1:5:3 Alterations (Part 4)

They had expected it to be awkward when they returned to The Destiny but they weren’t expecting The First, Charrlene and Crait to be stood in complete silence. Lore looked to Char then to the others.

“Are we interrupting something?” Char chuckled.
“We were just enjoying one another’s company.” The First could see Crait was about to open their mouth. “Don’t you even start.” They held up their hand to stop Crait. “Well? How did it go?”
Lore shook their head. “Not yet. But hopefully, when the time comes.”
“Well then, I can’t say I’m not surprised but at least you tried.” The First prepared their Breacher.
Charrlene looked at them as if she had seen a pig fly or hel reach a liveable temperature. “So… Now what?”
“I’d say that our first port of call is dropping them off; then it’s business as usual.” The First continued their preparations. “Destiny, have we got enough to get us back to somewhere safe in our original time zone?”
Destiny’s face formed in the top corner of the viewscreen. “Strangely enough, if you and Lore both plug your Breachers in, I should be able to get us back to The Slingshot not too long after we left. I’ll need a bit of a run up but it’s doable.”
“Lore, that okay with you?” The First cleared their arm rest allowing a second cradle to form. Charrlene again looked at them as though she was seeing the impossible. Lore set themselves down and allowed their Breacher to be connected to The Destiny. “Ready Destiny?”
“Ready.” She nodded.
“Then let’s go home.” The First raised their free hand then gestured for her to begin.
After a bit of a run up, their journey home officially began. Their return was significantly smoother than their arrival with only minor turbulence as they entered the Breach. Destiny didn’t speak once however her face told the story anyway; concentration and tension on a level none of them had ever seen before showed them the physical cost of their smooth ride. Destiny’s face melted away in relief as she piloted them out of the Breach and into the space above The Slingshot.
“Thank you Destiny.” Lore and The First spoke in unison.
“You go recover.” Lore continued. “I’ll get one of the others to run a full diagnostic on your systems so don’t even worry about it.”
“Thanks boss.” Her voice was weary and drained.

They lingered in the air above the campus.
“I guess this is where I leave you.” Crait shrugged then raised their wrist.
“Not quite.” Lore smirked. “As we said earlier. Plans change.” They weren’t expecting it to sound so sinister.
“What Lore means is we’d like you to stick around a little longer.” Char smiled. “With your Breacher, that shouldn’t be an issue, should it?”
“Not at all. Though it does depend on why you want me to stay.” Crait adjusted their Breacher before placing their hands in their pockets.
“I’d like to know that too.” Charrlene folded her arms.
After the last time, Lore thought about their wording. “We were hoping you’d stay and maybe let us see things from your perspective.”
“Ah, know thy enemy.” Crait nodded. “What did you have in mind?”
“Again, I’d like to know that too.” Charrlene was becoming increasingly concerned that her partner wasn’t doing anything.
“When you brought me back to base and after I was brought aboard Simplicity, you used a MemDex on me to try to convince me to stay.” Lore began. Slowly and subtly, they moved their hand to their Staff’s holster.
“I did…” Crait nodded. “And…”
“And, we’d like to learn more about you. And what’s the best way of doing that?” Char asked.
“Like this.” In a single, near instantaneous, motion, they removed, aimed and fired their staff directly at Crait’s head. Their body fell to the floor with a thud.
“What in the name of sanity is going on?” Charrlene nearly screamed.
Lore knelt down to make sure Crait was knocked out. “They know exactly where and when the ‘simplified’ planets became ‘simplified’. All we need to do is access their mind, find out the locations then undo their work.” Lore held out their hand. “Tranquilliser? Please?”
“There we go.” Char tapped at the central console which released a single injectable.
Lore pressed it to Crait’s neck before breathing a sigh of relief. “This wasn’t quite how I imagined this working out.”
“I doubt they’d have let us in if we asked.” Char paused. “Actually, they probably would have.”
“Are either of you going to clue us in?” Charrlene had begun repeatedly clenching her fists.
“We’ve said, we need to know when things happened so we’re going to use one of the harnesses that Allana and Luscillus have made us to enter their mind and find out.” Char smiled.
Somehow, her response had just made Charrlene more confused. Feeling as though she wouldn’t understand without even more context, she just opted to shake her head disapprovingly.

Crait was heavier than they looked and the paths of Cyenzeit weren’t optimised for dragging unconscious bodies. Between them, they managed to get them to the town hall. Lore opted to stay with them while Char went off to search for the harnesses.
Crait slapped their lips then extended their tongue as if they’d tasted something foul. They grunted and grimaced before trying to lift their hand to their face. Their failure only served to further worry them. “What?” They managed. They tried to flail but, again, found themselves unable
“Sorry.” Lore crouched down to their level. “We need your help.”
“Doing what?” Crait tried to focus their eyes. “Where am I?”
“You’re on The Razor.” Lore spoke calmly. “We were wondering if we could have a look at some of your memories?”
That sobered them up a little bit. “You drugged me to look at my memories.” They scoffed. “Yeah, sure. What’s mine is yours but you didn’t have to dose me. I’d have let you in, no questions asked.”
“Thank you.” Lore looked over to see Char had found the chest and was waist deep inside of it. “Char will be coming with me.”
“Fine.” Crait nodded. “Will it hurt?”
“Shouldn’t do.” Lore smiled.
Char came running, harness in hand. “Ready?”
“Ready.” Lore nodded. Rewind.