Spire - 3. Ar-Teth

Daiandra and Caeto had been preoccupied when the summons had arrived. Ringing out through the quiet apartment - bathed in shadow and lit only by the starlight flooding in through the holopane window - both of them had paused, looking up in tandem at their wrist-band communicators, nestled together on the bedside stand.

“Fuck.” Daiandra sighed.

“Were you - "

“ - Yeah, like three fucking seconds off.”

“We could - "

“No, it’s gone now. And Tanis wouldn’t call us both this late unless it was urgent, so…” Daiandra sighed, collapsing back against the slightly-too-firm mattress.

They were up and getting ready in under a minute; dressed and heading out in less than five. Daiandra was acutely aware of how messy her hair was; that her makeup was slightly compromised. How obvious it was that she’d been interrupted. She just hoped - as they walked the corridor towards Tanis’s apartment - that it would make him feel bad. They arrived at the door. Before pushing the button, Daiandra glanced at Caeto.

“You look great.” The words were complimentary; the tonality accusatory.

“As do you.”

“Liar.”

“Not typically. Not presently.” She sighed, shaking her head. As she reached out, the door slid open, revealing…not Tanis. The Quadrian standing before them was about a head taller than Caeto - about two taller than Daiandra. He wore something approximating an old-style business suit - white button-up shirt; black tie, blazer, and slacks. She looked up at him, meeting his eyes:

“Daiandra Errys - " she began.

“We’re aware.” The Quadrian inclined their head, eyes folding shut. “We are Tsorth. A pleasure. Will you step inside?” Tsorth stood off to the side, allowing Daiandra and Caeto into the apartment. They could see Tanis sitting by the holopanel at the far end of the apartment, speaking to a human wearing a similar suit to Tsorth’s.

“Gonna go out on a limb and assume this is about the Yaevran radiation?” Daiandra commented as Tsorth followed them through into the main room.

“‘Out on a limb’?” Tsorth echoed. “That a racial joke?”

“Oh fuck, no, I’m - ”

“ - Ignore them,” the human got to his feet with a wry smile and a glance at Tsorth. “They think they’re a comedian. Doesn’t quite land with an affect that flat, does it buddy?” Tsorth shrugged.

“We’re working on that.”

“Agent Oranis Deel.” The agent held out a hand to Daiandra, then to Caeto, shaking their hands warmly: “Dee. Caet. Why don’t you go ahead and take a seat on the bed, there. Tsorth and I were just having a chat to your Adjunct about those readings you grabbed while planetside.” Daiandra glanced at Tanis as she and Caeto took their places at the end of the bed. His eyes were on his knees; his jaw was tightly clenched. It could have meant something, but Daiandra was aware that Tanis had something of a history with Interstitial bureaucracy. Once-bitten-twice-shy, she imagined…and it could have simply been that.

“So it was a big enough deal for Interstitial to send agents?” Daiandra asked.

“Well…” Oranis trailed off, glancing towards Tsorth. “We’re not with Interstitial.”

“We are Ar-Teth.” Reflexively, Daiandra and Caeto turned to lock eyes. She could practically hear their voice saying ‘this is a data-point’.

“Yes, yes, we know. Big, scary Ar-Teth. Ooh! Ahh! Pfft.” Oranis waved dismissively, as if swatting a fly away from his face. “Mostly gossip and rumours, rest assured.” Oranis smiled in a performatively charming sort of way that Daiandra suspected was extremely practiced. “I promise, we don’t bite.”

“We have underlings who handle that sort of thing.” Tsorth added.

“Still needs work, pal. You’ll get there.” Oranis advised Tsorth. “Look, cards in the table: Yaevran relics aren’t common. Most anything uncommon is our jurisdiction. That’s really all we are: the folks who show up when things get weird. All we want is to keep this party going.”

“Party?”

“Yeah: All this inter-species harmony, y’know? Thats our whole thing: ensuring the peace between the Quadrian Mandate and the Interstitial Coalition.”

“And affiliates.” Tsorth clarified.

“Of course, how could I forget the Corpos?” Oranis slapped his forehead. “Y’see, that’s all we’re here for. To grease some wheels. Maintain some highways. Keep things copacetic. We’re not here to throw anyone under any vehicles. So let’s just take a breath, alright? Our interest in the Yaevran readings is a matter of efficiency. Not severity. Not blame. Okay?” Oranis concluded, looking around for confirmation. Tanis, Daiandra and Caeto nodded in tandem. “Great! Glad we’re on the same page. Now then. How would you all feel about heading up an exploratory team to help us get a better handle on this doo-dad you’ve found?”

“Doo…dad?” Caeto murmured.

“He means the relic.” Daiandra clarified.

“Yep. I mean, we’ve should check of course, but for all we know, could be junk.”

“It’s Yaevran. It’s not junk.” Caeto said.

“Hence the need for an exploratory team.” Tsorth replied.

“Our team isn’t graded for - “ Caeto began.

“ - Oh don’t sell yourselves short!” Oranis laughed. “We’re Ar-Teth! Cutting through red tape is our bread and butter. Consider yourself graded for exotic evaluation and…hells, let’s throw in a nice fat Interstitial-zero level Sec clearance while we’re at it. How does that sound?”

“Unorthodox.” Caeto replied.

“Just goes to show how much faith we have in you scrappy young go-getters.” Oranis grinned.

“I’m…getting the feeling this isn’t the sort of thing we get to say ‘no’ to?” Daiandra asked.

“We’re Ar-Teth. We turn ‘no’’s into ‘yes’’s.”

“But it’s not a clearance issue, or a grading issue: we don’t have the expertise, the…the experience, to - ” Tanis finally blurted out, interjecting.

“ - I’ll let you in on a little secret, courtesy of that shiny new security clearance…” Oranis said: “Reality of it is, no one has the expertise or experience when it comes to Yaevran artifacts. And boy would we love to change that, let me tell you. So…all we’re asking, is that you do what you do best: analyse, catalogue, and - if possible - recover.”

“Recover? The world was glassed.” Daiandra frowned: “So, speculatively, it must be way down beneath the surface. And it didn’t show up on pre-scans, which means the glassing probably activated it, which means it could be…defensive tech, or broken in some dangerous kind of way that - ”

“ - All sounds fascinating, doesn’t it? I mean, gods, I can’t wait to see what you all manage to turn up down there. And you just let us know what you need. Sky’s the limit! Equipment, personnel. We’re very motivated to help in any way that we can.”

“Can’t say I share your enthusiasm…” Daiandra rolled her eyes. Oranis pointed directly at her with a warm grin.

“Y’see, Tsorth? That’s how we do humour. Little reactive quips. That’s the good stuff.”

“Noted.” Tsorth deadpanned.

“Just a shame we can’t join you on this treasure-hunt.” Oranis sighed.

“Where will you be?” Daiandra asked.

“Systems away, in case the Yaevrans decide they want to stop what we’re doing.” Caeto speculated drily.

“Now you’re getting it.” Oranis winked. “Anyhow. We’ll leave you to discuss the opportunity!”

As Oranis and Tsorth let themselves out, the door sliding closed behind them, the room was blanketed with silence. The quiet hum of the station’s engines vibrated a dull, pulsing metronome. Slowly, Daiandra got to her feet, before taking a deep breath. She looked to Tanis, then to Caeto.

“What the actual fuck?!”