Yigera - Caedem (2 Standard Months Ago)

Ricardia awoke to the scent of tea. Not the sharp, bitter scent of her usual drink of choice, but the smooth, buttery smell of expensive stock - the kind she owned but only her mother used. Which meant, of course, that she'd entered Ricardia's home while she was still sleeping and helped herself to it.

Shaking her head, Ricardia closed her eyes again. This was nothing out of the ordinary - her family often passed through her home without any announcement.

Then, she felt the low thump of footsteps and a distant, unfamiliar, laugh, and her eyes snapped open again. Caedish homes were incredibly communal spaces, but that only extended to the family. Inviting a guest into somebody else's home was poor manners, regardless of relationship.

A combination of mild alarm and indignation sent Ricardia scrambling. She threw off her blankets and got to her feet, leaving behind a rumpled mess of a sleeping pad.

Ricardia made an effort to look presentable as fast as possible to whoever was now sitting in her living room. She threw on her souyo - her ceremonial tunic, combed down her hair, and hastily splashed herself with water from a basin in the corner.

She was still trying to tame her hair when she heard her name called out, muffled through the palm-wood walls of her home. The nerve of her mother - to call her into her own rooms! - was astonishing. She looked down at herself, gave her outfit a weak stamp of approval, and slid open her bedroom door. Beyond that was one end of a hallway; instead of another door on the far side, it widened into the communal space were the family would host company.

"Ricardia! Are you there?" Her mother's piercing tone was much more audible now. She rolled her eyes; her mother could have easily pinged her over the feed, but no - she'd much prefer to make a scene.

"Yes, mother," she called back, stomping her way down the hallway until she reached the communal room. She couldn't see anyone yet from the hallway's angle, so, after sticking her head around the corner, she saw her mother and a man sitting on some low cushions. The old woman was laughing daintily at something her guest had just said. Catching Ricardia's movement somehow, she turned to peer at her, clapping her hands.

"There she is! You took so long - I was getting worried!"

Ricardia was ready to berate her mother for bringing in a stranger - with almost zero warning - but then the man turned and suddenly the words were stuck in her throat.

He was tall and thin, with wispy, gray hair. Draped across his frame was an iron-gray coat and trousers. Atop this he wore a smock in the same dull color, emblazoned with the sigil of the Ferrum Rete. The design, a simplified silhouette of an anvil, was like a splash of fresh blood across his chest.

"Oh," Ricardia managed to choke out. "Good morning, Representative Kadis. What a surprise."

Kadis gave her a thin-lipped smile, gently placing his cup of tea on the ground. He rose to his feet, and offered her a bow. "Hello, Ricardia. It's lovely to see you again."

She looked down and shot a glance at her mother, who had chosen to stay seated. She returned the look with a toothy grin, her face exploding into wrinkles.

"Ah, yes," Ricardia said after too-long a pause. "Good to see you as well. It's a bit early in the season for the Peoples' Convention, isn't it?"

Once a year, Caedem's elected member of the Ferrum Rete's federal system would visit Yigera to host a hearing with its inhabitants and field questions, requests, and proposals. Then, the Convention would move on to the next settlement as part of a larger tour across the planet. With feed technology, it wasn't a matter of communication; the Convention system was a way to consolidate and prioritize issues big enough to merit federal resources.

But it seemed that Kadis was here for a different reason. He shook his head slowly, his eyes never leaving Ricardia's.

"There's been a sudden... development," He said to her. "Have you used your Factor at all, recently?"

Her mother snorted audibly, "look at her bed-head, my friend. She's been out cold for hours."

Ignoring her, Ricardia willed her Factor into action, lifting her arm to inspect the light. To her surprise, the steady, warm glow she was expecting was erratic and uneven. Her skin buzzed and flickered like a faulty lightbulb.

Ricardia let her arm fall back to her side, dangling from her body like a foreign object. She took a half-step backwards, as though she could somehow get away from her own power.

Kadis, who seemed unsurprised, watched her reaction impassively. Lifting his arm, he showed her his own light. Unlike hers, while dimmer, it was steady and solid.

All while this was occurring, Ricardia's mother shrieked in excitement.

She sprung to her feet, closing the distance between them in a flash. Ricardia was seized around her midriff by her mother's long, spindly limbs.

"Oh, this is so exciting! You know what this means, don't you, Ricardia? When you became a dancer, all those years ago, I'd begun to hope..."

Ricardia looked down at her mother, who still was hugging her tightly, and felt her throat constrict. Tuning her out, she asked Kadis, "It's finally happened, hasn't it? We've reached the population threshold on Caedem. I've been following the newsfeeds." Glancing back down at her mother, she added, "we've all been waiting."

Her voice sounded flat, dead, even to her. Her Factor's malfunction had been like a blow to her chest, leaving her numb and feeling as though there wasn't enough air in the room. "So it's happening, then? Caedem is going to awaken?"

"Yes." Kadis said simply. "The Ferrum military division has been monitoring the planet for weeks now. When they sent me an alert that the Awakening had begun, I began sending out pings to the most likely candidates."

"Oh," was all she could say. Her mother, who had finally distangled herself, tsk tsked her in disappointment.

"It was the middle of the night!" Ricardia protested, briefly checking her feed's activity during the window of time when she'd been asleep. She quickly found the official Ferrum message inquiring about her Factor. "The other recipients listed are in other time zones!" She added, after looking it over. "I'm sure Representative Kadis had gone to them first."

Paradoxically, she welcomed the frustration that was bubbling up; it was something to focus on. Her mother's nagging was preferential to the overwhelming weight of Kadis' news.

"Yes," Kadis gestured, seeming impatient to continue, "I knew that, and so I traveled here in person after dealing with the others. By the time I arrived, all of the other candidates had sent back that their Factors were performing as usual."

"Except me," Ricardia said. A shiver ran down her spine, and her whole body flickered with light - once, twice. Her mother exclaimed in wonder, but Ricardia shrunk down. She wanted to be anywhere but there; in anyone else's body but her own. She tried to extinguish the pulsing light like before, but it was like her will had become paper-thin against the onslaught of emotion. She had no control, and the flashing was growing more intense. Random, geometric patterns kept rising to appear on the surface of her skin for a few fleeting moments, before sinking down below again.

While her mother watched, entranced, Kadis kept his eyes locked on Ricardia's face. Then he raised one brow, slowly, as though to say, it's all a bit odd, isn't it?

Ricardia stared back, battling panic. "Just get on with it," she said, her voice cracking.

Kadis gave her a slight nod, clearing his throat. After a moment, his eyes lit up with unnatural light; he was viewing something in his feed vision. Gaze now unfocused, he began to speak, his voice taking on the liting cadence of someone reading aloud.

"To whom it may concern," he began, "The Ferrum Rete congratulates you on this day. The chance to become something greater - to serve your friends, your family, and your planet - it is a great honor. Appreciate that."

Kadis paused to glance at Ricardia. He seemed to want to make a personal point here, but something in her expression made him cough hurriedly and continue.

"Your colony has reached a new stage in its life. It has grown large, and prosperous. Settlements have spread and grew, and with them have come new generations, ready to add their mark on your history.

The Planatae you inhabit is ready now, thanks to them - thanks to you-"

"Oh just get on with it!" Ricardia blurted out for the second time. She was sick of the bureaucratic jargon, the high-and-mighty tone of Ferrum Rete's letter of proclamation.

"Dear, is everything alright?" Her mother peered at her worriedly, her exuberance finally fading.

"No, I'm not alright! Why would I be?" Ricardia knew her tone had risen alarmingly, but she didn't care. "Just say it, Kadis, okay? We all know what's next."

There was a long pause. She had Kadis' full attention again, the digital pamphlet forgotten. "Ricarida," he said. "With the population threshold being met, there's enough consciousness here for Caedem to emerge from its dormant form - to finally become self-aware. And so you - Ricardia Yigera - appear to have been chosen as Caedem's avatar for when it finally Awakens."

His mother, silent since her outburst, spoke up. "I understand you're scared, my love, but this is a wonderful thing. The Yigera could become the most powerful family in Caedem."

"Yes," Ricardia said, snarling, "and all that it will cost will be my death!"

"You won't be dead!" Her mother was yelling desperately back. "You'll be part of something-"

"-Something great? Yeah, I get the idea! But I might as well be! I never asked for this shit!"

Blazing with sickly, unstable light, Ricardia bolted, throwing herself in the direction of her home's front door.