Is This the Party to Whom I Am Speaking? (part 3)

Posted on Thu 1st Jun, 2023 @ 4:58am by Jaroth Dieklin & Renato Solis & Kya Adtanis

1,784 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Neither Yours Nor Mine
Location: Brown Sector Community Center
Timeline: MD-5

Previously, on SB-109...

IiJep was rolling his eyes, “I haven’t seen it. I just know about it. It’s a metal can! There’s no bathroom, everyone there is a criminal--“

---

Kya was wide-eyed, “Shut up! You haven’t been down there, that’s just rumors you want to believe.”

Looking to Jaroth, she was incredulous, “It’s a nicer room than here, I have no idea where he heard all that.”

"You haven't seen it?" Dieklin asked through the door. Now he did roll his eyes. "iiJep, it's in the Souk. The last thing they want there is criminals. You have to apply to have housing there and to run a business. Didn't you apply? You must have, or you wouldn't have a room there. You and I need to just go there and take a look. Do you have the key?"

Kya shook her head, “No, nothing locks here. He’s barricaded in there.”

"I meant the key to his place in the Souk," Dieklin said.

IiJep cried over her, “They won’t approve my business, I’ll have an empty hovel and then not even that.”

"They already have approved it, or you wouldn't have a room there," Dieklin said, his tone firm. "Why are you holing up in here instead of starting your business?"

Tannis stepped forward again, “We can move the door. Gently. Not in any violent way. Is that okay?”

A gruff voice from the shadows stopped further conversation. Mr. Midnight had arrived, and stepped from the shadows in the recessed hallway.

“No, he will open the door. And he will remember his integrity, and leave behind his fear. Isn’t that right iiJep?”

Those who had known Renato from his Helion days had all been on the receiving end of his temper. Therapy and Kya’s endless patience had given him tools to manage it, but sometimes it was the right state of mind. Despite the open opportunity Renato felt the eyes of several people on him, so he stepped to the door, knowing iiJep was only a few centimeters away.

“I won’t be forced out, Renato!”

Renato’s telepathy flowed, and empathy was allowed to slip past anger's barbed gates. IiJep had no faith in his own abilities. IiJep had no control over his life. IiJep needed to be on top of his life’s plans, a proud Talarian took what they wanted and negotiated after the fact from a position of strength. Renato understood, and with the release of anger Renato only spoke truth.

“A man is not his circumstances, all they can be is a lever by which change is given its preferred course. We will not abandon you. There is a place for you to be who you need to be, and that is not here. What can you do today, to make your circumstances tomorrow any better?”

Kya had started ushering the onlookers away, Radak, Tannis, and Dieklin stood by outside the door.

Dieklin looked at Renato with new respect. He'd first seen the guy a few years before as a wastoid druggie and had observed his gradual recovery from that. Now, Renato was talking like a perceptive professional with the wisdom of a kai. How was he doing it? This was a dimension of Renato's personality Dieklin had never seen before.

Renato took a step back, giving the room a spiritual space to heal. Silence dominated the scene for a moment, broken by the dredging of wood on metal as the simple chest of drawers slid from the door.

IiJep opened the door, a swirl of shame and humiliation masked by an indignant posture presenting in a man who was nearly hopeless. He looked first to Renato who was standing farther aside by this point, Dieklin and Kya were closest. There was a moment as the dust settled and Kya spoke to break the silence.

"Oh, yes, by the way, Dieklin. The Fob is in the missive we dropped this morning. Along with the licensure for the botanical space..." She looked at IiJep as soft as she could muster,..."just like you asked."

"Great. I'll have a look at it once I get back to the office," Dieklin replied. He made sure to keep his gaze on Kya and not on iiJep when the man emerged from the sleeping room.

Iijep had his belongings in a single trunk, the wheel it rolled on dragged. For a moment the burden he carried and the fear of taking a step into trusting his life to others was palpable. Talarians didn't trust other Talarians like this without direct spoken alliance, Renato had nailed that fear directly, spoken truth to pain and let it air to heal.

"I didn't realize... I was just going to make sure I had a means of living, it would have only taken a day or two."

"No problem, iiJep," Dieklin said. "Let's go see what the place is like and if there's anything you need, while we're at it."

Renato all but disappeared in an instant, somehow knowing it would save face for the proud man and let his ego have a toehold. Kya had cleared the hallway, and had a small basket of fruits and sweet breads.

“The food is always free here, yeah you’ll wash dishes or maybe donate a plant to us down the road… or three….” She smiled at her little half-joke to tell him it was ok to disarm. “… We can have you back anytime, no resident of these decks will ever get turned away here.”

IiJep had fully left the room, if tackling or roughhousing was to occur this was the moment. The simple act of shuffling farther along ended the tension almost immediately. Kya motioned for the others to stay and for Dieklin to follow their path out the door.

{Brown Sector- The Souk}

It was busy, the Souk housed many, and the locals engaged in barter. People were eating in the shops, there were data centers, he even saw advertisements for a casino with real money. Many years ago, this place had seen darkness, but those who had been in the dark days could see how the place had grown. The stories had to have been from long ago, it was fun.

The scent of the flowers IiJep noticed first. Everywhere, planters, vines, small beds on stoops and window sills. He smelled dirt, the fresh kind, dark and musty with the potential to sprout tender green shoots. The row of houses had been incorporated into open floor plans where the larger rooms were. Individual rooms had long since been repurposed into long halls. The corridors wrapped at a gentle arc, preventing the full length of the district from being seen, but the long walk from the turbolift was just one of many reasons this was the low rent housing district.

To Iijep’s delight, he recognized a Talarian song playing in one of the taverns, a small bespoke bar serving grilled meats and simple wines. The owner was inside, and saw the spots of his fellow. A knowing nod and two finger wave was as friendly as it got. IiJep returned it. Looking up, there were sections of stacked units, ramps and catwalks linking the elevated portions. Life was everywhere, it was effulgent and smelled of lavender.

He had been told Brown Sector was where they sent the poor, and at first it had seemed that way, but now he realized how wrong that was. The poor came here; they could make a living. They had a chance to start over. Life in the Federation wasn’t something everyone wanted, but when you are brought here on a transport with nothing there had to be somewhere to go. IiJep just wanted to work on his plant genomes with a garden, and now he could.

A long walk had the soporific effect of soothing his nerves. When finally they arrived at the home stretch, IiJep made sure to catch Dieklin's eye.

“C-65b? This is row 65… so that one?” He pointed. The exterior of the unit was burnished duranium white, no dents, scorch marks, evidence of the previous owners.

"Looks like," Dieklin said. "Let's have a look. Nice spot, by the way."

There was a window, curtains drawn, thick gray ones likely to block out the light. His behavior earlier had been in fear of this moment going badly. Instead, Iijep found himself suddenly overwhelmed in the wash of relief and shame from realizing he was getting exactly what he was promised. Tears fell, and he dropped the trunk where he stood.

"You can make a home here," Dieklin said in a quiet voice. "Are you ready to go inside?"

Once inside, there was not much to tour, a living space, tiled kitchen, separate bedroom with shower unit. IiJep had even requested a water-based shower and saw the faucet installed. That was the breaking point, and he knew there was nothing else for him to do at this point but apologize.

“I have been disgraceful. How can I… I am sorry.”

Kya swallowed her animosity with the sweet nectar of his sincerity, “IiJep, you can make it up to us by starting up your supply store. There are dozens of people with arable plots or aeroponic hookups waiting for the services your business provides.”

He smiled broadly for a split second, then remembered he was supposed to be sad. The face dimmed but the spirit did not.

“Ok, and for you… you will always buy at cost. I couldn’t believe it, I thought the scam was up, but you delivered on every promise. I can't imagine where I’d be… thank you.”

Kya looked to Dieklin still standing at the door, giving them a spiritual space. She gestured it was time to go, and moved that way.

“Oh, and one more thing though, IiJep?”

The worried look on his face made her laugh a little internally, “Okay yes If I can…

Kya held the door in one hand, “Give things a chance to go well, and let people surprise, you okay? See you around.”

Kya closed the door, giving IiJep the first real privacy in months. It was a terrible thing to have nothing, even a simple bunk was something to fight over. She remembered those days, but cherished the adventures on the road out of that place as well. Corridors once filled to bursting now a picture of a calm day in a busy part of town. Everyone needed a place to go, but it had not been easy; as IiJep was discovering, there really was no place like home.

 

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