“Do you remember what you were doing last time?” I ask.

  Everyone else but Erysis affirms. The one that didn’t squints her eyes in thought, and after a moment, snaps her fingers. “There was something with a recycler and a reactor core.”

  “No.”

  “I’m just messing with you. I read Nex’s notes.”

  Huh, how surprising. “Really? That’s very thoughtful. Thank you.”

  “She made me quickly explain the last session while you were in the kitchen,” Nexen confesses.

  “Interesting...” I make a flourish with my hand, a hundred-sided die appearing pinched between two fingers. A miniaturized black hole is swirling within.

  “What’s that?” Erysis asks.

  I roll the die on the table. The nearly spherical crystal tumbles and clatters, tracked by everyone’s eyes. After an epic journey from one side to the other, it finally settles. Ninety-nine.

  “Quite interesting.”

  Erysis exclaims, “You fixed the roll!” I motion to her teacher, who shakes her head, reluctantly confirming my innocence.

  A yellowed and burned-around-the-edges piece of paper appears in my hand, thick and old. I examine what’s written on it, sliding my finger slowly toward the end of a list that might or might not be there. The players are not privy to the contents printed on the page. My finger stops and I sigh deeply, shaking my head at the same time. The die and the paper disappear in puffs of smoke.

  “Erysis and Nexen talked—”

  The first person I mentioned interrupts, “You can’t just do all that and not say anything. Explain yourself.”

  “Actions have consequences.”

  “I didn’t do anything wrong. Nex didn’t mind. Right, honey?” Nexen, who is definitely not under duress, hastily shakes his head. “See?”

  “Blink twice if you need help,” Khi says.

  All eyes turn to him. He’s trying way too hard not to blink, tears starting to gather at the edges. Erysis grumbles a bit but takes the unknown ‘consequences’ with grace. That menacing glare she has leveled at me is not foreboding at all.

  “As I was saying, Erysis and Nexen talked with the governor of a station housing multiple alien species, running away from the Shepherds, a group intent on total conquest. Elisa and Khi infiltrated a jail where a thralled individual was held. When Elisa accessed his mind, she found out that the Shepherds do not want only conquest. They want everything. Why? That is for you to find out.” The projection slowly starts to take shape, showing the station and then zooming a bit to its side, centering on a ship. “The governor informed you of a colony they’ve lost contact with. The first team they sent to investigate stopped responding once they landed. The second didn’t even check in when they arrived. As Slayers, those that have killed a Shepherd, you were asked to be the third—and hopefully, last—team. You accepted. Now, you depart.” The projection passes through the hull and shows the four players strapped in on the deck.

  “Inventory check?” the augmented elf requests.

  Khi glances at her tablet. “That alien rifle we scrounged up, remember?” Elisa checks the info she got and then nods an affirmative.

  “Got ammo for my pistol on the ship,” Nexen says. “And I got my shotgun too.”

  Erysis looks directly at me. “Yes.” I mouth ninety-nine at her. Her eyes narrow.

  “Do we need anything else?” Elisa asks again.

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  “Should be good,” Khi replies.

  Erysis has a question herself. “Why can’t we contact the Terran Collective and get the army to back us up?”

  “Do you want the meta reason or the lore reason?” I ask.

  “Both.”

  “Adding a fleet of battleships would change the stakes and the nature of the game. Could be interesting on its own, but this is not that kind of campaign. If you are interested in trying it out, we can do a one shot?” Erysis hums and nods. The others also appear to share the sentiment. “As for lore, the galaxy is a big place. Do you really think this is the only ongoing conflict?”

  “Did you simulate a whole galaxy?”

  “...Maybe.”

  Elisa says, “Let’s move on before he starts to give us examples.”

  “A rogue AI is—”

  The elf turns to her apprentice. “Captain, I do believe we are ready.”

  Erysis and Nexen’s ship, the Hothouse, lurches forward, starting to skid on the boundary between reality and not.

  “There’s also a secret war between two mega corporations who are each a proxy for the Collective and another organization respectively.”

  “Can we fast forward the travel, already?” Erysis asks.

  My voice turns resigned. “Genetically engineered humans trying to take over leadership positions?” No one takes the bait. Though Khi appears to be the weakest link. I file that information for later use. “Whatever.”

  With a sucking sound, the ship exits into real space, hanging above a planet. Red and blue, fluffy white clouds circling lethargically.

  Erysis studies her tablet. “Picking up a distress signal,” she informs. “I prepare for atmospheric entry.”

  As the ship pitches down and touches the upper layers, Elisa looks at me. “I shield her mind.” Good roll.

  “Adjust trajectory!” Erysis desperately shouts. The Hothouse shakes a couple of times, throwing the characters around, but then steadies. “You suck,” she says to someone that is not me.

  “What happened, Ery?” Nexen asks.

  “The distress signal carried a Psi signature. It was weak but I rolled a one. Got compelled to burn us up. Controls lock down and everything. But I got some info, too. They know it’s us.”

  “There’s a traitor on the alien station,” Khi says. “It makes sense. If there’s one thralled, it comes to reason that there can be more.”

  Elisa shakes her head. “I should have been more thorough.”

  The beastfolk waves her hand dismissively. “Shepherds would have been upon us before you finished combing through a single level of that behemoth. That one thrall was probably a distraction.”

  “Could be,” the elf acquiesces. “What are we working with?” she asks the captain.

  Erysis puts whatever the ship can capture on screen, magnified by another projection for ease of viewing. “No movement or heat signatures. No signs of fighting either. It’s as if they all up and vanished.”

  “The two previous missions?” Nexen asks.

  Captain Erysis shakes her head. “No traces of their crafts.”

  The Hothouse soon lands, thrusters scorching an empty landing field. In the distance is the colony. The players make their way to it, red grass and spiky red trees on each side of the connecting road. The colony itself is around a hundred square buildings, hastily constructed but lovingly lived in. And they can tell that because most doors are left ajar, swinging ominously in the weak wind.

  “Anything?” Khi asks the resident Psi expert.

  Elisa makes a roll.

  “This new world feels old to you, but not ancient and seeped in history,” I say. “The surface of the water is green and murky, decaying, nearly dead. Carrion wafts pass your nostrils, but you can’t pinpoint from where. Just as the vision starts fading, you turn your gaze to one of the houses. You feel something you are intimately familiar with. You feel your master. A gentle ebb and flow tugs at the surface, trying to clear out the scum. A reflection shows in a patch of cleansed water.”

  “Over there.” Elisa points at one of the nearby houses.

  The party readies up and cautiously encircles the modest abode.

  Khi shouts, “Come out! Slowly.”

  Long seconds pass, but as soon as the party prepares to enter, a metallic screech followed by a muted thunk can be heard. A small creature, with its hands lifted up, waddles out of house.

  My voice changes, deep and wise, tired. “I mean you no harm, visitors. But another does. Leave this place while I still hold control. Leave and tell those that sent you here—run.”

  “Oh Goddess, he’s so cute!” Elisa squeals. She then politely clears her throat while everyone else is grinning at her. “We are not running, Master,” the augmented elf says in character.

  The fluffy brown creature, reminiscent of a baby penguin, says through me, “Ah, you also hold the threads in your hand, young one.” It approaches the party. After closing its eyes for a moment and taking a deep breath, it continues, “You are strong, but the fight is already lost. There is no one left to save. Let me at least pay for my own failure by assisting your retreat.”

  Erysis asks, unperturbed by my NPC’s deflection, “Where are the other colonists?”

  “Taken,” the master answers.

  Khi continues the questioning. “Do you know where?”

  “I do.”

  “Show us,” the princess says.

  “You’ve met one of them,” the alien creature states. “And that false confidence will be your undoing. Heed my warning and flee. While you still can.”

  Elisa asks, “Master, do we not stand a chance together?”

  The penguin look-alike appears to contemplate her question deeply. Eventually, he answers, “Perhaps.” He spins and starts waddling away. “Follow me.”