“How could you agree to this?”

Raven was in a mood. I couldn’t really blame her. They’d reunited us after my disastrous meeting with the Master at my insistence. Originally, they planned on holding her hostage to keep me in line, but when I told them I literally could not do the job without her, they cut her loose. At first, she was relieved to see me, but that changed pretty quickly when I explained why.

“They didn’t give me much of a choice,” I pointed out. “After our… okay, my… escape plan went to hell, we were at their mercy.” I shrugged helplessly. “What was I supposed to do?”

“And the Oivu?” she continued. “Just how do you plan to pull that off? And even if by some miracle you do manage it, have you given any thought what will happen to your fellow Terrans? You know what the Oivu does to anyone foolish enough to cross them.”

“I know. I know!” I snapped, exasperated. “It’s a shit sandwich, no matter how you look at it.” I ran my fingers through my hair as I started pacing, trying not to panic.

“Maybe we can slip away during the mission,” Raven said hopefully.

“We tried that once, remember?” I said sourly. “Plus, I’m betting the Masters will keep an even closer eye on us than the Brotherhood did.”

She shook her head in defeat. “I can’t believe you sold them out.”

“After what they did?” I said incredulously. “I tried offering them a deal, and all we got in return was a wrecked ship and a suicide mission. They dug their own grave, as far as I’m concerned.”

I could tell she wasn’t convinced, but decided to let it go for now. “Then what are we going to do?”

“I don’t know,” I sighed, slumping down on the floor. We were still stuck in a featureless box, and I doubted that was going to change anytime soon. “As far as I know, no one’s even tried stealing from the Oivu before. Their policy on the subject is diabolically clear; you screw with them, they’ll screw you back a thousand times harder.”

Raven sat down beside me. “Where would they even keep that information?”

“Not a clue,” I told her. “For all I know, they have a copy filed with each one of their caravans. It makes sense when you think about it; I’ve never heard of someone making a deal with them only to be told they had to wait four to six weeks for delivery.”

“If that’s true,” she said slowly, “then it’s an impossible job. There’s no way you could delete the file from all their ships.”

“Yeah,” I said quietly. “It’s the ultimate ‘No-Win’ scenario. Just making the attempt is hopeless, and even if I somehow pulled it off, humanity ends up getting hammered by its enemies.”

“So what does that leave?” Raven asked. “What other options are there?”

“Only one that I can think of,” I told her, turning to look into her eyes, “but you’re not going to like it.”

“What else is new?” she smiled, trying to make light. “Come on, how bad can it be?”

“Pretty bad,” I said honestly. “We admit defeat, and let the Masters do with us what they will.” Her eyes widened in shock as I laid it out for her. “Things don’t end well for us, but at least humanity is spared.”

Raven just stared at me. “You can’t be serious,” she whispered.

“I’m deadly serious,” I countered. “I’m not thrilled about it, but I’m not willing to save my own virtual skin at the expense of my entire fucking species.”

With a sudden burst of energy, Raven pushed herself off the floor, only to glare down at me. “While I’m sure your intentions are noble, there’s got to be a better answer than committing suicide. There has to.”

“Not that I see,” I said, “and to be honest? I’m tired of fighting.” I slumped over my knees, staring at the blank floor. “I mean, what’s the point?”

Something about her changed when I said that. Suddenly she was giving me a look that made me feel like I was five and had just shaved the cat.

“I never thought I’d see the day where you’d just throw your hands up in surrender,” she said caustically, shaking her head in disgust. “Where’s the Trickster god? Where’s Coyote, or Robin Goodfellow, huh? I thought you were supposed to be the Magic Man,” she sneered, “but just look at you now… curled up in a ball, waiting to die.”

“Fuck off,” I snarled, “you don’t know anything.”

“I know you used to be better than this,” she fired back. “I know there was a time you’d have laughed in the Masters’ faces, instead of just falling apart at the seams. What happened to that guy, Alphad? Huh?” She leaned in close, grabbing my chin. “Because we could sure use him, right about now.”

“Don’t you get it?” I screamed, tearing at my hair as I fought to hold on to my remaining sanity. “You know what’s happening to me. Morpheus Syndrome, remember? I’m afraid to do anything, even so much as change the goddamn channel, for fear of making it worse. It’s crippled me, taken away everything that made life bearable, so what’s the fucking point? Huh? Tell me that.”

I broke, then and there. I don’t think I’d ever admitted just how much that future scared me, not even to myself. I’d been hiding from that reality for weeks now, pretending everything was great, and all the while dreading the appearance of some new symptom.

Denial is one hell of a drug.

My whole body shook as the fear washed over me, everything I’d been trying so hard to bury smashing through the walls I’d spent a lifetime building. I started sobbing, hugging myself while the tears stained my face, as I stared bleakly into the abyss.

And then she was there, her arms wrapped tight around me as she held me close, not saying a word, just letting the poison I’d been holding in slowly drain away. I don’t know how long we sat there, hours maybe, but in the end I wiped a sleeve across my face and looked at her.

“Thank you,” I whispered. I still hate crying though.

“You’re welcome,” she smiled. She shifted position, resting her head on my shoulder as we sat there. Finally, she asked, “Are you ready to talk about it?”

“Not really,” I shrugged. “Another time, maybe, but right now we’ve got bigger problems.”

“So we do,” she agreed. “Any thoughts?”

“One or two,” I admitted, “but I need to work through them in my head first before I share.” That wasn’t the only reason, but it would suffice for now. “But let me run something past you. What I was saying about the Oivu all having the same data, no matter where they were located. They must have some way of sharing that information, right? Some way to disseminate new knowledge to the other caravans after they’ve traded for it?”

“Makes sense,” she nodded. “What are you thinking?”

“A virus,” I told her. “Something that will erase the data the Masters want expunged, and then transmit itself across their entire network. It’s the only way I can think of to make this work.”

“Alphad,” she chided me, “you’re talking about a network you know nothing about. You don’t even know what language the Oivu use, or if it’s even compatible with your own. They share nothing about themselves, and while they’ll happily sell software to anyone with the credits, someone else will have written it, not them. We don’t know a thing about the Oivu, not even if they’re animal, vegetable, or mineral.”

“I’m fairly certain they’re not mineral,” I said half-joking, “but I take your point. Obviously, we’ll have to wing it.”

“Because that’s worked out so well for us in the past,” she said sarcastically.

“It’s all we have,” I said, spreading my hands. “You wanted optimistic. This is me being optimistic.”

“I said optimistic, not foolhardy,” she sighed. “Is there anything I can do?”

“Maybe,” I said noncommittally. “I’m not sure yet… but something tells me your bag of tricks will probably come in handy.”

I didn’t want to say any more. I didn’t dare say any more, cause only a fool in our situation would believe we weren’t under observation. I did have an idea, a possible way out of this nightmare, but if the Masters got even a whiff, that was it. They’d dispose of us with a snap of their fingers. Well, they’d have the Chell do it. That’s what slaves are for, right?

Fuck the Perseus Arm. Goddamn shithole.

“I’ll do what I can,” she vowed. “What’s our next move?”

“I’m guessing the Masters cart us off to a nearby caravan, and wait for us to work our magic,” I shrugged. “Beyond that? Not a clue.”

“Right,” she sulked. “And in the meantime?”

“What else? We wait.”

We didn’t have to wait long. It seemed the Masters were in a hurry to close off that intelligence leak. Strike while the iron is hot, and all that. They bundled us into a nondescript transport and sent us off to do the impossible, with a crew of indoctrinated Chell servitors to keep us on the straight and narrow. Transit time was much shorter than I expected; unsurprisingly, the Troika keeps close tabs on the Oivu. Under other circumstances it might be cause for worry, but assuming the Alliance had continued to build during my enforced absence, I suspect the merchants were the least of their worries.

The next complication we’d have to overcome was getting on board once we located a ship. Transmitting ourselves was out, that the Oivu screened their communications was a given. Someone would have to smuggle us aboard, via a tablet or other device, making an appointment on some pretext, and then leave us behind.

It was still a leap of faith, no matter how you looked at it.

The trip over was textbook, and once we were safely aboard the Oivu ship, Raven and I disengaged from the Chell and found ourselves a nice quiet electronic corner to hide in… and then did absolutely nothing. For my plan to work, we had to be invisible, at least until our handler disembarked. If we were discovered before then… well, I imagine the rest of our existence would be both short and painful. The contrived transaction didn’t take long, something about gathering intel on the Alliance, and when it concluded the operative departed. We waited another hour to ensure they were clear and then made our move.

Which mostly consisted of trying to get the Oivu’s attention. Politely.

I have to give them credit. The moment we made our presence known, they scooped us up and threw us into the proverbial paddy wagon. It wasn’t long before an interface appeared in our holding cell, as a gaggle of the plant-beings stared back at us.

“It’s not what it looks like, I swear,” I said hopefully, while Raven just buried her face in her hands. Maybe I need to get some new material.

“Who are you, and what are you doing here?” they asked suspiciously, not that I blamed them.

“My name is Alphad Aemon, and I’m a Terran, Avatar Clan,” I explained. “I met with your kind once before, recently, trading for information about the Brotherhood. I was also a member of the Gyrfalcon expedition, when they told you that the Tu’udh’hizh’ak were telepaths.” There. Hopefully, that established my bona fides.

The Oivu conferred with one another, in that strange silent dance of theirs. “That answers the first part of our query,” they acknowledged. “And the second?”

“The Tu’udh’hizh’ak captured us,” I explained, “and in an effort to not get killed, it forced me to reveal the information we’d traded to you. Needless to say, they weren’t happy about that.”

“That is not our concern,” they replied, rather haughtily in my opinion. “We struck a bargain. Both parties were satisfied with the outcome.”

“I don’t disagree,” I said, holding up my hands. “The Tu’udh’hizh’ak Masters sent us here to destroy that information. We’re not doing that,” I said in a rush, in case they were reaching for a ‘Purge’ switch or something, “but we’re hoping we can work with you to turn this… admittedly awkward… situation to our mutual advantage.” I grinned, hoping that might help.

Sure, I know I said that trying to escape after the mission wouldn’t work. Turning our coats yet again and passing on to the Oivu the intel we’d gathered… now that was a viable plan.

I hoped.

“Next time?” Raven piped in, “I’m coming up with the plan.”

… hard to blame her, really. You know, considering.

“You wish to do business,” they replied. “What do you offer in payment?”

“Umm…” I stumbled, looking at Raven in desperation. I’d kind of hoped they’d work with me as fellow members of the Alliance against the Troika, though in retrospect I should have realized they didn’t do charity. I mean, come on. They’re Oivu. But in the meantime, I needed something to trade with.

“The Eleexx are working on a new device to free the Chell from the Masters’ control,” I said hopefully.

“We are already aware of this research,” they replied. “Your offer is insufficient.”

Shit. “I have the coordinates of the location the Brotherhood use as a rendezvous point,” I said, trying again, “as well as details regarding their infiltration of the Troika.”

“Given the vastness of space, it is likely that rendezvous will not be used again,” they fired back. “What specific details can you provide?”

Wonderful. This day just kept getting better and better. “They’re using Troika transport craft to smuggle goods and personnel where they can be used to their advantage,” I continued.

“Such as the vessel that just delivered you here?” they answered. It went without saying that wasn’t enough either.

Strike Two.

Come on, there has to be something, my mind pleaded. You’re supposed to be the best Retrieval Specialist Chris has. Think, god damnit!

“The Tu’udh’hizh’ak!” I blurted out. “Not only are they telepaths, but that can take over someone’s body through mental projection and use them like a puppet,” I said hurriedly. “They can speak through them as well, though it seems to burn out the host pretty quickly. The one I saw only lasted a few minutes before they died… rather grotesquely, in fact.” I held my breath while the merchants conferred as Raven took my hand. My palms were sweaty.

She didn’t seem to mind.

Finally, they turned back to face us. “Your offer… is acceptable,” they said at last, as I breathed a tremendous sigh of relief. “What is it you seek in return?”

Raven and I shared a look. “To be honest, I’m not exactly sure,” I told them, “but if we put our heads together… metaphorically speaking… I’m certain we can come up with something the Troika will regret,” I chuckled.