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The narrow streets of the bottom level were filled with grime and hollow faces. A place reserved for those of us who were important enough to keep alive. Just barely. We had few options, trapped on a station the size of a city. It was how I had to learn to be resourceful. My stomach growled. I wanted meat. Real food. It had been a long time since I had anything other than supplements and water. Inside the narrow alley lined with small pods, I walked sideways to avoid hitting crates and trash that became a part of the architecture of the bottom. No one cared about the lower levels of Station Rhea. It was the end of the line, a place where questions were not asked. Where you could disappear. “Hey. Red,” a gruff voice called my name. I turned to see the shadowy figure, a hulking man. His frame was so massive that it took a lot of effort for him to move. “You got the stuff?” I walked over to the shadowy figure. He smelled like he hadn’t bathed. “At least take a shower, man,” I said, stopping in front of him. “What do you think I need the power cell for?” He answered. The large man was a consistent customer. He was a techie, only living in his pod, eating delivered supplements. From his badge, I knew he was a part of the monitoring crew, a sedentary life where he literally had to do nothing but watch a few screens. A miserable existence. At least as an engineer, I got to explore the ship. To move away from the bottom levels, if only for a few hours a day. I pulled the precious cell from my pocket, “Only one I could get. You’re lucky you’re my favorite customer.” “Sure, Red,” he held out his massive hand. I placed the cell inside. With another swipe of his hands, the credits were deposited into my account. “This is only half—” “I’m accepting stolen goods,” said the man, “But I’ll pay you ten times more for one of those eyes of yours.” “Fuck you, Big Man,” I said as I turned around. “Offer is always there, Red!” He called after me. They always wanted my eyes, no matter what I could smuggle or steal for them. My eyes were the most valuable things in the lower levels. It would have been an unusual day if someone didn’t offer me credits for them. Home. Blue lights greeted me as I approached the entrance to the pod. Mail. A package. In the small slot, I opened the box. A black message. “Guess this is it,” I said under my breath, grabbing the small package. The door opened to the small pod, the dim lights chugged on as I locked myself in for the evening. The windowless room like a nest. Small enough for two single bunk beds. The top bunk was closed in the wall. No point having it out when it was just me. A kitchen and hot plate. Clothes hung on the opposite side of the room. There was nowhere close enough to do laundry, and the housing unit did not come equipped with laundry facilities. That kind of thing was reserved for those of the upper classes. Instead, I often handwashed everything and hung it up around the pod. I sat on the simple chair at the table. It creaked. My thumb touched the sleek black chip. The final message from my uncle. The man who raised me like his own son. It took months for all the paperwork to be sorted, but at least I could finally put his memory to rest. I stood and placed the chip inside the messenger. It whirred to life. The holographic recording joined me in the room. Uncle Haris appeared before me. “Pause program,” I said. The hologram stopped. It looked just like him. His frail body, his bright white hair, and wise old eyes. To see him before me nearly brought me to tears. My family. My only family. Gone. Yet, just gazing at him made me feel so much less alone. “Play message,” I said. “Oh—I think this is…,” Uncle Haris stuttered as he faced the camera, “Hello Simon. It is good to see you. Or at least. I hope it’s good for you to see me. I am dead now, which is why you are receiving this message. And I hope that you know when I parted this earth, all I did was think of you.” “Old man…,” I said under my breath, wishing I could say it to him. “If everything has been set up appropriately, you should have a package along with this message. If so, please open it now. I want to do this together,” Haris paused, waiting for me to get the package together. I placed the box in my lap and opened it. Three smaller boxes inside. Red. Yellow. And Brown. “The first one to open is the yellow one.” I followed my uncle’s instructions and took the yellow package. The covering old, worn, but intact. I pulled the wrapping off the package to reveal a shining token. Unmistakable. A totem of House Talos. “This is your identity. What marks you as a son of House Talos. I know you hate them, but having this identity can and will save you. Whether you like it or not,” Haris said simply. It was a conversation we had over and over again when he was alive. “Open the Red Package.” I obeyed the instructions of the hologram. The red package was wrapped with a fine fabric. Inside another token. House Vesuvius. “I have held onto this token since the day we left House Talos. It is the closest to a future I could give you, but there is only one. One chance. If you take this along with your token, you will be able to ask for the aid of House Vesuvius. And perhaps, your life will change for the better,” he said, “For the final package…” Brown. It was simple, the one most recently wrapped, I could tell by the quality of the paper. A simple necklace made of petrified wood. “This is from me to you, Simon. I do not have a House to give, nor wealth and power. This totem has been passed down from father to son in my family for generations. I was only a simple servant of House Talos. But. You have always been my son, Simon,” the hologram looked in the distance, as though he was trying to speak directly to me. My thumb stroked the symbol. A wooden circle with a bird engraved in it. Some places of the bird were worn from the countless hands that touched it. History, all passed down through a single object. “You will also receive a small inheritance from me upon receiving this message. It is a modest amount. Enough to get you off Station Rhea. Out of Talos space. If you so choose. I can only hope that you decide on a real future. Go to House Vesuvius, because they will offer you a better chance than this place ever could.” My thumb focused on the bird totem. “I love you, my son. You have so much potential, and that is what frightens Talos. That is why they have forced us to the bottom levels because they thought you would do nothing but waste away. I have seen you be resourceful. To be inventive. It is my dream that you take this opportunity and make something of yourself. Now. The future is yours.” The message ended. Silence enveloped the room. On my wristband, I received a notification. Credits in my account. It must have been triggered by receiving the message. Haris was right. Enough to offer passage out of the network, but not much else. If I were a gambling man, I could see how such an amount might entice me to the tables. To double my luck. But. I’ll have to do something with the luck I have. I placed the necklace around my neck and tucked it underneath my clothes. I hated House Talos. They were the ones who forced us to live such a pitiful existence. Haris did not want me to seek revenge. He made that clear when he was alive. But without him— There was nothing for me in the Talos Network. I could not hold a job. And the ones I did, I was never up for a promotion no matter how hard I worked, or how much I improved the situation. Talos never wanted me to succeed. The only way for me to get out of the bottom was to leave. Haris gave me the chance. I did not have enough for a ship where I could make my own way. This side of the galaxy only had two houses. Talos and Vesuvius. I only had one option. At least the rumors said that Vesuvius had better living conditions, even though humans had to live under the rule of the Thura. A strange race of aliens that could crush a human with a single hit, but were devoted to an ideology of order and peace. If it weren’t for their religiosity, they would have likely advanced beyond the human capabilities of Talos. Instead, they were used for their strength and to do the jobs that Talos considered beneath them. It was how this part of the galaxy found balance. At the very least—it was peaceful. It did not take me long to make my decision. I wanted to leave Station Rhea. It wasn’t as though I had many possessions. By selling the pod, I could get a nice outfit for once. Enough to make myself presentable for the head of House Vesuvius and ask for aid. They were Thuna after all and enjoyed ceremony. I encountered only a few Thura guards in the factory. They were far more imposing than humans with their colorful skin and larger bodies. A race of warriors that were traditional in their ways. I had to dress well if I wanted to be taken seriously by them. My only chance. I wasn’t sure why Haris had the token of Vesuvius, but it was my one shot. I would not waste an audience with the Madame of the House. I hoped to appeal to her. To show my worth. To do what I always wanted in the back of my mind, despite what Haris warned and encouraged me to move away from. Revenge. For the first time, I felt the stirrings of hope. Change. No matter what, I would have to convince them to let me join them. To tell them of my goal. To destroy House Talos.
