Chapter 1 #2
Grace was the newest addition to their crew.
And the most obnoxious in his opinion. She was constantly nagging after them for one thing or another.
Do this datawork. Biosign this thing. Log that thing.
Please respond to this message – please respond in a reasonable amount of time as well.
Just one thing after another. It was annoying.
The biggest change in their lives recently was the addition of females.
And not the kind of females that lived on Rik-Vane.
There were only two types of females there.
The meek, broken ones that were owned by others, and the tough, ruthless ones that would tolerate being owned by no one.
There were no normal, happy, pleasant females there.
But there were three of them on the Humility now. And they all annoyed him.
The captain had his mate, Garnet, who was constantly nagging at him to eat.
Then there was her twin sister, Goldie, who was constantly nagging at him to let her do a medical exam on him.
And now Sway, their navigator, had his own mate – Grace.
She had joined their crew at the same repair stop that improved the Humility so much.
The captain had put her in charge of administrative tasks – booking jobs, tracking payments and payroll, and anything that required datawork that, normally, they’d either take turns doing or leave to Tanin or their AI, Alred.
And she nagged him about datawork so much, he wondered why she needed a task at all.
The females were constantly just nattering or chattering or invading their space.
Garnet liked to talk to her cleaning robot – the one she named Spot for some reason.
Goldie tended to keep to herself in the medbay, but she’d been on this recent kick trying to get all of them to do a health check now that she was starting to master the medscanner.
But it was Grace who nagged him the most. She needed him to log the various parts he used and supplies he took so she could replace them.
She needed him to create a proper credz account for his payment so the credz weren’t just on credchips he hoarded like old fashioned money.
She needed him to do this or that or fill out this or respond to that.
He was starting to ignore her comms. Just wanting to work and not bother with any of that. He wasn’t at all surprised though that she came up to him in person instead, chirping and nagging again.
She was obnoxious, but he could at least admire her tenacity.
Still hate it, but admire it as well.
“Vytln,” she frowned at him, hands on her hips. Giving him a stern, disapproving look that he barely paid attention to out of the corner of his eye.
She was a little thing. Thin and delicate. He could probably grab her in one hand. He didn't know how Sway rutted her without breaking her delicate little bones. Even given that Sway was shorter and smaller than him, he was still larger than this naggy little chit.
She blew out a breath, tossing her long black hair back with a careless flip of her hand. She was always wearing pretty dresses and had her face done up all pretty. She was completely helpless and harmless and delicate.
And she was giving him a glare as she complained, “I’ve sent you multiple messages these last few days. You aren’t even looking at them. That’s very rude, you know.”
He snarled. “You know, there are grown males in this universe that still tremble at hearing my name.”
She cocked her head, confused. Completely unafraid of him. It was insulting, really.
“What are you talking about?” She asked, crossing her arms like she was annoyed with him.
He sighed, frustrated. “Nothing. What do you want now?”
“I need your biosignature.” She held up two little vials.
“You already got it.”
“That was for your credz account. This is for your new identity.”
“Huh?”
She sighed, rolling her eyes. Blatant disrespect. “You would know this if you read the messages I’ve been sending you.”
“They’re pointless.”
“No. They’re important. This is vital.”
“I already have a new identity.”
“No. What you have is a fake identity profile that, while really good, will not stand up to a full investigation. If someone looks closely, they’ll find your old identity.”
He muttered under his breath, annoyed, but didn’t dispute her.
Vytln wasn’t his birth name. It was one he chose when he started following Tanin.
They all chose new names. All but Tanin himself, who didn't need one, and Alred, who couldn’t have one as he was a technological being.
For the others, their real names were associated with all the crimes they committed in the past. To live this peaceful life, they’d had to leave those names behind and craft new, spotless identities.
Those fake identities had been their first big purchase.
Unlike the Humility, they’d spared no expense on those since they were vital to maintaining their freedom.
Rik-Vane felt like one, but it wasn’t actually a prison.
The crimes they committed there were still logged and held against them.
And, if caught, they would be sent to prison. And there was no escaping that fate.
So, in light of that, Vytln’s old name, J’tll, had been left behind. He didn't even consider it to be his name anymore. Just part of his past. Like the Brute he had been after that. A name that he answered to once but no longer.
Giving up on figuring out the changed wiring – the pest was long gone now – Vytln grabbed the panel cover and fit it back in place as Grace continued her nattering.
“I need you to fill these. I worked really hard with Captain Ikvar to get this done, and you are the last person. This one is for ending your old identity, and this one is for starting your-Hey! Come back here! I need you to do this!”
She chased him down as he walked away, trying to ignore her.
For such a little thing, she was annoyingly persistent.
She just kept going. Insisting on the importance of this thing.
Even when he stopped, looking up at the ceiling, wondering if he could find religion for a moment to pray for some kind of patience, she kept going.
Until, without any warning, he turned and snarled. Bearing his teeth. Growling loudly. Practically roaring at her in the empty hall.
She stopped as well, giving him an unfazed look. She let out a little sigh of frustration of her own.
“Vytln, please, I promise this is the only time I’ll ask you to kill yourself.”
He sighed, shoulders dropping. There was once a time when just the sight of him was enough to send people running, and now he couldn’t even make this tiny, delicate thing flinch.
“Just two quick pokes, I promise, and I’ll leave you alone.” She held up the vials again.
“I highly doubt that,” he grumbled, holding up his hand for her. Giving up. She beamed, grabbing his finger so she could press the tiny vials to his skin.
“Thanks. This is going to be really good, you’ll see.
It took me forever to convince Captain Ikvar that this was necessary, but I finally got him.
This biosignature is officially ending the life of J’tll y Ntlm.
We can finally close this chapter. And with him being registered as dead, and some magic worked on Ikvar’s side, we never have to worry about your old name coming up in connection to your new one ever again. ”
He watched as she pressed the vial against his finger and pushed the button. He didn't even feel it taking his blood sample. The vial began to glow purple as it took his biosignature.
Captain Ikvar was a peacekeeper – the police.
Someone he would never work with under ordinary circumstances.
And someone he’d never actually met. However, the male had a deal with Tanin that allowed them to keep their freedom so long as they were well behaved.
Which, to them, just meant hiding any crimes they might commit from the peacekeeper.
Something they would have done anyway. His interference in their life had been inevitable after Garnet and Goldie joined the crew.
A necessary annoyance – like Grace’s nagging.
Tanin was the one who dealt with the peacekeeper captain. And now Grace as well apparently. Vytln was glad it wasn’t him. His life had become real simple since joining Tanin’s crew and, honestly, he wasn’t at all unhappy about it.
Even if he had to deal with nagging chits all day long.
“And this one,” Grace held up the second vial with a triumphant smile, “is the official start of your new life. Like, the official official one, not the official unofficial one. I know you’ve been Vytln for a while now.
But with this, your identity will be able to withstand almost all scrutiny.
It would take probably the High Imperium themselves to find your real identity through this.
Okay, maybe not that exclusive, but pretty much. ”
Chatter, chatter, nag, nag. Vytln was barely paying attention. He was sure that this was a good thing or the captain wouldn’t have agreed to do it. And if the captain agreed, to Vytln’s way of thinking, that was as good as an order, so he would do it.
Didn’t mean he had to like it.
Had to admit though, it was kind of strange hearing her talking about the death of his old name.
Sure, he hadn’t thought about the name J’tll in a long time. It didn't even feel like his name any longer. He was certainly more attached to being Vytln than he ever was to J’tll.
But it was still odd to think that he was officially putting him to death.
“There!” Grace beamed, holding up the vials, both indicators now glowing purple. “And with that, you are now and forevermore Vytln y Lt. Happy official birthday. Well, actually, un-birthday since I set your birthday to-”