Chapter 66

Spread the Dream

Alexander released the last of the restraints holding the alien. The creature’s breathing had steadied into something like sleep, chest rising and falling in a rhythm that seemed too slow compared to a human.

He glanced around the lab, once again taking in the blood pooling beneath the twisted metal coffin that had been Dr. Miller, and the shining gold liquid mixing with it.

Probably wouldn’t have been safe, anyway. He said it was his ‘enhanced’ serum.

Tugging the mask from his face, his eyes fell on the tablet the doctor had dropped. The screen was cracked, but it still flickered with life.

He lifted it with Metallokinesis, floating it over to Droney and balancing it carefully on its spherical dome. The drone adjusted slightly, compensating for the weight.

Footsteps echoed down the corridor. Alexander tensed, electricity crackling between his fingers, then relaxed as Annie and Talia burst through the doorway.

They slid to a stop.

“Holy shit,” Annie breathed. Her eyes went wide behind her mask as she approached slowly, almost reverently. “It’s… it’s an actual alien. My first time seeing one in person.”

She reached out a hand, then pulled it back, then reached out again.

“Annie,” Talia warned, though her own voice carried barely concealed excitement. Horror crept over her masked expression as she took in the mismatched limbs and surgical scars. “That’s a Syltharian.”

Alexander looked between the alien and Talia. “You recognize them?”

Talia nodded, moving closer but maintaining a respectful distance. “They’re rarely seen off their homeworld. They’re incredibly advanced, but they choose to live simply. In harmony with nature, building only with natural materials. Though they do trade with other spacefaring races, and some leave to explore.”

She knelt beside the medical frame, studying the creature’s form. “They’re also extraordinarily fragile compared to humans. Hollow bones, delicate musculature. This one…” She paused, jaw tightening. “Earth’s gravity is probably causing constant low-level pain. Like being slowly crushed.”

“Holy shit,” Annie muttered.

Alexander looked down at the unconscious Syltharian, then at the heavy metal key in his hand. “There are other cells. Maybe more survivors.”

Talia stood, already thinking ahead. “We’ll need to carry it. Up the elevator, then through the facility.” She glanced at the metal surgical tables. “I’ll rig up a sled. You and Annie check the cells.”

Alexander nodded, moving toward the door. Annie fell in beside him, removing her own mask as they went, uncharacteristically quiet.

The first cell door swung open, revealing empty darkness.

The second, the same.

The third released a wave of decay that hit them like a physical force. Annie gagged, stumbling backward. Alexander’s stomach lurched, bile rising in his throat. He forced it down, breathing through his mouth, already regretting removing his mask.

Inside, something that might once have been alive lay crumpled in the corner. The decay was advanced; weeks, maybe months old. Whatever species it had been was impossible to determine now.

They moved faster after that.

Seven cells held living occupants. Each alien was different: one covered in scales that reflected light like oil on water, another with too many limbs and eyes that never stopped moving, a third that looked almost like a blue, partially transparent human except for the gills fluttering weakly along its neck. They were all shackled, all exhausted, all flinching when the doors first opened.

They bore signs of rough handling: old bruises yellowing at the edges, a poorly healed break in one alien’s arm that hadn’t been set properly, scrapes and cuts from restraints during transport. The gaunt look of prolonged neglect hung on them all. Failed experiments, abandoned to waste away once Miller lost interest.

Alexander reached out to Talia across the comms channel. “We’ve found others. How are they surviving here? One even has gills.”

“Oxygen is the most evolutionarily likely respiratory fuel in liquid-water environments,” Talia replied. “And life is abundant in supportive environments containing liquid water. Others exist, including methane and chlorine. There’s even one advanced species that consumes carbon monoxide, though they’re quite unusual.”

There was silence for a moment before she continued. “Genetic engineering helps with surviving the different ratios, which is the real problem. But with over one hundred Galactic Council species to choose from, I’m sure they only targeted those that could survive Earth’s environment for testing. Ours is representative of the norm for many, it turns out.”

Continuing on, Alexander tried to communicate using gestures, and what he hoped was a calming tone. The aliens seemed to understand enough. Or perhaps they were simply too desperate to resist, grasping at even the faintest hope of escape.

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The variety stunned him. No two were of the same species. Miller had been collecting them, running his experiments on whatever he could acquire. The dead ones showed the timeline with some recent enough that they might have been alive days ago, others so long gone that only bones remained.

By the time they’d checked every cell, Alexander’s initial awe had curdled into something hollow. These beings had traveled between stars, built civilizations, created art and science he couldn’t imagine. And they’d ended up here, in a secret lab, imprisoned and then discarded by a madman with a god complex.

They gathered all of the survivors at the elevator. Alexander took control of the metal tray Talia had prepared, the Syltharian lying still atop it. The other aliens huddled together, some supporting those too weak to stand alone. One, a creature with crystalline skin, made a sound like wind chimes that might have been weeping.

Droney floated steadily beside him, still recording.

The elevator rides were tense. Alexander went first with the Syltharian and three others who could walk unassisted. The rest waited with Annie and Talia for subsequent trips.

They were halfway through the facility, returning to where Augustus waited, when a security guard came skidding around the corner, clearly in a hurry to get somewhere. He froze mid-stride, taking in the scene: Alexander, an unconscious alien floating on a tray, over half a dozen other aliens shuffling behind him, and Annie and Talia at the rear helping two more who could barely walk.

The guard’s hand went for his gun.

Alexander felt a spike of annoyance.

He seized every bit of metal on the man and hurled him sideways. The guard hit the wall with a crack that might have been the concrete breaking, or it might have been bones. Alexander didn’t look back to check.

They kept walking.

“Auggy, we’re here,” Alexander said over comms as they approached the storage room.

The door opened immediately. Augustus stood in the doorway, and for the first time since Alexander had known him, the man looked genuinely shocked. His eyes went wide, taking in the parade of aliens, their various states of injury from capture and exhaustion from neglect.

Then his expression darkened, a cloud passing over his features as he absorbed what he was seeing. He stepped aside, holding the door open.

As Alexander passed, floating the Syltharian behind him, Augustus muttered, “You did good, kid.”

Alexander wanted to feel proud. He felt only numb.

The portal hummed in the center of the storage room, a perfect oval of swirling light. Some of the aliens hesitated at the sight, making sounds that might have been questions or fears.

“It’s safe,” Alexander said, knowing they probably couldn’t understand but hoping his tone would convey the meaning. “Safe. You’re getting out.”

Talia stepped forward and began speaking in something that definitely wasn’t English. The syllables were strange, almost musical, with clicks and tones that human throats weren’t used to making. Several of the aliens responded, their postures relaxing slightly.

“Galactic Common,” she explained to Alexander’s questioning look. “Not everyone speaks it, but enough do.”

One by one, the aliens passed through the portal. Some still needed encouragement. Others practically ran through. The crystalline one paused at the threshold, turning back to look at them with eyes that might have been grateful or might have been sorrowful. Then it too was gone.

Annie came last, helping an elderly-looking alien with mottled green skin and too many joints in its legs. She was rambling as she guided it along.

“—reminds me of when I used to help my grandma up the stairs. She had bad knees, you know? Refused to get them fixed, said she’d earned every ache. Stubborn as hell. You’re just like her, but you’re being much better about this than she ever was. She’d complain the whole way about how I was going too fast or too slow or—”

“Annie,” Talia interrupted, not unkindly. “That’s a male.”

Annie turned tomato red. “Oh. Oh! I’m so sorry, sir. I mean, uh, you probably don’t understand anyway but sorry!”

The alien made a sound that might have been amusement. Or pain. It was impossible to tell.

They passed through the portal.

Only Alexander, Augustus, and the unconscious Syltharian remained.

“Ready?” Augustus asked.

Alexander nodded, guiding the floating tray toward the portal. The Syltharian hadn’t stirred once during the entire rescue. He wondered if it would survive. If any of them would, really. They’d been through so much.

He stepped through the portal, the world twisting and reforming around him. The familiar interior of Augustus’s estate materialized. It was strange, knowing that it had only been about nine hours since they had left. He felt like he’d aged a week.

The aliens stood clustered in the living room, looking lost and frightened despite their rescue. They’d traded one cage for another, even if this one looked much nicer.

Augustus came through last. The portal snapped shut behind him with a sound like tearing silk.

“Right then,” Augustus said, surveying the collection of traumatized aliens in his foyer. “I suppose we should figure out what comes next.”

Alexander set the Syltharian’s tray down gently on the floor.

Somehow they had made it through mostly unscathed. A few cuts and a missing piece of his ear were a small price to pay for what they’d discovered.

And those they’d saved.

Meanwhile, Annie was already trying to figure out if any of the aliens ate pizza.

Because of course she is.

He glanced at the tablet still balanced on Droney’s dome. Whatever was on there could wait. As could the information and recordings they’d recovered.

Right now, they had more immediate problems.

Like figuring out what the hell to do with eight alien refugees who’d been abducted, experimented on, and who probably had no way home.

Alexander froze at the sound of a notification. Glancing at the other members of Grimnir, he could see they had the same surprised looks.

He pulled it up.

[QUEST]

Spread the Dream

Voluntary

In rescuing survivors of a Santiago Systems experiment, you now find yourself responsible for their wellbeing.

Return the new Dreamers to their homes.

Reward: A new Skill for an attribute of your choosing.

(Note: Chosen attribute must be one which is already Ascended.)

ACCEPT? YES | NO

Alexander exchanged looks with the others, each of them appearing as wary as he felt at their new quest.

Annie’s new friend shattered the tense silence.

“Pretty Chilli!,” it squawked. “Chilli go out! Chilli Chilli!”

He sighed. Why can’t anything be simple?

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