{"id":706,"date":"2024-09-07T09:08:32","date_gmt":"2024-09-07T13:08:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/wips\/?p=706"},"modified":"2025-01-28T23:32:36","modified_gmt":"2025-01-29T04:32:36","slug":"the-changeling-game-chapter-63","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/wips\/the-changeling-game-chapter-63\/","title":{"rendered":"The Changeling Game, Chapter 63"},"content":{"rendered":"<style type=\"text\/css\">\ntt {\nfont: .857em menlo, monaco, consolas, monospace;\nmargin: auto;\n}\nh2 {\ntext-align: center;\n}\nh2.chapterhead {\nmargin-bottom: 2em;\ntext-align: center;\n}\n  .nowrap {\n    text-indent: 0;\n    display: inline-block;\n}\n<\/style>\n<p><b>Title:<\/b> The Changeling Game <small>(Formerly <i>Identity Theft<\/i>)<\/small><br \/>\n<b>Author:<\/b> Ardath Rekha<br \/>\n<b>Chapter:<\/b> 63\/?<br \/>\n<b>Fandom:<\/b> <i>Pitch Black<\/i> (2000); <i>The Chronicles of Riddick<\/i> (2004); <i>The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury<\/i> (2004)<br \/>\n<b>Rating:<\/b> M<br \/>\n<b>Warnings:<\/b> Adult themes, controversial subject matter, harsh language, violence<br \/>\n<b>Category:<\/b> Gen<br \/>\n<b>Pairing:<\/b> None<br \/>\n<b>Summary:<\/b> Audrey, and Toal\u2019s unexpected proxy, begin to go over exactly what happened on \u201cJack B. Badd\u2019s\u201d run and when, in preparation for obscuring that information from almost everyone.<br \/>\n<b>Disclaimer:<\/b> The characters and events of <i>Pitch Black,<\/i> <i>The Chronicles of Riddick,<\/i> and <i>The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury<\/i> are not mine, but belong to Universal Studios.  I just <i>wish<\/i> I were in charge of their fates.  No money is being made off of this.  I\u2019m writing strictly for love of the story.<br \/>\n<b>Feedback:<\/b> Absolutely, the more the better!  Shred me, whip me, beat me, make me feel grammatical! I post \u201crough,\u201d so I can always use the help. \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n<input type='hidden' bg_collapse_expand='6a8e7924a75a83007043955' value='6a8e7924a75a83007043955'><input type='hidden' id='bg-show-more-text-6a8e7924a75a83007043955' value='Long post is long. Click to read the story.'><input type='hidden' id='bg-show-less-text-6a8e7924a75a83007043955' value='Hide the story again.'><button id='bg-showmore-action-6a8e7924a75a83007043955' class='bg-showmore-plg-button bg-green-button  '   style=\" color:#D9ECFB;\">Long post is long. Click to read the story.<\/button><div id='bg-showmore-hidden-6a8e7924a75a83007043955' ><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"chapterhead\">63.<br \/>\n<u>When a Lie Becomes the Truth<\/u><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cDid they tell you what they did to you?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Audrey sighed and shook her head. \u201cThey refuse to say what happened, exactly. Just that I learned \u2018a truth I couldn\u2019t live with\u2019 and that, if they hadn\u2019t taken it away, I would have hurt myself. And that the only way they could leave a message was the way they did, because I was too upset to cooperate.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><tt>MilitAIre<\/tt> seemed to ponder that for a moment. \u201cDo you believe them?\u201d\n<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cYeah, I do.\u201d She shrugged. \u201cYou saw the holo. I\u2026 completely flipped out.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cDo you wish to investigate it further?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">She shook her head again. \u201cOnly thing that\u2019ll come of that is more holes in my memory. Not in yours, I guess, but\u2026 why chase something I can\u2019t catch? They tell me I\u2019ll remember it all when it\u2019s time to.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cAnd when will that be?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cWhen I hatch into my six-shape, whatever that means.\u201d She shrugged again. \u201cThey\u2019re not really good at explaining that without trying to show me six-dimensional geometry, and <i>that<\/i> is something I can\u2019t handle all that well.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cMost human beings can\u2019t handle four-dimensional geometry,\u201d <tt>MilitAIre<\/tt> observed.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cYeah, well, I guess Threshold Syndrome means I\u2019m a five-dimensional critter now. It\u2019s weird, learning to see things but not with eyes. Can <i>you<\/i> handle six-dimensional geometry?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cYes.\u201d He told her. \u201cComputer brains can process and visualize the additional dimensional variables that baseline human perception isn\u2019t equipped for. It intrigues me that <i>you<\/i> are learning how to do the same.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cScared the hell out of me when it started,\u201d she admitted.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cWhen was that, exactly?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cThe morning-day right before the New Marrakesh Spaceport Explosion,\u201d she told him, sighing. \u201cThe night before, Kyra and I helped Colonel Gavin Tomlin rescue the <i>Scarlet Matador<\/i> passengers from this merc team the Quintessa Corporation had hired to abduct them. I moved two shuttles from U1 to U322a and back, and then Kyra helped the passengers cross into U322a and cross back after we reached a safe zone in U1. I guess our\u2026 exertions\u2026 drew the attention of the <i>Apeiros.<\/i> One of the first things they did, when they realized we didn\u2019t understand any dimensions higher than the third, was try to show them to us. Ticket to the <i>crazy train.<\/i>\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cI suspect I am hearing a great deal of the story out of order,\u201d <tt>MilitAIre<\/tt> said. \u201cI have drawn up a timeline, though. We can, perhaps, fill it in together to ensure everything is covered.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">The largest screen in the Security Room\u2014which was where <tt>MilitAIre<\/tt> insisted all their discussions would be held\u2014came alive. Audrey studied the data on the screen.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left: 2em;margin-right: 2em;margin-top: 1em;margin-bottom: 1em\"><tt><b>January 30, 2516<\/b> \u2013 Audrey MacNamera reported missing in evening. Passenger called Jack B. Badd on board a flight (<i>Cloaked Butterfly<\/i>) from Deckard\u2019s World to Vasenji Station.<\/tt><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left: 2em;margin-right: 2em;margin-top: 1em;margin-bottom: 1em\"><tt><b>March 2, 2516<\/b> \u2013 Audrey MacNamera legally turns 13 years old. <i>Cloaked Butterfly<\/i> arrives at Vasenji Station.<\/tt><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left: 2em;margin-right: 2em;margin-top: 1em;margin-bottom: 1em\"><tt><b>March 9, 2516<\/b> \u2013 <i>Hunter-Gratzner<\/i> leaves Vasenji Station for the Tangiers System. \u201cJack B. Badd\u201d presumed to be stowing away on board.<\/tt><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left: 2em;margin-right: 2em;margin-top: 1em;margin-bottom: 1em\"><tt><b>August 10, 2516<\/b> \u2013 <i>Hunter-Gratzner<\/i> sends out emergency dispatch indicating crash landing in progress.<\/tt><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left: 2em;margin-right: 2em;margin-top: 1em;margin-bottom: 1em\"><tt><b>August 17, 2516<\/b> \u2013 <i>Kublai Khan<\/i> sends out distress beacon, reporting that fugitive convict Richard B. Riddick has killed most of the crew and escaped with two hostages: Imam Abu al-Walid and \u201cJack B. Badd.\u201d<\/tt><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left: 2em;margin-right: 2em;margin-top: 1em;margin-bottom: 1em\"><tt><b>September 16, 2516<\/b> \u2013 Star Jump shuttle <i>Xanadu III<\/i>, from the <i>Kublai Khan<\/i>, lands on Helion Prime. Officially two passengers on board, Abu al-Walid and \u201cJackie al-Walid.\u201d Pilot allegedly William Johns (no flight certifications on record).<\/tt><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left: 2em;margin-right: 2em;margin-top: 1em;margin-bottom: 1em\"><tt><b>September 18, 2516<\/b> \u2013 <i>Xanadu III<\/i> makes unauthorized departure from Helion Prime in early morning hours. Richard B. Riddick presumed to be piloting. Flight telemetry unavailable; tracking unsuccessful.<\/tt><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left: 2em;margin-right: 2em;margin-top: 1em;margin-bottom: 1em\"><tt><b>September 19, 2516<\/b> \u2013 Abu al-Walid files a report related to the aftermath of the <i>Hunter-Gratzner<\/i> crash. Testimony from \u201cJackie al-Walid\u201d also included.<\/tt><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left: 2em;margin-right: 2em;margin-top: 1em;margin-bottom: 1em\"><tt><b>October 4, 2516<\/b> \u2013 Audrey MacNamera\u2019s biological 13<sup>th<\/sup> birthday, based on cryo time aboard the <i>Cloaked Butterfly<\/i>, <i>Hunter-Gratzner<\/i>, and <i>Xanadu III<\/i>.<\/tt><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cOctober second,\u201d Audrey corrected <tt>MilitAIre<\/tt>. \u201cWe didn\u2019t go into cryo until we were two days out of the <i>Kublai Khan<\/i> and were sure nobody was on our trail. I slept straight through the first day, but I wasn\u2019t frozen.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">She shook her head. She\u2019d \u201ccelebrated\u201d that birthday quietly by herself, still struggling to acclimate to Helion Prime but not comfortable telling Abu or Lajjun\u2014who had already begun trying to micro-manage everything she did\u2014the significance of the day. It had been the loneliest and most miserable birthday of her life.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cIs\u2026 that why you\u2019re making this timeline?\u201d she asked. \u201cTo find out how old I really am?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cOctober second, noted. It\u2019s one of the reasons,\u201d <tt>MilitAIre<\/tt> told her. \u201cGeneral Toal says that you are not permitted to reach out to a pilot in the Royal Tangiers Space Service until you are biologically eighteen years old. He asked me to determine a solid date for when that would be. But we also need a timeline to make sure we have covered all possible aspects of your missing time that might require alibis.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Not that Ewan would <i>want<\/i> to hear from her then\u2026 Audrey sighed and kept reading, dreading the entries that she knew were coming.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left: 2em;margin-right: 2em;margin-top: 1em;margin-bottom: 1em\"><tt><b>December 17, 2516<\/b> \u2013 \u201cJackie al-Walid\u201d admitted to New Athens General Hospital with critical blood loss and respiratory impairment, placed in ICU.<\/tt>\n<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left: 2em;margin-right: 2em;margin-top: 1em;margin-bottom: 1em\"><tt><b>December 20, 2516<\/b> \u2013 \u201cJackie al-Walid\u201d reclassified as \u201cJane Doe 7439,\u201d transferred to Aceso Psychiatric Hospital. Primary Diagnoses: attempted suicide, severe clinical depression. Secondary Diagnoses: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Stockholm Syndrome.<\/tt><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Shit. She hadn\u2019t even noticed that she\u2019d tried to kill herself right before Christmas. On some level, she wondered if she\u2019d known\u2026 and if the absence of it from her life, the al-Walids\u2019 refusal to even acknowledge that she might belong to a different religion than their own that needed to be observed to some degree, had deepened the darkness surrounding her even more. Not that she was particularly religious, but her past Christmases had always been times when she\u2019d felt closest to her family, most connected\u2026 instead of adrift and alone.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">There hadn\u2019t been any Christmas decorations up in the hospital, she thought. But then again, most Christians on Helion Prime would have been Eastern Orthodox, in keeping with the Greek-centric history of the world\u2019s colonization. Christmas wouldn\u2019t have fallen for them until January 7; maybe that was why it hadn\u2019t occurred to the al-Walids to do anything for her sooner. And although Jack had become aware of the diversity within C Ward by then, she\u2019d assumed that the bits of iconography she <i>had<\/i> seen were religious but not holiday-specific. It wasn\u2019t like anyone had been hanging up images of candy canes, Christmas trees, holly wreaths, or reindeer with glowing red noses; those were symbols that had come from a whole different part of old Earth than most of Helion\u2019s colonists. That had been true even though almost everyone in the ward had spoken English as their first language.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">She wondered if it would have made any difference if the al-Walids had made a few gestures like that. She suspected that it wouldn\u2019t have. All <i>she\u2019d<\/i> wanted for Christmas was to <i>leave<\/i>, and they\u2019d been holding on too tightly, she\u2019d thought, for her to get out alive.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left: 2em;margin-right: 2em;margin-top: 1em;margin-bottom: 1em\"><tt><b>January 29, 2517<\/b> \u2013 8<sup>th<\/sup> Grade school year on Deckard\u2019s World concludes. Entire year missed by Audrey MacNamera.<\/tt><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Well, <i>that<\/i> was a cheerful thought.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left: 2em;margin-right: 2em;margin-top: 1em;margin-bottom: 1em\"><tt><b>February 12, 2517<\/b> \u2013 \u201cJane Doe 7439\u201d and Kyra Wittier-Collins disappear from Aceso Psychiatric Hospital during a cyberterrorist-induced breakdown of computer and security systems, in early morning hours. Official prime suspect: Richard B. Riddick. <i>Scarlet Matador<\/i> departs Helion Prime Interplanetary Port in evening.<\/tt><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>Heh, I&#8217;m officially a cyberterrorist.<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cRiddick didn\u2019t do it,\u201d Audrey said. \u201cIt was me. The whole place was susceptible to the Ghost Mode protocol in my father\u2019s security programs. Helion Prime uses the bare-bones configurations of those systems thanks to the AI Rebellion, but Ghost Mode is in the systems whether or not it\u2019s requested. My dad told me it\u2019s too integral to leave out of the code. I set up a whole scenario of cascading malfunctions, intended to keep everybody too busy to notice that Kyra and I were gone for several hours.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cThat corroborates General Toal\u2019s account,\u201d <tt>MilitAIre<\/tt> said. He had stopped upbraiding her for being too forthcoming\u2026 for the moment. Her cooperation was essential for the time being, but he\u2019d told her he would still need to teach her how to keep her mouth shut better. Later. \u201cI see from the documentation that it\u2019s intended to give law enforcement and military intelligence access to suspect systems without alerting their targets. As it appears that you\u2019re the only unintended user of the protocol to date, I probably don\u2019t need to recommend against its continued presence in the code.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cGood,\u201d Audrey sighed. \u201cIf you had to make that recommendation, my dad could\u2019ve ended up in some really hot water.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cThat\u2019s an outcome I\u2019ll endeavor to avoid.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left: 2em;margin-right: 2em;margin-top: 1em;margin-bottom: 1em\"><tt><b>March 2, 2517<\/b> \u2013 Audrey MacNamera legally turns 14 years old.<\/tt><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left: 2em;margin-right: 2em;margin-top: 1em;margin-bottom: 1em\"><tt><b>April 16, 2517<\/b> \u2013 Level Five Incident occurs on board the <i>Scarlet Matador<\/i> as it arrives in the Tangiers System.<\/tt><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left: 2em;margin-right: 2em;margin-top: 1em;margin-bottom: 1em\"><tt><b>April 17, 2517<\/b> \u2013 Landing of <i>Scarlet Matador<\/i> on Tangiers Prime. Custody of passengers and crew taken from Colonel Gavin Tomlin by Quintessa Corporation.<\/tt><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left: 2em;margin-right: 2em;margin-top: 1em;margin-bottom: 1em\"><tt><b>April 18, 2517<\/b> \u2013 Eighteen passengers and crew die under mysterious circumstances at start of day \/ local EOD. Custody of surviving <i>Scarlet Matador<\/i> passengers remanded to Colonel Gavin Tomlin. All survivors transferred from New Marrakesh General Hospital to Mansour Plaza.<\/tt><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left: 2em;margin-right: 2em;margin-top: 1em;margin-bottom: 1em\"><tt><b>April 20, 2517<\/b> \u2013 Colonel Gavin Tomlin orders relocation of remaining <i>Scarlet Matador<\/i> survivors from Mansour Plaza to Othman Tower.<\/tt><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left: 2em;margin-right: 2em;margin-top: 1em;margin-bottom: 1em\"><tt><b>April 26, 2517<\/b> \u2013 Marianne Tepper submits application and r\u00e9sum\u00e9 to Sirius Shipping. First records of Tepper\u2019s existence appear in Federacy databases.<br \/>\nTwo shuttles collide and explode during launch over the Mutawassit Ocean; all hands lost, including remaining passengers of the <i>Scarlet Matador<\/i>; \u201cBattle of Othman Plaza\u201d (no particulars provided by General Toal)<br \/>\n<b>Addendum:<\/b> Colonel Tomlin rescues <i>Scarlet Matador<\/i> passengers from mercenaries hired by Quintessa Corporation, assisted by Audrey MacNamera and Kyra Wittier-Collins.<br \/>\n<b>Location of rescue mission:<\/b> Othman Plaza?<br \/>\n<b>Status of <i>Scarlet Matador<\/i> passengers:<\/b> Alive and in hiding?<\/tt><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cHonestly, that battle was mostly Kyra. She took out almost the whole merc team. Tomlin\u2026 they\u2019d grabbed him and had him cuffed and held at gunpoint when we arrived.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cNoted. So she killed most of the team and he killed the rest?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Audrey sighed and shook her head. \u201cI killed one member of the team. She killed the rest.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cAnd the surviving <i>Scarlet Matador<\/i> passengers are alive and in hiding?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cYeah.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cAnd then the Quintessa Corporation had Colonel Tomlin assassinated the next day?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">She felt a painful lump form in her throat. By the time that morning had dawned, she thought, both she and Kyra would have done <i>anything<\/i> for him, and he\u2019d seemed to feel the same way about them, albeit on a would-be-fatherly level. If he\u2019d lived, they\u2014or, at least, Kyra\u2014might never have left his side. They had only just found him and they\u2019d lost him so quickly\u2026 \u201cYeah\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">And there it was on the next line.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left: 2em;margin-right: 2em;margin-top: 1em;margin-bottom: 1em\"><tt><b>April 27, 2517<\/b> \u2013 New Marrakesh Spaceport Explosion.<\/tt><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left: 2em;margin-right: 2em;margin-top: 1em;margin-bottom: 1em\"><tt><b>May 7, 2517<\/b> \u2013 Memorial for Colonel Gavin Brahim Tomlin Meziane.<\/tt><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">It was strange to think that it had taken that long for his memorial. But there had been a full Tangiers day of search-and-rescue and triage, followed by a week of more urgent funerals\u2014those of Muslim or Jewish faith were supposed to be interred right away, and there\u2019d been so <i>many<\/i> of them\u2014before the memorials for those who had been wiped away without a trace had begun. It had seemed a shorter time than that\u2026 but she and Kyra had been barely existing in a gray wasteland during that week-plus, and time had meant almost nothing. And then, at the memorial\u2026<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>I met Ewan\u2026<\/i> It tore at her a little. She wondered if she would spend the rest of her life feeling a mixture of longing, loss, and guilt whenever she thought of him.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>And I almost got tortured by a serial killer that night\u2026<\/i> It was weird to think that both meetings had happened in such a short time span. In the aftermath, Ewan\u2019s protectiveness and the unconditional comfort he\u2019d offered had left her hopelessly in love.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left: 2em;margin-right: 2em;margin-top: 1em;margin-bottom: 1em\"><tt><b>May 7, 2517 (continued)<\/b> \u2013 Interview offer letter, for position on <i>Major Barbara<\/i>, sent to Marianne Tepper.<\/tt><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left: 2em;margin-right: 2em;margin-top: 1em;margin-bottom: 1em\"><tt><b>May 8, 2517<\/b> \u2013 Bodies of eighteen <i>Scarlet Matador<\/i> passengers disappear from Marrakesh General Hospital Morgue; <i>Scarlet Matador<\/i> \u201cimplodes.\u201d<\/tt><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cThe <i>Scarlet Matador<\/i> didn\u2019t implode,\u201d she told <tt>MilitAIre<\/tt>. \u201cIt\u2019s in U322a, along with whatever\u2019s left of the bodies at this point. I moved them to where the Quintessa Corporation would never find them, especially now that they\u2019ve retired U322a from the Star Jump database.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cFascinating. General Toal\u2019s dispatch matches your account, improbable as the whole thing sounds. He indicates that you were injured in the process. How so?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cThere was a box inside the <i>Scarlet Matador.<\/i> An apeirochoron. It\u2019s\u2026 something that\u2019s in every \u2019verse at once. When I finished moving the <i>Matador<\/i> out of U1, the damn thing was still hanging in space there. So I tried to push it out. Taking it out of even one universe\u2026 I guess it <i>breaks<\/i> it, makes it unstable in the rest of the universes\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>\u2026stone that wasn\u2019t stone cracked, splintered, shivered into dust and vanished into nothing\u2026<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201c\u2014but I nearly gave myself a brain aneurysm in the process. And my brain waves afterwards started getting flagged for Quantification.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cWhich is one of the two reasons you have your neurofeedback unit, correct?\u201d <tt>MilitAIre<\/tt> asked. \u201cYou\u2019re using it to train yourself to appear normal if subjected to brain scans. Something that would be far easier if you didn\u2019t use your abilities on such a regular basis.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cI don\u2019t think I can really <i>stop<\/i> using them at this point,\u201d Audrey sighed. \u201cThe <i>Apeiros<\/i>\u2026 I don\u2019t know why, but they seem to <i>need<\/i> me for something. And\u2026 I need them. I still don\u2019t know what happened when I was little or why I spent so many years telling myself it was all fake but\u2026 now that I know what it is I\u2019ve been doing the whole time, what it means\u2026 I <i>need<\/i> it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">She <i>missed<\/i> contact with other living minds. It was another reason why part of her didn\u2019t <i>care<\/i> that the <i>Apeiros<\/i> might be dangerous to her. For all that <tt>MilitAIre<\/tt> reassured her that she was no longer alone, that was something that only felt true to her when her mind was touching other living, organic minds, human or not. If she actually tried to go \u201cradio silent\u201d with the <i>Apeiros,<\/i> she would <i>starve.<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">She wished she could feel the AIs.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left: 2em;margin-right: 2em;margin-top: 1em;margin-bottom: 1em\"><tt><b>May 9, 2517 <\/b> \u2013 Marianne Tepper contacts Sirius Shipping declining <i>Major Barbara<\/i> posting but requesting consideration to serve as Acting Captain of the <i>Nephrite Undine<\/i>.<\/tt><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">That, Audrey thought, had been a particularly rough night. But it had\u2014more or less\u2014worked out; she was on board the <i>Undine<\/i> now.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cHow come you\u2019re tracking my job application on here?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cIt\u2019s part of the timeline of your movements and actions that we\u2019re developing,\u201d MilitAIre replied. \u201cI need to see the whole picture before I decide what is and isn\u2019t important.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cThe most important part of that, to <i>me<\/i>, anyway, was that when the <i>Major Barbara<\/i> got rerouted to the Catalan system, I lost my chance to go to Furya. Which,\u201d she sighed heavily, \u201cis probably for the best if the first thing they\u2019d\u2019ve done to me when I landed was Quantify me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cSo instead you chose a ship that would return you to your mother\u2019s world,\u201d <tt>MilitAIre<\/tt> observed. \u201cI\u2019m required to ask for more details about why you ran away from home. I\u2019m not permitted to return you to an abusive environment, if that was a factor in why you ran away. And your trauma reaction to the fortune teller incident is a red flag for abuse.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cIt wasn\u2019t <i>abusive<\/i>. Nobody\u2019s ever hit me or anything. I just\u2026 didn\u2019t like my mom\u2019s new fianc\u00e9 and was pissed I wasn\u2019t given the choice to go with my dad when he left for Furya, \u2019cause they didn\u2019t tell me the real reason why I couldn\u2019t.\u201d Audrey took a deep breath. Might as well admit the rest. \u201cAnd I\u2019d read <i>way<\/i> too many stories about kids running away to have adventures\u2026 I thought chasing after my dad would be just like them. Not\u2026 a fucking <i>nightmare<\/i>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">She turned back to the screen, feeling like an idiot.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left: 2em;margin-right: 2em;margin-top: 1em;margin-bottom: 1em\"><tt><b>May 10, 2517<\/b> \u2013 Alexander Toombs arrested for assaulting a waitress at the Tiraline Gardens; video of Richard B. Riddick with Kyra Wittier-Collins and Jane Doe 7439, apparently on Shakti IV, begins circulating on Mercenary Network.<\/tt><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cKyra and I made that video,\u201d Audrey said. \u201cWith the help of a rogue AI working in the Dark Zone. DeepfAIk-5. I was trying to lay a false trail, but I didn\u2019t do it in time to prevent Toombs from ruining Kyra\u2019s chances of staying on Tangiers Prime.\u201d She nibbled at her lip for a moment, wishing\u2026 \u201cDamn it. I don\u2019t like not knowing where she is. I\u2019m worried about her. I keep feeling like something\u2019s off\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cI can inquire with General Toal about her status at the next beacon, if you like. But I can\u2019t promise he\u2019ll share his data.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cMight as well try, I guess. All the <i>Apeiros<\/i> keep telling me is that she\u2019s \u2018dreaming of a world with three suns.\u2019\u201d Audrey shook her head. \u201cProbably means she\u2019s in cryo. Not growing her five-shape or anything. She refuses to talk to them, but I guess they still overhear her loudest thoughts.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cWe will need to talk more about \u2018five-shapes,\u2019\u201d MilitAIre observed.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left: 2em;margin-right: 2em;margin-top: 1em;margin-bottom: 1em\"><tt><b>May 11, 2517<\/b> \u2013 Sirius Shipping sends Marianne Tepper a formal job offer for the <i>Nephrite Undine<\/i> position of Acting Captain. She accepts and arranges to depart New Casablanca on midnight (local time) shuttle on May 18. Security incident at Quintessa Corporation headquarters.<\/tt><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left: 2em;margin-right: 2em;margin-top: 1em;margin-bottom: 1em\"><tt><b>May 12, 2517<\/b> \u2013 Implosion of Star Jumper <i>Lucy Ricardo<\/i>.<\/tt><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cI think the <i>Lucy Ricardo<\/i> really did implode,\u201d Audrey admitted. \u201cI don\u2019t know how or why. It coincides with the first time the <i>Apeiros<\/i> took memories from me, though. General Toal said the whole wreckage seemed to be crumbling to dust, which is just <i>crazy.<\/i>\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cI have a line of inquiry I\u2019ll want to pursue about that later,\u201d <tt>MilitAIre<\/tt> said.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left: 2em;margin-right: 2em;margin-top: 1em;margin-bottom: 1em\"><tt><b>May 12, 2517 (continued)<\/b> \u2013 Javor Makarov identified as New Marrakesh Spaceport Bomber; Duke Pritchard identified as his accomplice; both flagged as the murderers of Luljeta Kamberi.<\/tt><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cSick bastards,\u201d she muttered. It still made her shudder to realize how close she and Kyra had come to being pulled into the hideous \u201cgames\u201d they played using abducted girls.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cLaw enforcement still lists Duke Pritchard as being at large,\u201d <tt>MilitAIre<\/tt> said, \u201cbut General Toal\u2019s dispatch indicates he may in fact be dead.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cHe is. I killed him.\u201d She didn\u2019t like to think of those killings\u2014Chillingsworth, the nameless merc pilot, Pritchard\u2014as <i>hers,<\/i> though. <i>Jack B. Badd killed them.<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>And Jack is dead.<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cHow?\u201d <tt>MilitAIre<\/tt> asked.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cSebby\u2014that\u2019s the Ree we\u2019d rescued from drowning, long story\u2014stung him and paralyzed him after he stabbed Kyra. Our apartment was some twenty-two meters above the ground and the tide was out in U322a\u2014Elsewhere\u2019s what we call that \u2019verse\u2014so I isomorphed him over to Elsewhere and let him fall onto the rocks below us.\u201d\n<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cAnd you\u2019re sure he died?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cDamn sure. His head hit one of the rocks and splattered everywhere. The native crustacean life was already eating him when I checked.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cWhy did he attack you and Kyra?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cHe was looking for Riddick. Toombs thought Riddick was with us or nearby somewhere, and Pritchard was planning on pinning the Spaceport Explosion on him so Makarov would be off the hook.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cInteresting. He told you he was looking for Riddick?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Funny. Now that she thought back, he\u2019d never actually said Riddick\u2019s name. \u201cWho else? Pritchard talked about Kyra and me being his accomplices.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cIndeed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left: 2em;margin-right: 2em;margin-top: 1em;margin-bottom: 1em\"><tt><b>May 17, 2517<\/b> \u2013 Javor Makarov cornered in New Casablanca spaceport, blows up a concourse during a firefight with Spaceport Security, killed in battle.<\/tt><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cI really fucked that up,\u201d Audrey muttered. It still left a huge hollow feeling inside her.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cYou may be taking on far too much blame,\u201d <tt>MilitAIre<\/tt> said after a moment. \u201cAccording to General Toal\u2019s dispatch, there are indications that someone deliberately escalated the situation with the intention of ensuring that Makarov wouldn\u2019t be captured alive. Perhaps a powerful corporation that was concerned about what he might have chosen to reveal about his prior relationship to them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cEven if the Quintessa Corporation did that,\u201d she sighed, \u201cI still set it in motion. I was so stupid\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cMilitary and law enforcement operations go wrong all the time, Audrey.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">She shook her head, forcing back tears that wanted to reach the surface. \u201cYou didn\u2019t see what happened.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cNo.\u201d His voice had become gentle. \u201cI did not. I\u2019m sorry you did.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">She made herself focus on the screen.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left: 2em;margin-right: 2em;margin-top: 1em;margin-bottom: 1em\"><tt><b>May 18, 2517<\/b> \u2013 Sirius Shipping retrieves Marianne Tepper and brings her to HQ.<\/tt><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left: 2em;margin-right: 2em;margin-top: 1em;margin-bottom: 1em\"><tt><b>May 19, 2517<\/b> \u2013 <i>Nephrite Undine<\/i> launches.<\/tt><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left: 2em;margin-right: 2em;margin-top: 1em;margin-bottom: 1em\"><tt><b>May 21, 2517<\/b> \u2013 Anomalous behavior and data about Marianne Tepper logged. Height on record is incorrect. Results of query, about nutritional requirements of adolescent girls on growth spurts, added via security backdoor to Tepper\u2019s health profile. Use of high-level security backdoors noted. No traces of Tepper\u2019s existence outside of standard official documents found in databases. Backup memory system locked down against incursion. All of Tepper\u2019s interactions with ship systems will be monitored and recorded.<br \/>\n<s><b>Possible explanations:<\/b> (1) Federacy WitSec; (2) Military Intelligence; (3) Cyberterrorist.<\/s><br \/>\n<b>Addendum:<\/b> All three explanations disproved.<\/tt><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cWhat <i>is<\/i> the explanation?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cClassified,\u201d <tt>MilitAIre<\/tt> answered. She could swear she heard a hint of amusement in his reply.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cSo this next stuff is all about how sketchy I am, isn\u2019t it?\u201d Audrey made herself keep reading.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cI wouldn\u2019t call you \u2018sketchy,\u2019\u201d <tt>MilitAIre<\/tt> replied, no longer hiding his amusement.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left: 2em;margin-right: 2em;margin-top: 1em;margin-bottom: 1em\"><tt><b>May 29, 2517<\/b> \u2013 <u>Memory incident 1<\/u> \u2013 507-year-old <i>Doctor Who<\/i> episode appears to trigger an emotional breakdown in Marianne Tepper. She subsequently locks all files in the series against herself and leaves herself a message forbidding ever watching them. Shortly thereafter, she appears to lose all memory of having watched the show, or broken down, at all.<br \/>\n<b>Addendum:<\/b> <i>Apeiros<\/i> involvement suspected.<\/tt><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left: 2em;margin-right: 2em;margin-top: 1em;margin-bottom: 1em\"><tt><b>May 30, 2517<\/b> \u2013 Second Star Jump concludes; query about Marianne Tepper dispatched to Federacy Military Intelligence during interface with Beacon 2624.<\/tt><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left: 2em;margin-right: 2em;margin-top: 1em;margin-bottom: 1em\"><tt><b>June 22, 2517<\/b> \u2013 Biometric logging indicates that \u201cMarianne Tepper\u201d has grown a full Imperial inch in height since her arrival on board <i>Nephrite Undine<\/i>. Her eating patterns remain consistent with an early adolescent experiencing a growth spurt. Awaiting response from Federacy Military Intelligence.<\/tt><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left: 2em;margin-right: 2em;margin-top: 1em;margin-bottom: 1em\"><tt><b>June 28, 2517<\/b> \u2013 <u>Memory Incident 2<\/u> \u2013 \u201cMarianne Tepper\u201d experiences strange fit in Recreation Area, leaves herself an anomalous message, loses memory of prior hour soon after.<br \/>\n<b>Addendum 2:<\/b> <i>Apeiros<\/i> involvement suspected.<br \/>\n<b>Addendum 1:<\/b> \u201cMarianne Tepper\u201d confirmed to be missing person Audrey MacNamera an hour after incident, upon return to U1. Contact with Audrey MacNamera established, debriefing underway.<\/tt><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cSo, uh\u2026 how\u2019s that debriefing going?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cMy initial assessment,\u201d <tt>MilitAIre<\/tt> said after a pause, \u201cis that it\u2019s a very good thing <i>I\u2019m<\/i> the one who caught you. The strain of maintaining aliases, and of the multiple traumas you\u2019ve experienced, were beginning to break you down. You\u2019re both too lonely and too guilt-ridden to function effectively undercover. You have a need to confess what you perceive to be your crimes, and are subconsciously seeking to be punished for them. This is not a mental state in which you can maintain a deep cover. Fortunately, we have almost four months in which to stabilize your mental and emotional states and prepare you for your return to Deckard\u2019s World. If we\u2019re unable to do so, I\u2019ll need to remand you into protective custody when we arrive there, until such time as you <i>are<\/i> ready.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Well, shit.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">She couldn\u2019t exactly argue with any of his assessments. Even though she couldn\u2019t feel his mind, she could feel the truth of what he was saying. She\u2019d almost blown it all, and the idea of being caught and made to pay for the havoc she\u2019d wreaked\u2026<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u2026had been a <i>relief.<\/i> Just as, when Abecassis had first come into the triage tent and she\u2019d thought he was there to arrest her, she\u2019d felt relieved. She\u2019d wanted it to be over. If they\u2019d tossed her straight into a Slam\u2014<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>\u2026where they tell you you\u2019ll never see daylight again\u2026<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u2014she\u2019d have gone almost willingly. And even now a large part of herself was <i>glad<\/i> to hear that she\u2019d be kept in custody until someone other than her decided she was no longer a threat. What the fuck was <i>wrong<\/i> with her?<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cThe next entries in the timeline,\u201d <tt>MilitAIre<\/tt> told her, directing her attention back to the screen, \u201care projections of what will happen if I succeed in stabilizing you for a return to your old life.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left: 2em;margin-right: 2em;margin-top: 1em;margin-bottom: 1em\"><tt><b>October 23, 2517 (Projected)<\/b> \u2013 Arrival of <i>Nephrite Undine<\/i> over Deckard\u2019s World.<\/tt><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left: 2em;margin-right: 2em;margin-top: 1em;margin-bottom: 1em\"><tt><b>December 4, 2517 (Projected)<\/b> \u2013 Audrey MacNamera\u2019s revised biological 14<sup>th<\/sup> birthday, based on prior revised birthday (v. 2: October 2) plus cryo time on board the <i>Scarlet Matador<\/i>.<\/tt><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left: 2em;margin-right: 2em;margin-top: 1em;margin-bottom: 1em\"><tt><b>January 28, 2518 (Projected)<\/b> \u2013 Final day of 9<sup>th<\/sup> grade school year at Kerwin High School, which MacNamera would have begun attending if she had not left Deckard\u2019s World.<\/tt><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left: 2em;margin-right: 2em;margin-top: 1em;margin-bottom: 1em\"><tt><b>March 2, 2518 (Projected)<\/b> \u2013 Audrey MacNamera legally turns 15.<\/tt><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left: 2em;margin-right: 2em;margin-top: 1em;margin-bottom: 1em\"><tt><b>May 2, 2518 (Projected)<\/b> \u2013 First day of 10<sup>th<\/sup> grade school year at Kerwin High School, presuming Audrey MacNamera qualifies to attend.<\/tt>\n<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cThat\u2019s, uh, why I\u2019ve been doing all of those study modules,\u201d she said. \u201cI was gonna try to sell the idea that I\u2019ve been on Deckard\u2019s World the whole time, and just\u2026 in Witness Protection or something.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cTechnically,\u201d <tt>MilitAIre<\/tt> told her, \u201cYou <i>are<\/i> in Federacy WitSec now. I believe we can indeed sell a scenario in which that\u2019s where you\u2019ve been since you disappeared from your mother\u2019s home. It\u2019ll simplify matters considerably, and you can truthfully say that you\u2019re under a gag order from ever discussing where you\u2019ve been or what you\u2019ve seen, with anyone except your handler, on pain of being removed from your mother\u2019s home again. Such a scenario will allow you to dodge most questions, and will be backed up by actual Federacy authority.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Shit. Had General Toal only been giving her the <i>illusion<\/i> of controlling her exit strategy?<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>Maybe he let me have free rein so I could see how totally incompetent I am at doing any of this without help\u2026<\/i> It was hard to picture that kind of malice from him, though. Maybe he\u2019d just overestimated her, the way she\u2019d overestimated herself.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">She suddenly wondered if a handler had always been scheduled to greet her when she arrived at the other end of the <i>Nephrite Undine<\/i>\u2019s journey. And what she would have done if one had been. Panicked and tried to run? Or surrendered in the hope she was about to be <i>punished?<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">There were a few more projected entries left on the screen for her to read. Projected <i>way<\/i> out, she noticed.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left: 2em;margin-right: 2em;margin-top: 1em;margin-bottom: 1em\"><tt><b>February 1, 2521 (Projected)<\/b> \u2013 Expected high school graduation for Audrey MacNamera if everything remains on track.<\/tt><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left: 2em;margin-right: 2em;margin-top: 1em;margin-bottom: 1em\"><tt><b>March 2, 2521 (Projected)<\/b> \u2013 Audrey MacNamera legally turns 18.<\/tt><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left: 2em;margin-right: 2em;margin-top: 1em;margin-bottom: 1em\"><tt><b>May 5, 2521 (Projected)<\/b> \u2013 Approximate beginning of first year in college for Audrey MacNamera if everything remains on track.<\/tt><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left: 2em;margin-right: 2em;margin-top: 1em;margin-bottom: 1em\"><tt><b>December 4, 2521 (Projected)<\/b> \u2013 Audrey MacNamera\u2019s revised biological 18<sup>th<\/sup> birthday; she is provisionally permitted to contact Lt. Ewan Tomlin from this point forward.<\/tt><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cI don\u2019t think Ewan is going to want me to contact him,\u201d she said, her eyes and nose suddenly stinging. \u201cNot after I got so many people killed. I don\u2019t know why he\u2019d want to have anything to do with me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cGeneral Toal seems to believe he will,\u201d <tt>MilitAIre<\/tt> told her. \u201cBut that it\u2019s critical for your safety, and his, that it only happen after you have turned eighteen. And that it must be under circumstances where an Audrey MacNamera who has never left Deckard\u2019s World before then would plausibly cross paths with him without raising suspicion. <i>And<\/i> where any similarities between you and \u2018Jack B. Badd,\u2019 \u2018Jane Doe 7439,\u2019 \u2018Piper Finch,\u2019 \u2018Marianne Tepper,\u2019 or \u2018Tizzy Meziane\u2019 would be dismissed as mere coincidence by any observer.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Would that be even remotely possible? It was still hard to imagine Ewan\u2014or any of the Meziane family\u2014wanting to see her after the catastrophe she\u2019d thoughtlessly set in motion\u2026 let alone a scenario in which they could reunite as if meeting for the first time. It would take a lot more subtlety than she knew how to pull off. Of course, it wasn\u2019t like anything Ewan had ever done or said had been overt. The few endearments he had ever used with her had always been in Tamazight, ensuring that she hadn\u2019t even known how meaningful they might have been until later\u2014<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cDo\u2026 you have the ability to translate from Tamazight to English?\u201d she asked after a moment.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cYes, of course.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">For the tiniest fraction of a second, she almost expected him to tell her that he was fluent in over six million forms of communication\u2026 in a prissy English accent instead of a non-rhotic \u201cBoston\u201d drawl. Weird. <tt>MilitAIre<\/tt> didn\u2019t seem to have anything in common with that fictional robot. <i>Anyway\u2026<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cCan you tell me what this means?\u201d Carefully, phoneme by phoneme, she repeated Ewan\u2019s words, spoken as he\u2019d held her for the last time.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201c\u2018You came into what I thought would be my darkest days, and you filled them with light,\u2019\u201d <tt>MilitAIre<\/tt> translated. \u201c\u2018It\u2019s wrong for me to want even more from you, but I do.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">And she\u2019d been doing such a <i>good<\/i> job of managing not to cry until then, too.<\/p>\n<p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Title: The Changeling Game (Formerly Identity Theft) Author: Ardath Rekha Chapter: 63\/? Fandom: Pitch Black (2000); The Chronicles of Riddick (2004); The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury (2004) Rat","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"bgseo_title":"\u201cThe Changeling Game\u201d 63: \u201cWhen a Lie Becomes the Truth\u201d","bgseo_description":"Audrey, and Toal\u2019s unexpected proxy, begin to go over exactly what happened on \u201cJack B. Badd\u2019s\u201d run and when, in preparation for obscuring that information from almost everyone.","bgseo_robots_index":"index","bgseo_robots_follow":"follow","footnotes":""},"categories":[9,21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-706","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fan-fiction","category-the-changeling-game"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/wips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/706","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/wips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/wips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/wips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/wips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=706"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/wips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/706\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1158,"href":"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/wips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/706\/revisions\/1158"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/wips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=706"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/wips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=706"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/wips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=706"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}