts that he could easily hide. What bothered him wasn’t that he couldn’t read the labels, because he could. He simply had no idea what the words were supposed to mean. He grabbed them because they carried a warning ‘ Property of Engineer Revel. Do Not Open Under Pain Of Death!’

Three days of building had given Revel a complete room, with three individual Med bays. She was about ready to find a very large hammer and beat them apart. Rpex watched, content that his small sabotage was successful. Still, best warn the Engineer. He had, unexpectedly, enjoyed working with her. She was direct, clever and absolutely not a noble. He smiled at his first encounter of Human expletives. Such fluency. Such elegance. Practically poetry, in his opinion. He would be nailed to his workbench for repeating a third of it, but the memory lingered. In his mind, he used the human word ‘Fuck’, and its many variations, about his supposed betters. ‘Fuckwit’ was quickly spreading as a favored word amongst his friends. Even if it was overheard, human curse words weren’t in the translator.

However, best tell her the truth. “Engineer, my apologies for interrupting. I see there are problems. Do you foresee a solution to these issues?” Revel came back into the room, from deep in thought. She hadn’t realised that she had been muttering aloud. “Sorry. I just didn’t think you were listening. The readings are all off. It makes no sense. It's like I’m feeding the sensors nonsense, yet these are the same samples your prince gave me. They weren’t contaminated, I’ve checked every copy, and taken new samples.That and some bastard stole my tampons out of the shuttle. She paused. “ Perhaps you could help. Would it be possible for you to lie on the med bay? Let me take some new readings. I mean, you’re the same species. Sort of.”

Not entirely sure what he was doing, Rpex laid down on the surface. It felt soft but supportive. Odd. Various instruments hummed and scanned him, all alien. Strange probes touched his skin briefly. Revel stood over him, “Are you alright? I just ran the most basic scans, height, weight and DNA. According to the data your government sent me, you’re basically dead. Something is wrong with my machines, I’m sorry. Looks like I’m not the Engineer I thought I was. I’ll get the Captain to send someone else.”

Rpex hesitated. This was a crime, if she repeated it. He decided to trust her, because otherwise this was just another blow to his people. Better to risk it now, rather than regret it forever, “If I may, the government is notorious for hiding medical data, It’s common knowledge among the low-born that it's unreliable, even outright false half the time. They don’t want us working out why they live so much longer that us. They probably just sent you the usual bullshit and expect to adjust it when you leave.Perhaps that would be best for you, they react poorly to anyone- anyone- that pries into Clan secrets. I’m afraid everyone is hoping you fail”

Revel ran this through her brain. These nutjobs had fed her a load of bullshit data, expected her to fail and leave in disgrace, then come in to fix it themselves. All to stop their own people from living longer. Or maybe, to ensure that they would continue to be the top five percent and fuck the rest. She had already half-killed a planet for less. Maybe she could balance that by fixing a people deliberately being kept half alive. It wasn’t exactly clear to her how that made sense, but she had a week. And a Med Lab. Better than a library, anyday.

She smiled at Rpex, a full and worrying display of teeth. Rpex suddenly realized that for someone the size of a child, she could break him in half, if she wished. She spoke softly, “ I need you to bring me people, discreetly and discreet. I want to solve this little problem. If you can trust them to be quiet about it, bring me every man, woman and child you can find to scan. I need real data. Also, give me back those little packets you took from the shuttle. I doubt you need them.”

Rpex nodded. She had read the problem like a diagram, working out what was happening as if he was a part in a broken machine. Which was fair, he supposed. Then, without a moment's pause she has conspired to investigate the darkest secret the government held. A secret they routinely killed people for mentioning. “ I can bring them in in the evening. I’ll give them one of those packets, so you’ll know I sent them. Please, help us.”

Revel shook her head. Weirdest password she had ever heard of. Still, sure, why not. “ I’ll call Cpex and get a few nobles in here during the day. I’ll tell them it’s working perfectly, that should drive them nuts. What do you reckon?”

In a low voice he simply said, “I think Cpex will be...remarkably helpful.”

Revel, if she was surprised by such a senior official being involved, didn’t show it in any way that he could read.Instead, she asked him to lie down for some more serious scans and told him a story. Of a Library ship, long ago. Of a planet that had attacked some peaceful scholars she worked with. Of the surprising fragility of moons.

“I have taken every test I can think of. I will measure them against our patient in the ship, see what I find. But I need so much more. I have sealed this room against surveillance, for now. Speak freely, but I have work to do.”

The only question that he wanted an answer to. “Why? You’ll be gone in a week, Why get involved? Even if this works, the Clans will never forgive or forget, and they have money and friends out in the stars.”

Revel didn’t want to answer. She still was’nt sure herself, but in the end, she knew. “ I can’t leave it like this. I fix things, it’s my job. If I left now, I would be leaving a really shitty piece of work behind.” She paused, giving up an unwanted truth, “ These days, my work is all I have,”

Cpex took the call from the Human. He had finally figured out the end-game for the nobles. Sometimes you just need to watch the guestlist. Suddenly, Noble Physicians and Software designers were all over the Palace, fed and entertained at the Clan’s expense. So Revel would fail and leave it to them. They would win again. Perhaps the Humans had unknowingly handed them true immortality. He was not surprised, then, when she demanded he meet her immediately at the Lab. She told him that there was a severe problem and he needed to drop everything. He noticed the unsubtle grins as he called security to take him there. All going to plan, he thought bitterly.

She met him at the door, simply nodding a greeting and walking swiftly to the Human installation. She let the doors swing closed behind them before she spoke.

“ Rpex is a remarkably bad liar, also a terrible saboteur. I hope you are better at it. He, however, is lucky, and you can’t buy that. I expect you to be better. I have secured this room, speak freely and quickly.”

Cpex was just as quick, well used to reading even the most alien of minds. Revel, for all the distant homeworld, was straighter than anyone raised in this twisted world. She had chosen a side. His side, for all that was holy. He, alone of all those involved in this plot, had studied the person and not just the job description. He, alone on this world, had traced her path through the stars and rejoiced at her actions. No point in wasting time. ”He’s an honest man. I’m a senior diplomat. Tell me what you need and why it will help us.”

Revel moved to one of the displays, pointing to the scans running side by side. “This one is our broken Noble, that one is your accomplice. I’m matching the biology, down to the deepest cellular level and generating data clusters to highlight the deviations. I need a much larger data set. I have plenty of low-born coming in, but I need nobles. I want you to tell them it’s working perfectly and I need to scan them. I don’t care how, get me men, women and children from the Noble caste down here for me, and I’ll solve this in a week.”

“My Lady, if that’s what you need, I may have a few suggestions…”

On his return to the Palace, he stopped by to have a chat to one of the older Ladies that wandered the gardens. He inquired after her health, marveling at her youthful looks after so many years. She insisted she had one foot in the furnace and would be lucky to survive the season. In an indiscrete moment, he mentioned that the Human had been completely successful in her work, and that any day now she would be handing the Med Lab to the Apex. Perhaps, as a favour to such an old friend he could ask the Engineer to have a quick trial run and have a look. Within an hour, every Noble with his number was calling him, begging for a quiet visit with the human, before the Apex sealed it for his family. Revel would have her scans, probably more than she wanted.

Revel ran test after test. Her supposed Nobility came in useful. Since she left all her ‘visitors’ the impression they owed some vast, unmentioned favor for her help. She scanned Nobles all day, low-born all night, grabbing some rest during the lull. After three days, she closed the doors. She called Cpex and Rpex, telling them. “Either I have the data, or I don’t. I can do no more scans and I need to work. Tell anyone who asks that I am preparing the room for our Prince. I’ll call you when I have something.”

She could already see the shape of it. It was easier with xenos, in a strange way. She could read the scans like a diagram, peeling back the layers. And this was engineering. Both castes had been designed, then redesigned. This wasn’t a bug, this was a feature.The viral load on the low-born was ridiculous, constantly working on implanting DNA strippers on them. Forcing the cell copies to falter, mutate and age. Multiple vectors, implanted into everything from their equivalent of the common cold to STD’s. The Clan Nobles had exactly none of them. Instead, they had antibodies for everything, a reinforced immune response that actively pursued any deviation in their cells. Reading it historically, the battle was centuries old, perhaps starting with some pandemic that ended up giving a random advantage to some. Then that was ruthlessly developed for the benefit of the five-percent. But they were losing. The low-born were getting better, perhaps the bloodlines weren’t as clear as they should have been. Some Romeo and Juliets had blended their genes along the way. She wasn’t here to help. She was here to provide them with the equipment to crush the low-born again. Fuck that.

Her last day on the planet. She called the Royal office and laid out her demands.

Cpex was summoned to the meeting and handed the list, “What do you make of this? She may be Noble, but this is a little much! Does she realize the cost?”

“ My Lord, perhaps it is best to just get her off the planet. She is, after all, leaving the Med Lab behind. It may be some custom we are unaware of.”

There was a stir amongst the nobles, many of whom had quietly visited the Human in those few short days and whose equipment had resolved some embarrassing problems, felt that a favour was being called in. “ Sire, we will arrange it. A fine show of gratitude from our people will be made.”

Revel walked from the Med Lab to streets lined with crowds. In her delight she shook the massive hands of people, even kissing the children close to her height. After much stopping and starting, she finally arrived at her shuttle and the official farewell. Cpex met her at the beginning of the red carpet, bowing low and whispering. “ If I may, my Lady, what the fuck?”

She grinned, “I broke the bastards. I took all their tricks and spun then around. I created a new virus, built from their designs. Then they lined everybody up so I could spread it. You all have the same immunity as the fucking Nobles now. You can look forward to a very, very long retirement. Like sixty years or so.” She passed him a data spike. “I put it all on that, feel free to publish it everywhere. Now take me to the Apex.” Then she kissed his cheek.

It was a strange walk to the reception. Crowds were cheering, none of them quite sure why, except they got the day off for this and every celebrity on the planet had been pressured to turn up. The little human was cute, constantly hugging and kissing everyone. Perhaps they were an excitable people. Nearly everyone had a hard time seeing her as some noble alien, she resembled an excited toddler to them. After the celebrations, Revel was brought to meet the Apex privately, as he waited by the shuttle.

She bowed low, “Apex., it’s been an honour. Your name will be written in the histories for your work today.”

The Apex, who was simply there to make sure she got off his planet as soon as possible, was lost.

Revel turned and waved to the crowd watching. “ I broke your fucking poison. I have spent a very happy day passing your immunity to the whole fucking planet, you piece of shit. I’m sending a Library ship to your planet, and don’t try and stop it. Look me up, see how that works out.” She smiled up at him. “ So go smile and wave, tell your people that the human has made it all better, everybody lives longer, everybody can now go to space and then claim the credit. Or I’ll come back, asshole.” At that she stepped into her shuttle, closing the door in his face.

“Ship, get me home. And put on Les Miserables, finale. Loud”

Some weeks later, as the uproar subsided, as caste was uprooted and celebrations continued a small unmarked shuttle arrived. Another human, carrying quite a lot of luggage. The equally unmarked warship that hung over the Palace granted him an immediate audience with the Apex. The human didn’t identify himself, simply placing his cases on the desk. “These are the heads or applicable body parts of everyone you have sent against Engineer Revel. I would like to make it clear that this is not the act of any human government. You are not the first to be offended by her work. Consider this a warning, because if you do it again, I will be carrying your head to the next asshole that tries to kill her, and frankly I don’t have a bag big enough.” At that he turned and left.