“Vice President Oret, you have the room. See to it the recruitment process goes smoothly, I do hate surprises.” Said Ettimis, pausing briefly and turning to face Oret. “And Vice President, I noticed you neglected to inform the recruitment team to terminate all those who are not useful. See to it that the ground teams are reminded of our policies... Let me hear you say it Oret.” Said Ettimis, before continuing his way to exit the command deck and back to the surface of Avus.
“Recruit the best. Terminate the rest.” Said Oret, just loudly enough for Ettimis to hear.
Descending in the lift Ettimis looked out through a small window of thick glass riveted around its edges to the tarnished metal of the elevator. The vast structure of Avus, the largest of thousands of ringed cities owned by the company, in perfect view below. Each ring a self-contained city, complete with its own economy and military occupied by millions of inhabitants, recruited from a vast array of worlds. Staring out the window with apathy, Ettimis cared nothing of magnitude or marvel of Avus. He viewed such ringed cities all but a common place throughout the galaxy, his stay on Avus was but a stepping-stone in his grander plans. Watching the lights of trains, Ettimis thought of the workers of the company, each with their mundane roles. Each trying to scratch their way to the top of their insignificant sector or worse were content in their meaningless role. Thinking how pathetic the common people, taken from broken worlds were, Ettimis’s mind wondered to his own ambitions. He had purpose and his goals were more meaningful, as he was born in the cental region. A place of more advanced planetary societies and a higher-class people. In the moments before the lift reached the surface Ettimis could only think about the harvest of Issa. The resources of the planet would bring him one step closer to a promotion and a seat on the board. The sound of voices screeching broke his concentration as high frequency squawks and static spat out of the lift's speaker, before focusing to an audible voice.
“President, a relay probe has arrived from ethereal space. It’s labelled as containing an urgent message from the board.” Said a communication worker, barely understandable through the intermittent crackles in the speaker.
“Forward the message to my office. I will be there shortly,” responded Ettimis, leaning slightly toward the speaker to ensure he would be heard.
The tension was evident on his face as Ettimis exited the lift and made is way to a nearby train to the inner city. A crowd of people stood waiting for the train on the large grimy platform. The mix of classes saw those dressed in formal attire and expensive hats at one end of the platform. And the workers covered in thick soot and grim with the only notably clean parts being around their eyes congregated at the other end. The workers parted, as Ettimis approached making a way for him to reach the private train car reserved for the highest class. With Ettimis holding a cloth across his mouth as he passed the people, his guards at either side of him kept the crown at a distance. Each guard keeping one hand on their pistol, concealed under their coats, as they ushed Ettimis along.
Boarding the car, adorned with fine woodwork and polished brass fixtures at the end of the train, Ettimis made his way into a private booth. Closing the door behind him, he muttered how dissatisfied he was to have to share a train with the common people. Looking out the window beside him, Ettimis paid no attention to the other people in lounge area outside his booth. Even with their fine evening ware and hats of wool and silk, most of the people were from planets of outer systems. Ettimis had no desire conversing with those he considered inferior. With his guards outside the booth, Ettimis looked out at the bright city lights and tall buildings of the city centre. The lights of Avus could be seen stretching out into a thin thread in the far distance becoming almost invisible overhead as they faded against a backdrop of thousands of stars before expanding back around. Anxious, Ettimis tried to figure out what could be so important to the board. Why would they waste such significant amount of precious aillinium to send an urgent relay probe through the ether?
IV
Waking up disorientated and in pain, Jacob looked around the dark area he found himself in as he coughed from the smoke and dust in the air. Across the void space, he could see a small opening in the wall partially blocked by twisted pieces of metal and debris. An orange light, like the glow of a fire burning on the other side, spilled in through the hole offered a small amount of visibility in the tight crevasse of rubble. Thinking of Alex, Jacob instantly snapped to action as he frantically looked through the dimly lit area. Finding Alex only a few arm's lengths away from him, Jacob quickly made his way over to his brother and began rapidly pulling pieces of the ruined building off Alex. Pulling Alex onto his lap, Jacob draped his brothers’ limp body across his legs, and began shaking him vigorously without result. Remaining lifeless, Alex looked pale in the poor light of the distant flames as Jacob
