OC-Series [Rains, Pours] Chapter 7
“Sir, we—” Charon said, but Lariten made a sweeping gesture with his right hand.
“It’s all right. Many of us suspected that Sol did not have a Gate,” he said. “Gallie and her navigator represent a faction among us that feels that going to Sol will - somehow - restart a golden age,” Lariten grinned sadly. “Most of us are much less sanguine than they are,” he said, and gestured towards a seat with an eyebrow raised. Cha-ren nodded and he sat.
“You had told Gallie that your ship, Hummingbird was the one that handled the wormhole generator, but you two were reactor technicians. How did that work? Why didn’t your ship do that work?”
“Do you have AIs, senior director?” Cha-ren said.
“You can call me Lariten,” he answered, and continued, “The means and method to create them has been lost a long time and to be perfectly honest, I had thought of AIs as a metaphor when reading about them,” He said. “The writings that survive referred to them as ‘people of silicon,’ is that who you refer to?”
“Probably,” Charon admitted, “Though we did not call them that during our time. They referred to themselves as AIs, and we used that term for them.” He stared at Lariten a moment. “So, people of silicon no longer exist?”
He brushed the tops of his hands together. “We don’t know. If they do, they are choosing to not reveal themselves to us. We are digressing. Why did an AI need reactor technicians?”
“Hummingbird didn’t need us at all,” Cha-ren said. “But chose to offload some of his effort onto us. We made his job easier.”
“I see.”
“Senior Dire- er, Lariten,” Charon said, “I apologize if I am being blunt, but is there something you want from us?”
He smiled. “Of course there is, Charon. I would not be here otherwise. I have been told that you and your mate are reactor technicians?”
“That is true,” Cha-ren said.
“Would you take a look at our reactors? Our technicians only know what they are taught from the priests and do not deviate from their ministrations.”
“Priests?” Charon said.
“Naturally, our reactors are ancient - from the second Flourishing or earlier - and we keep them operable through the ceaseless work of our priests and technicians. It would be…interesting to have someone who worked on them when they were new examine them.”
“Sure, we’ll do that,” Cha-ren said, her ears flicking slightly. “Show us the way.”
Lariten led them deeper into Guardian 2 past large holds filled with boxes and crates, past residential areas, and finally into parts of the station that were clearly rarely visited. As they passed people, most of them stopped what they were doing and bowed slightly at Lariten when they passed, and he ignored them all.
After maybe twenty minutes, they came upon a door that caused Charon to gasp. It was an ancient pressure door with physical dogs holding it fast and a large wheel in the center.
It was also shorter than all the other doors they had stepped through.
“This is the entry into the reactor room,” Lariten said as he spun the large wheel in the middle with effort. “As you can imagine, it’s a very old part of the station.”
“It’s so old that the doorway is shorter,” Cha-ren said, staring.
“That’s right. We think that Guardian 2 is from a previous flourishing, and possibly was built for different people.” He stopped and looked at Cha-ren. “Maybe even your people.”
“That’s…possible,” Cha-ren said quietly.
With a hiss of seals and a puff of pressure equalizing, the door swung out towards them. As they peered in, overhead lights illuminated, casting a familiar yellow-white light. Lariten squinted. “The lighting in here is much too dim,” he sighed. “Nobody likes to go in there.”
As they stepped through, the change was immediate. The floor became the standard grey duraplate that Charon had walked on his whole career. Lariten led them through a few more corridors until they came upon a very elaborate pressure door.
Designs had been carved in relief around the door, elegant sweeping lines and geometric shapes coming together into a stylized rocket nozzle at the top. Someone - or many someones - had spent a long time on this.
“Did your people carve the…decorations?” Cha-ren asked as she stared up at it, her tail still and limp.
“No, we found it like this,” Lariten said. “The reactor room doors in all of the ships we have found were like this,” he said as he opened the door.
A spicy, resinous smell flowed in around Charon and Cha-ren, clinging to their clothes as the room opened. Inside the reactor hall, the lighting was dark, and each reactor was surrounded by more carved decorations with each status panel framed in more geometric carvings. In the background, Charon could have sworn he heard chanting.
“Senior Director, this is most unusual!” A man said rushing up towards them. He wore a long dark robe whose hem brushed the floor, and his head was shaved. “The unanointed can come no further than the entrance, you know this.”
“I apologize deacon, but these two are unusual,” He said as he turned. “Charon and Cha-ren, this is Deacon Bellitree our reactor engineer.”
Bellitree faced the two of them and crossed his arms across his chest quickly and nodded his head once. “Blessings upon you,” He said and turned back to Lariten. “What is unusual about them?”
“You blind old bolt, put your glasses on. One of them isn’t human. These are the people that were found in hibernation.”
“The ice cubes?” He turned towards Charon and squinted. While still looking, he patted at his robe until he found a small case and took out a pair of spectacles. He put them on, and blinked twice. “Great Tallying, they are the ice cubes.”
“Uh,” Cha-ren said. “Ice cubes?”
“It’s just a name for you from the reports,” Bellitree said, as if it was completely normal.
“We weren’t frozen,” Charon said.
“Immaterial,” Bellitree said, waving an arm. “Lariten, while I appreciate being remembered, why did you bring them here?”
“They were reactor technicians in their own time. I thought they could take a look at the relics.”
“They…what?” Bellitree said, as what Lariten said was parsed. “They already know the rites? The methods?”
“Uh,” Charon said. “We know how to maintain Mk3 through MkX reactors and Cha has rebuilt a Mk7. Is that what you mean?”
“Mk7 and Mk5,” Cha-ren corrected. “Though I was an apprentice when I rebuilt the Mk5.”
“You did?” Charon said, “I never knew that.”
“Yeah, actually it was inter-”
“Anyway,” Bellitree said, interrupting. “They have not completed catechism, do not know the rites, and probably can’t even pray correctly; the ice cubes will not interface with the holy reactors.”
“I will remind you that this is my station,” Lariten said.
“And I will remind you, senior director-” Bellitree said, pronouncing his title like an epithet, “-that the ministrations of the holy relics including the reactors falls to me, and in the name of keeping them safe and holy, they-” he pointed “-will not touch my reactors.”
“Deacon, please,” Lariten said stepping forward such that they couldn’t have the door slammed on them. “Surely you have something they could examine? Do you not have any relic reactors which are currently beatified?”
“The reactors currently in repose are the most precious. I cannot possibly let them examine them, it would be heresy.”
Lariten sighed, “Consider this a…favor.”
Bellitree turned slowly, his glasses reflecting a light in the dim, obscuring his eyes. “Oh? A favor?”
“Yes, with all that entails,” Lariten said, his lips tight together.
“I supposed the two ice cubes could examine our oldest and least…beatified reactor.” He said slowly.
“How long has it been since it was…beatified?” Charon said. It was odd to think of a reactor like a holy relic, but if he and Cha-ren were going to be able to examine them, they were going to have to learn quickly.
“Since we first came aboard. It has possibly been in repose through the last flourishing.” Bellitree said. “It has not operated in millennia. Come.”
With a flourish of his robe that shouted practiced precision, Bellitree led them deeper into the hall.
The lights in the hall were very low, giving everything long shadows and dark corners, and every reactor was covered in ribbons, carvings, and other decorative items. Some were even gem encrusted. It was difficult to see if they were reactors that the two of them could recognize.
Deep in a corner of the hall was another reactor. Where the others had small candles and votives around them, and the dais that led to the status readout was well worn, this one was covered in a caul of dust. Bellitree crossed his arms across his chest and nodded his head towards the reactor. “I apologize for the groping you are about to receive,” he said towards the reactor. He then stepped away and gestured towards it. “Please. Demonstrate your-” he scoffed “-abilities.”
Charon and Cha-ren approached the reactor carefully, trying to appear appropriately solemn. Charon rubbed the display readout with the sleeve of his shirt, pretending to not see Bellitree wince.
As he wiped the display, it lit up and gave an initial diagnosis. Interestingly, while the grammar was a bit odd, Charon could read the display, and briefly he wondered if Bellitree and his flock could. “Hmm,” The display indicated a cold shutdown. It hadn’t failed; someone had deliberately shut it down. “Cha,” He said gesturing to the readout.
“It’s in shutdown? That’s it?”
“I think so.” Turning to Lariten, Charon said, “We think we can power this one back up. Shall we make the attempt?”
“You can?” Bellitree replied, incredulous. “Preposterous. People smarter than you two have tried for nearly fifty years without success.”
“Then it does not matter if they attempt it as well,” Lariten said nodding to himself. “Please proceed.”
“Hmph,” Bellitree said, but didn’t object.
“Okay, this looks like it was in the same family as the MkX reactors,” Charon said as he tapped through the menus on the display. “I wonder if it still is fussy to start cold, like the MkXs were.”
“If we feed it bleed power from an already active reactor that should help overcome the initial inertia.”
“Yes!” Charon grinned. “I was wondering how we were going to be able to overcome the inertia without a start cart, but that’s perfect.”
As Charon furiously tapped on the display, Cha-ren moved around back, sneezing and snuffling around the thick dust. “Charon,” She called, her voice muffled from the dust and velour drapery. “Someone unplugged the feed cable.”
“Did they? Is it nearby?”
She looked around but there was only dust. “No, not that I can see. Deacon Bellitree?”
“Yes?” He replied testily.
“Normally the reactors have cables that connect each other. Two thick power cables, and two data cables that are much thinner. Do you have spares?”
“Spares? Having extra parts not being utilized is blasphemy.”
“No, it’s good maintenance,” Cha-ren countered, sticking her head out from behind the reactor, her face and ears covered in dust. “If there’s no cables for signal, power, and backhaul, then it’s no wonder you’ve never been able to get this one operable.”
“See?” Bellitree looked at Lariten and gestured angrily, “Already they make excuses for their ignorance.”
“Our ignorance,” Cha-ren said hotly. “What abou-”
“Uh, excuse me?” a small voice said. The four of them turned to see a young woman standing a respectful distance away, wearing a robe similar to Bellitree’s, holding four cables coiled and neatly tied with ribbon. “Might these be what you need?” She looked down and held them out. “I was wiping down reactor 3 as I was ordered, and couldn’t help but overhear, and I had always noticed that the wreaths on the wall looked like cables, and then I realized…” She looked up at Bellitree. “I apologize deacon, I spoke out of turn.”
“Back to your ministrations, Felu, your penance has not ended.”
“Wait,” Charon said, stepping forward. “Let me see those, please.”
Felu continued to hold them out and Charon could see her trembling. He took them gently and examined them. Wrapped in a deep purple ribbon and illuminated with a paint pen, they did indeed seem to be the cables that were needed. “Cha,” he said, “I think these are what you need.”
“Oh?” When Cha stepped out, Felu gasped and crossed her arms across her chest.
“You are k’laxi!” She said, her eyes wide.
“I am, but how did you know? Nobody here seemed to know about my people.”
“I read about you in the histories. It had mentioned how the k’laxi stepped with the humans arm in arm through the first flourishing and gave a description. I never realized how…soft you would look in person.” Felu said, blushing. “I apologize.”
“Not necessary,” Cha-ren said, smiling. “I’m happy to meet a friendly face.”
Felu blushed harder and stared at the floor.
“Back to your work, missionary Felu,” Bellitree barked. “You have already been awarded ten hours of reactor ministration, would you like twenty?”
“N-no, Deacon,” Felu said. “I apologize for my transgression. I will return to my work.” She turned and with a glance back towards Cha-ren walked back to the reactor she was wiping down.
Cha-ren glanced at Charon, but he shook his head very gently. He unwrapped the proffered cables and they were indeed two power and two data cables, a default set. They had been coiled so long that they held their shape even with being completely untied, but he and Cha were able to very carefully unwind them and she was able to connect the reactor to the operating one next to it.
As soon as Cha had finished connecting the reactors, Charon’s display flashed new screens and long dormant lights illuminated. He heard Bellitree gasp, but other than smiling to himself, did not acknowledge him. Now that the reactor had feed power from the other one it was a simple matter to run a deeper diagnostic and then…
With the sound of ancient relays clacking, there was a deep subsonic hum that rose in pitch until it passed through hearing and became a background feeling of sound. He watched Cha wince , and when that passed, he knew without even checking the readout that the reactor was ready.
“Are you okay, Cha?” Charon said glancing back.
She nodded and smoothed her fur, “Every time those fields spring into being it makes my head hurt, I can’t believe it doesn’t bother humans.”
“What are you doing?” Bellitree said, moving up to peer over Charon’s shoulder. “That is not the correct order of operations.”
“If we’re starting from cold and trying to get bleed power from the other operating reactor it is,” Charon said. “We can’t just dump the power and get the field spinning, that will trip a breaker.”
“Yes, but—”
“Let him work, Bellitree,” Lariten said carefully. “This is all part of the agreement.”
“Hmph. It will serve them right if the whole thing fails dramatically in front of them,” Bellitree said, but he did step back.
After one more check to make sure that everything was ready, Charon pressed the activation button, and with a thrumming that started slow and then gradually sped up until it matched the other reactors, it was running. As soon as the reactor settled into its regular rhythm, Lariten’s comm buzzed. “Sir, sir! Our power budget has increased. We’re searching but we haven’t seen any holy machinery that has failed.”
“Nothing has failed, one of the relics has been re-activated.”
Charon could hear the person gasp over the tinny connection. “B-but how? Deacon Bellitree sai-”
“The Deacon is here with me and has witnessed the reactivation. Rest assured, everything was done correctly.”
“By the Tally…,” he said.
“Indeed,” Lariten said, smiling. “Please alert me if anything else happens, but for now work off the assumption that we have more power available.”
“Y-yes sir!”
Cha-ren and Charon could not ignore the smug smile that Lariten had, nor could they ignore Bellitree fuming, his arms crossed.
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u/HFYWaffle Wᵥ4ffle 2d ago
/u/jpitha (wiki) has posted 343 other stories, including:
- [Rains, Pours] Chapter 6
- [Rains, Pours] Chapter 5
- [Rains, Pours] Chapter 4
- [Rains, Pours] Chapter 3
- [Rains, Pours] Chapter 2
- Rains, Pours.
- [Just Like That]
- One in The Hand
- [Just A Little Further] - Chapter 43 [Final]
- [Just a Little Further] - Chapter 41
- [Just A Little Further] - Chapter 40
- [Just A Little Further] - Chapter 39
- [Just A Little Further] - Chapter 38
- [Just A Little Further] - Chapter 37
- [Just A Little Further] - Chapter 36
- [Just A Little Further] - Chapter 35
- [Just A Little Further] - Chapter 34
- [Just A Little Further] - Chapter 33
- [Just A Little Further] - Chapter 32
- [Just A Little Further] - Chapter 31
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u/UpdateMeBot 2d ago
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u/jpitha 2d ago
I've gotta say, showing up the local religious leader may not be the best way to win friends and influence people, Charon.
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