Whether dark or light, choices can define the future. Once proud Humans are now scattered like birdseed across vast stretches of space. In an inhabited sector light years from where humanity was born, on the outer skirts of known space but still within the influence of the Sovereign Prime Authority, regional conflicts are heralding the dawning of a new age. And on a small quiet planet, decisions are unfolding that could alter the course of the future for one woman, one man, and the entire Galaxy.
Gideon had never been a desperate man but the stakes riding on the next card flip would determine if the Mogley brothers would kill him for failure to pay or if he would finally be able to walk away from it all, with one of the last non-interfaced, light capable ships left in the galaxy to boot. He could slip silently away in space, avoiding most of the dangers of the organic variety. He wanted to be finished with gambling and kogen and the increasing random raids of the SPA, as though kogen were illegal. These were increasingly dangerous times.
Free of this sector, maybe from the SPA even. I swear this last gamble and nothing more. ever.
This final round of matches had been staged at the local kogen temple, an ancient structure built by the Guild Masters of antiquity. They were a loose association of gamblers bound by simple rules: Play to win, cheat and die. To their ancestors, it would seem as though the kogen were outside the law, but this wasn't so. They were, however, respected throughout the galaxy as a natural balance. Gamblers want to win, not die, and honesty was the safest risk when dealing with the kogen gambling centers.
That's what made this particular match so nerve-wracking for Gideon, for he had lied. He did not have the credits he'd claimed at the start of the night. If he lost this all-in bet, he didn't have the money to pay the all-in debt. They'd be well within their rights to kill him and with friends like these villains, chances are that's exactly what they'd do.
The Mogleys were a set of triplets, and their unnaturally strong bond had been formed over the many years of gambling and smuggling. Their other enjoyment was the torture of those who cheated them. Their outward appearances notwithstanding, they were cold-blooded men, the sort that would just as quick cut your throat as look at you, if you cheated them. But they never killed outside of the bounds set by the ancient rules of kogen, which had given Gideon enough confidence to take this risk.
After years of study, determination and practice he had become a respected high earner, but these last few months had been so bad that Gideon was left only to wonder if perhaps he'd misunderstood what he thought he had mastered. But a gambling man, especially a kogen player, knew that luck had a way of resurfacing, for the persistent.
And today he'd already recorded some impressive gains. So much so that the intuition that had previously raged behind his eyes and in his stomach had returned, and this time unchecked. This was something... more. It wasn't the usual hunch or gut feeling, but a gathering storm, slowly building up in Gideon's mind. By his estimates, he could be completely debt free and off this rock in about an hour, if only he was right about this next card.
His close cropped dark hair and green eyes, pupils encircled by a more yellow tone, made for an intense stare but his mid-sized frame landed near perfect on average. Perhaps a little above average. And average wouldn't be enough to get out of this room alive if he lost and tried to run.
Only the cheapest scum cheated the kogen table, and even those were summarily hunted down for bounty. This form of bounty hunting was not a busy industry, however, as players themselves often meted out the required justice.
There was no running, and if he couldn't pay he may as well have cheated.
It was Gideon's little secret all day long that he had somehow been able to sense when to call the Mogley's bluff and when to back down, and he had come out on top almost every time. The several times he hadn't won, he had intentionally done so in order to maintain the appearance of random chance. But this was no chance. And whatever feeling was giving him these insights, it was growing.
Spectators, mostly made up of players themselves, watched as the final card turned down. The symbol on the face of the card had meant so many different things, being rooted in a thousand year old tradition that was almost a discipline unto itself. But for Gideon Lukasz, it had simply meant freedom.
For Gideon, time had slowed down and the shouting prideful recriminations expected after any big match were hard to hear. He was sure he had knew this would happen, maybe in a dream or premonition? His head felt near bursting, and he could no longer feel his tongue. He could hear the chorus of every person's thoughts that crowded the hall, and the overwhelming chatter was a raging torrent driving him mad. When he thought he'd fall over the cliff into insanity, trailed by the chittering thoughts of a hundred minds, it stopped.
Gideon turned his head and saw a glimmer sweep along the far end of the room, a white shape moving towards the exit. The shape turned, and though he could not make out many features, he saw green, hazel-singed eyes framed by fiery red hair. Eyes that held a depthless mystery, an unnatural knowing that somehow felt wholly natural and familiar.
Do I know you?
In the back of his mind, a whisper among the still raucous room that cut through like a struck bell:
No, Gideon.
The eyes widened slightly then set, flaring an odd yellow. Then they were simply gone. There was nothing there.
What was that, a ghost? Lady Luck herself, come to see me off, maybe?
He was quickly losing the disorientation that had accompanied the strange experience, and time was returning to normal. Shaking his head, he reached out to pull the prize pile towards him, a shining ship owner's chip jostling on top of the pile as he pulled. Whatever it was, it was definitely time to go.
The Mogley brothers eyed him suspiciously, disappointment writ large on their face. Gideon smiled wanly and wasted no time on pleasantries as he made his exit.
Did he... could he... see me?
She had looked back over her shoulder because some sensation had tugged at her senses. She had known he'd be here, that he'd win the game. Of course she had, she'd orchestrated the entire match. She knew he would win, and she needed that ship.
I need him, too. He doesn't even know.
But how had he seen her? She had coated the entire room in her finely tuned senses, drowning their perception so that she was all but invisible. She should've been able to perch on the table, so sure she'd been of her abilities.
Before the last card fell, she had already been making her way to the door. But when she felt that soft pull on her mind and had turned her head, he'd been looking straight at her. Then the question, and her reflexive response. She hadn't meant to speak to him, she had just been taken off guard.
Not until we're away from here, anyway
Concentrating at a higher level she exerted her full will and, by the look on Gideon's face, successfully reasserted her invisibility.
He's a natural, but he shouldn't have been able to do that.
Watching him shake his head and reach for the prize pot had confirmed that she was once again, for all intents and purposes, a ghost.
She left the gambling pit and made her way to Gideon's new ship. Her new ship.
Gideon flipped the main breaker, sending electric life coursing once again through the circuits of the craft. A quick thumb scan on the main console, after inserting the owner's chip, had made him the captain of one of the last legacy, non neural-networked light capable ships in the galaxy.
Freedom.
Behind him, the young woman watched as he brought the ship to life and ascended through the atmosphere, leaving the small planet a wide mural that painted the back window of the craft. Despite everything she had been through, a renewed and desperate hope ignited behind her large, mostly green eyes. The yellow surrounding her pupils seemed to shine, dancing excitedly as she made her way toward the bridge, where she'd find Gideon.
Freedom. Gideon...
Gideon has started his new life among the stars, but now that he is debt-free can he keep his promise to give up kogen? Meanwhile, his stowaway's motives remain mysterious, but it seems she's achieved part of her plan, getting on this ship and off that planet. How does she know Gideon, and what could she want with him? Find out next time!
Thank you for reading Psycogen - Episode 1. This episode was written by @prufarchy and produced in collaboration with @defiant30.
All images are under CC BY-SA 3.0 or public domain, and edited for use here.
Other Works:
Of Gods and Ends I
Of Gods and Ends II
Of Gods and Ends III
in Collaboration:
Steem Survivors Ep. 2
Steem Survivors Ep. 3
Steem Survivors Ep. 4