At the ripe young age of twenty-seven, Kura Zalri had been in more prisons than she had planets throughout the known systems. She knew what planets had humane prisons and which ones to avoid at all costs. At that moment, she found herself in a cell on Ak'el, a small planet in Chaem'ol. She had never been in prison on Ak'el before, but she had heard of their methods.

Like all Ak'elian cells, hers was in a manual orbit around the planet, an airlock chamber outside the exit hatch. Twice a day, each cell was pulled into the main body of the prison station, where food and water were sent through the airlock before ejecting them back into orbit. Mines orbited closely alongside the cell pods, efficiently preventing any escape attempts, only temporarily deactivating to allow the pods to reconnect with the station.

Early one morning after the first feeding, Kura heard the familiar automated voice.

"Warning. The mines will reset in fifteen seconds. Please do not make any sudden movements in your pod. Ten sec—"

BOOM.

Something rocketed into the side of her pod, sending it careening far out of Ak'el's orbit. With a grunt, Kura felt her head hit the metal floor with a loud and heavy thunk. The mechanical voice fizzled out before speaking again:

"Warning. The cell pod of prisoner TR-149 has been disconnected from the manual orbit. Warning."

The voice cut off again, and Kura felt a thud as her pod landed on something distinctly solid. And metal.

A ship? But where? Whose?

Standing in a defensive position (though without her weapons, she knew she was useless against any sort of blaster), Kura realized she wouldn't have to wonder for long. Sparks flew as something began carving into the side of the pod until a large, person-sized hole fell through. Kura steadied herself on the balls of her feet, ready to lunge. Making eye contact with her new captor, she—stopped.

"Six?"

"Zalri." Taizo Hashioto gave a solitary nod, xyr dark eyes sharp as ever. The standard-issue prison guard energy baton hummed in xyr hand.

Kura snorted, crossing her arms. "Stars and ashes, man. When you said you'd get me when you needed t' cash in on a favor, I didn't think you'd bust me out of prison."

Taizo shrugged, extinguishing the energy baton and letting it clatter to the floor. "I've got a new job. Do you want in or not?"

Stepping out of the pod, careful to avoid the still red-hot metal, Kura ignored xem. "How the hell did you get my ship? It was surrounded by dampeners." As she spoke, she inspected the ship, checking for any sign of mistreatment.

Dampeners were invented shortly after E-N's were outlawed; they were usually used in broad areas, sending electromagnetic waves that disrupted E-N's functions. Still, Kura had heard of some less humane prisons that directly injected dampeners into their Enhanced prisoners. Someone with minor enhancements could survive with only increasing discomfort, but someone with significant or life-saving enhancements would die a slow, painful death.

Nodding, the taller of the two fell in stride with her as she made her way to the main deck. "I used that to my advantage, actually. I can last a month within close range to dampeners, so I enlisted to the prison guard as a new recruit. Got 'lost,' found your ship in the impoundment hangar, stole it, here we are."

"Oh-kay..." She reached the control panel, placing her palms into the center, allowing her cerebral nanites to reconnect with the Wanderer. Almost immediately, she could feel it humming to life, whispering nothing and everything at once in her mind. Kura stroked the console lovingly. "Did you miss me, baby?"

Taizo raised an eyebrow, clearing xyr throat.

"Right." Kura straightened, turning to her friend (or the closest you could get out of two solitary outlaws). "What's the job?"

"Let's get out of Chaem'ol first," Taizo replied as xe motioned outside the ship, where Federation ships were beginning to appear. "Then we can talk."

She grunted but complied, mentally guiding the Wanderer into hyperspace. "Where to? Elni Lutera? Dikornus?"

Xe shook xyr head. "No, those are too obvious. Let's go to Katar and refuel."

"Katar it is, then." The course set for the Deleus System, the Wanderer drove through the warp gate, and they were gone, the Federation hardly even specks behind them.

Katar was decently sized for a dwarf planet, and its proximity to the Triad left much of its land arid and hot. There were two nations formally recognized by the Federation on Katar: Kumil and Ravint. Kumil, known for its shipyards, was a common stop for those looking for a mechanic.

For that reason, the duo landed in Ravint.

"Just 'cause you're paranoid doesn't mean we can skimp on proper ship care," Kura grumbled as the Wanderer settled at a fuel station. "'Sides, I know a guy in Kumil who won't ask questions."

"And I know a guy here," Taizo retorted. "I hardly trust anyone in Ravint, much less Kumil, and I'm alive because I'm careful, Kura. Don't you trust me?"

She studied xem for a moment. Did she? Trust wasn't something she liked to throw around; she could count on one hand all the people she genuinely trusted (read, none). Even though they had only worked a few jobs together, Taizo had proven xemself time and time again.

"Fine. Just don't push it."

Xyr expression didn't change as xe herded Kura off the ship, but she could see the pleased glint in xyr eyes, causing her to roll hers. The two made the trek into the small ground station, Taizo shifting xyr jacket so that the blaster by xyr hip was visible. Kura knew that xe had other weapons than the single blaster, but that was enough to make others steer clear.

Gotta keep up that element of surprise, anyway.

Getting the fuel cells for the Wanderer was simple enough; no one paid either outlaw any mind. And if they did, well, a harsh glare from the two stopped any suspicion before it had time to fester.

Taizo insisted on meeting with xyr 'friend' alone (He's skittish, Zalri—probably wouldn't like it if I showed up unannounced with a perfect stranger), so Kura found herself standing outside the room the two had holed themselves in, leaning against the wall. Trying to keep busy, she tugged out her knives and a cloth, methodically cleaning the weapons while keeping the passing crowd in her periphery. Most gave her a wide berth, if not for the large knives she held, then the sullen glare resting on her features, when someone tripped over her extended foot.

They quickly lept to their feet, grabbing the small cylinder that fell out of their pocket, clattering to the dusty ground. The person popped up, their dark, curly hair bobbing as they rose to their full height (nearly a head shorter than Kura). She made eye contact with the stranger, raising an eyebrow. The stranger held her gaze, their face perfectly blank and composed before they walked off. Kura watched them go, hands holding the knife suddenly motionless and stiff.

"Zalri. Zalri. Sparks!"

Suddenly jerked back to reality, Kura shook her head, her head whipping to the side to see Taizo staring back at her, fuel cells tucked under xyr arm. Seeing that xe finally had her attention, xe nudged her with xyr shoulder, leading her out of the station. "What was that about?"

Kura hummed, low and deep in her chest. "Think someone tried t' pickpocket me," she grumbled, chuckling mirthlessly. "Joke's on them, though, don't have a single credit on me." She moved to walk beside Taizo, not relaxing until the Wanderer was in sight. They made it through the bay doors and into the ship, where Kura synced back with the controls, and instantly, she froze.

"Six," she said, her voice so low xe almost didn't hear it. "Kaan'e tesh quiarte ni'en." ¹

The taller's eyes widened imperceptively. "Tesh," ² xe mumbled back, xyr Kanian accent just as good as Kura's. "Ki au qu'arn, zhi'at?" ³

Kura nodded, moving slowly to turn around. "Ni'en huea—" ⁴

"Stop talking and turn around. Now." A voice said, presumably belonging to the intruder. It had a noticeable rasp, though Taizo noticed it was still higher than xyr or Kura's. Slowly xe and Kura turned to see the intruder, both hands gripping a blaster, clearly stolen from the Wanderer's stash. "Hands up," they continued, shifting the gun between their two targets.

Kura gritted her teeth, her face morphing into a scowl. "Trying to steal my ship, mi k'toq?" ⁵

The intruder stepped closer, raising their chin. "I'd say I've been pretty successful, wouldn't you?" Their eyes flashed a bright blue. Enhanced. "Try and grab those knives in your jacket and you're dead."

Kura hummed, keeping her hands in the air despite her growing anger. She glanced at Taizo, who had a sharp look in xyr eyes. Turning back to the gun, she cocked her head to the side. "Do I at least get t' know the name of the one who's gonna steal my ship?"

The intruder mulled it over. "Trinity," they said eventually.

"Kura. Hate t' meet ya. Pronouns?"

Trinity blinked, incredulous. "What the f—"

"Common curtesy," she replied. "I'll go first; I use she/her."

"Are you kidding?"

"Nope."

Trinity eyed her like she sprouted a few new limbs, but Kura just stared head-on, deliberately avoiding looking at Taizo.

"... she/they," she said eventually, the bewildered look never leaving their face.

Kura grinned. "See? Not so bad. It's always good t' be polite, even t' ship thieves." Her grin grew widener, taking on a vicious edge. "It also makes a good distraction. Six?"

The taller lunged before anyone could even blink, grabbing the gun and wrenching it out of Trinity's grasp. Now it was her turn to look angry, and as Taizo wrapped her in a headlock, they turned their glare to Kura.

Kura ignored her. "What should we do with her, Six?"

Trinity tensed where she stood, watching as the two seemed to have a silent conversation. Maybe she could convince them to leave her at the edge of Ravint. They at least knew they wouldn't turn them in, not when they were both clearly Enhanced like her.

"Are you sure, Sparks?" The one holding her asked, breaking the silence. She had heard Kura call xem Six, but Trinity was pretty sure that wasn't xyr name, the same way xe called her Sparks.

Kura shrugged. "Why not?" She settled her gaze on Trinity, her face giving nothing away. "How would you like a job?"

Silence.

"Sorry, what?"

"You heard me."

Trinity was beginning to wonder what the hell was wrong with her. "Yeah, I did, and, follow up question, are you stupid?"

Kura tilted her head to the side, the slight smile on her face betraying her apparent amusement. "Don't think so. Honestly, I'm a little pissed you tried to steal my ship, not that she would've taken off without me. But I've gotta admit it was also impressive; no one's ever been able t' sneak onto the Wanderer before."

Six spoke up this time, xyr voice a low baritone. "The ship was completely locked, too, and you managed to sneak on without triggering any alarms."

Trinity furrowed her eyebrows. "Are you sure? The doors opened right up when I tried them--didn't have to pick anything." When Kura's gaze seemed to zero in on them even more, they frowned. "What?"

"The Wanderer doesn't let just anybody in," she said eventually. "She likes you."

At that, Six released her, catching her by the arm as she stumbled. "So would you want a job or not?"

"I'm still not sure that sounds like a good idea," they said, clearing their throat. "I literally just tried to rob you." She glanced at the blaster now on the floor, the silvery metal reflecting harshly off the artificial light.

"Tried is the word I'm focusing on," Kura said, turning to push a few buttons on the control panel.

Preparing to take off, she figured.

"Plus," she continued, "if the Wanderer let you on, then you can't be that bad." When she saw Trinity's still skeptical look, she sighed, stepping away from the control panel. "Look. If you won't try and steal my ship, then I won't try and dump your ass in the middle of Dikornus. We do the job, split the money three ways, and then we never have t' see each other again."

They glanced behind them at Six, who merely raised an eyebrow, waiting for her answer. Huffing, she turned back to Kura, who held out a hand. After a few more moments of deliberation, they jerked their arm out, gripping the other's in a tight handshake. "Fine. What's the job?"

Six sighed, coming around to stand near the control panel. "Sparks, go ahead and set a course for Xinus. The job is... complicated."

Trinity watched with an almost morbid fascination as Kura's eyes flashed white, the taller woman's E-N's taking control of the ship. Their own enhancements allowed them to see the transmissions from Kura's nanites to the Wanderer's, sparks seeming to fly like synapses between neurons. Before long, they were taking off, just a blip in the sky.

There's a metaphor in there somewhere, Trinity thought distantly, watching as Kura's eyes cleared, still tinged with a white hue, revealing her connection to the ship. Or a poem, maybe.

But regardless, it was clear that things were going to be much different than they had expected them to be. The universe was unpredictable that way. And as the ship entered the warp gate, she had a feeling that it wasn't going to get any easier.

¹ : I think there's someone here.
² : Here.
³ : In the ship, inside?
⁴ : They're just--
⁵ : Fucker

—

wc: 2.3k

status: edited

okay, the first chapter is finally up!! i hope you guys like it—idk how to feel about it tbh. i'm not the biggest fan of the end, but it's a start! obviously not every character was in this chapter, but don't worry! they'll all be appearing soon, promise. to those whose characters did appear in this chapter, i hope i did your character justice. i'm trying my best :,)

the language translated at the bottom is kanian, kura's native language. while there are obviously a lot of languages in this universe, kanian is going to be the only one that will actually be written out. i've worked out some of the details of it, but it's still a work in progress so bear with me! it'll always be translated at the bottom of the chapter.

anyways, i really hope you all liked this chapter, and hopefully the second one will be out soon!!