The Legend of Ivan

old search, but a greater part knew nothing could match it. I wondered if this was how Traverian Grey felt, an obsession or longing darkening his remaining days.

Dana’s vestige tittered in my thoughts, amused at my unending consternation. I blamed her influence above anything else. I could not determine if my systems, no matter how long I dug through the programming, had been compromised by her initial intrusion. They appeared undisturbed, but I knew it equally possible they were altered along with my own memory to mask the changes.

Still Dana’s ghost laughed as I sifted through her memories, trying in vain to find some answer as to why my mind abandoned rationality. I felt sorrow on Ivan’s behalf. His tale, his fallen love, and his constant reminder of the despair with every mention of his legend…

I returned to Dei Lucrii XVII, seeking the advice of the man who hopefully still considered me a friend. The station personnel regarded me with a wary attitude, not overly-assured I wouldn’t bring more trouble upon their heads. As a result, I hovered outside, waiting on docking approval for hours. Numerous individuals who knew me on the station, including my still good friend the librarian, raised several varieties of hell when they discovered my plight. Administration had no choice but to allow my entrance.

Marqyni met me with a broad grin and a bone-crushing hug when I came inside. “Sid! Thank goodness you’re okay!” He pounded me on the back. “When that madman attacked the very station, I thought we were all done for!”

I didn’t say much while he half-dragged me back to his library. He rattled on for a few moments about the thrill and excitement of the Cassander’s presence in system. He spoke for quite a while before realizing I had hardly responded.

“Sid, you’re rather quiet. Is there something wrong?”

I explained how I couldn’t shake the Ivan story from my mind.

“You’ve done it? You found him?” Marqyni grabbed my shoulders. “Why didn’t you say so? This is wonderful news! We have to celebrate. Come now, let’s get down to the bazaar and toast to this amazing accomplishment!”

His enthusiasm faded when he saw the lightly pained expression on my face. “Sid, what is it?”

Shaking my head, I told him about Dana, Cain, and Ivan’s last tale. Through the course of the story, the exhilaration slowly faded from his face, replaced by a troubled expression.

“It really wasn’t his hand which caused the devastation.” Marqyni blew out a sigh. “Amazing how these things can snowball, but I don’t understand why you’re so worked up over it.”

“Neither do I,” I replied.

The librarian rubbed his round chin. “No, not like that. What I mean is; why are you so concerned about feeling something? The story you heard is a tragedy of galactic proportions. Even you, as an Archivist, still retain emotional regard.” He waved his hands back and forth, laughing. “Sorry, not to express this like a children’s morality vid.” He broke into song. “Eeeeveryone has feeeeeelings, even Godlike machiiiines…” He trailed off, grinning at me.

I cracked a smile.

“There we are!” Marqyni clapped his hands. “Even robots can cry!”

“All right, enough,” I chuckled, trying to hold a scowl. “I understand emotional attachment, but why can’t I forget about this job? It’s done, finished. I’ve succeeded in finding out everything about Ivan. No one was hurt along the way,” I almost felt Dana’s vestige scowling in my thoughts, “but still something feels off.”

The librarian set a hand on my shoulder. “Very well. Let’s see if we can’t dissect that hyper-intelligent brain of yours. First—”

“Exactly what I was thinking.” A voice came from the open office door, and Marqyni’s eyes went wide. A bolt of fear jammed into my chest, as I recognized the voice without a moment’s thought.

I turned. Cain, in all his metallic and overpowered glory, stood in the doorway. “No escape this time, Sid.”

Clenching a fist, I checked over my subsystems. Green lights across the board. “How… how did you get here? You’re wanted in half of—”

“If you even think about going for your intercom to call security, you fat bastard,” Cain interrupted, “I’ll break you and whoever shows up into kindling.” Marqyni froze, half-reaching to his communicator. “And you,” Cain grinned at me, that same eerie and malevolent expression, “it would seem you can smuggle anything these days.”

Grimacing, I replied, “So what, you dismantled yourself and packed everything into crates?”

“Something like that, yes.” He waved a hand. “But how I got here is less important than why I returned. My employer would like to speak with you. Against his better judgment, he’s requested I not pound you into tiny pieces, though I’d very much like to and will if given a reason.”

A thought struck, and I scanned him. The energy weapons were stripped out. One cargo scan would have easily revealed the firepower he normally brought, so his employer had to have made him go without. Cain had nothing but brute strength on his side, but I realized it remained enough. My teeth clenched; even without weaponry, I stood little chance.

Let’s show him something. I blinked, hearing a clear voice in my mind. I diverted attention only to hear the ghost of Dana skittering away. Tiny laughter echoed not as a product of my imagination but something real.

“It’s over Cain,” I said, stalling and firing up the intrusion software. I wondered if I could maybe trap him in one of the library files. “I found Ivan. He doesn’t know anything about the Garden. It wasn’t him who did it.” My intrusion bounced off his locked down systems; it appeared he wouldn’t be dumb enough to fall for the same ploy again.

Cain continued grinning, as much for my failure as other reasons. “Oh, really? I find it amazing how much I and my employer don’t care about the silly incident. There are bigger fish than a destroyed planet, my friend.”

“What?” I asked, startled. I couldn’t conceive of an avenue of inquiry not relating to the Garden’s destruction. It was everything to the galaxy.

He won’t see it coming. Another whisper trickled in my thoughts, and I tried without success to shove the voice away.

My opponent gave a mock gasp. “My, my! Our favorite Archivist is shocked to discover he missed something in his grand search! Oh, the shame, the sorrow! Certainly, it comes as a welcome surprise to not have to figure out that whole Garden mess as well.” He gave a dismissive wave. “Assuming you’re telling the truth, but you wouldn’t lie to me, would you, Siddy-boy?”

He grinned again. I wondered if he kept the lower portion of his face as flesh in order to be able to smile, to unnerve his opponents. Again I thought about simply tearing loose the jaw, as it was likely the only real damage I could do to him. I also considered ramming my fist down his throat and yanking out anything organic, but such a tactic didn’t seem plausible without a serious incapacitation.

“Why? What can he give you?” Marqyni piped up from behind me. My muscles clenched in surprise; I had all but forgotten he was there.

“Shove a ham in it, tubby. I don’t want to hear another peep out of the food trap you call a gullet.” I didn’t take my eyes off Cain, but I heard the librarian gasp.

For some reason, the insult to my friend lit a fierce anger inside me. Yes, yes! the voice encouraged.

Without Cain, Marqyni, or even me expecting such an action, I launched myself into the metallic titan.

A heavy clang resounded as the metal of my shoulder impacted his chest. Not braced or prepared, Cain was knocked sprawling. In an instant, I bore down upon him, pinning his arms with my knees. I thrust out my hand, jamming four syringes of tranquilizer into his chin.

With a scream of pain and a black substance, synthetic blood, dribbling out of tiny punctures, Cain thrashed around. His strength far outweighed my own, and he freed one arm. With a near effortless motion, he seized my wrist and yanked me to the side. I rolled and quickly sprang to my feet, watching as he awkwardly clamored to his own.

As he recovered, my synthetic eye scanned over nooks and crannies in his mechanics, seeking out some vulnerability: an exposed gear or servo to be exploited. With weapons systems hastily removed, there had to be something left open and unsealed. I found one such weakness as he gave a roar and charged.