#elenia volescu

[stellaralchemist]

[shipsidescuttlebutt]

 💭 💭 💭

Marko on Elenia: I love her so much. I love her brain and her body (mainly her boobs). I don’t think she will ever see herself the way I see her. I think she is beautiful, and I love the parts of her that are prosthetic just as much as the parts that are not. I hope she knows that. My body is not whole either, and of course I am vain. I wish I was young and intact too, like we used to be. We were both more beautiful then. But it matters so much less after nearly one hundred years of yearning, that I get this chance to love her now is truly some sort of miracle.

Yora on Elenia: Aside from my brother, she is the only person I can speak to openly because she is not condescending. She does not tell me I am selfish or wrong or petulant. She understands how I feel when I say that I don’t think I belong here anymore. She’s angry and she’s sad like me.When did I become this way?

Miranda on Lady: She’s crazy. Sometimes she’s sexy, talking with her space-smuggler sass and doing risky stunts. Sometimes I think I can feel the curse tugging at my bones. Maybe I will die young.

[prfoundlysuperengineer]

💭💭

Jenny on Elenia: She’s… she’s… Slag. She’s complicated. On one hand she’s a friggin’ conceited, self-absorbed coward an’ I hate how she treats e’erone like shit. On the other hand I’ve seen ‘er care (ya didn’ ‘ear it from me). She’s ‘elped save so many of us, ‘n not entirely against ‘er will. She’s been good t’ Jer, ‘n tha’s ‘nuff fer me. The Doctor’s so much smarter than I could e’er hope t’ be. I’m so impressed… ‘n honestly a li’le jealous sometimes. Also, I love pissin’ ‘er off. She’s cute when she’s mad. Used t’ call ‘er Lenny, ya know, as a fun nickname, but after bein’ a dick ‘n a poor sport there’s no way I’ll let it go. On’ tha’ note, I wonder wha’ paralyzed nipples feels like. Is that a thing tha’ can actually ‘appen?Jenny on Vadim: Seriously one o’ the nicest desh I e’er met. Then ‘e came back outta where e’er he was locked up at t’ help save the Cap’n! We’re all lucky t’ ‘ave a doctor like ‘im around.

[eldanseeker]

💭💭

Of Elenia: “I don’t even know why she’s helping me. It’s certainly not because I asked her to. Maybe if she was capable of showing even an ounce of compassion, I’d feel a little less like a fucking lab jabbit and more like an actual patient every time I go to her. Sometimes I think Guy must be twisting her arm to agree to this.”Of Lady: “There must be a side of her I’m not seeing, because I’m continuously astounded that people like Yautja and Morducai would agree to be captained by such a shallow, self-absorbed, impulsive woman. At least we’re both open about how much we dislike each other. I hate pretense.”

[deeafrotailmisstress]

Fleeting Meetings

((My first WS Rp! And it wasn’t a total fail!! Ermigurd!! Thanks to @stellaralchemist​ for being super super chill and awesome, I really like Elena and she was fun to RP with, so I hope you guys enjoy reading this short RP!))

In a small empty bar sat Elenia Volescu by the bar enjoying a drink alone. That is, until a shorter woman speed-walked over to the right of the Mordesh and looked about shiftily, as if she was on the lookout for someone. She quickly hunched over beside the woman and grunted a small greeting “‘Sup.”

Elenia Volescu raised a blue eyebrow, looking over her datachron. “Do I know you?” She asked in a dry, hissing voice.

Jazz paused at the surprisingly direct question and scratched the back of her head quizzically “Noooo...should I know ya? If I should, I apologise, I ain’t exactly in my super focused mood right now…” She weakly smiled as she hurriedly looked to the front and cleared her throat “So uh...mind doin’ me a quick favor lady?”

Elenia gave her a thin look, raising the glass of whiskey to her lips “Why should I?”

The human beside her drummed her fingers onto the counter as she thought about an appropriate incentive. A good question indeed. Jazz bit her bottom lip nervously as she muttered “‘Cause...I’ll buy a round fo’ ya? Plus it’ll lit’rally take ya like, two seconds.”

She tilted her head to flutter her eyelashes playfully at the Mordesh with a small nervous smile “...pretty please?”

Elenia finished her whiskey in one gulp and pointed to an expensive looking bottle on the top shelf “Make it a double, then we can talk.”

Jazz’s eyes widened when she noticed that the bottle would cost her every coin in all her pockets...literally. She just mainly lived on every wage she got along the way, so it didn’t surprise her that she was rather limited on funds now. But seeing as how she almost felt the footsteps of some people she dreaded coming in here any minute now, she shook her head and gave a thumbs up to the cloaked Mordesh “Ya got ya’self a deal gal!”

She quickly ordered the bot for the requested vintage and quickly went back to hunching over as if to hide behind Elenia and stage-whispered really close to her “Could ya real quick give a peep over to ya left an’ see if any shady fellas be here or lookin’ ta find somebody?”

The blue-haired woman rolled her eyes and gestured to the corner of the bar, indicating that Jazz should hide around there “I’ll snap my fingers when it’s clear. Go hide.”

“...What if dey see me headin’ over there?” Jazz whispered louder, getting quite worried to leave her already cleverly secluded spot behind a sour Mordesh “Jus’ sayin’, they ain’ gonna wanna go pokin’ ‘round a salty lookin’ Mordesh so mebbe I oughta stick ‘round here?”

The bot on the other side of the bar whirred to refill Elenia’s drink as she shrugged “Suit yourself. Who is after you, exactly?”

“Uuuhhhh…” Jazali let out a long awkward sound as she tried to think of an excuse to not tell until she heard a familiar voice coming from down the hallway. She let out a small ‘eep!’ and completely forgot the Mordesh’s advice to hide in the corner and instead ducked under the counter to hide behind the bar in a panic move.

Elenia sighed under her breath, lifting her new glass of whiskey and casting a look over to the door. A human man cloaked in dark black leather walked into the establishment, followed by a Grund in similar attire who stayed behind in the hallway, looking around with narrow eyes.

The human male was muttering something to his datachron as he looked around the entire area, only stopping once he reached Elenia. He leaned his elbows against the counter beside her giving his own attempt at a charming smile, which came off as a sleazy smirk “...Seen a girl come by here recently?”

His only response was Elenia staring him down “Who the fuck are you and why are you speaking to me?” She asked in a flat hiss.

“Someone with the freedom to ask a simple question aren’t I?” The unshaven man smirked and raised his hands up peacefully before narrowing his eyes “You’re the only one here o’course, so I figured I’d ask since we’re merely lookin’ for a poor misplaced soul…”

She turned away from the man and already looked bored of the conversation.

“Not feelin’ like talkin’ huh?”

It became extremely apparent that she was playing solitaire on her datachron.

“...Suit yerself then.” He shrugged before hacking and spitting to the side. He gave the area one last look before he walked off, waving the Grund to follow him out. Elenia tapped on the bar with a knuckle when the man was gone, still flipping over cards “That was easy.”

Jazz lifted her head up from under the counter when she heard the knock and stared at the woman playing in silence. Her lips slowly widened into a very big grin that stretched from ear to ear before she let out a loud bark of laughter and leapt onto the counter beaming “Hah! I figured dem boys ain’ gonna wanna mess with a scary lookin’ Mordy gal like ya’self!”

She crossed her legs and sat on the counter, not noticing the mud she was getting on the wood as she grinned “That sure was a mighty nice thing ya did for me lady, an’ they ain’ even put up a fuss! Boy I like you, what’s ya name?”

“Oh wait!” Jazz smacked a hand against her forehead with a chuckle and stuck out her other one in greeting “Heya! The name’s Jazz, friends call me Jazzy or Shorty, enemies call me Little Shit, but ya can take ya pick, I don’t mind!”

Elenia lightly moved her whiskey away from the woman, staring at her critically through the chatter and eventually extended a gloved hand “Dr. Volescu. Try to speak more quietly.”

The shorter human shook her hand eagerly “Dr. Volescoo? That’s a cool name! Mind if I call ya doc? Oh!”

Jazz snickered to herself and leaned over to speak more quietly as she winked “Sorry, forgot y’all Mordesh be more o’ da silent type, but thaz cool too! My friend Moki always be sayin’ dat ya can say a lot with a few words, I just usually have trouble with that, but it’s only ‘cause I got lotso’ emotions an’ I wanna express ‘em y’know?”

She bit her lip before she could continue and sheepishly chuckled “Oh yeah, quiet, sorry. Whatcha doin’ round these parts Doc? Here jus’ fo’ the fancy drinks lovely gals like me getcha?”

Jazz cheekily smirked at Elenia, who continued to stare very hard at her. In a slow, deliberate gesture she reached into a pocket and pulled out a little packet of nicotine gum. The pieces fell into her hand in a series of pops and she started chewing “I actually came here for the quiet. Is there an Off button on you somewhere?”

Her new companion blinked in a very confused manner, not really getting the hint as she looked about herself mumbling “Uuuhh...no? I don’t reckon I do? Figure it’d be cool way ta go to sleep though! Ya reckon that’s how the Mechari be takin; their naps? Pressin’ dat off button while listenin’ to their favourite tunes like...Heavy Metal?”

Jazz snorted loudly at her own little joke before leaping off the counter and taking a more comfortable seat beside Elenia.

The doctor continued to stare at Jazz and downed the glass of whiskey, dropping the glass upside down on the counter “Do you want a piece of advice?”

“...Sure! Figure I owe ya anyways, what wid ya savin’ my butt from those weirdos, an’ I ever so appreciate it ‘cause I would prefer ta keep mah booty.” She nodded and placed her chin onto her palms, waiting eagerly.

Elenia gestured for Jazz to lean in closer, making her scoot closer in her chair, and then leaned in forward. “You will be better at hiding if you don’t shout so much.” She hissed quietly and, with a quick scan of her datachron over the waiting bot, she paid her tab and walked out.

“...I’LL KEEP THAT IN MIND!” Jazz called after Elenia as she left with a wave.

[fantasticfriends]

Shadow of the Empress: Update III

Official condition of Jenny ‘Firestrike’ Brightmist: Deceased Only alive thanks to the young woman’s ingenuity and forethought to wear a pin that created an invisible protective shield around her, the doctor left the unconcious Jenny alone with Seeker Eldanhand and Jeremy Murdoch. Courtesy of the privacy of her hospital room, Jeremy was able to use his Primal abilities to almost completely heal the young woman. Later joined by Elrabin Lichengrove and Lady Starheart, the small group decided it was best that, for the time being, the public should think the engineer to be deceased. This would both ensure Jenny safety from the Marauder, Seth Blackstar, and give them an edge whenever they would move to take him out. Planning to take out the Marauder was one thing, finding him was another. Elrabin, Jeremy and Seeker made their way to the boarder between Malgrave and Southern Grimvault in attempt to find the broken thruster Elrabin had discovered days before. Distracted from their course, the trio were forced to return empty handed after Elrabin was injured. Meanwhile Jenny and First Mate Rook Vlakovian had a meaningful discussion and it was agreed that Rook would come with them when the time to strike at Blackstar was at hand. The following day the crew was thrown a surprise when Peter Crowe, relation to the Algoroc gang, Seth’s right hand man, and Jenny’s ex showed up at the front gate. Asking for Jeremy, he was cornered by the crew and threatened. Motivated by looking down the barrel of Jeremy’s pistol, Rook’s Stalker claws, and the sudden appearance of the Granok Jak behind him, Peter revealed that he was washing his hands of Seth Blackstar. The Marauder captain dealing in human trafficking, and Strain experiments planned to be tested on some of the prisoners, Peter wanted no part of it and warned the crew to steer clear of the man.

Meanwhile Jenny, who had heard Peter was near, was forcibly detained by Elrabin who had intercepted the enraged young woman with his espernetics before she could blow her cover. 

Peter was escorted away by Rook. Once out of sight of the Valley, the Mordesh knocked the man unconscious, and disposed of him in an undisclosed, remote location.  Back in the Valley a heated argument took place, and tensions only lessened after the crew moved to the Crash House and began planning their next move. Jenny shared the layout of the Starship, Empress. With their new knowledge it was no longer a mission to merely destroy Seth and his ship, but a rescue and containment mission. Thanks to an espernetic tracking bug placed on Peter by Elrabin, the man would be apprehended by Rook, potentially paralyzed by Elenia, and be detained in the holding cell to for further information.

[pleasantcowboykid]

The illustrious, intimidating Doctor Volescu, the best geneticist the Emma’s Nebula has ever employed. Why does the Nebula have a geneticist? No one knows. Feel free not to ask her.

[datela-vodenit]

OCs in your style challenge for Fantastic Enterprises!

Characters left to right:

Guy Fantastic - @pleasantcowboykid

Seeker Eldanhand - @eldanseeker

Jeremy Murdoch - @wethatkindoforc

-

Jazz Abernale - @deeafrotailmisstress

Rook Vlakovian - @aldridge-asset

Jenny Brightmist - @prfoundlysuperengineer

-

Avo - @neonneer

Kris Dunnock - @sombersunshine

Elenia Volescu - @stellaralchemist

[stellaralchemist]

Safe

Elenia always dressed in front of a full length mirror, to better assess how everything fit. It was tricky with the fake leg, everything always seemed to lay wrong. That was probably just her imagination though.

She smoothed out the black leggings and the black turtleneck and that was already better. They were so thick the vitalus didn’t even glow out from under them. Elenia brushed some lint off of the shoulder and straightened up, examining herself. Same body shape as before, with clothes on she almost couldn’t tell there was anything wrong with her; as long as she didn’t look at the face. The face was where it always showed.

But that was fine, everyone else was just as poorly off.

As Elenia pulled on her red coat and her high boots for the day she paused and looked at the case where she kept her syringes. There were the two in her gloves, of course, but she was in the habit of keeping a few in her boots and a few more over her thigh. Those were in the case, ready to be put on… just in case the Valley wasn’t as safe as it seemed and nowhere was really safe, was it?

Nowhere was really safe, but here… here was safe enough.

[stellaralchemist]

Sleep

(A scene from a few weeks ago) Guy’s surgery had gone well... as well as could be expected anyway. Dr. Volescu had congratulated Vadim and then sent him off to go talk to Gypsum. Gypsum had a baby and she was perfect... and Gypsum was perfect. And food was perfect too. 

Though it did occur to him he had probably eaten too much in one go.

Vadim hadn’t said most of what he wanted to to Gypsum but that was fine, there was plenty of time. Eternity probably. At least a few weeks. 

He checked on Guy, who was asleep in bed with all manner of wires and tubes sticking out of him. Vadim took a few readings and tucked the chart back where it belonged. 

Already anticipating the view around the corner of the divider Vadim picked up a spare pillow on his way through. Elenia was curled in the fetal position on the floor, her datachron beside her. The datachron went on its charger, the pillow went beneath the doctor’s head, and Vadim resolved to tell Marko so he could deal with her. 

Dr. Volescu was always grouchy after surgery and Vadim had never been paid enough to deal with that. 

Out into the evening air and, standing beneath the stars, Vadim considered how nice a bit of a run might be.

[stellaralchemist]

Eight Things About Elenia

As bullied into by @wethatkindoforc. Here’s some stuff about Elenia and her family (mostly about her family, honestly). 

1. Elenia’s family was fairly well off growing up, old money as the result of a successful shipping investment on her mother’s side (which was later sold off, creating a substantial trust fund for the descendants) but more the engineering background of her father’s ancestors. The Malkin name was associated, for several centuries, with the development of large-scale artillery equipment of the sort for breaking Enclave sieges. In fact, one of the most significant pieces of artillery to military land engagements on Grismara was, for many years, the Malsev-352, named for Severin Malkin, Elenia’s great-great-grandfather.

2. Elenia pledged to her university sweetheart, Evgeni Volescu, quite early in their relationship; two years after they had met and just before she started her graduate work. While she said that it was because of her deep feelings of love toward him (and it largely was) it was also the easiest way to change her name so that she could begin publishing. Her attempts at distancing herself from her family name weren’t (as one would expect given her current aggressive pacifism) because of her family’s history of violence but because her father had prosecuted an extremely unpopular corruption case against a Pallasovan politician.

3. The prosecution of Pyotr Schevchenko by Elenia’s father was filmed from beginning to end and broadcast out live. Councilman Schevchenko was accused of two hundred and fifty three counts of bribery, one hundred and ninety seven counts of extortion, seventy-three counts of assault with a deadly weapon, forty-five counts of battery, and three counts of driving under the influence. Councilman Schevchenko was also one of the most popular councilmembers Pallasova had ever had and his eventual conviction on all counts turned the Malkins into pariahs, eventually leading to them leaving the Enclave proper for their country home when Elenia was fourteen.

4. Elenia’s mother and father met when she was 26 and he was 49. He had watched her perform (she was a professional pianist) and immediately became entirely besotted. He travelled to several different Enclaves, sending flowers every time to the point where the future Mrs. Malkin became somewhat uncomfortable with the whole affair, entirely sure she was going to be murdered. Quite by chance in this time they happened to be at a dinner party together and hit it off. Mr. Malkin only informed his wife he had been the source of the ill-conceived romantic gestures on their fortieth wedding anniversary. She slapped him in the mouth.

5. Evgeni Volescu, Elenia’s husband of 27 years, was a prolific artist and painter though he proved to be largely unsuccessful on Grismara. This had been turning around as the Dominion alliance became a reality with his moody landscapes of the mountains around Pallasova proving to be popular among the Cassian nobility. They fell out of favour after the Contagion but a few are still floating around in libraries and mansions.

6. Elenia briefly considered going into Alchemy while she was in school and spent a month of her life at a retreat for future alchemists before university. At the time she had a fairly strong religious conviction that was overturned roughly simultaneously with the moment one of the teachers put his hand on her knee. She elected to go into genetics instead.

7. Through university and for a long time afterward Elenia participated in sport shooting, frequently scoring well in rifle competitions. Her real skill was in shooting pistols, however, and she went practice shooting with the one she kept in her purse at least once a month.

-8. Volsova Labs, Elenia’s company, struggled for the first several years of its existence, competing against better equipped and more reputable companies on Grismara it seemed almost certain that the company would fail by the end of each year. It wasn’t until talks of an alliance began with Cassus that the company began to thrive and, at the time, there were rumours that in addition to studying Cassian genetic diseases the company was also providing military research for the Dominion. This was never actually proven.

[stellaralchemist]

A Winterfest Gift

She slammed a cigar box down on the counter of Fineal’s Things and Objects of Interest, producing a thwack and a jingling sound. Outside the city bustled and Lady, in her pink jacket, put her hands on her hips and waited. The passengers were dumped, the money was collected, the rest of the crew was stretching their legs and Lady Starheart was in her glory. She flicked a few loose red curls away from her face and waited for Fineal to look up.

The aurin’s ear twitched, his clawed hands reached for the box and opened it. His face scrunched into a confused frown.

“Wow,” he said dryly and dumped the contents of the box out on the counter. Gold shone in the lowlights of the shop and a few other customers turned to let out a few chuckles. “Some jewelry. Nicely done.”

“Your sarcasm is noted and appreciated, my dear, dear Fineal,” She said cheerfully, winking at him and leaning over the counter. “Check this out, though, this is a real treat.”

“Ah huh…”

“That is real, genuine, Grismaran Funeral Jewelry,” she began, relishing the widening eyes and quiet of the room. “Made, as we all know I’m sure, from the repurposed ashes of Pre-Contagion Mordesh by an alchemical process as yet unknown to the outside world. Nine pieces, all mint.”

“Bullshit,” Fineal said and rolled his eyes. He sat back in his chair. “All the Funeral Jewelry on the market has been identified and catalogued. I’d have believed one piece, sure, I can see you stealing one or two off some dipshit Cassian, but nine? Come on Lady. Get the fuck out of my shop with this shit.”

Lady grinned at him, her heart-shaped face lighting up among the freckles that dotted her cheeks and nose. “But these pieces wouldn’t be catalogued, of course.”

“Ah huh and why’s that?” Finri looked like his interest was at least a little piqued, the observers had been quiet for longer than was usual. She relished these moments.

“Because they’re fresh off Grismara, and, you know what, I’ll pay for the Alchemist to verify them if they’re fakes. I’m gonna do that just for you, Fineal, just because I respect you and I want you to have first stab at these little babies,” she explained and took a step backward to sit on a nearby stool to watch the aurin make an irritable and slightly perplexed phone call.

----

“Pallasovan, by the style,” the Alchemist agreed, much to Fineal’s shock. Lady spun on her stool, beaming. “How did you get hold of these?”

“Got ‘em from Grismara,” she stated firmly, grinning at them all. This was it, this was the best part. Truth be told, she was a little wet.

“How?” Fineal finally asked, leaving her open. This was it. She relished the few seconds’ pause where the whole room was looking at her. Twenty-two eyes all looking at her.  Should she have dressed up? Worn that big costumey coat? No, no, this was enough, the story was enough. Had to be casual

Lady swung her arms wide, flinging her hands in a sort of casual dismissal. “Man, I don’t want to bore anyone. You know, it’s no big deal. Standard hop to the general area, waited for a gap in the blockade, naturally. Slipped right in, dropped under cloud cover, and then took a little look around, bit of an adventure, just a light little Pre-Winterfest trip, y’know?  I nabbed these babies as souvenirs. Which-” She hopped off the stool and swept them back into the cigar box, snapping it shut. “I should probably pick up a display case for.”

Finri sputtered from behind his counter. “You’re going to keep them!? Do you have any idea how much those are worth?!”

Lady shrugged, already walking backwards through the shop door, box in one hand and finger shooting at the crowd. “You’ve got my number if you ever need a pilot, baby boy. Kiss kiss!”

The door swung shut behind her as the Alchemist asked about his fee.

-----

She put the box in a padded envelope, scoffing at the markup as she sealed it. Fucking Winterfest, just because it had some Papa Phineases on it they doubled the price. Spirit of Winterfest indeed. That was fine, she was just going to steal all the presents she gave everyone, already one down wasn’t it? She’d just send Mom and Dad some liquor, stars knew they could use it.

The line shuffled forward and she set the package on the counter, leaning forward. “Yeah, that’s to Dr. Elenia Vo- Vole- Uh. I think if you just put Dr. Elenia that’ll work. And it’s care of- yeah, care of Fantastic Enterprises. Should pop right up.” She explained to the Protostar representative at the shipping counter, checking the paint on her nails.

And then it was back into the winter weather, to the packed in streets, to try to find somewhere with easy to steal brandy and then, maybe, a trip somewhere sunny.

She could do with a little sun in her life.

[stellaralchemist]

What You Missed

Part One of Elenia’s side adventures on her return to Grismara. The Setting: A Little Summer Home Beyond the Enclave, Pallasova. Some time in the early evening. The house smelled of mildew. It smelled of rain. It smelled profoundly of death.

Elenia didn’t know what she was expecting, really, on opening the doors. Her key still worked, of course, and perhaps she expected some relief from the rain and the cold when she took the first steps into the formerly beautiful summer home. They had moved permanently when Elenia was a child. She had been in school at the time, and instead of returning to the stone townhouse on holiday, they had come out here to the summer home. 

Father had upset someone in his capacity as a Prosecutor. They had retreated from the Enclave. But that was fine. She hadn’t minded the dacha. Previously, the entryway might have had a fire and the kind housekeeper to take a coat and offer tea. It lay empty now. To the right was the conservatory, once glass enclosed but now torn apart by wind. In front of her, there were stairs up to the second story and down to the cellar. To the left, a twisting hallway with rooms added sporadically. The kitchen was down there, the sitting room and dining room, Father’s study… the music room.

Her boots echoed on the dingy tile floor, which had once colorfully depicted birds in flight. They were covered with dust and grime now, forgotten. The ceiling had once been painted like the sky, and that did remain, though water had gotten in and bubbled the paint. Still, Father’s study was nearly clean, the shutters pulled. She ran her fingers over the ancient books that populated its shelves, opened drawers in the desk that held a long-defunct computer and a box of cigars that had acquired a foul smell.

She locked it behind her, and her mother’s music room, though not before she had tried to extract a few sour notes from the piano keys. They echoed through the hallways on the still, humid air. On the way out, she collected a few pieces of sheet music without realizing it, and eventually set them down on the kitchen counter where Maritska, the cook, used to bake bread and tell stories of wolves and ghosts and hooded crows. 

It was in the kitchen where she first heard the noises, the ones that confirmed her suspicions. Shuffling, footsteps, and a shaking doorway. The doors here were thick wood. She expected that, once the news stories had worked through, they had locked themselves away for safety. Only they hadn’t been safe. 

The rattling was coming from the bedroom. Had they begun to feel sick and gone to lie down, locking the door behind them for safety’s sake? Had Maritska fled, or would she be in there, too? They hadn’t eaten in decades. They would nearly be dust now, dry and weak. If she moved fast, she could get them easily. She extracted the syringes from her boot, checked them over, and balanced them both in one hand as she turned the key in the lock.

Opening the door sent Mother flying back. She struggled to get up, one leg shattered. Father was there, the tattered remains of a tailcoat hanging loose and wretched over his bony arms and shoulders. She dealt with him first. The needle went in his neck, and in a moment he was ash and dust. For Mother, she took her arm, wrenched it out of reach and away from biting teeth. And then, like father, she was gone, too. 

The house was silent and she was alone. 

She sat on the tilework floor in silence, staring at the scraps of cloth that had adorned narrow, dead bodies. An hour passed, a second hour passed, on her wrist a watch ticked slow beats.

Finally, she raised her head and looked around her parents’ room. They had torn it up in their attempts to escape. The furniture was tattered and scratched, the carefully laid jewelry scattered. She gathered some up and pocketed it, all gold--Mother’s funeral jewelry. Each one the alchemically repurposed ashes of some family member, turned to gold and then cast into some lovely piece. She sighed and locked the door of the bedroom behind her. One final stop.

She left the house with a canvas bag filled to bursting with trophies. Winning an Academic Decathlon four years in a row was no small feat, and it was good to have something to show for a trip like this.

[stellaralchemist]

What You Missed 2

Day Two of Elenia’s adventures on Grismara.  The Setting: An enormous office-building in the center of the enclave Pallasova, now decayed. Just after noon.

The building was just as they had left it when the blockade was broken and they were rescued. Elenia took the stairs carefully down, gun out, and keyed in the access code for the offices. For the first time in a long time, she felt like she was at home.

She used her datachron to illuminate the quiet offices. The empty desks in the center of the room were still covered in the debris of what they had been doing. Three desks were arrayed around an office that had been torn to pieces. They had kept Leonid there. Poor Lyonya. But she had a task to do, no time to reminisce.

Down another floor to the servers, sitting dark and grey now. The transfer would take fifteen minutes. She had planned it all perfectly. The power source went in, a little box the size of her hand that started up the old servers and sent them whirring. Next, into a slot near the top, an antennae to transmit this data across the vastness of space to its new home, a server somewhere safe in Fantastic Enterprises.

They had worked so hard to transfer company data before the infrastructure collapsed, but there had been so much that… Well, the research data from Cassus, the human trials, the preliminary work for…

The antennae beeped. She had fifteen minutes. With a deep breath, Elenia Volescu walked back up to the offices and collected a photograph from the wall. She carried it back to her office, and sat in her old chair in the half-light.

In the center of the photograph, she stood holding a little placard with a date on it, her long dark hair wrapped up around her head, her high collared dress made her look severe… But she was smiling in the picture and behind her one of her partners, Peter Soveski, was smiling too. To the left was Mikhail Kessler. Misha, he had leapt from the roof on the third day, when he couldn’t taste anything. There was a date in pencil under his feet, his memorial. Renata Zabelina and Raisa Yusupova stood beside each other, linked arm in arm holding beakers. There had been a joke there, at the time,that they intended to fill the beakers a little more each year they were there. Squinting a little showed the beakers had an inch of something within them. Beneath them both, the first day of the sickness.

Arseny Sechenov had been on the team the longest. His long hair was tied back in a ponytail Elenia had often said was inappropriate, but that had been the joke. That had always been the joke. Arseny had died the first day, probably. He had left with Renata to go find Raisa, who was trapped in her little flat.

Leonid stood beside him, all beaming with excitement. He had just joined the week before, and would be the first to succumb visibly to sickness. In the front, sitting down, Vadim, who was too tall for the photograph and too goofy looking anyway. His collar was starched up like an Alchemist. Then Fedosiya, who always wore bright scarfs the moment the weather allowed it, and who had died in a fire for her sins; for those dead aurin and for all those other dreadful things, for her cruelty.

“We are two now,” Elenia said to the empty room, to Misha, who used to sit in the desk at the doorway typing notes and chewing on pencils. As she dug for a pen, she found the half-bottle of whiskey she had left behind, and a few loose cigarettes. They tasted stale, but she lit one anyway, and took a slug off the bottle.

She had been someone once, in this office. As important as anyone could be in the great cosmic scheme of things. But in those days, it had really felt like something. It had felt powerful and grand, and now, if things hadn’t gone so wrong, she would have long since retired, gone to live on the Dacha with Marko, his grey hairs making him look distinguished as he tottered around. And it wasn’t fair, was it?

Beneath Leonid and Fedosiya, she added a new date. Her pencil hovered beneath her own feet for a moment.

There was syringe in her glove. Wasn’t it better to be here? Wasn’t this where she was meant to be?

Her datachron beeped. The transmission had completed. She framed the picture once more, and collected her things. She smoked another cigarette as she walked up the dark staircase of Pallasova’s Kondrashov Building.

In an empty office, illuminated by the grey sky above, a photograph hung. Nine dead faces smiled where no one could see.

[stellaralchemist]

Another Bill Delivered to Jeremy Murdoch

@wethatkindoforc

You’re welcome for all the help. -E

[stellaralchemist]

Spooky Stories for Shade’s Eve

Courtesy of the lovely @wethatkindoforc ‘s beautiful Bron, we celebrated a Shade’s Eve bonfire. Below are a few scary stories, courtesy of everyone’s favorite interstellar sex symbol, Lady Starheart and the greatest doctor now or ever, Dr. Elenia Volescu.

The Ship Out of Time As Overheard by Lady Starheart

“It’s a long-term research vessel, right, that’s what everyone knows. Going out in three month stints to do geographic mapping. I think it was called Whisper Light or the Whisper Wind or something like that.

“Anyway, good team, good crew, but this is what I heard from a guy who knew one of the ex crew members. The crew guy, I think his name was Eddie, Eddie was a good kid. He kept in touch with the folks on his own crew when he took off to settle down and have a kid.

“Used to have a comm set-up, he’d call them up and have a chat while they were on missions, tell them what was going on back home, dumb shit, you know.

“So one night he’s in bed with his girl and the Comms-box starts sounding, well he figures it’s them fucking with him and he gets up to shut it off. It’s late and all, and all he’s getting through is static.

“Just as his hand’s about to hit the knob he hears a voice though… crackles right through. Just the one word.

“Lost.

“So Eddie’s freaking out. There’s no reason they should be lost, they’re always kind of lost, that’s the whole point of a mapping expedition. So he brings the set-up into the main room and patches through, starts trying to talk to them.

“They’re all in and out, staticky, but they can hear each other, him and his best mate, this guy Jack. Jack keeps cracking in and out.

“But Eddie’s listening, he can hear enough. They passed over a ruin, big old ruin in the ground, and then… well, the land didn’t change but they weren’t seeing a ruin anymore. Underneath them it had all gone… right.

“Except it was dark, it was storming, Jack’s saying he can see people, he’s freaking out now. They can see shapes in the mist carrying lights. Tall shapes, shapes like paintings, and they’re all on this road that was a shambles a minute before.

“Eddie’s trying to get their position, but their equipment’s going wild, now his is too. Jack and the rest of the crew are out there, they’re going to take a closer look. They’ve gone somewhere and it’s all fixed.

“All of it. People where the jungle was. Tall people.

“Eddie can hear the ship coming down, it’s a bumpy ride, they’re hitting turbulence, and their computer readings are all over the shop. Through the static Eddie hears Jack whisper, ‘they’re so beautiful.’

“And then nothing. S’just gone.”

The Kolevatol Pass Incident  As recalled from university, by Dr. Volescu

“It began with seven students, they were skiing in the Syakhl Mountains, up north from Pallasova. They were part of the sports club at the university, I know because I used to rock climb with two of them, Zinaida Aleksevna and Yuri Alexeivich.

“They intended to send a message back home when they passed through the mountains and to a nearby town, but a week late and their families insisted on bringing in the militaya to find them.

“Their leader, Alexander Sergeievich, was meticulous in his record keeping and the militaya found three of them with their ruined tents in an unsheltered area of the pass, along their planned route.

“They lay there, still, unmoving, at the edges of the camp.

“All three lacked coats and shoes, they had no weapons on them even though they had brought rifles with them, but they were out there in the winter, outside of their tents, undressed and… waiting.

“No injuries, no damage, had they not been dead they might have been in perfect health.

“Their diaries and maps showed that they had decided to stay the night in the pass rather than lose altitude when the weather turned grim. They sat and waited. And then abruptly, three weeks before they were discovered, the entries stopped.

“It was two months before they found the other four. They lay at the bottom of a ravine, Zinaida Aleksevna and Yuri Alexeivich were with them, all face down, all dressed for the cold. What was more, they wore the clothes of their fellows, the three dead in the camp, all bundled up, and carried their guns along with their own.

“Three of them had suffered chest wounds, fatal in severity, but Zinaida Aleksevna was found face down in a stream, was missing her tongue and her eyes, her hands were torn up to pieces, as though she had defended against something.

“Afterward they had a funeral for all of them, once the inquests were done. They had such dark skin, oddly tanned, and they looked disquiet; expressions I did not see on the dead again until the Contagion made them alive...”

The Edmund Fitzgerald Told midway through a vodka bottle by Lady Starheart

“The ship was carrying prisoners of war through Exile territory, flying out of Meridia to some base of theirs on an asteroid, carrying its prisoners to working the territories he would have normally flown through were dangerous and the captain, he thought he had another route in hand.

“The route he fancied went past the Five Sisters. It’s a good route half the time, puts you safe in neutral territory, near settlements that’ll take you in in danger. But if you time it wrong, if you hit Zelakova wrong…

“The Captain, he might’ve made the next port if he’d had fifteen million miles behind him, but he didn’t, and the ship got caught in a flare, the radiation and the heat… cooked all the folks inside alive. The captain, the crew, /the prisoners/… all gone, just like that.

“Except no one went back to salvage the ship. So it floated there. It still floats there. Waiting.

“The captain, he used to play music over the radio, kind of a joke so when he got in range of folks they’d get a transmission request and it would just be music. Or he’d just be talking about his position and what the ship was doing, bullshit stuff.

“Those transmissions, they didn’t stop.

“I was eighteen, first combat mission, first real one, you know, not just a courier trip that’d gone tits up. This one went tits up though, I’m hit bad, leaking fuel, leaking oxygen, and I’m in a dust cloud. Can’t see my pack leader or anyone else, can’t hail them.

“And then up looms this ship, great big ship… Can’t tell if it’s Dommie or Exile or neutral, fuck, it doesn’t matter. Better a prisoner than dead, you know? It hails me, I’m about to patch the transmission through…

“And then the side passes in sight. There’s written on the side, ‘The Edmund Fitzgerald’. And that’s an omen that is, they say if you hear the music that’s the last thing you hear. So I let it pass, the dust clears, and there’s my squad, just nearby. They were there the whole time.

“But it tried to pick me up, you know, I know I got a hail, I remember watching the transmission blink up, I know the name of the ship, I saw every bloody bolt on that thing and I could see the scorch marks all ‘round the side.”