Chapter Text
Today was the day!
The day that Pinq took control of her fate!
Beep!
Or was choked by the chains that bound her to her place in the universe.
Today was the day that Pinq finally figured out once and for all if she was able to influence the future, able to change the course of this universe for the better-
Or the worse.
Beep!
Today was the day that she learned if everything was preordained or if there could be change. Today was when she figured out if she was in a self-fulfilling prophecy situation, or if everything she did would have ripple effects and turn the universe into something unrecognizable from what she had seen as a child.
It was time for Pinq to play with fire and accept whatever burns she got.
Beep!
Another snack dropped from the machine, Pinq squatted to remove it from the metal basket, placed it in the large bag next to her and then stood back up to buy another.
Beep!
Yep. Really deciding her future and testing the boundaries of her . . . of her . . .
Shit. What was it called when a character in a story realized they were in a story and then freaked out about whether they were ‘actually’ aware and doing things?
Like, were they just a character scripted to be freaking out, or were they actually a person freaking out?
Beep!
Squat. Grab. Drop.
There had been a word for it . . .
It was on the tip of her tongue . . .
. . .
Beep!
Oh god.
She couldn’t remember.
This was going to bother the shit out of her.
And it’s not like Irkens had any literature that dealt with the idea of having no real control over their lives because everything was already preordained by an uncaring god.
That every attempt to slip the leash and struggle against the chains was only another part of the play and that no matter how you screamed it was always on cue.
. . .
So, it wasn’t like she could ask anyone.
Beep!
Pinq squatted and got the last snack, dropping it into the bad and started to walk, dragging the overfull bag behind her. She would only have to go a few yards before reaching another vending machine, and starting all over again with clearing out all of its snacks.
Pinq was currently walking around the closest thing that Irkens had that resembled a residential area.
All Irken housing was temporary, no Irken really having a reason to have a private space away from their workplace.
Oftentimes, their workplaces were their private spaces.
But sometimes Irkens were visiting different facilities or planets and couldn’t mix in with the local workers in breakrooms.
Either because of height restrictions, clearance issues, or because they weren’t wanted there.
So, if you had a high enough ranking, or a high enough height, or were just visiting a planet and no one else was using the rooms, then you could request a private space for a time.
It was less like a room in a hotel and more like renting a study room in a library.
Even if they used it for cycles.
Pinq made it to another vending machine, her PAK reaching out to tap into its relatively short signal and give it her account.
Beep!
Squat. Grab. Drop.
Devastis was a planet that was primarily used for military training and testing, having an ever-shifting population of soldiers, so it had a fairly large “residential” area.
It had two kinds of rooms.
The singles and the groups.
The group rooms were usually reserved for entire companies of soldiers who had come for training, while the singles could be for higher officers or just single irkens who came to train alone.
And with the Elite Test happening today, every single one room, group or otherwise, currently had occupants.
Beep!
Each holding the Elite hopeful, snatching a few hours of sleep before they fought for the honor of earning the title.
And in one of these pods, was Tak.
Pinq had no clue which one though.
Well, no she had a slight clue. It would be near a vending machine, was a single room, and Tak was short.
Well, comparatively short.
She couldn’t be more than 5 feet, probably closer to 4?
Beep!
Pinq, as just some visiting manager even with her height of 6’1, hadn’t been able to access all of the information on the Irkens in the pods.
The only reason that she had been able to access the information at all was because she had put in a reservation for a pod and had been offered up the option of kicking out one of the irkens who were within a certain height range.
Pinq had managed to use the process of elimination to narrow down Tak’s possible room to one of three areas.
And then she had gone to those three areas and bought out the vending machines.
Beep!
. . . it was a good thing that she had a lot of stored up credits, and new height rights or else this would have put her in the red.
Beep!
Pinq grabbed the last snack and dropped it into her bag with a long sigh.
It was finally done, finally over.
She had bought every single snack in all of the vending machines that were around the areas that Tak’s room could hypothetically be!
Now all she had to do was wait and see if fate could be changed, and if Tak could make it to the test.
. . .
What the fuck was she going to do with all of these snacks?
Devastis was a planet that had many different departments and education centers and nearly every single one was for the military.
Weapons training, hand to hand combat, heavy artillery lessons, drivers’ education for various combat suits-
Devastis had those and more!
All sorts of lessons like How to Assassinate (from a distance) to Back Stabbing 101, Devastis was where an Irken went to learn how to kill and destroy.
So, it wasn’t the young soldiers first time here.
Red and Purple trailed after their commanding officer, her robotic legs clacking on the ground as she walked.
She was loudly coaching them on how they were supposed to act during the Elite test, how they were supposed to deal with the Taller military Irkens for the first time.
“Keep your antenna’s perked soldiers, this is a battlefield. A war of attrition and nasty words. You can’t let your guard down for a second! Speaking with the wrong Irken for too long could make you an embarrassment for the entire army-”
Red and Purple kept trading looks as she prattled on.
Their commander didn’t bother to look back at them or confirm that they were really listening. They could probably have just slowed down and lost her in the crowd.
But they needed her in order to return to the ship later, and if she got mad at them for having to track them down, then she would put them on the most boring duties for who knows how long, and besides they really did want to see the elite test, even if it rankled them a bit to not be allowed to take it themselves.
Purple crossed his arms as he huffed, more than willing to reignite this argument, even if the outcome couldn’t be changed, especially not now, when it was mere hours before the event began.
P: we could have totally made elite.
Red didn’t even twitch an antenna as he responded back.
R: yeah, we could have, but its age restricted.
Purple kicked the ground and frowned, baring his teeth as he had a small and silent tantrum.
P: Come on! What good is it being this tall if we still have to obey the same rules as the smallers!
Red rolled his eyes, throwing a quick elbow at Purple, but didn’t even look to watch Purple dodge.
They both knew that watching the test in the presence of Tall Military Commanders was going to be an ordeal, a gun measuring contest with a side order of belittlement for being so tall and young with a low rank.
“Might before Height”
That was the moto of the military.
What mattered in the military was ability, recognition, and completed missions.
Height had its place, but it was a handicap more than a help. Made you a bigger target, made you need a bigger calorie load.
Advancement only happened in the military after you spent time on the front lines, only after you cut your claws on the flesh of inferior species and knew the sting of laser fire.
An Irken could only move up when they had proved that they could survive the demands of the job, the dangers that being a soldier brought.
It was only after a probation period of 25 cycles that an Irken could really begin to advance. Could finally leave the title of Foot Soldier behind them.
Red and Purple were good soldiers.
The fact that they were still alive and had all their limbs confirmed that.
But until they had served their time, Red and Purple were stuck as foot soldiers, no matter how tall they got.
They haven’t had enough time to prove themselves as great soldiers.
Not that any of the irkens that they would be meeting today cared that they were good soldiers.
The military irkens would only see their age and the short list of their accomplishments, judging them too young to respect, but still taking notice of them, keeping an eye on them to see if they make it out of the probation period alive.
The only reason Red and Purple were going to the test was because their commander had been sent an invitation and offered to bring them as well.
Red didn’t know why she wanted them there, her own excuse of wishing to help them as they grew tasting rotten even as he pretended to swallow her words.
Purple agreed, not able to pin point what the truth was, but able to warn Red of every lie.
She wanted them here for some reason, but wasn’t telling them why.
The only part of what she said that seemed to be truthful was her desire to introduce them to some colleagues of hers-
But beyond that?
They would have to stay on guard.
Purple would monitor her body, Red would monitor her PAK, and they would fend her off together, deflecting her attack before she could do more than think of it.
She may be their commander, but they were past her height and were officially on break.
So, they followed her, stayed behind her as she flashed her invitation to the door guard, and trailed behind her down hallways and tunnels until they reached the observation deck reserved for the military irkens who were ‘working’ the event.
The ones who had forgone relaxing and enjoying the event in order to keep their Rank and right to make decisions.
Red and Purple both kept their heads up, but their antennas lowered. They were in the presence of Irkens who not only out ranked them, but who had climbed the ladder of success in the dangerous and cutthroat game of military promotions.
These were the Irkens who had survived each other.
Truly the best of the best.
Enemies to be feared.
They would be on guard.