The Outer Rim Braves Chapter 8: Photophobia
A bitter realization upon awakening
Isaac felt the world around him disappear as he faded from consciousness. The synthetic sheets upon the bed he laid stopped sapping the heat from his body. What lumps in the cloth used in place of a pillow under his head ceased to drill into his neck. The ringing in his ears from the pressurization of his suit eased. He was adrift in nothingness. No more hunger. No more worry. Just a tranquil calm from every angle.
When he was alive, the thought of death was associated with pain. A raging agony that no human could describe. But this wasn't so bad. A regrettable fate, no doubt but filled with a guiltless reprieve from the chaos that surrounded the pursuit of survival. The hopeful curiosity of the possibility to finally meet his parents filled him. And perhaps in death he'd find the truth of a mystery that plagued him for his entire life, a mystery woman who saved them.
Back when Isaac and Jakob were young, the small orphanage freighter they lived on was attacked by raiders. Why, Isaac never understood, but it was a slaughter. The only reason Isaac and Jakob survived was because one of the volunteers hid them in the ventilation ducts and told them to stay quiet. After the raiders finished their terrible business and left, a woman Isaac never met before came and saved them. Even in this place, he struggled to remember what she looked like. The soft and caring tone in her voice echoed through his mind, which put Isaac at ease and cleared his thoughts.
In his peaceful drifting, he felt a pulse of warmth wash over him. Like a sun lamp flickering before going out, it was a subtle burst. And it was only once. Then he returned to float towards nowhere, carried and disturbed by nothing. For the first time in a long time, his mind was empty, as if it were a jar of water someone poured out. The thousands of things that could go wrong at any moment no longer plagued him. Another burst of heat from afar buffeted Issac, and he jostled from the shock.
The disruption brought his thoughts back to the mystery woman, with her white skin-tight suit and crimson-lined cape. Not long after they left the orphanage freighter on a combat corvette, the raiders returned in force. Despite the crew's best efforts to evade the assault, the corvette was boarded and the ship's marines fought desperately to repel them. During the drawn-out battle, the woman placed Isaac and Jakob on an escape pod and launched them deeper into the flotilla. As the pod sealed, Isaac caught a glimpse of the pirate leader. He bore a four-headed helmet. Each face looked in a separate direction all around. The silver faces of each head bore a unique emotion: sorrow, agony, joy, and anger. The thought of the raider stirred something within Isaac.
He opened his eyes and gave them a moment to focus. After a moment, he found himself floating amid countless constellations, unenumerable stars that slowly orbited around him like dust motes in a pool of liquid. The light coming in from these celestial bodies revealed he was alone in an isolated void, carried along within a shadow among many other silhouettes. These forms were closer to him than the stars but still a good distance away. As he came to understand the far surroundings, Isaac figured out what he was contained within: a huge shadow tomb. His massive void casket was drifting away from the others but continued a general course with them among the surrounding stars.
After daring to drag a palm down his face, Isaac propped his arms beneath his body and got himself sitting upright. As he moved, a sudden understanding of his orientation hit him like a bolt of electricity. Knowing which way he faced came with a deeper comprehension that the silhouette he was in wasn't a coffin, but a shadow representation of the lifeboat. It had a hard, trapezoidal shape and the silhouette of the small sets of thruster blocks danced in front of the light a bright pink and blue spiral galaxy afar. Isaac felt around, trying to get a sense of the room he was in, wondering if he was still in the ICU. As he turned, the shadows of the ships of the flotilla came into view around.
His hands met nothingness all around. As bewilderment set in, Isaac realized he wasn't actually sitting on anything. Tightening his abdomen, he thrust his legs under his body and his weight settled under his legs, standing. The soles of his feet felt like they were sinking into a viscous pool of water. As he walked around to get used to the sensation, he spotted a light green ray of light winding and twisting around a nearby shadow. Its path led straight beneath Isaac's feet. Thinking for a moment, the nearby silhouette was the ancient battleship they'd just left. And the winding light path was leading to the recovered reactor on the lifeboat.
Then, like a whip, the band of light flicked and snapped. It shot out beyond the ancient battleship and as if it were a ship in super-cruise, bolted across Isaac's vision and deeper into the shadow flotilla. Quickly spinning to keep it in sight, he dizzied himself so to not lose track as it gained distance. Then in a cluster of shadows afar, it whirled around, trapped in turbulent pool. The small strand of light snapped taut before bursting into luminous dust, which quickly faded.
But from the point where the ray of light burst, a dull, droning hum emanated. Then, it eased and dissipated with a sigh. Isaac felt a presence afar. He called out, uncertain if his voice would even carry in this place. The boom that rushed from his lips startled, and he staggered backwards as his eardrums throbbed with pain. Another long rumble rang out like a giant snoring amid the shadows.
Isaac steeled himself and called out again, his voice even louder, which interrupted the noise from afar.
A grumble and groan returned in response.
"Is anyone out there?" Isaac's voice was carried by despair.
"Leave me be, wretched demons." The giant responded.
Isaac recoiled at the response, insulted by the insinuation. "I'm not a demon! You're the disembodied voice in the void. You're the demon."
As Isaac spoke, the giant afar returned to his snoring for a moment before Isaac's proclamation disrupted its slumber.
"Look at where you are." The giant responded with incredulousness. "Not even during my unending slumber could you ever hope to draw nearer to me. How pitiful."
"Why would I want to do that?" Isaac wondered who would want to be near such a slothful, repugnant creature. "Even at this distance, you're far too close."
A ponderous hum came from the giant. From where the ray of light exploded, a new strand of luminance shot up. This one was crimson. Before it traveled too far, the red ray burst into particles. These motes, though, instead aligned into an orb and expanded in a sphere away from the light's origin. In a few heartbeats the shape engulfed Isaac. Then it disappeared.
"What was that?" Isaac's voice radiated terror despite not feeling anything.
"Can you see?" The giant called out.
At first, Isaac noticed nothing different about his surroundings.
"Will you see?" The giant demanded.
As Isaac readied to respond, a crimson gleam ignited within the shape of a ship's silhouette in the distance. Then another not far beyond the first. Like a reactor array control panel booting up, red dots filled more and more shadow ships all around Isaac, dotting the space around him with small glints.
"Do you see?" The giant spoke with resolve.
As Isaac spun around to take in the crimson light that overpowered the distant light of galaxies, he could no longer make out the shapes of the silhouettes. Just the oppressive illumination of countless motes everywhere he turned.
"What are these? What are you showing me?" Isaac shuddered with fear as an overwhelming sense of impending doom descended upon him, seeing himself surrounded by foreboding crimson motes.
"Demons."
"Why would you show me this if you thought I was a demon?" Isaac wanted to press the issue if for no other reason than to ease his own nerves.
"Eons of dreaming has washed away my ability to easily identify man." The giant's voice was steady. "Your response, realization. Something a demon couldn't easily mimic."
"What are they? How can they seem human?" Isaac tried to clear his parched throat.
"Such things were once man. But evil begets evil. Where one exists, corruption of the many becomes fate."
Isaac's heart leaped into his throat. These were all Phage hives. Ships entirely consumed by the disease. Each one of these dots was a human consumed by the plague. These ships were lost. He stumbled back in disbelief and fell backwards. A rush of air underneath him slowed his fall and he found himself sitting with his legs bent.
"There's no way. They said it was a freak accident." Isaac shook his head in shock, his voice trembling. "One in a million odds, that's what we were told." His mind wandered to the Endurant.
The Phage was supposed to be something rare. The result of careless ship crew initiating warp procedures and traveling around the flotilla without adequate protection. It wasn't possible for a ship to contract it otherwise. If this was the case, then all of these infected craft were carelessly warping around the flotilla. Isaac couldn't believe dozens upon dozens of ship crews were so needlessly reckless.
"Dreams bring a haze to my recollection, but these ones were made as a seed is planted within a soil." The giant interjected with a sleepy tone.
"What, do you think none of this matters? You lethargic lug nut, you're just going back to bed?" Isaac snapped, rage about the situation welled suddenly. Anger melted into fear as he realized where he was and remembered his own circumstances, his own death.
The giant let out an amused hum. "Definitely not a demon. But a monster, nonetheless. Explains why you're here."
Isaac stood up and scowled at the patronizing tone the giant took with him. "What the hell is that supposed to mean? Am I not dead?"
A deep belly laugh filled Isaac's ears as the giant found amusement at Isaac's expense.
"Dead? No, definitely not dead." The giant calmed himself. "At least not yet."
Isaac scoffed. "Then why am I here?"
"It seems that someone thought you had promise."
With a scowl, Isaac raised his voice, deafening even himself. "Promise for what? And who brought me to this place?"
Around him, the crimson motes began to vibrate and sway, agitated by Isaac's aggression.
"If I were you, I wouldn't do that again." The giant spoke in a raised whisper. "It's time for me to awaken."
"How does that concern me?" Isaac followed suit and whispered.
"You have been chosen."
"Chosen" Isaac scoffed. "To awaken you?"
"Don't get overambitious. Many have tried. I slumber out of obligation. You've been chosen to attempt."
Isaac swallowed hard. "Do I have a choice?"
"The same as any other. But consider the alternative," the giant started. "Evil begets evil. If I am slothful, what does that make one who runs from duty?"
With a clenched fist, Isaac silently accepted the imposition. That the Phage was consuming the flotilla, and some day it would consume him too. "Where do I start?"
"Seek an Ordinal. They will be the patron to guide you."
Suddenly, the agitated crimson masses began to thrash and swarm like turbulent water. The air around Isaac grew hot, then cold in rapid succession. The ground beneath his feet vibrated and threatened to draw him in as his legs sank.
"The dream beckons once more. Take my mark and go forth." The giant boomed over the growing cacophony of shrieking that the crimson motes emitted.
From the giant's direction a golden ray ascended high. Then it shot straight for Isaac. It pierced his chest, straight through his heart and knocked him prone. The chaos around him faded as pain in his chest throbbed and burned.