Cath

Price of Life (EliteCommander and Cath)

“A formidable question! Well…I was close to death when Myrmidon rescued me. Jumped by some xenos and scrapped for parts. The hospitals didn’t know what to do with me. They couldn’t rebody me because my mind rejected all the hosts. They were hours from pulling the plug.”

“But Myrmidon saw my potential. They put me in a pod with all the individual parts of my new body and just attached a few connector appendages to my core. I scraped and crawled for months putting myself together from scratch. They brought me back from the dead by understanding that for us a body is more than a hunk of metal. It's our masterpiece.”

The Utaysi spoke passionately and eloquently, the silence heavy when he finished clasped his hands back together. A few heads had turned from nearby groups to listen to his answer.

“So to answer your question, living in these bodies feels like being reborn. Wiser to challenges the galaxy gives us, and more secure in our ability to meet them. I hope that helps?”

---

Light regarded Jess skeptically, then sighed.

“No. Someone like that would never be friends with someone like me.” There was a tinge of sadness in his synthesised voice.

“She looks like the warrior priestesses we learned about as juveniles. I can’t believe she’d work…here.”

A soft announcement drifted across the room over the tinkling of music to them.

“Welcome all guests. We are seeking volunteers at the RepairX product suite to take part in a disassemble/reassemble timed competition. The winner will receive a Styx Four auto-tool chest and Myrmidon mascot.”

Price of Life (EliteCommander and Cath)

From the moment the group gave their names at the door, a Myrmidon AI supervisor was discreetly collecting data points on each individual. It collated their known movements and web history to gain a picture of their interests; their entry into the horticulture contest was their most recent entry. Senjen’s activity on the catalogue was given particular weight.

It also conducted a soft credit search and cross reference of known purchases to gain financial data. It then studied each person in minute detail with an array of cameras and sensors. It didn’t just map every single muscle in their bodies for body language reading, It plotted their reactions and interactions with each other onto a vector space along with all the other information.

With this baseline in place, the supervisor created a sales strategy for each person and assigned them to the best-placed member of staff. These people didn’t immediately break off from what they were doing; they didn’t even let on they were being conducted. They just finished the conversation they were having at a leisurely pace before making their way over. There was enough to see in the Myrmidon showroom to be fairly confident that leads wouldn’t leave before being at least spoken to.

As Senjen locked into his fact-finding mission and was following them around on autopilot, Light meandered with the others around some of the closer display areas. He nervously sucked the champagne into his suit, which promptly assimilated it. He had spotted a QV-specific area in the back, but didn’t want to go alone. His brain instinctively knew there were QV nearby and couldn’t stop looking for them in this alien crowd.

Then he saw one. A female around his age, whirling animately around in her gelsuit while talking to a couple of Humans just a dozen metres away. She was healthy and adorned in pearlescent jewellery, with delicate beauty spots on her hide that precluded any colour change. Light stared, utterly captivated. He put his empty champagne flute down clumsily next to a bust of Athena, causing it to rock. The female looked his way and flashed good natured amusement.

“Wow! I never expected to see another Utaysi here. Welcome. Can I help at all?” Came a voice from behind him. Light looked and saw a staff member politely approach Senjen. They wore a sparkling Myrmidon branded Utaysi body-form.

Price of Life (EliteCommander and Cath)

“This one? Well, we can’t let you go in there alone. You hear stories of the tricks these new-fangled companies play on common folk.” Light said conspiratorially, eyeing up the people outside.

There was a stunningly beautiful Human woman with red hair and a sanguine dress standing before the inviting entrance with a holo-pad. A biped service droid holding a tray of champagne flutes hovered nearby. Either side of the passage was a bulky security droid dressed in a smart suit, hands clasped neatly in front of them. Their faceplate was unfeatured apart from the word ‘PROTOTYPE’ in the same font as the logo.

“Right?” He looked around. Ruk seemed less than enthused but nodded. Jess seemed down for whatever.

As they approached the woman in the dress smiled warmly, took their names and contact information and then offered them something to drink. She offered Senjen a free node which could simulate something approaching a massage for synthetics.

“Welcome to Myrmidon, please feel free to have a look around inside. If you have any questions, a member of staff will be happy to accommodate you.”

“Thank you. Ok, let's go.” Light said, uncomfortable with the prospect being waited on hand and foot but clutching his glass of champagne tightly.

Together they travelled through the entryway, decorated with exquisite Hellenic sculptures and lit through thin mist from the floor. Classical music gradually filtered in as the huge room opened up for them.

It was all white, interspersed with the occasional Doric pillar. Engaging display areas showed off various different types of Myrmidon droids and vehicles in action. Rugged outdoorsy models were demonstrating their skills at rock climbing or hand to hand combat. Others performed domestic chores, open heart surgery and everything in between.

The space didn’t feel overwhelming or cramped despite the wealth of products on offer, showing real thought had been put into the layout. There were even a few relaxation areas catering to different species, which a few guests were taking advantage of. Light noted that business appeared to be brisk, though there was no shortage of staff members mingling with the groups and standing ready.

Price of Life (EliteCommander and Cath)

Tindrel emotions were usually considered the hardest to read visually. But if asked afterwards Pclendafuun would mention that he was sad to part with his new friends so soon. He resolved to find some reason to get in contact with them again. With nothing else planned for the rest of his day, he stayed behind to watch the rest of the contest. No one properly engaged with him, even when he tried his hardest to make ‘small talk’.

---

Light was very comfortable in the market setting. Even before meeting Senjen and the others he had frequented this area frequently in between freight runs. He swaggered around, still buoyed by fight or flight hormones triggered by the contest, Pclendafuun’s emissions and various chemicals secreted by the plants.

“Ahh…I thought the crowd seemed different today!” Light studied the signage then pivoted to study his robotic comrade.

“Are we doing what I think we’re doing?”

“What’s that?” Ruk asked, stepped in to exercise her hyper-empathy on them both. This included cocking her head every which way in a uniquely avian fashion.

“Is…Is Senny actually going to buy something?”

Price of Life (EliteCommander and Cath)

Light almost forgot how much money they had invested during this competition already; he had a fantastic time. He’d never really given gardening much thought before now, but resolved to give it a go afterwards. He got stuck into the difficult task of directing the weeds they eventually chose in the right direction. It seemed intent on seeding soil outside of the plot, but all this growth didn’t count towards their score and was promptly zapped by lasers hidden somewhere above them.

At one point the weed grew so voraciously that in a moment of lapsed focus it actually latched onto his suit and grew round him. Light laughed, tickled by the sensation passed through to him by the gel. He swivelled to face Senjen, who was on the same side as him.

“Senjen.” The Utaysi didn’t respond immediately.

“Senjen, look.” The weed suddenly grew over the QV’s face.

“Senjen, help!” He thrashed inside the bush.

The Human team realised quickly that they were outmatched physically. So they focused on distracting the fledgling opposition by accosting the weakest links - Ruknar and Light. During the chaos, they planted moso bamboo and Kudzu together behind enemy lines, which then sprouted ferociously and was difficult to remove.

When the round was over, the patch looked like a warzone. Tangled masses of Russian thistle, bamboo and kelp stretched far beyond the patch, with dozens of dead patches and hastily assembled frameworks.

The officials sent drones to assess each plant’s land area before announcing the winners.

“Sunlight Sowers, 47.69% land area. Eswatini Twistahs, 50.95% land area. 1.36% land area unoccupied. Eswatini Twistahs win.”

“We…lost?” Light mumbled, crestfallen.

“Yes, sorry. That was fun though, right!” Ruk was scratched and bleeding from the various thorns and sharp edges in the plot but seemed content with their performance.

“We should probably make way; they’ll want to cleanse this patch. What a sight - someone take a picture of us with it for posterity!”

Price of Life (EliteCommander and Cath)

Ruk was busy surveying their new elongated plot, raking the soil in sections with her taloned feet. Without looking at them she mimicked a balloon being inflated and then popping as Light and Senjen spoke.

“Y-y-yes.” Pclendafuun answered Senjen’s eventual question. Light looked at him, stunned. Eventually the Tindrel elaborated.

“We c-could c-construct an underground bulwark topped with biocidal soil over halfway, and then defend it. Plants that propagate runners would be beneficial.”

“Are we allowed to build over halfway?” Light asked eagerly

“I did not hear anything forbidding it.”

“Erm… We should get a move on.” Ruk scratched her head as a shower of seeds landed on their plot from another drone.

Price of Life (EliteCommander and Cath)

“Its not exactly peak form, but judging by the crowd here today I would not be surprised. Keep your wits about you.” Ruk warned.

“Senjen and I are no strangers to a scrap, I’m sure we’ll be OK.” Light retorted. He was still giddy from having actually won something. He could suddenly see why people decided to make entire careers from competition circuits.

Officials passed by with remote controls. At their command, the soil between two patches was quickly turned fertile and workable by machines within the ground. What was once two squares became a long rectangle. They had been paired with the group of Humans Senjen had agitated in the previous round.

“I can r-r-recommend simulating the creation of defensive items to forestall any actual ph-ph-physical activity.” Pclendafuun said.

“And I’m not going to the terminal again. If we’re thinking of fast-growing weeds, I can send you names for some kelp that ruined many cave systems when I was a juvenile…” Light continued. Their opponents had already started making their way over to the terminal, leaving two people behind to guard the patch.

Price of Life (EliteCommander and Cath)

“Win first, balcony later, keep working.” Light grunted, frantically and messily coating his seeds with oil.

In the end, their entry showed a lack of team cohesion despite sparks of genius. The alarming rate of growth caught Light completely off guard, and he neglected to properly wind the Grabglove around the sticky Dessous tree that grew through the middle of the arrangement. It hung morosely from a few boughs with wild bunches of flowering. At one point it grabbed Light’s face and tried to eat him, which he found very funny - distracting Senjen so he’d stop and look at him.

Ruk’s Creeech plant looked very pretty draped over the trees, but absolutely stank of ammonia so as to outweigh the other olfactory elements. She’d spent so much time managing the other three novices that she’d not had the time to perfect her contribution.

They scraped into the next round by the skin of their teeth.

“Well done everyone! I think we thoroughly deserved that.” Light warbled, completely oblivious to the league table that showed how precarious their situation was.

“I enjoyed that, what’s next?”

“Round two is a head to head.” The announcer duly explained over tannoy as roughly half the competitors trudged off the field.

“Teams take each end of the long rectangular patches. The team with the biggest percentage of the patch land occupied by living plants of their choosing at the end of the time knocks the other team out. You have five minutes to prepare.”

Price of Life (EliteCommander and Cath)

“We need to send Light some credits for the very expensive seeds he just bought.” Light half-joked.

“I think we need a frame that supports each of our four plants separately in their own establishment areas, then guides them into the middle so we can make some kind of companion display. What did you get?” Ruk asked Pclendafuun.

“D-d-d-dessous.”

Ruk’s beak hung open slightly. Dessous was relatively well known to people who visited Tindrel settlements. It was tightly controlled or banned in most worlds, but not Korit it seemed. It grew from the muddy lakes deep inside underground caverns before planting parasitic nutrient tendrils that burrowed up to bind with the roots of surface dwelling plants. “That is…actually brilliant. Its deep resin smell will balance the damask and the ammonia… It likes water so we can make one large basin. It’s also myco-heterotrophic, so we could control the growth of all three plants at once…Ok, Jess - can you build a funnel shape in the next ninety seconds? Senny we need a basin half a metre deep in the middle. Then plant your roses around the edge of the funnel base. Light, take this oil and start smearing the seeds. Quick!” Ruk cast an eye at other patches. Some already had plants growing.

Price of Life (EliteCommander and Cath)

“In my knapsack is an oil I’m gonna need Light to coat the Grabglove in - it tricks plants into thinking they’re underwater. Stiffens their stems too, so they can take structures alongside terrestrial flora.” Ruk said evenly. She was concentrating now, in a doctorly trance just like on the wards. She gave Senjen a disapproving look when it was clear he had sabotage in his heart, but she didn’t stop him. She merely nodded and shooed him away with her trowel.

“Don’t be long.”

The Human who stood to face Senjen from the patch he approached had a thick metal bar through the bridge of his nose. Attached to it were blue tinted lenses that covered each eye. Black adaptive tattoos shifted across much of the pale skin left exposed by their short sleeved half-zip jacket and cargo pants. He pointed a gardening fork at Senjen and shot back in a language his translation package struggled to recognise.

“Tuang fulugwab, huttu wannai! Bek tu yowah petch afor I stick you, robot!”

“Eh, eh! Bek tu work!” A large woman with dark braided hair shouted at Senjen and the man indiscriminately from across the rival patch. The man ignored her, jabbing at the Utaysi accusatorily.

-

Light encountered a solid wall of gardeners before he could actually reach the terminal. He wobbled around them in his suit, trying to squeeze through.

“I just need to get to the terminal… Hey!” He pushed back whenever he was jostled, but didn’t understand the dynamic enough to go further. That is until Pclendfuun politely tapped him on the back with one leg.

“Please a-a-llow me.” Light moved aside and the Tindrel simply parted the crowd with his face plate, moving slowly but implacable. Evolved for higher pressure and constant exertion, his species was far massier than the other species.

This manoeuvre attracted a large outcry from the waiting queue of competitors and the jostle increased dramatically, but Light and Pclenda reached the terminal. They tapped it to access the interface virtually. The Tindrel completed his order immediately and a small hatch opened up in the delivery compartment. He grabbed the large seed pods with his tongue then waited placidly for Light to make his much more hesitant purchases.

“These prices are a rip off! Lets try another terminal!”

“We do not have time. T-t-think of the prize monies.”

Light reluctantly placed his order and grabbed the collection of baggies from another open door.

“Ok, let's get out of here!” The noise inside the arena was increasing steadily.

Once they had left the scrum, Light remembered the plan. He saw Senjen making a distraction nearby; one of his fortes. Scanning the area, he didn’t detect any attention on him. He quickly opened one of the baggies and dispersed the seeds around his suit. Understanding his intention, it spat them discreetly at patches in all directions. They made a quiet *blop* as they left his suit. Light gave Senjen The Look as he passed by and they arrived back at the patch.