Pigments and Plasma 4
Ep 4: Raiders of the Lost Artifacts – The Fragility of Flesh
After the Arcturian ship lifted, Tullius set the array for a longer charge cycle. Xe needed to replenish xir energy and to consider the commanders’ comments about artifacts and their uses. The Galactic Art Council dismissed any solid species, considering them primitives.
Tullius pondered what the Arcturians said about the uses of artifacts giving them meaning. Xe was still upset about the damage to the painting, which xe did not yet know how to repair.
Distracted, xe did not immediately note when a ship materialized out of hyperspace. It sent out a shuttle, which docked, locking on without permission. A group of humans in tactical gear hacked the airlock security to force their way into the museum. Usually, humans were a rare delight, but this was an angry mob.
Tullius surged to the museum foyer to block their entrance, filling the space and triggering all museum security measures. The humans’ anger pushed against Tullius’s electron matrix. Xe monitored xir temperature and heat signature, blocking humans but not endangering them. “Please be calm. Do not try to touch the artifacts.”
They surged forward. “Alien thieves!” one of the humans roared, “You’ve stolen our history!”
Tullius made his voice loud, reverberating. “Everything has been preserved, its provenance carefully recorded and maintained.” Xe stayed expanded to fill the area, despite xir drained state.
A beam from a grounding rod pierced Tullius, draining xir energy further, making him shrink, which opened the way to the rest of the displays.
“We are taking it back.” a woman shouted. “We want to live on Earth like our ancestors did!” She sprinted into the Domestic Objects display and grabbed for the teapot. A light shield flickered. She yelped, jerking her hand back.
At least the museum’s security was holding.
“Your ancestors’ Earth no longer exists,” Tullius said, his amorphous form flowing between the humans and the artifacts. “Here the remnants are safe, protected.”
The woman glared at Tullius. “What do you know about loss? A bunch of random sparkles!”
Tullius remained calm. “I preserve what is left.”
Xe triggered containment fields to trap the humans, using a different ionization pattern that interfered with their comms and armor. They were rebounding from the fields, which shrank to contain each one so that they could not fall. They were not to be injured.
“This is not the way,” Tullius said, xir voice firm. Xe shepherded the containment fields into the display of the ruins of an abandoned Earth city.
The ragged skeletons of the skyscrapers, the depth of the rubble lit only by murky sallow clouds, the overgrowth of weeds shocked them. The humans were silent, unable to move or cry out. “Old Earth looks like this now. Go back to your planet and live there. You are humans. You have so much more to create. “
“This isn’t real. You made this up.” Another human shouted. “This is just an illusion. Your people have stopped us from seeing our real home.”
“It is an illusion, but it is made from research by the Galactic art council in Old New York City.” Tullius felt his energy darkening again. “It is accurate. Old Earth is too dangerous for anyone to live there.”
“Your kind can’t understand us,” another human yelled. “You have no body, no senses. You are not even a person.” She flailed against the containment field.
“Please return to your ship, and schedule a visit to our displays.” Tullius made xir voice as calm and warm as possible. “We are happy to help you understand your heritage, and the many accomplishments your ancestors created before the diaspora.”
One of them triggered an EMP device, allowing him a moment to escape the containment field. He rushed at Tullius, aiming the device again. “You do not know who we are. Thief. Grave robber. Looter.”
Tullius tried to reinstate the containment field, but the human ran into xir matrix. Even with xir drained energy, the ripple of the disrupted matrix melted the human’s gear. Xe felt the energy of the pain of the human. The impact of the armor overwhelmed xir. Xe shrank further, fading to gray in the horror of the life force fading from the human. “Help him, help him.”
They stood motionless. A few collapsed in terror or grief, xe could not tell.
Screams arose: “Killer! Murderer! Destroyer!” They shook their fists and tried to fire their weapons.
Tullius summoned a cartbot to come to the human, to help them carry the victim away. Xe released several of the other humans, so they could take their partner back to the ship.
“Take him now, get him help,” Tullius said, moving away so they could approach. Finally the others approached their companion, scooping him onto the cartbot.
Tullius sent the cartbot to the airlock. The security fields pushed the humans behind it, forcing them toward the airlock. Xe opened the airlock, to let them in, and cycled it for them to reach the shuttle.
Xir energy dulled more, threatening to collapse into inert gas.
When the shuttle was loaded and docked on the ship, the ship fired at the museum, destroying the solar arrays. It left as it had come, jumping into hyperspace.
Tullius pulled xir matrix boundary as close as possible. The array had to be repaired if xe were to recharge. The museum required the energy, and xe knew the Galactic Art Council would arrive soon.
If xe were able to replace the arrays in time, xe might recharge enough to repair the painting. And if not, with the Council’s censure, xe might fade away completely. But he had felt the impact of the armor, as well as the human’s fading life force. They had touched him.