Spoiler: Page 26 1:46 Taranis. I've been to many castles with feudal mentalities, all of them belonging to Glitch Kings. Some I've successfully hauled trash from, and others I have fled with my chassis jammed with bows. All of them, despite the wisdom of the ruler, had a stance of elitism around them. Their King, their knights, their people, all of them bound to the hivemind, all of them belittling the word of a single outsider who only wishes to clean the environment as told, one land at a time. Every single one with their noses up high and their prides swollen like a tumor, unwilling to touch that which they feel is beneath them. I find this mentality pathetic and cowardly in every single form. They refuse to see the dirt and feel the grit of what lies beneath their soles, in an eternal delusion of pretending that everything is perfect, and that honor should be based only on how big the pride, and not how hard the work you've done. This is not that kind of settlement. I needed a place to stay for some light refueling, and the closest thing on the map was this planet. Naturally, I hesitated; the word Glitch Knight puts my mind on edge of the various times I was chased out of kingdoms because I simply dropped a piece of dirt on their carpet floor. There was no other planet nearby, so I felt I had no choice. I docked close in orbit, and I beamed down. The first thing that caught me by surprise was how multicultural it was. There wasn't just Glitch: There were Florans, and Humans, and possibly a Hylotl or two. The fact that no one was being consumed at that very moment was genuinely impressive. The knight who was guarding at the time greeted me. I didn't pay much attention at first, until I asked them some questions: Their leader, where he was, etcetera. They didn't brush me off, surprisingly. In fact, they humored me and answered every single one as willingly as kindly as possible. They even explained the whole layout of the place, where I couldn't go, where I shouldn't go, everything! I was suspicious at first, but I slowly felt my guard going down the more I spoke to them. They told me their name. Windows Omega, of the Knight's Order. We continued speaking, of my purpose, of their own, and all that nonsense sentient robots like to talk about. They were built to be the best combat unit possible, and joined the Order to facilitate that. Through that hurdle lied their inability to emote properly, as they were not given proper emotions. It was somewhat of a sad case. We sat at a table, and while we spoke, they took off their helm. If I had a heart, and it was a hard drive, it would've skipped. She was a female glitch knight. A female! Glitch knight! A female, non-bloodthirsty, kind glitch knight. Let me put this in perspective for you. Imagine finding a horse, right? A complete ordinary horse, and you realize that horse was spray-painted. It's actually a unicorn with it's horn cut off. Now imagine that very same horse suddenly growing wings and becoming a Pegasus. This is the scale of the experience I was witnessing unfold before my eyes. This is beyond unheard of in Glitch castles: No, this would be outright blasphemy! I'm dreaming. This place isn't real. I'm dead, my journal is a reflection of my thoughts wandering aimlessly in the ether, and this entire thing was a huge lie. I'm dead. Only explanation. I run a systems diagnostic on myself only to realize that no, I am not dead, nor was I dreaming. This was very real, and happening right now. Wow. Later that day, I had some clothes fitted thanks to a Floran. God, they looked beautiful. My hood was redone in a soft leather brown with a brown jacket along with a red shirt. Brilliantly stitched pants. I paid the Floran in some mined diamond that I had, that I was preparing to refine. Worth every ore. I had met another female Glitch, who know Omega. Very kind. I forgot to ask her name like the moron that I am. --- Towards the night, Omega and I spotted a small altercation between a man and a woman which led me to the discovery of their arena. Tattered with bones on the floor and the blood-stains of those slain in combat, it was a swift reminder that not all was as it seemed. I watched the battle with her; poking some fun, throwing some jokes around. I did not think much of what was happened in that moment: The man fell on his knees, and before my eyes, he was slain under his demand to be finished honorably. Omega and I came down from the stands and stood over the dead husk. In my folly, I had asked to the killer if this was worth it in the end. At first, she was stern in her accusations... only to cry in remorse. She had been his friend, a good friend. Their relationship soured after affairs over conflicting ideals: She had, tragically, prevailed. I offered to burn the body in a local Sun; Omega declined it, saying that it was to be buried here on the soil of those from the Order. Truly tragic. Nobody won that day, especially not here. Whoever you were, Minato... rest in peace. I took a room at the inn, where I am right now. No land is perfect, and yet... I can forgive this. They are still knights, and to expect less of this would be foolhardy to do. Still... I do not like violence. I'm not very fond of it. It is simply a shame a friendship had to end as tragically as this. People die everyday. The universe frolics in tragedy, and bathes itself in promise to absolve itself from penance. Nothing new at all.
Spoiler: Page 27 5:34 Interesting developments. I awoke from my bed the following morning and came out of the Inn, as I sat around waiting for the mystical, magical leader of the Order. I spoke to some more people, sat, walked around, spoke some more. The town itself was rather small, blocked only by the walls that are the two castles that border it. With the lack of mobility, the charm of this nice place was starting to fade quickly. You can only confine someone to a single spot for so long before you simply just wanted to leave. However, above all lies the directive. I met someone today. A human female... She was lost, and confused, and was waiting for the same person as I was. Apparently she had some sort of business with them, but then she elaborated more. Apparently she was an amnesiac, living in a basement for a good 3 days. She told me her name: Red. In all likelihood, it probably wasn't her real name. Her mind was wiped, and she was dumped here to be lost to the sands of time... The last message she was given was to speak with the authority of the town, and that she has been waiting patiently to do so. This did not bode well for me or her: It was clear that talking to the authorities about this would resolve nothing, as the Knights of the Order have absolutely nothing to do with this and have no real responsibility to something that they did not cause. As for me, she was an amnesiac dumped in a city waiting for 3 days: What better chance did I have of talking to the big man in charge? So... I made her an offer. No memories, no thoughts truly of her own, an empty vessel, I decided to take her under my wing. She had nowhere else to go. I surprised myself with this sudden deal brokered out of thin air; the last time I had a partner, it was so, so long ago, and all that achieved was ending up killing them only to realize they've come back to the dead to do who-knows-what. I hired her on as a garbage collector like I; we would sell the things that could be re-sold and I would split the profits 50/50. I was less interested in the money and more just to have another hand, in the event that something so grievous were to happen to me that I could not repair myself. I've known more than enough scenarios where this has happened, and I am not made of luck. Her agreement with my deal couldn't come at a more better time, as it was punctuated by the arrival of a huge, golden Glitch, wielding a blade so large, so blinding, that it rivals the intensity of the Sun. His armor was beautiful, and his stance over all the subjects of the land could almost be considered god-like in form. His optics were a piercing sharp red; I looked into them, and could feel the essence of time within them. He did not look back, as he was not looking at anything at the moment. Many things were on his mind. This was the entity I was looking for. Astora of Taranis. He was bombarded by his fellow subjects: One whose name was John, a few others, a person who bragged of some inexplicably large power that he wielded, only for the walking ray of light to disregard such heretical folly. I attempted to speak to him; he listened to my cause briefly, but due to the business that surrounded him, along with the business he likely was dealing with at the time, he told me that we would speak about it another day. I was dissapointed, but I understood the nature of his response and why. I decided to come around here another time, when the dust of whatever was being dealt with in the land was settled and their leader would be ready to listen. Red could not get a single word in edgewise, she could not speak to the man. It was unfortunate; despite how little I believed that would garner results, perhaps the Knights could have remembered something for her. Alas. The person speaking of the power they had taunted me, saying that in the end, Astora would listen to things that would provide him more gain and power than such poignant little details as what she and I had said. I attempted to explain to him, clad in his crimson armor, that he was a moron and did not realize that he was simply mocking him, but he was so dense as to not properly understand that truly, he was being a very big imbecile. I took the liberty and felt embarrassed for him, since he could not properly comprehend how large an ass he made himself to be. Realizing there was nothing left here, I spoke to Red, and she and I beamed to my ship after I gave her my beaming coordinates. It was then that I realized something: The damn ship was too small to hold a second person. She liked the lay-out of my ship. It was relatively clean for the most part, but I simply couldn't have her just sleep on the floor. I've recognized my folly, and scheduled to visit an acquaintance of mine to expand the ship as to fit it with not only a proper bedroom, but also living amenities. Red is not aware of this: She's actually quite asleep on a spare couch I was able to obtain from a junkyard, which was mostly clean, minus the oil stains. I've never really seen someone sleep before... It's oddly peaceful. I would never know the feeling. It's probably for the better. Until next time, Taranis.
Spoiler: Page 28 5:49 After a week of waiting, the ship has finally been expanded. Red and I waited in the private ship hangar as my friend worked on the ship itself, as I assisted here and there. I did not intervene too much: Rocco is a perfectionist, after all. He had extra rooms for us to sleep in while the ship was expanded; I paid a nominal fee, since I am an old client of his. Here's how it all came out: Fits perfectly for two! I didn't plan on using my bed too much, but at least now Red has a place where she can rest. Afterwards, we went excavating in other planets for any abandoned locations and the like. We ran through an Apex lab, and we bonded a bit. It is truly different to spend time with someone else on something that you do and enjoy. It felt nice... I posted my business online, with a few customers. Naturally, people were not so enthusiastic by finding someone who can haul trash for them: After all, people usually believe they can handle it themselves. Most of the time, they're not as thorough as me, sadly. I've received the contact of a mysterious Hylotl who needs my services in an anonymous planet. I will be speaking with him shortly after I finish this journal entry. I've also sent an application to the Interplanetary Crisis Relief program. It's an interesting little group of individuals who help save and assist people; I made it clear that I purely wish to join them for the sake of hauling trash, and while I will try and save as many lives as I can, my main directive is purely for trash hauling. It sounds cold, I know, and it's not out of malice that I say these things, but rather to keep my goals clear. I do what I do because it must be done. No more, no less. Fingers crossed!
