Dark Matter Ascension

Jace got to his new home and found to his immense satisfaction and joy that the three rooms were decorated and furnished. The main room was dominated by a large, circular table with plenty of cushioned chairs – perfect for hosting guests. There were numerous shelves with all manner of board games lining one wall, and the whole room was decorated like a wintery forest – including holographic snow falling from above before dissipating at just above eye level.

He had never had games or entertainment, but the few shoddy, thrown-together board games that the orphanage did have were his only source of joy in those dim times. As he walked through the space, he traced his fingers along the different titles and textures. These…they’re mine. He cracked a smile and chuckled. There are so many types! He had no clue how they were sorted, but he had an urge to pull one of the boxes out, set it on the table, and begin to read the rulebook.

Ollie cleared his throat, "Ahem…you need some rest."

"Right," Jace replied as he felt the pull of sleep. Leaving the board game on the table, the pieces tumbling out of the cardboard box, he followed his Wayfinder.

Walking to the bedroom, Jace was absolutely floored at the nature of the space. It looked the exact same as the Starlit Sea where he went to choose his Cosmic Power and Class. Shifting starlight in an infinite ocean, with just a slight metallic sheen to mark the walls. Flopping onto the black bed, he looked up into the swirling cosmos with a deep feeling of satisfaction mixed with anxiety.

This was his place. His home. As long as he kept working for Xera – which he planned on doing.

But he also had the lingering flutter in his chest from visiting Shhiv. That sense of anxiety and trepidation. Something he had not felt before. Living on the streets didn’t give one much time to focus on emotions – you just pushed them aside and got along with living. But now? He wasn’t sure how to deal with these feelings.

Just try to get some sleep, he thought as he closed his eyes.

Quinn stood in front of the Star Council’s main chamber. Okay. You’ve got this. Just summoned to a meeting with the leader of the faction. No sweat. Her hands were shaking, and she felt her dry mouth with distinct displeasure.

The spider-lady Casey walked over on her numerous legs. "Nervous?"

"A little," Quinn replied as her Wayfinder sat on her shoulder. "Valerie said he sounded angry."

"He is a sweetheart. If he is acting mean, it’s because he’s trying to teach you a lesson." Casey grinned, "He’s called Star Father for a reason. He treats every Ascendant or Signer for our faction as a child. The oldest and most powerful of the Star Council. And he is one of the strongest Ascendants of all. Just be respectful, and if he asks you to apologize – do it." She frowned. "He will treat you like a child – including punishment – if you don’t act properly."

Quinn nodded and felt her mouth get even drier than before as the anxiety truly took hold. It felt like she was about to be reamed over the coals, like what she experienced when she once ran an operation for an ex-corpo. That man had shouted at and berated her at every opportunity. Just be contrite, she thought.

The doors opened and she gulped. Casey put a hand on her shoulder, "Good luck."

Quinn walked through and entered the room. It was an office space that looked like an upscale version of a corpo office. The walls were painted a warm, orange tone that was offset pleasingly by the black floor. Most prominent of all was a desk made of a silvery metal; covered with panels, screens, and papers.

A humanoid man sat behind the desk in a luxurious, cushioned chair. His skin was a pure, shimmering gold color. His eyes were dark pools as black as space, with a shimmering sparkle of the stars within. He had a crop of short, silver hair and a beard that was well-kempt. And he was immaculately dressed in a dark, black outfit akin to a power suit. Looking up, he smiled softly. "Good to finally meet you, Quinn. Please, take a seat."

A chair of bright, burnished orange light appeared in front of Quinn. She sat on the edge of the seat. "You asked for me?"

Star Father nodded and leaned back in the chair. He pointed to a sheet of paper, "Read that."

Quinn grabbed the sheet of paper and began reading it. This is a list of all the transactions I’ve done.

"Why are you giving such a hefty discount to this Flicker fellow?"

Quinn put the paper down. "His name is Jace Seren. His Wayfinder is named Oliver, but Jace calls him Ollie. He has a weird symbol on his han-"

The man held up his hand and Quinn stopped talking. "I know all of that. Why are you giving him a discount?"

Quinn let out a sigh as the ball of anxiety continued to fester in her torso. Taking a sip from the canteen on her hip, she nodded curtly and looked right into those black, starry pools. "I betrayed a code. He forgave me in exchange for the 25% discount on products and services, and 25% more from what he sells to me."

Star Father nodded sagely with a frown on his face. "I can understand wanting to do the right thing. However, this level of hemorrhaging of our Stardust reserves is something I cannot let continue. Did you sign a Broker contract with him?"

"No. But if I did, it would only last 24 hours."

"Good. Restrict him to one visit per month. That shouldn’t impact our operations too severely, and I don’t want you to have a bad reputation." He leaned forward and put his forearms on the desk. "You are one of our few merchant-style Class Signers. That is one of the only reasons I am showing such lenience." He smiled, "Inadvertently, you’ve done something really positive for our faction’s interests on Earth."

Quinn felt curiosity rouse and replace the ball of anxiety, "How?"

"This Jace – Flicker – you learned his Cosmic Power source, yes?"

"Mhmm. Dark Matter. His Class and any more information are restricted by someone named X."

Star Father stood up and walked around the desk, leaning on it as he crossed his arms. "X is the person behind The Cosmic System. Some type of tech support who lives in a building here in Khrox that is completely impossible to penetrate." He held up his finger, "Except by one person. Signers for a hidden faction – Dark Between Stars – which almost exclusively has had Dark Matter users throughout history."

"You think that Jace is part of that faction?"

Star Father nodded and put his hands back on the desk. "Precisely. I saw the video you dug up in researching for that contract. Someone who pulled off that type of feat and showed that level of resilience should have been recruited rather quickly – but someone with admin level access of The Cosmic System prevented anyone from reaching out."

He frowned and his voice became an upset, guttural growl that filled Quinn with fear. The anger behind the stern words shook her to her core. "I wanted to get him as a Signer. As far as I know, every faction leader tried to reach out – but X blocked it all. Even Quests we submitted to try and give him easy rewards to bribe him to our cause were blocked."

"X runs Dark Between Stars, and prevented other factions from recruiting Jace as a Signer because they wanted him?" Quinn clarified.

"Correct. Good to know you can keep up with my blathering."

Quinn frowned, "How does this benefit the Star Council’s interests on Earth?"

Star Father went back around the desk and took his seat once more, and his tone lightened. "We are entering a temporary alliance with the Planetary Independence Pact and Dark Between Stars. The Planetary Independence Pact is going to be providing cover for our Earth-based operations. Leviticus Smith is already working one angle on Earth: this United States government."

"But there’s other governments, and the megacorps. Thos-"

"I’ve got other Ascendants working on other governments on that world. The Star Council is ’boots on the ground’, to use a military turn of phrase. And our allies for this endeavor are going to try and keep Nebula Alliance and Black Hole Conclave members out of the whole affair. Well, any new Aspirants and Ascendants they send in." He pointed at Quinn, "I want you, your bodyguard, and this ’unspecified agent’ from Dark Between Stars – this Jace fellow in all probability – to play another angle. Taking down those mega corporations."

"You want us to take down General Logistics?"

"Not just one. All of them. This is a monumental task, and I can’t risk you dying on that world. So, we need to get you to Tier 3 so that you won’t be killed by a stray bullet. To that end, I’m going to restrict your merchant duties for a while. You and this Greg – handy bodyguard, by the way – will be focusing on harvesting products from various Tier 1 worlds that can be sold to other vendors. Get enough Stardust to hit Tier 3."

Quinn nodded and stood up, "If that’s what you want."

"Oh, one more thing."

"Yes?"

"Repair this rift between you and Jace. If he is Dark Between Stars like I think he is, we want him on our side. If you can manipulate him with emotions – do so. That unique power needs to be under our control." He smiled, stood up, and came around the desk once more, and ruffled her hair. "Alright, off you go. Be a good kid and shut the door behind you, please."

Quinn nodded curtly, stood up, and left the room. As soon as the doors shut behind her, she began hyperventilating. How the hell am I going to get on his good side?

"Hey, you have received a message," Darrin said as he crawled around Greg’s shoulders.

"From who?"

"A Wayfinder named Oliver. The river otter? The one for that Jace guy."

Greg nodded and took a sip of the ice-cold beer in the bar he stumbled upon in The Eternal City, "What’s it say?"

"I will show you." A screen appeared at the edge of Greg’s vision.

<<<<<>>>>>

[Hi! This is Oliver. I am Jace’s Wayfinder. Please, in the future, only use his actual name if you are interacting with him in private . In public spaces or with untrustworthy individuals, use his nickname in The Cosmic System – Flicker.]

[He has new accommodations and is currently resting. I figured that I would try and surprise him with a small get together, a housewarming party of sorts. Would you be so kind as to come and, as humans on Earth would put it, ’hang out’?]

[Bring a guest if you desire. Details will be attached.]

<<<<<>>>>>

A housewarming party? Greg chuckled and that chuckled turned into a deep laugh, drawing the gaze of a few other patrons. "Tell him I’ll accept and bring Missy." That guy deserves every bit of it.

Greg hadn’t lived on the streets himself, but he knew plenty of street folk. Having a place to live was a huge life improvement and a major milestone in, as their type put it, ’crawling from the gutter’. An achievement worthy of celebrating. He drained the last of his beer, paid off his tab, and walked through Khrox until the world warped around him and he got to Missy’s place.

"Hey hon," he shouted out as he entered the room. "Want to go to a small get together?"

A get together? Quinn grinned as she read the message. This is my chance to get in his good graces. She quickly fired off a response message. I should bring something as a housewarming present.

Getting on Jace’s good side was vital now. Not only did he have a unique Cosmic Power that no one else had access to, but he was the only Signer for Dark Between Stars…from what she could gather with her System access.

The meeting with Star Father told her enough about the seriousness of the situation. Getting in this X’s good graces would be imperative to her future success and that of the faction she became a Signer for.

She could not screw this up.

Shhiv ran her fingers through her hair and floated in her cube of water. Done. Finally. She made her way to the edge of the cube and exited – instantly drying – as she left the workspace, went to the break room, and pulled out her cosmopanel.

A message? She opened it. A Wayfinder? Oliver? Oh! It must be Ollie! She was shaking with excitement. I wasn’t expecting Jace to reply this fast! Reading through the message just filled her with even more excitement.

She’d been trying for years to make connections with Aspirants. Whether just as friends or as a close confidant…or maybe something more, which is what she really wanted. But every one of them just forgot about her as soon as they passed their Aspirant Trial. Moving on and forgetting the lowly Civilian that helped them out on their first steps.

He must have really liked that date earlier. She immediately responded that she would attend the small get-together.

What should I wear? What should I bring? Probably food. Intoxicants, maybe? I’ll have to call in favors since payday is so far off. Definitely intoxicants if I want to get together with him intimately.

This was her chance. To make a connection. To finally snag an Aspirant. Someone she could form a bond with. Civilian life was good – but could be lonely at times.

Plus, with an Aspirant with her, she could visit her home world without the threat of assassination. But that wasn’t the main reason. She wanted, craved to be partnered with someone with immense power. Not for her own sake, but because she idolized strength. It was one of the main reasons why she worked out so much.

It has to be perfect! This might be my only chance.

Xera tapped her console. "What is it now, Ollie?"

The spectral river otter was swimming with more enthusiasm and vibrancy than she’d ever seen before. "I am putting together a housewarming party for Jace. Did you want to come?"

Xera arched an eyebrow, "Why would I do that?"

"Because…he is your Signer? He has never had a home that was his before. I am inviting everyone I can think of who he has had a positive interaction with. I think that having you there would be pleasant. It is not like you have not left that citadel before."

I suppose it couldn’t hurt anything. Josie can hold down the fort and recall me if anything dangerous happens. Xera had a means to transport herself anywhere in The Cosmic Corridor or The Eternal City instantaneously, and there was a contingent protocol in place to recall her if any danger presented itself.

Ensuring that he feels like I care about him would be an ideal way to try and keep him within my faction.

"Didn’t he have a mother that abandoned him?" she asked.

"Yup!" Ollie replied.

"Very well. I will attend. Send me the guest list, who has responded in the affirmative, and any other pertinent information."

"Yes ma’am!" Ollie vanished from the screen’s view and into the Starlit Sea.

Xera looked at Josie. The shapeless blob that floated in the air had a pair of eyes that were squinting at her. "Don’t look at me like that," Xera said.

"You are going to damage him if you do what I think you plan on doing," Josie replied.

Xera waved away the concern, "Everyone needs a maternal figure in their life. His mother abandoned him, yes? Well, he is sort of like my child, in a way. I need to take care of him for my own interests." She stood up and went to her bedroom and the enormous closet with dozens of outfits for all manner of espionage endeavors – to blend into practically any location. It’s been a while since I’ve done any type of covert work.

I have to ensure that he remains under my control. Manipulation if necessary. I can’t lose another Signer.

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