The Dystopian World

          The Azure kept travelling on a constant speed in space, trying to capture any frequencies that suggested a job. Capisa and Atho kept watching the monitors in front of them, trying to find anything that looked like a posted job on the web that was suitable for them, though they knew most of the jobs they could do was supposed to be something that involved dispersing a riot or assassination, most of which were not suitable for civilians, yet publicly posted on the web. Dairyu had suggested websites only for bounty hunters, and most of the jobs there varied in ways to finish them.

          After one hour of searching, Capisa wanted to take a break, while giving Dairyu the things he got for them to finish.

          “I have five wanted alien lists that could help finance our investigation," said Capisa. Yet before Dairyu could pick, Capisa closed the holo-generator and moved his face closer to Dairyu, all in for a serious talk judging from how thin his pupil was.

          “I can still fill for insurance to repair this ship, you know," said Capisa. “Didn't Jackson tell you that?"

          “Yeah, I appreciate his suggestion, but no matter what kind of ways I want to tell them, they wouldn't give me the money on the basis that I still have a working ship and a three-man crew," said Dairyu while standing up to walk to a liquid dispenser. “They don't really want to help the Black Orient to finish the job."

          “Just tell them you're doing your job for the Council!"

          “Are you day-dreaming back there, Capisa? This is a secret mission only for a small group, not a wide spaceship army operation. Also, the insurance doesn't cover ships over 35 years old."

          “What kind of shit is that?!"

          Dairyu then offered Capisa a hot chocolate. “New Federation policy, kid. Ships older than this one is going straight to the scraping plant. They don't give you insurance on a crumbling piece of space junk. The best I can ask them is to give me the credits for patching up our hull."

          Capisa felt annoyed by Dairyu's lack of motivation to buy a new ship, but he just took the hot chocolate from Dairyu and returned the holographic projection to him. He then walked to the cockpit and sat there, watching the stars and occasional comets passing by. Atho was making some clicking sound again with his pincer-like mandibles moving about, which wasn't making any other sounds.

          “He's kind of serious about that," said Atho.

          “What?"

          “You know, about the insurance problem?"

          “What he doesn't know is that I can help him with my own insurance policy. I had one commissioned when I was still a cadet."

          “Still, the owner of this ship is him, so it depends on what he decides."

          “Really, he can be a blockhead in financial matter," said Capisa through his mind with a sigh. “So what do you think about Ryu?"

          “He thought this ship has an artistic value that you and I can't understand. Kind of a very unique, old dirty spaceship that's like a classic movie he once watched."

          “He really thinks that?"

          Atho then nodded.

          “Goddamn it, Ryu, you've got some issue…."

          “Hey, can you go to the coordinate I'm giving you at the screen?" said Dairyu. “There's a possible lead on one of the wanted lists. He's an Areolian by the name of Orao Raon. He's suspected of murder in planet Soyl. Recent update shows that he's currently in a colony in that coordinate."

          “How do you know about that?"

          There was an image popping out of the monitor in front of Capisa, where an Areolian, a squid-like alien with only two long tentacles and some smaller ones for walking, was talking with an Aquros. Capisa couldn't find anything out of ordinary except the fact that the Areolian had a big scar down its front face.

          “That's his feature, a big scar down his big squid face," said Dairyu. “Can we FTL to the coordinate?"

          “After we arrived there, please just refill the FTL charge," said Capisa with a sigh.

          The travel didn't take that long to finish, just around 5 minutes from their position. Upon getting out of FTL, something suddenly appeared in front of the ship. Capisa only had a small moment of chance to turn the ship away from its path. He managed to use it, but at the expense of creating a mess inside Azure, with Dairyu, who wasn't wearing any seatbelts, thrown to the other side of the room.

          “Don't fly recklessly!" shouted Dairyu from behind the room. “Ouch, my horn…"

          A comm came out at the monitor, apparently from the owner of the obstruction. He swore with inappropriate language before cutting the link. Then Capisa saw that they stopped in the middle of massive space traffic in and out of the planet. The dark red planet was visible at the far end of the scenery.

          “But the computer should've been able to see any obstructions before getting out of the FTL jump," said Dairyu after realizing what was happening. “Is it broken?"

          “No, it's functioning as it should be. If the FTL system is broken so does most of the computerized systems in the ship," said Capisa while checking on problems on the control panel. “Maybe it's something on the planet or its orbit that disrupted the jump."

          “Worth investigating," said Dairyu. “Land on the planet surface and give them the Areolian wanted list for permission."

          When Capisa did that, they immediately got the permission to land on the planet's surface. The Aquros quickly flew the ship into the planet, landing on a hover platform. When they stepped out of the ship, they were quickly greeted by the view of the city.

          The colony was indeed a trade colony, and one of the biggest one Capisa had ever seen. It had towering structures of massive proportions that was different from any colonies he had ever been. In fact, it was closer to his homeworld, though the structures were underwater. Flying cars dominated the colony, mostly flying throughout the buildings. From their point of view, the colony was a bustling city that dedicated its structures for trade and residence purposes.

          “Wow…I wish I still have my goods," said Capisa, before returning to the matter at hand. “But how are we supposed to find a single Areolian in a big city like this? A Warrior can't possibly find an alien, even if they're formidable fighters."

          “Don't worry. The first thing I would like to do is to get to a police station. Oh, and Capisa…"

          Dairyu returned to his ship to grab on something Capisa didn't know about until he went out. It was a pistol that looked futuristic and lined with lights, and it was bigger than a typical laser pistol.

          “It's for your own safety. I have a feeling that something big will happen, so take this. Atho, accompany him, okay? I'm going to the police station to track this criminal."

          Without saying anything, Dairyu left, leaving Capisa alone with Atho. Again, Capisa felt he was left out of something that was happening around the colony, and his questions were captured by Atho.

          “I think he knew something was wrong in this colony," said Atho referencing the question Capisa thought. “You don't have any mind-reading abilities, but when you do, you will know what actually happened in this city."

          Capisa wanted to reply, but Atho held one of his hands on Capisa's shoulder and said, “For someone entrusted by his race to be the only voice of reasons can be hard, but don't worry. Dairyu is a reasonable draconian. When he steps out of the line, it will be your turn to shine. Now, let's get you something to eat."

          “I can't keep secrets around you, huh?" said Capisa with a smile.

          Since Atho could hear what the other aliens were thinking, he quickly found a public favorite, a fairly big noodle shop with some Terran twist, evidently owned by an Orient, just like Dairyu, by most of the staffs currently there. They both could also see some Terrans who were not xenophobic, evident from how they talked with other aliens with no hesitation. Atho had also determined that they weren't restrained or showing signs of acting.

          “It's ironic considering that they want to be open to us while their most common society is closing themselves from us," said Atho after ordering a protein-based food. “Anyway, how can you eat normal food if you're still in that artificial aquatic environment?"

          “It's alright. They advertised it with best intentions."

          While waiting for the food to come, Capisa started wondering if Dairyu's concern was true. It was true that while many aliens were living in a dynamic environment, there was no denying that there was still a sense of restrain from them. They were like controlled by something, possibly the colony's law. Though he wanted to know, deep in his heart he was aware of the consequences that could fall on him if he ever interfere with colony's matter.

          The food came to them a couple of minutes later. Capisa tried to grasp the chopsticks, but slippery hands, coupled with fins, had made it hard for him to use it properly, even though he had seen Dairyu used one many times before. He then relented and opted to use a fork instead. It tasted great for an Aquros. Though he had a rather sensitive tongue, he never thought Terran foods, known to have a very hard taste in his mouth, would be good enough for him.

          “So you don't always eat solid food?" said Atho after noticing how Capisa ate.

          “Not if I'm wearing a big body suit of armor."

          They both ate their fill until they were full. With Capisa's savings, they could pay the credits to the Orient, who didn't give another comment about Capisa. Both wanted to walk into the city, trying to find some foods along the way, also to kill time while waiting for Dairyu to finish his job.

          After buying some things along the way, Capisa slowly felt the same thing he felt back in the shop. The city looked vibrant and bustling, but behind the cheerful, unrestrained actions, there was something that made them hesitant. Some of the aliens stared at traders not from the colony, though only for a moment. Capisa somehow could see if they were cautious around newcomers or not, based on his experience in a trade colony and with his father long ago.

          Then, he relieved himself from thinking of the possibilities when he saw something that troubled him.

          During their walk, they stumbled upon a crowd of aliens watching something transpired in the middle of a pedestrian street. There was actually an alien that looked reptilian in the middle of the street alongside another smaller alien, a human. The reptilian, unlike most of the aliens, were half-naked and was fitted with a set of bracelets on his limbs and a collar of some sort. Though at first Capisa thought it was normal, since hundreds of alien races used collars, his thought of normality faded after what happened next.

          The reptilian alien was forced to move like an animal while carrying the human on his back. He occasionally winced and when he dropped the human, he incurred the human's wrath and on what supposed to be an unknown cause, he started to roar and writhing all around. Capisa couldn't hear what the human said, but the sight of a tortured alien actually made him angry.

          Atho sensed his rage, and silently said it through his mind.

          “Don't do something you'll regret, Capisa," said Atho.

          “Then what am I supposed to do? I won't be sitting here watching some big guy being fucked up by a human! I gotta do something…"

          “Dairyu doesn't want you to get involved. The slave experienced an excruciating pain through his head that was somehow invoked with something, and in his mind, I can tell you the secret of this colony. Let's go back quietly and keep walking."

          While walking back to the ship, Atho started to talk in his head.

          “The colonists were living in constant fear of what will happen if they ever start a problem. That public humiliation was one, but the main problem this colony had is an illegal slavery ring that encompassed most of the aliens, but mostly of humans, one of the most troublesome Terran race. The unrestrained and happy feelings they expressed was only a façade of their fear. If they ever give negative feelings, somehow something would happen to them, like that Scylla."

          “But Scyllas are one of the Federation members! They can't just enslave him. Also, this colony is too crowded with many aliens, there's no way something like that wouldn't be made public."

          “Do you know why it will stay secret?"

          Atho pointed at their ship. The Azure was currently guarded by some heavily armored mercenaries.

          “That is why Dairyu gave you that pistol. It's for precautions if something like this happens. Pull out your gun."

          “What?"

          Atho quickly pulled one of his guns and shot randomly. It hit one alien at the direction he was shooting. It went through a vital point, and it couldn't breathe normally. The sudden and random action turned the aliens into fear, and they all run frantically. Capisa did what Atho asked, and he pulled the gun that looked ornamental. One of the mercenaries caught sight of them and started shooting at them. In panic, Capisa pulled the trigger of the gun. It made a muffled explosion sound when the laser was discharged, but when it hit the mercenary, it didn't go through him. Instead, it went inside his body and from inside, it blew outward, destroying most of his upper torso.

          “Holy shit! What the hell did he give me?!"

          “Behind you, Capisa!"

          Capisa's reaction was quick enough to see a jumping Scylla behind him. He instinctively pulled the trigger again, and it blew the Scylla into many pieces that his remains rained down on Capisa. The sight of gore right in front of his face caused him to go into shock and he lost the will to fight.

          Though he had no remorse on killing criminals, he never wanted to see them die a gruesome death. He had his own experience with that kind of death, and he tried not to be involved or caused such kind of death to happen. He couldn't move after the remains of the Scylla rained down on him, coating him with green blood. Atho quickly pulled Capisa away from harm as he ran towards an old abandoned building after jumping down a bridge. The height itself was enough for Capisa to snap out of the shock and got surprised by Atho's action.

          “What in Leviathan are you doing?!" exclaimed Capisa. “We could lose our lives with that jump!"

          “I'm saving our asses from this city! Now do me a favor and run to the abandoned building. I'll cover you!"

          Capisa instinctively pulled Atho with him into the building. Right now their primary concern was to hide themselves. Capisa didn't want anyone to protect him, so long as they could be saved. Atho's complain in Capisa's mind fell on deaf ears.