Foundation of All

“Only a day left before we arrive,” Emily said as she moved her pawn forward to start their chess game. She was in one of her energetic moods for the last few hours and was more animated than usual as they played. Sean moved his knight forward in response, having finally figured out how all the pieces moved and some basic strategies after the first day where Emily taught him the rules.

“Yep,” He replied, “I’m sort of nervous. I’m basically a kid compared to all of them, right? What if I mess something up?”

Emily moved out her bishop, “Don’t worry, Sean. You’ll do great! You’re actually more mature than most Immortals you’ll meet on the younger side. They get so arrogant for the first few millennia until they get slapped back down to size again… Sometimes several times. Don’t let them intimidate you for being young, you’re actually a pretty smart guy with how fast you’ve picked up Foundation of All on hard mode. Figuring out how to assemble the harvesters manually takes most people years, you know. I’m kinda amazed you got it so fast.”

Sean paused with his hand extended for a moment as he processed that statement before moving his pawn forward to block her bishop and so it was protected by his knight.

“I didn’t realize I was that fast,” he said. He had gotten there in only a few months but it certainly hadn’t been easy, “But surely with enough time all those people are more skilled than me? I mean they have… so much time to learn about everything.”

Emily snorted as she moved again, “Pffft. You would think, but not really. Everyone has their own interests, it just so happens that mine is technology too, lucky you. Some of them could talk your ear off about mineral pricing, how to properly create a holomovie or game, create the best wine or food, fashion… But technology is hard, so most people don’t bother learning more than they have to and learn about their other hobbies instead.”

Sean moved and thought that over, “So, on a scale of one to ten how would you rate my knowledge of mechanical engineering at least? Compared to the people I would meet, I mean? You’re just so advanced and know so much, how am I supposed to compete with that?”

Emily moved again and considered, blowing out air in a long sigh as she thought. “I don’t know… There’s kind of two buckets of people. There’s the oldies like me that know a little of everything. It’s not really fair to compare yourself to me or them. Trust me, it took a lot longer to pick things up than you are. Usually most people at your level of mechanical engineering are maybe…. Hmmm. Not really a good way to think about it with numbers considering how many different things you can learn. But I’d say you’re about… the upper half of people at Immortus Station if you’re discussing mechanical engineering knowledge only. Most people there are pretty young as immortal standards go. Most are under a hundred thousand years old and only a few oldies stick around to help out occasionally.”

Sean frowned, that was not the image he got of this place at all. He made another move on the board.

“Where are the older ones? I thought this place was the government. What about you, are you helping them?”

Emily shrugged, “Most of them leave the galaxy or have their own big projects they work on without bothering other people too much. No one wants to play politician for forever when they have better things to do. But many of them drop by for short visits, they just don’t stay there for long. And the Immortal Council doesn’t want my help, I try to keep my distance if I can. I did tell you about the treaty right?”

Sean shook his head as Emily moved her piece and he responded by moving next a few seconds later.

“Really?” She asked him as she considered her next move, “I thought I did… Oh, well basically Immortals have certain sectors that they’re banned from so we don’t crowd out all the normal humans with our wealth and influence. That included your home sector and most of the ones on the outer rim. The Immortal Council doesn’t take kindly to people interfering or even traveling to the forbidden zones without permission. That’s why I came down so hard on you when we first met. Still embarrassed about that… Anyways, I ignore the treaty and do my own thing which always annoys them. But I know their leader pretty well and he’s understanding at least so I can get away with it as long as I don’t interfere overmuch and stir up too much trouble.”

“Check,” Sean said as he moved his piece again, “Is that why they don’t like you? Because you’re some sort of rebel that doesn’t follow the rules and is exempt from them in a lot of cases?”

“Sort of,” Emily said, “There’s… other reasons too.” She moved her king out of check. “Remember the guy that was chasing us? The Immortal Council really hates him and his group and they lump me in with them because of... how much they sing my praises. Well, I hate them too, but the government's whole purpose is keeping them in check and preventing them from attacking people across the galaxy.”

“Who are they?” Sean asked as he moved the piece. Emily immediately looked around as if to escape, panicking a little as he asked. But Sean wanted to get an answer this time and pushed harder.

“Emily.”

She refocused on him.

“I get that it's hard for you. You look like you want to run away whenever I ask about what happened. But can you at least give me something? I’ve been wondering about who he was for months now. I don’t want to hear it first from some arrogant jerk from this Immortal Council.”

She paused at that and took a deep breath. “Fine,” She said and steeled herself. “Those people are known as the… Plaguebringers. That’s the people who think I’m their messiah.”

Sean reeled back in shock, accidentally knocking over several of his chess pieces as he flinched at her words. Plaguebringers? The villains from stories that…

“But surely they're just legends right? They can’t be as bad as everything I’ve heard before…” Sean said before trailing off.

“They’re… probably worse,” Emily replied hesitantly, almost cringing at his words, “They are a death cult, going out and intentionally releasing all sorts of bioengineered diseases and plagues onto populated worlds for their beliefs. You know that there are bacteria that live in your gut and help you digest your food right?”

Sean put a hand over his stomach and looked down.

“Well, our powers, our regeneration, don’t affect that part of us inside our digestive tract or lungs,” She continued, “Plaguebringers put all sorts of their deadly diseases in that space to multiply and incubate. Disease that spreads when they aren’t wearing their special isolation suits. For Immortals, we don’t even feel it. Anything that actually entered into our blood would be dissolved as we regenerate. But for all the normal humans… It's horrible.”

“I’ll bet…” Sean said before looking back up, “And you aren’t involved with the Plaguebringers at all? Never were?” Sean asked with some tension.

Her eyes widened and she furiously shook her head, “Never! I swear I never supported those scum. Please believe me…”

Sean met her desperate eyes and after a long moment, nodded. “I believe you,” He said with finality, “Are you okay?”

Emily shook her head and slumped down like the weight of the world had left her shoulders. “You… You don’t hate me?” She asked hesitantly, “Why don’t you hate me? You don’t have to pretend just because I gave you a ride to the Immortal Council…”

“No.” Sean said, “We’ve only known each other for a little time, but I don’t think you seem like the type to be in a death cult. You’ve been nothing but kind to me ever since we’ve met. I mean as silly as this sounds, we've played games together for months together and gotten along just fine! Your supposed allies attacked you and shot at your ship as soon as he found you. Why would I hate you for something that’s not your fault?”

“I… I… Thanks, Sean.” Emily said thickly, wiping her eyes briefly, “That means a lot to me, thank you. Not many people give me a chance these days. If you change your mind later, don’t feel bad. Just tell me and I’ll go away.”

Sean waited for a moment before snorting a little as he had a thought. Emily’s head immediately shot up and she looked panicked again. “Wait, I…”

“No, no,” Sean said while suppressing his laughter, “Just. If we have a falling out how will I get my Foundation of All world back? I can’t believe that was my first thought when you said that. I didn’t mean to scare you. I’ll still be your friend. How are you millions of years old and still care what someone like me thinks of you?”

She relaxed and fell back into her chair and after a moment gave him a weak smile. “Yeah,” she said, “I guess I shouldn’t. But it doesn’t work that way for me. Friends. Sounds good.”

Sean looked down at the chess board and blinked as he realized that he had knocked half of his pieces to the floor in surprise before. He leaned over to the ground and gathered them up and put them back where they were before. The only piece he couldn’t remember was the knight. Was it on the black or white square? He knew it was one of these two squares...

“White,” Emily said, “It was on the white square before.”

Sean put it in the right place and then looked up at Emily expectantly. “I think it’s your turn,” Sean said, “Now when I lose I at least have an excuse as to why. Dropping emotional bombs like that in the middle of a game. That’s got to be against the rules!” He continued to lighten the mood.

Emily straightened and sputtered, “Bwwwaa, what?! You’re the one that brought it up. If anything, that's a penalty against you more than me!”

“No way,” Sean replied lightly as she moved her piece, “I could have totally crushed you if not for being distracted.”

“Distracted? Watch this. Check.”

Sean moved.

“Check.”

Sean stared at the board and realized what was happening. Seriously…

He moved his king and Emily took his piece with her rook.

“Check.”

He looked at all of his pieces and after a second groaned loudly, before smirking. “As I said. If I wasn’t distracted I would have come out on top.”

“Oh, just move a piece already,” Emily said playfully. With a theatrical sigh, Sean moved his king one last time. Emily moved her queen forward to finish him off.

“Checkkkkk-mate!” She said mock seriously, “But if you were distracted… I suppose we could call this one a tie.”

He looked at the board for a moment longer before shaking his head. “All right. What does that make it? Thirty or forty for you, one tie, none for me?”

“Oh, you have the digital version to boost your ego,” Emily said, “Just put it on a lower setting. You can even play it in the holodeck and have the other player go into a rage when you defeat them. It’s always pretty hilarious, you should try it out.”

“You do that often?” Sean asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

“I mean… why would I when I can just keep beating you?” She replied, seeming to have returned to her energetic mood from before.

“Let’s play checkers again,” Sean said, “At least there I have a chance.”

“Sure,” Emily replied before hesitating slightly, “Yeah,” she said again before turning and running off to go get the box from the nearby shelf as Sean cleaned up the chess board. He hadn’t thought that Immortals would be like this. He imagined stoic, unfeeling monsters spreading the plague behind them. But here he was, relaxing and playing board games with a woman that was older than the settlement of most planets in the galaxy. And she was worried about whether he wanted to be her friend or not. And wondering whether she was beating him too much in chess recently too given that last look she had shot him before running off.

And despite everything that had happened back on Enguli… He was feeling better than he ever had since his parents' death.