Nyla didn’t think she had heard him correctly. “I am sorry, what?”
“Do you want to go to my home world?” Cal asked, smiling at the small woman.
Nyla thought for a moment. The thoughts running through her mind were incessant, questioning his motives, questioning whether she had the right to go with him. “I do, but…” she hesitated.
“But what, Nyla?” Cal asked.
Nyla’s heart fluttered at the sound of this strange god-like being speaking her name with such familiarity. “Will I ever see my homeworld again?”
Cal laughed. “Of course, this should not take long. Either way, if you come or not, I like this world, and I still feel somewhat responsible for you, so I will be back one way or another.”
Nyla’s mind raced until she finally nodded. “Very well, I would very much like to see your homeworld.”
Artie chimed up. “Cal, we have clearance for, wow….” Artie trailed off.
“Well, don’t keep us waiting, Artie. What is it we are cleared for?” Cal asked.
“In accordance with UCH directives, Callum Nigel Rittlebach is currently given clearance Siera-Niner-Zero-Zero, full authorization of autonomy for any and all actions in line with prospect Uniform-Hotel-Charlie-Zero-Zero-One.” Artie said in the strange mechanical way that he had been talking earlier. His voice switched back to its normal playful tone before continuing. “Currently speaking, you have clearance for anything and everything, in accordance with, well, The Thing.”
Nyla noticed that Cal tensed at the mention of ‘The Thing.’ Nyla decided just to ask. “What is ‘The Thing?’’
“My job.” Cal said somewhat dismissively. “Now, with this clearance, Nyla, on Earth, we speak many languages, the one used most is what has become known as Common. It's a bastard mix of English, Russian, German, and Mandarin. If you want, I can keep talking to you in your language as I have been, or I can give you an injection of nanites that will give you a functional ability to speak and understand every language in the human archives.”
Nyla didn’t hesitate this time. “Yes, please, I want to be able to know what is going on around me.”
“Very well,” Cal said, turning away, “Artie give her the works, anything that will improve her health, her ability to survive on Earth, or anything else she wants, that's all you. I will get the ship ready to go.”
“Understood, Cal. Nyla please enter this room.” Artie said, and a door outlined in blue light opened up.
“Okay, See you in a few Cal.” Nyla said, and Cal nodded, a look of deep thought crossing his face as he turned to the monitors around the chair and began to tap away.
For Nyla, the next hour or so was spent talking with Artie, being asked all kinds of questions, and finally being given a single shot with a strange metallic-looking liquid.
“Don’t worry Nyla,“ Artie reassured her, “I have checked and rechecked that nothing in the shot will interact poorly with your biology. I also have one more question to ask you.”
Nyla noticed that the way he asked implied secrecy. “What is it, Artie?”
“If you would like, I can also give you an implant that will allow you to be in contact with an AI of your choosing, and until you get one of your own, if you ever do, I will keep you informed of anything you might need to know.” Artie said in what could only be described as a whisper.
“Okay?” Nyla said with uncertainty, and a metallic arm, something she recognized as a robotic arm from her talks with Artie, unfolded from the wall and quickly attached a small metal disk to the side of her head, under her hair. “Is that it?”
“It is. Are you understanding me?” Artie said inside her head.
“Oh, that's unsettling.” Nyla said.
“That's what I said the first time I experienced it.” Cal said, standing in the doorway. “So how much of an upgrade did you authorize for yourself, Artie?”
Artie responded with a tone that seemed more natural now. “Um, well, I figured that it would help.”
“I’m not mad. You do you, Artie, just don’t exceed the Crenshaw Point.” Cal said before focusing on Nyla. “So you ready?”
Nyla nodded. “I think so. Cal, what are you wearing?” Nyla took in his outfit. It looked good on him, but it also looked… predatory.
A sharp-looking grey was the base of the outfit, with sharp lines of black starting at the hem of the trouser legs and flowing up in a strange pattern that made Nyla think of violence. The coat had similar patterns, and on the shoulder were two black loops of cloth with a single silver emblem on each shoulder. The entire effect was intimidating. For some reason, Nyla felt that she was looking at a whole new person.
Cal looked at Nyla for a moment and then smiled. “It’s my uniform, that's all.”
“Cal does not like talking about his job.” Artie said in her mind.
“I can tell.” Nyla responded in her head without thinking, and Artie let her know that he was indeed able to hear her.
Nyla followed Cal out of the small room she had been in and found that there was another seat next to the one that Cal had taken. “Alright, Nyla. I am not going to explain how it works because, frankly, I have no idea. What we are about to do is called an interlaced folding space jump. Please take a seat.”
Nyla sat down. “Now, I highly recommend that you pick a single screen and focus on it, as having something to focus on makes the transition much less distressing, mentally.”
Nyla nodded and then began to watch Cal, as he looked from one screen to another. In the background of the ship, and in between Cal and Artie telling each other things, Nyla felt a strange whine build. The sound put her teeth on edge and made her head hurt.
“Standby for jump.” Cal said, and Nyla sank back into the chair, focusing on the monitor directly in front of her. The whine rose higher and higher in pitch, almost in time with Cal’s counting. “Jump in 5… 4… 3… 2… 1… Jump!”
Nyla let out a gasp and gritted her teeth. Pain washed over her, emanating from her head. Then as quickly as it had built, the whine dissipated and finally fell silent, and with it, the pain that she'd felt. Cal groaned, “Apparently, what you are feeling is space unfolding itself.”
“Well, I’m glad it is over quickly.” Nyla said, stepping up to follow Cal, eager to see the world that he called home.
Cal opened the door and smiled back at Nyla, “Welcome to Earth!” He said and opened the door to the outside.
Nyla stepped out and thought that something wasn’t right. The world looked much the same as the world. Other than a lack of snow that was surely outside in her world, it looked identical. “It’s beautiful, Cal. It just seems like humans would have great cities.”
Nyla heard laughing both inside her head and out, and then Artie spoke to her. “Turn around Nyla.”
Nyla turned and beheld a silver city reaching higher than any mountain; vehicles with humans sat atop them, floated through the air, and the sheer size of everything made Nyla’s mouth fall open.
“Is that more what you expected?” Cal asked, and Nyla nodded. “Good, now let's go and see what the hell is going on.”
Nyla nodded and watched as things passed by. People and beings of hundreds of races passed all around her, but wherever she looked, there were strange silver rings that people walked into and out of without reappearing on the other side. She asked Artie what was going on.
“Humanity almost destroyed their planet entirely,” Artie explained, “after they came to their senses and ended the hostilities, the humans spent a century and a half fixing Earth and making it into the pristine world you see before you. To prevent the population from causing damage with pollution, the humans decided that rather than actually live on the planet, they would live in pocket dimensions linked to the planet.”
Nyla was about to ask Artie to explain further when she noticed how Cal was received. Everywhere that they had walked so far, it seemed busy and crowded, but they had yet to be accosted as one normally would in a crowd. Mutters follow them as they continue down their path.
Nyla notes that some have looks of pity for Cal, others have what can only be hatred plastered across their faces, and others look honored to even be in his presence. They pass through two large doors after walking in silence for roughly fifteen minutes.
Upon entering the large room, Nyla saw the woman from the screen seated at the head of a large assembly of humans and other beings. When she took note of Cal, she stood and spoke. “All those assembled will know and let the records reflect that the Bearer of Sin has arrived.”
The room fell silent. Nyla looked around, uncomfortable with the attention that was directed toward her and Cal. She looked at Cal and saw an expression of judgment on his face as he surveyed the crowd with something close to disdain. Cal locked eyes with the woman and responded. “I would like to speak with you.” Cal turned and walked from the room through a different door, and Nyla followed, seeing the woman who seemed to be in charge scramble to obey Cal.
Nyla looked at Cal and wondered who he was once more. Who was this man who was so kind to her but now seemed as if he held contempt for his own race? Who was Cal that he would so casually boss around someone who supposedly held power among his people? Who was the Bearer of Sin?
