Chapter Text
“Residents of Delta colony: please evacuate to the subsea bunkers. Residents of Delta colony: please evacuate to the subsea bunkers. Residents of Delta colony: pleas-”
“Mom? W-what’s going on? Why are the lights flashing?”
His mother didn’t hear him over the alarm and the people rushing around them. She was pulling on his arm really hard, it hurt, he tried to keep up but her gait was a lot longer than his tiny legs could handle. Yuuri was pushed into her back as someone rushed past them, causing him to trip and land on his knees. He cried out in pain, clutching at his knees as they began to bleed, discoloring his pants.
“Yuuri!” His mother’s worried face was all Yuuri could see as tears began to blur his vision. Had he been wearing his glasses, he would have seen his mother’s arms picking him up and huddling him close to her. Protecting him from the frantic crowd that was pushing and shoving around them. It was like they were running through a rainbow as the red warning light flashed, reds, greens, blues, yellows, merely colored blobs in his eyes. All the different hybrids were rushing along side of them.
The hallway ahead had several people pushing and pulling as they tried to all fit in the small elevator. It was so loud, people were screaming and crying, Yuuri had lost sight of his sister and father a while ago. Maybe they already got an elevator?
His mother tightened his grip on his arm, chin resting on the crown of his head as they stood immobile before the wall of people. She slowly lost her frantic energy as more and more people tried to cram inside the elevator. More and more people, just pouring into this small space, but they didn’t seem to care. Why was his mother so calm now?
“Yuuri. I want you to close your eyes and relax for me sweetie.”
Relax? With all this going on? Why was his mother not panicking like everyone else? He felt his tears come back as someone pushed passed them again, only to be thrown back. Someone was screaming not to far away. Yuuri startled as his mother wiped at his tears, her touch was so warm...
“Just think of pretty the flowers look on the sakura trees. How the petals would float in the wind…”
He nodded slowly in response, which got her to smile wider. Yuuri’s eyes closed, the sounds around him slowly being drowned out as he recalled an image similar to what his mother was describing. He felt so weightless. The smell of the pink blossoms, the far off hum of hoverbikes… But then the image began to become hazy, similar to a camera slowly going out of focus. Part of him wanted to try to hold onto the image, but something told him, no, urged him to let go.
Yuuri was so tired. He didn’t want to fight, he had done enough fighting trying to get to keep up with his mother amongst mobs of people. So he let go of the image-
-and then he was falling.
------
Yuuri jerked up in his bed, heart pounding and sweat beading at his brow. His break rattled from him as he grasped the front of his shirt.
Just a dream, just a dream. You’re safe, you’re safe, you’re safe,
you’re safe
.
Yuuri flinched as his bedroom door slid open, reveal him mother with, presumably, a smile on her face as she always did. Well, she probably was smiling up until she saw him.
“Oh Yuuri! Are you alright dear?” Yup, not the voice of a content mother.
He couldn’t get the words out at first. Phrases of reassurance, “Yes mom, I’m fine.” or a more truthful, “It was just a dumb dream again, don’t worry” were tangled in his throat. His frustration caused tears to form at his eyes and damn it all, he was an adult. He should have a handle on this by now.
Yuuri’s mother of course took heed of his silence and tears and rushed over to him, hands cupping his face.
“Shhh, shh, deep breath Yuuri deep breaks, come on. Breath in...out... In...out. In…out.” His mother soothed, more use to his panic attacks then he wanted her to be. Yuuri knew she didn’t care, that she was glad she could help him in even the smallest ways when it came to him. But still, it felt more and more like he was burdening her the older he got. He often wished he could grow out of his panic attacks, the anxiety, as if they were an old pair of shoes or shirt he no longer fit in.
Eventually, his breath returned to normal, his lungs burned a bit, but he wasn’t shaking any more. His mother got up and pressed something cold to his hand, ah right, glasses. Sitting up and placing the cold, plastic frames on his head. He blinked residual tears from his eyes and looked at his mother again, now able to see her face properly. She was smiling, though not as wide as she normally would, there was a definite underlying fear and worry.
Looking over at the wall beside his bed, the little electronic screen told him with a helpful glow that it was about four in the morning. A day before the two moons above their planet would eclipse one another, making it a month since his last job. He huffed a sigh, he should have expected a stress related nightmare. They always seemed to pop up the night before he would return to the surface.
The return he would start preparing for today, before he even learned of the assignment.
“I moved your bag to the front door last night. You can grab it after breakfast, I won’t see you out without having a home cooked meal to warm you first. Oh, and don’t worry about checking in on the springs, Mari checked the levels as I passed by a little earlier. ”
Yuuri smiled and nodded, “Thanks mom. I really appreciate it.”
She kissed his forehead and patted his hand before getting up and leaving; probably to check up on the weary travelers from other colonies.
There weren’t as many travelers coming in this week, but Phichit had informed him the other day of a disaster in Essire. There had been a few sighting of some of the more dangerous wildlife around the perimeter of the colony. Not much else could be pried from the minds of scared travelers by the patrol guards. The lack of travelers from Essire would be bad for the inn’s business, but potentially good for Yuuri. The more dangerous the mission the higher the pay.
For a moment Yuuri contemplated flopping back onto his bed and just laying there, enjoying the warmth that had accumulated between his body and the sheets. Residual images from his nightmare flashed in his mind at that and he opted to go and shower instead.
----
Breakfast was a little noisy; but Yuuri had come to appreciate noise when he was home. Constant chatter of guests, distant soft clanking of dishes and bowls as his mother took them from guests done with their meals, the soft hum of the heater under the floor tiles; it made him feel safe. It reminded him that there wasn’t any danger here, that his body could relax and be left off high alert.
Yuuri thanked his mother as she placed down a bowl of katsudon down before him. Not a dish she would normally would make this early, besides the mornings before he left. She placed a kiss to the crown of his head before moving to take care of a pair of travelers.
“So today is the big day, huh?” His sister asked as she chewed through her own breakfast.
“Mmm hmm,” he nodded as he chewed, “ I’ll ve woing to wisit-”
His sister hit him gently on the head with her chopsticks.
“Finish chewing first, I don’t want your gross, half chewed food on my breakfast.” She complained.
Yuuri finished chewing before repeating, “I’ll be going to visit Phichit first, then I’ll go to the capital.”
“Well if anyone can help keep your ass alive it would be Phichit.” Mari ignored his small protest as she took another bite of her food.
They descended back into silence until both of their meals were reduced to a few crumbs stuck to bowls and plates. Mari lit one of her herbal cigarettes and blew a steady stream of smoke.
“Let’s hope they don’t send you with a fuck ton of tablets to like, the Rho colony. We wouldn’t see you then for like, three months.” Mari commented lightly.
Yuuri shook his head slightly and smiled. “Ah, well, I won’t know until they tell me. On the plus side, if I am sent to Rho it will be a lot of money for the inn.”
“Mm.”
Yuuri narrowed his eyes slightly as his sister drew on her cigarette again, then blew out another puff of smoke. Mari never liked to show if something worried her, opting to keep those fears to herself.
“Maybe I could even find that band you like and have them sign something for you.”
Her eyes then brightened up and she grinned widely, quickly punching his arm, “You do that and I’ll have to make sure you come back here with it alive.”
Yuuri chuckled at his sister’s expression, it seemed to take years off of her.
“Of course.”
---
The goodbyes were always the hardest for him.
Yuuri’s mother hugged him tightly to her, head on his shoulder as he leaned over and hugged her back. When she pulled away her eyes were free of tears but her smile just wasn’t as wide as the one he would receive when he came home. She wished him a safe journey and promised to have a warm meal for him ready for when he returned.
His father also gave him a quick hug, arms wrapped tightly around Yuuri’s shoulders. Promising to keep the inn up and running so he would have a place to come back to. He meant this in a joking manner of course, but it had become an inside joke between everyone in the family to say as Yuuri left.
His sister would pull him into a sort of half hug and ruffle up his hair. As he would straighten it back into something somewhat presentable she would ask about everything he already double checked was in his bag.
Water Warmers to use on snow and ice? Yes Mari.
Food rations? Yes Mari.
Skates? Yes Mari.
Ice picks? Yes Mari.
Condoms? Mari!
When all was said and done he promised to come back and left home once again. His family waved at him as he left the entrance of the inn, the roads of the Delta colony looping into different housing, shopping, and living districts as he walked.
It wasn’t a long walk from the inn to the shuttle station, something many travelers were thankful for when they came to the Delta colony. As he hopped onto the shuttle craft heading towards the Capital city, he watched as different citizens of the colony went about their morning routines. Some leaving for work, others returning from work, a few younger kids hugging their parents legs (or tails) as their older siblings went to school. A few couples taking a morning walk, a older alien watering their flowers in the flower boxes under the windows of their house…
With the shuttle craft slowly drifting more and more upwards, Yuuri lost sight of the people and homes on the ground. Instead his gaze locked onto the deep blue outside the dome of the colony. If they were closer, he knew from experience that he could see different colonies of fish and sea vegetation growing even this deep down in the water. It was possible to see the air converting machines from here on the other hand. Large red glowing panels moving back and forth, taking oxygen from the water like a fish's gill’s. Constantly refueling the colony with fresh air and cycling the unusable stale air back out. Yuuri rested his head against the glass of the shuttle, content to just watch the machines at work as his commute brought him closer and closer to the city.
---
The Wildlife and Health Service Center was a modest two story building that catered to keeping the wild creatures of their planet from interfering with daily colony life, and colony life from the life cycles of the creatures. There were a large percentage of skater workers who were employed by them, whose main job consisted of relocating any injured wildlife. Other duties consisting of helping wild creatures out when it came to increasing the populations or protecting them if a new disease broke out.
At one point Yuuri considered taking up that job, though messenger skater ending winning out solely due to the pay difference. His parents needed the funds to help support their inn with so many travelers coming in and so many of them refugees from less hospitable colonies…Yuuri wasn’t here for a job offer though. He stood before two metal doors with a smile on his face.
The doors opened with a soft hiss, the room inside was white and square, unlike the normal dome like shapes the rest of the colony typically had. There were three walls with cabinets pressed against them, brimming with medical equipment. Some of the bits of equipment he Yuuri recognized because of the the smaller versions he had in his bag. The other wall of the room were littered with multiple screens, all with different videos feeds of different creatures, charts, journal pages, hallway feeds…
Phichit, who was seated in front of all of these screens, had perked up at the sound of the door opening. He quickly swung his legs around, causing the hover chair to swivel to face Yuuri. A manic grin stretched across his face when he recognized the skater.
“Yuuri!” He exclaimed, hopping off the chair and briskly walking over to him. Phichit’s arms wrapped around him in a tight hug, squeezing him to his chest.
Yuuri mirrored his smile, eagerly returning the hug, “It’s only been two days Phichit.”
Phichit groaned and leaned back, hands now resting on Yuuri’s shoulders.
“Yeah, two days without my best friend! Yuuri this has been a horrible form of torture! Your smiling face always cheers me up when things go bad at work, and yet you abandoned me.” Phichit drew out in a whine.
“Phichit, I only come to your work when I need updates on the surface.” Yuuri reminded.
Phichit slouched and huffed a sigh, “You know this would be a lot easier for you if they would just tell you ahead of time where you would be going. Could pack the proper amount of supplies, know what to watch out for specifically-”
“Phichit.” Yuuri cuts him off as the other man walks back over to the multiple sets of electronic screens.
“Yeah, yeah, ‘super secret’ and that crap they like to make up. They lose a skater they just hire a new one and toss them up there with a quick pat on the back. Tell you guys to try keep the tablets intact when you cross miles of icy wasteland. You would think they would just figure out a way to communicate without endangering lives but no.” Phichit rambled as the fingers on one of his hands input codes while his other arranged the windows that popped up.
Yuuri leaned on the back of his chair as he watched his best friend work. Phichit was probably the best operations manager the Delta sub-colony could ask for. It probably helped that Phichit’s father was an Inora, an alien race that was known for their memory. Phichit had the capability to recall a memory from when he was only five, each detail as vivid as if it were only yesterday. Which came in handy when he was making sure everyone in the upper level working ranks were on task and schedule.
“So Yuuri, wanna know what is up there just waiting to munch on your flesh?” Phichit asked as he swiped away a few windows off his main screen, a bit too much joy colored his voice as he spoke.
“The point of this is so I know which ones are close to colonies so they don’t munch on my flesh Phichit.”
“Eh, you wouldn’t be much of a meal anyways. Maybe if you went up there with a few extra servings of your mom’s katsudon you would be, but now you would just make a weird, boney appetizer.” He teased as he poked Yuuri’s side.
“Phichit.” Yuuri complained.
“I know, I know. Alright so there was of course that nasty incident at the Essire colony a few weeks ago. So there might be a Glo lingering around there. Iota and Rho have reported a slightly larger number of Lipb than normal for their breeding season, so be wary of the bucks, they will be trying to keep people off their territories. Besides that…. Just watch where you step around the Theta colony and the Axrow valley. Leo and Guang-Hong released a bunch of the baby Pikkros that were incubated for the past year there, so the ice will be a bit thinner in spots due to them burrowing.” Phichit flicked away each remaining screen as he spoke.
Yuuri slumped a bit more against the chair, “Ah, damn, I wanted to see them off before they got put back on the surface. I never see them up there, only their burrows, and then usually it's me tripping on one.”
Phichit perked up at that and spun his chair around again, a bit violently, causing Yuuri to stumble back.
“There was a clutch that was late to hatch still here if you want to see them! They won’t be released for another week!”
“Mm,” Yuuri glanced at the clock on one of the scenes “...just for a minute. Then I need to make sure my suit is updated for the trip.”
Phichit let out a loud cheer as he grabbed Yuuri by the arm and dragged him out of his office.
------
“Aren’t they adorable!” Phichit exclaimed as the pair looked over a large incubation box filled with a few inches of water and Pikkros.
The Pikkros themselves weren’t overly complicated looking creatures. They had water balloon shaped bodies with small trunks that sipped at the water beneath them. The babies were about palm sized, though Yuuri knew they could grow to the size of his backpack, which was now sitting on the floor next to the box. Their bodies were an inky black besides for a burst of pale blue on their backs, which would camouflage them from predators looking down.
“Yeah, they are pretty cute.” Yuuri agreed with a small smile. Sticking his hand in and petting the back of one with his finger tips. They were silky to the touch, and the one he was petting squirmed joyfully beneath his hand, letting out a contented noise that sounded a lot like a high pitched wibble.
“Yuuri why don’t you hand me your helmet? I can update it from here and make sure there wasn’t any damage hidden from your last expedition.”
The skater regretfully retracted his hand from the box and unzipped his bag, pulling out a blue skater helmet. The front was mostly a clear paneled visor, while the back stretched back into a point to help keep drag from the air off of Yuuri when he was skating. There were a few sensors built into the helmet that helped him identify heat signatures and impending storms, though mostly it kept his head warm.
Yuuri tossed it to Phichit before going back to petting one of the Pikkros. The tiny thing rolled over in its happiness exposing its belly to which Yuuri tickled at, earning him an even more squirmy Pikkro that would poke at his fingers with its trunk. The baby Pikkro kept him occupied for the few minutes it took Phichit to download and examine the data kept in the helmet.
“Everything checks out! I updated it with what I told you earlier too, just incase you forget.” Phichit added as he handed back the helmet.
“Thanks again Phichit.” Yuuri spoke as he took back the helmet, crouching to put it back in his bag. His bag that shifted on its own.
“What the…” Yuuri opened the zipper a bit more to reveal another baby Pikkro nestled in between the food packets and water heaters.
“Shit, yeah they do that sometimes. We always need to make sure they don’t try to hitch a ride along with us as we leave the incubation room. “ Phichit explained as he took the Pikkro from Yuuri. “I think they are just overly affectionate and want to go home with us. Isn’t that right little guy?” Phichit cooed as he cradled it.
“Does that make it hard to release them into the wild?” Yuuri asked as he zips back up the backpack, pulling it back onto his shoulders.
“Nah, once they see all the snow they jump into it and forget we even existed. They grow up so fast.” Phichit wiped at his eyes as he gently placed the Pikkro back in the box. He stood there for a moment, shoulders slumped, head bent as he looked over the box of baby Pikkros.
“Phichit?” Yuuri asked.
“Ah, it’s nothing. Come one, I’ll walk you to the transport station. It is my lunch hour anyways.” Phichit smiled, but like his family’s, it was forced.
“Oh, thank you.”
“That’s what best friends are for!”
----
The Delta Command center was a rather impressive building with its towering twin spires on either side of double doors and the double helix like structure of the building. The windows were blackened to the point where no passing stranger could see in, and the stone in between the windows was a chalky grey. Faded patches of color remained on the stone from graffiti written years ago; they'd never been washed off and were left to cling to the stone, the only color on the Command Center.
Delta Command housed a few scientists, working on new ways to filter their water more efficiently, better grow their crops in smaller areas and yield more fruit. Mostly it was there for the Delta colony’s leader, who would direct the colony in the path best suited to ensure its survival. Mostly making decisions when they were needed and writing messages to other leaders. Yuuri had had too many conversations with the leader to count. None of them were ever long or exciting, they were just orders and deliveries.
As Yuuri walked up to the receptionist, Mary her name tag read, and he wondered what had happened to the old one.
Maybe he found a new job. Yuuri thought to himself as Mary directed him to a chair and went to the office. She came back only a few seconds later, gesturing him to follow her.
The doors to the Delta leader’s office are made of wood, something that had shocked Yuuri when he first saw them. Everything that was a part of the buildings in the colony were made primarily of metal or stone. Trees didn’t exist down in their underwater colony. No one had thought of grabbing any seeds for them when the evacuation startled everyone awake that night. Any trees aboveground had been obliterated in the initial impact from the meteor. The rest would have froze to death as the impact winter slowly took their planet. The deep sea vegetation that grew down at the bottom didn’t make good paper, nevermind wood. The office doors being made of wood was a statement; they divided colony residents from the colony leader.
“Leader Sho of Sub-Colony Delta, I have brought Yuuri Katsuki.” Mary informed the tall figure that sat upon a white marble throne. A pale blue cloak sat upon shoulders, shimmering in the light. They raised a hand clad in brown leather off the elaborately carved armrest and dismissed her. Then inclining with a wave of their hand for Yuuri to come farther into the white marble and tile room, instead of standing by the doors.
“You have had a suitable amount of time off since your last expedition Katsuki?” They asked, voice ringing off the walls of circular room, echoing in Yuuri’s ears.
“Yes, Your Grace, I have.” Yuuri bowed his head. “I thank you allowing me to recharge before my next assignment.”
Leader Sho was quiet for a moment before continuing, “Your next expedition has an unlimited time frame. You will have as much time as you need to complete it. All time will be compensated with your normal salary for each day you are out of Delta colony.”
Yuuri jerked his head back to look at the shrouded face before him, eyes wide. His trips always had a time limit, to get to one colony within two lunar cycles, or to visit two separate ones before the next eclipse of the moons. The more time he spent away the more money he was given so long as he was traveling. If he went over the time allotted he would begin to lose money for every day he would go over. Being given a mission without a time limit was a blank check, but it also would mean that he was not being ordered on a normal messenger mission.
“Your Grace? What am I…?” Yuuri began to ask.
A tile a few feet in front of Yuuri began to glow as it brought up an image of a heavily cloaked individual. They were dressed head to toe in white torn up cloth, the only part of them not covered in cloth were their eyes, which were covered in lightly blue tinted goggles.
“This is a traitor to the very existence of our planet Yuuri. About five weeks ago there was an explosion in the Omnicron colony. The explosion killed multiple people, skaters, all of them hybrids. We found evidence of this figure escaping shortly after they placed the bomb under one of the practice rinks. They escaped onto the surface shortly afterwards with a bag of supplies and a pair of skates. As one of my most experienced skaters, I want you to find them, and bring them to the Omnicron colony so they can have judgement cast upon them. ”
Yuuri shook slightly, chest tightening as he took in the image of the murderer before him.
“Your Grace, I-I’m no patrol unit. I wouldn’t be a-able to capture them even if I did find them up on the surface.”
They upturned their hand and a metal ball materialized a few centimeters above their palm before dropping into it. They rolled it between their fingers, head turned to look at it under the heavy cloak of their hood. Yuuri had never seen the face of the Delta colony leader, no one supposedly had. The leaders of the colonies were dressed like that so one one could bring up what race of aliens they belonged to. It was something the sparked a few controversies over the years.
“Do you know what this is Katsuki?”
Yuuri gulped nervously, “N-no, Your Grace, I do not.”
They held it up between two fingers, the metal glinted ominously in the sickly light.
“This orb is a programed capturing device.” They pressed a button on their throne as they spoke, the hologram before Yuuri glitching. “It is programed to that if you throw it at this murderer,” the hologram shifted to a fleeing white figure with the ball hovering a few feet up in the air behind them, “it will ensnare and electrocute them to the point of incapacitation.”
The figure was then shown on the ground, thick wire mesh wrapped so tightly around them the fabric of their cloth was bulging between the gaps. Their posture was one of complete agony, body arched up in pain and sparks of electricity popping from the metal. Yuuri swore he could almost hear their scream over the crackle of electricity. The image then disappeared, leaving a very shaken Yuuri at the feet of his colony leader.
“H-how was it p-programed i-i-if we, if we don’t know who the murder is? Your Grace.” Yuuri bowed as he tacked on the formality.
The hologram popped back up, this time the white figure was running, but one of their hands was clasping the fabric near their mouth. Their hand was nearly pale as their clothes, but it was covered in black lines that reminded Yuuri of a mosaic painting. There were also small flecks of color in the pale skin, reds, blues, greens, purples….
“The traitor to our society is a Nikkiri hybrid. So the orb was programmed to activate when within fifty yards of someone with such a DNA code. You simply press the button, throw, and it will latch onto them like a leach onto a Lipb. Do you understand Katsuki?”
“Yes Your Grace, I understand now.” Yuuri recited with perfectly.
“Good. You have unlimited time, find the traitor, bring them in for punishment, and you will be rewarded as such.” As they spoke a small flash drive appeared opposite of the orb. The colony leader released the orb from their grasp and both object floated down towards Yuuri.
Yuuri obediently took both objects.
“Leave me now. Do not disappoint me.” They ordered.
“I shall prevail Your Grace.” Yuuri bowed a final time, before turning around and leaving.
---
He made it to the lobby bathroom before falling against the door and breathing heavily. At some point he had put both items into his bag, which now laid sadly by his feet as he slowly fell down and cradled his head in his hands.
A murderer.
A murderer and traitor to everything the planet stood for in terms of its initial creation.
Why was he being sent to go and find this monster? Him, a messenger skater.
Fuck.
----