1:4:5 Negotiations (Part 2)

They had been expecting the bar to be quiet but not as quiet as it was. Apart from the Barkeep, there was virtually no one there. Lore checked the time and found a potential answer. They took a seat in the booth where they first met Crait and waved the Barkeep down. They lowered their mask before ordering.
“Now that’s not a face I was expecting to see.” The Barkeep flashed a virtual smile.
“You remember me?” Lore was surprised. “How long has it been?”
“Not sure. Time flies but its certainly hard to forget a human strolling into my pub.” She chuckled. “What can I get you?”
“Just a couple pints of water please.” Lore dug through their bag and set a few Rel on the table.
“I’ll get those to you in just a moment.” She returned to the bar and withdrew two cleanish pint glasses then filled them with water. She brought them over to the table. “Sorry for the wait, things are hectic.” She set them down then nodded before leaving again to tend the bar.
“When are they supposed to be getting here then?” Char took a sip of her drink.
Lore looked at their Breacher. “There will be three human life signs in this pub in a few minutes.”
“So what’s the plan?” She looked at them expectantly.
“We try and keep things civil. Aim for a ceasefire. Hope for further discussions. And try not to punch them in the face.” Lore listed the points off on their fingers. “It’s really important you don’t hit them.” They made sure to look Char directly in the eyes as they made their last point.
“Yes sir…” She sounded like a scolded child before breaking into a laugh.
Lore grappled for Char’s hand and squeezed it tight; the reason unknown until a flash of white light painted the chairs across from them from reality. The light faded but the chairs still found themselves obscured but now by two, heavily armoured figures who had taken a seat on them.
“Sorry we’re late.” Crait removed their helmet and with it, their armour. As if the integral piece, holding the system together, once the helmet was removed the armour began to fold into itself; the triangular and hexagonal plates folded into themselves resembling a complex origami construct into a series of small icosahedrons which rolled across their back and into a small pack. “Got ‘lost’ in the Vacuum Gardens of Probidit Amoure. You’d be surprised how flexible EV suits have become.” Crait gave them a cheeky wink. “So how have you been?” They let the question sit there for a moment before realising what they had done. “Oh my gods. I didn’t mean to take the piss.”
Lore was still trying to work out the best way to respond to Crait’s overly familiar tone to notice whatever they were talking about. “You’re fine. We’ve been exploring. And yourself?”
“We’ve been enjoying the colonies actually. The mid rims have come a long way since the CCs came to an end. The work they’ve done in the Captegue system is nothing short of breathtaking.” Crait punctuated their sentence with a chef’s kiss. “Look, I am really sorry about the whole eye thing.”
“You looked it.” Char spoke up. “What’s your game?”
Crait was taken aback. “Can’t I catch up with an old friend?”
“Not when the last time you caught up with them you held them hostage then punched broken glass into their eye.” Char was not pulling her punches. Lore squeezed her hand to try and calm her down.
“Fair enough but they seem to have forgiven me?” Crait didn’t seem too sure.
“Forgiven is a strong word. Made peace with would be better.” Lore took a sip of water. “So, before we get to business, is your associate going to take off their helmet?”
Crait turned to their partner and moved in close. “Slowly does it. Don’t want to ruin the surprise too soon.” They whispered.
The suit began folding itself away starting from the centre of the chest plate and then spreading down their body. The helmet was the last thing to be put away; as it opened up, it revealed something that Lore had never expected to see and Crait had once thought an impossibility. Crait had the widest smile their lips and face would allow plastered across their face as the front of the helmet finally finished folding away as their associate was finally free from their armour.

He stared at Lore intensely. His piercing grey eyes bore into theirs. He looked to be ever so slightly older than them but it could have been due to the increased prominence of his facial hair and the handful of small scars dotted about his face. His hair had been shaved into a style reminiscent of old Earth military personnel, shaved close to the scalp on the back and sides with the top being longer and combed over to one side; it was held in place by, what Lore assumed to be, an entire tube of gel or hairspray. He was well built but not to the point of being impenetrable; understated muscles, specifically trained to ensure that he could do his job and do it well. Although he was sat. Lore could reasonably assume they were of a similar height which made them seem slightly more intimidating. He was the epitome of masculinity. Lore went over every detail of the individual sat opposite Char and each time, they were both confused and unsettled.
“That’s not…” They couldn’t take their eyes off of him. Bolts of electricity ran down their neck but they resisted.
“Lore, Char, meet my partner: Loren.” Crait seemed so proud of themselves. “Amazing isn’t he?”
Lore just sat there, speechless. They couldn’t take it any more, their head jerked over to the right repeatedly.
“Thanks for the idea by the way.” Crait looked over at the Barkeep, made sure she was looking at him then held up two fingers and gave a nod. She started pulling a couple of pints. “Found something rather interesting in the Illian snow. Care to hazard a guess?”
Both Lore and Char remained silent.
“I was tracking an anachronistic signal and found a near pristine cloning pod buried in the snow. Whatever had been growing inside was long dead so I didn’t see the harm in taking it. Add in your genetic information from your Protectorate file and voila! A Loren is born.” They seemed so proud of themselves. The Barkeep set the two drinks down and waited. Crait pulled three large cogs from their jacket and handed them over. “Keep the change.” Their smile seemed so charming and charismatic.
“You cloned me.” Lore’s voice was barely there.
“You cloned them?” Char repeated but louder.
Loren swallowed their mouthful. “Thank you both for pointing out the obvious.” His voice was gruff and serious.
“Could you give us a moment darling? You don’t have to justify your existence but they have a right to know.” Crait spoke softly to him as if a parent to a child. Loren nodded, looked directly into Lore’s eye and planted a kiss on Crait’s cheek before leaving. “Impressive, no?”
“No. Creepy, yes.” Char couldn’t believe what she was seeing.
“To each their own. I gave you the chance but you didn’t take it. I found someone who would.” Crait shrugged.
They weren’t angry but something was welling up inside Lore. “How old are they? What do they know? Why did you bring them here” They didn’t want to waste any more time but they felt, given the circumstances that it would be better to get the questions out of the way now before beginning negotiations properly.
“They’re the same age as me, same age as you would have been. They know everything you knew, in fact, they virtually had the same life as you… apart from they actually grew up in a virtual reality pod reliving your memories one at a time. I may have made some alterations.” Crait chuckled but no-one else found it funny. “We’re happy together. Really happy. He’s let me feel things that I haven’t felt in years… decades… Figurative decades. I’m not a Lore.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Lore sat up, alert.
“I’m not like you, there aren’t twenty-six of me running around, just one. At the end of every cycle, I send back an info-stamp with all of my memories. There were only twenty-five in the box. I know this is the last cycle. I might as well try to make myself happy so that way, whatever happens, I get to die well.” Crait’s smile lingered a little too long but became unsettling when paired with the sadness in their eyes.
“So you know how this ends?” Lore started. “Actually, you don’t. You can’t be sure whether you beat us or if we kill you.”
“Exactly!” Crait exclaimed. “Might as well enjoy myself before the end. And I have been enjoying myself.” Their almost seductive tone made Lore’s stomach flip. “And I’m not the only one.”
Lore shook their head, as if trying to shake the effect the situation was having on them off. “Let’s talk about why we’re here, can we?”
“Agreed.” Crait called Loren back. “Time to talk shop.”
“All done. Can I exist here now?” Loren snarked.
Crait pulled him in and all but devoured his lips. “Yep. Time for more important business.” Both Lore and Char were rendered mute. “Okay then, I’ll start. We, The Temporal Sciences Guild, have no intentions of allowing your plan to succeed. Quatarr must remain destroyed and any attempts to reform or otherwise restore the planet will be met with a swift and decisive response.” They clattered their fist against the table to punctuate their point.
Lore spluttered as if choking on Crait’s sentiment. “What’s Quatarr got to do with this?”
“You don’t even know yet. They’ve not told you.” Crait chuckled. “I suggest you go and ask your puppeteers before we go any further.” They gestured to Loren to stand.
Lore was hasty in planning their next sentence. “Look, what we do or don’t know is irrelevant; we just wanted to ask you if you would stand down.”
Crait paused for a moment before sitting once again. “Right. Since I hold all of the cards, I better deal them. I personally, will not interfere in the plans or schemes of you and your partner. I will also promise that I will not kill and or permanently disfigure you ever again.”
“Good start.” Char prompted.
“I can’t allow you to bring Quatarr back though. To do so would undo everything I have been working towards. The Omega Outcome will become future.” There was a tinge of genuine fear in their eyes. “Humanity needs to be strong and united and right now, it is. Bringing back Quatarr will not only deplete our only source of Tempora but also destabilise the entire galaxy. I am getting us ready. You need to trust me.” Crait held out their hand.
Lore took it. A flicker of electric blue light arced between them.

They were stood somewhere in space. It was cold, even for the vacuum. Foreign knowledge filled their heads affording them some context; plague, war and Death had spread across reality leaving only a handful of species alive. Humanity remained strong but unaware of what was to come. A crack of purple light tore through the fabric that linked the stars and the planets together; the universe itself was fracturing. The cracks widened revealing a darkness, nothingness, behind them. Lore and Crait were immobile, witnesses of the end. From the cracks a creature emerged. Then nothing.