Chapter 20
Tsok
Romance – the feelings associated with love.
Tsok scoffed. Well, that was useless. He didn’t know why he tried just looking up the literal definition of the word. Was he actually expecting that to actually help?
“Er, honored char, I really don’t understand…”
“I need to figure out romance so that I can court my mate properly,” he said simply, clearly, so Davard couldn’t possibly misunderstand. His aid still looked uncertain however as he sat across from Tsok, doing his own research on the topic.
They were both proud, traditional, kreecharma – neither of them knew anything about romance. Tsok probably knew the word better than the average kreecharma just because he spent more time off planet amongst species that did have romance and mates. However, that very small edge was apparently doing him no favors, because he had no real idea what to do.
His mate was still angry, but she was open to him now.
He had neglected her.
That certainly had not been his intention, and knowing that he made her feel that way was an absolute kick to the gut. The guilt was gnawing at him. He needed to make it up to her somehow. But he didn't know how to do that either!
Tsok didn't like being clueless and without direction. Hence why he had gone back to the beginning and tried to simply search up the dictionary definition of the word ‘romance’. Not that it had done him any good at all.
“Honored char, perhaps this is not the best use of our time. There are plenty of things we should be doing other than-”
“No. We will figure this out. What is the most romantic species you can think of?”
“I don’t even know how to measure that kind of-”
“The delang come to mind first,” Tsok continued, mostly just speaking his thoughts out loud. “They’re renowned for the veneration of their females. Oh, but the avanava are also known for the tender care they give their mates. What are their secrets?”
“Perhaps we could simply look into what a human male would do and follow that?” Davard suggested haltingly, clearly uncomfortable.
“I’d rather not.” Tsok frowned. “She had a chance to mate a human male, and she did not. She is mated to me. Why give her what she already knows she doesn’t want?”
“By that logic, should you court her in the way of our people?”
Tsok frowned at him. “I don’t think she’ll be open to artificial insemination and perhaps a friendly working relationship as we provide for our youngling.”
Davard chuckled. “I don’t mean our current ways. I meant our old ways.”
Tsok blinked at him. “The old ways?”
“Certainly. We had our own methods of romance once. A long time ago.”
Tsok sneered distastefully. “Sniffing her and becoming rabid and unreasonable isn’t my idea of romance. And I barely have an idea of that in the first place.”
“No, that’s not what I mean.”
Tsok started a new search. “Let’s just try to at least see what a human male would do for her.”
“In the research data again?”
“No. We’re going to access the human subnet.”
That was a mistake.
Humans were the most sensual, prolific species in the universe, but at the same time, they were also the species with the lowest natural mating rate. There were plenty of couplings, and more, amongst their people, but very few of those pairings were true, bonded mates. Since humans were equally fertile with and without mating, it didn't really affect them much as far as population was concerned. They were fortunate in that aspect. The majority of species had a low fertility rating with someone who wasn’t their mate, and some that couldn’t breed at all without being mated.
The kreecharma were among those that had a near equal fertility rating – though it was still lower with someone who wasn’t their mate. According to old statistics. All the modern statistics were skewed because the majority of breeding was done artificially, which was lower than both mated and unmated pairings.
Just another thing bringing back their mates could improve.
Also not something he would need to worry about since human females paired with alien males were considered super fertile. He was almost guaranteed to be successful if she allowed him to mount her. So, it wasn’t a concern.
What was a concern was the sheer amount of information rushing at him.
The human subnet, called their internet or world wide web, had a great deal of information, and so much of it was hard to understand. And he didn't even think it was a translation error, as the translator programs that turned the human languages into Standard were very well built. He could read everything without issue.
The problem was that there was so much conflicting information. He thought to figure out what males were saying was the right way to court females – but the advice he got didn't seem quite right. And then he found counter arguments from females saying that those methods and ideas were bad ones and that they were repulsive rather than attractive. So, he tried to find what the females were saying that they wanted, but that was even less helpful. They asked for effort – which he already knew – respect, affection, and devotion. All things easily given. He would even argue that he was already doing all of that to the best of his ability. Even better now that he knew it wasn’t good enough. But none of them actually gave him instructions.
So, then, it was back to the human experimental data. In there, Davard eventually found the foundation of a human date. The standard template of which included the gift of flowers – of course – the sharing of a meal, and/or a small activity. Recommendations were walks in scenic locations, listening to live music together, or any other sort of activity that would take only an afternoon or so to complete. He found a lot of lists recommending ideas. Drinking and painting, driving little bumping cars on a track, exploring a garden or a museum or an art gallery, small sports – i.e. swimming, beating a small ball back and forth at each other, a miniature version of a game which involved hitting a ball with a stick. The list of options seemed to just go on and on and on.
It was slightly overwhelming. When his combot cheeped at him with an urgent incoming message, he was almost grateful. He had been taking a copious amount of notes, but he was getting lost in the sheer amount of information coming at him.
He had gotten other messages since he started his research, of course, but he had been ignoring them to deal with later. However, the urgent notification sound meant that the contents were important and should have his immediate attention. He turned from a date idea he was reading up on – it involved drinking human wine on a railed transportation vehicle through pretty counrtysides – and instead opened the message.
The moment he read it, however, he came up short, surprised. All the thoughts of dates fading from is mind.
“What is it?” Davard asked. He hadn’t missed the urgency of that chime, nor the way Tsok went still.
“The High Imperium is coming.”
“What? Coming where? Here ?!”
“Yes,” Tsok said, baffled by his own positive response.
The High Imperium could be considered, in a way, to be the leader of the entire Coalition. They were a member of the vitulli, the first species of the Coalition, and they oversaw and conducted the yearly meetings of all the Coalition members. They were a figure that was just as powerful as they were mysterious.
No one in living memory had ever seen a vitulli in the flesh. There were no records anywhere known that depicted the vitulli or even described them. The other founding member species of the Coalition also had no records of who the vitulli were as a species. Holotulle, the capital ringworld of the Coalition, could be considered their home, but it wasn’t their original homeworld. That planet was long gone, destroyed with their system’s sun. The ringworld had been built afterwards as their new, artificial, homeworld.
But despite that, no vitulli was ever seen to be living there. Holotulle was comprised entirely of other member species – and maybe a few refugee non-member species. The vitulli themselves were never seen in any of the ringwold’s districts.
The only exception, ever, was the vitulli acting as the High Imperium. And even then, no one ever actually saw them. They were always wearing thick, heavy robes and shrouds that concealed even the potential shape of their body. They spoke using a combot, their real voices never being heard. No one could even say for sure if they had voices.
The High Imperium almost never left Holotulle. And they were only ever seen on it during formal, important events, such as the yearly Coalition gathering. The only recorded times they ever left was when they were going to a new planet that was being formally inducted into the Coalition ranks as full member species. Even then, they only stayed for the length of the ceremony and then they were gone, just as quickly and mysteriously as they arrived.
Kree hadn’t seen the High Imperium since their own induction into the Coalition a couple hundred years ago. They never expected them to step foot – or tentacle or paw or whatever appendage they might have – here ever again.
So, why were they coming now?
“Is there a problem?” Davard asked, coming around the desk to read the message from over his shoulder, just as quickly distracted from their dating research. This was the kind of important update that demanded their immediate attention.
“There shouldn’t be,” Tsok mumbled, thinking back. Trying to figure out if something had gone wrong in some way. If there was any reason the High Imperium themselves needed to come here.
He could think of nothing. And the message itself wasn’t that helpful either. It was short and to the point-
‘ Greetings and good tidings to you, Representative Tsok 365-8896-8966547 of Kree,
I am writing to inform you of my imminent arrival on your planet. There is a task that requires my attention, and I must be on Kree to perform it. I do hope that I can count on you for lodgings and accommodations. I need only a room, you need not worry about providing me anything else. My task is a small, but important one, that won’t take much time to complete. However, I look forward to seeing you for my time there.
My gratitude,
High Imperium ’
What task would require the High Imperium themselves to come to Kree? What could they possibly need to do here that couldn’t be done elsewhere?
The High Imperium believed in neutrality. Though the Coalition was made up of many different member species, they were, in fact, members. Like that of a club. The High Imperium didn’t actually have any ruling power on Kree. And that was by design. The purpose of the Coalition wasn’t to bring the member planets under one government, but instead just to make them allies. The Coalition was meant to facilitate trade, travel, understanding, innovation, and defense. The member planets were forbidden from warring with each other, but they would all protect each other if a non-member species were to attack any of them.
In that way, they weren’t their leader at all. But the vitulli were the first species of the Coalition, and the High Imperium always opened, led, and closed the yearly meeting of the member species. In that way, they were absolutely their leader.
And they were coming here .
“What do we do?” Davard asked, pulling Tsok back to the present.
Tsok didn’t answer immediately, still trying to figure out why this important person, who was rarely ever seen, and even more rarely ever left Holotulle, would suddenly, without warning, come all the way out here.
There was a second part to the message. It was also simple, giving Tsok an ETA and a list of requirements for the place they would be staying at – which really wasn’t much. They weren’t even bringing guards or attendants or anything.
And, honestly, that was even more mysterious. Tsok rarely traveled without Davard, he had his own security detail, he often had servants attending to him wherever he stayed. Davard had people that worked for him as well, and he was just the char’s assistant. For the High Imperium, who was even above the char, to have no one else, was just… odd .
Not for the first time, Tsok asked himself who, or even what , exactly was the High Imperium. It was a common thing for people to ponder, since they were so mysterious. But he had grown up with the High Imperium always being exactly that, so it might have been a fleeting question he’d have occasionally, but it was never something he seriously thought about until just this moment.
It was easy to never question something you had always known. But, though they were mysterious, they were at least predictable in their behavior.
And now they weren’t, and he was unnerved by it.
“Prepare a room for them here in Glass Manor,” Tsok finally said. “Make sure to follow the list of requirements and requests. I entrust their comfort to you.”
“I will see that everything is done personally,” Davard assured him, though his tone was still one of concern and curiosity.
Tsok sat back. “Do you think… it could be about Misty?”
“The charina? The Imperium has never visited any of the other mated humans though.”
That was true. Humans didn’t mate off planet in such high numbers that the Coalition had a surplus – most species had never had a human mate or a hybrid youngling. Tsok didn’t think the number had even hit triple digits yet. If the High Imperium wanted to check in on the humans being mated by the various species, it wouldn’t be too large an undertaking at this point.
But if that was their goal, surely Tsok would have heard about it by now. Even at this moment, he was getting messages from the seniors asking if it was true that the High Imperium was coming their way and if he knew why. It was a big deal for them to leave Holotulle, so if they had ever visited other humans, he would know by now.
Misty was the only thing that had changed that Tsok could think of, but he couldn’t see why that should mean the High Imperium needed to visit.
Unless there was some alternate reason that they had to come here. But no matter how long he sat pondering, he couldn’t figure it out.
Eventually, he dismissed Davard to get on with the rest of his tasks for the day as he sent the High Imperium back a message ensuring them that they were free to stay in his manor as long as they needed and that he would provide anything they requested. At the very end, he attached a question regarding the nature of his visit, being sure to phrase it so that it didn’t sound like a demand for information.
He sent it off and tried to return to his human courting research. But he could barely focus, and right when he was starting to get back into it, he got a return message. That quickly. Like the Imperium had just been waiting for his reply.
‘ Looking forward to seeing you. ’
-was all it said.
Tsok frowned at the words. They had very deliberately not answered his question about the reason for their visit. They had given no further information at all, and at this point, he couldn’t demand more without seeming rude.
And no matter that the High Imperium didn’t rule over Kree, or even Tsok, in any capacity, he was highly aware of the differences in status between them. The Imperium would insist they were no different from any other representative, but they all knew that wasn’t true.
It was a mystery. But not one that would be solved now.
He began answering all the queries coming to him about the Imperium, thoroughly distracted from his research regarding his mate.
He’d get back to it soon though. He was going to plan the best date she’d ever been on. He’d make absolutely certain of it.