Interstellar Age

Erich left the hotel shortly after hanging up on his sister. Only JT followed after the man, as they both headed to a bar to waste the night away. After all, it would be several hours before communications could be established with the Empire, and because of this, they really had nothing to do at this time.

Despite the dangerous nature of the Confederacy, and its many random acts of violence, the streets were full of people looking to have a good time. Not that Erich truly blamed them. They lived in a degenerate society built upon the needs of the individual, rather than those of the collective.

From everything Erich had seen after first landing on this world, humanity was an incredibly selfish creature, caring only about their own desires, rather than duty to their families and the state. If he had grown up in such a society, he too would be drowning himself with vice any chance he got.

Of course, Erich had no intention of spreading his superior seed amongst such a disgusting population. There was truly no way of knowing what he would catch if he did so, instead he intended to have a drink or two, and brood in silence.

Luckily, there was a rather large bar in the hotel he was staying at. In fact, there were several. The hotel itself was massive, with five towers that were all connected by a giant infinity pool at the top. It also had a subterranean shopping complex.

For the elites of human society, this was the most common hotel that one would stay at if they were visiting the capital city on Alpha Centauri. And this showed by the way they dressed. Gaudy, and superfluous, every one of them. Erich seriously felt that the sheer amount of money wasted on frivolities by these people was something that only a lesser creature could think was acceptable.

Despite this, he too was dressed in these worthless accessories and outfits. After all, he needed to blend in as a “representative” of a major corporation. Eventually, Erich and JT ended up in the bar and noticed that it was quite full. However, unlike the night club they had visited earlier in the day, it did not have a bunch of flashing lights and loud music, instead the atmosphere was relatively calm.

The moment Erich sat down at the bar and ordered a drink, JT finally spoke to him. Apparently the man had been holding back his thoughts until this moment, because he appeared rather curious as he spoke them.

“So…. I take it you’re not on good terms with your family?”

Erich simply rolled his eyes at this comment, before asking one simple question, one that would stump any human who might be listening to them, as they could not possibly understand the hidden meaning behind it.

“JT…. What is my nickname?”

JT didn’t even think about the question as he answered it seemingly without understanding the intent behind it.

“Silber.”

Erich nodded his head as he took a sip from his drink before posing the next question on his mind, hoping to lead JT to the answer, one which was painfully obvious to him.

“And why do they call me that?”

JT suddenly understood Erich’s meaning and shook his head before making a crass remark.

“Fucking hell, even your own family treated you like a freak? That’s messed up….”

Erich’s expression was entirely stoic, as if he was entirely used to being called the words freak or mutant. He simply nodded his head before adding another bit of information that shocked JT.

“I’ve been disowned. What do you think?”

This news actually shocked JT, who suddenly blurted out the question which immediately plagued his mind. He only retracted his words halfway through it after realizing that they were currently deep behind enemy lines.

“You mean to tell me that your family disowned you because you’re a m-, I mean, because of your condition?”

Erich finished the drink he had been sipping on throughout the entire conversation, before signaling the bartender to get him another. It was only now that he realized the bartender was a rather attractive woman who appeared to be a little too friendly with him. But, he simply dismissed her advances by accepting the drink and turning his attention back to JT, where he answered the man’s question in a rather indirect way.

𝑜𝒱𝐞𝓵xt.𝐂𝒪𝐦

“No, there was a specific reason why I was disowned by my father, but the reality is that he was simply looking for a reason to get rid of me. You could say that I gave him that reason, and he was more than happy to take advantage of it to kick me to the curb. But enough about me. I want to know what the hell you did to get that collar around your neck.”

JT immediately look away from Erich and took a sip from his drink. Evidently, he did not want to discuss such an issue, but after chugging his drink as if it were water, he decided to tell Erich, anyway.

“There’s no use hiding it from you. You will come to learn of it eventually… Ghost told you it was because of insubordination, which is technically true, but my reasons were valid. We were on a mission, in another sector of space. It was not some simple matter about a fourth rate power building a super weapon. In fact, our deployment here is a what you might call over kill.

No, we were neck deep in Rylonian territory. You see, before the Naraku wiped out their civilization; the Rylonians were not very happy with us. After all, we stole their favor from you know who. Well, they were at the time developing a virus that would specifically target our race, one that was capable of wiping out trillions of our people in the blink of an eye.

The idea was not to exterminate our species, but to set us back a few centuries so they could reclaim their place as the favored scions. Well, we discovered the facility which this virus was being manufactured in, and were given the orders to destroy it.

After taking out the guards, our team split up, each of us having a different mission to undertake. I was ordered to enter the biolab and ensure that all samples of the virus were destroyed. However, when I planted the bombs, I received an update in status. The Supreme Leader himself gave me the order to secure at least one vial for the Empire.

I don’t know what the previous Supreme Leader and his regime were thinking, but this bioweapon was too dangerous to be permitted to exist. So I refused the order and blew up the laboratory, along with all the samples and all the data they had on the virus.

I tried to bluff my way out of it by saying I had already blown up the facility when I received the order, but those bastards have access to our memories and were able to determine that I was lying. Thus, I was sentenced with a lifetime of service to the State. Any hopes I had of retiring and entering the civilian sector were dashed. I was now a prisoner, forced to fight on the front lines for the rest of my life.

But that was all a long time ago, and any hatred I had for my superiors was now dead and buried. After all, there’s a new supreme leader, and a new administration. And they seem to be doing things right so far.”

Erich could only imagine what horrors the previous supreme leader and his regime were planning on doing with a bioweapon specifically designed to kill off the Germanic race. Perhaps he planned to modify it and unleash it on humanity.

Or maybe he wanted it as a last resort to be used against his own people if they were to ever rise up in rebellion. Either way, the damage would have been catastrophic if this bioweapon was released. And because of this, Erich felt like JT did the right thing. Thus, he lifted his bottle of beer up and toasted the man.

“To self-sacrifice, without it, there would be no civilization…”

JT wore a bitter smile as he clinked his beer bottle against Erich’s before taking a sip of his own. JT had willingly sacrificed his freedom so that his people would be safe from a threat that had the potential to wipe them all out. After learning about why JT was a prisoner, Erich had suddenly gained a lot more respect for the man.

But he also took notice of the story and the lessons that were contained within. Any act of subordination could easily be proven, and Erich had just recently committed the same crime by sparing Tia. Luckily, the AI had blended perfectly with his NeuroLink and had shut out any unwanted eyes from viewing his memories, or else he might have ended up just like JT.