Foundation of All

Over the next few years, Sean and Lira started settling into their new more physical relationship and while it wasn’t constant they did end up sleeping in each other’s beds together whenever it was more convenient than going back to their own places. They did some martial arts training on the side as well. It was slow going, but Sean could feel himself improving as they went. And Lira seemed to gain more confidence in herself as she learned how to properly defend herself.

V4 was progressing well, and the two of them had taken to teaching it how to use the various pieces of equipment around the lab as a break from mechanical work. It was odd, according to the design the robot should only be able to specialize in a single task before having to totally retrain itself again. But V4 was picking up things quickly and seemed to be much more intelligent than the notes on its design suggested it should be. But besides that oddity and exploring V4s limits, Sean was taking a break from robotics to assist Lira with her next hoverbike even more advanced than the last.

Time passed and the two of them worked together, and grew ever more comfortable with their relationship emotionally and otherwise.

Finally when Sean was seventy and looking the same as ever, he decided to visit Roger again. It had been a while since he had seen him in more than passing with how caught up he had been with his new romance with Lira.

Sean walked into Roger’s room after giving him an alert on the holopad. The man sat there at his table with a drink in hand as always, looking the same as he had always been.

“Sean! My man! Long time no see, nearly thought you’d forgotten about me,” Roger said as Sean walked over.

“Sorry, Roger,” Sean apologized, “Should have dropped by more often. Actually I… got a girlfriend. We’ve been working together building things in one of those workshops for the last few years. Pretty much was there or slept, I didn’t even take any survival courses or anything.”

Roger raised an eyebrow, “Ooooooh? Found a fellow technology nut to hook up with? So, details Sean. Who’s the lucky girl? When did you meet? Have I met her?”

“I’m not sure if you’ve met before,” Sean said, “It’s Lira if you know her. Green eyes, a couple inches shorter than me… black hair.”

“No, never met her personally. I’ve heard she isn’t one for parties. But wow, someone’s smitten,” Roger teased, “I can hear it in your voice. Damn, you work fast. Or she does. Wasn't she Lars' girlfriend only a few decades ago?”

“Yes,” Sean said darkly, “She was. And he didn’t treat her right.”

“Oh,” Roger said, much more serious than Sean had ever heard him before, “Really? Is she okay? I never liked the guy, but I’m guessing it's pretty bad if you’re all wound up about it.”

“Yeah,” Sean said with a deep breath before sharply exhaling as he sat down next to Roger and accepting the drink Roger was offering to him, “It was bad. But she’s getting better now,” Sean finished.

They spent a minute or two sipping their drinks and sitting together on the couch.

“Well, why don’t we call her over?” Roger said in a lighter tone, “Introduce me! I’ll help her for her reintroduction into the social scene. I’m sure without Lars hanging around to drag her down she’ll do much better than before.”

“Sure,” Sean said, “I’ll go and see if she’s free. It’s been a while since I’ve been to one of your parties.”

“By the Shadow it definitely has!” Roger said, “But hey, at least you can play the doubles with your new girlfriend now. Maybe she will manage to be even worse than you are so you can feel better about yourself.”

Sean snorted, “I hope not,” he said, “We can barely even win when I play with you, the grand champion of party games. I’ll just drag her down with me if we play together.”

“Yes you will, yes you will,” Roger said sagely, “And she’s going to like it, isn’t she?” he whispered conspiratorially while leering at Sean.

“Dammit Roger!” Sean said immediately and put a hand to his face.

“Just kidding, just kidding,” Roger said, returning his face to normal and holding up his hands in surrender while laughing, “No more dirty jokes, I promise. Had to sneak in at least one before the woman herself arrived. Can’t be too dirty without knowing the woman herself after all. And no, that wasn’t a setup for my next joke.”

“Please don’t make dirty jokes to my girlfriend, Roger,” Sean said in exasperation.

“Hey, I promised, didn’t I? Look how upset you’re getting! But… Bah, fine. Tell me about your…”

He waved his hand vaguely towards the air, “Technology stuff. What have you been working on with your new love?”

Sean removed his hand from his face and shook his head. Roger liked to pretend to not care, but as Sean described what the projects each of them had been working on he nodded his head and completely followed Sean’s explanations with insightful questions about the designs they had used. Part of the reason why Sean liked Roger so much was his keen intellect despite his laid back attitude.

Although hopefully Roger would cut down on the teasing a bit when Sean brought Lira over to meet him…

— — —

“So, you’re Lira?” Roger asked as Sean presented a nervous Lira to him. She nodded back.

“H-Hello. You must be Roger,” she said, “Sean’s talked a lot about you.”

Roger raised an eyebrow and glanced at Sean, “Has he now? All good things hopefully.”

“Oh, yeah!” Lira said, “Very good. You’re his best friend, he’s told me about some of the adventures you took him on.”

“Did he tell you how bad he is at gambling?” Roger said, “It was truly amazing how much money he managed to lose at the Casino. An inspiration to all of us successful gamblers.”

“No!” Lira said curiously, “He did?” she glanced at Sean and he rubbed the back of his head. He wanted to refute Roger, but…

“Yeah,” Sean confirmed, “I lost a lot. But I distinctly remember you losing money too, Roger. Hardly a success I don’t think.”

Roger waved away his comment, “Bah! You pay for entertainment don’t you? It’s just bad manners to come away from that place with more money than you entered with. Losing money is just polite as long as it's a reasonable amount.”

“Pfffft,” Sean scoffed at Roger’s implication that he could have made money if he had wanted to.

“Anyway,” Roger said, “Lira! Sit down, sit down. Do you want a drink? So, what’s your story? I’ve heard you're something of a technology girl from how you met Sean. Anything else that you’re interested in too, any projects you’re working on at the moment?”

It took a few seconds as Lira inspected the drinks and chose an option and poured it into a fresh cup. She lifted it and took a sip before sitting down next to where Sean had sat down across from Roger.

“Sorry,” she said, “You were asking about my hobbies? Well, I’ve been mostly making my own hoverbikes recently. With Sean’s help of course,” she said and briefly glanced at Sean as she took another sip.

“But before that I actually… was an artist. I made sculptures and sold them before I came here to Immortus Station. Mostly carved out of stone with a chisel. It wasn’t very profitable considering how much work it was to make each art piece, but it was pretty fun. People thought I was good, but it was mortals buying so it wasn’t really fair to them given how much time I had to practice my craft and improve…”

“An artist!” Roger said encouragingly, “That sounds interesting. Like the Founders themselves, carving with nothing but stone and a chisel even for their largest projects. We have a few original works by them on Immortus station, you know. Even if it takes some doing in getting actual permission to see them. I’ve talked with people who have seen it, but never gone myself.”

“They do!” Lira said gasping, “No one ever told me that!”

She turned to the side and tugged at Sean’s sleeve and stared up at him with her eyes lit up in excitement, “We have to go see them! I can’t believe they actually have art from the Founders here! I’m sure they’ll be like nothing else in the galaxy…”

Sean glanced between her and Roger confused, “The founders? Like of this station?” he asked, “Are they famous?”

They both blinked before Roger chuckled, “Ah, I almost forget sometimes how far out on the outer rim you grew up in, Sean,” Roger said, “They don’t even teach you about the Founders out there? People practically worshiped the Founders on the planet I grew up on. Well, most planets aren’t quite that invested but most at least teach about them.”

“But who were they?” Sean asked, “Why would they teach about artists at your school?”

Roger laughed and even Lira chuckled a little at his response.

“Artists!” Roger said, “That’s not what they’re famous for. Although I’m sure that that isn’t going to make Lira any less dedicated to seeing their work based on her excitement just now.”

Lira nodded in agreement.

“They’re not just artists,” Lira said, “And they’re also not just the founders of this station. They’re the Founders of All. Or that’s the title that people have given them.”

Sean froze. Founders. Foundation. The game, Foundation of All? How did that connect to this?

“They were the first Immortals. The First Ten is another of their titles,” Roger added, “Millions and millions of years ago after a great disaster that devastated humanity at the time, they went out into the universe and spearheaded the colonization of the galaxy to ensure that something like that could never threaten humanity again. They’re the ones that helped pioneer many of the terraforming processes we use to create habitable planets even today. They invented faster hyperdrives, advanced genetic engineering… thousands, millions of technologies. Almost every foundational technology and Immortal government traces its roots to one of them. Immortus Station and its council was founded by most of them long ago to help new Immortals adjust to their new life. That’s part of the reason why they keep things so nice and comfy around here, so we’re not out there causing trouble out there as we adjust to things.”

“But they’re artists too!” Lira said, “And with so much time to practice, any work they make is considered an absolute masterpiece, the pinnacle of what an artist can achieve! It was my greatest dream for the last few thousand years to see one.”

“We should all go,” Roger said, “I know some people. If I get a large enough group that’s interested we might have a better chance of getting approval by the Council to see it. Maybe we could get permission for a few decades from now if we work fast.”

Lira nodded furiously, “Count us in!”

She paused and glanced at Sean as she realized that she had spoken for him.

“Yeah, sounds fun,” Sean said with a shrug. Usually it wouldn’t catch his interest but with Lira’s clear excitement it wasn’t like he was going to say no.

The conversation soon drifted to other topics as Roger and Lira started getting to know each other a little better, with Sean occasionally piping in to comment on something or answer a question. But mostly he was on the sidelines, pondering silently on that first conversation they had had.

The Foundation of All the game. The Founders. Emily who had given him the game, a game banned in Immortus Station. The Plaguemother…

What did it all mean?

Sean was pleasantly surprised to find out that Lira and Roger ended up getting along rather well. Sean went to his first party in a long time with Lira at his side. Most people were highly interested in Lira after Roger’s formal ‘reintroduction’ of her back into ‘civilized’ society. Roger had stood up and made a long winded speech about it and most people viewed the whole event as an elaborate joke on Roger's part. But it accomplished its purpose and many people came over to talk to Lira and introduce themselves as the party progressed.

She stuttered and did her best to deal with the influx of people as Sean stayed at her side. Whenever she started looking too overwhelmed he jumped in and diverted the conversation onto himself to give her a break. But despite her nervousness she was doing well and traded holopad contacts with several people that she had had longer conversations with. Things were going well, and Lira seemed happy after they got back home and went to sleep on Sean’s bed.

Sean woke up before Lira. He rolled over in his nightclothes and stared at her sleeping face for a few minutes. She looked content as her chest rose and fell despite neither of them having to breathe if they didn’t want to. Another habit that the both of them had kept up from their times from back before they were Immortals.

He reached out and tucked a strand of hair that had fallen over her face behind her ear. She kept breathing deeply, only shifting slightly at his touch with her eyes still closed. He quietly sat up trying to not disturb her and reached behind the bed onto a shelf above. He took the black device holding his Foundation of All world and stared at it, turning it over in his hands as he sat up in the bed. The Founders of All. Had Emily known one of them? Was that why she had such a complicated look on her face when he had chosen this game to start out with?

Eventually with a sigh, he put it back on the shelf. He couldn’t play the game in the station to find the truth just yet. It was clear that Samir was on the hunt for it. For all Sean knew the game would be deleted from his drive as soon as he connected it to one of the holodecks in this place. He would have to wait for answers until he left Immortus Station. Until then all he could do was learn more about these Founders and hope that some small fact or clue would help him when he finally got back into his Foundation of All world.